Inside the Design of Merville Battery: An Interview with Vincent Cooper

To jump straight to the Kickstarter campaign page for the game, click here:

Michal: Hi Vincent, welcome back to The Boardgames Chronicle blog. It is great to see you again! For our readers who might not be familiar with you, could you tell us about your profession, your interests, hobbies, and the games you enjoy playing? Also, please explain your role in the creation and publication of Merville Battery.

Vincent: I was born in London, England, but I currently reside in Fukuoka, Japan. I hold three distinct jobs: I teach English three evenings a week, I work as a Wedding Conductor on weekends, and I dedicate the rest of my time to designing wargames.

I have a deep passion for Japanese martial arts and their connection to Zen philosophy. I also enjoy ultra marathons, hiking, and road cycling. I follow the entire road cycling season every year. I lead an active lifestyle and usually engage in some form of physical exercise twice daily.

Additionally, I read extensively, enjoy dining out, love having a drink (preferably while watching sports), and of course, I play games.

I tend to prefer heavier games that are part of a series, such as Simonitch’s 40X series and Ruhnke’s COIN series.

My favorite designer, however, is David Thompson, particularly his Valiant Defense series!

I serve as the Lead Designer for Merville Battery, but I rely heavily on a very skilled and creative design team consisting of Shane Freshwater, Martin Fenwich Charlesworth, and Glenn Saunders.

Michal: Please tell us more about the historical events that inspired Merville Battery. For us wargamers, the theme and background are just as important as the game mechanics.

Vincent: The Merville Battery was situated in Normandy, roughly 6 miles (10 kilometers) east of Sword Beach and less than 12 miles (20 kilometers) northeast of Caen. It lay directly east of Ouistreham and northeast of Pegasus Bridge, on the eastern side of the River Orne. The battery was a key component of the Atlantic Wall. British Intelligence believed the four massive casemates housed 150mm guns, which posed a significant threat to the British landings at Sword Beach. In reality, the artillery pieces were 75mm French howitzers from World War I, captured during the occupation of France. Nonetheless, the site was identified early in D-Day planning as a critical target.

The RAF bombed the compound on several occasions. One attack killed the original commanding officer, Hauptmann Wolter, on May 19, 1944, leading to Oberleutnant Steiner taking his place (Steiner plays a major role in the game). However, the bombs had no effect on the casemates and only briefly disrupted the rapid fortification of the area.

A ground assault was necessary to ensure the (assumed) heavy guns were fully neutralized. This task was assigned to Lieutenant Colonel Terence Otway and the 9th Parachute Battalion.

Otway’s plan called for the battalion to drop nearby on the night of June 5-6, assemble, march to the battery, and assault the base just before dawn on June 6, 1944. Offshore, HMS Arethusa had orders to open fire on the compound if no success message was received. The plan, often criticized for being too complex, immediately went awry as the parachute landing was scattered.

Of the over 600 men in the battalion, Otway marched to the battery with only a quarter of that number. Much of the heavy weaponry and the explosives needed to destroy the guns were missing, as were the expert combat engineers who knew how to disable the German weapons. The equipment needed to signal HMS Arethusa had also been lost in the drop. The paratroopers therefore had to get in and out quickly before risking being hit by friendly fire. Given the approaching deadline, Otway had no choice but to order the desperate attack.

The defenders, numbering no more than 150, were led by Oberleutnant Steiner. The men were not trained for close-quarters combat and were almost entirely artillerymen or engineers. It is doubtful that few, if any, were psychologically prepared for a firefight within the compound itself. However, they had the use of a 20mm Anti-Aircraft gun and several machine guns (the precise number is disputed). In short, they were more heavily armed than the depleted 9 PARA.

Furthermore – an event which to this day remains unexplained – a Horsa glider had crash-landed inside the perimeter during the night of June 5-6. This was not part of any recorded operation, and no one knows where the glider came from, who was in it, or what the mission was. All occupants were gunned down, and this, along with the paratroopers dropping all around in the darkness, had put the defenders on high alert.

Michal: What are the key components of the game? What factions does it depict?

Vincent: The player commands 9 PARA – the 9th Parachute Battalion – in their attempt to cross a minefield and assault and capture four casemates defended by the guards, gunners, and engineers of the 1st Battery. Once the casemates have been secured, the guns must be disabled, and the paras must make their way out of the compound while picking up wounded comrades along the way.

The problem is that Steiner and the roving Half-Track will arrive on-site at some point. At that time, the withdrawing paratroopers will come under artillery fire (called in by Steiner from a neighboring battery) and the AA weapon on the Half-Track.

Michal: It seems that we are getting some very thematic graphics – who is the author?

Vincent: Wouter Schoutteten is a full-time illustrator and graphic artist. He is the designer of Dreaded Flags and has done the art for 1812: Napoleon’s Fateful March, Corvette Command, and Nightfighter Command among others.

Michal: Can you elaborate a little about the game mechanics? One can’t miss some similarities with the Valiant Defense series, however here we will be on the attacking side in this game.

Vincent: The core mechanics replicate those of Valiant Defense games. David Thompson has very kindly given his blessing. The mechanics are fairly simple: Each Para has an Attack Value that determines the number of Attack dice rolled (d6 or d4 if a counter moved). You compare the result to the Defense Value of the 1st Battery target, and if the result is equal to that Value, the 1st Battery counter is Wounded (something new), and if the result is higher, that counter is Destroyed.

Merville Battery however introduces Range, with Rifle and Marksman counters having a longer range, but Sten Gunner counters having a shorter range but generating more Attack dice.

The mechanics remain almost the same when a 1st Battery counter is attacking a para: Roll a 1d6 Attack die. If the result is equal to or higher than the Defense Value of the target para, place a Disrupted token on that target. If a para counter suffers a second Disrupted token, it is destroyed.

The familiar actions of Recover and Command allow Paras to remove Disrupted tokens (and recover from being Exhausted and – also something new – remove Delayed tokens).

Those are the core mechanics.

Merville Battery also introduces Battle Tokens. These represent one-off effects that impact gameplay, such as support fire from Bren and Vickers Machine Guns, or bonuses to Close Quarters Combat.

Battle Tokens are selected in a manner that players of Pavlov’s House and Guadalcanal will be familiar with: by drawing three 9 PARA cards, selecting two of them, and then choosing one of the two Battle Tokens available.

Michal: How do players determine victory in Merville Battery? What is our goal?

Vincent: The goal is to disable all four guns, rescue at least four groups of wounded Paras (increased Difficulty Levels increase this number), and withdraw from the compound with as many survivors as possible. The Player scores points depending on what he does and does not achieve, and at the end of the game, he can compare his total to the historical total and determine his result.

Michal: One of the key things which players look for in solitaire designs is a challenging but winnable experience and replayability. How are you achieving this in Merville Battery?

Vincent: As with Guadalcanal, there are all kinds of options to introduce that can make the game easier or harder. Tactics cards, for example, give turn-by-turn bonuses to the 1st Battery defenders, while Minefield cards (and custom dice!) can make it easier for the player to cross the minefield safely. All of these optional rules can be combined together in various combinations to make sure each game is unique.

To reflect the disastrous initial parachute drop, the player will also start each game with a random pool of 9 PARA counters to select and deploy, and the 1st Battery defenders will also occupy different positions. There are also Bomb Crater Positions which slow the player down in his advance, but also provide important cover. These Bomb Craters also shift from Position to Position from game to game.

Michal: If you would like to look at Merville Battery and answer the question – what makes this game unique? What would you like to call out?

Vincent: The most unique aspect – and the part of the design that took the most play testing – is that there is no set number of turns (as is typical with most wargames) nor does the 1st Battery deck expire to signal the end of the game (as is the case with Valiant Defense games).

Instead, the 1st Battery deck becomes depleted as casualties are inflicted on the defenders and they – abstractly – retreat to the safety of the casemates (reflected by an increasing Casemate Defense Value). At the same time, cards controlling the return of Steiner and the arrival of the Half-Track are placed into the Main deck, and as they are drawn, both Steiner and the Half-Track move closer.

This provides the player with a very unique challenge. And while I don’t want to give the game away, the player must be aggressive and try to get to the casemates as quickly as possible, disable the guns, and withdraw. The arrival of Steiner and the Half-Track is NOT predetermined, and each game will be different.

Michal: How are you going to publish the game and where the players interested in the project can get more information?

Vincent: The game will be published by DVG and is currently on Kickstarter.

You can follow this link:

Michal: What are the future plans for you? Any new designs / games in preparation?

Vincent: T-34 Leader will follow soon after Merville Battery. This is a spin-off of Tiger Leader and Sherman Leader, but with new Units and some new rules.

Following that I will launch a new game series: Epic Battles.

The first title will be Epic Battles – Kursk, to tie in with T-34 Leader. Kursk will provide the player with 1-player Soviet, 1-player German, and 2-player Soviet vs. German game options.

Epic Battles utilizes the Combat mechanics of the Tank Leader games from DVG, but dispenses with the Asset Management side of things and focuses purely on the battles.

As a result of this I will be able to give players what they want: Hordes of Tiger Is, Elefants, and Panthers going against even larger groups of T-34s and SU-152s, along with all kinds of other historical armor.