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Post by SfcMigs on Jun 14, 2016 19:34:36 GMT -5
The World War II Western Front Airsoft Association Presents
The Battle of Saint Lo
When: Saturday July 30, 2016 Where :Ground Zero Airsoft USA Field Address:235 Wolcott Street, Terryville, CT Store Address:1254 Wolcott Rd. Wolcott, Ct 06716 Historical Background Following the successful lodgment of the Allied Beachhead in Normandy in June 1944, by the start of July, the objectives of the Allies changed. Up to that point the Allied forces had been involved in securing enough 'elbow room' to build up their troop numbers for the breakout, and the ports with which to supply them. Now that this had been achieved, the American forces turned their attention south. In the east it was the town of Caen that was the key for the British Second Army to break out of Normandy, for the First US Army in the west the town of St Lô was the door to central France for them. It had been an objective of the US 29th Division in the first few days following D-Day. However, with the German resistance to the landings being much stronger than anticipated, the American Army had been forced to concentrate all their resources to clearing out the Cotentin Peninsula and the port of Cherbourg at its northern tip. With no supplies available to continue operations towards St Lô the advance was halted on June 18th with the nearest US positions just two miles (3km) from the northern outskirts of the town.
It was only on July 3rd that the advance south was finally renewed. But before St Lô itself could be attacked there were several other obstacles that needed to be removed. The western flank of the American line facing the town was far to the north, only just south of Carentan with a lot of swampy, flooded ground between them and their target, and the entire eastern flank of the American line was under German observation from the enemy held heights of Hill 192, five miles (8km) to the east. It was only directly north and east of St Lô that the US 29th Infantry Division had pushed its advance to within 2 miles (3km) of the town. Before the town could be captured and its road network opened up, these two issues would have to be resolved. The countryside the American forces had to attack through was a patchwork of small fields surrounded by thick earthen embankments with large hedgerows growing on top, all of which made defense easier and attack more difficult. The Germans had used the previous two weeks of inaction to construct strong defenses and when the American Army resumed its attacks south they soon ran into stiff resistance. But the US soldiers had learned a lot about hedgerow fighting since they had landed in June, and new techniques were being employed to help the troops, such as the 'Cullin Hedgerow Cutter' to help the tanks break through the hedgerows, as well as better and closer co-ordination of Air-support for the ground troops. Although progress was slow, it was steady and the Germans were gradually squeezed back.Registration This event will again be offering the option to prepay at a much discounted price for certain periods of time. The payment guide is as follows: Prepay by July 1st for $30 dollars Prepay before July 24th for $40 dollars Pay at the field for $45 dollars. All Prepayments must be sent via paypal as a gift to SfcMigs@gmail.com with the following information:
Name: Unit Impression and rank: DOB/Age: Weapon: Email address:
Authenticity Guidelines:
Authenticity is always important to our events and we always encourage impressions to be spot on. However, at this event we will be a little lax in regards to certain impressions. We will be advertising on the GZA website in an effort to bring in some new blood into our hobby. These "new" players will mostly be "French Resistance" fighters as this will be the easiest impression for them to complete/obtain. Of course those of you who wish to bring some of your loaner impressions and/or guns will be greatly appreciated.
Allied Impressions:
All US, British, and French impressions are allowed at this event
Headgear- M1 helmet with fixed d-bale ,with paratrooper liner and correct chinstrap. Helmets were covered with nets or were just plain.
Uniform-M42 Jump uniform or M43 Uniform. Infantry M1941 Jacket with HBT Trousers in OD. A WHITE tee shirt was usually worn underneath,along with the issued service shirt.
Footwear- BROWN repro Corcoran jump boots or M43 buckle boots. NO modern Army tan or suede boots. No French post War buckle boots. They are even wrong for regular infantry.
Webgear- Original or repro khaki web belt or cartridge belt depending on your weapon. Original or repo M36 KHAKI suspenders WITH felt strap pads. These can be found at WPG or on Ebay. M1910 Canteen and Canteen pouch.
First aid pouch. A lot of paratroopers also wore a first aid pouch attached to their helmet net containing a tourniquet, first aid dressing and a morphine syrette.
Origianl or Repo Musette Bag. OD or Khaki. Worn by ALL paratroopers. Containing extra socks, K-rations, Ammo, raincoat, and other personal items. Holster, or shoulder holster for M1911. Holster must be BROWN leather. Black wasn't used till the 1950's or later.
French Resistance forces will also be allowed as long as they have proper civilian attire. A mix of allied and axis weapons may also be used.
Accepted Weapons for U.S. Forces:
M1 Garand M1 Carbine M1A1 Thompson BAR Browning .30calMG M3 Grease Gun Colt 1911
German Impressions:
All Heer, Waffen SS, and LW impressions are allowed at this event.
Headgear: M40, M42 or LW jump helmets; no decals or one decal only. M35 if no other helmet available. M38, M42 or M43 feldmutze
Uniform: Wool M43 or Fliegerbluse preferred; M40 and M42 secondary choices. M36 and m44 tunics are acceptable if no other options available; would prefer M36's tunics to be worn by NCO's. Wool or HBT Keilhosen preferred; straight leg trousers acceptable.
Boots: Ankle boots with Gamaschen, jump boots or march/jack boots. Modern black leather boots with gaitors will be accepted if there is absolutely no other alternative.
Gear: either all leather, all web, or a mix of leather and web; combat gear includes ammo pouches, y-straps, breadbag, canteen w/ cup, mess tin, entrenching tool, bayonet and frog, gasmask container and Zeltbahn (optional)
Accepted Weapons for German Forces:
K98 MP-38 or 40 FG42 STG44 MG-34 MG-42
Footnote
This event will be a one day only event. However, camping will be allowed in the parking area for Friday night, July 29 and Saturday night, July 3oth. On Sunday, July 31st, GZA will hold it's weekly "open play" game. This game usually attracts upwards of 60 players. It is very organized and a lot of fun. GZA has offered a discounted rate of $15.00 per player (normal rate is $25.00) for any WW2 player that wishes to stay and play. Game usually kicks off at 10:00AM. Payments for this will be collected by GZA personnel at the field.
Please keep in mind that this event will still keep with the usual WW2 airsoft rules and guidelines. But a duel goal of this event is to obtain additional exposure for our association and hobby. We will openly welcome all "new players" and be tolerant of their impressions. But in return, we will make sure that they adhere to our sense of sportsmanship and fair play. Hopefully we will all have a great time and gain the needed exposure to help grow our hobby here in the North East.
I will be posting the rules and guidelines very soon. But for now, I encourage all to start registering and posting on this thread their thoughts and opinions.
Migs
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Dracul
Master sergeant
Posts: 1,341
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Post by Dracul on Jun 14, 2016 20:43:37 GMT -5
Wait, I don't think the British were part of St. Lo? Were they?
Either way, I'm in!
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Post by SfcMigs on Jun 14, 2016 20:45:55 GMT -5
Wait, I don't think the British were part of St. Lo? Were they? Either way, I'm in! Yes they were.
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Post by aldrich on Jun 14, 2016 22:26:45 GMT -5
St Lo was pretty firmly in the American sector. There is a chance British Typhoon fighter bombers and strategic bombers were used, but on the ground the forces were part of the American 1st Army. I would also amend the US helmets to include swivel bale helmets for people doing US GI. While the airborne helmets would certainly have been fixed bale types, swivel bales started to be issued to regular infantry right around 1943 and started to be seen on the troops going into Normandy.
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Dracul
Master sergeant
Posts: 1,341
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Post by Dracul on Jun 15, 2016 8:00:30 GMT -5
Alright, I went ahead and made an Event page on FB, through the WW2AA FB page, to link back and already begun spreading it out. Lets try and spread it more and try to get our name out there.
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Post by SfcMigs on Jun 15, 2016 17:03:09 GMT -5
Alright, I went ahead and made an Event page on FB, through the WW2AA FB page, to link back and already begun spreading it out. Lets try and spread it more and try to get our name out there. Thanks for the assist. I will be posting a flyer on the GZA site to stir up local interest as well.
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Post by SfcMigs on Jun 15, 2016 17:35:42 GMT -5
For those of you used to play at the GZA location, check out their facebook page. Recent photos show that the field has been given a serious upgrade.
A lot more buildings and interest obstacles and props.
Check it out.
Migs
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Jerry-ADK
Private 1st Class
Unteroffizier, Heeresgruppe Nord-Ost
Posts: 418
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Post by Jerry-ADK on Jun 15, 2016 19:02:41 GMT -5
Looking good guys, great job! And good choice of theme. I wont be arriving until 8 or so Saturday morning, I have a event Friday night I have to attend. But looking forward to WWII airsofting with all of you. For those who are camping over Saturday night, I will make a Pot of goulash to serve for our dinner if others want to bring some bread and cheese or other period food to go along with it that would be nice. But Lets try to keep the camp as period looking as possible and make a effort to hide all our modern foods and things in our tents or cars. I think this will go a long way for making the event more immersive and attracting new players who may be looking for a experience similar to reenacting. I'm really looking forward to seeing you all soon, cant wait!
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Post by SfcMigs on Jun 15, 2016 20:22:22 GMT -5
Looking good guys, great job! And good choice of theme. I wont be arriving until 8 or so Saturday morning, I have a event Friday night I have to attend. But looking forward to WWII airsofting with all of you. For those who are camping over Saturday night, I will make a Pot of goulash to serve for our dinner if others want to bring some bread and cheese or other period food to go along with it that would be nice. But Lets try to keep the camp as period looking as possible and make a effort to hide all our modern foods and things in our tents or cars. I think this will go a long way for making the event more immersive and attracting new players who may be looking for a experience similar to reenacting. I'm really looking forward to seeing you all soon, cant wait! Great to hear that you can make it Jerry. As for the keeping the campsite period looking, I'm all for that. I will be asking everyone to set up camp in the parking area as this will not interfere with the open play guys coming Sunday morning. It will also help promote ourselves for those players arriving that I'm sure will be interested in all of our gear, etc. In fact, the field owner informs me that they will be setting up a very large GP tent in the parking lot where a lot of us can set up in. I'll keep everyone updated on this to make sure this thing is up on time for our event. And the goulash sounds real good Jerry. I'll bring the Cheese! Migs.
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Dracul
Master sergeant
Posts: 1,341
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Post by Dracul on Jun 16, 2016 19:36:12 GMT -5
I, again, will be the one who volunteers for the most hazardous of duty of charging all the batteries over night, from the comfortable confines of a hotel room, yards away from the frontlines.
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Post by brownien on Jun 16, 2016 23:43:06 GMT -5
Really looking forward to this! I've been really caught up lately with blank Fire reenacting as well as other things. I'm getting some newer guys interested, so we should have some new blood in attendance!
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Post by SfcMigs on Jun 17, 2016 9:30:31 GMT -5
Really looking forward to this! I've been really caught up lately with blank Fire reenacting as well as other things. I'm getting some newer guys interested, so we should have some new blood in attendance! That's great Nate. When you get a breather, give me a call to discuss things. Migs
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2nd Bat
Master sergeant
Posts: 11,813
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Post by 2nd Bat on Jun 18, 2016 21:33:22 GMT -5
Although small in area I love this venue with its great trail net, structured section and terrain variation.
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Post by SfcMigs on Jun 18, 2016 22:05:06 GMT -5
Although small in area I love this venue with its great trail net, structured section and terrain variation. It is a tight field as there is a lot of "dead space", but overall it's a nice field. From what I've been told, they have done a lot of changes and upgrades with buildings and so forth. Went on their facebook page and from what I can tell, looks pretty good.
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Navy Doc
Private
Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!
Posts: 38
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Post by Navy Doc on Jun 21, 2016 8:58:38 GMT -5
I'm in! I'll have to pay in a couple weeks though-- I'll bring both my Corpsman and Flakhelferen (sp?) for good measure, but I will need to borrow a German gun if I go as the latter.
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Post by SfcMigs on Jun 21, 2016 11:42:36 GMT -5
I'm in! I'll have to pay in a couple weeks though-- I'll bring both my Corpsman and Flakhelferen (sp?) for good measure, but I will need to borrow a German gun if I go as the latter. Sounds good.
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Post by SfcMigs on Jun 21, 2016 17:21:55 GMT -5
Please use this picture as a guide for French Resistance fighters.
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shiftysgarand
Corporal
BangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangPING
Posts: 1,165
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Post by shiftysgarand on Jun 21, 2016 21:20:10 GMT -5
Learn some French too! It adds a lot
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Post by SfcMigs on Jun 23, 2016 8:53:26 GMT -5
Learn some French too! It adds a lot Oui
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shiftysgarand
Corporal
BangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangPING
Posts: 1,165
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Post by shiftysgarand on Jun 23, 2016 9:17:25 GMT -5
Même un peu- les personnes qui parlent la langue de leur impressions ont une impression plus réaliste.
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Post by SfcMigs on Jun 24, 2016 21:32:38 GMT -5
Même un peu- les personnes qui parlent la langue de leur impressions ont une impression plus réaliste. Yes, speaking the language does add to a realistic impression. comprendre? S'il vous plaît Au Revoir
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shiftysgarand
Corporal
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Posts: 1,165
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Post by shiftysgarand on Jun 24, 2016 21:38:03 GMT -5
Back to English- this event is not one to miss. Nate and Migs put up incredible games that are well worth the 10+ hour drive from Michigan. It's up in the air whether I can make it, but Lord knows I'll try. Btw Migs do you actually speak French?
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Post by SfcMigs on Jun 24, 2016 23:10:09 GMT -5
Back to English- this event is not one to miss. Nate and Migs put up incredible games that are well worth the 10+ hour drive from Michigan. It's up in the air whether I can make it, but Lord knows I'll try. Btw Migs do you actually speak French? petite quantité Actually my wife is fluent in French. She studied in France as an exchange student in High School. So a little rubs off on me. And I hope you can make it.
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Post by aj czarkowski on Jun 30, 2016 11:48:24 GMT -5
I've got a question for you guys. I've pretty much got a complete impression except for the boots, as I've grown out of the pair I have (which was the brown Corcoran ones). I have a more modern black pair, or a brown pair of regular boots. Unfortunately I now have to special order all my shoes/boots because my feet are so wide. Would I be able to get away with either of those pairs? I could maybe have the pant legs going over the boots, instead of tucking them in like normal. Maybe I could wear those things the infantry wore over their boots? I'm not sure the paratroopers wore those though.
Thanks
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Post by SfcMigs on Jun 30, 2016 20:52:37 GMT -5
I've got a question for you guys. I've pretty much got a complete impression except for the boots, as I've grown out of the pair I have (which was the brown Corcoran ones). I have a more modern black pair, or a brown pair of regular boots. Unfortunately I now have to special order all my shoes/boots because my feet are so wide. Would I be able to get away with either of those pairs? I could maybe have the pant legs going over the boots, instead of tucking them in like normal. Maybe I could wear those things the infantry wore over their boots? I'm not sure the paratroopers wore those though. Thanks Your fine. We encourage period correct impressions, but for this event, we will be lax. Wear what you feel is closet to the real deal. If you can find a pair of "leggings" that would also work. But don't sweat it. I'd rather have you there having fun i those boots then turn you away. Hope you can make it. Migs
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Post by manualman on Jul 1, 2016 22:18:23 GMT -5
Hello everybody, I've never played airsoft before but I do play paintball. I am thinking about trying to make this event if possible. As long as the gear requirements aren't strict I should be ok. I like the WW2 paintball scenario games so this sounds like a good time. Jim
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Dracul
Master sergeant
Posts: 1,341
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Post by Dracul on Jul 1, 2016 22:44:29 GMT -5
We have plenty of correct loaner kit and weapons we are willing to lend out. If you do make it, please tell us what you need and what size you are. So, one of use could bring it.
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Post by SfcMigs on Jul 1, 2016 23:11:14 GMT -5
Hello everybody, I've never played airsoft before but I do play paintball. I am thinking about trying to make this event if possible. As long as the gear requirements aren't strict I should be ok. I like the WW2 paintball scenario games so this sounds like a good time. Jim We are happy to have you. Please let us know what you need and your sizes and so forth. Like Dracul mentioned, plenty of loaner gear to go around. Migs
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Post by manualman on Jul 1, 2016 23:49:12 GMT -5
I have M-42 pants & jacket, paratrooper helmet,suspenders,pistol belt, musette bag, large and small rigger pouches,M-1 ammo bag and a few other things. I also have a couple guns- M1A1 Thompson, Colt 1911 & BAR.
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Post by SfcMigs on Jul 2, 2016 12:51:33 GMT -5
I have M-42 pants & jacket, paratrooper helmet,suspenders,pistol belt, musette bag, large and small rigger pouches,M-1 ammo bag and a few other things. I also have a couple guns- M1A1 Thompson, Colt 1911 & BAR. You should be more than fine with all that. No worries.
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