Class Project – D-Day Display

By Tom “Chairborne” Mullane

Thanks to John Spiess, and the generous folks over at (who are hosting Historicon in only a few short weeks), a small group of students were able to dip their toes into war gaming this past year.  Back in September,  It was suggested by John and by fellow NDNG writer Tom Burgess, that HMGS might see fit to give these kids some money to start a club here at the high school I teach in.

With the 500 dollars we received, coupled with Brian Sullivan over at Battlefront, The students ordered a full set of paints, all the Midwar books, and enough terrain to get them started.  Brian also threw in some hills and buildings for free with our order. But as the year drew to a close, and with it the 75th anniversary of DDay, I asked if students would be interested in a different extracurricular project.  What you will see here are the results of their efforts.

As we entered April, I had students start to bring in what they had been painting, so we could build a museum exhibit in the School Library.  The plan was to have it up for three days, June 5th, 6th, and 7th.  Anyone walking through our centrally located library could see it, and most of our 1100 students slowed down to take a look.

Additionally, Several teachers brought their classes through, showed videos, and stopped to ask questions about different elements of the display.  The students researched individual units, and made placards, to show those observing what the different Battlefront Miniatures were meant to represent.

Here is an overview of the major display section:

 

Dedication Page

The Display was around 8 feet by 12 feet. I also used other display boards I had built to show other sections of the war. Books from the library were displayed nearby so students could take them out, or have a longer look. I saw quite a few take advantage of that.

One student, Malcolm Nordquist, who has been painting and playing since he was 7, and will graduate next year, provided roughly 1/2 the German armor. He took a break from the 3-hour setup to find that his fellow students had attached flames to nearly all his German tanks.

PIATs, the best AT weapon…

 

 

Naval Gunfire does its work

 

Students made an effort to tell a story with the way the board was set up. Below, the Rangers climb Pointe Du Hoc, and land at Omaha Beach. The Americans are largely Rod Puente, a longtime friend, and fellow gamer. Our club also provided the landing craft and the bunkers. A few of the Americans (those without grasses,) were painted by a team of five students over four weeks. (Roughly 100 figs)

The Americans land

On the left flank, the Brits and Canadians land

The British Land

Behind the lines, squads of paratroopers (Brits, since we didn’t have enough American Para models) caused havoc.

The students got a little carried away…and included some non-historical things…

I wasn’t historically here…but wanted to be involved.

Here are the side displays we put up:

later in the war….secondary displays War in the Desert War in France

Market garden

 

The Final View from Above:

 

A Big thanks to the students the painted, flocked, planned, and researched. Thanks to HMGS and John Spiess for helping bankroll this club this year. Hopefully, we can do something even bigger next year.  Thanks for reading, and Happy Gaming!

The Crew; From Left to Right; Steven, Joe, Sam, Alek, Paulo, and Gian

Tom “Chairborne” Mullane has been writing with NDNG since its founding in 2018. He is a gamer and painter since 2011, and lives in Western CT. He teachers World and Military History to High School Students in NY.