Band of Brothers – From D-Day to the Eagle’s Nest

Well for Easy Company the mission was a resounding success – they lost 7 or 8 men killed and wounded, to around 37 German casualties, and although they only destroyed 2 of the 4 guns, the defenders resistance was reduced to a almost nothing, so it would be easy to assume the other guns would easily have been taken out.

All in all this was a great little scenario. It played out roughly as it had in real life, and was a good introduction to the Bolt Action rule-set. With only infantry to think about, and no special rules for heavy weapons, artillery or tanks to try and remember it gave a good grounding in the fundamentals and has left me eager to get on with the next engagement: Carentan!

I decided early on that I wanted to build a table with sunken trenches. I’ve seen a few scenarios with table-top trenches, but I liked the idea of having that more authentic look.

I used 6mm MDF in sheets of 6′ x 4′ with 50mm insulation foam stuck on with PVA. I then carved out the trenches as per the scenario map, and cut up the worlds supply of balsa wood sheets to make the walls and floor! I used sections of square balsa rods for support struts. I started carving out the German MMG positions, but decided to make separate sandbag emplacements for them instead, so that I could use them for future games if I wanted to.

For the main field areas I first glued builders sand to the foam, then gave it a quick coat of green paint. Then I used watered down PVA in a spray bottle on the painted green sand, and sieved flock over the top. I chose a nice summer green – it is June, after all! I did this a few times to make sure it wasn’t patchy.

With the boards complete I turned to my trees. The thin tree line is quite extensive, so I picked up about 60 trees of various sizes (I shopped around a lot to find the best prices, and bought a few different sizes from different suppliers). I then glued these to foam-card bases in either 2s or 4s. This would make a nice thin line of trees, but would also give me a nice selection of trees for future games that I could place in batches for larger sections of woodland if I wanted to. Then I used the same method on the bases as I did for the fields, laying down sand, then paint, then flock.

Finally I made 2 foam-card bases and glued sandbag emplacements to them for the MMG prepared positions.

The whole thing took a bit of time, but most of it was waiting for glue or paint to dry, and has left me a nice trench position that I can make use of in future games, and LOADS of trees, so I’ll never be short of woodland again!

After purchasing the Band of Brothers boxed set at Salute in 2019, I used my time off over Christmas to clip and glue the miniatures together. Then I started looking at the metal figures I’d need, and picked them up a little at a time to spread the cost. Lets start with the Germans

Having never played a game of Bolt Action before, I had a hunt around online for a suitable scenario to replicate the action, and found this one on Jay’s Wargaming Madness:

http://jayswargamingmadness.blogspot.com/2014/09/bolt-action-scenario-brecourt-manor.html

Brecourt Manor: Assault by 506th PIR on D-Day

Objectives & Game End
1VP is awarded for each destroyed gun position (to the US airborne). For each gun position not destroyed by game end, the Germans get 1VP. Each eliminated enemy order dice is worth 1VP. The game lasts 6 turns.

Scenario Special Rules
US Start – The first dice of the game must be a US dice that is used for “kickoff” of the assault (see Kickoff special rule).
Kickoff – First US dice must be used for the assault team (5) which resolves a special grenade attack against the nearest German MMG position. The grenade attack is resolved as an automatic hit with D6 hits (no penetration) against the MMG position.
US Reinforcements – arrive on any US dice pulled after the second gun position is destroyed. US reinforcements enter from the table edge at the indicated spot on the map (#7/arrow entry point).
What’s This?! – When the US officer enters any gun position for the first time, roll 1D6. On a 5+ he has found valuable intelligence worth 1VP. This can only be rewarded once.
Spike the Guns! – any US airborne infantry section (4 & 7) can spike a German field gun. To do so the unit must spend a “fire” action within 1” of the field gun with no enemy units present within 6” of the gun.
Trenches – are “in the ground” and do not block LOS, additionally:
-> MMG positions can fire 360°.
-> Units in the trench are in hard cover from units outside of the trench.
-> Within the trench, units don’t suffer shooting penalty unless crossing the walls of the
trench to target unit.
-> Figures from the same unit can draw LOS through figures from their unit.
Light woods – all woods/tree lines can be seen through and provide light cover if LOS is drawn through the tree line to a target.

Order of Battle – Germans
1 x Regular Officer (1st Lt., pistol) + 2 men (rifles)
1 x Regular Infantry Section (1 x SMG, 4 x rifles)
1 x Regular Infantry Section (1 x SMG, 4 x rifles)
1 x Regular Infantry Section (1 x SMG, 4 x rifles)
2 x Regular MMG Teams
4 x Regular LefH 18 10.5cm Gun Teams (4 x crew each, rifles)

All teams are deployed as indicated on the map.

Order of Battle – US Airborne
Primary Assault Units (#4 and #6 on map)
1 x Veteran Officer (1st Lt., rifle) + 2 men (rifles)
1 x Veteran Medic
1 x Veteran Infantry Section (1 x SMG, 5 x Rifles)
1 x Veteran Infantry Section (1 x SMG, 5 x Rifles)
2 x Veteran LMG Teams

Assault Team (#5 on map)
1 x Veteran Infantry Section (1 x SMG, 2 x Rifles)

Reinforcements (#7 on map)
1 x Veteran Infantry Section (1 x SMG, 5 x Rifles)

All teams are deployed as indicated on the map. See the “US Reinforcements” special rule for arrival and deployment information

As a complete novice player I also typed up my own force lists with stats on for quick reference, using the rule book and Bolt Action US and German army book supplements. I found this an invaluable way to navigate the rules and get an idea of play before commencing the game proper

I found a few other suggested scenarios/rulesets, but the one from Jay’s Wargaming seemed the most straightforward, given that I was also using it to learn the game mechanics

http://theminiaturespage.com/boards/msg.mv?id=368599

https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1258241/player-scenario-kse-1-take-care-it-brecourt-manor

https://brooklynwargaming.com/2015/06/16/battleground-brecourt-manor-1944-scenario/

You might remember the Brecourt Manor Assault from Episode 2 of “Band of Brothers”. Dropped behind enemy lines in Normandy ahead of the D-Day beach landings, the Airborne troops were scattered across the countryside, many missing equipment or weapons. 1st Lieutenant Winters managed to round up enough members of Easy Company to attack the battery of 105mm German howitzers dug in near Brecourt Manor, that would be used to harass US forces landing at Utah Beach.

I did a bit of research and reading around the action, including re-watching the shows (any excuse!), reading Stephen E Ambrose’s Band of Brothers book, and Conversations with Major Dick Winters, a biography by Colonel Cole C. Kingseed, and browsing a few websites: