Note: These historic images are not subject to modification before the official release, because history should be accurate.
Leading history tours to Europe as the founder of Band of Tours, combined with fond memories of playing military board games as a teen, prompted Randy Brandt to create his own game. His friendship with a couple of the paratroopers immortalized by the Band of Brothers series ensured that it would be an airborne-themed game, and Normandy seemed like the obvious choice.
1. The first map was printed in February of 2018, a year after the passing of Randy's friend, PFC Ed Tipper (seen in episodes 1 and 3 of Band of Brothers). Randy had to trim and tape about a dozen sheets of paper together.
2. Brother-in-law Dave was the first opponent. Blitzkrieg unit counters filled in temporarily.
3. Revision 3 or 4 of the board was starting to look much like the current version. Son Michael was the first to defeat Randy at his own game. Note: The NBA is not part of the game, but numerous old cards were sacrificed in the design stages of Utah Beach.
4. The first color printed map arrives! It turns out that a single poster is smooth and unit counters stay in position better than on a dozen taped together series of sheets.