Firstly can I apologise to the German forces for bugging out around 4pm, after numerous messages from the "ball and chain" sorry "love of my life" i finally got a "I am still ill, but I hope you are having fun", now we all know this means "Im sick, your off swanning around, get your rear home now"
so I did, which allowed me to take the moral high ground upon my return (and get brownie points). But again my apologies.
Feed back. Fritz will probably start his owe once the game is finished etc, but here goes.
1. Germans: Guys you were awesome, even though I was the worse medic ever. Our small number meant I kept forgetting my role as I tried to assist in working in a squad.
2. The Fighting Fourth: Never in all my years have I ever been anywhere or turned up for an event where I was made so welcome so quickly. Literally got out my car and there were these 3 strangers who instantly welcomed me to their camp fire and made me feel like I was a long lost pal - Guys........(wipes macho tear from eye) 
3. Fritz....dude you are a £$%^ crazy, pyromaniac stuck somewhere between the fall of the Rome and the invasion of Poland...........you rock. Great event, even though i spent great periods of time walking through your Elysian fields, the venue was fantastic
4. Cheeky Chappy..............was that or was that not a lovely moon 
,
5. Bear and Crew - guys you were brill - I have forwarded all issues with US gaiters to the Pentagon this morning and await feedback.
6.Sean/Shaun - Great CO, calm, relaxed, in control and organised.
7. Pride....the man with the big pipe and even bigger gun. I will be part of your mg team anytime, as long as i get myself upto scratch and you would have me.
So in summary, for my first WW2 event it was great, hopefully next one I wont miss out on the saturday social.
Pride....the man with the big pipe and even bigger gun. I will be part of your mg team anytime, as long as i get myself upto scratch and you would have me.
No problem Simon, your as up to scratch, if not more than the rest of our "Stomach" battalion, your welcome anytime
Just to add to Simons feedback:
1) Good to meet more new faces (Simon, Steve, Bear, Chris etc), as well as some old ones.
2) Well run game with a good flow, objectives and atmosphere.
3) Despite being heavilly outnumbered my fellow Hun put up a staunch fight although doomed to be overwhelmed.
4) Lying dead in the afternoon waiting for the advancing Yanks to pass me before returning to respawn, I got too see a very well executed attack by the Doughboys from a perspective I would not normally have seen, Yith seemed to be commanding a well organised, practiced and disciplined war machine.
Hope to see you all at an event soon
Sorry that you had to go early Simon. 
I hope she who must be obeyed gets well very soon. We actually spent over four hours searching for your body on Saturday after the game. Obviously we wanted to give our Kamarad a decent burial. In the end the CO. listed you as MIA. On Saturday night we had a drink in your memory. Great to meet you and I'm glad you enjoyed it. I enjoyed our forays into enemy territory together and felt secure in the knowledge that you were close at hand.
Tim!!! What a gent. Good to meet you at last. 
Loved the MG's and you have given me inspiration to forge ahead with my own project. Sorry you weren't with us on the Sunday. It was a cracking game and things would have been even tougher for the Amis if you had been with us. See you again soon.
Fritz / Chris Thanks for organising a great event. Great social. Looking forward to the next one. Hopefully you will have learned some new jokes by then. . . . . I cracked up several times really! Your energy and enthusiasm are inspiring to an aged member of the stomach division such as I. Thanks mate.
Great to spend time with such a good crowd, Bear, Dave (The Chef), Scot, No1 and No2, Sean, Marsha, Kieran and Chris. So many others on both sides. Krauts, Amis and Tommies.
Good games, well fought. Well organised attacks and some crafty hambushes. I loved the call for help from British CP. on the field telephone to which the Amis responded by sending men and a medic only to find that it was all another Hunnish ruse. After the would be good samaritans were massacred in a hail of German fire, the final insult was the second phone call with one of Adolf's finest singing Deutschland Uber Alles to a very miffed American operator. Priceless!!! Well done all. 
Well I was so very very cold. Friday night was the coldest I think. Now I'm sitting here in my study warm as you like and sipping a nice red. 
Bastogne seems so very long ago.
Until the next time,
All the very best,
Steve.
Hitler was a better dancer than Churchill, he was a better skater than Churchill . . .
cheers CC, dont forget to put the pictures you took up on the forum, im working on my "war face" and need to see if I look scary or scared 
p.s Fritz/Chris where do you want the 2 tons of mud i got of my boots returned to.....or can I keep it 
I had a smashing time, it was chilly and very dark when trying to build pup tents on Friday night, it was boggy underfoot. That's it for minus points. Jerry was a worthy foe, the trusty old Marui Thompson still shoots well and has never broken its barrel.
We had good command and control as the American forces, orders were clear and simple to execute. Some of the old hands can pat themselves on the back for that.
Thanks Chris, do another one when its warmer?
aka Stigroadie
AFRA
better by design
"Truth is a shining goddess, always veiled, always distant, never wholly approachable, but worthy of all the devotion of which the human spirit is capable. "
A very enjoyable event, Fritz's energy and enthusiasm kept the whole thing moving along and the missions were tailored well to the numbers on each side. Who says you need equal numbers?
Good to meet some new people, and always interesting to play at a new site. I loved the US camp, it was especially depressing to spend time there as a prisoner as they all had tons of rations, hot coffee etc and all we had was a damp flysheet in the woods. Contrary to Dr Goebbels propaganda, no lorry loads of ice crem or coca cola were spotted however.
Well done to the new guys in particular, really got into the spirit of the thing from the outset. I was particularly pleased that it was cold enough for me & Tim to wear our greatcoats the whole time. Running away from a lot of angry GIs in a greatcoat is not recommended however, and I eventually went down in a hail of BBs.
I hope Sunday was OK, I reckon the German numbers must have been very depleted by then.
I'll put a few pictures up in a bit, although they are mainly people standing around.
Cheers
Martin
"Mistakes in the initial deployment cannot be rectified" Helmuth von Moltke
Toys: AGM MP40, Cyma M1A1, TM M14/G43/SVT40, TM VSR/K98, SnS No. 4, ASG Sten, Ppsh.
Arnhem3,Gumrak,Campoleone
A few pictures.
The US camp.
26th VGD mg section prepares for the day.
Something catches the GIs attention.
"Mistakes in the initial deployment cannot be rectified" Helmuth von Moltke
Toys: AGM MP40, Cyma M1A1, TM M14/G43/SVT40, TM VSR/K98, SnS No. 4, ASG Sten, Ppsh.
Arnhem3,Gumrak,Campoleone
The Germans wonder what to do next.
Waiting for orders.
Volksgrenadiers eager for action!
"Mistakes in the initial deployment cannot be rectified" Helmuth von Moltke
Toys: AGM MP40, Cyma M1A1, TM M14/G43/SVT40, TM VSR/K98, SnS No. 4, ASG Sten, Ppsh.
Arnhem3,Gumrak,Campoleone
And finally, yes, I really did wear my greatcoat and gloves all day long...
Cheers
Martin
"Mistakes in the initial deployment cannot be rectified" Helmuth von Moltke
Toys: AGM MP40, Cyma M1A1, TM M14/G43/SVT40, TM VSR/K98, SnS No. 4, ASG Sten, Ppsh.
Arnhem3,Gumrak,Campoleone
Yes a very enjoyable day. Everyone on the US side pulled their weight and there was every order was obeyed without question.
The US defences were never breached despite the continuous attacks by the Germans and I regularly had to pull squads back from their positions to redeploy elsewhere or hold in reserve, though the reserve never got to rest for long. There was a few worrying minutes near the start where we were down in numbers as I sent a squad off to set up a phone line to the British HQ, which could not be found as the Brits, being commandos, never stopped anywhere for long. However once everyone was back on the lines and we had a forward OP set up, we felt impregnable, and were, most of the time...
The closest a live German got to the HQ was a mad charge by the German CO, Sean, who thought there was no-one at the HQ, when in fact most of the staff were there. He didn't regret it though as he settled in to watch the defensive operations as a PoW.
The counter-assault on the German HQ was almost textbook. 3 squads up front with the 101st guys in the middle to lead the way. 4th squad at the rear in reserve with the .30cal team. Hitting enemy I saw our left flank stall and the right flank start to encircle, so I sent the reserve to assist in the encirclement and told the left flank to hold with the .30 cal giving supporting fire. We squeezed and squeezed pushing forward on all flanks, medics running from one side to the other to keep us moving, and eventually took the German trenches.
A big thanks to Craig for supplying the c-rats, I hope that everyone managed to get some warm food inside them and sample a "cup of joe" from the stove.
It truly was a pleasure to command you guys, though I couldn't have done it without the help of the NCOs, who were, without exception, superb.
Sorry I couldn't be there again today.
Well done Yith. I have to concur and also mention that in the German camp we talked about how well led the Amis were on both days.
Good times. 
Steve.
Hitler was a better dancer than Churchill, he was a better skater than Churchill . . .
Heh, of course it did help that we way outnumbered the Germans!
You fought bloody hard despite that!
Here are some front line photo's from our correspondent.
Two soldaten of the stomach division.
A German veteran of the 26th Volks Grd. Div.relaxes before the next assault.
The blonde haired SS squad leader addresses his men.
More to follow.
Hitler was a better dancer than Churchill, he was a better skater than Churchill . . .
More from the front.
German troops under heavy fire.
The survivors look tense.
An MG team await the next allied push.
Hitler was a better dancer than Churchill, he was a better skater than Churchill . . .
From Stars and Stripes.
A trooper from the 101st goes prone.
More GI's wait for the command to advance.
Action under fire. A brave GI attempts to clear mines whilst bullets fly all around him.
Hitler was a better dancer than Churchill, he was a better skater than Churchill . . .
Simon said - Cheers CC, dont forget to put the pictures you took up on the forum, im working on my "war face" and need to see if I look scary or scared
Well here's your "War face", it's so scary your comrade has to cover his eyes in fear.
We are not sure what you did to the enemy but God you frightened us. 
Hitler was a better dancer than Churchill, he was a better skater than Churchill . . .
Great pics thanks lads, just need Johns now
For those at the social:
From Cross of Iron (1977)
Sargeant Steiner: Aren't you feeling guilty, Krüger? Is that your natural smell?
Unteroffizier Krüger: Yes... yes... I stay dirty for a reason... if you'd been in the field as long as I have been you'd know why.
Sargeant Steiner: Explain.
Unteroffizier Krüger: I learned after Stalingrad... natural body oils combined with dirt can keep you waterproof.
Sargeant Steiner: [to himself] Waterproof?
[Steiner laughs about it]
Kruger!!! Arrrrgh!!!!!!
Hitler was a better dancer than Churchill, he was a better skater than Churchill . . .
Ok! here's another one for Fritz. What's the name of Stranski's pet? 
Steve.
Hitler was a better dancer than Churchill, he was a better skater than Churchill . . .
