The 'O' Group Normandy Campaign
2. How the Campaign is Played
A printable version of these rules is available here
Basic Principles
The campaign consists of five set piece battles which are fought in sequence, although it is possible that there will be more engagements if, for example, the Germans decide to counter-attack or the British withdraw and the action needs to be replayed. A scenario ends when the German side withdraws and chooses not to counter-attack. Victory points are awarded to each side based on their performance in the actions fought in each scenario and the side accumulating the most points when the final engagement has been fought will be the winner.
The 56th Independent Infantry Brigade and 277th Infanterie Regiment will each have a core of three battalions. For each force, one of these battalions is designated the ‘reserve’ (2nd Glosters for the British, 3rd Battalion for the Germans). These units will only take part in the final battle unless they are brought into action sooner by the Commander-in-Chief. Each battalion will consist of four companies but only three companies can participate in each individual action. The fourth company is designated as the ‘replacement’ and can only be used on the battlefield if certain conditions have been met and only ever as a swap for a company that has been depleted by casualties.
Using the ‘O’ Group ground scale of 1” = 25yds, each battlefield represents an area of 1800yds x 1200yds (a 6’ x 4’ table-top).All the battles are attack/defend engagements. There are five maps for each scenario and four counter-attack maps in the event of the German commander exercising this option (there is no opportunity for counter-attack in the final scenario). There are two objectives for the attacking force on each map.
Infantrymen using a Hotchkiss machine gun in Caen, July 1944
Tank riders in Normandy, July 1944
Definitions
An action is a table-top battle which uses the main scenario map or the associated counter-attack map. It is fought using standard ‘O’ Group rules. An action ends when a decision is reached, that is when one side withdraws by force or withdraws voluntarily.
A scenario is the possible number of actions that can take place on the main battle map or the associated counter-attack map. A scenario ends when the German player is forced to withdraw or voluntarily withdraws and chooses not to counter-attack.
Possession of an objective - if the objective is a BUA, the attacker must have an unsuppressed section within the BUA at the end of a turn with no enemy units present. If the objective contains more than one BUA, all of them must be occupied by an unsuppressed section. If the objective is a road or crossroads the attacker must have an unsuppressed section on the feature at the end of a turn with no unsuppressed enemy units within 8 inches.
Sherman Firefly, July 1944
All battalions are at full strength at the start of the campaign. At the start of the scenario each commander selects supports up to the maximum number of points allowed. Players do not have to use all the support points allocated - some can be held in reserve in case further actions are fought in the same scenario.
Whenever an action ends in a withdrawal, victory points are calculated and casualty re-assessment takes place.
Moving to the next scenario: -
All battalions begin the next scenario with the force remaining from the previous action, after casualty re-assessment has occurred, unless the commander elects to deploy the reserve battalion (if it is available). Support options can be changed but the number of points available at the start of the scenario cannot exceed the number available from the initial allocation or the number carried forward from the previous action (whichever is lower) unless specified otherwise.
Additional 'O' Group Rules
The following rules from the ‘1944 The Battle for Normandy’ will be used: -
1. Tank Commanders
3. 120mm Mortars
4 Bocage Hedges (see modifications below)
7 Shifting a Company Boundary
9 Field Defences: -
The British player may reserve support points in order to dig trenches should the German player elect to counter-attack.
Infantry of 2nd Essex pass a knocked-out Panther, June 1944
Bocage Hedges - in those scenarios featuring bocage terrain, bocage hedges are those surrounding and separating fields. All other hedges, e.g. gardens are of normal height. British attack units can use armoured dozers but they will not be represented by models. During the initial battalion deployment the British C-in-C will roll two dice to see how many breaches the dozers have made in bocage hedges: -
The British commander may select which hedges are breached up to 24” from the enemy baseline. Each gap is the width of an infantry section base and all should be indicated by some suitable marker or physical gap in the on-table terrain. Armoured dozers cost 2 support points.