Nightmare at Carentan - The Matrix Games version of West Front

Carentan, 25km NNW of St. Lo, France: [Best played as Allied] By 12 June the US 101st Airborne Division had managed to drive the defending German 6th Parachute Regiment out of Carentan and secure the most important route into the Cotentin Peninsula. The battered 501st and 506th Parachute Regiments quickly fanned out into defensive positions southwest of the town. Carentan Gap had to be held to prevent German reinforcements from pouring into the peninsula and interfering with the American advance on Cherbourg. The Germans also understood the vital importance of the area and the need to prevent the joining of the American V and VII Corps beachheads. On the morning of June 13th the nightmare of every airborne soldier came true! Assault guns and heavy infantry of the 37th/17 Panzergrenadier Regiment and remnants of the 6th Parachute Regiment struck the lightly equipped airborne battalions from the southwest along the roads from Periers and la Campagne. Promised reinforcements from the 2nd Armored Division, the "Screaming Eagles" were ordered to hold their ground until heavier forces could move up from the beaches.