Fireball Forward: The First Normandy Offensive – Operation Epsom Scenario Book

Operation Epsom, the First Normandy Offensive is a book of tactical scenarios for the Fireball Forward! game system. The scenarios are drawn from Operation Epsom, the British offensive that took place west of Caen, in Normandy, from 26-30 June 1944. They feature engagements between British VIII Corps (15th (Scottish) Infantry Division, 11th Armoured Division, and 43rd (Wessex) Infantry Division) and the German 12th SS Panzer Division, Hitlerjugend, II SS Panzer Corps (9th SS Panzer Division, Hohenstaufen, and 10th SS Panzer Division, Frundsberg), and other armored forces.

15 Scenarios cover VIII Corps’ initial attack on the positions of the 12th SS Panzer Division, the drive across the River Odon, and the counterattacks by II SS Panzer Corps and other armored units that attempted to cutoff or collapse the British salient. Take British infantry, supported by powerful artillery barrages, against battle-hardened panzergrenadiers. Use a Crocodile flamethrower tank to reduce German fortifications. Conduct counterattacks with improvised but capable German armored forces and engineers (with flamethrowers of their own!) through Norman villages. Fight over the bridges over the Odon that were so critical to the outcome of the operation. The scenarios show the varied nature of the fighting that took place in the fields and villages of central Normandy in late June 1944.

A Historical Summary, Orders of Battle, and Designer’s Notes are included to help put the scenarios in the larger context of the battle for Normandy and allow players to design their own scenarios.