Undaunted Normandy, North Africa and Reinforcements Review

Undaunted by Osprey Games, is a series heralded as perfectly blending a deck-building game with wargaming elements. The series of games first started in 2020 with Undaunted Normandy, and rather than start with a review of the original game, we're working backwards from the latest game, Undaunted 2200 Callisto, and we're finally back at the start, in this article looking at Undaunted Normandy, Undaunted North Africa and Undaunted Reinforcements in our mega review! Be warned though, my grandfather won the Military Cross in North Africa so I'm super passionate about the campaign.

Although we've only just started covering Undaunted on the site, we have previously covered several of Osprey Games' titles, including the brand new Bolt Action 3rd Edition, copublished with Warlord games, and also some of their awesome supplements for their miniatures agnostic system, Frostgrave.

How Do You Play Undaunted Normandy and North Africa?

In games of Undaunted, as was the case in Undaunted 2200 Callisto, players draw 4 cards from their deck each turn and then use those cards to play actions from the tokens they have on the board, such as moving and attacking. Certain cards also allow you to draw more cards from your supply, or move cards from your hand to your supply, allowing you to tailor your deck as you play.

New tokens can also be added to the game board as you draw new units into your deck. Some tokens have multiple cards that can activate them, with the cards having the same unit or squad name, but representing a different individual in that unit or vehicle.

This card system, as well as working for actions, also controls a unique damage system. As a unit takes hits, you must discard a matching card from your hand. If you don't have a matching card in your hand, you discard one from your discard pile, and if there isn't one there too, you discard it from your deck. If you can't find the card at all, the unit is eliminated.

This can put real pressure on going first in the turn and focuses you on picking your targets. If a unit you have the card for in your hand is hit, then you discard the card and you might not be able to activate it this turn. It also adds a nice hidden element as you and your opponent try to determine how many cards units have left, and which is the optimum target to hit.

What's The Difference Between Undaunted Normandy and North Africa?

Undaunted Normandy and Undaunted North Africa, aside from the different historical campaigns and the factions they contained, which we'll discuss below, are essentially the same game mechanics-wise. Undaunted North Africa has the addition of vehicles, thematically fitting with the campaign. Your troops can enter and exit vehicles (some are restricted to specific troop types), and then maneuver and use the armaments attached to them.

I really like the vehicle rules, especially the missions that use either all of the vehicles on both sides or the ones where only one side has them. It changes the dynamic from the original Undaunted games (which I also still really like), and makes it feel thematically in keeping with the campaign.

What Does Undaunted Reinforcements Add To Games?

Undaunted Reinforcements is a weighty box, coming in much heavier than either Normandy or North Africa core boxes, and it adds solo, multiplayer, and new rules and units to both.

For Undaunted Normandy, Reinforcements adds tanks, but they operate as normal units and don't have the vehicle cards that North Africa has that allows troops to climb in and out. It also adds 2 new unit types, Grenadiers for the US forces and Submachine Gunners for the Germans. For North Africa, it includes Sappers, Grenadiers, and Submachine Gunners for the Long Range Desert Group, and Submachine Gunners, Mechanics, and Snipers (to combat the pesky LRDG snipers) for the Italians.

Reinforcements also adds 4-player and solo games to both Normandy and North Africa, including scenarios for both, and the AI control card for the solo games. Each scenario has a specific AI control card for each troop type, which means that the enemy acts specifically for that scenario, rather than being restricted to a single set of commands for each troop type.

Does Undaunted Normandy and North Africa Have Different Factions?

Both Undaunted Normandy and North Africa have forces unique to that campaign. Normandy sees the forces of the US facing the German defense in the early stages of the push into France. North Africa has the Long Range Desert Group working covert operations against the forces of the Italians.

Both forces out of the Normandy box have exactly the same stats and mechanics, and the scenarios see equal units deployed each game. Reinforcements mixes that up with different units and scenario setups. The forces in North Africa are very different, with the Italians being made up of traditional forces, and the clandestine forces of the LRDG focusing on demolitions and concealment (and big guns for when they need to go noisy).

The similarities of the forces in Normandy and the differences in those of North Africa are what make the 2 sets stand out uniquely on their own, and really capture the feel of each campaign. Undaunted Reinforcements emphasize what's already great about the forces in each.

What Are Our Final Thoughts On Undaunted Normandy, North Africa, and Reinforcements?

What I love most about Undaunted Normandy and Undaunted North Africa is that they capture the theme so well. North Africa especially in the incredible covert operations of the LRDG. There's a lot of replayability out of both sets, and Reinforcements adds some great detail to both, along with the solo and 4-player game modes. As with all the Undaunted games we've looked at, the solid mechanics make it a rewarding challenge.

Both Undaunted Normandy and Undaunted North Africa still stand out as incredible games, even working backwards through the series, Undaunted feels like a concept that was done incredibly well from the off, which has been able to carry through to multiple games, adding in minor tweaks and additions to capture the theme in each.

Should I Buy Undaunted Normandy, North Africa, and Reinforcements?

If you like the Undaunted games, then Normandy and North Africa are both excellent. If you have to choose between them, then Normandy offers a more balanced campaign, whereas North Africa sees different forces facing off, with the addition of vehicles.

Undaunted Reinforcements offers a decent amount to both games and is still worthwhile, even if you only own one. The addition of the solo and multiplayer rules makes it a stellar box with a lot of content to add to your Undaunted Normandy and North Africa games.

If the WWII theme isn't your thing, then consider Undaunted 2200 Callisto, which has the same great mechanics, with a sci-fi theme.

The copies of Undaunted Normandy, North Africa, and Reinforcements used to produce this review were provided by Osprey Games.