Operation Dauntless Sneak Peek: British Campaign Game Units & Setup Here we see the British frontline for the Campaign Game. This is the full 3 day scenario. The game kicks off at 0400 on June 25, 1944, with the British units positioned as shown below, following a truly massive creeping barrage by the British off-map artillery (250+ guns!) plus naval guns.

All artwork is purely for playtesting purposes – not final art! Zun Tzu module by Dave Dietche. See next page for an enlarged version of this screenshot. Stop holding your wrists in pain - you won't be rolling any dice for the 250 gun barrage. The effects of the British opening barrage are abstracted. For example, severely limited visibility (zero hexes), a favorable column shift to British Combats and Assaults, and severe restrictions on German units within the area of effect - they cannot move (except by retreat) on the first game turn. Don't be "daunted" by the number of units! Those which are a rotated 90 degrees begin the game inactive and need not be placed on the map at the start. The British player can choose to leave them on his off-map card if he desires, to avoid cluttering the map. He then places them on-map as they become available to use. So what the British player really has to work with on Turn 1 are 3 British infantry battalions, each comprising 8 unit counters: 4 rifle infantry companies, MMG platoon, 3" mortar platoon, 6-pounder AT platoon, and carrier platoon (think of them as armored cavalry), plus 2 supporting tank squadrons comprising 5 tank troops each (1 troop = 4 tanks).

Each battalion also has available its own Royal Artillery assets: an off-map Gunnery Battery (8 x 25pounder guns, not pictured) of a RA Field Regiment, and an Anti-Tank Battery (2 troops of 4 each 17pounder AT guns with attached Crusader Tractor transports, rotated 90 degrees sideways in the screenshot). I'm hoping to include a full color setup card which uses color-coded dotted lines to denote the setup areas of each formation. The colors will match the battalion colors to help make setup a breeze. Stacking is restricted to two British infantry companies per hex, or four total units. The generously oversized hexes should accommodate 4 units per hex without physical stacking. Then you can plop the "Dug-In" or "Suppressed" markers on top. The hexes in the final printed map should be a tad larger than what you see in the screenshot.

Inactive Units The British player begins the game with about 60-70% of his units in an inactive state. For the German player, it‟s probably more like 50%. A player's inactive units are held off-map on a Variable Reinforcement (VR) card until needed. Alternatively, they may be placed on the map in their starting areas and either rotated or marked "Inactive" as a reminder of their inactive state. Inactive units activate in one of four ways. Some formations activate for free on a given game turn, usually representing their historical commitment to the battle. The British player may spend Victory Points to activate them prior to this. Inactive units will also activate automatically in response to the movement of German units based on proximity when a German unit moves within 4 hexes of their hex, or outflanking when a German unit moves into or north of their hex row.

British right flank, Campaign setup Here's a closeup of 2 of the 3 British infantry battalions that kick off Operation Dauntless (the Campaign Game).

On the left (British right) we have the 4th Battalion of the Lincolnshire Regiment, aka "the Lincolns." They are supported by 'A' Squadron of the 24th Lancers tank regiment. Here's a sample from the OOB:

146th Infantry Brigade 4th Battalion, The Lincolnshire Regiment (Lincolns) • A/Linc Infantry Company (theoretically armed with 72 x bolt-action rifles, 12 x Sten SMGs (9+3 for officers), 9 x Bren LMGs, 6 x 2" mortars) • B/Linc Rifle Infantry Company (as above) • C/Linc Rifle Infantry Company (as above) • D/Linc Rifle Infantry Company (as above) • Mtr/Linc Mortar Platoon (6 x 3” Mortars with attached Universal Carriers) • AT/Linc Anti-Tank Platoon (6 x 6-pounders with attached Loyd Carriers) • CP/Linc Carrier Platoon (13 x Universal Carrier)

Note that the counter IDs currently use "Lincolns" but I'm going to shorten that to "Linc" on the final counters to help with clutter. Also note that the attached units- the MMGs of the Kensington Machine Gun, and the 17-pounder AT guns and off-map 25-pounder Gunner Battery of the Royal Artillery- are not included here.

Tanks The British tank troops consist of either 4 x Sherman III (HQ troops only), 4 x Sherman II DD (duplexdrive) "swimming" tanks, or the common "3 + 1" configuration of 3 x Sherman III + 1 x Vc Firefly which had been adopted by all regiments appearing in this game by the time of these battles. The game uses the term "Firefly-enhanced" to describe these troops.

Below: A Firefly-enhanced Sherman troop of the Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry (SRY), featured prominently in the game.

The Firefly-enhanced troops are powerful but fragile. They take their first AT Fire shot at a AT strength of 18 (vs. 10 for regular Sherman IIs and IIIs) but subsequent "free" shots as normal Shermans. They lose their awesome AT strength on their reduced strength sides and are treated as normal Sherman III troops (minus the Firefly) once reduced. The Brits claimed that the Germans preferentially targeted their Fireflies, even while Zetterling argues that the loss figures do not support this claim, it certainly makes sense from the German perspective. Not only were the Fireflies lethal to Panthers and Tigers, but highly recognizable due to their long 17-pounder guns.

Fireflies: The trials and tribulations of playtesting Over the years we probably tried close to half a dozen different ways to portray the Fireflies, from separate Firefly counters, to "Firefly destroyed" markers, to two sets of counters (with an without Fireflies), to averaging the stats to account for average AFV losses. None were ideal. They created superfluous counter clutter or bookkeeping, or made the game too complex, or gave a less-than-historical feel to the use and portrayal of the Fireflies. The solution to the Firefly dilemma is certainly a compromise and a bit of an abstraction, but it works very well. On the full strength side of the counter, the British player gains the full benefit of the Firefly component of a troop, taking his first shot as if the unit comprised four Fireflies- but only for the first shot. If he takes additional shots, he does so as a normal Sherman troop, at a reduced AT strength and Fire Control rating (the lower FC means he will get to re-roll dice less frequently). Likewise, if he reveals his position and suffers Return Fire, a step reduction will effectively remove the Firefly component from his Sherman troop counter since the counter is portrayed as a normal Sherman troop on its reduced strength side. No additional counters or undesirable "stats averaging" is necessary to implement this. As I've played more and more of the armor vs. armor scenarios, this method has really grown on me. Now I quite like it. Again please note that these are playtest versions of the counters. The relative sizes of the vehicles, for example, will be correct on the final versions. The Firefly appears smaller here due to its longer gun.

Operational Sectors The three British brigades appearing in the game comprise the 49th (West Riding) Infantry Division, aka "The Polar Bears." These brigades are color-coded by greens, blues, and warm tones (yellow, orange, red) for easy ID and setup. The color-coding also helps greatly if playing with the optional rules for OSMs (Operational Sector Markers) which restrict units' areas of operation by their formation. Basically, each formation gets and OSM which is placed on the map during the Reset Phase. Units belonging to a formation must operate in a "corridor" specified by their OSM placement. This is specified as a hex radius from the marker, plus any hexes which lie behind (north of for the British, south of for the Germans) this span.

These markers are about to get a re-haul based on the current rules. Namely, several of the German company-sized OSMs are going away, giving the Germans a degree of flexibility with certain units. Also, each British battalion will get its own OSM, allowing the British a bit more freedom of planning and allowing them to field different battalions of the same regiment on opposite sides of the front, as they sometimes did historically. There are still a few kinks to work out in the wording of the OSM rules. I haven't hit these rules quite as hard as the others since they are optional rules, but I think they will enhance the game experience for players wishing to simulate a degree of C&C. As a general rule, a formation's Operational Sector includes any hex east of the Seulles River which is within a radius of 2 hexes (battalions), or 6 hexes (brigade, regiment, or divisional units) of the marker. Therefore each British infantry battalion will have an OSM corridor 5 hexes wide- a radius of 2 hexes emanating from the hex where the marker was placed- and extending indefinitely northwards (behind the front lines). Players desiring a simpler game experience can choose to ignore the optional OSM rules and maneuver their units as they please.

Thoughts on Command & Control Some players may ask why you‟d want to leave out the OSMs since this would amount ot playing a “fantasy battle.” For one thing, leaving out the OSMs for your first couple sessions certainly helps with the learning curve. Food for thought... Red Winter didn't have any strict rules for C&C / formational integrity per se other than the optional rules for Soviet Coordination. And yet my experiences show that the vast majority of players still group their units together and operate within fairly historical parameters. I think this is due to a variety of factors, including simplicity. It helps players visualize their units on the battlefield when they

are grouped by color code (battalion / regiment). There's also the fact that these units tend to start together or enter the map together, so they tend to start off as a group and then move and attack as a group. Then there are the limitations of the terrain on this movement which tend to keep them together. There are other bits of chrome which encourage units to stay together, such as the requirement for a spotter to be of the same regiment, and the Finnish field kitchen which only benefits JR16 units. Historically speaking, the Finns operated their companies (and even platoons) fairly independently on many occasions at Tolvajärvi, and they tended to coordinate their offenses involving multiple battalions or regiments quite well. The Soviets were a mixed bag. I've read one criticism of RW for not having explicit C&C rules. I think this is partly valid, but it also depends on your mindset as well as an understanding of that battle. My mindset was to stick to the Dunnigan mantra of focusing on simulating one thing. In this case, the focus was highlighting the similarities and differences of the Finnish and Soviet regiments. I also wanted to keep the game very simple, balanced, and competitive for tournament style play. And again, my experiences are that most players tend to operate the Finns within historical parameters anyway for this particular battle (and ditto for the Soviets if using the optional Soviet Coordination rule). Turning to Normandy, it would at first seem ludicrous to grant the combatants the same flexibility shown in Red Winter. That is, until players realize that the battlefield itself is much more restrictive here. So you don't get as many wild, sweeping, flanking maneuvers, and units don't tend to separate as often. This is due to the much narrower front, the closer terrain, and more enemy units to halt you with their fire or ZOC. So the units are forced (either by the terrain or by their enemies) to stay together, advance together, and retreat together to a large extent. Granted, you'll still see some big flank sweeps by armor units... and you'll see the results of these sweeps. HOWEVER... apart from the OSM rules, I am also providing an optional rule Formational Integrity that I recommend gamers use once familiar with the basics of movement and battle. These rules possibly penalize the Combats and Assaults of mixed formations - German units of differing divisions (and if this at first seems too lenient please understand that nearly all German units of a given regiment are of the same battalion in this game - for example, III./26 panzergrenadier battalion for the 12SS units), and differing battalions for the Brits. British coordination gets trickier yet when units of differing brigades try to coordinate. But it's all a gamble and sometimes it goes off as planned. So while there are still no rules which absolutely force players to keep units of a particular formation together, the players won't do very well in the game if they operate them otherwise- especially when on the offensive. Below: Operation EPSOM underway.

British left flank, Campaign setup Here's a closeup of the British left flank on 0400, June 25, 1944. This is the kick off of the 3 day Campaign Game. Covering this flank we have elements of the 49th Reconnaissance Regiment.

These units start the game inactive, so technically they should be rotated 90 degrees, or marked "Inactive," or else held on the off-map card until they become available. I've placed and rotated them here just to help you visualize this flank. Below: Armored cars of 49th Recon. Note the Polar Bear logo on the car.

In the screenshot, we‟re looking at the region about half mile south of Cristot and Le Hamel. Extending south from what you see in the screenshot are mostly open fields - good tank country. This means the British should avoid it. Generally speaking, the British tanks are out-ranged and outgunned by the German panzers, Panthers, and Tigers, and they should stick to the bocage! Open fields make a good place for the British to set up their 17-pounder AT guns. These beasts are hard to move once placed (more on that later). Below: 17-pounder gun.

The area just beyond this to the east was known to be mined by the Germans, and also infringes on the operational setup area of the Operation Epsom units (a sequel game, perhaps?). The map originally extended a few hexes further in this direction. Rather than adding special rules to restrict or govern movement in this area, I opted to truncate the original map area, shaving off about 3 hexes along the eastern edge. This helped with enlarging the remaining hexes so as to accommodate 4 x 5/8" units per hex without physical stacking.

17-pounders Those 17-pounder AT guns you see in the screenshot are a real pain to move. They have attached Crusader tractor transports on the flip-side of the counter. These are the "defrocked" (turretless) Crusader tanks. It takes multiple turns to move the 17-pounders, so players won't be doing much of it during the game. These units are mostly used to keep the Germans honest rather than tank hunting. They are very useful in preventing a German armored breakthrough north.

Above: A 17-pounder knocked out by German mortar fire. The vehicle is a Morris tractor. Below: 17-pounder in Italy. The towing vehicle is a M3 Halftrack.

6-pounders The smaller 6-pounder AT guns are much more numerous in this battle, and much more mobile.

In general, the British don't tend to use tanks to fight enemy tanks, nor do they have much available in the way of tank destroyers (only a handful of M10 Achilles which can be committed as Variable Reinforcements). Instead, they use their numerous 6-pounders. While not as lethal as the 17-pounders, these guns have an AT rating of 11 which is still formidable. Better still, the 6-pounders qualify to use the newly arrived sabot ammo. There isn't much of this ammo to go around. When the British player opts to use it, his 6-pounders gain a +5 DRM at a range of 0 or 1 hex, or a +1 DRM at ranges of 2 or more hexes. Accuracy for this ammo type dropped off dramatically beyond 500 yards.

AT Fire Some quick notes on the AT system. In general, AT rating = roughly the gun's max armor penetration in cm using AP ammo (or whatever was commonly available) at very close range (about 50 yards). This penetration this drops over distance: a -1 DRM, or about 10mm, per 425 yard hex. The Armor ratings of AFVs represent an amalgam of turret front, turret side, hull front, and hull side armor, adjusted for slope and weighted towards front and turret over side and hull, to produce an average thickness in cm. During the game you'll be comparing AT to Armor to produce a "penetration factor" DRM. For example, a Sherman (AT of 10; see image below) firing on a Tiger (Armor 12) at a range of 4 hexes (-4 DRM) in a field hex (no DRM) has a net AT Fire DRM of -6. This gives him virtually no chance of doing a step reduction. In game terms, the Shermans will need to be right on top of the Tigers to damage them. Gaining the +3 DRM for a flank shot really helps in this regard.

If the Shermans in the above example took a shot anyway, the Tigers could Return Fire at a AT of 16. They have a -8 DRM for the Shermans' Armor and a -4 DRM for range = net +4. They'd only need to roll a 10 or higher on 2d10 to achieve the "magic 14" needed for a step reduction. And this is even easier to achieve that it sounds since Tigers have a Fire Control class of "Superior" (the little plus sign in a yellow circle) meaning they can always roll 3 dice and keep the highest 2 values when making AT Fire attacks.

Fire Control (FC) Note: I’m still debating whether to make these rules mandatory or optional in the final release of the game. Either way, any self-respecting tanker will want to incorporate them once he’s up and running with the standard rules.  FC is an abstraction which accounts for diverse elements including: crew training, experience, morale, targeting systems, optics, stabilizers, range finders, and rate of fire. Units with a „+‟ symbol following their AT rating have an above average FC Class. Those with a „-‟ symbol have a below average FC Class. Units with no such marking are FC Class Standard; their FC rating is neither positive nor negative. FC class has been calibrated such that the British Sherman tanks are considered "Standard" and are not affected by the FC rules. When making an AT Fire attack, units with a FC rating (whether + or -) roll a third 10-sided die as well as a 6-sided dice, for a total of four dice. The 6-sided die is called the “FC die.” FC Class Good (positive numeral): If the result of the FC die is equal to or lower than the unit‟s FC rating, the firing player omits the lowest 10-sided die result.

FC Class Poor (negative numeral): If the result of the FC die is equal to or lower than the unit‟s FC rating, the firing player must omit the highest 10-sided die result. FC Class Superior (a „+‟ in a gold circle; applies only to full strength Tiger platoons): These units always make their FC roll. The FC die is not rolled; roll three 10-sided dice and omit the lowest die result.

Above: This panzer IV has been knocked out by a hit to the front turret. Once again, Sherman tanks are treated as the standard, and the Fire Control (FC) ratings of all other units have been calibrated accordingly. Most armored cars, half-tracks, assault guns, and turretless tank destroyers are classified as FC Class "Poor" and have negative FC ratings. Most British tanks and turreted tank destroyers, and German armored cars are classified as Standard. German Panzer IV-H and Panther tanks and British Vc Fireflies and Achilles tank destroyers are classified as Good and have positive ratings. Only German Tigers are classified as Superior. Note that weapons with a very high rate of fire might have FC ratings which are better than players might otherwise expect. For example, the German scout half-tracks, with their 20mm guns, are FC class Standard rather than Poor. However, for many of these weapon types I have also weighed in a certain "fear factor"; half-tracks ordered to fire on enemy tanks may be able to do so with an incredibly high rate of fire, but they will also engage with great reluctance! So, for example, the rate of fire of a particular unit might improve its FC class by as much as +4, while the fear factor provides a -2. Thus the overall FC class is only +2. This compromise tends to discourage players from using these weapons in an unhistorical manner, as fearless and expendable tank hunters. The Shermans of Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry (SRY) have FC classes which are 1 point higher than the other two British tank regiments. This is because these guys are veteran tankers.

Examples of Fire Control Rolls Note that Poor uses negative numbers, but your die always produces a positive number. Let's look at how the system works using some examples. When you make an AT Fire attack you roll 2d10 (both dice are black in color) and need to achieve a modified 14 or higher to inflict a step reduction. Any time you make an AT Fire attack using a unit with a non-standard (positive or negative) Fire Control rating, you roll a total of four dice instead of the usual two. One of these is the d6 "Fire Control die" plus you roll 3d10 (the two usual black dice, plus a red one). Example #1 Let's say you are attacking with a FC class Standard unit, like a Sherman tank troop. You only roll 2d10. If the modified result (after any DRMs for range, penetration, etc.) are 14 or higher, you do a step reduction to the target. A modified result of 13 or lower yields No Effect. Example #2 Your unit's FC rating is -2 (Poor) so you roll all four dice. d6 result of 1 or 2 = FC effect kicks in, and you use the lowest 2 of 3 d10 results. So if the red d10 has a lower value than one of the black d10's, you replace the black die result with the red die result. Note that you're still using only 2 of the 3 d10 results to generate a number from 2-20. d6 result of 3 or higher = no FC effect. Ignore the red d10 and use the results of the two black dice (as you would normally do). Example #3 Now let's say your unit's FC rating is +3 (Good) like the M10 Achilles in this photo. You roll all four dice. d6 result of 1, 2, or 3 = FC effect kicks in, and you use the highest 2 of 3 d10 results. d6 result of 4 or higher = no FC effect. Ignore the red d10 and use the results of the two black dice (as you would normally do).

Hopefully the Fire Control procedure is now clear to everyone, but I‟m happy to answer any questions. I‟ve added the above examples to the playbook that will ship with the game. And if you‟d like to cast your vote whether to make these rules mandatory or optional, feel free to email me as well (email address at end of this article).

Using “+” and “-“ makes visualization easier, in my opinion, but it introduces some linguistic confusion regarding what is "higher" and "lower" in terms of a negative number. What we're really talking about is the integer value. The procedure is: 1) You look at the + or - sign to determine which FC procedure (Good or Poor) to apply... 2) ...but then you ignore the sign and use only the integer value, comparing the die result to the FC number, when determining the result of the FC roll.

Returning to the British Right Flank Back to the Polar Bears' start line... Here's a screenshot of the British front line at the setup of the Campaign Game. This is the British right flank in the vicinity of St. Pierre.

The blue inactive (rotated) units are the 10th Battalion of the Durham Light Infantry (10DLI), 70th Infantry Brigade, 49th Infantry Division ("The Polar Bears") with support from the 17-pounder AT guns of the 218th AT Battery. Each infantry battalion consists of 8 unit counters, plus an associated off-map Gunnery Battery marker which can fire indirect support. The green tank units are 'A' Squadron of the 24th Lancers Tank Regiment, assigned to support the advance of the Lincolns (4th Battalion of the Linconshire Regiment, 146th Infantry Brigade) during the opening stages of the operation.

As a side note: The area west of the Seulles River is off limits in this game, except to Panzer Lehr units who may conduct retreats across the river if no other choice exists. A fierce battle was raging in that sector, where the British 50th (Northumbrian) "Tynes and Tees" Infantry Division was facing off against the bulk of Lehr.

As we move further south, the Seulles meanders west and becomes the edge of the map. There isn't much in the way of wasted space on this map, so I'm not sure if the Info Track and Terrain Effects Chart will go on the map, as it did in Red Winter, or if we'll need to put them on a separate card. Below: A Firefly of 24th Lancers.

7th Dukes, Heavy Mortars, AVRE Behind the British front lines at Le Haut d' Audrieu the 7th Battalion, The Duke of Wellington‟s Regiment (7th Dukes), 147th Infantry Brigade, is waiting to activate.

These guys start the game in an inactive state, but I've rotated them face-up for the sake of this screenshot. Notes on the 7th Dukes: This battalion had been issued 350 folding bicycles, but the CO felt the 8 foot banks and deep ditches presented unsuitable country in which to use them, so they were stored in a wood and almost instantly crushed by a passing squadron of tanks. The 7th Dukes lost some 120 men, killed and wounded, in the fighting around Fontenay-le-Pesnel. Also visible in this screenshot are "D" Company Heavy Mortars (4.2") of the Kensington Machine Gun. With a range of 15 hexes, the importance of these units in the game cannot be understated. Just visible at lower right are the AVREs (Assault Vehicle, Royal Engineers) of 82nd Assault Squadron, 6th Assault Regiment, 1st Assault Brigade, 79th Armoured Division "Funnies." These are Variable Reinforcement units which can be activated as needed by the British player. Each of the four AVRE counters represents 6 x Churchill AVRE tanks. These guys give a benefit when used against tough terrain including German Strongpoints. Their petard spigot mortars are powerful weapons of limited range, very useful for cracking concrete bunkers and the like (very few of those here, fortunately). The Germans greatly feared this weapon. The AVREs proved incredibly valuable in capturing Fontenay-le-Pesnel, firing their petards and Besa machine guns in support of the infantry.

Above: An AVRE and M10 at Sword Beach. Near the end of June, the 81st Ass Squadron supported the 56th Infantry Brigade at Tilly-sur-Seulles against an armored counter-attack by the Panzer Lehr Division. It was here that the Germans managed to capture intact their first AVRE, much to the outrage of its commander.

What’s Next? Next we'll be taking a look at the German units and front lines. I‟ll probably use the opportunity to discuss more of the game systems and mechanics as appropriate.

Please tune in to the game‟s forum over at Consimworld, as that‟s where the updates will be taking place: http://talk.consimworld.com/WebX?14@@.1dd4856a/591 And feel free to email me with any questions or comments about the game: [email protected] If you spot any oddities or inconsistencies in the unit stats, by all means get in touch. Thanks for looking! ~Mark Mokszycki (designer)