IABSM AAR: Pasting The Padre

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Exciting news! I have taken advantage of the Christmas break to catch up on the re-loading of content onto the new website, and am pleased to say that all the previous IABSM after action reports are now done. That's a huge library of battle reports to browse at your leisure, many with complete scenario information allowing you to re-play the action for yourself.

To celebrate, here's a new AAR, Pasting the Padre, which gathers together the reports written by James Mantos and the Mad Padre about the same game of IABSM played in November this year.

Click here or the picture to read the report; or use the top navigation bar to go to the IABSM After Action Reports section of the website to see literally hundreds more! 

German Kettenkrad

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I've been a little worried that my Gebirgsjaeger (German Mountain Troops) won't be able to move their equipment around properly, especially in harsh terrain or weather conditions.

Problem solved, however, with eight Kettenkrad (motorcycle tractors) painted up as crewed by Gebirgsjaeger.

I must confess to feeling a touch of pride here as, at time of ordering, Battlefront only provided crews in either the standard infantry helmet or the Fallschirmjaeger helmet, not the cap that most of my existing Gebirgsjaeger wear, so I bought some cap-wearing spare heads from Peter Pig and did head-swaps on half. Not exactly the apex of conversion skills, but more than I usually manage!

Website Update: Malaya Day Nostalgia

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The Christmas holidays mean I have more time to finish re-loading all the content onto the new VL website. 

I'm still working my way through the IABSM AARs, and great fun it is too. I have done all the scenario pack AARs, and the one-off game AARs, and am now working my way through the TFL Games Day AARs.

I have just finished uploading all the reports from the 2006 Malaya Games Day: a colossal battle involving over a battalion of infantry on either side at 1:1 scale, with the Japanese trying to force their way through the Lardak position, held by British Indian troops.

Click here to go to the IABSM AAR page. The Malaya Games Day reports are in the right hand column, down near the bottom.

Here are a few photos to whet your whistles...

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Site Update

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The reloading of the site's contents continues apace!

I have now finished re-loading all the IABSM After Action Reports as far as the one-off battle reports up to the end of 1942. That's all the scenario booklet AARs done, and about a third of the one-off games done.

Some people ask me why I bother to try and record every game of AAR about which a battle report has been written.

Well, there are a number of different reasons. Obviously the reports can be source of inspiration: encouraging you when the 'can't be bothered to game or paint' blues have got to you.

On top of that many of the reports are just such good reads: being so well written that they deserve to be published to a wider audience - and here I commend you to Mr Clarke's body of work.

Many reports also have vast numbers of really good photos attached to them: certainly enough to get your hands itching for a paintbrush again...and I know from personal experience that my terrain collection has grown in sophistication just so that my photos look more like those of the masters.

On top of a bit of inspiration, quite a few of the one-off game reports (especially Kev's) give complete game briefings: enabling you to play the scenario out yourself. Ideal if you're stuck for a game to play and (obviously) have played every scenario in my many scenario booklets!

Note also that some of these reports are now only available here on the Vis Lardica site. There are those that have been written specifically for the site, but there are quite a few others that have been lifted (usually with permission!) from sites or blogs that, for any number of reasons, no longer exist. Vis Lardica has become the IABSM archive, and I would like to see that archive as complete as possible.

So, in summary, read and enjoy the huge body of IABSM (and CDs and Q13) AARs that appear here. Even better: submit your own for inclusion. E-mail me at admin@vislardica.com. I'll do all the work: all I need to know is how I get hold of the text and any photos. All standards of work are included!

R

WW2 Figure Reviews Reloaded

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Just a quick note to say that I have finished reloading the six or so WW2 15mm figure reviews into the IABSM Figure Reviews section of the website.

Click here to go there.

The reviews on there at the moment are:

  • Gaming Models AB40 and Morris CS9
  • Battlefront's Cossacks
  • Zvezda's BA-10 armoured cars
  • Battlefront's Gebirgsjaeger
  • Eureka's Australians
  • Some of MMModels WW2 vehicles

I'll write more when the website is fully reloaded!

SdKfz 7/2 medium-weight AA half-tracks from Battlefront: Part II

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On 1st September I posted pictures of the two SdKfz 7/2 German half-tracks that I had painted up in panzer grey for the early war period. Here are the other two 7/2s from the same order, but this time painted up for the mid- and later-war periods in dunkelgelb with camo.

Nice models these: easy to put together, for a change, and satisfyingly chunky.

T-20 Komsomoleyts

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Another quick bit of painting finished, again loot from the Battlefront early war 3-for-2 sale. This time it's a pair of Soviet T-20 Komsomoleyts tractors.

I only bought one pack of two, as I haven't actually got a specific purpose in mind for them. I suppose they will do as very light artillery tractors or, as they come with two men sitting on the back, as the extra two men needed for my MMG teams, originally based with three crew as per IABSMv2, but now needing five crew as per IABSMv3.

They are quite nice little models, but I don't like the fact that the crew are in old-style "Fireman Sam" helmets rather than the round ones worn by all my other Soviets.

Oh, by the way, for those who didn't know, komsomoleyts literally means "young communists", but I'm not sure why they are nicknamed that.

Panhard-Schneider PT-16

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Over the weekend I managed to finish the first of the models bought in the recent Battlefront 'early war 3-for-2' sale: four Panhard-Schneider PT-16 armoured cars for my 1940 French army.

Nice models that go together and paint up well, and should be ideal for a game I'm planning involving two reconnaissance forces bumping up against each other.

"Best Job I Ever Had!"

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I went to see Fury last night: the new WW2 movie starring Brad Pitt and Shia La Boeuf that tells the story of a Sherman tank and its crew fighting in Germany in the final days of the war.

I’m not going to write a full review, as I don’t want to give away any spoilers and you can read reviews written by people paid to write them in the paper or online, but here are a few notes to justify my hearty recommendation to all Lardies to get themselves down to the cinema and watch it as soon as possible.

I was determined to do the film justice, so went to see it at the IMAX in Leicester Square: highly recommended for any big movie as the sheer size and all-encompassing nature of both screen and sound system completely envelop you in what you are watching.

The film is great. It’s about two hours long, but that went by in a flash. To give you an idea of how much I was sucked into its embrace, there’s a bit where a column of American tanks are driving along a hedge-lined track. One of the tank crews spots some movement in the foliage and the camera flashes on a German carrying a Panzerfaust. I’m embarrassed to say that I exclaimed “Faust!” in quite a loud voice before I could stop myself! I’m not sure the young lady to left of me, who jumped with surprise, appreciated my attempt to warn the tankers of the danger!

The acting is excellent, particularly where Brad Pitt and the other crew members of the eponymous Fury are concerned; and David Ayres, the writer and director, manages to inject real tension into every moment of the film. You really don’t know what is going to happen from moment to moment: who is going to live, who is going to die etc.

I must, however, warn those of you of a delicate nature that the film is visceral in the extreme: it pulls no punches on the horrors of war front.

Now, on to the real question: is it realistic? Am I dooming you to a couple of hours sat in front of a screen shouting “no, no, no” before storming off to rivet-counters-dot-com to express your disgust in a series of blisteringly excoriating posts?

Well, I would say the film is stunningly authentic, but not quite as realistic.

The tanks (including the Tiger and an Easy Eight from Bovvy), uniforms and other equipment, along with the general realisation of the movie, are brilliant. I was transported to Germany in 1945 and, despite my best efforts, couldn’t spot anything out of place. Apparently Shia La Boeuf smokes the wrong sort of cigarette at one point, but I felt that I could forgive him that. Filthy habit anyway.

But, seriously, recommended for authenticity and to see what a Tiger, Shermans and German/US infantry look like in situ on the battlefield. That was probably what I enjoyed most.

As for realism, some bits were a little far-fetched, but no more so than in any other fictional war movie and, more to the point, no more so than many real incidents that one can read about in official, regimental and personal histories. The way to fully enjoy the movie is to remember that, and not to worry too much about, for example, whether one man can run forward into machine gun fire, jump onto the parapet of the trench containing the machine gun and kick the machine gunner in the face, allowing the trench to be taken by the rest of his section. That’s not from Fury, by the way, that actually happened during the original Australian assault on Tobruk…but if you’d seen it in the film, would you have clapped or scoffed?

So, in all, my absolute recommendation to all Lardies to see the film: and at the cinema if possible.

 

Beyond a joke!

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Now those of you who visit this website regularly will know that I am quite a fan of Battlefront figures. I might not play Flames of War, preferring IABSM, but I do buy the figures...lots of them.

Sometimes, however, Battlefront do something which drives me potty...something that is 'beyond a joke'.

Today's 'beyond a joke' is the new Gebirgsjaeger anti-tank rifle team of two figures: one rifleman and one chap carrying what I think is a PzB 38 or 39 anti-tank rifle. The team retails for about £1.50, but I got three of them in the recent 3-for-2 sale which, to be fair, was a very good thing, with a delivery arriving within three days of my order.

From the sublime...

I have previously commented that Battlefront's Gebirgsjaeger are a mixed bunch. Some of them are some of the best figures I have ever seen, and paint up beautifully, but some of them are ghastly shop-dummy manikins that I really only kept to make up the right numbers.

 The initial release didn't contain any man-portable anti-tank weapons (no 'schreks, no ATRs) so I was chuffed to bits when I saw that anti-tank rifle teams were finally available.

 

My joy was short lived. Why, I hear you ask? Well I will let a picture say a thousand words. Here are the two figures from the Battlefront Gebirgsjaeger anti-tank rifle team pack: 

...to the ridiculous!

You may notice that they are a slightly different size to each other.

Slightly?

Slightly?

The bloke with the ATR is so short his colleague can see over his flipping head! I mean, was this some kind of joke? Give the shortest man in the unit the biggest gun? It honestly looks like two figures from different ranges or manufacturers, not two figures designed to be fielded together mounted on the same base! What a pile of steaming poop!

I can understand the team being shorter than previous releases (new sculptor etc) but just the new figure? Didn't anyone at Battlefront notice that the two chaps didn't really match each other?

Come on, Battlefront: get your act together!

AAR: Diot

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Played a great game of I Ain't Been Shot, Mum! today using scenario #4H from the Blenneville or Bust! scenario pack. 

Exciting action as the Germans attempt to outflank the Allied advance via the strategically vital town of Diot, only to run into a company of Scottish infantry determined not to let them past!

Click on the picture to read the whole AAR:

And for those whose appetites are whetted by the above, I've reloaded the IABSM AARs down to the last one from the Fall of the Lion Gate Malaya and Singapore scenario pack - I'm doing all the scenario pack AARs first before moving on to individual games and the Games Day reports. Check them out!

29, Let's Go! Released

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29, Let's Go! is the first of the Pint-Sized campaigns for Chain of Command (the platoon-level WW2 game from the TooFatLardies) designed to be played using the campaign handbook At the Sharp End.  

Thirty-two pages long, 29, Let's Go! was released yesterday, and contains an overview of the planned, and then actual, events on Omaha beach on the 6th of June before then going on to present a mini-campaign covering the advance of the US 175th Infantry Regiment from the initial beachhead in their drive to link Omaha and Utah beaches by capturing the key bridge at Isigny.  

The campaign is a total of five game tables with the duration running between five and nine games.  Briefings are provided for both sides, along with measurable objectives, period maps, force and support option listings and everything you need to play this campaign through to its conclusion.  

Highly recommended.

You can read more about 29 Let's Go! on the TFL blog, Lard Island News here.

And actually buy the thing (which really is just the cost of a pint) here.

AAR: Ploschad

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Last week Neil and I played the climatic battle in our Bashnya or Bust! campaign: with the Soviets trying to get past the German defenders of Ploschad.

A cracking game, even if my camera was playing up a bit.

Click on the picture below to read the whole AAR...

I've also found the time to re-load the first eight or so IABSM AARs from the Blenneville or Bust! scenario pack too, so check them out!

Fury!

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Due for release 22nd October, the trailer certainly wets my appetite!

All the more so as I know they used the Tiger I from Bovingdon Tank Museum, the only working Tiger tank in Europe IIRC, in the film and Brad (that's Mr Pitt to the rest of you) launched the film there a couple of weeks ago. 

Oooh, exciting!

"Fury" Official Trailer (2014)

Brad Pitt, Shia LaBeouf HD April, 1945. As the Allies make their final push in the European Theatre, a battle-hardened army sergeant named Wardaddy (Brad Pitt) commands a Sherman tank and her five-man crew on a deadly mission behind enemy lines.