gadge
Corporal
Posts: 1,199
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Post by gadge on Sept 1, 2010 14:46:18 GMT -5
Quick question and i'll post this in both sections.
Why do you choose your chosen unit.
Family ties, elan, film and book influence.. what made you choose that regiment/battalion/squad.
I'll start off.
I served for three years in the British Army in the Staffordshire Regiment. when i got into the idea of re-enactment i went for my regiment.
They were Airborne in WWII, sheer chance so i thought I'd represnt my brother from the past.
I recruited a group to do this with me, after a while a lot of the guys who were from the South Yokshire area thought it might be cool to do their local unit , the Hallamshire battalion.
When I do Axis i do the 9th SS 'Hohenstaufen' as they faught against my regiment and also are one of the few SS units to have a very good track record when it comes to not doing any war crimes.
So its like this
Prmary impression: Staffords - my old regiment Secondary impression: Hallamshire - local line infantry Tertiary impresson - our old opponents.
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Post by Fusilier on Sept 1, 2010 15:08:40 GMT -5
Hmm,ok.
I mainly do 20th Luftwaffe Field Div. Started off doing SS 20 years ago. Then realized all the yahoo's were getting into SS,so decided to do Heer, 21st Inf. Div. We got away from all the elite stuff and wanted to do a regular Heer unit.
I also do my old unit, 2/502 Inf. 101st Abn. But I rarely do it because everyone and their Mother wants to do 101st Abn,and do it badly, so,I just don't do it much.
I also do Soviet,1939 Polish,and 1940 French. As well as regular German and American infantry. I also served in an armored unit,but,being theres no tanks,I can't do that impression!
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Post by Fusilier on Sept 1, 2010 15:11:08 GMT -5
I may add,I do all the above in blank fire! For AS, I've done Heer and German FJ.
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Totez
Private
Smokey the Smoke Grenade Rabbit
Posts: 283
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Post by Totez on Sept 1, 2010 15:23:39 GMT -5
My reasons are far simpler than you folks I guess.
I started from a young age loving the stories that my Grandfather told me of his experience during WWII. He was started as a regular GI but because of his love for airplanes he switched over to the Army Air Corps and went through most of the war coordinating bombing runs and other tasks, some of them secret at the time.
I always knew I wanted to do something with my life involving history and WWII in particular and after a while I saw my first ACW reenactment that my neighbor partook in at some place with my family (I forget why we were there or where it was) and I thought it was the coolest thing. Once I found out there was WWII reenacting well that just sent me through the roof. I looked all over at different WWII groups of all nationalities and tried a few of them on for size until I finally joined up with my Neighbor and the 35th Infantry Division, 137th Regiment "Repo Depot" (Blankfire). Since my love for airsoft never wained I decided I would start up my own Airsoft unit as an Allied US Infantry and seeing as my stuff is all patched 35th I figured I would make the 35th Airsoft!
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Sgt_Tom
Technical Sgt.
Combat!
Posts: 3,580
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Post by Sgt_Tom on Sept 1, 2010 21:18:33 GMT -5
Well I started out with 3rd Infantry Division because there was a 3rd Division Airsoft unit in MI. It was also the only airsoft unit in MI lol. Anyways it ended up falling apart and I decided to just keep doing the impression since I had already started it. For German I do 2kp Grossdeutschland. I choose this because I was invited into a blank fire unit that was doing this impression. They seem like a nice bunch of guys so I am sticking with it. They are also close by so that helps. Practical reasons I guess. ;D If the German unit had of been SS or FJ I probably wouldn't have joined though.
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guitarmaster
Corporal
And at this range, I'm a real Frederick Zoller
Posts: 954
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Post by guitarmaster on Sept 1, 2010 21:33:04 GMT -5
I do 3rd ID because is was the only quality US unit I found in New Orleans and has a long history. Since moving from Montana where there was no reenacting scene what so ever, I had a basic GI kit so I fit in. Turns out the unit is one of the prime units down here so that was a plus.
The German unit I am in is called Schnellen Truppen and it just started up and I am one of the youngest guys and one of the creators of our unit. We are trying to become the premier German unit in the area and have we have done a pretty good job of getting our unit out there. We got to be in a film festival a few weeks ago which was a really neat experience.
-Ian
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deacon
Private 1st Class
Posts: 748
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Post by deacon on Sept 1, 2010 23:13:30 GMT -5
I do 346th Engineers, because my Grandfather was in the unit during WWII, and the Engineers aren't gone over very much.
I do 32nd Infantry division, because a man I knew who has since passed away was in the unit, and not many people have ARMY PTO impressions.
I do 505th Pathfinders, because in the group I'm in, there are guys covering that pathfinder group, and the pathfinders are a fun subject.
I do 4th Marine division, because I wanted to cover a marine unit, but I wanted to cover both Tinian and Saipan, so the 4th it was.
I'm starting a 5th AF B-25 ground attack crew impression, because I love the hell out of that Bomber, and I wanted a PTO Ground attack unit. So, I chose the 500th Bomb squadron, in the 345th Bomb group, 5th AF. Also, its not very common to see AAF reenactors, or living historians.
I also do 28th Infantry, because I wanted an Infantry division in the ETO that fought in Huertgen forest. The 28th was kind of a random choice for an impression. It just fell together, and so whenever there is snow on the ground, I get in the 28th mood.
some of these impressions are for reenacting, some for living history, I do both, but I have phased out of airsoft.
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Post by aintthatgarand on Oct 6, 2010 10:15:35 GMT -5
I'll put together an 82nd Airborne/325th GIR impression since that is what we are trying to get going here in Ohio. On a personal note, I will portray a member of the 65th Signal Battalion either assigned to the unit or transferred to the unit. My grandfather was in the 65th and helped provide comms (jeep runner)in the Colmar pocket. They got placed with whoever seemed to need them. I want to find a way to belong to the local unit but still represent my grandfathers history. I know historically this may not be correct, but I'll see what will work. I may have to get two sets of uniforms to do this! Also, Gadge may be interested to know that I have a Chindit impression complete with slouch hat and 37 pattern webbing!
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Post by whiterook on Oct 6, 2010 13:15:51 GMT -5
I do 101st - 327th GIR - 502 PIR because they were the only WWII U.S. Reenactment group in central & southwestern Ohio.
There was a 1st ID unit in Cleveland, but that was a 5 hours drive from my home.
I tried doing 4th ID & 4th Marines out of Indiana, but again too far of a drive to be active.
I needed a unit that was within a 2 hour drive time radius.
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Seff
Private
.30-06 - Turning Cover into Concealment since 1906
Posts: 344
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Post by Seff on Oct 8, 2010 5:12:13 GMT -5
1st Infantry Division because they were in a large amount of the ETO battles, and thus is the least likely to be out of place at a game.
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Post by FlyingSquirrelcat on Oct 8, 2010 5:49:56 GMT -5
I originally considered going for an FJ division, but due to financial problems at the time and I always was changing my mind, I never picked it up . But after doing a lot of research and finding which unit would be the best for me, I finally settled down with a Russian rifle division impression. I really haven't picked an exact unit but I am seriously considering the 16th rifle, 11th army, 184th rifle, or the 88th rifle. Mostly though would be units involved with major battles like Kursk, Smolensk, Leningrad, or Stalingrad but above that a unit that saw action in either the Caucasus or Baltic campaigns.
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Post by tomsawyer on Oct 9, 2010 17:50:50 GMT -5
There are no WW2 airsoft units in South west Missouri as far as I know, so that gave me the perfect reason to choose the 2nd Marine Division. That and my great-uncle served in the Silent Second. I'm also trying to do a 4th Raider Battalion.
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Post by gunner on Oct 11, 2010 15:20:46 GMT -5
Being a fromer Marine, with a Recon background, it only makes sense for me to do a Marine Raider/Amphibious Recon or ParaMarine impression. Not having Japanese though, it does suck!! LOL If I were to do ETO, it would be 82nd Pathfinders. Everyone wants to do 101st, and I was lucky to recieve some Pathfinder training while on active duty.
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Adler69
Master sergeant
Legio Patria Nostra
Posts: 2,859
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Post by Adler69 on Oct 11, 2010 15:25:51 GMT -5
Gunner , don't forget you could do ETO as a Paramarine attached to OSS . It would work perfect for a Normandy or OP Dragoon event.
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Post by gunner on Oct 16, 2010 1:46:49 GMT -5
Enlighten me. I know of only one team that did Jegburgh work in southern France, they all wound up........dead!!! LOL
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