At Adepticon 2025 we signed on to be part of a joint effort to bring Battlegroup to Adepticon in 2026. Our new friends, Erick and Cody, had played a bunch of Battlegroup and were keen on demoing the game for convention goers. A few iconic battles were tossed around as possible ideas but excitingly we ended up landing on a D-Day scenario taking place in Carentan, France.

Battle for Carentan: A Brief History

I won’t give a blow by blow account of the battle as there are a ton of real authors who do it better. However, I will give a brief summary and some background that played a role in my selection force for the iconic battle. I highly recommend this excellent interview with history author Steven Zaloga on WW2TV’s YouTube Channel. Suffice to say, Carentan is a name that has earned a spot in the annals of US military history. Combat for the town led to some of the 101st Airborne’s most lauded actions. Purple Heart Lane and The Battle of Bloody Gulch both happened while taking and securing the market village of Carentan.

Carentan should be a familiar locale for those of us who have seen the HBO series Band of Brothers. Band of Brothers follows E Company (Easy Company) of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. The story spans from initial training and flows to the end of the war. The series’ third episode is named after the key French town of Carentan and gives a look at the sharp fighting that took place there on D+4 through D+8 (June 10-14, 1944).

Situated at the base of the Cotentin peninsula, Carentan was a key location that linked the two American invasion forces from Utah and Omaha Beach. Both Americans and Germans quickly realized how important the town was and rushed to secure it. Without a combined beachhead, the Americans risked being pushed back into the English Channel. For the task, the Americans committed paratroopers and glider men of the 101st airborne and eventually Combat Command A of the US 2nd Armored Division.

Carentan was situated where two river estuaries met. It was very marshy ground that was typically flooded during the spring. The German army made an effort to extend the flooding to limit movement in the area. This was a significant factor for both sides in the battle.

At the beginning of the battle Carentan was in German hands. The German 91. Luftlande-Infanterie-Division had been relocated to the Cotentin Peninsula in May 1944 to reinforce the area behind the 709th Static Infantry Division for an anticipated attack on the nearby port city of Cherbourg. The 91st was organized as an airlifted reinforcement invasion response unit. To maintain air mobility, the unit was organized much like a mountain division with less heavy equipment than a standard infantry division had.

The German 6. Fallschirmjager Regiment (FJR 6.) was subordinated to the 91st and was situated on the southern flank of the Luftlande Division. The 6th Fallschirmjager Regiment was using the town of Carentan as a base for its operations.

While the Fallschirmjager were skilled and motivated troops, their air landing role meant they had limited ammunition immediately on hand. They only had what was easily transportable by plane.

Later in the battle for Carentan, additional units from the 91. Luftlande-Infanterie-Division and parts of the 17. SS Panzergrenadier Division were thrown in to push the Americans back.

Capturing Carentan

On June 9th Paratroopers of the 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment (PIR) and glider men of the 327th Infantry Regiment – Glider were tasked with a double envelopment of Carentan, which was believed to be lightly held at the time. The reality was far different. It was held by tough-nosed fallschirmjager and grenadiers. The attack was launched in the wee hours of the next morning, June 10th, with the 3rd Battalion of the 502nd PIR leading the push on the causeway over the Douve River towards Carentan. Four bridges needed to be captured along the causeway from St Come Du Mont to Carentan. Several setbacks, including an unmovable Belgian gate positioned at a choke point, and damaged bridges, hampered the American assault along the narrow and exposed causeway. At certain points men could only move single file, which significantly slowed the advance.

The Germans, for their part, did not allow the Americans to have a leisurely walk down the causeway and attacked the paratroopers with machine guns, mortar fire, and Stuka straffings. The causeway earn the moniker Purple Heart Lane as the 3rd Battalion suffered 67% casualties during the attack. Eventually, the fire slackened enough for the Americans to advance on the main farm house which was the main point of resistance. Heavy German fire returned and the paratroopers called for artillery support. Forced to act immediately due to the volume of incoming fire, the 3rd Battalion’s commander lead a bayonet charge and took the farm house and the area around it from the Fallachirmjager defenders. The regimental commander was later awarded the Medal of Honor for his leadership and disregard for his personal safety while leading the charge from the front.

While the causeway was being taken, the 327th’s glider men worked their way into the town from the eastern side.

Savage fighting took place and both of the American forces repelled numerous counterattacks, but also took heavy casualties themselves. Soon, with their ammunition running out, the Fallshirmjagers retreated. Two regiments of German paratroopers took part in the fight for Carentan. They were accompanied by the remnants of Grenadier Regiment 1058. Throughout the battle they were additionally joined by the remnants of Grenadier Regiment 915 which was part of the 352nd Infantry Division.

Heavy fighting for the village continued throughout the next two days. The 101st troopers pushed into the Fallshirmjager’s rear guard as the Germans retreated. Eventually, the paratroopers and glider men linked up and pursued the Germans south of the town until they ran into the fresh Panzergrenadiers from the 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division. The 17th was a mechanized division but lacked much of its transport. It also lacked tanks, but interestingly was supported by a battalion of StuG IV assault guns. Like most German units in Normandy, they paid the Jabos (Allied fighter bomber aircraft) a hefty blood tithe while enroute to Carentan.

The Battle of Bloody Gulch

The 101st Airborne was set to pursue the retreating Germans further on the morning of June 13th. As they stepped off, they ran headlong into the assaulting elements of the 17th SS Panzergrendiers and 6th Fallshirmjager who were attempting to retake Carentan. A swirling battle developed as the armor supported Germans struck at the comparatively lightly armed Americans.

Fallschirmjagers Regiment 6 and Panzergrenadier Regiment 37 pushed some of the Americans back to within several hundred yards of Carentan. In a heroic action, E Company of the 506th PIR held firm, knocking out several of the assaulting German vehicles with bazookas and anti-tank guns. They were able to hold their ground until a timely intervention by the US 2nd Armored Division’s Combat Command A arrived. The units from the American armored division had been sent after Ultra, the Allied intelligence apparatus, had given a warning about the impending German attack. The combined American force shattered the German assault and pushed them back a mile past the lines from earlier in the morning. This battle became known to the Paratroopers as the Battle of Bloody Gulch.

US Paratroopers Starter Force

For our event we decided to use the Battle of Bloody Gulch as inspiration. Initially, I was assigned to provide 250 points of Americans and worked that into a base for a larger force. Requirements for the event morphed until I was to provide a platoon and support options.

Theme and relative accuracy are important to me. US Paratrooper forces are light infantry at their core but they pack a hell of a punch organically. Each platoon has a 60mm mortar team and a bazooka team. They also have the option to bring an 81mm mortar and a 57mm anti-tank gun. For now the mortars will wait but they are on the short list to get done.

With the historical context in mind I decided on the following force.

Forward HQ – 3 Men and a jeep

One Veteran paratrooper platoon

Two 57mm anti-tank guns with Jeep tows

Recon HQ – Jeep with .30 cal

M20 Utility Car

M8 Grayhound Scout Car

Two M10 Wolverine Tank Destroyers

The total tally for the force is 409 points. Again, thematically, the 101st was reinforced at Bloody Gulch by elements of the 2nd Armored rushing in from the beach. Historically the paras had 57mm anti-tank guns and bazookas. My platoon will have one of the anti-tank guns and we are loaning the other to another platoon. Additionally, the armored cars, recon jeep, and Wolverines are pretty much bang on for a 2nd Armored tank destroyer section and its security element. The force balances the tough veteran infantry with some mobile firepower.

Sourcing the Miniatures

With new projects come new goodies. I figured I may as well show off a few of the products I am using for my 15mm Battlegroup paratroopers. I had some Battlefront paratroopers from the Hit the Beach starter set but it wasn’t enough to build my whole force and I wanted some variety for the poses. To be fair, variety is less important for 15mm minis when compared to their bigger 28mm cousins. At 15mm the minis blend more into the terrain when you look at the table but that doesn’t stop me from seeking out fun new sculpts.

There are a few options out there for 15mm US Paratroops. The aforementioned Battlefront plastic kit is very good as are their older metal offerings. Battlefront now uses a molded resin for many of their new releases. Resin is the new hotness but I am not the biggest fan. They seem to snap quite easily. Right out of the box I found a few of my new minis snapped off at the ankles. That was a little disappointing but I knew it was a possibility after previously working with the Battlefront resin.

I needed some jeeps, 57mm anti-tank guns, and 81mm mortars to give some punch to my planned veteran paratrooper platoons. The 82nd Airborne box had everything I needed plus special figures, additional resin paratrooper rifle platoons, two objectives, and 82nd Airborne dice. The cost of the box was less than the sum cost of the parts so it was a no brainer pick up.

Evan and I came into a position to acquire a partial box of the all metal UBX18 Parachute Rifle Company from our friend Brian. This box has my favorite cover art depicting the legendary assault on Brecourt Manor. I really miss the old box art that previously graced the larger Flames of War boxes. Initially, I was skeptical about the older sculpts but they have grown to be my favorite of the lot. They are flavorful and painted up very nicely. I used them to fluff out the rifle squads and light machine gun teams.

I also sourced the armored cars and M10s from Battlefront. The M20 and M8 come from the same kit. A person could magnetize them to make one vehicle play double duty but I didn’t feel like going through the trouble. The M10 Wolverine also comes with a turret for the 90mm armed M36 Jackson. I made the turrets but the Jackson wasn’t in combat until October of 1944 making it too late for our battle. All of the vehicles went together well and I dolled them up with some 3d printed stowage.

While looking for more sources for minis I saw Forged in Battle had a few relevant offerings. They have three packs available for the US Airborne. A core platoon of 40 minis, plus a pack of four separate .30 cal MMG teams, and a pack of four 60mm mortar teams. I was able to snag them locally from Kick Ass Mail Order but they can be found in a few places. They are a very good value as the core platoon at the time of writing is $20.00 and the weapons packs are $13.50. I took a closer look at the core platoon here if you are interested.

Next, I found Old Glory’s Command Decision line also contained a few sets of paratroopers including riflemen, support weapons and command, and 75mm howitzers. I was able to get a pack of the command and weapons teams as well as a pack of the generic American anti-tank gun crew from Noble Knight. Sure, the generic gun crew aren’t specifically paratroopers but they can stand in as additional sculpts or loader teams. I think I paid ~$15.00 for 50ish miniatures which is a solid deal. I didn’t use any in the first platoon but I’ll be picking them over for more poses.

Finally, Peter Pig has 14 SKUs of paratroopers. Of note PP has some oddities like seated paratroopers and casualties as well as some command poses. I will probably pick them up at some point from the US distributor Brookhurst Hobbies. They are a little on the pricier side at $7.99 for eight miniatures, but they add some nice variety and they are pretty solid sculpts that mesh well with the other companies. When I fill out the rest of the paratrooper company I am building I will be getting some Peter Pig to bulk them out.

A Force Finished

I finished up this batch a week before the convention. Evan and I were laughing as the whole American force was freshly painted for their outing. We all know how freshly painted forces fare on that first outing…

The American Paratrooper force was quite pleasurable to build and I have stuff in the works to expand on it. Hopefully this article gives you some fun ideas for a Paratrooper force. When I ran them against Evan (unpainted) they were a stubborn and punchy Battlegroup force. Now that they are fully painted they should perform even better.