A stupendous AAR from Just Jack from his excellent blog BlackHawkNet covering a game of IABSM set on the northern shoulder of the great battle of Kursk in July 1943.
This is well worth a read although, just to warn you, there are 175 captioned photos of the action!
So get yourself a cup of tea, settle down, and click on the picture below…
Tim Whitworth and friends have now moved on from scenario #04 in the Defence of Calais scenario pack. Yes, that’s right: they’ve moved on to scenario #05: The Carriers at Cocquelles.
Click on the pic below to see the first set of pictures from the game:
Tim Whitworth is certainly getting value for money from the Les Attaques scenario from the Defence of Calais scenario pack: he’s on games 4 and 5 now.
Click on the pic below to see the whole saga: newest pics are at the bottom.
It was the Pie, Mash & Lard Lardy Day at the South London Warlords yesterday: a day which included a IABSM game put on by Ian Spence involving a US mixed force of tanks, Recce and infantry pushing German defenders out of a village and driving off table. A bloody affair which ended up with most German units eliminated, except the crucial platoon that held the village itself.
Click on the pic below to see Desmondo Darkin’s full report plus pictures:
Tim Whitworth and friends have found the Les Attaques scenario from the Defence of Calais scenario pack strangely addictive.
See all the new pics (at the end of the original report) from games two and three:
Published today, and available to buy from the TooFatLardies shop, Blitzkrieg in the Far East 1: Japan is the sixth in the series of early war handbooks for I Ain’t Been Shot, Mum. The handbook is 116 pages long and covers the Japanese army during the first phase of the War in the Pacific, December 1941 to June 1942, when its battle-hardened armies inflicted defeat after defeat on the Allies.
Unlike the other titles so far in the series, the nature of Japan’s campaign of expansion means that the booklet is not divided into sections defined by the different types of division that fought, but into sections defined by the different geographical mini-campaigns: Malaya and Singapore, Burma, the Philippines, The Dutch East Indies and the South Seas. In effect, it is several theatre booklets rolled into one.
There are a total of forty-eight different lists split as follows:
Malaya & Singapore: 7 lists from 25th Army
Thailand & Burma: 5 lists from 15th Army
The Philippines: 16 lists from 14th Army
Hong Kong: 1 list from 38th Division
Borneo: 2 lists from 35th Brigade
The Dutch East Indies: 15 lists from 16th Army
The South Seas: 2 lists from the South Seas Detachment
Finally, we have the usual ratings and armoury sections, and a note on air support.
Although designed for IABSM, Blitzkrieg in the Far East: Japan contains a vast amount of information useful to gamers of other systems, and is really a must-buy for anyone interested in the early war period.
Another amazing-looking IABSM 6mm gamed played at Gigabites Café in September 2019 by Mark Luther and friends.
It’s Germany, February 1945, and the Germans prepare to counter-attack the advancing Soviets. Click on the picture below to see all.
By the end of the first week of September 1939, the German 4th Panzer Division had advanced as far as Warsaw. Thinking the Poles would be knocked off balance by the speed of their advance, German commanders issued orders for the city to be stormed via the Ochota district on the western flak of Warsaw.
The Poles, however, had heavily reinforced the area, with units from the 40th “Children of Lwow” Regiment barricading streets and manning gun emplacements along all the approaches.
The Poles let the Germans drive into the city, and then opened fire with everything they had. Worse, many streets had been covered in turpentine, which was then lit on fire, destroying several German tanks and catching German infantry in the inferno that followed.
This then was the background for scenario #48 (Taking Ochota by Surprise) of the second September war scenario pack. The game would begin as the Poles (played by Dave) open their attack on the advancing Germans (played by John). The Germans’ objective was just to get as many of their units as possible back off the table; the Poles’ objective was to destroy as many German units as possible.
Click on the picture below to see what happened:
I picked up an excellent book on the September War the other day: Roger Moorhouse’s “First to Fight”.
It’s a very readable summary of the campaign that concentrates more on the day-to-day events of the campaign than on the politics that inspired them i.e. very much a wargamer’s book!
I’ve just started reading it, and what’s especially pleasing is that the first few actions described coincide almost exactly with the first few scenarios in the first September War scenario pack for IABSM. We’re talking Chojnice, Mokra, Wegierska Gorka and many more. I haven’t found any contradictions between the two publications yet either.
Here’s the official blurb:
'This deeply researched, very well-written and penetrating book will be the standard work on the subject for many years to come' - Andrew Roberts, author of Churchill: Walking with Destiny
The Second World War began on 1 September 1939, when German tanks, trucks and infantry crossed the Polish border, and the Luftwaffe began bombing Poland’s cities. The Polish army fought bravely but could not withstand an attacker superior in numbers and technology; and when the Red Army invaded from the east – as agreed in the pact Hitler had concluded with Stalin – the country’s fate was sealed. Poland was the first to fight the German aggressor; it would be the first to suffer the full murderous force of Nazi persecution. By the end of the Second World War, one in five of its people had perished.
The Polish campaign is the forgotten story of the Second World War. Despite prefacing many of that conflict's later horrors – the wanton targeting of civilians, indiscriminate bombing and ethnic cleansing – it is little understood, and most of what we think we know about it is Nazi propaganda, such as the myth of Polish cavalry charging German tanks with their lances. In truth, Polish forces put up a spirited defence, in the expectation that they would be assisted by their British and French allies. That assistance never came.
First to Fight is the first history of the Polish war for almost half a century. Drawing on letters, memoirs and diaries by generals and politicians, soldiers and civilians from all sides, Roger Moorhouse’s dramatic account of the military events is entwined with a tragic human story of courage and suffering, and a dark tale of diplomatic betrayal.
Highly recommended:
Bob Cockayne and friends have been playing out an epic Normandy game over the last month or so.
They only have a limited time each session, so tend to play a single game over a number of get-togethers, with Bob reporting on each one on a week-by-week “serial” basis.
You can see Bob’s original posts on the Beasts of War forum but, firmly believing in the binge-the-box-set mentality (I’ve just finished a Peaky Blinders marathon!), I’ve gathered them all together into one massive AAR that you can read here on Vis Lardica by clicking on the picture, below.
Clotted Lard is the Devon Wargames Group’s annual Lard Day. A full report of the 2019 event can be found on the DWG blog, but here’s an extract describing the game of IABSM that took place as part of the festivities.
Click on the picture below to see all:
Mark Luther gives his very special treatment to the twelfth scenario from the Cymru Am Byth Welsh Guard scenario pack.
This is an attack for control of the little cluster of farm buildings on top of hill 242 overlooking Chenedolle at Le Haut Perrier on August 11, 1944.
Click on the picture, below, to see all:
Michael Curtis and friends had a quick “learning game” of I Ain’t Been Shot, Mum recently, all in preparation for their demo game at Salute next year.
Some lovely models and terrain already on show. Click on the pic below to see all:
A great AAR from Tim Whitworth and the Like a Stone Wall group! This encounter is taken from the Cymru am Byth (Welsh Guards) scenario pack, and features a game based on their heroic but ultimately doomed defence of Boulogne.
See how the Guards stand up to the German Panzers by clicking on the picture, below:
Desmondo Darkin and friends recently played an eastern front clash in 20mm using their dice-driven variant of IABSM.
Click on the pic below to see what happened, and to admire the superb winter terrain…
And as a reminder:
To mark the 80th year after the accepted start of WW2 with the invasion of Poland on 1st September 1939, the TooFatLardies and I are pleased to offer a great discount on the two September War scenario packs for I Ain’t Been Shot, Mum! with a whopping 25% off when you buy them as a bundle.
Written by Robert Avery and Alexander Kawczynski, each September War scenario pack for I Ain’t Been Shot, Mum! provides thirty scenarios for the theatre, making sixty available in all.
Divided into eight mini-campaigns, the first pack (The September War Part One) 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.
Divided into six mini-campaigns, the second pack (The September War Part Two) begins with four based on specific German units: Panzerdivision Kempf, the 1st GebirgsjaegerDivision, the 4th Panzer Division, and the 1st Kavallerie Brigade. Then there are two mini-campaigns based on the Soviet invasion of Poland: the Belorussian Front and the Ukrainian Front. Finally there are details of two stand-alone battles: Westerplatte and the Hel Peninsula. As always, there are attacks, counter-attacks, encounter battles, and desperate defences, all containing a whole host of useful scenario mechanics that can be re-used elsewhere.
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!
To mark the 80th year after the accepted start of WW2 with the invasion of Poland on 1st September 1939, the TooFatLardies and I are pleased to offer a great discount on the two September War scenario packs for I Ain’t Been Shot, Mum! with a whopping 25% off when you buy them as a bundle.
Written by Robert Avery and Alexander Kawczynski, each September War scenario pack for I Ain’t Been Shot, Mum! provides thirty scenarios for the theatre, making sixty available in all.
Divided into eight mini-campaigns, the first pack (The September War Part One) 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.
Divided into six mini-campaigns, the second pack (The September War Part Two) begins with four based on specific German units: Panzerdivision Kempf, the 1st GebirgsjaegerDivision, the 4th Panzer Division, and the 1st Kavallerie Brigade. Then there are two mini-campaigns based on the Soviet invasion of Poland: the Belorussian Front and the Ukrainian Front. Finally there are details of two stand-alone battles: Westerplatte and the Hel Peninsula. As always, there are attacks, counter-attacks, encounter battles, and desperate defences, all containing a whole host of useful scenario mechanics that can be re-used elsewhere.
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!
Dave Lister had a lot of fun running a scenario based on the Battle for Honkaniemi (Feb. 26, 1940) at Broadsword 9 last weekend,. Honkaniemi is known as the only, and therefore largest, tank battle of the Winter War!
As you may know, while the Soviets had thousands of tanks at their command, the Finns had very few indeed. They threw them into a desperate attack late in the war that they hoped would throw back the Soviet forces that were closing on Viipuri (only 15km away at this point in the conflict) and spearhead a larger Finnish offensive operation.
Well, it turned out to be a terrible day for the Finns, from losing more than half of their thirteen operational tanks to mechanical trouble, to friendly artillery falling on the heads of the supporting infantry, to a complete lack of reconnaissance that could have revealed the Soviets were planning their own attack operation at the very same place and the very same time!
While a conventional victory was probably out of the question, Dave and friends decided to judge the results of this scenario against what the plucky and hopeless Finnish tankers achieved historically. And for all that, the Finns did very well during the game! Have a look and see what you think by clicking on the picture below:
Those nice people at 1st Corps recently played their first game of I Ain’t Been Shot, Mum: and it looks like a colossal set up as well.
Click on the picture below to see a pictorial report:
Carojon and his colleagues at the Devon Wargames Group recently resurrected the Over the Hill scenario for I Ain’t Been Shot, Mum! playing the game with, coincidentally, four players named Steve!
Click on the picture below to see how the battle of the Steves worked out…
Here is a quick I Ain’t Been Shot, Mum! AAR taken from Scenario #05 from the IABSM scenario book Where the Hell have you been, Boys? played by members of the Vermont Historical Gamers Group.
Click on the pic below to see all:
Vis Lardica is a website devoted to wargaming and military history, with a special emphasis on the company-sized rulesets produced by the TooFatLardies: I Ain't Been Shot Mum (WW2); Charlie Don't Surf (Vietnam); and Quadrant 13 (science fiction)
Welcome to Vis Lardica, a not-for-profit website mostly dedicated to the company-sized wargaming rules produced by the TooFatLardies, but encompassing my other gaming interests as well.
If you need to contact me, you can do so at:
vislardica@gmail.com
If you have enjoyed visiting this site, please add a link to it on your own wargaming blog: www.vislardica.com.
