237751835 d20 modern world war ii heroes omaha beach
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World War II Heroes
L e g a l
iOmaha Beach Mission Pack
Omaha Beach
A World War II Heroes Mission Pack
Requires the use of the d20 Modern Core Rulebook.
d20 Modern and Wizards of the Coast are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. in the
United States and other countries and are used with permission.
© 2004 SteelMagic Studios. All rights reserved.
Reference to other copyrighted material in no way constitutes a challenge to the respective
copyright holders of the material. Permission is granted to photocopy for personal use only. This
product may not be distrubuted.
Written by: Robert W. Farrior, SteelMagic
Studios
Edited by: Robert W. Farrior and Alexander K.
Farrior, Geoff Grube.
Cover Design by: Robert W. Farrior
Illustrated by: Robert W. Farrior
Photo Credits: All original photos used in
this work are credited to the National Archives
of the United States or the US Department of
the Army. Additional artwork derived from
photographs were taken from unknown and
uncredited sources and digitally altered.
Playtesters: Jeff Clark, Chris Buckle, Geoff
Grube, Alexander Farrior, Robert Farrior.
Open Game License Information
The following is designated as Product Identity,
in accordance with paragraph 1(e) of the Open
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ction, prose or textual content; all custom maps,
counters, minis, characters and all non-rules
specic content.
The following is designated as Open Game
Content: everything except any references to other
items already specied as Product Identity.
SteelMagic StudiosAllen, Texas
www.steelmagicstudios.com
Email: [email protected]
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OPEN GAME LICENSE VERSION 1.0A
The following text is the property
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Copyright 2000 Wizards of the Coast,
Inc ("Wizards"). All Rights Reserved.
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name to the COPYRIGHT NOTICE of any
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Robert W. Farrior is the founder of SteelMagic Studios, based in Allen, TX, a suburb of
Dallas. Robert has been playing RPGs since 1979, when he was a freshman in high school. Over
the years, he has been active with traditional roleplaying, miniature gure gaming, collectible
card games, live-action roleplaying and strategic war games. He has designed many campaign
worlds, adventures and roleplaying systems. Robert is the author of numerous papers and articles
on religion, history and philosophy. He is also the author of the science ction novel, The
Marginal Event.
In addition, Robert has over 15 years of experience with medieval martial arts, including
running his own medieval martial arts schools Sword & Shield and the Youth Medicval Society.
Robert has a background in electronics, computer software and Internet applications design. He
was formerly the Director of Web Engineering at Macromedia in San Francisco. Robert lives a
quiet life with his wife, 10 year-old son and dog.
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Dedication
This year marks the 60th anniverary of the Normandy Invasion. This book is therefore
dedicated to all of the brave men who fought and died on the beaches of France. We owe our
lives to them. I sincerely hope that this mission pack honors them.
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Contents
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CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION 1
HISTORY 5
BRIEFING 15
THE APPROACH 17
THE SANDBAR 19
THE BEACH 21
THE SHINGLE 23
THE FLAT 25
THE BLUFFS 29
AFTERMATH 29
GAMEMASTER SECTION 31
PREMADE CHARACTERS 34
MAPS 52
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Introduction
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INTRODUCTION
6 June 1944. Normandy. 0630
The Allies launch the largest amphibious
assault in history against Hitler’s Atlantic Wall.
One of the bloodiest battles fought on all of DDay took place on a strip of sand known as
Omaha Beach. Among the carnage at Omaha
Beach, the ghting was the toughest on the
section code-named Dog Green. Company A
of the 116th Regimental Combat Team, 29th
Infantry Division was assigned the task of
landing at Dog Green in the rst wave.
This mission recreates the battle for Dog
Green. It is designed for a squad of 1st to 3rd
level player characters.
PREPARATION
As Gamemaster, you will need a copy of the
World War II Heroes Players Guide and the
d20 Modern Core Rulebook. Text that appears
in shaded panels is intended for the players.
You may read it out loud to them or summarize
it as you see t. Non-player characters stats
are provided in each encounter description, insummarized form. For more details, you must
consult the NPC section of the WW2H Players
Guide.
RUNNING THE MISSION
This mission is small in overall scope, but
is challenging due to the large number of
combatants involved within a relatively small
area. You will have to keep track of many
non-player characters as they move around the battleeld and perform actions, often without
the players being aware. Also, during combat,
you will have to track the actions, ammo count,
shots red, reload timing, etc. for numerous
combatants, all semi-simultaneously.
PCS
Players will need to create a character to
play. Characters should be Regular Infantry
and may have any specialization the player
wishes. Alternatively, we provide 4 pre-made
characters in the Gamemaster Section. It is
recommended that players have at least 2
characters ready, using the 2nd character as an
NPC member of the squad in case their primary
character is killed or incapacitated.
PCS
In this rst mission, most of the German
defenders are Conscripts or Rookies. There
are a few Veterens as well. It is important that
the defenders do not operate in a cohesive,organized manner. The Germans are suffering
from several problems. First, they are unable
to communicate in any regular sense with
headquarters and therefore their response
cannot be well coordinated. Second, the horric
shelling and bombardment has destroyed much
of the support infrastructure as well as greatly
demoralized the forces. Lastly, the relative
inexperience and low loyalty of the Conscripts
makes them very likely to run away any time
they fail a Gut or Discipline check.
Don’t concentrate your re on the player
characters. Instead, distribute the re fairly
randomly among all of the player characters
and Allied non-player characters. The Allied
NPCs are included for dramatic effect, cannon
fodder and avor. Don’t be afraid to kill them
off in large numbers and with creative air.
Roleplaying NPC Leaders
You will often nd it necessary to interact
with the PCs via NPC non-commissioned
ofcers and ofcers. Bark orders at them, like
"Miller, get your butt off my beach!" "If you
want to live, move your butt!" and "Anderson,
take two men and take out that pillbox!"
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Medics
There are several NPC medics nearby.
Anytime someone shouts "Medic!" roll 1d4. A
medic will come in that many rounds. Medics
can use their skills to treat some wounds, but
cannot restore large numbers of hit points.
Seriously wounded characters are in trouble.
EQUIPMENT
Your players will be fully equipped when
they board their landing craft. However, as
you will soon see, this means nothing. All
equipment that they are carrying has to be
abandoned. Once they make it to the beach,
they will have to scrounge for whatever
weapons and equipment they want.
Reduce the normal Scrounge DC by 5.
Normal weapons and equipment are in good
supply on the beach. Any scrounging that they
do will be from dead soldiers.
PRISONERS
If you want to complicate things, anytime a
Conscript fails a Gut check he will normally
try to run away. Instead, you can have himsurrender. He should surrender to one of the
PCs. Remember players are not allowed to kill
prisoners of war.
SIZE AND SCOPE
If you are well prepared, you may be able
to get through this entire mission in one game
session. However, it could take two or more if
you go through each combat round in detail
and your players are not very experienced.
MISSION FLOW
The mission is broken up into thematic
segments which parallel the progress made by
the actual troops on the beach. The segments
are:
The Approach
This is mostly a scripted sequence that you
can read or roleplay. It covers the time from
boarding the Higgins Boat to landing on the
sandbar.
The Sandbar
Here the PCs will come under intense re
from machine guns, mortars and artillery. They
will have to abandon their gear and swim to
shore.
The Beach
The Beach is 300 yards of pure chaos.
The PCs have to move from the water-line to
the shingle across the open, at beach under
random re from all of the defensive positions.
During this stretch large numbers of Allied
NPCs will get killed.
The Shingle
Once the PCs make it to the Shingle, they get
a bit of a respite. The Shingle provides goodcover and protection. However, at some point
they will have to try to get past it. The Shingle
is topped with rows of barbed wire, land mines
and booby traps. The best way through is to
blow a hole through using Bangalore torpedoes.
These will have to be scrounged and put in
place. Only troops with demolitions skills can
use them. Alternatives include cutting through
the barbed wire, while under re. If they want
to do this, have an NPC try and get killed.
The Flat
Once onto the at, the PCs should move
quickly to neutralize the defensive positions,
trenches and pillboxes on the at. Once they
secure the Fortied House, they can use it as
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a base of operation to regroup and plan for the
assault on the Bluffs.
The Bluffs
The Bluffs are very steep hills that tower
over the beach. They are heavily defended and
include one bunker complex on each side of the
draw. The PCs have to destroy or capture both
Bunker complexes.
Maps & Minis
We have included detailed maps of the
Omaha Beach area. The scale of these maps
varies. Tactical maps show the overall battle
area and are in a scale of 1 square = 30 feet/10
yards. The more detailed maps are in standard 1
square = 5 feet scale. You will need to represent
these maps for your players on the table top.
You can draw up your own maps on 1" square
map sheets or estimate the map designs using
terrain pieces of your choice.
To make things easier, we have also included
some custom map pieces in the Mission Pack
that have 1" squares on them. With these you
can lay out your battleelds on the tabletop
putting together the map pieces as you want.They are all done in the scale of 1" = 5 feet.
You can design custom trenches, including
barricades, obstacles and other features.
In addition, we also have included some
1" round counters with imprints of US and
German troops on them to use as "minis" to
represent PCs and NPCs.
BEGINNING
All of the player characters are in the same
unit, but not originally in the same squad. They
can have any specialization. The thing that
unites them is that they are all riding on the
same LCVP. Altogether the LCVP holds 35
soldiers. The PCs are towards the back.
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History
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HISTORY
This chapter contains historical information
about the Allied landings at Omaha Beach.
PLANNING
In buildup for the invasion of Normandy, the
Allies planned, prepared and practiced for two
years. Never before had such a massive military
operation been planned. The Allies had to go
over every possible scenario and work through
not only the strategic and tactical operations,
but the unparalleled logistic problem such an
operation would create.
For the Allied war plan to be successful, a
front in Western Europe had to be opened. In
May of 1943, the rough outline of the plan was
developed at the Anglo-American conference
in Washington DC. The British and American
leaders agreed to a joint assault against Hitler’s
Atlantic Wall for the following year.
The rst task was to determine a suitable
invasion location. After carefully reviewing
all of the options, a 50-mile stretch of coastline
in Normandy, from the Vire Estuary to theOrne River, was selected as the assault area.
This area was uniquely suitable for several
reasons. First, there were good ports close by
in England from where the invasion could be
launched. The area was within striking range
of British ghter aircraft. The Key French ports
of Cherbourg and Le Havre were close enough
range of the landing area to make quick capture
a possibility. The region was less fortied as
some of the more likely invasion locations,
such as the Pas de Calais region. Lastly, it was believed that it could be possible to isolate
the region from German reinforcement by
bombing of bridges and rail lines, which would
allow enough time for a buildup of force on the
lodgment.
Now, planning moved into the logistical
phase. The combined air, sea and ground
forces of both the United States and the United
Kingdom had to be coordinated. Not only
did they have to plan the massive buildup of
shipping, aircraft and invasion forces, but also
they had to plan for methods of reinforcing the
forces once they landed. The entire endeavor
depended on the ability of the Allies to pump
supplies, men and equipment into France
smoothly, quickly and efciently.
Originally, the invasion date, called Y Day,
was set for 1 May 1944. This was quickly
changed to 31 May to allow more time for
bombing operations to hit more targets and
to build more landing craft. Most of the plans
were in place by February, but many aspectswould have to remain uid as the Allies learned
more about the German defenses and troops
became trained.
By June of 1944, there were over 1.5 million
US soldiers in the United Kingdom preparing
for the invasion. The stockpile of material and
equipment needed for the invasion was more
than 2.5 million tons.
SOFTENING UP
In April and May 1944, the air forces of the
US and UK moved into a new phase of their
attacks. They began attacks against airelds
and marshalling yards throughout France,
Belgium, Luxembourg, Holland and western
Germany. The attacks were spread over such a
wide area to prevent the Germans from being
able to discern the intended Allied invasion
area. The goal of these raids was to hit German
railway lines, repair and maintenance centersand key bridges. By doing so, it was hoped that
the German capacity to bring troops into the
landing area would be greatly diminished. As
the days drew closer to the planned invasion, the
attacks moved closer and closer to Normandy.
However, the majority of the raids were made
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along the coastal area near the Pas de Calais,
further reinforcing the German belief that the
Allies would strike here.
In May, Allied bombers attacked German
airelds throughout France and Holland,
hoping to wipe out any German air capability
within 130 miles of Normandy. By 4 June,
all of the ten rail bridges between Rouen and
Conans were destroyed as were 13 of the 14
road bridges. On 21 May, the Allied air forces
claimed to have destroyed 46 locomotives and
damaged 32 others.
INVASION FORCES
The Second British Army was assigned the
left ank of the invasion area. They wouldland with two divisions from I Corps and one
division from XXX Corps on three landing
beaches designated Sword, Gold and Juno. A
brigade from the 6th British Airborne Division
was to be dropped inland to secure key bridges
over the Orne River.
The First US Army was responsible for
the remaining two landing areas. The US
VII Corps was assigned the right ank of the
invasion force and would land one divisionnorth of the Vire Estuary at a location called
Utah Beach. In support of the attack on Utah
Beach, the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions
were to be dropped inland near the village of
St. Mere Eglise. Their goals were to capture
river crossings, secure major crossroads and
knock out coastal defenses in assistance to the
beach landing.
Between the British and the US VII corps
was the nal landing area, a 7,000 yard stretch
called Omaha Beach. Omaha Beach belonged
to the US V Corps. Their goal was to secure a
beachhead between the Vire River and Port-en-
Bessin and then push on toward Caumont and
St-Lo.
V CORPS
The assault on Omaha beach would be made
in 4 stages. The initial stage, called Force "O",
consisted of the 1st Infantry Division, reinforced
with 4 infantry regiments, engineers, armor and
artillery. The forces included the 16th and 18th
regiments of the 1st Infantry Division, the 116th
Regimental Combat Team and the 115th Infantry
Regiment of the 29th Infantry Division, and the
Provisional Ranger Force, which consisted of
the 2nd and 5th Ranger Battalions. All together,
Force "O" consisted of over 34,000 men and
3,000 vehicles.
The follow-up force "B" was scheduled to
arrive on Omaha Beach around noon on D Day.
It included an additional 25,000 men and 4,000vehicles. Force "B" included the remainder of
the 29th Infantry Division, including the 175th
Infantry from the 1st Infantry Division and the
26th Regimental Combat Team.
In addition, on D+1 and D+2 the 2nd Infantry
Division with 17,00 men and 2,000 vehicles
would land. The V Corps landing would
complete between D+2 and D+15 with the
arrival of some 27 remaining groups of 32,000
men and 10,000 vehicles.
FORCE "O"
Major General Clarence R. Huebner,
commander 1st Division, would lead the initial
assault, scheduled to land at 0630 on D Day.
The initial landing would be made by the 1 st
Infantry Division and two units from the 29th
Infantry Division. The units from the 29th
would be commanded by Brigadier General
Norman D. Cota until the remainder of the 29th landed as part of Force "B".
DEFENSE FORCES
The Allies estimated German Strength in
France and the Low Countries at approximately
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60 divisions, including 17 infantry divisions,
26 coastal defense units, 7 training units and 10
panzer or panzer grenadier units. The Panzer
units were located inland from the beaches
and positioned to be able to quickly strike
toward any invasion area as a counterattack.
The Germans clearly believed that the invasion
would come between the Pas de Calais and
Holland as they had at least 22 divisions
guarding this region.
The German LXXXIV Corps was
responsible for defending the French coast
from the Orne River to Brittany. In the winter
of 1943-1944, the Allies estimated that the
landing area was only defended by ve
infantry divisions. However, in May 1944,
Allied Intelligence learned that the area wasreinforced by 2 additional infantry divisions
as well as the 21st Panzer Division. In addition,
2 panzer divisions had been moved into the
nearby Allencon-Evreux region, from where
they could quickly attack the assault area.
Coastal defenses had been strengthened
greatly in the past year with the addition
of a number of bunkers, trenches and
barricades along the coast. In addition, largely
unbeknownst to Allied intelligence, GeneralRommel had ordered much of the lowlying
farmland inland of Utah Beach to be ooded.
TERRAIN
The coast of Normandy had many natural
challenges that would make any attempting
invasion difcult. Offshore reefs could bar
the way for landing craft along portions of the
coast. Some areas offered little to no beach
and were fronted by high, sheer cliffs, making
landing impossible.
Omaha beach was a 7,000 yard wide
expanse between cliffs that was also relatively
free of offshore reefs. However, it had its own
problems. First, the beach was very at with
a gradual slope. This resulted in a wide tidal
range. At high tide, the ocean came up too far
to allow landing craft to beach. At low tide, the
ocean receded so far that soldiers would have
to make their way across 300 yards of wide-
open sand.
All along the tidal at, the Germans had
placed underwater obstacles. These consisted
of three main types: mined posts, hedgehogs,
and Element "C" obstacles, also called "Belgian
gates".
At the high-tide mark, a narrow stream of
tidal water remained. This varied from 2 to 10
feet across and was between 2 and 3 feet deep.
Just past this was an area called the
"Shingle". It was a steep incline made of piled
up rocks. The shingle was about 8 feet high and
as much as 15 yards across. Its steep angle and
loose footing made it very difcult for vehicles
to make it over.
At the eastern end of Omaha Beach, the
shingle ran into a low sand dune. At the western
end, near the Vierville draw, the shingle ran
into a sea wall.
The sea wall ranged in height from 4 feet
to 12 feet. It was broken in places with gaps
as wide as a few hudred yards. Immediately
behind the sea wall was a paved road that ran
from the D1 exit (Vierville draw) to the D3 exit
(Les Moulins draw).
Behind the dunes or seawall was a wide
strip of land referred to as the "at". This area
was just that, at. In some places it includes
marshes or areas of high grass. Near theVierville draw, the at included a number of
summer homes, mostly destroyed. There was
also a small village on the at near the D3 exit,
called Les Moulins.
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Beyond the at the ground rose steeply
between 100 and 170 feet in height. A ridge-
line, called the "bluffs", extended along the
entire beach. East and west of Omaha Beach,
the bluffs grew steeper, becoming sheer cliffs.
Along the assault area, the bluffs were steep
but not sheer. Many of them were covered with
brush, grass and areas of dense vegetation.
However, on D Day, pre-landing bombardment
often caused the vegetation on the bluffs to
catch re. This created large amounts of smoke
that limited visibility and also reduced the
amount of cover available to anyone attempting
to climb the bluffs.
The bluffs were broken periodically by gaps,
called "draws". There were four major draws
on Omaha beach, which were designated as theexits from the beach for the invasion forces.
Exit D1 was at the Vierville draw, which was
directly in front of the village of Vierville-sure-
Mer. Exit D3 was further east at the village of
Les Moulins. A road from exit D3 lead to the
village of Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer. Further east
along the beach were the E1 and E3 exits. The
E3 exit was close to the village of Colleville-
sur-Mer and was called the Colleville draw.
Beyond the bluffs, the terrain leveled off andin some cases lowered into traditional Norman
farmland, which was broken up into sections
by "hedgerows". Hedgerows had existed in
Normandy since medieval times, when the land
was partitioned among landowners as part of
the feudal system. They were not just hedges,
as many today think. They were substantial
barriers that were made of steep earthen
embankments topped with dense foliage,
trees and bushes called "hedgerows". They
were virtually impassable. Many tanks would
become stuck trying to drive over them. Many
roads became effectively sunken roads because
they had hedgerows on both sides. Often these
roads were too narrow to allow large armored
vehicles to pass down them. Furthermore,
hedgerows were excellent places to set up
ambushes.
OMAHA BEACH DEFENSES
Between the Vire River and Port-en-Bessin,
the Germans had built some 32 fortied
strongpoints. The Vire Estuary, Grandchampand Port-en-Bessin were heavily fortied and
defended. 12 strongpoints were placed to be
able to direct re onto Omaha Beach. It is
believed that the Germans believed they would
be able to contain any Allied invasion on the
landing beaches, as the greatest concentration
of defenses was on or directed at the beaches.
Their plan was to stop craft from being able
to land or bottle them up while the coastal
defenses blasted them to bits and killed anyone
who managed to step foot onto a beach.
In 1944, the Germans began constructing
obstacles on all exposed beaches, including
Omaha. The obstacles placed on the tidal
ats were intended to block or disable landing
craft. These obstacles were only put in place
in Omaha starting in April and were still being
worked on when the invasion took place.
The outermost line of obstacles were large
iron, gate-like structures. They were designedto block navigation by boats with deep enough
draught or keels. The upper portions of the
gates were lined with mines to explode on
impact with a boat.
The next line of obstacles consisted of large
wooden posts and ramps topped with mines.
Boats and landing craft would either bump into
a post or ride up onto a ramp, impact a mine
and sink.
The innermost line of obstacles were called
"hedgehogs", which were made from 3 or more
steel rails or angles, crossed in the middle and
placed into the sand. Many were so secure that
when a landing craft would collide with one,
the steel beams would punch into the hull of
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the landing craft.
The tidal at obstacles were placed at
irregular intervals. Landmines were not used in
the tidal at area.
Above the shingle, Germans ran an almost
unbroken row of concertina wire. Where therewas sea wall, the concertina wire was placed
atop the wall. Elsewhere, the concertina wire
was strung immediately past the shingle.
Beyond the shingle, the at was crisscrossed
with areas of barbed or concertina wire and
sporadic mineelds. In addition along the
top of the shingle, the defenders had infantry
positions, machine gun nests and trenches for
ring on troops as they crossed the beach.
Booby traps and trip-wire mines were also
used, often inside the concertina wire.
If the attackers made it to the top of the
shingle, they were in the open. The at offered
little in the way of cover. Germans in fortied
positions, trenches, pillboxes and bunkers along
the bluffs would be able to rain down re on the
soldiers running in the open. German positions
were arranged to be able to cover the entire tidal
at and beach shelf at with overlapping elds
of re from rie, machine guns, mortar andartillery. The shoreline was curved giving the
defenders in the bluffs and cliffs at either end
of Omaha Beach clear visibility of and line of
re to attackers anywhere along the beach. At
the western-most tip of the beach, the Germans
had built a heavily fortied gun emplacement
that could re large bore artillery down the full
length of the beach.
Each of the 12 strongpoints overlooking
the beach consisted of a complex system of pillboxes, gun casements, open positions for
small arms re, and ring trenches. They
were surrounded by webs of wire and multiple
mineelds. The defensive strongpoints were
connected to each other and to underground
barracks and ammunitions stores by tunnels
and trenches. The most heavily defended areas
on the beach were the draws. In some cases
the draw defenses were situated with enough
weapons to cover every square yard of the
approach to the draw. Often, these weapons
were already zeroed in on specic locations.
Other positions had their interior walls lined
with oil painting of landmarks with the exact
range, bearing and elevation for the weapons to
hit the landmark.
Behind the bluffs, there were virtually no
defenses. The Germans would rely upon local
troops moving in to make counterattacks.
BOMBARDMENT
At about 30 minutes prior to landing, the airand naval bombardment of coastal defenses
would begin. Between H-30 minutes and
H-5 minutes some 480 B-24’s attacked 13
targets along Omaha Beach, dropping 1,300
tons of bombs on every coastal strongpoint.
From H-40 minutes to H-3 minutes, the Naval
bombardment would occur. The battleships
Texas and Arkansas with ten 14-inch, twelve
12-inch and 12 5-inch guns, three cruisers with
6 inch guns, and 8 destroyers with 4 and 5-inch
guns, opened re on the coastal defenses. Morethan 3,500 shells were red in what was the
largest naval bombardment in history.
Upon landing, naval re would shift to
inland targets with pre-selected targets being
hit rst. In addition, Infantry units would be
able to request bombardment of specic targets
as needed.
LANDING PLANOmaha Beach was divided up into six
subsectors. From west to east, the sectors were:
Dog Green, Dog White, Dog Red, Easy Green,
Easy Red, and Fox Green. The 1st Infantry
Division would attack Easy Red and Fox
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Green. The 116th Regimental Combat Team
(from the 29th Infantry Division) would come
ashore at Dog Green, Dog White, Dog Red and
Easy Green. 3 companies from the 2nd Ranger
Battalion would come ashore and scale the
cliffs at Point de Hoc. Another company from
the 2nd Ranger Battalion would come ashore
west of Dog Green and assault the fortied
positions on Point de la Percee.
The rst landing would be made at H-
5 minutes by elements of the 743rd Tank
Battalion. They would land at Dog Green
and Dog White. They would be driving DD
versions of Sherman tanks which were capable
of navigating in water. The tanks would land
and take up ring positions to defend the
shore landings. At H hour, eight LCT (landingcraft, tank) would land on Dog Red and Easy
Green to deliver A Company of the 743rd Tank
Battalion.
At H+1 minute, the 116th RCT would
land. Company A would land on Dog Green,
Company E on Dog White, Company F at
Dog Red and Company G on Easy Green.
Their primary goal was to cross the tidal
at and assault the German defenses. While
the infantry and tanks engaged the Germandefenders, engineer teams would land at H+3
minutes to set about destroying obstacles and
creating breaches to allow for exit from the
beach.
At H+30, after the engineers would have had
time to create breaches, the second and larger
wave of landings would commence. By H+3
hours, it was believed that the forces would
be well on their way inland as more and more
reinforcements would be pouring in.
D DAY
The selection of D Day was driven by
weather and tides. The invasion had to occur
at the half-way point between low tide and the
next high tide, an hour after dawn, on a night
close to a full moon. That limited the selection
of D Day to a period of days at the end of May
(21-22-23) and two groups in June (5-6-7 and
19-20-21). The rst June dates came closest to
the original target date of June 1, so on 8 May,
D Day was set for 5 June.
Unfortunately, the weather didn’t cooperate.
Preparations were well underway and the
invasion was delayed. Finally, at the last
moment the weather reports indicated that
the following day would be favorable and the
invasion was rescheduled to 6 June.
Seas were extremely rough on the morning
of 6 June. As troops boarded their Landing
Craft, Vehicle/Personnel (LCVP) they
immediately became drenched by the spray
and waves crashing over the sides. Many of the
landing craft became so inundated that their
pumps could not drain the water fast enough
and soldiers had to bail with their helmets. 10
out of 200 landing craft sank from becoming
swamped.
The seas were too rough for the DD tanks.
Of the 32 DD tanks that were launched by the
741st
Tank Battalion only 2 were able to swimto shore. The 743rd Tank Battalion decided the
seas were too rough and opted to carry the
tanks in instead of letting them swim in.
INITIAL LANDINGS
Most of the landing craft missed their
assigned locations, landing east of where they
were supposed to. The landings were so off-
course that most units were unable to locate
their assigned objectives once they landed andwere forced to abandon their plans. Also, units
became so separated that they were unable to
cohesively regroup upon landing, with some
elements being separated by hundreds of
yards.
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The 743rd Tank Battalion came ashore in
LCTs (landing craft, tank) but came under
heavy re. Company B came ashore directly in
front of the Vierville draw and drew heavy re.
Much of their tanks were lost before landing
and many others soon after, including the
Company commander.
The Army-Nave Special Engineer Task
Force that was supposed to clear the beach
obstacles and defenses were so badly scattered
and carrier east by the current that Dog Beach
received very little support. Only 5 of the
teams actually reached their assigned locations.
Some landed in open areas without any infantry
support. In spite of this, the engineers set about
their task. Yet, disaster struck as errors and
confusion caused many of their demolitionattempts to fail or explode prematurely. In the
end, only two breaches were made in the Dog
Beach area and four in Easy Red. As the tide
continued to rise, they were forced to abandon
their work until the next low tide.
INFANTRY LANDINGS
Each LCVP carried about 32 men, including
one ofcer. The LCVPs were arranged so that
a variety of roles were in each craft. Up frontwould be a leader and 5 riemen with M1
Garands. They were followed by a wire-cutting
team of 4 men with M1s. Next came 2 BAR
teams of 2 men each, 2 bazooka teams carrying
M1 Carbines, a 4 man 60mm mortar team, a
2 man ame thrower crew, and 5 demolitions
men carrying satchel charges of TNT. Last,
there was a medic and an assistant leader.
Few of the landing craft made it to shore
without getting wet on the way. Many landedon sandbars between 50 and 100 yards off
shore. The men had to wade through water that
was between waste and neck deep, with full
equipment and packs.
As the landing craft opened and men
streamed out, the enemy opened re with small
arms, mortar and artillery re. But, worst of all
was the re from the German machine guns,
which often saturated the area with overlapping
re from multiple machine gun nests. It was not
uncommon for men to hear the hail of machine
gun bullets against the ramp before it lowered,
or to see the sea turn to white foam from the
bullets churning up the surface. Many men
were cut down as the ramps lowered. Some
jumped over the sides or dove into the water to
avoid the re from the machine guns, only to
realize too late that the weight of their water-
laden gear would hold them under, killing
them.
Those who survived the initial exit fromthe landing craft found it nearly impossible
to make their way ashore. They weight from
their equipment and waterlogged gear pulled
them down. The water was cold and stiffened
their muscles and sucked the air from their
lungs. They fought and struggled step by step,
with bullets zipping past, and mortar shells
exploding all around.
Once they reached shore, they were already
exhausted. But, they couldn’t rest. They wereout in the open, exposed on a wide, at strip
of sand. Many men clustered around beach
obstacles, seeking cover behind the hedgehogs.
As it turned out, often they didn’t provide any
real cover and served only as a targeting aid for
the German gunners on the bluffs and in the
dunes. Anyone who stopped for any length of
time on the beach died.
The men made their way across the 200-300
yard expanse of beach to the rst cover theycould reach, the shingle. It soon became so
cluttered with men that there was not enough
room for everyone to hide from the Germans.
Probably the hardest his sector of Omaha
Beach was Dog Green. It was situated at the D-
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3 exit, directly across from the Vierville draw
defenses. It also received heavy anking re
from the defenses and gun emplacements to
the west at Point de la Percee.
The Company A of the 116th RCT landed at
Dog Green with a section of 2nd Rangers. They
went through hell just to get to the beach. One
landing craft sank about 1,000 yards offshore
and men could be seen struggling as the weight
of their gear pulled them under. The rest of the
landing craft hit a sandbar and beached about
50 yards out. The men had to get out and wade
through water that was 4 to 6 feet deep. As soon
as the ramps lowered, the landing craft were
torn to pieces with highly accurate and intense
re from machine guns and mortars. The scene
became chaotic as men climbed over the sidesor jumped into water over their heads.
One Landing Craft was hit by four mortar
rounds and was blown to pieces, with all on
board killed. Men were dying left and right all
the way to the beach. But, once they got there,
many men found that there was no place to get
away from the heavy re and they retreated
back into the water to attempt to get away.
In a matter of minutes, every ofcer inthe company and most sergeants were killed
or wounded. The situation was desperate.
Many men stayed in the water, hiding behind
obstacles as the tide rose. They waited letting
the tide carry them up to the shingle and sea
wall. Within 15 minutes of landing, Company
A was decimated, having suffered close to 70%
casualties.
Company G landed too far east, missing its
landing beach and coming in on the easternedge of Dog Red. This proved to be lucky, as
grass res on the bluff obscured them from
enemy re and they were able to move quickly
up the shingle and at.
Company F landed on target at the Les
Moulins draw. They came under heavy re
and like Company A got hit hard. 3 of the
boat sections were pinned down on the beach
for 45 minutes and suffered nearly 50%
casualties. With the further loss of their ofcers
at the shingle, they became unorganized and
confused.
Company E was pushed far east by the
prevailing current, landing more than a mile
off course.
Further down the beach, the 16th RCT
generally missed their landing beach (Easy
Red) and came ashore too far east. The only
units to actually make it to shore on Easy Red
was Company E of the 116th RCT, which had
missed its own beach by a mile. These men
cam shore between the E-1 and E-3 draws.
Those who came ashore at the E-3 got hit hard
while those at E-1 had an easy time of it.
At Fox beach, the 16th and elements of the
116th Company E got hammered hard from
before they lowered the ramps of their landing
craft. They had to wade through deep water
only to nd they would have to swim through
a section completely over their heads. Most
men ditched their weapons and equipment andswam for it. When they nally made it ashore,
the re was so intense that most of the men
crawled slowly up the beach with the tide.
Some sections were so badly shot up that only
a handful of men made it to the shingle. As
they regrouped on the shingle, only 125 men
remained from an entire company.
By the time the 2nd wave arrived, the 116th
had not cleared the at above the shingle. By
noon, the situation was so precarious that theAllies considered withdrawing or abandoning
Omaha beach and having the subsequent
waves land elsewhere. Finally, small groups
of soldiers working together were able to clear
some of the defenses on the bluffs. Soon, units
began to move inland, rst in small clusters and
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then soon, it turned into a stream.
Finally, by mid-afternoon, Omaha Beach
was essentially secured.
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Briefing
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BRIEFING
Give the players Map 1 – Omaha Beach
Dog Green (players version). Then read the
following:
"Good morning, men. Today is the day we’ve been training for, the day we’ve been waiting
for. Today, we’re going to France. A Company
has been hand picked to lead the assault. We hit
the beaches at H hour + 1 minute. Here is your
landing area."
(Show map.)
"This is the landing area, designated Dog
Green. (Indicate map.) Intelligence reports that
the beach is well defended with bunkers andenemy trenches along the bluffs here (indicate
Bunker Complex A) and here (indicate Bunker
Complex B). Naval and aerial bombardment
should knock these out."
"Your objective is to capture the Vierville
Draw. That’s this low valley between the bluffs
(indicate the draw on the map). There is a road
that runs up the draw to the town of Vierville.
We need to secure this draw and establish a
beach exit. The Germans have concentratedtheir defenses around the draw in anticipation
of such an attack."
"It won’t be easy. You’ll have to make your way
across 300 yards of open beach, with no cover
except for some anti-boat obstacles. Once you
reach this area (indicate the shingle) called the
Shingle, you should be out of their line of re.
Regroup and prepare yourselves."
"A unit of Special Engineers are landing
with you as well as a unit of Rangers. Their
jobs are to help clear some of the obstacles
from the beach so more boats can land and to
make a breach in either the Seawall (indicate
seawall on map) or the barbed wire behind
the Shingle. There will be engineers in each
landing craft with demolitions charges and
Bangalore torpedoes to open breaches."
"Once you reach the Flat beyond the Shingle
(indicate map), you will have to clean out
any defenders still there before assaulting the
bluffs. You have to take out all of the defenses
so the following waves can land."
"Once you have completed your objectives,
regroup at the Rally Point here (indicate
Rally Point on map) and prepare to move on
Vierville."
OBJECTIVES:
• Land at Dog Green and establish a
beachhead
• Breach the seawall or barbed wire wall
behind the shingle
• Eliminate or capture any defenders on
the Flat
• Capture the bunker complexes on the
Bluffs
• Eliminate all opposition
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The Mission
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THE APPROACH
This section is just a scripted sequence that
you can read or summarize to the players. If
you really want to spice it up, you can pretend
to roll dice, ask players what they are doing,
what they are looking at, etc. Nothing really bad should happen.
It is H hour –10 minutes. The LCVP
(landing craft, vehicle/personnel, also
known as a Higgins Boat) strains against the
strong easterly current and battles to remain
aoat in the rough chop as wave after wave
crashes against the boat. Water inundates
you and your gear as you cling to the guy infront of you, hoping not to puke on him.
Lieutenant Martin is yelling something
from the front of the boat. You can’t hear
what he’s saying and you’d wish he would
just shut up. A big wave, nearly capsizes
your LCVP. That was all the prompting your
stomach needed and you hurl your breakfast
onto a nearby backpack, unbeknownst to its
owner.
You shiver as the cold eats at you, your
muscles cramping. You shift around tying
to nd a better footing, but no matter where
or how you stand, you are uncomfortable.
A private nearby turns to you and yells over
the roar, "Look over there! There’s men in
the water!"
You look in the direction he is pointing
and you see men oating, struggling in life
preservers and on rafts. You realize it is themen from the DD Tanks who set out ahead
of you to clear the beach. They sunk before
reaching shore. You realize with a sinking
feeling in the pit of your gut that this is for
real. You start inventorying your gear.
Suddenly all hell breaks loose as the
ships begin to blast the shore. You hear the
scream of shells as they pass overhead and
the concussion seconds later. You look at the
shore and swallow hard.
Dark clouds of smoke cover the entirecoastline in a haze, obscuring nearly
everything from view. The sounds of
hundred of vessels, crashing waves and re
from the naval bombardment are practically
deafening. The stench, a mixture of sweat,
urine, vomit and fear only adds to the
turmoil in your stomach that the bouncing
of the small landing craft in the turbulent sea
has caused. You ght your nausea and try to
remember your training.
As you look ahead, the shore begins to
come into focus. You see the wide expanse
of at beach that seems to go on forever.
Beyond that you can see some hills, almost
like cliffs that tower over the beach. Directly
in front of you the hills drop down to beach
level in a gap. You see ashes of light from
all around the gap. It dawns on you what you
are facing.
"Holy Crap!" You shout as it dawns onyou. "We’re too far east! That’s the Vierville
Draw! This isn’t our landing area!"
You look back at the pilot and try to get
his attention but he is too busy to notice.
Your boat rocks violently to the right
and you are knocked off your feat by a
shockwave. As you get up, you see another
LCVP about 20 yards aware on re, men
leaping over the sides. A shell explodesdirectly in front of your boat, showering
you with water. The pilot turns hard to the
right, nearly capsizing. He manages to right
the boat and turn back toward shore, but the
maneuver reduced your speed. Another shell
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explodes nearby and everyone drops down,
trying to stay low.
You hear the boat engine whining hard,
straining. Suddenly the boat jars to a stop
throwing you forward hard. A series of
explosions stuns you. You look around andsee smoke billowing from the rear of the
boat. Men are screaming. You smell burning
esh. You hear the loud patter of automatic
re strang the body of the LCVP.
Men onboard a Higgins Boat hunkering down as they approach shore.
They are apparently drawing re. Notice the variety of weapons. You
can see a couple BARs, numerous M1 Garands, at least one Thompson
SMG and what looks like part of a medium machine gun.
What happens next is a bit of a surprise.
Don’t tell the players right away. First of all,
the current was much stronger than expeted
and the landing craft drifted directly in front of
the Vierville draw. Second, instead of landing
on the beach, the boat beaches on a sandbar.Go
on to the next section.
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THE SANDBAR DESCRIPTION
The Sandbar is about 30 feet across and 100
– 150 yards wide. It does not connect to the
beach at any point. Instead, it is separated from
the beach by 25 yards or 3 – 4 feet deep water
and about 50 yards of 8 – 10 feet deep water.The sandbar itself is submerged in 2 – 4 feet of
water.
SITUATION
The Players situation on the sandbar
is precarious. There is one 60mm mortar,
two MG34 positions and one MG42 that
periodically re at them, all from Bunker
Complex B. There are also several Germans
armed with Kar98s shooting in their direction.The automatic weapons are using area autore.
The K98s are effectively ring blind. The good
news is the player’s LCVP is not the only target
for these gunners. You should only attack the
players periodically. However, it is clear that
to remain on the sandbar is to die.
Let them stay a minute or two to plan their
course of action. If they stay too long, you need
to get them moving. One factor to aid in this is
the accuracy of the mortar. Each minute that
the players remain on the sandbar, give the
mortar a +1 attack bonus against them.
The LCVP provides 25% concealment while
men are inside it. If they attempt to hide behind
the LCVP, the water is too deep.
Anyone kneeling gets a +1 Defense bonus.
Anyone prone gets a +2 Defense Bonus.
GETTING TO SHORE
The only way to shore from the sandbar is
across a stretch of water that is 4-8 feet deep
and 50-75 yards across. If the characters enter
the water with their gear on, their movement
The ramp begins to lower. You catch a
eeting glimpse of the beach and water,
too much water. You are pushed forward as
the men on the boat surge toward the ramp.
You hear strange thudding noises and see ashower of red mist as an MG42 sprays the
inside of the landing craft. Men fall down
all around you, screaming.
Someone behind you yells, "Move! Move!
Move!" and you try to run forward. You step
over bodies, some still alive clutching at the
holes in their chests or bellies. More men
fall in front of you. You see the beach but in
front of you all you see is water. No time to
stop and think. You push forward.
Just as you reach the ramp you see the
men in front of you wading in water up to
their knees suddenly disappear under the
waves. You look for them, but they are gone,
the weight of their gear pulling them down
and keeping them there. Bullets zip past
you, killing the man to your rear. You kneel
down on the ramp trying to understand what
is going on. Then you see it.
Sandbar! The LCVP has beached on
a sandbar about 50-100 yards out from
the beach. You look around. Of the 35
men on your LCVP over half are dead or
dying, several more are missing. Bullets
from automatic weapons and small arms
ping, zip and strike targets all about you.
Mortar shells careen overhead, exploding
showering you with fragments of shrapnel.
Before you lays an expanse of open water ofunknown depth.
To your left, another LCVP is beached on
the sandbar as well. Its men are no better off
than those on your LCVP. To the right you
see only open ocean.
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rate should be cut to normal due to the
heaviness of being waterlogged. After they
move 10-15 feet, the water level drops to its
full depth, which will be over their heads. If
they insist on going forward with their gear on,
have them make Swim checks (DC20) each
round to avoid starting to drown.
At any point they can ditch their gear. Doing
so changes the DC to 10, but they have to ditch
all their gear. The idea is to get them to shore
with nothing but their clothes… no helmet, no
weapon, no ammo.
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THE BEACH
Map 1 shows the overall layout of the Dog
Green section of Omaha Beach. The beach
at is about 300 yards wide from shore to
shingle. It is very at and open and provides no
cover. The beach is littered with anti-boat/tankobstacles which do provide 25% cover. You
can randomly place an obstacle every 25 to 50
yards or use the layout we’ve provided in Map
1.
Defenses
The GM version of Map 1 shows highlighted
areas where defenders have zeroed their
weapons. These are represented by green ovals.
Any defensive re into those areas gets a +2 bonus to the attack roll.
All defenses can re on the beach. Track
the movements of all Allied players and
NPCs. Distribute the re randomly among all
targets. The defenders are mostly just spraying
whatever they see. Focus on stationary targets.
That makes it more dangerous to stay behind
an obstacle for long periods.
Description
As the players are about half way across the
beach read this:
You nally made it to shore. You don’t
have time to rest as bullets stream past
you or hit the sand next to you throwing
up a shower of dirt. The beach looks
unbelievably wide from where you are.
You will have to cross about 300 yards in
the open. The bombers mostly missed the
beach and there are few craters. There are
beach obstacles that you can hide behind.
They provide minimal protection from the
constant re. You can’t even really tell who
is shooting at you. It seems to be coming
from everywhere.
You cannot see much beyond 50 or 100
yards. There is just too much smoke. You
see the burning hulk of a couple of Sherman
tanks and bodies everywhere.
As you wait, trying to decide what to do,
a bullet hits a soldier kneeling next to you.His head snaps back and blood showers you.
You hear someone yell at you, "Get moving,
soldier! If you want to live, get up and move
your butt!"
You can see an embankment about 150
yards ahead. It looks like you can hide
behind it, if you can just reach it. You cansee muzzle ashes above the embankment
and the dark outline of the bluffs beyond.
As the players are about 25-50 yards from
the shingle, read this:
You can see the embankment clearly.
This must be what they called the Shingle
in the brieng. It is an 8 to 12 foot high
embankment of rocks and gravel. It is only
about 10 yards across but the steepness
blocks anyone lying at the bottom from
re from the defensive positions on the at
beyond or the bluffs. You can also clearly
see the bluffs now and see two concrete
bunkers overlooking the draw.
You also see a line of defenses along the
top of the Shingle including what look
like trenches, pillboxes, machine gun
nests all blocked off by a solid wall of
barbed wire.
There is nothing between you and the
shingle. The last 25-50 yards is open
beach, littered with corpses and wounded
men.
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The players can try to return re any time
they want. The likelihood of hitting anything
is minimal until they are within 25-50 yards of
the shingle. Even then it will be difcult.
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THE SHINGLE BARBED WIRE
You hunker down against the rocks at the
bottom of the shingle. You can now rest a
bit, as bullets can’t hit you here. However,
occasionally someone will stand up and look
over the rocks only to be shot, or a grenadedrops over the rocks exploding among the
huddled men.
The sounds of battle haven’t lessened.
The ground shakes with explosion after
explosion. You crawl up the shingle and
see the barbed wire wall at the top. Bullets
splatter the rocks above you, forcing you
back down.
The players can rest. This is a good chance
for medics to treat injuries. Give them some
time to plan their actions. First they need to
clear a hole through the wire. They can try
to go through where they are or move down
the beach. The left hand side of the shingle is
fronted by a 12 foot high sea wall. There is a
breach in the wall from a naval shell, but they
have to nd it. It is behind some barbed wire,
but less than anywhere else.
No matter where they try to go over the
shingle, they need to get through some amount
of barbed wire. They cannot get through the
barbed wire without wire cutters or Bangalore
torpedoes.
SPECIAL ENGINEERS
Well, unfortunately you can’t nd any of the
engineers. It would seem they were all killed or
were wounded. However, you can nd some
Bangalore torpedoes fairly easily.
The barbed wile is made of large,
overlapping coils of concertina wire
suspended between posts. Each section is
about 15 – 20 feet long and about 8 feet
deep. You can see no way through the wire.You will have to cut or blast your way
though.
Barbed wire is an obstacle that blocks
infantry and light vehicle movement. Anyone
attempting to move through barbed wire suffers
1d4 damage per round. To cross a barbed wire
obstacle requires a successful Dexterity check
(DC 20). Anyone failing the check becomes
entangled for one round and may make no
action for an entire round (other than trying to
get free). The Dexterity check must be repeated
each round that the person is in the barbed wire,
and an additional 1d4 points of damage is taken
each round.
Cutting Barbed Wire: A soldier with wire
cutters can cut through a barbed wire barricade
in 3d4 combat rounds. He must continue cutting
as full round actions for the duration of the time
required. The cutting may be interrupted and
restarted without adding time. The soldier loses
any defense bonuses due to Dexterity while
cutting. He creates a path wide enough for one
person to move through.
Bangalore Torpedoes: Bangalore torpedoes
are lengths of explosive-lled pipe that are
connected together, run under barricades
and detonated. A Bangalore torpedo clears a
20-foot wide path through barbed wire. The
length of the path cut is equal to the length ofthe torpedo plus 5 feet. Bangalore torpedoes
require the Demolitions skill.
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THE SEAWALL
The seawall fronts the left half of the
shingle overlooking Dog Green. It is a solid
concrete retaining wall that varies in height
from around 8 feet to 12 feet. It is topped
with barbed wire and manned with severaldefenders. You see no easy way over the
wall.
There really is no easy way over the wall.
The PCs do not have scaling ladders or
grappling hooks. Bangalore torpedoes may not
even breach the wall. If Bangalores are placed
at the seawall, there is only a 50% chance that
they will create a breach. There already is a
breach, from naval bombardment. However, it
is far down the left-hand side of the beach and
the PCs must nd it. The barbed wire there is
thinner, but still intact.
If the PCs create or nd the breach read the
following:
A 15-foot section of seawall lays collapsed
in a pile of broken concrete. You should be
able to climb up through the rubble to the
at.
SIDE MISSIONS
You can give players side missions if you
think it is a good idea. Some ideas for side
missions on the beach include things like:
• Locate the Captain
• Find a radio operator so we can report
in
• Get some Bangalaores
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THE FLATMGs can and should re at or near the PCs as
they move around on the at. However, only
target the defenses from one bunker complex,
whichever is closer.
Also, if they approach the front of the
pillbox, its occupants will not hesitate to re
at the PCs.
The Fortied House must be taken before
they can move on to the Bluff.
TRENCHES
The at is an area of relatively at land
that runs between the shingle and the edge
of the bluffs. It is covered with defensive
positions, including mineelds, barbed wire,
foxholes, trenches, machine gun nests and pillboxes. Immediately behind the shingle
are defense trenches. These are little more
than reinforced ditches from with German
infantry can re down on the beach. Further
east you can see the gray shape of a small
pillbox, from which sporadic machine gun
re erupts. You also notice several active
MG nests.
Directly in front of the draw you see a
stone, two-storey house. Muzzle ashes can be seen from several windows. On the left
side of the draw there are ruins of several
small homes.
The re from the bluffs is intense. The
Bunkers loom menacingly above you. Every
few seconds a big gun in one of the bunkers
res.
DEFENSES
The beach map shows the relative position
of defenses. The area descriptions provide
details on the defenders in each area. Most
of the defenders in the trenches will fall back
when the PCs come through the barbed wire.
They are not interested in getting killed and
have little to no loyalty to the Third Reich.
However, the men in the pillbox, MG nests
and Fortied House will not run unless they
are outnumbered and suffer 50% casualties.
Let the PCs decide how to tackle the defenses
on the at. You should focus the attention of
either Bunker complexes on the PCs at this
point. The artillery can only re at targets on
the beach or in the water, but the mortar and
The trenches are 4-5 feet deep and about
5 feet wide.
The Germans man them with troops carrying
K98s, MP40s and the occasional StG44.However, the troops are conscripts and will run
as soon as the PCs approach. Each trench has
1d4 Conscripts. Trenches provide 75% cover.
PILLBOX
The pillbox is a small concrete structure
that faces down the beach at an angle toward
the draw. It is positioned to be able to target
anyone coming up the beach in front of the
seawall or draw. A German machine gunis ring from inside. From the sound, you
guess it is a MG42.
The pillbox holds 1 MG42 and 2 Rookies
with K98s. They will not run. The pillbox
is relatively impervious to damage. A single
grenade thrown through the rear doorway
should kill anyone inside. Each defender gets
a Reex Save (DC 15) to take half damage. If
they fail the save, they are killed. If the PCs
don’t use a grenade, they will have to ght itout.
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Foyer
The front door opens to stairs going up to
the second oor and a hallway that leads to the
back door. To the right is a doorway into the
parlor and to the left, about midway down the
wall is a doorway into the Common Room.
The 2nd oor landing forms a balcony
overlooking the foyer. A German with an
MP40 is upstairs (See Stairs Landing).
The room is empty.
Common Room
This is a large room (30ft. x 40 ft.) lled
with 3 very large tables and assorted chairs. It
FORTIFIED HOUSE
You can give or show Map: Fortied House
to the players. Do not show them the GM
version of the map. All of the defenders have 3
clips/magazines of ammo and 2 stick grenades.
(Read)
Map: Fortied House (Players Map)
The stone house occupies a commanding
position at the mouth of the draw. The front
of the house faces toward the ocean. The
right side has a second oor. There is a barn
in the rear.
Muzzle ashes come from several of the
windows.
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appears to be a meeting or dining room. There
are 4 windows in the room.
A German Wehrmacht Rookie with a K98
and a Wehrmacht Rookie with an StG44 are in
the room.
Parlor
This 15’ x 30’ room has been stripped of all
its furniture. There are windows at the front
and rear. Doorways near the front lead out to
the Foyer and into the Kitchen.
There is a Wehrmacht Rookie with a K98 and
a Wehrmacht Conscript also with K98 here.
Kitchen
This is a 15’ x 15’ room. There is a window
over the counter and a doorway into a
bedroom.
The kitchen is not occupied.
Bedroom 1
This 15’ x 15’ bedroom is apparently being
used by a German ofcer. All of his belongings
and part of his uniform are in the room.
The room is not occupied.
Map: Fortied House (Players Map)GM Map
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2nd Floor
Stairs Landing
A railing goes around the landing, making a
balcony. There is one doorway in the middle of
the house leading to a hallway.
There is a German Wehrmacht Rookie with
an MP40 stationed here. He will re on anyone
entering the house our out the rearward facing
window.
Hall
The hall is 5 feet wide and 25 feet long.
There are 4 bedrooms off the hall, all identical
except for the occupants.
Bedrooms 2 – 5.
These rooms are all 12.5’ x 12.5’ and
arranged identically. Each room has a window,
the two outermost rooms (3 & 5) have two
windows.
There are Germans in rooms 3-5 as follows:
BR 3 – Wehrmacht Rookie (K98)
BR 4 – Wehrmacht Veteran Ofcer (StG 44
– jammed, Walther P38)
BR 5 – Wehrmacht Rookie (MP40)
MINEFIELDS
There are several locations marked as
mineelds. You can make these up. Any player
dumb enough to walk into one deserves to get
blown up. Anytime they are near one read this:
There are 3 areas on the at that are not
marked as mineelds by signs. The Omaha
Beach GM"s map shows them as orange ovals.
These are hidden mineelds. Each one has a
density of 5%. Any player moving through the
mineeld must roll 1d20 each round. On a roll
of 1 he steps on a landmine. See the sections on
landmines in the Players Guide.
You see an area surrounded by barbed
wire. There are small signs along the
barbed wire with a death head skull and
German writing that you’re pretty sure says
"Mines".
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THE BLUFFS BUNKERS
The bunkers have one 50mm gun which can
only re at targets on the beach or in the ocean.
They also have two MG42s mounted to re in
arcs that are pointing either up or down the
beach at about a 45 degree angle. Unlike thePillbox, grenades must be resolved normally.
The scale on the bunker complex maps is 1
square = 5 feet.
BUNKER COMPLEX A
The Bunker Complex A map shows the
general layout of the complex. The GM version
of the map shows the position of the defenders.
All of the defenders are Wehrmacht Rookiesexcept the MP40 in the small storage room
near the main bunker. That unit is a Wehrmacht
Veteran.
BUNKER COMPLEX B
The Bunker Complex B map shows the
general layout of the complex. The GM version
of the map shows the position of the defenders.
All of the defenders are Wehrmacht Rookies.
AFTERMATH
Once the PCs clear both of the bunker
complexes, any remaining German defenders
at Dog Green will surrender or ee. The PCs
can move to the rally point.
The bluffs tower over the beach, rising
150 to 170 feet above the at. The side
facing the ocean is very steep and covered
with grass and brush. About halfway up the
slope, on each side of the draw are bunkercomplexes. The main component is a large
concrete reinforced bunker.
You can see what looks like a 40 to 50
mm gun and two MG42s ring from inside
the bunkers. Near each bunker are multiple
ring positions and machine gun nests. You
can only assume that they are all connected
by a network of tunnels and trenches.
The Bunkers and defenses on the bluffsare arranged to turn the draw into a meat
grinder. They have overlapping elds of re
on the entire draw area and most of the at.
It would be suicide to approach the draw
while the bluff defenses are intact.
The players must decide how to get to the
bluff defenses and which one to attack rst.
The following information summarizes the
features of the bluff defense complexes. At the
end of this section is a list of defenders.
TRENCHES
All trenches are 4-5 feet deep and 5 feet
wide. They are reinforced with wooden beams
and walls. The oor is sandy dirty. Boxes,
chests and barrels are located throughout
the complex. Most contain supplies and
ammunition for German weapons that are of
no real use to the players.
MACHINE GUN/MORTAR NESTS
Machine gun/mortar nests are reinforced
concrete circles that are about 3-4 feet deep.
They are surrounded by layers of sandbags.
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Picture taken by Robert Capa on Omaha Beach on D-Day.
Gamemaster
Section
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GAMEMASTER STUFF
This chapter contains various things to make
your life as a Gamemaster easier. You will nd
detailed maps for both players and GMs. Don’t
let the players see the GM maps. We’ve also
included specications for items not found inthe Players Guide.
In addition, we’ve also packed in some extras
including map piece geomorphs for making
your own tabletop maps, unit counters for both
German and US troops, gameplay counters
for marking suppression, which units perform
burst or autore, blast radius markers, etc.
VEHICLES
This section contains specications on
vehicles not covered in the WW2H Players
Guide.
LCVP OR HIGGINS BOAT
Construction
Material:Wood (oak, pine and mahogany)
Displacement: 15,000 lbs.
Length: 36’ 3"Beam: 10’ 10"
Draft: 3’ Aft and 2’ 2" Forward
Speed: 12 Knots
Armament: Two .30-Caliber Machine Guns
Crew:Three - Coxswain, Engineer and
Crewman
Capacity:36 Troops with gear and equipment,
or
6,000-Pound vehicle, or
8,100-Pounds of Cargo
Power Plant: Gray 225-HP Diesel Engine
Developed in the 1930’s by Higgins
Industries, the ‘Eureka’ was designed to
work in the shallow swamps and marshes of
Louisiana. The boat was able to operate in only
18" of water. It could run through all types of
vegetation and over debris and oating logs
without fouling or damaging its propeller. It
was also able to pull right up onto shore and
then extract itself with no difculties.
The boat featured a solid block of pine at
the bow. Called the "headlog" this structural
support allowed the boat to ride over obstacles
and onto the beach without damaging the boat
in any way. In addition, the boat had a unique
hull design. It was a deep vee forward, and
reverse-curve amidships. Aft, it had two at
planning sections that surrounded a semi-
tunnel that protected the propeller. The hull
design actually pushed objects and debris away
from the drive and enhanced the operating
speed of the craft greatly.
A bow ramp was added and the Higgins’
Eureka became the US Landing Craft Vehicle/
Personnel (LCVP). It could carry 36 men or
a jeep + 12 men. The LCVP could land, drop
its load, extract itself and head back out for
more easily. The Higgins Boat was fast, highly
maneuverable and able to get in and back out.
COMBAT ACTION TIMELINE
The Table on the following page is an actiontimeline that you can use to track the actions
of the many combatants, both PC and NPC.
Record the name or some designator for each
unit and their basic co