Action at St. Martin

Marshall: "So you followed Lt. Col. Cassidy to his command post?"

Hartsock: "Yes, sir, I was trying to get word on Baker's location. I guess I got a little sidetracked."

Marshall: "How so?"

Hartsock: "Well, in my experiences in the Army, sir- if you stand around long enough someone will send you somewhere. -And it's never a nice somewhere."

—Marshall Interview of Hartsock

Action at St. Martin is the third chapter of Brothers in Arms: Earned in Blood. It introduces Friar as an important character in the game.

Summary[]

Hartsock awakens to find out that some men from the 82nd Airborne have been found and are severely wounded. They desperately need his help and courage to survive.

Plot[]

Hartsock recalls his morning before regrouping with Baker. He is with Cassidy's group near St. Martin at the time. Doyle woke up Red and brief that the situation for his unit is messy as they are scattered and far from his objective St. Sauveur. Although he managed to gathered his 82nd mates, they including some of Cassidy soldiers are wounded or critically injured. Cassidy tasked Red to find medical supplies in a church of St. Martin where a German makeshift hospital is at. Red is joined by Friar and Paddock to find the supplies needed of the men.

The team soon head to St. Martin and engage the German garrisoned in the town. A heavy fighting took place in each part of St. Martin but the Americans prevailed. They reach the church and found the makeshift hospital. They are suddenly warned by Doyle about navy bombarding Normandy which will cause Germans to retreat through here.

Red's team managed to cut the German deserters and defending the church as well. After the battle is over, they are met by 1st Squad who will take the supplies for Cassidy and they found Baker's location. After hearing that, Red proceed to regroup with Baker. Red explained he didn't tell Baker his adventure as Baker seems strange the last time he met him.

Objectives[]

Secure the church[]

The church in St. Martin-de-Varreville was believed to contain a German aid station, and was a key early objective for the 502nd.

Defend the church[]

The artillery bombardment at Utah Beach flushed the enemy out of their fortifications and forced them to retreat back through St. Martin-de-Varreville.

Characters[]

Colonel S.L.A. Marshall
Lieutenant Colonel Patrick Cassidy
Staff Sergeant Gregory Hassay
Sergeant Matthew Baker
Sergeant Bixby (Mentioned)
Sergeant Craig Lewis (Wounded)
Corporal Jacob Campbell
Corporal Seamus Doyle
Corporal Joseph Hartsock (Playable)
Corporal Franklin Paddock
Private First Class John Kings (Wounded)
Private First Class Kevin Leggett
Private First Class William Paige
Private Boyd (Wounded)
Private Derrick McConnel
Private Dean Winchell

Weapons[]

American Weapons[]

M1A1 Carbine
Colt M1911 (Picks Up)

German Weapons[]

Kar 98k
MP 40
MG 42 (Mounted)

Teams[]

Assault Team[]

Cpl. Paddock - M3 Grease Gun
Pvt. Friar - M1A1 Carbine

Later:

Cpl. Doyle - M1A1 Carbine

Transcript[]

Main article: Action at St. Martin/Transcript

Extras[]

The Dialogue Creation Process - Easy[]

From concept to completion, character and story development is a complex and involved process. The story's foundation is the actual events that took place in WWII, so a rough outline was created with the collaboration of the key developers. Here, writer Micheal Neumann and historical director Colonel John Antal discuss the authenticity of the script.

Writer Micheal Neumann discusses a scenario with lead level designer Erik Doescher. Throughout the process, writers constantly interact with content developers because the story has to be integrated with the missions and the creation of custom animation and content needs to be achievable.

In addition to the planned script, dynamic dialogue systems are planned out, and each character is given a voice to suit their character and their role in the story. Here, programmer Ryan Conlon associates a character's phrases to dynamic in-game behaviors and actions.

When the script is complete and the characters' voices have been cast, recording begins in the studio. Typically, several pick-up sessions are planned that allow new lines to be added or timing or inflection to change after the first recordings are implemented in game.

Here, Audio Director David McGarry cuts and edits dialogue to be used in the game. Because there are tens of thousands of spoken lines in Brothers in Arms Earned in Blood, the editing process requires many engineers and takes hundreds of man hours to complete.

In order to make the characters' mouths move correctly when speaking the lines, the final audio data is analyzed and interpreted by a sophisticated program. The program looks at the wave form and makes decisions about what shape a human mouth has to form in order to generate that kind of sound.

Once all audio editing and lip-syncing have occurred, level designers may reference the dialogue in the game. Here, designer Dorian Gorski works out the blocking and timing of a dialogue sequence in the game.

The final step is what we call "mixdown." Audio engineer David McGarry listens to the final implementation of audio and adjusts audio levels and dynamic settings including roll-off over distance, ambient reverb, Doppler effects and the like so that the game sounds as realistic as actual combat in 1944 Normandy.

The M3 "Grease Gun" - Normal[]

The M3 submachine gun, nicknamed the "grease gun", was issued to soldiers in 1942 by the United States Army. Soldiers coined the nickname due to the weapon's unique look and design feature of containing a gun oil reservoir in the base of the grip.

The M3 and later improved M3A1 (1944) were developed and manufactured by General Motors Corp. The weapon's small, compact design made it ideal for the tankers and mechanized infantry men of WWII.

Designed specifically as a low cost substitute for the Thompson submachine gun, the weapon proved to be both durable and reliable on the battlefield. The weapon features a gas-operated blowback design which allows it to fire approximately 350 to 460 rounds per minute.

Other features of the M3A1 include a retractable stock (1), 30 round box magazine (2), a built in gun oil reservoir and applicator (3), and an ejection port cover to keep dirt out of the receiver (4).

Additionally, the stock functioned as a wrench for removing the barrel (5), a magazine loader by using a small L-shaped bracket welded at the rear (6), and a cleaning tool for the bore (7).

St. Martin de Varreville - Difficult[]

Exercepts from the script that present the objective Lt. Col. Cassidy gives Hartsock to find medical supplies for the wounded Allies

Marshall (V.O.)[]

So you followed Lt. Col. Cassidy to his command post?

Hartsock (V.O.)[]

Yes, sir, I was trying to get word on Baker's location. I guess I got a little sidetracked.

...

Doyle leads Hartsock into the farmhouse where a few wounded men are on the floor barely bandaged, clearly in pain.

Doyle[]

Well. There's the bad news. (a beat) They're banged up pretty bad. (a beat) Without any medical supplies... (a beat, sullen) It's not looking good.

...

Cassidy[]

Friar here was with him. I was told the Krauts have a makeshift aid station at the church at St. Martin. Bring all the bandages and plasma you can find. We need it now corporal, these men can't wait.

A few minutes after Choy cleared away, a stretcher party came from into the aid station carrying one man shot above the heart; another shot through both legs; and Lieut. Elmer F. Brandenberger, who had been conducting the fight against X, Y and Z. A hand grenade or booby trap had exploded next to his arm and it was shattered and shredded. He said that two groups of houses had been taken, and he added, "Sir, I'm terribly sorry I got hit. I didn't do my job very good." Another runner came in at that moment to report that the men in the houses were running low on ammunition. The wounded were turned over to the medical sergeant, Eugene F. Forbes. He said he had only two units of blood plasma left, and asked, "Shall I give it to the man shot over the heart or to Brandenberger? The private may die anyway; he looks like it. Brandenberger is bleeding terribly and may die unless he gets it." Cassidy made his snap decision...

This excerpt from the official After Action Report covers Cassidy's situation and his decision to send troops to scavenge for medical supplies.

Sgt. Forbes came to him again. He said he had tried to stop Brandenberger's bleeding but couldn't. The bone was shattered. The arm held together by only a few shreds of flesh. He couldn't get into the wound with compresses and he had no plasma.

...

He had a vague memory of having passed a bundle that looked like a medical bundle.

...

Lieut. Evers came back wounded and within the hour, Capt. Fitzgerald, still clinging to life, and the other wounded from Foucarville were brought in on the meat wagon along with Capt. Choy. Cassidy had put another wagon into his collecting service; there were supply bundles scattered all over the countryside, and he sent the men out to see what they could find.

Sgt. Matt Baker - Authentic[]

Matt Baker is the son of Captain Joseph and Julia Baker and was born at Fort Benning, Georgia, on February 22, 1923. His parents divorced in 1927 when Matt was only four. Julia came from a wealthy family and military life did not agree with her. Captain Baker continued to be assigned around the world in the U.S. Army [posts in the US, Panama and China]. Matt Baker grew up in St. Louis and only saw his father on rare visits and though letters.

When Matt was in High School, he became close friend with George Risner. They both graduated from High School in 1941 and enlisted in the US Army on June 9, 1942, the day after graduated from High School. They went to basic training together, and both wanted to join the paratroops. Unfortunately, George broke his leg in basic training and was cycled to a later training class.

Matt volunteered for the paratroops, trained at Fort Benning, and was eventually assigned to the 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division. Two weeks before D-Day, Sergeant Saunderson, the squad leader of 3rd Squad, 3rd Platoon, broke his leg in a practice parachute jump. Platoon Sergeant "Mac" Hassay promoted Corporal Matt Baker to Sergeant and placed Matt in charge of the 3rd Squad.

Gallery[]

Difference in the PS2 version[]

The three wounded 82nd Paratroopers uses Boyd's head model and is a rank of Lieutenant, whilst the other two are both using Lewis' head model and is ranked Sergeant.
Friar, Doyle and Cassidy carry M3 Grease Guns.
The M1911 that can be picked up is not available.
Doyle wears the Heart symbol of the 502 P.I.R on his helmet.
The covered dead bodies & "other stuff" are absent.

Trivia[]

1st Appearance of:
- Pvt.Dean "Friar" Winchell
- Pfc.Will Paige
- & Pvt.Derrick McConnel