Operation Market Garden was an Allied military operation during World War II that dropped thousands of paratroopers behind enemy lines combined with a ground attack to gain bridges over the Dutch rivers, the Mass, Waal and Neder Rijn. This operation was needed to aid the armored advance of the British 2nd Army. Ben and Bonnie Torricelli of Millennium Paintball Productions (MPP) created the paintball scenario game "Brothers in Arms: Market Garden" which was held at Paintball Charleston in North Charleston, SC on October 8th and 9th , 2005.

The operation led by General Panic (Murray Hammick) involved British and American troops which were flown behind enemy lines to capture the eight bridges while the infantry were to push up the road from the Allied front lines to help reinforce the airborne troops.

At 11:50 AM Saturday morning just prior to the commencement of Market Garden, General Panic announced to his squad leaders "Allied forces live in chaos, therefore we will thrive in this weekends events". The final comment from the war room meeting to be passed down to all troops: "Have fun and play safe!"

The operation was initially successful with the capture of the Waal Bridge at Nijmegen and every mission assigned to the Allied squads was completed with little or no resistance. Around lunch time Allied and Axis tanks were sited south of Nigmegen and the German tank fired the first shot which bounced in front of the Allied tank. As the Allied tank moved into position the gunner realized he had no air to supply the tanks huge gun. Approximately 30 seconds later the Allied turret could be seen smoking from a direct hit!

At the 6 PM dinner break it appeared the Allies were not going to encounter a real German counter-offensive. The Allied point count was 1,300 to the Axis's 300. The German General (Steve Chase) using his experience from his first Allied encounter just months prior (1st Scenario General experience), received reports from his spies that the Allied forces were of equal strength to his current troops and armor. General Steve rallied his troops just after dusk by giving a stern order to "Mow the enemy down!" The XO (Trevor Gardner) spoke with his troops indicating that the missions conducted by his troops started out slow and they were initially confused; however, they were making up for the confusion with more prop collections than the Allies.

General Steve's troops turned up the heat at 8 PM Saturday night and averaged 300 - 400 points per hour until the game was called late Saturday night which put them 300 points behind the Allies. During this time Axis sniper Matt Cosgrove blew up the Allied base twice which contributed more points to the Axis side.

Sunday morning the game resumed at 8 AM with both Generals in their perspective bases issuing the first missions of the day to their troops.

At approximately 10 AM the Allies found a secret bomb which would eliminate the Axis base for the rest of the game. However, they misread the map and blew up the wrong base leaving the Axis communication system in place allowing them to close within 100 points of the Allies.

The fighting spread to Cleves, Valkens and Domel as both Allies and Axis were ordered to attack each other's bases in an attempt to disrupt communications and assassinate the Generals. At one point in the game Axis infantryman Bob Bairfeild snuck around the bottom of his base and came up behind Allied trooper Chris Storey. There I am standing there getting ready to take the photograph and I hear Bob say "Take the hit!" Chris decided it was in his best interest to surrender and put his barrel plug in.

After some intense battles, the game was called at 12 PM which left the Allies 300 points ahead of the Axis. To my surprise, General Steve challenged the Allied General to a duel with Pistols and Ben Torricelli added a twist: whoever win's gets 300 points.

Being a man of honor, General Panic accepted the challenge and soon thereafter they were back-to-back. After the 10th pace, General Steve turned around swiftly and dropped to one knee squeezing a shot off that missed. The very next moment General Panic shot hitting General Steve in the knee. The duel was over and the Allies were now 600 points ahead. After collecting and counting the special service stars the Allies won 4,700 to 4,500.

Both sides came off the field and gathered around the pro shop for the awards ceremony and prize drawing.

Awards:

For the Allies, General Panic (Murray Hammick)
X.O.: Ryan Jones & Tom Harvey
Best Referee: Jami "Deepfreeze" Davis
Most Valuable Player(s): Ryan Jones
Most Valuable Team(s): Squad 4
Purple Heart: Phil Hammick
Sportsmanship: Richard Boyles & Sparky
Special Service: "Toast"

For the Germans, General Steve Chase:
X.O.: Sam Jones & Lucas
Best Referee: James Mathews
Most Valuable Player: Matt Cosgrove
Most Valuable Team: Mexican Death Squad
Purple Heart: Josh Estrada
Sportsmanship: Matt Cosgrove
Special Service: Casey

During the planning stages of this event Hurricane Katrina devastated the gulf coast. The organizers recognized the fact that people needed help so they turned Operation Market Garden into a fund raiser. 50% of the registration fees were donated to the American Red Cross which ended up being $4,300! Great work everyone!

For more information on "Brothers in Arms: The Eastern Front" go to www.mppgames.com. For more information on Paintball Charleston please visit www.paintballcharleston.net or visit the field at 7100 Cross County Rd, North Charleston, SC 29418

I would like to thank Ben and Bonnie Torricelli from Millennium Paintball Productions, Tim "Skeeter" Dake & Tim "Brain" Harrelson the owners of Paintball Charleston, the top notch reffing staff of whom without you this event would not have run so efficiently and last but not least, the players in this event. You were all great sportsman and it showed!

Thanks to our sponsors: Tippmann Sports, RealAction Paintball, GameFace Paintball, Pro-Team Products, Jet City Specialties, Indian Creek Design, WGP Paintball, National Paintball Supply & PBjunkie.com.