IABSM Scenario Book Sale

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No, not mine, before you ask!

Fellow Lardy Chris Stoesen has written several scenario books for Lardy products, including the excellent In the Name of Roma covering the Italians on the Eastern Front:

"In July of 1941, the 80° Roma Regiment of the Pasubio Division boarded a train bound for Romania. Along with the rest of the Italian Expeditionary Corps in Russia (Corpo di Spedizione Italiano), they would advance through the Ukraine alongside their German allies. In the coming months, the 80° would be engaged in brutal fighting across 1400 miles of the Eastern Front – covering most of that on foot.

"IN THE NAME OF ROMA is a wargame supplement that contains 30 company and platoon level scenarios covering the actions of the 80a Roma Regiment from August to December of 1941. You’ll follow the 80th from the open steppe to the Donetz industrial basin, including the amphibious attacks across the Dnieper, and the fateful decision of Column Chiarimonti to attempt to seize Nikitovka."

This normally sells at $11, but is currently available at just $5.50 from Chris' website at Wargamer's Odds & Ends.

Incidentally, my scenario books are, from today, now available from this website using PayPal to buy them (previously you had to use a credit card). They are available from the BUY IABSM SCENARIO PACKS page of this website, available by clicking on the link or in the NavBar above.

As a reminder they are:

HISTORICAL

  • The September War, Part One (the invasion of Poland, September 1939)
  • The Defence of Calais (the defence of Calais, May 1940)
  • Operation Compas (action in the western desert, June 1940 to February 1941)
  • Fall of the Lion Gate (the fall of Singapore, December 1941 to February 1942)
  • Bloody Burma (the fall of Burma, December 1941 to May 1942)
  • Sicilian Weekend (the invasion of Sicily, July 1943)
  • Anzio: Wildcat to Whale (the Anzio campaign, January & February 1944)

FICTIONAL

  • Vyazma or Bust! (Eastern Front, 1941)
  • Bashnya or Bust! (Eastern Front, 1944)
  • Blenneville or Bust! (Normandy, 1944)

All my scenario books are fully IABSM V3 compatible.

IABSM AAR: South of Radekhov

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Another fantastic battle report from Mark Luther from a game of I Ain't Been Shot, Mum played with micro armour. This encounter was a colossal tank fest, with huge numbers of AFVs on either side.

I've also presented the pics in a slightly different format to the usual gallery. Let me know if toy prefer them that way, and I'll go back and change some of Mark's other AARs into the same format.

Click on the pic below to see all:

For Sale: Kev's Desert War Collection

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In addition to his many other talents (househusband, father, wargamer, ballet dancer) fellow Lardy Kev "Fat Wally" Lowth is a professional figure painter. You can see many examples of his work in his Painting Challenge galleries.

All his new stuff means that he is having to clear space in his collection, and his chosen sacrificial lambs are his 15mm WW2 desert war collection: both Afrika Korps and 8th Army, plus a whole load of scenics.

You can download the whole list of what's for sale by clicking here.

And can see examples from the collection by clicking on the links below:

He's looking to shift the lot for £1,650, and would be prepared to accept payment in three instalments. If you're a serious prospect, then please e-mail him on fatwallyuk@yahoo.com.br

Here are some more pictures:

Kev's website can be reached by clicking here.

 

IABSM AAR: Random Game in Russia

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Here's another game report from the blog "Burt's Stuff". That's my translation of Las Partidas de Burt : a Spanish language blog devoted to all sorts of wargaming.

I've used Google and my own limited Spanish to translate the report, so any inaccuracies or poor use of English are mine alone!

Similar to some of Burt's other games, here is a Soviet attack on a German-held town somewhere on the Eastern Front in 1944. Click on the picture to the right to see all.

Now that's an awful lot of Soviet Blinds!

IABSM AAR: The Battle of Pszczyna

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Played a great game of IABSM earlier this week, using the fifth scenario from my newly-published scenario pack for Poland 1939, The September War.

The game covers the German 5th Panzer Division's attack on the town of Pszczyna, held by the Polish 6th Infantry Division.

Click on the picture below to see whether the Invader's assault succeeded...

Converted Polish Infantry Guns Completed

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The latest unit to roll off my painting table is a platoon of 75mm wz.02/26 guns for my WW2 Polish collection. 

When fielded as a two-gun platoon, these will represent an infantry company's division-level Infantry Gun Platoon; when fielded as a three-gun platoon, these will represent a cavalry squadron's brigade-level Horse Artillery Platoon.

The guns themselves were nicknamed "orthodox" by the Poles, as they were old re-chambered Russian guns left behind on Polish territory after WW1. Always good to be equipped with the latest kit!

As for the models, the guns are from Battlefront by special order. I think they are down as Finnish or something as Battlefront doesn't really acknowledge its Polish range at the moment: far too busy in the desert!

The crew are actually WW2 Soviet artillerymen with head-swaps using Peter Pig's excellent range of heads. I've used infantry helmets for most of the crew, with an officer type wearing a rogatywka.

The limbers are general purpose Battlefront limbers, again with the driver having a swapped head.

Finally, I've also now reorganised my Polish cavalry squadron gallery. Click here to see them all (will open in a new window).

CoC: Storming the Citadel

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Although this site is mostly dedicated to the TFL company-sized games (IABSM, CDS, Q13) I like to publicise what else is going on at Lard Island. It therefore gives me great pleasure to announce the publication of the latest pint-sized campaign for Chain of Command, the platoon-sized WW2 game.

Here's what the TFL website says about Storming the Citadel:

"This Pint Sized Campaign for Chain of Command is the first covering the attack of PanzerGrenadier Division Grossdeutschland at Kursk.  The action here covers the build up to the attack, with actions in no-man’s-land as the Germans attempt to seize observation posts and clear minefields, followed by the first day of this epic battle as the Germans storm through the Soviet outpost line and the first line of defences.

"Six battlefields provide a campaign up to ten games long, by which point you’ll have a clear winner and be set up for the next campaign in the series which is already being prepared and follows Grossdeutschland into the second line of Russian defences and attempting to break into open ground beyond.

"This classic Pint Sized Campaign is designed to be run using the campaign rules in At the Sharp End and with Chain of Command rules.  Can you breach the Russian defences and seize the initiative in the East, or will you defeat the fascist invaders and restore the safety of the motherland.

"Twenty-seven pages long, this Pint Sized campaign provides the background history to the campaign with situation maps.  Uses period maps to show the location of the actions and then provides a complete campaign with forces for both sides, support options for players to select from and full victory conditions for all six battles and the campaign as a whole."

You can buy Storming the Citadel for the pint-sized cost of £3.80 by clicking here.

IABSM AAR: Spoiling Attack, Russia, 1943

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Joe Patchen sends us another of his excellent I Ain't Been Shot, Mum battle reports.

It is Fall, 1943. The Russians have had quite a summer, pushing the Germans back along a broad front after their failed Kursk offensive. The local situation is fluid. 

A small infantry force of two Russian platoons holds a ford and bridge over a river with the aid of a couple of 76.2mm AT guns. Their job is to push across the other side and pave the way for a platoon of SP guns and two platoons of T-34/76s to push across and exit the far side of the board. The tanks are expected in the not too distant future. 

Unbeknownst to the Russians, a strong German armoured reconnaissance force of armoured cars, panzergrenadiers, and a couple platoons of tanks are on their way to spoil the anticipated offensive. They're tasked to reach and blow the bridge if possible or at least jam up any attempted Russian crossing.

Click on the pic below to find out what happened next...

Polish Tankettes

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To finish off Polish week on Vis Lardica, celebrating the publication of The September War, my new scenario pack for IABSM covering the German invasion of Poland in 1939, here's a picture of some painting I completed last weekend: a unit of five Polish TKS tankettes.

These are Battlefront models and, as you can see, I have built two of them with the 20mm cannon and three of them with the standard MMG.

Now these things are small: significantly smaller than an Italian tankette or a Bren gun carrier. Although I can see that it would be nice to have a bit of protection against smallarms fire, I think you'd have to be crazy to ride one of these into battle against panzers!

Whilst I was researching The September War, I came across the fact that every year there is a big military re-enactment in Poland celebrating one of the battles of the campaign. Here's a couple of pictures of a TKS tankette from two of the re-enactment days.

As I said: these things are small!

Blinds for the September War Campaign

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Following on from yesterday's launch of The September War, my new scenario pack for IABSM covering the German invasion of Poland 1939, I've now added a set of Blinds for the campaign, downloadable free from the Poland 1939 page of the IABSM section of this website. Or click on the image to the right to get there!

There are four Blinds available: the Polish ones shown to the right, Soviet Blinds, and two sets of German Blinds: one using the historically accurate plain white cross; the other, my preferred version, using a more late war version.

I just pop a few sheets of stiff paper into the printer, print them out, then cut them out, and away you go. You can laminate them if you like, but I usually don't bother these days.

Objective Markers

And whilst we're on he topic of useful things, check out my new Polish objective markers:

These are resin disks 2-3 inches across that you can buy from Army Group North. They don't appear in the AGN webstore at the moment, but if you e-mail them on info@agnminiatures.com, Andrew will sort. They are $10 for three markers and paint up very easily.

A recommended buy, especially as many of the the September War scenario pack scenarios have two-four objectives in them.

The September War Publishes Today!

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The German invasion of Poland on 1st September 1939 precipitated the greatest conflict the world has ever known, ending the lives of some 60 million people across the globe.

Written by Robert Avery and Alexander Kawczynski, The September War is a collection of thirty-three scenarios for I Ain’t Been Shot, Mum covering the German invasion of Poland 1939. It is priced at £9.50.

Divided into eight mini-campaigns, the pack begins with the battles at the border, then covers the fight for the Polish corridor, the Polish Thermopylae at Narew, the Siege of Warsaw, the climactic battles at Bzura and Tomaszow Lubelski, and the actions of the 10th Motorised Cavalry “Black” Brigade and the Independent Operational Group Polesie. There are attacks, counter-attacks, encounter battles, desperate defences…there’s even an armoured train or two.

No need for any preparation: each scenario contains a brief background history, maps, a full game briefing, and a full briefing for each player. Simply print out the pages you need, make up the deck from the list of cards required, unpack your figures and dice, set up the table and away you go!

Click here or on the picture of the front cover to buy The September War scenario pack for IABSM.

To see a list of scenarios, click here.

To see a sample scenario briefing, click here.