TheD-Day Allied Invasion of On 6 June 1944 the Allied military machine embarked on ‘’, the invasion of German-occupied France. Its target was the coast of Normandy, and a vast armada of ships carried more than 130,000 fighting men and vehicles across the English Channel. Ahead of them, planes and gliders transported another 24,000 Airborne troops to deploy behind the beach defences. This was the biggest amphibious landing in history, and its aim was to end the war in Europe and bring victory to the Allies. The assault was conducted in two phases: an air assault landing There was nothing inevitable about the Allied victory in of 24,000 British, American, Canadian and Free French airborne Normandy. The Germans had 61 divisions, 11 of which were troops shortly after midnight, and an amphibious landing of armoured, protecting the French coastline. This force was Allied infantry and armoured divisions on the coast of France roughly equivalent to the total Allied commitment to Operation commencing at 6:30 AM. There were also decoy operations Overlord and had no intention of giving up without a fight. mounted under the code names Operation Glimmer and Operation Taxable to distract the German forces from the real landing areas.

FRANCE

British 6th Airborne Y A N D R M O N

Orne River

Omaha Gold Sword Juno 7 Canadian 47 RM Commando Infantry 69 Infantry Brigade Brigade 185 9 Infantry Infantry 4 SS Brigade 9 Canadian 231 Infantry Brigade 8 Infantry Brigade Brigade Infantry 1 SS Brigade Brigade Brigade 151 Infantry 56 Infantry Brigade Brigade 8 Canadian 8 Armoured Brigade E 27 Armoured Infantry N Brigade Brigade 2 Canadian G Armoured L Brigade 49th (West Riding) Division I S 7th Armoured H Division C H A 51st (Highland) N N E L 3rd Division Division

British XXX Corps British Second Army Bucknall British I Corps Dempsey Crocker

10 Assault by Air “Show me a man who will jump out of an airplane, and I’ll show you a man who’ll fight.” General James Gavin

To eliminate the enemy’s ability to organize and launch counter-attacks during the amphibious assault phase of the Normandy invasion, airborne operations by British and US troops were utilized to seize key objectives, such as bridges, road crossings, and terrain features, particularly on the eastern and western flanks of the landing areas. The airborne landings some distance behind the beaches were also intended to ease the egress of the amphibious forces off the beaches, and in some cases to neutralize German coastal defence batteries and more quickly expand the area of the .

Although not always successful, the parachute and glider landings proved crucial in confusing and delaying the German defenders. The tenacity and aggressive nature of the paratroopers meant that the Germans could not afford to ignore their presence and were forced to assign desperately needed troops and armour to deal with them.

G U L F Coutances O F S St. Lô T . N D Y M M A A R nd st O US 82 & 101 L N Airborne Divisions O Ste. Mère Eglise Pointe-du-Hoc Utah Omaha Cherbourg 22nd Infantry Ranger Regiment th Brigade 47 RM Commando 16 Infantry th 12th Infantry Regiment th 8 Infantry 116 Infantry Regiment Regiment Regiment 18th Infantry Regiment 115th Infantry 90th Infantry Regiment 4th Infantry Division Division 8 Armoured th Brigade th st 9 Infantry 50 1 Infantry Division Division (Northumbrian) th Division 29 Infantry US VII Corps th Division 49 (West Riding) 2nd Armoured Collins Division Division 2nd Infantry Division

US Gerow British XXX Corps Montgomery Bucknall

US First Army Bradley

11 The Beaches “We want to get the hell over there. The quicker we clean up this Goddamned mess, the quicker we can take a little jaunt against the purple pissing Japs and clean out their nest too, before the Goddamned Marines get all of the credit.” General George S. Patton The landing points were broken into five beaches. Three for the The Americans who landed on faced the veteran British and Commonwealth troops, Sword, Juno and Gold. Two German 352nd Infantry Division, one of the best trained on the for the Americans, Omaha and Utah. beaches. Omaha was the most heavily fortified beach with barbed wire, minefields, pillboxes, Tobruk pits and heavy machine guns On , the British infantry came ashore suffering spread along the 50 metre high sea wall. Due to the rough seas the only light casualties. They had advanced about eight kilometres landings missed their assigned sectors on the beaches. Commanders (five miles) by the end of the day but failed to make some of considered abandoning the beachhead, but small units of infantry, the overly ambitious targets set by Montgomery. In particular, often forming ad hoc groups of infantry, engineers and support Caen, a major objective, was still in German hands by the end of troops, eventually infiltrated the coastal defences. Further landings D-Day, and would remain so until 8 August. were able to exploit the initial penetrations and by the end of the day two isolated footholds had been established. The tenuous beachhead was expanded over the following days, and the original D-Day objectives were accomplished by D+3. At , the task for the 2nd Ranger battalion was to scale the 30 metres (98 ft.) cliffs under intense enemy fire and an almost constant rain of grenades using ropes and ladders. Once they reached the summit they would have to then destroy the guns and fortifications they found there. The beach fortifications themselves were still vital targets since a single artillery forward observer based there could have called down accurate fire on the US beaches. The Rangers were eventually successful, and captured the fortifications. What followed was two days of hard fighting to hold the location, during which they lost more than 60% of their men. The Canadian forces that landed on faced a veritable firestorm from heavy batteries of machine-gun nests, pillboxes, other concrete fortifications, and a sea wall twice the height of the one at Omaha Beach. Juno was the second most heavily defended beach on D-Day, next to Omaha. The high sea wall proved to be the Canadians salvation as it provided much needed cover to those troops that made it across the beach. Despite the obstacles, and thanks to some sterling work by the engineers in Sherman crab flails with Churchill AVRE support the Canadians were off the beach within hours and advancing inland with surprisingly light casualties. The Canadians were the only units to reach their D-Day objectives. At , the heavy seas caused the landing craft to jostle together and they were forced to delay their arrivals as each craft drove all the way into the beaches and then tried to extract itself back out to the waiting fleet. The Germans had strongly fortified a village on the beach, manning each building with heavy and Casualties on , the westernmost landing zone, were light machine guns which took a heavy toll on the invaders. the lightest of any beach; only 197 out of the roughly 23,000 Weighed down with equipment the infantry struggled to cross troops that landed. Although the 4th Infantry Division troops that the soft sand to the relative safety of the sea wall, enduring a landed on the beach found themselves too far to the southeast, withering hail of fire the whole time. Despite the hardships, they landed on a lightly defended sector that had relatively little the 50th Tyne & Tees Infantry Division doggedly overcame the German opposition, and the 4th Infantry Division was able bunkers and entrenched German troops and advanced almost to to press inland by early afternoon, linking up with the 101st the outskirts of Bayeux by the end of the day. Airborne Division.

12 The German Defenders “The enemy must be annihilated before he reaches our main “At the present time, it is still too early to say whether this is a battlefield… We must stop him in the water … destroying all his large-scale diversionary attack or the main effort” equipment while it is still afloat” German C-in-C West Field Marshall Morning Report for 6th June 1944 22nd April 1944

With the 352. Infanteriedivision forming the backbone of Erwin aggressive defence was most successful at the Omaha beach Rommel’s defenders the allies were never going to landings as the 352nd. caused horrendous casualties on the 29th have it all their own way. Rommel had spent the previous year and 1st US infantry divisions. turning the French coastline into a veritable fortress of earth Following Rommel’s orders, the German 21. Panzer Division and steel fortifications working his men tirelessly to make the mounted a concerted counter-attack, between Sword and Juno beaches as deadly and uninviting as they could. beaches, and succeeded in nearly reaching the Channel. Stiff Rommel knew that German success would hinge upon defeating resistance by anti- gunners and fear of being cut off caused the invaders on the beaches and constantly demanded that the them to withdraw before the end of 6 June. According to some German high command give him more armour and men as reports, the sighting of a wave of airborne troops flying over most of his regiments were dangerously below strength at the them was instrumental in the decision to retreat. time of the invasion. Worse, most of the Panzer Divisions were Rommel’s fears for the other Panzer divisions proved to be deployed to far from the front to be able to assist the beach correct as they discovered the narrow French roads and the defenders quickly. Rommel believed the best defence was seemingly endless numbers of Allied paratroopers to be an an aggressive one and ordered all units under his command insurmountable thorn in their plans for relieving the hard to counter-attack any and all Allied forces encountered. This pressed beach defenders.

US BRITISH FIRST ARMY SECOND ARMY

Cherbourg US US British British VII V XXX I 243 Corps Corps Corps Corps Inf 91 Inf

US 709 UTAH British Le Havre Valognes 6th 82nd Gren OMAHA Airborne Point Airborne GOLD JUNO du-Hoc Ste. Mère Eglise SWORD US Carentan Isigny Vierville Deauville 101st Airborne Arromanches 6 FJR 352 Bayeux Ouistreham 716 711 Inf Inf Inf

30 SB Caen St. Lô 21 Panzer Coutances Villers-Bocage 12 SS Panzer

Granville 0 Kilometre 40

FRANCE 0 Mile 40

A Foothold in France The Allied invasion plans had called for the capture of Carentan, St. Lô, Caen, and Bayeux on the first day, with all the beaches linked except Utah and Sword (the last linked with paratroopers) and a front line 10 to 16 kilometres (6.2 to 9.9 miles) from the beaches. In practice, none of these had been achieved. However, overall the casualties had not been as heavy as some had feared (around 10,000 compared to the 20,000 Churchill had estimated), and the bridgeheads had withstood the expected counter-attacks. Over the coming months, the Allies would push inland from the beaches and slowly liberate France from its German occupiers. 13 Eight Armies in Normandy

Welcome to Normandy. The year is 1944 and the Allies are The Scenario landing on the Normandy beaches into the teeth of the German For the scenario we used a modified version of Hit the Beach from fortifications. The paratroopers have landed inland and are the D-Day Intelligence handbook (also available in Das Book). We making their way to the coast engaging German units as they used the following mission rules with alterations as noted. encounter them. • Amphibious Assault ‘Eight Armies in Normandy’ is a large scale battle played by the Battlefront Miniatures employees to celebrate the • Reserves. (Each Allied Paratrooper commander begins the relaunch of our Normandy theatre books. game with one Combat platoon and the Company HQ on the board, all other Paratroopers enter the game as reserves.) We decided to focus our battle on Gold Beach and Omaha Beach. This allowed us to use British and US forces for the • Reserves (21. Panzer, Das Reich) main assault, and we couldn’t leave out the airborne, so the • Interdiction (see the Radar Station) paratroopers get to go after some difficult inland objectives and • Overwhelming Force (29th Infantry Division and run interference on the German reserves. We obviously used 50th Tyne & Tees) some fuzzy scaling to get all the forces involved, but this game was always about heaps of toy soldiers and fun over • No Retreat, No surrender (See The Fortress has Fallen below). purist accuracy. • Prepared Positions (German defenders) We played our giant game out over two days and had a heap of Plus we added a new one just for this game: fun. It is our hope that this article acts as inspiration for you and your friends to pull out your toy soldier collections and play an • Fighter Interception (Each turn the Radar Station remains all-out smash fest. under German control the may intercept one Allied ground attack mission.) Kyran Henry

24 ou are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of Yliberty-loving people everywhere march with you. In company with our brave Allies and brothers-in-arms on other fronts, you will bring about the destruction of the German war machine, the elimination of Nazi tyranny over the oppressed peoples of Europe, and security for ourselves in a free world. – General Dwight D. Eisenhower

Objectives Special Objectives There are twelve objectives total on the map. Two of these are The Radar Station: Once Captured the Germans lose their free special objectives that affect the overall battle. fighter interception and now suffer the effects of interdiction for all their reinforcements. Once captured, the station is considered If the Allies hold all six objectives on one beach or seven disabled for the rest of the game. or more across the two then they are victorious. Otherwise the Germans hold off the landings. Formigny: While this village is held by the Allies, all 352. and 726. teams still on the table must take a Morale test at the end of each Allied turn. If they fail then they immediately become pinned and must test to unpin at the start of their turn.

25 The Normandy Defences

6th Airborne Division Objectives The British airborne had one primary and two secondary objectives to capture. The primary objective was the destruction of the Radar Station overlooking both beaches. The Radar Station allows the German forces to co-ordinate their limited air interception and have fighters engage incoming Allied ground attack aircraft. Its destruction was key to controlling the skies over Normandy. The secondary objectives involved capturing and holding the roads to Gold Beach.

6th Airborne Div. entry point

726. Grenadierregiment deployment area

50th Tyne & Tees landing zone

8' / 240cm

50th Tyne & Tees Division Objectives The primary objective of the 50th Tyne and Tees was the capture of the concrete staircase leading off Gold Beach. This would allow the a solid access point to the top of the sea wall. Secondary 29th Infantry Division objectives included the ammunition Objectives depot just behind The sea wall ramp was the top priority of the the defences 29th Infantry Division on Omaha. This access point was and the road the only way to get the tanks off the beach and up onto inland covered by a the sea wall. HMG nest. Secondary objectives involved capturing the roads inland and knocking out the German artillery command post overlooking these roads.

26 82nd Airborne Division Objectives The American paratroopers where tasked with severing the inland roads from Omaha beach. The key to this was the hamlet of Formigny which was the primary objective of the airborne units. By cutting this they would cut off supplies and reinforcements as well as severing communications between the beach defenders and the rear echelon troops. The secondary objectives consisted of two buildings overlooking the roads running inland from the beaches. Capturing these would slow down German reinforcements headed for the beaches.

21. Panzer entry points

2. Das Reich SS-Panzerkompanie entry points

82nd Airborne entry point

352. Infanteriedivision deployment area

8' / 240cm

29th Infantry Div. Off-Table landing zone Support As well as the forces on the following pages, the Allies had the following assets available: Naval guns 400 pts British Priority Air Support: 220 pts Typhoons US Priority Air Support 190 pts Thunderbolts Total 810 pts The German forces do not have any air cover, but as long as they hold the radar station, they can intercept one Allied air strike per turn.

27 The British - Gold Beach

6th Airborne Brigade (Victor Pesch)

The Parachute Companies of the 6th Lt-Colonel Pine-Coffin 50 pts Parachute Machine Gun Platoon 150 pts were dropped deep into enemy territory Company HQ 220 pts Anti-Tank Platoon (2 Sections) 150 pts to safeguard the British and Canadian 3 PIAT & 2 snipers Airlanding Armoured Recce Platoon 170 pts amphibious landings, securing vital bridges Parachute Platoons 690 pts 4 Tetrarch to cut off reinforcements, and neutralising 3 Platoons @ 230 pts each Airlanding Light Battery 150 pts coastal guns that threatened the entire fleet. Parachute Mortar Platoon 135 pts 4 M1A1 75mm pack howitzer

1,715 Points

50th Tyne & Tees Division (Phil Yates)

The 50th Division was tasked with 1st Wave 2nd Wave establishing a beachhead between Stan Hollis 35 pts Commando Company (1 section) 195 pts Arromanches-les-Bains and Ver-sur-Mer, Company HQ 30 pts Carrier Platoon (3 sections) 260 pts then head towards Route Nationale 13. Rifle Platoons 540 pts Assault Anti-Tank Platoon (SP), RA 310 pts They faced stiff resistance in many Three Platoons @ 180 pts each Four M10 areas, but by the end of the day they had Pioneer Platoon 85 pts Field Battery (SP), RA 495 pts achieved all of their objectives, some Eight guns, Floating Artillery Brigades advancing as much as eight Mortar Platoon 175 pts Independent Armoured Platoon 365 pts miles into German-occupied France. HMG Platoon 160 pts Breaching Group 280 pts Independent Armoured Platoon 365 pts Four AVRE & 2 Sherman Flails Naval Guns 200 pts DD Armoured Platoon 200 pts Priority Air Support 220 pts Commando Company (1 section) 195 pts Typhoons

4,110 Points

28 The Americans - Omaha Beach

82nd Airborne (Sean Goodison)

On D-Day, the 82nd Airborne Division, Turner Turnbull 25 pts Parachute Field Artillery 135 pts were to land at the base of the Cotentin Company HQ with 3 Bazookas 90 pts Glider Anti-tank platoon (3 guns) 70 pts peninsula and seize vital causeways, road Parachute Rifle Platoons 530 pts AB Div Recon Platoon 280 pts junctions and river bridges, preventing the Two Platoons @ 265 pts each with support section & 4 AAMGs Germans from bringing reinforcements in Glider Rifle Platoon 155 pts AB Engineer Combat Platoon 295 pts to the area, and clearing the way for the Parachute MG Platoon 170 pts with supply cart & 3 Bazookas amphibious force. Parachute Mortar Platoon 125 pts

1,875 Points

29th Infantry Division (John-Paul Brisigotti) The 29th Infantry Division disembarked its 1st Wave 2nd Wave troopers on D-Day morning in what many Dutch Cota 25 pts Towed Platoon 205 pts survivors declared a hell on earth. Pushing Company HQ 10 pts Four M5 3” guns with M3 half-tracks their way up the beach they encountered Boat Sections 650 pts 57mm AT Platoon 70 pts mines, beach obstacles, a hundred foot Five Sections @ 130 pts each Ranger Company 135 pts sea wall and a murderous hail of shells Ranger Company 135 pts Cavalry Recon Platoon 210 pts and machine gun fire. Despite this HMG Platoon with 2 Bazookas 130 pts Corps Armoured 300 pts small groups of men forced their way in Mortar Platoon 120 pts Field Artillery Battery amongst the German defenders destroying 57mm AT Platoon & DUKW Trucks 75 pts Two Gun Sections, Floating Artillery pillboxes and forming breaches for those Ammo and Pioneer Platoon 155 pts Corps AA Artillery (SP) Platoon 160 pts soldiers landing in the second wave. Two Bazookas Independent Tank Platoon 210 pts Cannon Platoon & DUKW Trucks 160 pts Naval Guns 200 pts DD Shermans (5 tanks) 345 pts Priority Air Support 130 pts Assault Engineer Combat Platoon 180 pts P-47 Thunderbolts Two Bazookas

3,445 Points

Total: 11,145 Points 29 The Germans - Gold Beach

726. Grenadierregiment (Mike Haught)

Originally part of the 716. Infanteriedivi- Company HQ 160 pts Fortifications sion the 726. Grenadierregiment was Panzerschreck team & 2 Snipers Anti Tank Pillbox 7.5cm 80 pts nd brought forward to assist the 352 in Festungs Grenadier Platoons 480 pts HMG Pillbox 80 pts 4 Platoons @ 120 pts each protecting the beaches from Omaha Gun Pits x8 40 pts through to Juno. Though low on heavy Festungs Mortar Platoon (3 sections) 135 pts HMG Nest x2 80 pts support the troopers assigned to Gold Festungs Anti-Tank Platoon: 65 pts Beach moved into a well-constructed Three 4.7mm Pak 183(f) Barbed Wire (5 Pieces) 50 pts defensive line consisting of heavy StuG Platoon 285 pts Static Rocket Launcher Battery 160 pts machine-gun nests and bunkers. Festungs Artillery Battery 160 pts Flak Nest 25 pts Four leFH14/19(t) Trenches (9 pieces) 45 pts Luftwaffe Anti-aircraft Assault Platoon 115 pts Two 8.8cm FlaK 36 with 8 crew

1,960 Points

21. Panzer Gepanzerte Panzergrenadier Company (Casey Davies) When the Allied storm broke at midnight Major Von Luck 50 pts Armoured Artillery Battery 205 pts on 6 June 1944, 21. Panzerdivision was one Company HQ 60 pts Three 10.5cm (Sf) Lorraine Schlepper of the first units to go into action. Rushing Gepanzerte Panzergrenadier Platoon 430 pts Beute StuH Platoon 260 pts to the aid of the beleaguered defenders on 2 Platoons @ 215 pts each Panzer Platoon 475 pts Gold beach the Gepanzerte quickly became Gepanzerte Light AA Gun Platoon 120 pts Five Panzer IV H embroiled in a vicious battle with members Self Propelled Infantry Gun Platoon 175 pts Armoured Rocket launcher Battery 210 pts of the British 6th Airborne. Four Panzerwerfer 42 with 8-man crews

1,985 Points

30 The Germans - Omaha Beach

352. Infanteriedivision (Wayne Turner) As the only fully combat ready division Company HQ & Panzerschreck 65 pts Festungs Heavy Artillery Battery 310 pts manning the Normandy defences the Veteran Festungs Grenadier Platoons 360 pts Four 15cm sFH18 soldiers of the 352. Infanteriedivision Two platoons @ 180 pts each Luftwaffe Anti-aircraft Assault Platoon 115 pts Two 8.8cm FlaK36 with 8 crew were well trained well equipped and Festungs MG Platoon 100 pts itching for a fight. Come D-Day their Festungs Mortar Platoon 185 pts Fortifications defences on Omaha proved to be the Three sections & Panzerknacker Anti-Tank Pillbox - 8.8cm Pak43 250 pts th strongest of the Atlantic Wall as the 29 Festungs Infantry Gun Platoon 140 pts HMG Nest 40 pts Infantry Division were soon to discover. Two 15cm slG33 Flak Nest 25 pts Festungs Anti-Tank Gun Platoon 155 pts Barbed Wire - 3 Pieces 30 pts Three PaK40 Gun Pits - 12 60 pts Festungs Anti-Aircraft Platoon 100 pts HMG Pillbox 80 pts Three 3.7cm FlaK43 APX Turret 45 pts

2,060 Points

2. Das Reich SS-Panzerkompanie (Adam Simunovich)

Having been involved in conflicts on both Ernst Barkmann 275 pts Gepanzerte SS-Panzergrenadier Platoon 260 pts fronts since the outbreak of the war, the Company HQ: 1 Panzer IV H 110 pts SS-Panzer AA Platoon 185 pts 2. Das Reich consists of numerous veteran SS-Panzer Platoon 435 pts Three Quad 2cm units who are well equipped to lead the Four Panzer IV H SS-Panzer Scout Platoon 185 pts counter-attacks against the Allied invaders SS-Panther Platoon 640 pts SS-Armoured Artillery Battery 265 pts in Normandy. Three Panther Three Wespe

2,355 Points

Total Points: 8,360 31 Gold Beach

Phil – This chaos left my infantry to fight their way off the beach th on their own. The first rifle platoon ashore didn’t get far, but 50 Tyne & Tees Division the second rifle commando platoon that followed pushed on It’s been a very long time since I last did a beach through heavy artillery and machine-gun fire to reach the assault and I was really looking forward to tackling two seaside villages and assault the defenders. Both platoons Gold Beach. I wasn’t disappointed and it was lots of fun. were down to just a dozen men, although the riflemen had When I found out that the Germans had stationed an assault the company commander and CSM Hollis leading them into gun unit on the beach, I rejigged the landing order to put a the fray. Avoiding the bunkers, they stormed through the self-propelled anti-tank unit in the first wave. Pretty armour Germans’ defensive fire and routed them in an impressive heavy for a beach assault, but I figured that overrunning the display of musketry, then stopped every German counter- beach defences faster with fewer losses in the infantry would attack cold. compensate for the inevitable losses in armour. The two armoured platoons coming ashore with the tardy As the old saw goes, no plan survives contact with the enemy, AVRE knocked out the German assault guns in short order or - in my case - unfavourable tides. The only things that came despite heavy German shelling. The other main delay was ashore in the first wave were the anti-tank guns and a platoon the soft sand, churned up by German shells, which made of infantry supported by a single DD tank that promptly movement to and up the assault bridges the AVRE tanks laid drowned getting out of the surf. So much for a massed assault. across the sea wall slow and painful. Once onto firm land, My AVRE bunker busters didn’t arrive until my infantry were the tanks headed off into the interior to link up with the Paras off the beach and had already knocked out several bunkers by holding off the German armoured reserves. themselves. The anti-tank gunners were unable to harm the All-in-all a great battle and a lot of fun, despite the inability of assault guns and the two DD tanks that finally reached dry the navy to bring my troops ashore on time. land arrived just ahead of the reinforcing armoured platoons!

32 Mike – should arrive to deal with them. My job would be to stop Phil’s Brits from making any headway. 716. Infanteriedivision I took command of the 716. Infanteriedivision My secondary job was to protect the artillery and radar in charge of the defence of Gold Beach. My station. The station was defended by a pair of FlaK nests, troops were green and as such rated Trained. Rather than let some barbed wire, and trenches. I placed my best troops this be a disadvantage, I chose to view it as letting me get (Confident Veteran) on this objective and placed my 10cm more equipment. artillery battery within the confines of the little fortress. Even though I knew the Paras would be coming onto the I had several machine-gun bunkers to protect the main beach, table in the rear area, I decided to put the bulk of my force backed up by a few machine-gun nests a bit further inland. on the beach to stop the British 50th Infantry Division. My I also had a bunker armed with a PaK 40 anti-tank gun, which reasoning was that the Paras could only get so far in the was sighted along the beach, ready for the enemy tanks to first few turns, by which time Casey’s 21. Panzerdivision unload.

33 John-Paul Not unlike the real battle, that small distance between the water th and the sea wall was a killing ground and with Wayne’s dice 29 Infantry Division stuck on 4, 5 or 6 there was nothing my men did not endure. Standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Phil and Wave after wave of infantry, guns and tanks hit the beaches, facing a vast array of men, machine-guns, unlike Phil’s who clearly had the tide against him, and wave after bunkers and artillery the task of storming the beach, all one wave would move forward to be decimated by Wayne’s forces th foot, seemed a task which my near endless 29 Infantry force and morale boosting presence. With the Paras’ arrival I thought was easily going accomplish. Given Wayne’s fickle dice Sean and I would take the day, only to discover that Adam was rolling past I was quietly counting my chickens as my plan, only toying with us and despite getting no reserves onto the table like so many before it, was simple: all I needed to do was get rolled a trio of 5s right on the turn where the arrival of Barkman off the beach and head inland whilst waiting for the Paras to and the armour would hurt us most. As the battle wore on it was back me up and sweep our side of the board clear of the Hun. back and forth with casualties mounting up on both sides. When you have the ability to field every single unit in a force At the end of the day I am sure my casualty count far in such quantities that you should not really be attached to exceeded that of the actual battle as I gazed at a 6'x4' table full units and knowing the casualty rates on Omaha beach I was of my dead. Although all the ‘little’ men live to fight another surprised by how tough it was to keep removing wave after day it was chilling to imagine just what it must have been like wave of brave “little” men who were trying their best to to be part of the D-Day landings and what bravery it took to breach the sea wall. ‘get off the beaches’.

34 Omaha Beach

Wayne – important Radar Station, the other led up the draw and through the village directly behind my positions. 352. Infanteriedivision My force, a Festungskompanie from 352. Backing up the beach defences was a heap of extra firepower Infanteriedivision, had the simple role of defending deployed behind the front line defences. These platoons the beach. In the front line I deployed my two Veteran Festungs firing on the beaches included 15cm heavy howitzers and Grenadier Platoons and a Festungs Machine-gun Platoon. 15cm infantry guns as well as 8cm mortars and 7.5cm PaK40 Backing up the platoons on the beach was a number of bunkers. anti-tanks guns. Most were positioned in the draw, though the three HMGs, two in nests and one in a pill box. To keep the mortars were up on the hill in front of the Radar Station. Sherman DD tanks burning on the beach I had an 8.8cm My plan was pretty basic. Fire on the beach and stop PaK43/41 anti-tank gun pill box. My beach front positions the Allies getting off it. I was pretty sure I’d do some defended a boat ramp off the beach over the sea wall. From the considerable damage to them while I waited for reserves to boat ramp a pair of roads led inland, one up a hill towards our arrive and counter-attack.

35 Victor – Mike). I did lose my second Parachute Platoon that came on th to Panzer IV machine gun fire, which was a heavy blow, but 6 Airborne Brigade once my Tetrarchs and 6 pdrs arrived, they got their revenge I was in command of the 6th Airborne Brigade, (although they took their sweet time!) At this point I only held with my deployment zone being on the Gold one objective with my Parachute platoon. beach side of the table, adjacent to the radio tower. As soon as my artillery and mortars arrived and were in My initial thoughts were to hold and build up reserves until I position to fire, I moved the two remaining Parachute platoons felt I could make a valiant effort to take the radar tower. up the road towards the radio tower, while the artillery and Getting all the reserves to band together was tougher than mortars kept the defending troops pinned. I thought through all the bocage, and once Casey’s Panzers My HMGs hunkered down and defended our objective tooth started arriving, I had to focus my efforts on them. I and nail, but the radar station proved to be too well defended succeeded in halting their advance, keeping the way clear for for my troops to capture. Phil to come up from the beach (once he ploughed through

36 British Airborne landings

Casey – 21. Panzerdivision This D-Day game gave me the opportunity to use an army and units that I’ve always wanted to play, but have never had the opportunity to build. I’ve always liked playing armoured panzergrenadiers, so I thought a couple of Gepanzerte Panzergrenadier Platoons and HQ would be a great core to build the rest of the force around. With the adjustment of points in the new Earth & Steel, the half-tracks are less of a points sink than they have been in the past, so they provide more bang for the buck. Since I knew that my main opposition was going to be paratroopers I figured the more machine-guns the better. The great thing about 21. Panzer is all of the weird vehicles they can have in support, so the first options for support had to be a 7.5cm PaK40 Beute StuG platoon, 15cm Lorraine Schlepper SP Infantry Guns and some 10.5cm SP Artillery. I figured they would be fantastic for stopping Allied armour and digging out those pesky paratroopers. The next addition to the army was von Luck and some Panzer IVs as an all-purpose platoon. Von Luck proved invaluable in the game. I brought his platoon on as first reserve to gain benefit from his Better Late Than Never rule, allowing him to re-roll a Reserves die each round. As it happened, his platoon also managed to arrive beside a British Paratrooper platoon that had doubled in the open, which they managed to wipe out. The last addition to the list were some Panzerwerfer 42s. I’ve always been a fan of large Soviet Katy batteries, and this was a great opportunity to use their German counterparts. With lots of enemy infantry on the table they managed to cause havoc and a lot of confusion to the Paras. Double width templates, re-rolling misses, and always counting as ranging in on the first attempt makes them one of the best artillery options for the Germans, as well as the ability to stormtrooper away from their smoke. Overall this force performed well. However British paratroopers are a tough nut to crack. I’m looking forward to trying the force out again soon.

37 US Airborne Landings

Adam – 2. SS-Panzerdivision Given command of the Das Reich SS- Panzerdivision I was assigned the job of holding our rear objectives on Omaha and dealing with the American paratroopers so I my troops to successfully recapture and protect the Omaha could advance and relieve our troops holding the beaches. My objectives from the Americans. This push unfortunately cost deployment zone was situated at the back of the board with my armour dearly due to repeated ambushes and assaults from limited room for panzers to manoeuvre due to large amounts the Paratroopers hiding in the bocage. My Wespes arrived late of bocage. in the battle and bolstered our diminished long ranged fire Having two long roads to advance down I decided it would support as my infantry rushed forward to take up defensive be best to use my advance forces to tie up the paratroopers positions around the objectives. The American paratroopers and ensure I held the objectives assigned to me. In keeping proved to be a much harder force to crack then I had first with this I pushed forward with as many panzers as the anticipated as they made constant assaults against my Panzer reinforcement gods were kind enough to give me. Although IVs. They even made a daring assault to successful knock out meeting with early success against the American light Barkmann’s Panther. This victory for the paratroopers was reconnaissance jeeps, the bocage forced my panzers into short lived however as Barkmann quickly jumped into another effective kill zones for the Allied air support which continued tank to continue the advance. to plague my advancing tanks for the rest of the game, Ultimately the damage was done and my depleted panzers effectively taking out more of my panzers and half-tracks than never made it to the beaches. With such limited space to even the bazooka armed paratroopers could. take advantage of the panzers’ long range and manoeuvring These losses meant nothing for my troops were from the capabilities the Americans paratroopers were able to keep me legendary Fearless Veteran Das Reich led by Oberscharführer occupied in a war over Omaha’s rear objectives. If given the Ernst Barkmann. We rallied and pushed forward to rescue opportunity at an open advance the steel might of the panzers the last of Omaha beach’s artillery batteries. This allowed would have given much more to the fight on D-Day.

38 Sean – 82nd Airborne Taking on the role of the American paratroopers it was my job to capture Omaha beach’s inland objectives and stop the armoured SS units from reinforcing the beach. My men deployed from the side of the board near the German table edge, surrounded by bocage. My main objective was the village of Formigny near the very back of the board. If I could take this then all the German forces on the beach would receive word they had been surrounded and start each round pinned down. In order to capture this early and help the boys on the beach I knew that the first reserve I would choose to bring on would be my reconnaissance jeeps. Being my fastest platoon it would be up to them to zip down the road and take the early objective. After that it would be up to me to dig in and wait for the beach defences to fall. My main weakness in this battle was my inability to roll for reserves and I ended up fighting with a very small force. Also my initial plan of rushing towards the objective was interrupted by a platoon of Panzergrenadiers who punched a thousand holes in my jeeps with their machine-guns. It didn’t help that I was deploying from within the bocage and had to spend a turn manoeuvring the jeeps through it. Thankfully my infantry platoons redeemed my force, taking out a number of Panzers and causing general disarray in the bocage with their bazookas. They even managed to destroy the SS company commander and Barkmann’s Panther in particularly daring assaults. The Combat Engineers cleared out some German artillery that was firing on the beaches and in return I was lent some much needed air support which turned Panzer IVs into scrap. Although my men had a tough fight from start to finish, only receiving their anti-tank support in the last few turns, they did the job they had set out to do. The SS tanks never made it to the beaches and we captured and held two important objectives.

39 The Smoke Clears

The players (left to right): Victor Pesch, Kyran Henry, Adam Simunovich, Sean Goodison, Katie Small, Wayne Turner, Phil Yates, John-Paul Brisigotti and Mike Haught

Suggested Further Reading Our players have suggested their favourite books on the Normandy invasion to help inspire your games. Six Armies in Normandy by John Keegan (Adam) Battlezone Normandy Series by Simon Trew (Phil) Grenadiers by Kurt Meyer (Wayne) Earth & Steel by Battlefront Studio (Victor) Panzers in Normandy - Then & Now by Eric Lefèvre (Sean) Normandy to Berlin by Karen Farrington (Casey) Overlord: The D-Day Landings by Ken Ford & Steven J. Zaloga (Mike) Beyond the Beaches by Joseph Balkoski (John-Paul)

40 After an exhausting eight hours of play over two days, the Omaha Beach battlefield was littered with burning wrecks and valiant survivors. • After suffering horrendous casualties at the hands of the 352. the weary and battered soldiers of the 29th Infantry Division Gold Beach managed to capture the sea wall ramp and begin to head • By the end of the battle all three beach objectives were firmly inland. The German defence had been dogged and the 352. in British hands with the German defences in complete could definitely claim Omaha as a victory for the Reich. disarray. • The US paratroopers fared a little better than the troops on the • Inland the British Paratroopers had managed to capture and beaches, capturing one of the buildings covering the inland hold one of the secondary objectives despite the appalling roads and in a surprise move striking the 352. in the rear, casualties inflicted upon them by the 21. Panzerdivision. The destroying their artillery command and claiming one of the all-important Radar station remained firmly in German hands. secondary beach objectives Allied Victory! Objectives Objectives Captured: 7 Held: 5

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