D20 Modern - World War II Heroes-Omaha Beach

8/11/2019 D20 Modern - World War II Heroes-Omaha Beach

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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

Game License, version 1.0a: all original artwork,

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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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Robert W. Farrioris 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


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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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1Omaha Beach Mission Pack

INTRODUCTION

6 June 1944. Normandy. 0630

The Allies launch the largest amphibious

assault in history against Hitlers 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 thebattleeld 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 2ndcharacter 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.

Dont 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. Dont 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 Hitlers

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 wasbelieved 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 6thBritish 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 101stAirborne 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 1stInfantry Division, reinforced

with 4 infantry regiments, engineers, armor and

artillery. The forces included the 16thand 18th

regiments of the 1stInfantry Division, the 116th

Regimental Combat Team and the 115thInfantry

Regiment of the 29thInfantry Division, and the

Provisional Ranger Force, which consisted of

the 2ndand 5thRanger 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 1stInfantry Division and the

26thRegimental Combat Team.

In addition, on D+1 and D+2 the 2ndInfantry

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 1stDivision, 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 29thlanded 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 21stPanzer 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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H i s t o r y


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 ofpillboxes, 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-24s 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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History


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 2ndRanger

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 743rdTank

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 didnt 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 743rdTank 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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then soon, it turned into a stream.

Finally, by mid-afternoon, Omaha Beach

was essentially secured.


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Briefing


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 wevebeen training for, the day weve been waiting

for. Today, were 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. Thats 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 wont be easy. Youll 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 reallybad 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 cant hear

what hes saying and youd 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! Theres 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. "Were too far east! Thats the Vierville

Draw! This isnt 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.

Dont 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 players 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 weve 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 +2bonus 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 dont

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 cant 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 cant 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 havent 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 cant 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 andpillboxes. 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 canbe 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

dont 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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Mission


2ndFloor

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 youre pretty sure says

"Mines".


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B l u f f s


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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UnitName

RAtk

MAtk

Def

Dam

AutoDam

HP

Wounds

CombatActionsinRounds

R

ound1

Round2

Round3


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DEFENDERS

All of the defenders are Wehrmacht units.

They are either Conscripts, Rookiers or

Veterans. The following summarizes the

information from the Players Guide on these

NPC types:

Wehrmacht Conscripts

Conscripts are men who have been forced

into service for the Third Reich. Many of them

come from Eastern European countries that

have been occupied by Germany, including

some of Mongolian descent. Conscripts have

little to no loyalty to Hitler. They are poorly

trained, poorly equipped and very likely to run

away or surrender given the opportunity.

Conscript: Level: 1, CR: 1/3, HD: 1d8, HP:

8, MAS: 11, Init Bonus: +0, Defense: 11, Flat-

footed: 11, Base Attack Bonus: +0, Grapple:

+1, Unarmed Attack: +1, Melee Attack: +1,

Ranged Attack: +0, Fort: +0, Reex: +0, Will: -

1, Str: 12, Dex: 11, Con: 11, Int: 9, Wis: 8, Cha:

8, Guts: 9, Disciplin: 6 , Leadership: 6. Weapon

Qualication: Only the weapon indicated for

the unit in the mission specs.

Rookie

Rookies tended to be German citizens,

though often they were either young boys or

old men. They had relatively poor training, but

had reasonably good equipment, especially at

the time of D-Day.

Rookies will stand and ght, but may run or

surrender if their unit suffers 50% casualties.

Rookie: Level: 1, CR: 1/2, HD: 1d10+2, HP:

12, MAS: 14, Init Bonus: +1, Defense: 13, Flat-

footed: 12, Base Attack Bonus: +1, Grapple:

+2, Unarmed Attack: +2, Melee Attack: +2,

Ranged Attack: +2, Fort: +3, Reex: +3, Will:

+1, Str: 12, Dex: 14, Con: 14, Int: 13, Wis: 11,

Cha: 9, Guts: 11, Disciplin: 8 , Leadership: 8.

Weapon Qualication: The weapon indicated

for the unit in the mission specs, plus the K98

and Hand Grenade.

Veteran

Veterans are German soldiers who haveexperience ghting, often from somewhere

on the Eastern Front. They tend to be tough

ghters. They will not usually run away or

surrender unless facing overwhelming odds.

They often are either NCOs or Ofcers.

Veteran: Level: 5, CR: 2, HD: 5d10+10,

HP: 60, MAS: 15, Init Bonus: +2, Defense:

116, Flat-footed: 14, Base Attack Bonus: +5,

Grapple: +6, Unarmed Attack: +6, MeleeAttack: +6, Ranged Attack: +7, Fort: +5,

Reex: +5, Will: +2, Str: 13, Dex: 15, Con: 15,

Int: 13, Wis: 11, Cha: 9, Guts: 12, Disciplin: 10

, Leadership: 10. Weapon Qualication: The

weapon indicated for the unit in the mission

specs, plus the K98, Walther P38, MP38/40

and Hand Grenade.

WOUNDING AND DEATH

This mission is extremely combat oriented.

Characters are very likely to get wounded

or killed. You should have several backup

characters ready to take over in the event of

a PC becoming incapacitated or killed. Have

the backup characters operate as NPCs in the

players squad until needed.

Medics are NPC characters that you dont

really have to worry about. Anytime a PC

yells for a medic, one will come within 1d4rounds. However, remember that Treat Injury

only restores 1d4 Hit Points. It can also only be

performed once a day for a character. However,

feel free to change this to be once per day per

injury. If a character is treated and then shot

again, he should be able to be treated for the


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new wound.

Medics can also stabilize a dying character.

This may be the most common use for them.

Characters who are wounded are eligible to

receive the Purple Heart. Also, if a character is

incapacitated, he cannot gain experience points

until he is back in action.

USING MINIS

We have included a set of minis for you to

use. They include 1 inch, round counters with

German and US infantry depicted. Use them

as you wish to represent both PCs and NPCs.

They are scaled to match the map pieces also

included.

Wounded Soldier Being Treated on Beach

You can either use the maps we provide andindicate on them where units are or build a

virtual battleeld using the mini map pieces.

We dont provide you with minis for the

bunkers, but you can make your own fairly

easily.

The trenches, obstacles, barbed wire, etc.

that we do provide should be helpful. You will

also nd chits to indicate which units have

red automatic weapons (Burst and Autore)

as well as target chits for such things as thrownweapons and mortars.

PREMADE CHARACTERS

You can use the following if you like:


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PRIVATE COBB

ABILITIES

Ability Score Bonus

Str 12 +1

Dex 14 +2Con 14 +2

Int 10 +0

Wis 10 +0

Cha 10 +0

Disc 10 +0

Guts 13 +1

Lead 11 +0

STATS

Hit Points: 12

Initiative: +2

Fort: +3

Ref: +3

Will: +1

Melee Attack: +2

Ranged Attack: +3

Defense: 13

Flat-footed: 11

WEAPONS

Private Anderson is qualied with the

following weapons:

Weapon Extra Attack

Bonus

Carried?

M1 Garand +1* No

M1 Carbine +0 Yes

M9A1 Rocket

Launcher (Bazooka)

+0 Yes

Bayonet +0 Yes

M2 60mm Mortar +1* No

*Bonuses from feats included.

FEATS

Athletic, Bravado, Dead Aim, Far Shot,

Heroic Effort, Improved Brawl, Indirect Fire,

Mortar Expert, Run, Streetghting, Weapon

Focus (M1 Garand).

SKILLS

Skill Ranks

Chemical Defense 1

Craft (Fortications) 2

First Aid 2

Hygiene & Sanitation 1

Knowledge (Military) 1

Map Reading 2

Marching 1

Protecting Military Info 1

Radio Operation 1Sign Language (Military) 1

Tactics (Squad) 1

Use & Characteristics(Allied Weapons, Allied

Vehicles, Axis Weapons, Axis

Vehicles)

1 each

Balance 4

Climb 4

Concentration 4

Crawl 4

Hide 4

Jump 4

Landmines 1

Move Silently 4

WOUNDS


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PRIVATE DOUGLAS

ABILITIES

Ability Score Bonus

Str 14 +2

Dex 16 +3Con 15 +2

Int 10 +0

Wis 10 +0

Cha 10 +0

Disc 10 +0

Guts 15 +2

Lead 10 +0

STATS

Hit Points: 12

Initiative: +3

Fort: +3

Ref: +4

Will: +1

Melee Attack: +3

Ranged Attack: +4

Defense: 14

Flat-footed: 11

WEAPONS

Private Anderson is qualied with the

following weapons:

Weapon Extra Attack

Bonus

Carried?

M1 Garand +2* No

BrowningAutomatic

Rie (BAR)

+1 Yes

Hand Grenades +0 4

Bayonet +0 Yes

Thompson SMG +0 No

Colt .45 Pistol +0 No

*Bonuses from feats included.

FEATS

Autore Expert, Burst Fire, Disciplined,

Dodge, Double Tap, Far Shot, Knockout Punch,

Rie Expert, Shot on the Run, Suppressing

Fire, Weapon Focus (M1 Garand).

SKILLS

Skill Ranks

Chemical Defense 1

Craft (Fortications) 1

First Aid 1

Hygiene & Sanitation 1

Knowledge (Military) 1

Map Reading 1

Marching 1

Protecting Military Info 1

Radio Operation 1Sign Language (Military) 1

Tactics (Squad) 1

Use & Characteristics(Allied Weapons, Allied

Vehicles, Axis Weapons, Axis

Vehicles)

1 each

Balance 3

Booby Traps 3

Climb 3

Crawl 3

Decipher Code 3

Demolitions 2

Gamble 2

Hide 2

Landmines 2

Spot 1

WOUNDS


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Print and Cutout Mini Soldiers (1 inch = 5 ft.)


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Beach Obstacles


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Barbed Wire

Boxes & Barrels


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PLAYER MAPS

The maps on the following pages are intended to be given to the players.

They do not contain any secret information. Permission is granted to

photocopy any of the maps for personal use.


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GAMEMASTER MAPS

The maps on the following pages are intended to be used only by the

Gamemaster. They contain troop positions, locations of mineelds and

other secret information. Permission is granted to photocopy any of the

maps for personal use.


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Documents

D20 Modern - World War II Heroes-Omaha Beach