1. Mission and Opponent Plan.

I will announce the round one match-ups on June 8th. I want to explain how the match-ups will work so that players may fully prepare

For 1st Round Germans:

Festung Co – Defend in Hit the Beach
Grenadier Co – Defend in Hit the Beach
Fallschirmjager/Luftwaffe Troops – Defend in Seize and Hold
Panzer/Stug, Aufklarung, or PanzerGrenadier/Pioneer – Defend in Seize and Hold

Those that end up not fighting in the above special missions would default to Hold the Line.

For 1st round Allies:

Assault Co – Attack in Hit the Beach
RM Commando – Attack in Hit the Beach
Airborne – Attack in Seize and Hold
Rifle “Leg” Infantry – Attack in Hit the Beach
Mech Infantry – Hold the Line Only (No Mech on D-Day and they can't fly!)
Armor/Cavalry – Possibly Hit the Beach (one player is using 737th Armor) but more likely HTL (especially the 7th Armored player)
Ranger – Attack in Hit the Beach

Those that end up not fighting in the above special missions would default to Hold the Line.

In the end each player will need to prepare for only one special scenario (S&H or HTB; however, he is not guaranteed to play in these except the Airborne Players who most assuredly get to play S&H (No special board required and applicable to a wide range of opponent forces). I will prioritize Festung and Assault/Commando companies for Hit the Beach of course, and then move other units to those boards based on how many we have.

Match ups for Round 2 (Encounter) and Round 3 (Breakthrough) will be determined based on and in order (Allied/German, VP Total, then Cub/Home) "the good o'le fashioned way!"

2. List Composition

a. Historically Accuracy - Any list that his historically accurate for a force fighting in Normandy Area from June 44 to August 44 is acceptable. This means that not all of “Festung Europa” is legal for this tournament. Some organizations and equipment in Festung Europa are invalid and thus the player is responsible to make sure that he accurately researches his unit and chooses a list to appropriately model that unit. For example items that were not used during the Normandy campaign such as Nashorns, Elephants, Brummbars, FlamenPanzers and other German east front specific equipment cannot be.

b. List Versions. Each player will have a main 1750pt list that will be used in Rounds Two, There and possibly round one. Players may have a special First Round List if they are playing in one of the special scenarios. The main and special list will be for the same force type (for example if you are playing a Festung Company in Round one you will also play a Festung Company in Rounds Two and Three. The Special First Round list alternatives are as follows:

Festung Co – 1000pt List for Defend in Hit the Beach (Note Fortification Rule in effect)
Grenadier Co – 1000pt List for Defend in Hit the Beach (Note Fortification Rule in effect)
Assault Co – 1750pt List for Attack in Hit the Beach
RM Commando/Ranger – 1750pt List for Attack in Hit the Beach
Airborne – 1750pt List for Attack in Seize and Hold
Rifle “Leg” Infantry – 1750pt List for Attack in Hit the Beach
Armor/Cavalry – 1750pt List for Attack in Hit the Beach

These special list variants are for D-Day, June 6th, 1944 itself. Therefore the must be limited to equipment used on that day. For example Wasp, Kangaroo Carriers, Crocodiles, and other allied equipment used later in the Normandy Campaign, but not on D-Day itself are not allowed for the special Round 1 list, but may be used in the main list for Round Two, Three, and in Round One if you end up playing in Hold the Line rather than Hit the Beach or Seize and Hold. This means that very player needs to submit two version of their list (Round 1 Special and Main Lists). The only exception to this is Allied Armored Infantry Companies which were not used on D-Day and will only play in Hold the Line in Round One.

However, there are also other special equipment available to the allies in Hit the Beach such as DD Tanks, DUWK mounted artillery, and Naval Gunfire Support.

c. Fortifications Lists. Germans defending in Hit the Beach have 40 Fortification Points which may be used for fortifications as listed in page 217 of the Main Rule Book as well as the special bunker list on page 17 of “D-Day.” Your fortification list must be submitted along with your 1000pt special and main 1750pt lists on June 6th. Remember that no more than ½ of Fortification Points can be spent on any one type of fortification and that you can have no more than two of each bunker type. Note, Festung Companies do not use the Festung Company Fortification list in Hit the Beach. They use the same 40 Fortification Point from the Main Rules (pg 217) and D-Day (pg 17) that other German forces use. The Festung Companies may use their normal troop points to buy fortifications for use in their Round 2 and 3 Games using the fortifications listed on pages 22 and 23 of Bloody Omaha.

The D-Day Fortification .pdf is also an option for German defenders in Round One.

http://www.flamesofwar.com/Portals/0/Documents/D-Day-Fortifications.pdf

3. Special Models and Terrain.

a. Rommel Asparagus. Players using Gliders are required to bring their own Rommel Asparagus terrain features.

b. Landing Craft. Allied Players attacking in Hit the Beach should have their own Landing Craft, however if they cannot bring their own then we will coordinate landing craft for them to borrow or provide card model landing craft that they may use in Round One.

c. Fortifications. German players defending in Hit the Beach and Festung Companies in all rounds should bring their own fortifications if they plan to use any. However if German Players need to borrow fortifications then we will coordinate for fortification sets at the appropriate point level for them to borrow. Note these borrowed sets, will be based on Fortification availability and will be at the appropriate point level but may not exactly match the players desired composition though we will try to match these up as best we can.

d. Painting/Scoring. If not borrowed, Fortifications, Landing Craft, Rommel Asparagus, and other special player terrain will be taken into consideration when Forces are judged for Painting Scores.

4. History Scoring.

a. Theme. Needless to say this Tournament is intensely focused on Historical Accuracy and giving all players an appropriate Normandy Campaign feel to their gaming experience on June 14th. Histories, though they are not absolutely are highly encouraged and may er critical if you are trying to justify a piece of equipment or unit that I do not believe was used in the Normandy Campaign. I am prepared to be educated, just have the references to back up your justification for example using a Wasp in Hit the Beach or a Brummbars in any rounds.

b. Research. Fortunately D-Day and the Normandy Campaign are well supported with hundreds of books and resources.

A good place to start for German players is:

http://web.telia.com/~u18313395/normandy/index.html

A good place to start for American players is:

http://www.history.army.mil/books/wwii/7-4/7-4_Contents.htm

There are also may excellent books that are easily attainable. Keagen’s “Six Armies in Normandy”, and Cornelius Ryan’s “The Longest Day” immediately come to mind.

b. History Scoring. A history should be concise (less than two pages), capture a company sized unit in specified historical fight. Division level histories that span the entire war does not really do much to help explain your company size unit on specific date, time and location. It’s important that a history explain how the action your unit fought in contributed to the Normandy Campaign. Actual names of key leaders or heroes always help and especially those cited for the Medal of Honor, Victoria Cross, or Iron Cross. Appropriate photographs and maps are a great help in explaining the unit in the action that your force is modeled after.

Histories will be scored using the following evaluation criteria:

Accurately reflects a unit operating in Normandy from June-August '44 4 pts
Is a total two pages or less (not including reference listing) 1 pt
Captures the unit in action at a specific place and time 1 pt
Includes appropriate photographs 1 pt
Includes a map that help's explain unit's combat action 1 pt
High quality graphic design - themed borders, unit insignias, thoughtful watermarks etc 1 pt
References noted 1 pt

Here are a few histories that I think closely demonstrate what I’m looking for in Unit Histories. Please keep font size to 10 or greater.

c. History Examples. The following two Histories are not perfect (they are missing references), but they may help you get a better idea of what I look for in Histories.

http://www.battlevault.com/Events/Overlord-08/Burgess_Nashcon_History.pdf

http://www.battlevault.com/Events/Overlord-08/Brian-RM.pdf

5. Painting/Modeling Scoring. Painting scoring will be evaluated in accordance with the following criteria:

Base Painting
Appropriate Color Scheme 2 pts
Shadowing 2 pts
Highlighting 2 pts
Intricate Camouflage, other special extra touches, extensive conversions etc 2 pts
Ultra fine details Unit Insignias, ranks, etc 2 pts
Bases
Bases finished 1 pt
Bases flocked 1 pt
Bases textured 1 pt
Bases with special additions (building debris, elaborate flocking, etc) 1 pt
Stunningly themed bases 1 pt

6. Sportsmanship. At the end of the tournament, each player will determine which of the three players he fought against was the overall best opponent in terms of enjoyable gaming experience, proper understanding of the rules, general WWII/Normandy campaign knowledge, and ease of making rules corrections with. The best sportsman will be the player who achieves the most "Best Opponent Votes" and who otherwise is not receiving a higher value award.

7. Award Scheme. The awards scheme and prizes to accompany those awards is still under development as we get closer to our final count of players and we finalize our available prizes. At a minimum our awards list will include the following:

Top Player - Highest VPs*
Allied 2IC - Highest Allied Player who otherwise was not the Top Player*
Axis 2IC - Highest Axis Player who otherwise was not the Top Player*
Best Sportsman Award**
History Award***
Best Painting Award****

* Tie Breaker - Sportsmanship, then Painting, then History
** Tie Breaker - VPs, then Painting, then History
***Tie Breaker - determined by the History Judge
****Tie Breaker - determined by the Painting Judge

9. Tables. This is a Normandy themed tournament. There will be some mix of terrain types but you should be expecting to play on boards include a good amount of Bocage, Farm Fields, and Towns/Cities. There may be some relatively open boards, but many will generate more close in fights so please plan your force accordingly.

I hope this information helps you better prepare yourself and your force the gaming on June 14th. If any thing is not clear, please drop me an e-mail and I’ll do my best to answer your questions.