D-Day
The Allied Invasion of France
On 6 June 1944 the Allied military machine embarked on ‘Operation Overlord’, 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
of 24,000 British, American, Canadian and Free French airborne
troops shortly after midnight, and an amphibious landing of
Allied infantry and armoured divisions on the coast of France
commencing at 6:30 AM. There were also decoy operations
mounted under the code names Operation Glimmer and Operation
Taxable to distract the German forces from the real landing areas.
There was nothing inevitable about the Allied victory in
Normandy. The Germans had 61 divisions, 11 of which were
armoured, protecting the French coastline. This force was
roughly equivalent to the total Allied commitment to Operation
Overlord and had no intention of giving up without a fight.
F
R
A
British 6th
Airborne Division
Caen
N
N
C
E
N D Y
M A
R
O
Bayeux
Orne River
1 SS 8 Infantry
Brigade Brigade
G
185
Infantry
Brigade
L
I S
H
C H
A N N E
L
4 SS Brigade
69 Infantry
Brigade
9 Canadian
Infantry
Brigade
231 Infantry Brigade
151 Infantry 56 Infantry
Brigade
Brigade
8 Canadian
Infantry
Brigade 2 Canadian
Armoured
Brigade
7th Armoured
Division
3rd
Division
British I Corps
Crocker
10
47 RM Commando
7 Canadian
Infantry
Brigade
27 Armoured
Brigade
E
N
9 Infantry
Brigade
Gold
Juno
Sword
51st (Highland)
Division
3rd Canadian
Division
British Second Army
Dempsey
8 Armour
Brigade
49th (West Rid
Division
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 beachhead.
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
St. Lô
O F
S T
.
M
A
L
US 82nd & 101st
Airborne Divisions
O
Carentan
Ste. Mère Eglise
Omaha
16th Infantry
Regiment
red
e
ding)
n
8th Infantry
Regiment
116th Infantry
Regiment
18th Infantry
Regiment
115th Infantry
Regiment
1st Infantry
Division
P E N I N S U L A
Cherbourg
22nd Infantry
Regiment
Ranger
Brigade
50th
(Northumbrian)
Division
C O T E N T I N
Utah
Pointe-du-Hoc
12th Infantry
Regiment
4th Infantry
Division
90th Infantry
Division
9th Infantry
Division
US VII Corps
Collins
29th Infantry
Division
Armoured
Division
2nd
2nd Infantry
Division
US V Corps
Gerow
British XXX Corps
Bucknall
21st Army Group
Montgomery
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 Americans who landed on Omaha beach faced the veteran
The landing points were broken into five beaches. Three for the
German 352nd Infantry Division, one of the best trained on the
British and Commonwealth troops, Sword, Juno and Gold. Two
beaches. Omaha was the most heavily fortified beach with barbed
for the Americans, Omaha and Utah.
wire, minefields, pillboxes, Tobruk pits and heavy machine guns
On Sword Beach, 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 Pointe du Hoc, 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 Juno Beach 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 Gold Beach, 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
light machine guns which took a heavy toll on the invaders.
Weighed down with equipment the infantry struggled to cross
the soft sand to the relative safety of the sea wall, enduring a
withering hail of fire the whole time. Despite the hardships,
the 50th Tyne & Tees Infantry Division doggedly overcame the
bunkers and entrenched German troops and advanced almost to
the outskirts of Bayeux by the end of the day.
12
Casualties on Utah Beach, the westernmost landing zone, were
the lightest of any beach; only 197 out of the roughly 23,000
troops that landed. Although the 4th Infantry Division troops that
landed on the beach found themselves too far to the southeast,
they landed on a lightly defended sector that had relatively little
German opposition, and the 4th Infantry Division was able
to press inland by early afternoon, linking up with the 101st
Airborne Division.
The German Defenders
“The enemy must be annihilated before he reaches our main
battlefield… We must stop him in the water … destroying all his
equipment while it is still afloat”
Field Marshall Erwin Rommel
22nd April 1944
“At the present time, it is still too early to say whether this is a
large-scale diversionary attack or the main effort”
German C-in-C West
Morning Report for 6th June 1944
With the 352. Infanteriedivision forming the backbone of Erwin
Rommel’s Atlantic Wall defenders the allies were never going to
have it all their own way. Rommel had spent the previous year
turning the French coastline into a veritable fortress of earth
and steel fortifications working his men tirelessly to make the
beaches as deadly and uninviting as they could.
aggressive defence was most successful at the Omaha beach
landings as the 352nd. caused horrendous casualties on the 29th
and 1st US infantry divisions.
Following Rommel’s orders, the German 21. Panzer Division
mounted a concerted counter-attack, between Sword and Juno
beaches, and succeeded in nearly reaching the Channel. Stiff
resistance by anti-tank gunners and fear of being cut off caused
them to withdraw before the end of 6 June. According to some
reports, the sighting of a wave of airborne troops flying over
them was instrumental in the decision to retreat.
Rommel knew that German success would hinge upon defeating
the invaders on the beaches and constantly demanded that the
German high command give him more armour and men as
most of his regiments were dangerously below strength at the
time of the invasion. Worse, most of the Panzer Divisions were
deployed to far from the front to be able to assist the beach
defenders quickly. Rommel believed the best defence was
an aggressive one and ordered all units under his command
to counter-attack any and all Allied forces encountered. This
Cherbourg
243
Inf
US
82nd
US
FIRST ARMY
BRITISH
SECOND ARMY
US
VII
British
XXX
Corps
US
V
Corps
91 Inf
709
Gren
Valognes
Airborne
Ste. Mère Eglise
US
101st
Airborne
Rommel’s fears for the other Panzer divisions proved to be
correct as they discovered the narrow French roads and the
seemingly endless numbers of Allied paratroopers to be an
insurmountable thorn in their plans for relieving the hard
pressed beach defenders.
Corps
British
I
Corps
UTAH
OMAHA
Point
du-Hoc
Carentan Isigny
JUNO
SWORD
GOLD
British
6th
Airborne
Le Havre
Deauville
Vierville
Arromanches
6 FJR
30 SB
Bayeux
352
Inf
Villers-Bocage
711 Inf
Caen
21
St. Lô
Coutances
Ouistreham
716
Inf
Panzer
12 SS
Panzer
Granville
F R A N C E
0
0
Kilometre
40
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
landing on the Normandy beaches into the teeth of the German
fortifications. The paratroopers have landed inland and are
making their way to the coast engaging German units as they
encounter them.
‘Eight Armies in Normandy’ is a large scale Total War battle
played by the Battlefront Miniatures employees to celebrate the
relaunch of our Normandy theatre books.
We decided to focus our battle on Gold Beach and Omaha
Beach. This allowed us to use British and US forces for the
main assault, and we couldn’t leave out the airborne, so the
paratroopers get to go after some difficult inland objectives and
run interference on the German reserves. We obviously used
some fuzzy scaling to get all the forces involved, but this
game was always about heaps of toy soldiers and fun over
purist accuracy.
We played our giant game out over two days and had a heap of
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
all-out smash fest.
Kyran Henry
24
The Scenario
For the scenario we used a modified version of Hit the Beach from
the D-Day Intelligence handbook (also available in Das Book). We
used the following mission rules with alterations as noted.
• Amphibious Assault
• Reserves. (Each Allied Paratrooper commander begins the
game with one Combat platoon and the Company HQ on the
board, all other Paratroopers enter the game as reserves.)
• Reserves (21. Panzer, Das Reich)
• Interdiction (see the Radar Station)
• Overwhelming Force (29th Infantry Division and
50th Tyne & Tees)
• No Retreat, No surrender (See The Fortress has Fallen below).
• Prepared Positions (German defenders)
Plus we added a new one just for this game:
• Fighter Interception (Each turn the Radar Station remains
under German control the Luftwaffe may intercept one Allied
ground attack mission.)
Y
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
liberty-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
There are twelve objectives total on the map. Two of these are
special objectives that affect the overall battle.
If the Allies hold all six objectives on one beach or seven
or more across the two beachheads then they are victorious.
Otherwise the Germans hold off the landings.
Special Objectives
The Radar Station: Once Captured the Germans lose their free
fighter interception and now suffer the effects of interdiction for
all their reinforcements. Once captured, the station is considered
disabled for the rest of the game.
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' /
240
cm
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 tanks a solid
access point to the top of the sea wall.
Secondary
objectives included
the ammunition
depot just behind
the defences
and the road
inland covered by a
HMG nest.
26
29th Infantry Division
Objectives
The sea wall ramp was the top priority of the
29th Infantry Division on Omaha. This access point was
the only way to get the tanks off the beach and up onto
the sea wall.
Secondary objectives involved capturing the roads inland
and knocking out the German artillery
command post overlooking these roads.
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
8'
/2
40
cm
deployment area
Off-Table
Support
29th Infantry Div.
landing zone
As well as the forces on the following pages,
the Allies had the following assets available:
Naval guns
British Priority Air Support:
Typhoons
400 pts
220 pts
US Priority Air Support
190 pts
Total
810 pts
Thunderbolts
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
were dropped deep into enemy territory
to safeguard the British and Canadian
amphibious landings, securing vital bridges
to cut off reinforcements, and neutralising
coastal guns that threatened the entire fleet.
Lt-Colonel Pine-Coffin
Company HQ
50 pts
220 pts
Parachute Platoons
690 pts
Parachute Mortar Platoon
135 pts
3 PIAT & 2 snipers
3 Platoons @ 230 pts each
Parachute Machine Gun Platoon 150 pts
Anti-Tank Platoon (2 Sections) 150 pts
Airlanding Armoured Recce Platoon 170 pts
4 Tetrarch
Airlanding Light Battery
4 M1A1 75mm pack howitzer
150 pts
1,715 Points
50th Tyne & Tees Division (Phil Yates)
The 50th Division was tasked with
establishing a beachhead between
Arromanches-les-Bains and Ver-sur-Mer,
then head towards Route Nationale 13.
They faced stiff resistance in many
areas, but by the end of the day they had
achieved all of their objectives, some
Brigades advancing as much as eight
miles into German-occupied France.
1st Wave
Stan Hollis
Company HQ
Rifle Platoons
Three Platoons @ 180 pts each
Pioneer Platoon
Mortar Platoon
HMG Platoon
Breaching Group Four AVRE & 2 Sherman Flails
35 pts
30 pts
540 pts
85 pts
175 pts
160 pts
280 pts
DD Armoured Platoon
200 pts
Commando Company (1 section) 195 pts
2nd Wave
Commando Company (1 section) 195 pts
Carrier Platoon (3 sections)
260 pts
Assault Anti-Tank Platoon (SP), RA 310 pts
Four M10
Field Battery (SP), RA 495 pts
Independent Armoured Platoon
Independent Armoured Platoon
Naval Guns
Priority Air Support
365 pts
365 pts
200 pts
220 pts
Eight guns, Floating Artillery
Typhoons
4,110 Points
28
The Americans - Omaha Beach
82nd Airborne (Sean Goodison)
On D-Day, the 82nd Airborne Division,
were to land at the base of the Cotentin
peninsula and seize vital causeways, road
junctions and river bridges, preventing the
Germans from bringing reinforcements in
to the area, and clearing the way for the
amphibious force.
Turner Turnbull
Company HQ with 3 Bazookas
Parachute Rifle Platoons
25 pts
90 pts
530 pts
Parachute Field Artillery
135 pts
Glider Anti-tank platoon (3 guns) 70 pts
AB Div Recon Platoon
280 pts
Glider Rifle Platoon
Parachute MG Platoon
Parachute Mortar Platoon
155 pts
170 pts
125 pts
AB Engineer Combat Platoon Two Platoons @ 265 pts each
with support section & 4 AAMGs
with supply cart & 3 Bazookas
295 pts
1,875 Points
29th Infantry Division (John-Paul Brisigotti)
The 29th Infantry Division disembarked its
troopers on D-Day morning in what many
survivors declared a hell on earth. Pushing
their way up the beach they encountered
mines, beach obstacles, a hundred foot
sea wall and a murderous hail of shells
and machine gun fire. Despite this
small groups of men forced their way in
amongst the German defenders destroying
pillboxes and forming breaches for those
soldiers landing in the second wave.
1st Wave
Dutch Cota
Company HQ
Boat Sections
Five Sections @ 130 pts each
25 pts
10 pts
650 pts
Ranger Company
135 pts
HMG Platoon with 2 Bazookas 130 pts
Mortar Platoon
120 pts
57mm AT Platoon & DUKW Trucks 75 pts
Ammo and Pioneer Platoon
155 pts
Two Bazookas
Cannon Platoon & DUKW Trucks160 pts
DD Shermans (5 tanks)
345 pts
Assault Engineer Combat Platoon 180 pts
Two Bazookas
2nd Wave
Towed Tank Destroyer Platoon
205 pts
57mm AT Platoon
Ranger Company
Cavalry Recon Platoon
Corps Armoured
Field Artillery Battery
70 pts
135 pts
210 pts
300 pts
Corps AA Artillery (SP) Platoon
Independent Tank Platoon
Naval Guns
Priority Air Support
160 pts
210 pts
200 pts
130 pts
Four M5 3” guns with M3 half-tracks
Two Gun Sections, Floating Artillery
P-47 Thunderbolts
3,445 Points
Total: 11,145 Points
29
The Germans - Gold Beach
726. Grenadierregiment (Mike Haught)
Originally part of the 716. Infanteriedivision the 726. Grenadierregiment was
brought forward to assist the 352nd in
protecting the beaches from Omaha
through to Juno. Though low on heavy
support the troopers assigned to Gold
Beach moved into a well-constructed
defensive line consisting of heavy
machine-gun nests and bunkers.
Company HQ
160 pts
Festungs Grenadier Platoons 480 pts
Panzerschreck team & 2 Snipers
4 Platoons @ 120 pts each
Festungs Mortar Platoon (3 sections) 135 pts
Festungs Anti-Tank Platoon:
65 pts
Three 4.7mm Pak 183(f)
StuG Platoon
Festungs Artillery Battery
Four leFH14/19(t)
285 pts
160 pts
Luftwaffe Anti-aircraft Assault Platoon 115 pts
Fortifications
Anti Tank Pillbox 7.5cm
HMG Pillbox
Gun Pits x8
HMG Nest x2
Barbed Wire (5 Pieces)
Static Rocket Launcher Battery
Flak Nest
Trenches (9 pieces)
80 pts
80 pts
40 pts
80 pts
50 pts
160 pts
25 pts
45 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
on 6 June 1944, 21. Panzerdivision was one
of the first units to go into action. Rushing
to the aid of the beleaguered defenders on
Gold beach the Gepanzerte quickly became
embroiled in a vicious battle with members
of the British 6th Airborne.
50 pts Armoured Artillery Battery
Three 10.5cm (Sf) Lorraine Schlepper
60 pts
Beute
StuH Platoon
430 pts
2 Platoons @ 215 pts each
Panzer Platoon
Five Panzer IV H
Gepanzerte Light AA Gun Platoon 120 pts
Self Propelled Infantry Gun Platoon 175 pts Armoured Rocket launcher Battery
Major Von Luck
Company HQ
Gepanzerte Panzergrenadier Platoon
205 pts
260 pts
475 pts
210 pts
Four Panzerwerfer 42 with 8-man crews
1,985 Points
30
The Germans - Omaha Beach
As the only fully combat ready division
manning the Normandy defences the
soldiers of the 352. Infanteriedivision
were well trained well equipped and
itching for a fight. Come D-Day their
defences on Omaha proved to be the
strongest of the Atlantic Wall as the 29th
Infantry Division were soon to discover.
352. Infanteriedivision (Wayne Turner)
Company HQ & Panzerschreck
65 pts
Veteran Festungs Grenadier Platoons 360 pts
Two platoons @ 180 pts each
Festungs MG Platoon
Festungs Mortar Platoon
100 pts
185 pts
Festungs Infantry Gun Platoon
140 pts
Festungs Anti-Tank Gun Platoon
155 pts
Festungs Anti-Aircraft Platoon
100 pts
Three sections & Panzerknacker
Two 15cm slG33
Three PaK40
Three 3.7cm FlaK43
Festungs Heavy Artillery Battery
Four 15cm sFH18
310 pts
Luftwaffe Anti-aircraft Assault Platoon 115 pts
Two 8.8cm FlaK36 with 8 crew
Fortifications
Anti-Tank Pillbox - 8.8cm Pak43
HMG Nest
Flak Nest
Barbed Wire - 3 Pieces
Gun Pits - 12
HMG Pillbox
APX Turret
250 pts
40 pts
25 pts
30 pts
60 pts
80 pts
45 pts
2,060 Points
2. Das Reich SS-Panzerkompanie (Adam Simunovich)
Having been involved in conflicts on both
fronts since the outbreak of the war, the
2. Das Reich consists of numerous veteran
units who are well equipped to lead the
counter-attacks against the Allied invaders
in Normandy.
Ernst Barkmann
Company HQ: 1 Panzer IV H
SS-Panzer Platoon
275 pts
110 pts
435 pts
SS-Panther Platoon
640 pts
Four Panzer IV H
Three Panther
Gepanzerte SS-Panzergrenadier Platoon260 pts
SS-Panzer AA Platoon
185 pts
Three Quad 2cm
SS-Panzer Scout Platoon
SS-Armoured Artillery Battery
Three Wespe
185 pts
265 pts
2,355 Points
Total Points: 8,360
31
Gold Beach
Phil –
50th Tyne & Tees Division
It’s been a very long time since I last did a beach
assault and I was really looking forward to tackling
Gold Beach. I wasn’t disappointed and it was lots of fun.
When I found out that the Germans had stationed an assault
gun unit on the beach, I rejigged the landing order to put a
self-propelled anti-tank unit in the first wave. Pretty armour
heavy for a beach assault, but I figured that overrunning the
beach defences faster with fewer losses in the infantry would
compensate for the inevitable losses in armour.
As the old saw goes, no plan survives contact with the enemy,
or - in my case - unfavourable tides. The only things that came
ashore in the first wave were the anti-tank guns and a platoon
of infantry supported by a single DD tank that promptly
drowned getting out of the surf. So much for a massed assault.
My AVRE bunker busters didn’t arrive until my infantry were
off the beach and had already knocked out several bunkers by
themselves. The anti-tank gunners were unable to harm the
assault guns and the two DD tanks that finally reached dry
land arrived just ahead of the reinforcing armoured platoons!
32
This chaos left my infantry to fight their way off the beach
on their own. The first rifle platoon ashore didn’t get far, but
the second rifle commando platoon that followed pushed on
through heavy artillery and machine-gun fire to reach the
two seaside villages and assault the defenders. Both platoons
were down to just a dozen men, although the riflemen had
the company commander and CSM Hollis leading them into
the fray. Avoiding the bunkers, they stormed through the
Germans’ defensive fire and routed them in an impressive
display of musketry, then stopped every German counterattack cold.
The two armoured platoons coming ashore with the tardy
AVRE knocked out the German assault guns in short order
despite heavy German shelling. The other main delay was
the soft sand, churned up by German shells, which made
movement to and up the assault bridges the AVRE tanks laid
across the sea wall slow and painful. Once onto firm land,
the tanks headed off into the interior to link up with the Paras
holding off the German armoured reserves.
All-in-all a great battle and a lot of fun, despite the inability of
the navy to bring my troops ashore on time.
Mike –
716. Infanteriedivision
I took command of the 716. Infanteriedivision
in charge of the defence of Gold Beach. My
troops were green and as such rated Trained. Rather than let
this be a disadvantage, I chose to view it as letting me get
more equipment.
Even though I knew the Paras would be coming onto the
table in the rear area, I decided to put the bulk of my force
on the beach to stop the British 50th Infantry Division. My
reasoning was that the Paras could only get so far in the
first few turns, by which time Casey’s 21. Panzerdivision
should arrive to deal with them. My job would be to stop
Phil’s Brits from making any headway.
My secondary job was to protect the artillery and radar
station. The station was defended by a pair of FlaK nests,
some barbed wire, and trenches. I placed my best troops
(Confident Veteran) on this objective and placed my 10cm
artillery battery within the confines of the little fortress.
I had several machine-gun bunkers to protect the main beach,
backed up by a few machine-gun nests a bit further inland.
I also had a bunker armed with a PaK 40 anti-tank gun, which
was sighted along the beach, ready for the enemy tanks to
unload.
33
John-Paul
29th Infantry Division
Standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Phil and
facing a vast array of men, machine-guns,
bunkers and artillery the task of storming the beach, all one
foot, seemed a task which my near endless 29th Infantry force
was easily going accomplish. Given Wayne’s fickle dice
rolling past I was quietly counting my chickens as my plan,
like so many before it, was simple: all I needed to do was get
off the beach and head inland whilst waiting for the Paras to
back me up and sweep our side of the board clear of the Hun.
When you have the ability to field every single unit in a force
in such quantities that you should not really be attached to
units and knowing the casualty rates on Omaha beach I was
surprised by how tough it was to keep removing wave after
wave of brave “little” men who were trying their best to
breach the sea wall.
34
Not unlike the real battle, that small distance between the water
and the sea wall was a killing ground and with Wayne’s dice
stuck on 4, 5 or 6 there was nothing my men did not endure.
Wave after wave of infantry, guns and tanks hit the beaches,
unlike Phil’s who clearly had the tide against him, and wave after
wave would move forward to be decimated by Wayne’s forces
and morale boosting presence. With the Paras’ arrival I thought
Sean and I would take the day, only to discover that Adam was
only toying with us and despite getting no reserves onto the table
rolled a trio of 5s right on the turn where the arrival of Barkman
and the armour would hurt us most. As the battle wore on it was
back and forth with casualties mounting up on both sides.
At the end of the day I am sure my casualty count far
exceeded that of the actual battle as I gazed at a 6'x4' table full
of my dead. Although all the ‘little’ men live to fight another
day it was chilling to imagine just what it must have been like
to be part of the D-Day landings and what bravery it took to
‘get off the beaches’.
Omaha Beach
Wayne –
352. Infanteriedivision
My force, a Festungskompanie from 352.
Infanteriedivision, had the simple role of defending
the beach. In the front line I deployed my two Veteran Festungs
Grenadier Platoons and a Festungs Machine-gun Platoon.
Backing up the platoons on the beach was a number of bunkers.
three HMGs, two in nests and one in a pill box. To keep the
Sherman DD tanks burning on the beach I had an 8.8cm
PaK43/41 anti-tank gun pill box. My beach front positions
defended a boat ramp off the beach over the sea wall. From the
boat ramp a pair of roads led inland, one up a hill towards our
important Radar Station, the other led up the draw and through
the village directly behind my positions.
Backing up the beach defences was a heap of extra firepower
deployed behind the front line defences. These platoons
firing on the beaches included 15cm heavy howitzers and
15cm infantry guns as well as 8cm mortars and 7.5cm PaK40
anti-tanks guns. Most were positioned in the draw, though the
mortars were up on the hill in front of the Radar Station.
My plan was pretty basic. Fire on the beach and stop
the Allies getting off it. I was pretty sure I’d do some
considerable damage to them while I waited for reserves to
arrive and counter-attack.
35
Victor –
6th Airborne Brigade
I was in command of the 6th Airborne Brigade,
with my deployment zone being on the Gold
beach side of the table, adjacent to the radio tower.
My initial thoughts were to hold and build up reserves until I
felt I could make a valiant effort to take the radar tower.
Getting all the reserves to band together was tougher than
I thought through all the bocage, and once Casey’s Panzers
started arriving, I had to focus my efforts on them. I
succeeded in halting their advance, keeping the way clear for
Phil to come up from the beach (once he ploughed through
36
Mike). I did lose my second Parachute Platoon that came on
to Panzer IV machine gun fire, which was a heavy blow, but
once my Tetrarchs and 6 pdrs arrived, they got their revenge
(although they took their sweet time!) At this point I only held
one objective with my Parachute platoon.
As soon as my artillery and mortars arrived and were in
position to fire, I moved the two remaining Parachute platoons
up the road towards the radio tower, while the artillery and
mortars kept the defending troops pinned.
My HMGs hunkered down and defended our objective tooth
and nail, but the radar station proved to be too well defended
for my troops to capture.
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 SSPanzerdivision I was assigned the job of
holding our rear objectives on Omaha and
dealing with the American paratroopers so I
could advance and relieve our troops holding the beaches. My
deployment zone was situated at the back of the board with
limited room for panzers to manoeuvre due to large amounts
of bocage.
Having two long roads to advance down I decided it would
be best to use my advance forces to tie up the paratroopers
and ensure I held the objectives assigned to me. In keeping
with this I pushed forward with as many panzers as the
reinforcement gods were kind enough to give me. Although
meeting with early success against the American light
reconnaissance jeeps, the bocage forced my panzers into
effective kill zones for the Allied air support which continued
to plague my advancing tanks for the rest of the game,
effectively taking out more of my panzers and half-tracks than
even the bazooka armed paratroopers could.
These losses meant nothing for my troops were from the
legendary Fearless Veteran Das Reich led by Oberscharführer
Ernst Barkmann. We rallied and pushed forward to rescue
the last of Omaha beach’s artillery batteries. This allowed
38
my troops to successfully recapture and protect the Omaha
objectives from the Americans. This push unfortunately cost
my armour dearly due to repeated ambushes and assaults from
the Paratroopers hiding in the bocage. My Wespes arrived late
in the battle and bolstered our diminished long ranged fire
support as my infantry rushed forward to take up defensive
positions around the objectives. The American paratroopers
proved to be a much harder force to crack then I had first
anticipated as they made constant assaults against my Panzer
IVs. They even made a daring assault to successful knock out
Barkmann’s Panther. This victory for the paratroopers was
short lived however as Barkmann quickly jumped into another
tank to continue the advance.
Ultimately the damage was done and my depleted panzers
never made it to the beaches. With such limited space to
take advantage of the panzers’ long range and manoeuvring
capabilities the Americans paratroopers were able to keep me
occupied in a war over Omaha’s rear objectives. If given the
opportunity at an open advance the steel might of the panzers
would have given much more to the fight on D-Day.
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
battlefield was littered with burning wrecks and valiant survivors.
Gold Beach
• By the end of the battle all three beach objectives were firmly
in British hands with the German defences in complete
disarray.
• Inland the British Paratroopers had managed to capture and
hold one of the secondary objectives despite the appalling
casualties inflicted upon them by the 21. Panzerdivision. The
all-important Radar station remained firmly in German hands.
Omaha Beach
• After suffering horrendous casualties at the hands of the 352.
the weary and battered soldiers of the 29th Infantry Division
managed to capture the sea wall ramp and begin to head
inland. The German defence had been dogged and the 352.
could definitely claim Omaha as a victory for the Reich.
• The US paratroopers fared a little better than the troops on the
beaches, capturing one of the buildings covering the inland
roads and in a surprise move striking the 352. in the rear,
destroying their artillery command and claiming one of the
secondary beach objectives
Allied Victory!
Objectives
Captured:
7
Objectives
Held:
5
41