.68 Caliber Productions

The Longest Day Recap

**Photos of the event have been posted to our Facebook page and the hi-res photos are now posted to the photo section of this website.**

While not possible to give details about the actions of individual players on the field during this event, we can give you a rundown of how things unfolded on a larger scale during the game.  The German team began the event in control of all nine territories and it was up to the US team to push as far inland as possible by the end of the day, while the Germans attempted to hold them at all costs.  Several brutal battles broke out at many of the flag stations with both teams refusing to yield until the last man had fallen.  Overall, a great effort by both sides, and while great tactics were prevalent for both teams, player attrition ended up being the primary downfall for the Germans in this event, though major credit should be given to those who remained right up to the final moments.  To follow the course of the action, you can view a copy of the event map here as you read on.

Phase 1: The Beach Landing

The US team launched their attack on Omaha under thick smoke and a barrage of enemy mortar fire.  The Germans emptied hundreds of rounds per minute into the oncoming masses and sent dozens of US players back to the deadbox at a time.   Gradually, US players began occupying the forward bunkers on the beach as the Germans were forced to respawn further and further away from the Atlantic Wall.  Using Bangalore torpedoes, a hole was blown in the wire and US players began inching forward into the German defenses.  It was about this time that things really got ugly for the US team.  Germans showed US flag runners absolutely no mercy as they rushed forward in an attempt to drop the Atlantic Wall flag.  Despite attempting to organize cover fire and make runs, the US team simply could not suppress the Germans long enough to make it to the flag and seemed unwilling to try flanking maneuvers.  The result was dozens of welts for dozens of brave players.  With time running short, Lou Morocco of the ARC Troopers made a dash for the flag and with the likely blessing of somebody above, made it through to drop the German flag before being hit.  At this point, both teams regrouped at their HQ’s for mission orders from their Generals.  The US team now was in control of sector Alpha.

Phase 2: The Territory Battle

The US team was initially slow to react and lost precious momentum from the beach fight where the Germans were unable to initiate counterattacks on territory.  Their first order came nearly 25 minutes after the beach landing with an attack on Charlie and Delta sectors.  The Germans held fast at Charlie, cutting the US players to pieces, but the US was came out on top at Delta and secured their first inland victory against the Germans.  Undeterred by their loss at Charlie, US HQ initiated an attack on Foxtrot by using their elite units.  Five minutes later, US HQ initiated a second attack on Charlie, but again was pushed back by the German defenders.  Foxtrot would fall to the US team at the end of the mission,  putting US players one sector closer to the German HQ.  During this time, the Germans would send in two sniper teams, scoring kills on US leadership at 11:45 and 12:25 while the US team scored their first assassination at 12:50 against the Germans.

Despite the strong showing of US power in the first half, the teams remained even going into the break as a result of the assassinations of the US leadership by the Germans.

At 2:25 German HQ would initiate their first counterattack order against Delta sector while the US would assault Hotel on the border of the German HQ territory.  Both of these would be hard-won fights for the US players, during which the Germans would counterattack Foxtrot and successfully regain that lost territory.  Unfortunately, this would be the final victory for the German team for the day with a counterattack failing against Hotel shortly afterwards, with the exception of an additional officer elimination at the US HQ at 3:50.  Foxtrot, Bravo, Golf and India would soon fall like dominoes to the US team as it chugged towards victory at the end of the day, capping the event with a German officer elimination at 4:20 and 4:50.

The only side missions attempted during the event were by the German team during the final hour.  A German patrol successfully made their way from their HQ to Benton Bridge, while a follow-up demolitions team failed to destroy it after being caught up in an ambush en route.

The final score of the event would end up with the US team scoring 1,525 points and the German team scoring 600.

A big thank you to all the players who attended and especially the German and US generals!