"Band Of Brothers campaign" Topic

During the course of the Scottish 2012 wargaming "season", RAF Leuchars Wargames Club has been refighting the campaign of the famous Band Of Brothers.
At four shows north of the border between April and November, we have played four different scenarios from the story of Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division ……. D-Day, Carentan, Eindhoven and Bastogne.

Using 20mm scale figures and vehicles, and modified Rapid Fire rules, we fought our own battles, rather than retelling their stories exactly.
For example, Richard Winters survived to the end, but did not become a Captain or company commander, because Thomas Meehan also survived!

If a character took a light wound (gaining a Purple Heart), he came back for the next battle.
If he sustained a serious wound, he missed the next battle, but returned for the one after that.
If he was killed or later died of wounds, a replacement was provided in the rest of the battles.
One exception to these rules was after Eindhoven, as we rushed them into their final battle at Bastogne with no replacements, no cold weather gear, little ammo, little food and low morale.

Each of the 130 figures was named for an actual paratrooper, backed up by some serious research in books and on the internet, resulting in named photos of all of them on our supporting information board.
This board also sported a considerable number of group photographs from their training days at Toccoa up to the survivors grouping in Austria.
Large shields of 101st Airborne, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, smaller ones of 2nd Btn and Easy Company, plus quite a few recruiting posters, and the beautiful music from the TV series helped to create the right atmosphere.

Here's how the four scenarios worked out (remember, these do not represent the real thing).

D-Day.
Company HQ, most of 1 Platoon and part of 3 Platoon parachuted in the dark onto St Mere Eglise in Normandy. This was an objective of the 82nd AB Div, but many of the 101st did find that they had been mis-dropped.
Whilst assisting 82nd troopers in their tasks, our Easy Company largely escaped a major casualty list, and gradually moved through the carnage southwards off the table towards their own objectives.
3 KIA or DOW, 8 SW.

Carentan.
After Fox Company moved to the rear without orders, our Easy Company remained with their left flank "in the air". The task was to defend Carentan from counter attack by strong combinations of FSJs and armour. Most platoons took seriously hard knocks, but the enemy did not get past them!
6 Bronze Stars awarded, 4 went to 2 Pltn, 2 Squad, defending a farm yard for the entire day.
9 KIA, 12 SW, 11 LW.

Eindhoven.
Scattered in a triangle between Son bridge, Eindhoven and Nuenen. The job was to keep open the route for British XXX Corps, the advance units of which were occasionally held up, but ultimately moved off to their next bridge further north. Attacked from various directions, our Easy stuck to the task, but 3 Platoon were badly shaken up by German tank attacks. Earl McClung earned a Silver Star through his single-handed exploits with a bazooka in an open field. 2 Bronze Stars also awarded.
3 KIA, 4 SW, 17 LW. Mostly in 3 Platoon.

Bastogne.
Disillusioned, unsupported, low on ammo and without replacements, the remnants of our Easy Company charged down the gentle but snow-covered slope into the enemy-held village of Foy, with the left flank also touching Recogne to the west.
Base of Fire Support soon petered out as the mortars and MGs ran out of ammo, and a Panther tank appeared at the front of the village (it later ran out of fuel, in a position which largely prevented it having any further effect on the fighting).
Led by 2 Platoon, the village was eventually taken with some difficult house-to-house combat.
An 88mm gun was later discovered at the rear of the village.
3 Platoon sustained the heaviest casualties.
6 KIA, 1 DOW, 8 SW, 16 LW.

In conclusion, with 22 dead and 30 seriously wounded out of our 130 named troopers of Easy Company, it might appear that the casualty rate was abnormally high.
I think a reading of some of their own accounts would in fact suggest that we got remarkably close to reality. Incidentally, 54 of our characters got through without a scratch.
We certainly enjoyed the exercise, and would recommend the process to others with a similar interest in recent history, as the raw materials can be plundered with such detail from the internet.
You can be sure that we have full stats regarding every one of the names we have followed during this campaign, but I felt it would be inappropriate to mention them in this posting, where their families could come across these accounts and might assume that we have taken liberties with their histories.

Lastly, over the four shows, we gave away over 200 Screaming Eagle badges to members of the public who stopped to talk to us. Later, many of these were returners from previous shows, back to see how their favourites were gettin on. I think one unexpected but pleasant by-product of this project was making new friends!
Now then, onto next year's show game plans ………..

Any pics of the games – great AAR. How did you factor in morale and combat stress etc – Buck Compton springs to mind? Thank you for sharing with us all on TMP Gen. Jumbo

Great idea.

I confess that pics are few and far between. We tend to forget, in the heat of battle in the public eye! A lot of my time this year was spent just talking to the punters that approached us.
Maybe some of them will see this and come forward with their own pics? I know that an awful lot were taken.

As for morale, we use a D10 for a squad which starts a game with 10 figs, D6 for an initial 6-man squad, etc.
A living squad leader gets an extra point, a junior officer two points, etc. An elite unit (ie Easy Company) gets another point. Total up the remaining men in the squad, add your other factors.
Each time a man is lost, roll the relevant die, and score same or less than the factored target score.
Works just the same for a 4-vehicle armoured unit, and so on.
Eacxh game except the last, they got their replacements, so the squads started out with good morale.
In the last game, they got no replacements, but the target morale number stayed the same as original.
For instance, a squad of 6 guys left over from Eindhoven charged downhill to Foye using a D10 instead of a D6.
More difficult to keep the chin up. Worked a treat.

Hi Guys, here are a few pics from our Band of Brothers Games.

Carronade1 – pic board.jpg
Carronade5 – overview.jpg
Carronade3 – glider.jpg

I don't think that was a successs, John. Well, not for my pooter, anyway.

Brilliant idea ..and would make a good 'campaign' game for self and wife since we certainly have buckets of the right sort of kit…how did you manage for maps of the terrain?
Sadly I can't seem to get the 'carronade' pictures, but any suggestions about running these actions would be greatly appreciated.

UFB
Not strictly a campaign, more a series of actions, using the same people (plus replacements, of course).
We used Rapid Fire rules and 20mm figs, but I guess this would work just as well in 15mm or 25mm.
I can't see the currently all-conquering Flames Of War coping with the individual names, but would Bolt Action do the job? Never used them, so don't know.
The battle maps are all over the internet, especially on the many Band Of Brothers websites.
Talking of which, just read today that Shifty Powers died on 17th January.
A quiet hero by all accounts.
CURRAHEE!