Help needed to build my first Bolt Action Army

[Captain James Robert Matherson – 1st Coy – 1st Batt- 66th Armored Regiment-US 2nd Armored.]

Sorry, Fred, I was thinking of another division not the fourth, but the fourth was made into a mechanized infantry division in ’41 but then reverted back to a regular infantry division in ’43.
The elements of the 4th Division was “attached” to the 2nd armoured division during Normandy as seen in the attached file and this is why I decided to create them and have them alongside my 2nd armoured division.
You are correct that the 41st mechanised was part of the 2nd armoured, I guess I could make my infantry the 41st but I think the 4th was with the 2nd Armoured when they helped Easy company fight off the SS Panzer division in Band Of Brothers hedge rows fight scene.

(Truth be told, the reason I want to create the 2nd armoured is due to the fact they were in the Band of Brothers TV show…lol)

Regarding Easy Company being at full strength, I was going to use them as part of a campaign Normandy, Holland and then Belgium. I could remove a section from each platoon to reflect the realistic understrength “easy” Company was at during the war.

• This reply was modified 5 years, 10 months ago by Captain James Robert Matherson - 1st Coy - 1st Batt- 66th Armored Regiment-US 2nd Armored..

Attachments:

1. 2nd-Armored-Division-Normandy-1.docx

[Fred Cartwright]

Ah I see what you mean by attached. Yes units from different divisions would be assigned to work together for a specific operation, particularly infantry with US armoured divisions. One of the criticisms of the US Armoured division structure was it was light on infantry. The standard division had 3 battalions each of tanks, infantry and artillery. As casualties were heaviest in the infantry often a division had to be withdrawn and rebuilt with the tanks and artillery still fully capable. The 2nd was a heavy armoured division and had 12 companies of medium tanks and 6 of light tanks to a light divisions 9 and 3 respectively, so was even “shorter” of infantry.
When understrength units tended to run with fewer men per squad before amalgamating squads.

[Captain James Robert Matherson – 1st Coy – 1st Batt- 66th Armored Regiment-US 2nd Armored.]

I think I will stick with the 4th Infantry being an outside division being attached, I could create the 41st mechanised that was part of the 2nd armoured division, however the only stumbling point for me is that the 41st was a coloured division made up mostly of Coloured American GI’s, I have never painted coloured soldiers before and have no idea how to paint a miniature of colour to the point that I am giving him the honour and respect he deserves of his real-life counterpart.

What’re your thoughts of making easy company platoon 2-3 squad platoons on D-Day to show understrength?

[Fred Cartwright]

Yes fine to run with 2-3 squads per platoon. The Airborne were at their lowest point on D-day. As I mentioned before Lt Winters only had 29 men in Easy Company to assault Brecourt Manor on D-Day. That is about as many as an average platoon. As stragglers appeared over the next few days the units filled out a bit more, but were never at full strength.
Are you sure the 41st Armoured Infantry were a coloured unit? I know the original regiment was when raised during the civil war, but that unit had no relationship to the new 41st Infantry which was raised in 1917 and was the direct predecessor to the 41st Armoured Infantry.

• This reply was modified 5 years, 10 months ago by Fred Cartwright.

[Fred Cartwright]

Have checked with some knowledgable people and the 41st Armoured Infantry regiment was not a coloured unit. The only coloured infantry regiments were in the 92nd and 93rd Infantry divisions. The other coloured units were all seperate battalions of tanks, tank destroyers, field artillery, anti aircraft etc.

[Captain James Robert Matherson – 1st Coy – 1st Batt- 66th Armored Regiment-US 2nd Armored.]

My Bad,

I should have followed the paper trail as you are correct, the 41st was not the same division as was raised in the civil war.
The 41st was later reassigned as the 24th regiment until 1956.

Thank you for the correct information, it makes it easier with my painting skills to paint them as white soldiers, still can’t help feeling disappointed that the 41st wasn’t a colored division.

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