RILEY'S ROAD FOOTNOTES

1. RR2 MAP: The top edge of the map is northwest, but considered north for game purposes. Likewise the bottom edge of the map is southeast, but considered south for game purposes.

2. RR4 HAND-TO-HAND COMBAT: Both German and Canadian accounts of the battle mention repeatedly the savage close quarter nature of close combat during this battle.

3. RR8 KANGAROOS: The Kangaroos of the 1st Canadian Armoured Carrier Regiment were separate from, and not subordinate to, the infantry they transported. As such they typically dropped off their passengers and quickly returned to the rear areas and so are not Retained for future use. Sometimes while under heavy fire the Kangaroos dropped the infantry off short of their objectives. Cloaking for BU Kangaroo passengers prevents the omniscient German player from concentrating against the Canadian leaders as they come in.

4. RR9 SOFT GROUND: Earlier actions in Operation Veritable encountered significant mud. By the time Riley's Road occurs, the ground is not nearly as muddy. There was a heavy rainstorm February 18th that made vehicular travel more difficult the next day but did not significantly affect infantry movement.

5. RR10 PLOWED FIELDS: Despite the time of year, the fields in the area were plowed. A heavy prolonged rain from the night of February 18* made vehicle travel slow and subject to bog the following day.

6. RR11 RILEY'S ROAD CELLARS: In the Canadian accounts of the battle there were many references to the cellars in the houses in the area. A few were at times full of German civilians who were hiding from the battle. On the evening of February 19* the wounded Canadian Major Kennedy used a cellar at the Schwanenhof farmhouse as his headquarters. These cellars are more similar to the "fruit" cellars of Arnhem than they are to their more famous Stalingrad counterparts, and are based on the cellars in A BRIDGE TOO FAR, minus the stacking limitation but limited to farmhouses.

7. RR12 & RR13 SLOPE HEXSIDES & BARBED WIRE FENCES: These rules are essentially reprinted from KAMPFGRUPPE PE1PER and PEGASUS BRIDGE so that neither module would be required to play on the Riley's Road mapsheet.

8. RR14 RILEY'S ROAD FACTORIES: The factory rules work well in simulating the large barns that were located around Riley's Road. Building Q10 was called "The Milk Factory' but was in actuality a large cow milking facility.

9. 2.2 INTERLUDE: Between February 21-26 there was very little fighting along the Goch-Kalkar road. To simulate the limited activity these days have been compressed into three possible CG scenario dates.

10. 2.3 CG4 NIGHT SCENARIO: German infantry with LATW previously had inflicted significant tank losses on Canadian armor when infiltrating their front line positions at night. By the time of Riley's Road, it was standard operating procedure for the tanks to fall back to the rear areas during the night. There they would refuel and rearm in safety. Requiring Canadian tanks to enter on all AM turns is a slight exaggeration since they probably returned before some morning attacks.

11. 2.3 CG5 PANZER LEHR SETUP: During the battle for the Goch-Kalkar road, Panzer Lehr units were used strictly for counter attacks. The German High Command had issued firm orders that the division be reserved for strictly offensive purposes.

12. 2.41 RR CAMPAIGN (ATTACK CHITS): The Canadians attacked aggressively and took nearly all their objectives early on February 19*. They then dug in and defended their gains against numerous local counterattacks. There are only a total of 8 attack chits available for the 12 possible CG Dates after 19AM, 2 for the Canadians and 6 for the Germans; there will be idle days. Riley's Road was not one continuous battle, but rather a succession of attacks and lulls. The Germans can make several attacks to whittle away the Canadian LVP lead and still have some attack capacity in reserve. The Canadians can counterattack once or twice to recapture victory hexes and garner LVP.

13. 2.42 GERMAN OB: The ELR and quality of the German forces are above average for this time in the war. The 6th Fallschirmjäger Division was an intact unit that had not participated in any of the earlier devastating German losses.

14. 2.42 CANADIAN OB: Canadian units are generally considered elite troops due in large part to the notion that all Canadian units were volunteers (A25.4). Many soldiers, however, volunteered only for "home guard" duty or for specialist assignments such as artillery or engineers. Towards the end of the war the Canadian government, reluctant to pursue unpopular conscription, ordered these "volunteers" into regular infantry units to fill manpower shortages. Units composed of these "volunteers" often had neither the training nor the experience that would qualify them as elite troops. C Company had recently received significant numbers of replacements that had not been integrated into the unit before this action started. This is reflected by the lower quality of troops in the Turn 2 reinforcements when compared to A and B Companies. "Royal Hamilton Light Infantry" is abbreviated "RHLI" (pronounced "Riley" as in "Riley's Road").

15. 2.5742 WEAPON REPAIR: The limited fuel supply carried by flamethrowing Wasps was a problem recognized by the Canadians, who often used these vehicles in groups of six. Three were with the forward units, while the other three were in the rear areas for fueling, maintenance, and reloading the flamethrower's fuel tanks. The FT is provided an opportunity to repair to reflect this attention to logistical detail.

16. 2.518 GERMAN RG M4 (Activate A20 Entry): This entry area is not freely available because it requires crossing territory held by the Essex Scottish on the right flank of the RHLI.

17. 2.518 CANADIAN RG II (Infantry Coy): The RHLI did not receive infantry reinforcements during the time period of this CG, but reserve units were deployed in support of their sister battalion on their right flank, the Essex Scottish. We made these reserves available to the RHLI in lieu of introducing Walking Wounded rules that seem better suited to PEGASUS BRIDGE or A BRIDGE TOO FAR.

18. 2.518 CANADIAN RG I2 (Inf Pltn-replacements): The Canadians would occasionally send escorts back to bring up available replacements. During these trips they would also typically round up Canadian stragglers who had been separated from their units. This reinforcement group represents the arrival of the replacements and the return of some stragglers.

19. 2.518 CANADIAN RG O1-O3 (OBA): The Canadians made extensive use of artillery in this battle. The Canadian OBA modules are therefore relatively both numerous and inexpensive.