IABSM AAR: The Defence of Wulkow

Another brilliant 6mm I Ain’t Been Shot, Mum battle report from Mark Luther, this time featuring action in 1945.

On the 16th of April 1945 the Soviet army unleashed its last offensive against the German Reich. The bridgeheads over the Oder River split asunder and spewed forth red infantry and armor which forged forward to take Berlin. Although by this late stage in the war the German army was on its knees, it had a strong defensive position on the Seelow heights and gave a good account of itself, selling each meter of the Reich dearly.

Click on the picture below to see all:

IABSM AAR: Slaughter at Izdeshkovo!

Back to sanity after all this pike and shot malarkey with a quick game of I Ain’t Been Shot, Mum.

I’d decided to play through the Vyazma or Bust! early war eastern front campaign with K., Daughter #1’s boyfriend: trapped with us for the duration, but now an avid wargamer. I was looking forward to this game, especially as K. had been happy to let me have the Soviets.

Unfortunately, it was to be one of those games where the dice gods had utterly deserted me: even K., nascent gamer that he is, commented on the fact that I couldn’t roll a five or six to save my life: he even mentioned it later when I rolled double six whilst playing Monopoly (I won that one at least, bankrupting K. in the process!).

Click on the picture below to see my humiliation!

IABSM AAR: Eastern Front Game

It seems like I’m not the only one to recruit a new wargamer to keep the tabletop warm during these lockdown times…

Here’s a quick battle report from Norseygamer, taken from his excellent blog, recounting the story of a quick eastern front game of I Ain’t Been Shot, Mum.

Click on the pic below to see all:

IABSM AAR: Lille Revisited

Still on lockdown, but it’s bank holiday Monday so it must be time for another game of I Ain’t Been Shot Mum against K, Daughter #1’s boyfriend, trapped with us for the duration, but rapidly becoming a regular wargamer with, now, eight games under his belt.

The premise for today’s game is simple: it’s France 1940, and Rommel’s Germans are advancing rapidly on Lille, aiming for the village of Lomme, whose capture will seal off the escape route of all English and French forces in the area. The Allies have realised what the Germans are up to, and have dispatched a small force to hold Lomme for as long as possible. The scene is set for an epic clash!

Click on the picture below to see what happened:

IABSM AAR: Minsk-Mazowiecki

Another lockdown game of I Ain’t Been Shot, Mum against Daughter #1’s boyfriend, K, trapped with us for the duration.

This time we would be returning to Poland in 1939, using scenario #37 from the second September War scenario pack: Minsk-Mazowiecki. The action takes place on 13th September as Polish cavalry under General Wladyslaw Anders attempt to break through elements of the German 3rd Army as they march on Modlin.

Click on the picture below to see all:

IABSM AAR: Lockdown Game

Here’s a quick series of pictures from Rick Staple taken from the IABSM Facebook page.

It’s lockdown: so a quick joint/solo game of IABSM:

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IABSM AAR: Counter-Attack

Here’s a great little after action report from James Mantos’ excellent blog Rabbits in my Basement.

Here he’s playing the Counter-Attack scenario from the random game generator at the back of the I Ain’t Been Shot, Mum rulebook.

Click on the picture below to see what happened:

IABSM AAR: 3RTR at Hames Boucres

Time for another lockdown game of I Ain’t Been Shot, Mum against K, Daughter #1’s boyfriend, trapped with us for the duration.

I used scenario #3 from the Defence of Calais scenario pack: 3RTR at Hames-Boucres. I would take the Brits, K would play the Germans.

The game begins as a squadron of British tanks (a Squadron HQ of an A9 and an A10; two troops of three A13s each; a troop of three MkVIb light tanks; and a couple of recon Dingos) headed in column along a sunken road towards the village of Hames-Boucres (a few miles from Calais) with orders to deal with a few "rogue enemy tanks" that had apparently been spotted roaming around the countryside…

Click on the picture below to see what they encountered:

IABSM AAR: The September War #01: Chojnice

It was time for the first lockdown game of I Ain’t Been Shot, Mum!

The daughter’s boyfriend K (trapped here for the duration) had tried and enjoyed To The Strongest, it was now time to introduce him to WW2 gaming, and what better place to start than with a game of IABSM set in Poland on 1st September 1939.

The scenario is taken from the first September War scenario pack, and involves the fighting around Chojnice, an important Polish communications hub where, during the first day of the invasion, the Poles fought a delaying action, only withdrawing in late afternoon.

The game itself centered around a railway bridge that the Poles must hold, rig with explosives, and then blow up before the Germans can take the bridge and defuse the charges.

Click on the picture below to see all…

IABSM AAR: Campaign for Greece #13: Glider Assault

Another amazing-looking 6mm game of I Ain’t Been Shot, Mum from Mark Luther: his second, played-remotely, lockdown special.

This time he has used scenario #13 from the Campaign for Greece scenario pack, entitled Glider Assault.

Click on the picture below to see all:

IABSM AAR: War of the Rats

Over a few days earlier this month, fellow-Lardy Alex Sotheran played a solo game of IABSM set in Stalingrad, where the 6th Army are attempting to batter their way to the Volga but the Soviet defence line is proving tenacious.

Alex has posted both a YouTube video of the game and some absolutely cracking pictures.

To watch on YouTube, click the video link below. It’s 2.5 hours long, but well worth a watch.

To see the pictorial report, click on the picture below:

IABSM AAR: Fallschirmjaegers on the Neva

Mark Luther set himself a real challenge when he decided to run a COVID-19 lockdown game of I Ain’t Been Shot, Mum remotely.

This game was played over two days using photographs of the table and texts: a great effort from all concerned. It’s a cracking battle report as well, so click on the picture below to see all…

Ed.’s Note: I expect you all to read this as it took me absolutely ages to load and caption all the pictures in the right order. Amazing set up, but the terrain does make everything blur into one when viewed in thumbnail size!

IABSM AAR: Operation Express

All this spare time at home has given Mark Luther a chance to write up an AAR that has previously just been a collection of pictures.

So here’s the Operation Express battle report again, but this time with the pictures correctly labelled and ordered.

Click on the picture below to see all. This is a magnificent report of a great looking game, so recommended!

IABSM AAR: Blenneville or Bust! #5L: Diot

Fantastic battle report from Tim Whitworth on a game of I Ain’t Been Shot, Mum played just before we all went into lockdown.

Tim and his friends have been playing through a Blenneville or Bust! campaign taken from the scenario pack of the same name. This was the final game in the series, and a chance for the Germans to achieve maximum victory points.

Find out what happened by clicking on the link below. Highly recommended: this is a serious after action report!

IABSM AAR: Hold the Bridge

Some nice pictures from a game of I Ain’t Been Shot, Mum run by Julian Whippy and friends, and taken from the IABSM Facebook page.

British Paras hold a bridge waiting for their relieving armour to arrive. Click on the pic below to see all:

IABSM AAR: IABSM II

George Anderson reports on his second game of I Ain’t Been Shot, Mum, taken from his excellent blog Musing on Wargames and Life.

George still isn’t sold on the game, but let’s hope he gives it a few more tries. Click on the picture below to see what he thinks.

IABSM AAR: Blenneville or Bust! #4F: Belle Maison

Lovely After Action Report from the pen of Tim Whitworth, taken from the IABSM Facebook page and his own blog Eagles & Lions Wargaming.

As the Germans had halted the American attack at Pierrecourt they were back on the counter offensive again, this time with a combined force of 30th Panther and 30th Panzer Grenadier regiments.

Click on the picture below to see all…

IABSM AAR: September War #60: Szack

Time to break out the I Ain’t Been Shot, Mum again with a scenario taken from the second September War scenario book: #60 Szack.

Szack was a small village in what was south-eastern Poland (it’s now just inside Ukraine) that was the site of a backwards-and-forwards series of actions between the Poles and the Soviets in very late September 1939. The scenario covers the first Soviet attack:

Soviet troops consisting of the 112th Infantry Regiment, some 13,000 soldiers supported by fifteen T-26 tanks and fifteen guns, arrived at the village of Szack on September 28th.

The Polish force near the village numbered 4,000 men of the Border Protection Corp, including General Wilhelm Orlik-Rückermann, and sixteen anti-tank guns.

Having taken the village, the Soviets then charged the Polish positions with infantry supported by the T-26 tanks. The Poles waited until the Soviets were right on top of them before opening fire with their anti-tank guns, destroying eight tanks.

Click on the picture below to see the action:

IABSM AAR: Walking in a Winter Wonderland

The TFL Specials are a great source of scenarios and gaming ideas. Here’s a battle report from Dan Albrecht and the Vermont Historical Gamers Group playing the Walking in a Winter Wonderland scenario from the TFL 2005 Summer Special.

Click on the picture below to see all:

IABSM AAR: The Arras Counter-Attack

One of the great things about the world of Lard is the growing profusion of Lardy Days, where Lard-minded gamers can get together and indulge in their favourite pastime.

One of the early events on the 2020 Lard calendar was the Big Winter Wonder-Lard day held by Bristol Independent Gamers at the end of February. About twelve games, all fully participation, were run in each of the morning and afternoon sessions, covering just about the whole spectrum of Lard: What A Tanker; Chain of Command; Bag the Hun; Sharp Practice and, of course, I Ain’t Been Shot, Mum.

That game was run by Phil and Jenny, and featured action from the Arras Counter-Attack in May 1940. Click on the picture below to see an excellent pictorial report of the day’s events (lifted from the IABSM Facebook Group):