REFERENCE BOOK Table of Contents Designer’s Notes ............................................................ 2 31.0 Mapmaker’s Notes ................................................. 40 26.0 Footnoted Entries ........................................... 2 32.0 Order of Battle ....................................................... 41 27.0 Game Elements .............................................. 13 33.0 Selected Sources & Recommended Reading ......... 48 28.0 Units & Weapons ........................................... 21 29.0 OB Notes ....................................................... 33 30.0 Historical Notes ............................................. 39 GMT Games, LLC • P.O. Box 1308, Hanford, CA 93232-1308 www.GMTGames.com 2 Operation Dauntless Reference Book countryside characterized by small fields rimmed with thick and Designer’s Notes steeply embanked hedges and sunken roads, containing small stout I would like to acknowledge the contributions of lead researchers farms with neighbouring woods and orchards in a broken landscape. Vincent Lefavrais, A. Verspeeten, and David Hughes to the notes Studded with small villages, ideal for defensive strongpoints…” appearing in this booklet, portions of which have been lifted rather 6 Close Terrain. There are few gameplay differences between close liberally from their emails and edited by myself. These guys have terrain types. Apart from victory objectives, which are typically my gratitude for a job well done. I’m very pleased that they stuck village or woods hexes, the only differences are a +1 DRM to Re- with me to the end of this eight-year project. covery rolls in village hexes, a Modifier Chit which favors village and woods over heavy bocage, and a higher MP cost to enter woods. Furthermore, woods is the only terrain type that blocks LOS with 26.0 Footnoted Entries respect to spotting units at higher elevation. For all other purposes, close terrain is close terrain. Note that all three types conveniently The following notes refer to the footnoted entries in the Rule Book use the same dark green background color on the map. and Scenario Book. 1 2.2.1 Interpreting the Unit Counters. For the ID boxes of the German units, I used the historical color-codes where practical: pink for panzer regiments, scarlet for panzer artillery regiments, black for pioneers, and gold for armored reconnaissance battalions (Panzer-Aufklärungsabteilungen). I have A. Verspeeten to thank for this excellent suggestion. Light green is normally associated with Panzergrenadier units, but since there are so many German units of this type, I opted to use white instead to keep the total amount of “color clutter” to a minimum. 2 4.2.2 Seulles Boundary. The British 50th Northumbrian Infantry Division (a.k.a. the “Tynes and Tees”) was facing off against the remainder of Panzer Lehr just west of the Seulles. The bridge at 0207 is not a valid exit for Lehr/21PD units because it would place them right in the front lines of the 50th Infantry Division. 3 4.5.1 Attached Transports. Universal Carriers have light armor, granting them immunity against small arms fire. Note that those 7 5.1.2 Bocage. The ground over which these battles were fought units denoted as having Universal Carrier attached transports (“U”) had a number of wide open areas, but the photo recon imagery also include models such as the scout carrier and Bren gun carrier. The shows many regions of dense bocage. This is especially true near marginal CS, RAS, and AT values of these units are derived from Cristot and Tilly-sur-Seulles, in the regions west and north of Juvi- a number of Bren LMGs and PIATs, and in the case of the Carrier gny, and pretty much everywhere on the southern half of the map. Platoons, 2” mortars. By contrast, the Loyd Carriers have no armor By “dense” I mean there are portions of as many as six or seven or weapons. individual fields in a single 425 yard hex, all separated by hedge- More info on the Univ. Carrier can be found in the notes section rows! However, this is not the norm, with one to three fields per hex for British Weapons (28.2.2) while more info on the British Carrier being more typical of a bocage hex in the game. Early versions of Platoons and Scout Platoons can be found in the Unit Notes (28.2.1) the playtest map and Terrain Effects Chart distinguished between as well as footnoted entry 12.6.1. See also notes pertaining to Cru- orchard and bocage, but in reality this terrain is a mish-mosh of sader Tractors and Schwimmwagen in the Weapons section (28.2.2 both, and rarely does orchard appear in a hex without hedgerows. and 28.3.2 respectively). The need for two densities of bocage became apparent as soon as I began to code the hexes according to the aerial photography. I had 4 4.5.6 Survival Table. This table provides a simple method for to make a judgement call, sometimes quite arbitrarily, as to whether determining what happens to transported units when their transport a particular bocage hex should be classified as light or heavy. In takes a hit. If the transported unit is a mortar, British MG, or towed general, where three or more individual hedgerow-bordered fields gun a step reduction is more likely than with other types of units. exist in a single hex, or where two or more oppose a north-south Mortars and British MGs qualify because they are the only weap- axis of advance (i.e., an east-west orientation of hedgerows), I have ons which are loaded into open-topped transports. Unlike infantry, classified them as heavy bocage. Such hexes offer the defenders which could quickly dismount under fire, these types of weapons multiple lines of hedgerows behind which to fall back, making a were more difficult to unload or unhook, and were more reliant on series of “mini-retreats” possible within a single hex and within the their transports to carry their bulkier ammunition. Infantry units course of a 90 minute game turn. In the game this is abstracted by also suffer step reductions less frequently because they represent a preventing ZOC from extending into them, and by their increased relatively large number of men as compared to a heavy weapons unit. defensive bonus compared to light bocage. 5 5.0 Terrain. Lloyd Clark’s book Operation Epsom says of the ter- 8 5.1.3 Woods. There are fewer wooded areas in the vicinity of our rain: “The most northerly section, the first to be crossed by the British map area today than in 1944. Some woods, including a sizeable attack, was made up of hedgeless fields up to the insignificant Mue section of Tessel Woods itself, have been clear cut for more farming stream. (…) Further south (…) there was good defensive bocage space. Have a quick look at Google Earth and you’ll see what I mean. © 2015 GMT Games, LLC Operation Dauntless Reference Book 3 9 5.1.4 Village. Since lone farms, manors, and chateaus are also been unaffected. The rules for weather, roads, supply, and (Optional classified as village, “settled” might have been a more apt name for Rule) Tigers in the Mud all combine to reflect this. this terrain type. Village derives its defensive benefit not only from After some discussion and consideration, I opted to make waterways the buildings themselves but from the numerous hedge-lined fields, impact leg units minimally. The delay on leg movement (+1 MP) orchards, and stone walls usually found in very close proximity to amounts to a mere fraction of a 90-minute game turn and is due them. For notes on Strongpoints, see footnote #55. mainly to the prominence of brambles along their shores as opposed 10 5.1.5 Waterways. As of late 2010, I’d been unable to find any to the depth of water or strength of current. My guess is that the reliable data on the depth and width of the rivers in the region circa Royal Engineers (abstracted in the game) could make most of these late June ‘44. Furthermore, I knew that the Germans had intention- narrow streams easily fordable for a company-sized leg unit, given ally flooded some regions at the time of this operation, making about twenty minutes to do their job. Smaller waterways might be things difficult from a research standpoint. Enter Vincent Lefavrais. crossable even without log bridges and the like if the men were Vincent took a field trip to the battlefield, walking it extensively and willing to get wet up to the knees or waist. Where the streams are taking lots of photos and notes which proved incredibly useful. For less than two meters wide, the men might simply jump over them; those who are interested, I have presented his findings as an article the prominence of thorns and vegetation would again be the bigger that can be downloaded from the GMT website. The article contains impediment. I feel the +1 MP requirement is reasonable, and it is more than 80 photos and map images, making it a great starting point both simple and easy to remember. for players who wish to better visualize the terrain over which these 11 5.1.6 Slopes. Elevation is not absolute in this game. The slope battles were fought. Among the images is a key that Vincent cre- hexsides are not contour lines but rather specific changes in elevation ated on an early playtest map to indicate his location and direction which are significant enough to block LOS. The hills in this region of facing for each of the photos. To a game designer, this kind of are not very dramatic and not really hills in the way Americans information is invaluable. You simply can’t get this level of detail understand the word.