Frequently Asked Questions

1.  What time-frame is Odessa?

Taking into account both the landscape of Odessa, NY, and the majority of reenacting units that attend, Odessa was chosen as a France 1944 event that takes place anytime between mid-June to the end of August.  It was never intended to be a D-Day event, and will not become one.  The Event Staff have always felt the area is too reminiscent of the terrain away from the invasion beaches – and that could readily be found all over northern France. The hedgerows, road networks, rolling fields and woods all have the flavor of Normandy.  Having the tactical in France ’44 also permitted a large number of different impressions to be brought into the action; American, British, Canadian, Free French, partisans and German all are historically correct to be present in the field.

This also allows development of a scenario where the slug-fest was at its highest. German troops were able to win a tactical battalion level engagement on any given day against the onslaught of allied forces. In any given year, the tactical could be considered to exist around Caen or St. Lo, or from Villers-Bocage to Falaise; the possibilities are endless.

2.  What is the history of Odessa?

Odessa started 13 years ago at the States Farms site it currently is held at. The Commander of the 272 Füsiliers at the time, Eric Tobey, initiated the event and made all the arrangements.

It was very small the first few years, with no more than 50-60 participants. There were several battles throughout the day, with the Germans attacking, then reversing the roles and having the Allies attacking. 

After a couple more years with the unit, when Eric Tobey stepped down as commander and Scott Thompson became the C.O. of the 272 Füsiliers, a decision was made to grow the event and to make it a re-enactor friendly experience.

At that point, everything was then geared toward allowing each re-enactor to have a good time for the weekend. Vendors were approached and secured, armored vehicles and historical airplanes were welcomed, reenactor campsites were encouraged to keep historically accurate bearings, a Saturday evening meal was included, and all the reliable and authentically rigorous Allied and Axis units were invited.  Slowly and over the years the participation has now grown to having over 600 reenactors present for Odessa ’06.

Each year the Odessa Event Staff aims to introduce new and challenging scenarios for the reenactors to experience.  Night maneuvers were added several years ago for the Friday evening before the main tactical, and a Friday afternoon tactical was added last year for die-hards wishing to obtain even more trigger time.

Odessa has always strived to lead the way for a total reenacting experience.

3.  Why does Odessa have a point system? 

In the early days of Odessa, all that was required to determine a winner was who held what cross-road or what building at the end of the day.

Odessa’s size and amount of participants allowed the event to spread out over the whole site. This created opportunities for more and more objectives and more variations for determining a victor. Thusly, a point system was initiated to sort out all the different locations and varying importance to the overall tactical.

With the addition of Judges several years ago, it was now possible to rate certain tactics and individual acts of exemplary soldiering. So, Judges added points for anything they saw that was a credit to the unit or the re-enactor. Conversely, whenever the Judges witnessed something that should not be seen in the hobby, drinking out of plastic Pepsi bottles or yelling “I gotcha!” caused points to be deducted.

These points were instituted in a manner that would hopefully cause re-enactors to always endeavor acting the way we all want, and to keep down even further the dreaded Farby actions and units.  Units are invited to Odessa because they have either been given the chance or have already shown their potential to perform as the best quality of WWII reenactor; the points system was designed toward holding high value for that tradition.

At Odessa ’07, the point system for the tactical objectives is being pared down to the basics; there will be an overall reduced emphasis on points with fewer territorial objectives, though points will still be collected and taken into account as one factor that impacts the decision of which side will be declared the victors.

4.  If my unit brings a PIAT/Bazooka/Panzerschreck this year, as no projectiles are allowed, how will we be able to “kill” enemy vehicles? The PIAT does not even normally have a firing charge!


If a unit has an Anti-Tank weapon then they may use a flash simulator in the weapon to simulate the launch of the round. That works as far as the Bazooka and Panzerschreck are concerned; the flame that would still be visible from a blank fired charge depicts to targeted vehicles that a round has been fired. For all AT weaponry (including the PIAT), it is intended that judges will be available in most if not all battleground areas, and they will be able to confirm hits for points in a method similar to that used for Sniper shot hits; this requires indication to a local judge that a shot is intended for a particular target, the correct procedure is followed for loading, aiming, and firing the weapon, and conditions are deemed appropriate by the judge for a hit to have taken place.

When a vehicle is considered as hit and is far away, the judge will mark that points are awarded for the vehicular casualty. Where the hit is critical to the outcome of a localized battle, it will be ensured that the vehicle takes the hit. The judge will either contact a judge closer to the vehicle to request that the vehicle be informed of the hit, or the judge observing the hit can signal the hit to the vehicle driver by waving a red flag to indicate the hit.

For instances where judges may not be present, the situation will be handled similarly to the infantry’s honor system of taking hits when judges are not around; also similarly to previous years, the vehicle point ticket exchanges from vehicle drivers to the attackers must be adhered to if in close proximity. Judges will not be keeping track of points when a ticket exchange at close ranges should take place.