DAVID THOMPSON & TREVOR BENJAMIN

UNDAUNTED
BATTLE OF BRITAIN

A GAME BY DAVID THOMPSON & TREVOR BENJAMIN

ILLUSTRATED BY ROLAND MACDONALD

RULEBOOK
It’s the summer of 1940 and Britain is all that stands in the way of German victory in
Europe. The German war machine has rolled through the continent in less than a year,
crushing all before it. Now, command the pilots of the battle-tested Luftwaffe, looking to
extinguish all resistance and pave the way to invasion, or the resourceful and determined
RAF countering them at every turn.

In Undaunted: Battle of Britain, you are in command of a squadron of aircraft. Across a

series of missions, you will strive to shoot down enemy aircraft, destroy key structures,
sink ships, and escape danger. Each scenario will have a different landscape of tiles,
which you will have to navigate in order to achieve your objectives and gain advantageous
positions, but be careful – in the constantly moving arena of aerial combat, lose cohesion
between your pilots and communications will break down. Take to the skies, outmanoeuvre
the opposition, and remain undaunted.

2
 IF YOU’VE PLAYED UNDAUNTED BEFORE
If you have played Undaunted before, you should still read this rulebook. Here are some
differences to be aware of before you start:

Terminology
Sections are the equivalent of squads in other Undaunted games, though some differences
apply. Communications cards are the equivalent of command cards.

Scale
Each combat counter represents an aircraft and its crew. Fighter planes might have a
single pilot, whereas bombers are usually crewed by teams of pilots, co-pilots, gunners,
and other specialists.

Tiles
The board for each scenario is built from larger tiles, each made up of smaller hexes.

Facing Direction
Aircraft and ships always face the centre of one edge of the hex they are in. This affects
movement and combat.

Movement
Every time you play a combat card, you move that aircraft’s combat counter and perform
one other action. This simulates the continual movement of air combat.

Dice
Unlike other Undaunted games, a die showing a 10 is not an automatic success. This means
some combat actions have no chance of success.

Hunker Down
You cannot remove combat cards from your deck using a Hunker Down action. You may
remove communications cards using the Go Dark action.

Communications
When you play Section Comms cards, if aircraft in the corresponding section aren’t close
to each other, you add useless Discord cards into your deck. This replaces the Fog of War
system used in other Undaunted games.

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 COMPONENTS
This section is intended as reference. To start playing straight away, go to
page 10 and refer to this section as needed.

Front Back

A. 51 RAF cards B. 11 RAF combat counters

Front Back Front Back

C. 65 Luftwaffe combat cards D. 15 Luftwaffe E. 4 Luftwaffe decoy

combat counters combat counters

I. 4 anti-aircraft J. 6 cloud markers

artillery markers

F. 31 board tiles
4
10
2

K. 4 barrage balloon L. 4 dice

markers

G. 7 structure markers
Luftwaffe Side RAF Side

M. Initiative marker
H. 6 ship markers

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 CARDS

Cards in your deck represent pilots and aircraft in the air, support staff on the
ground, other assets at your disposal, or the chaos and confusion of battle. You
will begin the game with some cards in your deck and others in your personal
supply, as specified by the scenario. Playing combat cards from your deck will let
you seize the initiative, fly your aircraft, destroy ground targets, and fire upon
the enemy. Communications cards, such as Section Comms, will let you bolster
your forces by adding cards from your supply to your deck – but with every hit
you take from enemy fire, you must permanently remove a card from your deck.

RAF Card Back Luftwaffe Card Back

Combat Cards
Combat cards represent pilots and aircraft under your command. Each is associated with
a combat counter.

1. Title: the type of aircraft.

2. Initiative: the value of the card when used to bid for initiative.
3. Section: the section the aircraft belongs to.
4. Rank designation: the star indicates that an aircraft is an ace. Non-ace aircraft do
not have a rank designation.
5. Movement: the maximum number of hexes the aircraft can move.
6. Actions: the possible effects from playing the card.
7. Name: the name of the depicted pilot or crew, which has no gameplay effect.
8. Aircraft Image: the aircraft the card corresponds to.

2 2

4
7
3 1 3 1

8 6 8 6
5
5
Communications Cards
Communications cards represent support staff on the ground and other assets at your
disposal.

Communications cards are not associated with a specific combat counter, so do not
have an aircraft image on the bottom left of the card.

1. Title: the role of the support staff or the name of the asset.
2. Initiative: the value of the card when used to bid for initiative.
3. Section: the section the card is associated with (if any).
4. Actions: the possible effects from playing the card.
5. : if the card’s associated section is out of comms (see page 13), taking actions displaying
this icon or using the card to bid for initiative will force you to take a Discord card.
6. : if the card’s associated section is out of comms (see page 13), you cannot take
actions that display this icon.

2 2

3 1 1
4 4
5
6
Discord cards
Discord cards represent breakdowns in communication that are caused by the chaos of
battle and made worse by splitting up your sections. Discord cards cannot be used for
anything except to bid for initiative.

1. Title
2. Initiative: the value of the card when it is used to bid for initiative.

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 TOKENS
Combat counters
Combat counters represent aircraft on the board, which you control using your combat
cards.

1. Title: the aircraft type.

2. Section: the section the aircraft belongs to.
3. Rank designation: the star indicates that an aircraft is an ace. Non-ace aircraft do
not have a rank designation.
4. Facing direction: The direction in which the aircraft is flying. This affects movement
and combat.
5. Firing Lines: the direction the aircraft can attack from.
6. Base defence: the value your opponent must roll to successfully hit this counter
with a combat action.
7. Ready/out of action: the aircraft status. If the counter is face down on its dashed
side, it is out of action. The aircraft cannot take other actions until the counter has
been flipped to its ready side.

4 4
5
1 1

6 6

2 3 7 5 2 7

Decoy Combat Counters

Decoy combat counters have a ready side, which matches a specific Luftwaffe aircraft, and
a decoy side. They are used in scenario 9, and the rules are set out in the scenario book.

7
Structure Markers
Structure markers represent important buildings, assets, and
infrastructure. Each scenario will tell you which structure markers to
use and which hexes to place them on.

Structures have a base defence: the value you must roll to destroy the
target with a Bomb action.

Ship Markers
These markers indicate that a hex contains ship.
Each scenario will tell you where to place ships, which
direction they will face, and whether to place them face
up or face down.

Ships have a base defence: the value you must roll to

destroy the ship with a Bomb action.

Their facing direction shows the direction in which the

ship will move if you take the Sail action.

Anti-aircraft Artillery markers

These markers indicate that a hex contains anti-aircraft
artillery. Each scenario will tell you where to place the
anti-aircraft artillery.

Anti-aircraft artillery have a base defence: the value

you must roll to destroy the anti-aircraft artillery with
a Bomb action.

Cloud markers
These markers indicate that a hex contains a cloud.
Each scenario will tell you where to place the clouds.

Clouds give a cover bonus in combat (see page 18).

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 Barrage Balloon markers
These markers indicate that a hex contains a barrage
balloon. Each scenario will tell you where to place the
barrage balloons.

Barrage balloons affect movement (see page 14) and

give a cover bonus in combat (see page 18).

Initiative marker
The initiative marker indicates which
player has the initiative this round
and takes their turn first.

BOARD TILES
The board tiles represent the skies in which you will be fighting. Each tile contains a
number of hexes. Tiles have a land side, which is unique to each tile, and an ocean side,
which is the same on all tiles. Each scenario will tell you which tiles to use and where to
place them.

Tile designation: the unique letter designation of the tile, which is used during setup.
Land Side Ocean Side

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 SETUP
1. Choose a scenario: Pick a scenario from the scenario book. We recommend
that you play the scenarios in order, starting with scenario 1: First Contact,
but they can be played in any order.

2. Choose a side: Both players choose a side and take all the cards and combat
counters indicated in the scenario book for their chosen side.

3. Place tiles: Find the tiles listed under the chosen scenario and place them
land side up as indicated. Then, use the remaining tiles ocean side up to
create the rest of the board. Return all unused tiles to the box.

4. Place tokens: Place the combat counters, structure markers, ship markers,
anti-aircraft artillery markers, cloud markers, and barrage balloon markers
in the hexes indicated in the scenario book. Ensure all aircraft and ships are
facing in the direction shown in the scenario book and are the correct side up.

5. Take initiative: Give the initiative marker to the side indicated in the
scenario book.

6. Assemble decks: Find the ‘Starting Cards’ table in the scenario book for your
side, take all the cards marked [D], shuffle them, and place the deck face
down.

7. Assemble supplies: Find all the cards marked [S] for your side and place
them nearby, face up. Sort the cards in your supply by title. The content of
your supply is open information.

8. Return remaining cards: Return all leftover cards for your side to the box.

10
G Y M N V W
R2

R1
Y2
Y1

F E D B A R

Y1
R1

Y2
R2
G1
G2

Scenario 1: First Contact, with the RAF deck and supply set
up according to the scenario book

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 HOW TO PLAY
Play takes the form of a series of rounds, during which both players will play cards to
move aircraft, attack the enemy, and work towards their objectives. Each round consists
of three phases:

1. Draw cards
2. Determine initiative
3. Player turns

Once the last phase is complete, the round is over and the next round begins. This continues
until a player has won.

DRAW CARDS
Both players draw four cards from their deck to form a hand.

Whenever you need to draw a card but your deck is empty, shuffle your discard
pile into a deck.

Never shuffle cards in your play area into a deck.

DETERMINE INITIATIVE
Both players secretly select one card from their hand and reveal it simultaneously. The
player who selected the card with the highest initiative takes the initiative marker, flipping
it so it shows their side’s icon. That player will perform actions first during this round.

In the case of a tie, the player who already has the initiative marker keeps the initiative.

Both players discard their chosen card.

PLAYER TURNS
The player with the initiative marker plays cards from their hand, one at a time, into a
play area in front of them. Once they have no more cards in their hand that they can (or
wish to) play, their turn ends. All cards left in their hand and all cards in the play area are
moved into that player’s discard pile. The player without the initiative then takes their
turn in the same way.

You cannot save cards in your hand for future rounds.

When you play a combat card, you must take a Move action and you may take a card
action. You may do these in either order.

When you play a communications card, you must take a card action or go dark. You may
not do both.

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 IMPORTANT CONCEPTS
Go dark
When you go dark, return that card to your supply. It will not be part of your deck until
you choose to take a Bolster action to add it to your deck again.

You can only go dark with communications cards.

Discord
You cannot play Discord cards during your turn.

You can select a Discord card when determining initiative.

The only way to remove a Discord card from your deck is to take a Coordinate card action
(see page 16).

Usually, a Discord card will stay in your hand until the end of your turn, when you will
discard it as normal.

Out of Comms
Communications, or comms for short, are vital for aircraft. A section is out of comms if
the two aircraft in it are separated by more than one hex. A section is also out of comms if
one or both aircraft in the section have been neutralised.

When you determine initiative with a card that has next to its initiative value and the
corresponding section is out of comms, take a Discord card from your supply and place it
in your discard pile.

When you take a card action that has next to it and the corresponding section is out of
comms, take a Discord card from your supply and place it in your discard pile.

You may not take a card action that has next to it if the corresponding section is out of comms.

If you have no Discord cards in your supply, has no effect. However, you may still not
take card actions with if the corresponding section is out of comms.

in comms
out of
comms

The and symbols appear only on Section Comms cards. Some Luftwaffe aircraft
do not have a matching Section Comms card. For these aircraft, being out of comms has
no gameplay effect.

13
Ready / Out of Action
If a combat counter is face up it is considered ready and takes actions as normal.

If a combat counter is face down on its dashed side, it is considered out of action. It cannot
perform any actions. When you play a combat card associated with that aircraft, do not
perform Move or card actions. Instead, flip the counter to its ready side.

Suppressed/ Grounded
Out-of-action Luftwaffe aircraft are suppressed, which happens when the RAF player
makes a successful Anti-air attack.

Out-of-action RAF aircraft are grounded, which happens during the scenario setup.
Grounded aircraft cannot be targeted by normal attacks, but are vulnerable to Bomb
attacks.

Facing Direction
Aircraft and ships always face the centre of one edge of the hex they are in. This affects
movement and combat.

MOVE ACTION
When an action is followed by X , it has a numerical value.

For example, Move 1 .

Move X
Move the aircraft’s combat counter between one and X hexes in the direction it is facing.

You may not change the direction the aircraft is facing unless you first chose the Manoeuvre
action (see page 15).

If you would move into a hex that contains a barrage balloon, the aircraft is instead
neutralised. Remove its combat counter from the board and remove all the matching
cards from your play area, hand, deck, discard, and supply.

You may move aircraft into and through hexes containing any other tokens.

Unless the scenario says otherwise, aircraft cannot move off the edge of the board. If an
aircraft would move off the board, instead choose a hex edge immediately to the left or
right of the one it is currently facing, and turn the counter to face that edge. Do not move
the aircraft any further. Then take a Discord card from the supply and place it in your
discard pile. You may not take a card action with the combat card after moving in this
way, but you may take a card action before such a move.

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 CARD ACTIONS
When the name of an action is followed by X A , it has a numerical value and may
also have a section ( Y , R , G , P , or B ).

For example, Bolster 3 or Bolster 1 Y .

Manoeuvre X / X
If you want to take the Manoeuvre action, you must announce this before you take the
Move action on the same card.

The Manoeuvre action modifies your Move action by allowing you to turn the aircraft up
to X times.

You may only turn the aircraft immediately after you have moved it at least one hex. You
may not manoeuvre twice in a row; each manoeuvre must be separated by at least one hex
movement.

To turn the aircraft once, rotate it 60 degrees to face the hex edge immediately to the left
or right of the one it is currently facing.

If the Manoeuvre action is followed by X , you may manoeuvre once before moving
through any hexes. This counts towards the limit of X manoeuvres.

Bolster X A
Take up to X cards from your supply and add them to your discard pile.

If the card specifies a section, you must choose cards from that section only.

If this action has next to it and the associated section is out of comms, take a
Discord card from your supply and add it to your discard pile.

Command X
Draw up to X cards from your deck and add them to your hand. You can play those cards
as normal this turn.

If your deck runs out before you finish drawing, shuffle your discard pile into a deck and
continue drawing. Do not shuffle any cards in your play area into your deck.

15
Coordinate
Choose a Discord card from your hand and set it aside. It will not be used for the rest of the
scenario. Then draw a card from your deck.

If your deck is empty, shuffle your discard pile into a deck and continue drawing. Do not
shuffle any cards in your play area into your deck.

If this action has next to it and the associated section is out of comms, you cannot
take the action.

If you have no Discord cards in your hand, you cannot take this action.

Guide A
Choose a ready aircraft and move it one hex in the direction it is currently facing. You may
then turn the aircraft to face the hex edge immediately to the left or right of the one it is
currently facing.

If the card specifies a section, you must choose aircraft from that section only.

If this action has next to it and the associated section is out of comms (before
moving any aircraft), take a Discord card from your supply and add it to your discard
pile.

Inspire A
Choose a card in your play area. You must take a Move action and you may take a card
action with the chosen card. You may do these in either order.

If the card specifies a section, you must choose cards from that section only.

If this action has next to it and the associated section is out of comms, take a
Discord card from your supply and add it to your discard pile.

Sail
Choose any number of ship markers. Move each ship one hex in the direction it is facing.

Ships never change the direction they are facing.

Ships may move into hexes containing any other tokens.

If a ship would move off the edge of the board, it instead escapes (see page 23).

16
 COMBAT ACTIONS
Attack X Y / Anti-Air X / Bomb X
Only the RAF player has access to the Anti-air action. Only the Luftwaffe player has access
to the Bomb action.

When you perform any of the combat actions shown above, take the following steps:

1. CHOOSE TARGET

Choose a target for the attack.

For an Attack action, choose a non-grounded enemy aircraft in a hex that is in the firing
line of the aircraft taking the action.

For an Anti-air action, choose any enemy aircraft.

For a Bomb action, choose a ship, structure, anti-aircraft artillery marker, or a grounded
aircraft that is in the same hex as your attacking aircraft.

FIRING LINE

Each aircraft has firing lines shown on its combat counter. In each direction
indicated by a firing line, all hexes in a straight line from the aircraft are
considered to be in the firing line. Firing lines are not blocked by other aircraft
or tokens in their paths.

An aircraft’s firing line always includes the hex that it is in.

17
2. DETERMINE TOTAL DEFENCE VALUE

For an Attack action, an aircraft’s total defence value is the sum of its base defence, the
cover bonus, and the range bonus.

For an Anti-air action, an aircraft’s total defence is the sum of its base defence and the
range bonus.

For a Bomb action, the total defence value of a structure, ship, anti-aircraft artillery, or an
out-of-action aircraft is its base defence.

If the total defence value of an aircraft is greater than 10, the combat action cannot
succeed!

Base defence:

The value printed on the combat counter or marker.

Cover bonus:

Add 1 for every other aircraft in a hex between the attacker and the target, including the
attacker’s hex and the target’s hex, but not including the target or attacker.

Add 2 for each cloud in a hex between the attacker and the target, including the attacker’s
hex and the target’s hex.

Add 2 for each barrage balloon in a hex between the attacker and the target.

Range bonus:

The number of hexes away from the attacker that the defender is, not including the
attacker’s hex.

For an Anti-air action, the attacker is considered to be the closest Anti-aircraft Artillery
marker for the purpose of determining range bonuses.

18
3. ROLL ATTACK DICE

Roll the number of dice indicated by the value of the combat action.

WHICH ATTACK VALUE TO USE

Attack actions are sometimes followed by multiple values.

If you are taking an Attack action with an aircraft that has an X and a Y value,
check if you are attacking the target’s rear. If you are attacking the target’s rear,
roll Y dice. Otherwise, roll X dice.

You are attacking the target’s rear if:

• the target and the attacker are in different hexes and the target is facing in
the opposite direction to the attacker, or
• the above statement would be true if the target was facing the hex edge
immediately to the left or right of the one it is currently facing.

If any of the dice rolled show a number that is equal to or greater than the target’s total
defence value, the attack is successful.

How many dice are successful does not matter.

19
4. DETERMINE RESULTS

If the attack was unsuccessful, nothing happens.

If the attack was successful, the results of the attack depend on the type of target and the
type of combat action:

COMBAT ACTIONS TARGETING AIRCRAFT

If the combat action was an attack, you have inflicted a hit.

Your opponent must find a card that matches the defending aircraft and remove it from
the game.

1. If possible, they must remove the card from their hand.

2. Otherwise, they must remove it from their discard pile.
3. Otherwise, they must remove it from their deck. They must then shuffle their deck.
4. If they do not have a matching card in their deck, the aircraft is instead neutralised.
Remove its combat counter from the board and remove all the matching cards from
the supply.

You can only ever inflict one hit with an attack, no matter how many dice are
successful. You can always check cards that you have removed from the game.
You cannot check cards that your opponent has removed.

If the combat action was a Bomb action, the out-of-action aircraft is neutralised. Remove
its combat counter from the board and remove all matching cards from your opponent’s
hand, discard, deck, and supply.

If the combat action was an Anti-Air action, no hits are inflicted. Instead, flip the
defending combat counter to its out-of-action side. If it is already out of action, the action
has no effect.

COMBAT ACTIONS TARGETING STRUCTURES, SHIPS,

OR ANTI-AIRCRAFT ARTILLERY

If the Bomb action was successful, you have destroyed the target. Remove the marker.

EXAMPLE TURN
It is scenario 1: First Contact, and David and Trevor each draw a hand of four cards from
their decks. The players each choose a card from their hand and reveal it simultaneously:

David Trevor

20
Trevor’s card has the highest initiative value, so he places the initiative marker in front
of him and gets to play his cards first. He bid for initiative with a Section B Comms card,
which has next to its initiative value, so he checks if Section B is out of comms. It is
not, so he does not add a Discord card to his discard pile. David and Trevor then discard
the cards they used to bid for initiative.

Trevor has the following cards left in hand:

Trevor wants to score some hits on David’s aircraft. He plays his BF 109E Y2 combat card
and chooses to take a card action before the move action. The card action he chooses is
Manoeuvre 2 . He then begins his Move 3 action, moving Y2 one hex forwards. He then
manoeuvres once, rotating the aircraft to face the hex edge to the left of the one that it had
been facing. He could move the aircraft up to two more hexes and manoeuvre one more
time, but he decides not to.

He then plays his second Y2 card, choosing this time to take the Move 3 action first. He
moves the aircraft one hex forwards and again decides not to move it further. Then he takes
the Attack 2 3 card action against Defiant G1, the only enemy aircraft in Y2’s firing line.
The target’s base defence is 4 . Its cover bonus is +1 because of the presence of the Y1
aircraft. The range bonus is +1 . So, its total defence value is 6 . The target is facing away
from the attacker, so Trevor rolls three dice. He scores 2, 7, and 8 – a hit! David reveals a G1
card from his hand and removes it from the game.

Trevor cannot use the Discord card in his hand, so he ends his turn. He discards that card
as well as the cards in his play area.

21
David now takes his turn. He has the following cards in hand:

David is keen to replenish his losses, and intends to play his G Section Comms card to take
the Bolster action. However, if he plays the card now, he will have to add a Discord card
to his discard because Section G is currently out of comms. Instead, David chooses to play
his G2 card. He wants to attack Y1, but it is currently outside G2’s firing lines. He chooses
to take its Move action first, which allows him to move G2 one hex forwards. Now that
his target is in his firing line, he takes an Attack 1 2 action. The target’s base defence
is 5 . Its cover bonus is +1 and its range bonus is +2 . The target is facing away from the
attacker, so David rolls two dice. He scores 2 and 3 – a miss!

Next, he plays his G Section Comms. Because Section G is no longer out of comms, he does
not add a Discord card to his discard. David chooses to Bolster 2 G , adding two G1s to
his discard.

With no cards left in hand, he ends his turn. Now that both players have taken their turns,
the next round begins.

22
 GAME END
The game continues until a player achieves their objective. Here are the objectives that
you might encounter.

NEUTRALISE ENEMIES
Each scenario will tell you which enemy aircraft you need to neutralise to claim victory.
You will need to neutralise either specific aircraft or a certain number of aircraft. When
you have neutralised an aircraft, place its combat counter in front of you to show that you
have done so.

DESTROY SHIPS AND STRUCTURES

The scenario will tell you how many ships or structures you need to destroy to claim
victory. To destroy a ship or structure, you need to target it with the Bomb action. When
you have destroyed a ship or a structure, remove its marker from the board and place it
in front of you to show that you have done so.

ESCAPE
The scenario will tell you which aircraft or ships you need to escape with to claim victory.
You will need to escape with either specific aircraft and ships or a certain number of them.

To escape with an aircraft, you must move it from one of the escape hexes indicated in the
scenario. To escape with a ship, you must move it from a hex at the edge of the map. Only
the aircraft and ships specified by the scenario are allowed to escape. When an aircraft
or a ship escapes, place its combat counter or marker in front of you. When an aircraft
escapes, find all its associated combat cards that are face up on the table, in your hand,
in your deck or discard pile, and in the supply. Remove all those cards from the game. If
you have removed an aircraft from the board because it has been neutralised, it has not
escaped.

SCORE POINTS
Each scenario will tell you how to score points and how many points you need to claim
victory.

23
Historical Note
Undaunted: Battle of Britain follows the dynamic struggle between the formidable
Luftwaffe and the RAF for control of the skies of Britain and the English Channel. At stake
is nothing less than the fate of Europe. The game recreates the conflict in some detail
and features aircraft and scenarios that have a historical basis. However, this is not a
simulationist game. The core mechanic of deck-building is an obvious abstraction of the
individual agency of the pilots who were involved. The technical capabilities of aircraft in
the game have been tweaked in favour of gameplay. Throughout development, historical
accuracy has been one value among several, and the core aim has always been to create
a game that might emulate the experience of command, rather than its exact reality.
Should you commit your aircraft to the fight quickly, or attempt to outmanoeuvre your
opponent and engage on your terms? Should you maintain close formation for ease of
communication, or break off to pursue tempting targets? These are the decisions forced
upon you in Undaunted: Battle of Britain.

Game design: David Thompson and Trevor Benjamin

Illustration: Roland Macdonald
Game development: Filip Hartelius & Anthony Howgego
Graphic design: James Hunter
First published in Great Britain in 2023 by OSPREY GAMES
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Kemp House, Chawley Park, Cumnor Hill, Oxford OX2 9PH, UK
29 Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin 2, Ireland
1385 Broadway, 5th Floor, New York, NY 10018, USA
OSPREY GAMES is a trademark of Osprey Publishing Ltd
© David Thompson and Trevor Benjamin 2023. This edition © 2023 Osprey Publishing Ltd
All rights reserved.
www.ospreygames.co.uk
For more information or replacement parts, email info@ospreygames.co.uk
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