D-Day Map FAQ Read Me First - FREE

So you can pick which version of my TWO map versions:

• NEW Normandy Campaign -- for large scale games like Eisenhower
• D-Day & Cotentin map -- for small-scale skirmish/tactical of linked games in campaign

This FREE booklet details these Maps' grid options (hexes/squares/no grid) & size of the grid hexes/squares (600 meters to 6000 yards OR Two-Miles) and how it was drawn in hundreds of hours over years with lots of features.

Make a custom Game Design to refight Operation Overlord!

This super detailed map is based on a Michelin 1947 road map of Normandy (which was sold to returning veterans) with 3 levels of roads, town blocks & names, rivers, beaches (low & high tide lines), gridded hexes or squares PLUS tons of info added: 20-meter contour levels, with capital ship anchorages (new in this edition!), naval gun fire range limits, forts, forests, swamps, drop/beach zones, bocage areas.

NOTE:

the map itself is identical in all versions—the only variations are the 

1. The shape of the grid and the 
2. Size of the grid cells. 
3. Or buy the map with NO GRID, and you can add your own grid(s), perhaps.
4. Background coloration--like deep blue sea & green land for operational games like Eisenhower (Normandy Campaign) or colorful contours for skirmish to tactical games like Battlegroup, Command Decision: Test of Battle, or Rommel (D-Day).

How big is it? If you get the 600-meter-wide version and enlarge the hexes to the normal wargame-standard 5/8" hexes, the full map would be just over 5x12.5 FEET in size. I assume that many gamers will print a smaller portion:

• Portions for a campaign series of games, 
• Most of the area, but smaller than 5x12' for a big-scale game, as is shown on Little Wars TV
• Open to the right area in a tablet/laptop as a guide in designing game table terrain.

The map's size in the document is 36.666" high by 90" wide and can be reduced or enlarged. The detail will not get grainy/fuzzy when enlarged because it was drawn with "vectors" in Adobe Illustrator. The 3-4 Megabyte D-Day map file comes as a PDF (or 8 MB for the Normandy Campaign), which can be opened in the free program Adobe Acrobat Reader.

How detailed is it? There is one HUNDRED times as much land area mapped as shown on the booklet cover image on this webpage. (The cover image shows the Sword to Pegasus Bridge part.)

How much of the Normandy campaign is covered? This booklet shows the extent of the front for nearly all of June and most of July.

This little booklet suggests printing portions or the whole map for your game designs and campaigns. Plus, how to contact me if you have suggestions for a new version/grid scale, etc.*

This digital PDF edition has more features and utility than my preprinted sections, which I have sold hundreds of times. Bookmarks allow you to quickly move around on the D-Day map (only) PDF map while zoomed in. It is less expensive and more flexible than buying my preprinted versions. 

This free booklet has 42 small pages for viewing on a smartphone or can be viewed on a computer screen with two pages, side by side, or printed with four small pages per printed sheet.

You have questions, and we have answers in this little booklet.*

Thanks for your interest in my unique project.

- Bill Owen, Game Design (co-founder of Judges Guild)

PS If you do not want to take the time to browse through this free booklet but still unsure what grid/size to buy, I suggest the following:

• Eisenhower: Normandy Campaign with a 2-mile square grid.
• Skirmish gamers might prefer the 1/2 mile per square grid or 600 meters per hex grid.
• Rommel players 2.5 km square grid.
• Otherwise, an all-around choice would be 1 kilometer (or 1 mile) per square.
• Even if you don't need a grid for pre-game map movement, a square grid might help you lay out your terrain. The No Grid version is mainly for those who can add a grid through a Desktop Publishing program.

*Or contact the artist, Bill Owen, to see if he can make a custom version for you and arrange for printing and shipping it. (See the last page for how to contact him.)