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Taking advantage of the long weekend, my long-time opponent, Neil, and I decided to play-test another scenario from my forthcoming late war, eastern front scenario book for I Ain't Been Shot, Mum!: Bashnya or Bust!

The Germans had lost the first encounter, scenario 01, so the next in the campaign would be a Soviet follow-up in scenario 2A. Obviously if the Germans had won scenario one, then we would be playing scenario 2B...but they hadn't, so we weren't!

Again, I don't want to give away too much: suffice to say that the Russians were attacking one of the larger market towns in the Chera Valley, Osen, with a view to capturing a bridge before the Germans could lay charges, retreat across it, and then blow it to bits. It's a timed scenario, with the Turn card governing how long it takes the German engineers to lay their charges.

I played the Germans and, for most of the game, thought that an easy victory was mine. Neil, playing the Soviets, had other ideas, and despite the fact that I knocked out almost every tank he had (certainly all seven of his T34/85s) for the loss of just one panzerjaeger, and the fact that I killed half his infantry, still won the game in what I can only describe as in the ultimate Soviet fashion. Read on to find out how...

Playing across the table meant that although I had a very descent defensive force (two platoons of infantry with a couple of MMGs; two panzerjaegers; two assault guns and two PaK 40 anti-tanks guns), there was actually an awful lot of ground to cover if I didn't want to cede the initiative entirely to the Soviets.

On the far right of the town, the two StuGs were hiding in and behind a wooden hut that had been hit by soviet artillery. This was a good move on my part, as the first Russian probing attack of a platoon of T-34/85s carrying a platoon of SMG-armed tank-riders. The StuGs were able to take out two of the T-34/85s and send two of the infantry squads hurtling towards the relative safety of the church without loss.

Bad cards, dice and an annoying final squad of tank riders would keep the StuGs pinned in that area of the table for the rest of the game, but they had done their job. The other two squads of tank riders would end up being machine-gunned into non-existence as they moved towards the crossroads in the centre of the town, and the final T-34/85 would be taken out by one of the panzerjaegers as it probed forward down the main road.

All of the above and some decided shilly-shallying around by the Soviets as they adjusted their axis of advance meant that the German engineers had enough time to lay half the charges they needed to. At this stage, with half the job done, and no active Russians on the table, I was starting to think about breaking out the champagne...

The champagne, however, would not be required, as now the real Soviet steamroller hit the table at top speed. Blind after Blind appeared on the left hand side of the table, slamming down through the open ground to the west of the village, curling around towards the vital bridge.

Well I had plenty of stuff over there, so I spotted and fired, and fired and spotted, called in artillery (which never arrived, by the way), and generally rendered the barrel of every gun I had hotter than Sergeant Wolfgang's girlfriend...all to no avail!

Another four T-34/85s bit the dust, including the one carrying the Russian CinC. Lots of tank-riders were killed, but such was the speed and ferocity of the Soviet advance that Neil managed to get two squads of infantry into base-to-base contact with the vital bridge. They immediately began de-wiring all the explosives they could get their hands on.

Foolishly I had assumed that a platoon of infantry and an anti-tank gun was enough to cover that flank, and that even if it wasn't, I would have time to move forces from the centre of the town out to the left when I needed them...I hadn't!

Before I knew it, a platoon of normal T-34s had also arrived. They disgorged their tank-riders and took up positions behind the abandoned or blown-up vehicles of their comrades.

Just how many Russians are there?

Looking at the forces left on the table, we now had just about equal amounts of infantry and tanks, although mine were better quality, and I had a couple of MMGs and anti-tanks guns and artillery versus his air support. I probably could have, eventually, cleared all the Russians from the table, but by then all the charges on the bridge would have been destroyed. There was nothing for it but to retreat off-table, desperately consulting the map for another place to cross the river.

It was, however, a great game. Both Neil and I couldn't believe that I had lost, and it was full marks to him for employing the Soviet steamroller so effectively...even if he had lost huge amounts of men and material in beating me.

As for the playtest, only a minor tweak to the victory conditions needed. Otherwise that's another scenario ticked off as ready to go. For those interested, BTW, I am currently writing scenario 5I, so only eight more to go. Publication, if all goes well, some time towards the end of May. Oh, and we're including a CoC-translator in there too, so you'll be able to play the scenarios with either a company or a platoon aside.

Robert Avery

 
 
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After the armoured fight on the outskirts of Osen, the Russian victory has now pushed the Germans back into the town itself. The aim of the Russians is to take the one remainder bridge in the town and of course the Germans have to stop them. The Russians have more men and tanks as would be expected, but not as many as they would like and they certainly can’t take too many casualties as is the norm.

The town is on a valley below the hills from where the Russians will appear. The river and bridge are at the far end of the town and the Germans are well dug in and waiting. An interesting aspect of the game is that every random card the Germans throw a d6 and once to total is 25 the bridge is ready and can be blown. This put a time on operations but very random as we shall see. Good one and I hope to see it in more IABSM games.

The Germans are all hidden in the building and so the Russian advance is slow and with a lot of spotting. Suddenly from the centre of town two German sections destroy the Russian section scouting too close. That is what I was talking about with casualties. Bad luck on the Russians there.

After that excitement the action slowed somewhat as the Russians advanced in a line slowly across the front.

By turn 5 the bridge demolition was only at 2. The Russians could afford to take their time it would seem.

Near to the stream the advance was going well to plan. Those Russians SMG sections are excellent in this close terrain and before you could shout “Heil Hitler” the Russian had taken their first building from the bemused Germans.

At the same time the heavy guns of the T34s made the German retreat into the town to keep off. Both the town and the big building above it are full of Germans but they are looking ominously at the tanks advancing almost unopposed. In both cases it’s time to send the infantry in. All the Russians are SMG armed so get +3 dice in all combats.

Suddenly at turn 7 the dice turned as it bridge demolition went to 9 and then to 15 two turns later. The Russians were under some real pressure now as the game could be over in two turns!

Time for the tanks to get moving. Both large sections of T34/85 move into the square, and hit a wall of fire. Each of the Germans have 2 panzerfausts and 3 tanks are stopped immediately and a huge cheer goes up from the Germans as they see safety on the horizon; at least for now.

Looking at the whole map now. The far Russian smaller T34s are loitering but have finally cleared the large building of Germans. In the centre of the town the beleaguered Germans are just about holding out and have destroyed one of the T34s as well.

It is getting desperate for the Russians as on turn 10 the bridge was at level 20 it could be over any time now. In light of this the Russian charge the Germans in the centre but are defeated and the heroic Germans have gained desperate time for the engineers to finish their work. I can’t say enough of this as I have never seen this tension in IABSM before as both sides really do have to try anything to gain time. Brilliant.

The end is nigh. The town centre is cleared now and the T34/76s have woken from their slumber and are outflanking the Germans with just one Stug to stop them; the first Stug was destroyed a long time ago in the first actions near the river.

Turn 11 the dice throws 4 so it 24 now. The next turn of the Random card will be it, but of course this could be a while as it was at the beginning of the game. If only the Russians could regain that time!

It all ended very quickly as the Random card came up very quickly in the next draw. The position can be seen below and I decided that the German could count this as a victory as most of the remaining troops could get across the river and troops already across could cover them.

An excellent game and made even better with a time constraint put in. At first it seemed the game would go on forever and either the dice were low or the Random card didn’t appear, then in the 3 turns it advanced from 9 to 24 and finally over to the finish.

This game had it all. Mad charges, great defence, Panzerfausts, Artillery breaking a large Russian attack just in time, friendly fire from planes, bridge blowing and lastly a great game.

After this German victory we move onto 3B Near Ploschad which on a glance looks another good one. This will have to wait a couple of weeks as am getting to Berlin before these Russians at least.

Craig Ambler

 
 
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Finally! After several weeks of preparation, I get to wargame the first scenario of Blenneville or Bust that offers a detailed matrix campaign for IABSM players. This scenario book weighs in at a massive 300 pages, but it should have its own blog post, so I’m not going to dwell on it here.

Let’s look at the scenario.

The Scenario

The first scenario of Blenneville or Bust is set in the summer of 1944, shortly after the D-Day landings as the US and British forces attempt to break out and push forwards, while the Germans hang on stubbornly. The scenarios within the campaign pack are all fictional – as are the locations. However, they are so well written, they feel pretty real to me! Most importantly, they offer a huge variety of tactical situations, and that is what I am really after – a tactical challenge in my wargaming. After all, I want to be a better wargamer, and what better way to do that then constantly challenge myself?

The Allies are moving up the Ribeaux Valley, while the Germans want to stop them. Both sides throw out their reconnaissance forces to locate the enemy and scout out the best routes forward. The Allies want to hook round Pierrecourt to the west, but need to cross the Moire River. There’s a major bridge at Belle Maison, but Belle Maison is apparently full of Germans, so it would be good to find somewhere else to cross. Aerial assets have spotted a small bridge west of Pierrecourt, and the reconnaissance elements of the US 107th Infantry Division (nicknamed the Coyotes) have been sent forward to check it out.

The Germans, meanwhile, are keenly aware that the troops in Pierrecourt are relying on the Moire to protect their wider left flank. As the Allied advance begins, the German commanders send out 30th Panzer Division’s reconnaissance units to cover as many river crossings as they can.

This scenario covers the first clash between the opposing scouts.

The Map & Objectives

The scenario map shows the stretch of the Moire River about half way between Pierrecourt and Belle Maison. The river can only be crossed at the bridge at the southern end of the map.

The road that runs alongside the bank of the river is more of a track. Vehicles can use it, but gain no benefit to movement. The other north-south road is a reasonable quality, tarmacked surface, so does give the usual road movement bonus.

The fields shown (the green patches) are bordered by bocage. This bocage is impenetrable to any wheeled vehicle, and is only penetrable by tracked vehicles weighing the same or more than a medium tank. Infantry take three dice of movement to cross bocage.

There are, however, numerous gates between the fields, all marked on the map. These ‘gates’ are either wooden or iron gates, or just gaps in the bocage. There is no penalty to either vehicles or infantry moving between fields through these gates/gaps. The fields themselves count as broken terrain.

The hill to the west is grass covered and dotted with small copses. There is no additional penalty for moving up and down the hill, although wheeled vehicles will not move if they roll more 1’s than 6’s on any dice rolled for movement i.e. they have become temporarily bogged down and lose any Actions that they wanted to use for movement. The copses themselves are impenetrable to vehicles and count as heavy ground for infantry.

The farm to the north of the map consists of two main buildings: a two-storey farmhouse made of stone, and a long, low wooden barn. The building by the bridge is the house where the man who used to collect the tolls used to live. It’s now a bit of a ruin.

The American objective is to find out the strength of the bridge at the southern end of the table i.e. whether it can take armour, just lighter vehicles, or is only safe for infantry. They therefore win the game if they manage to get at least one Big Man, M8 armoured car or squad of infantry (whether in jeeps or not) onto the bridge.

The German objective is to keep the capacity of the bridge secret from the enemy. So they win if they prevent the Americans from succeeding.

The Forces

The Americans have a strong reconnaissance force composed of two recon platoons, each comprising three M8 Greyhounds and three jeeps-worth of recon troops with 60mm mortars and a bazooka, and the Intelligence and Reconnaissance platoon from 425th Regiment's HQ: another four jeeps carrying three squads of infantry. These are supported by a pair of M8 half-track mounted howitzers, and there's the promise of some Stuart light tanks as reinforcements if things go wrong.

The defending Germans were the Aufklarungskompanie from 30th Panzer Division. Two ugs of infantry supported by two half-tracks with anti-tank guns and four light armoured cars.

The Americans could also expect help from air support, the Germans had intermittent access to off-table artillery.

Deployment

The Germans Deploy On Blinds

Right, that’s more than enough laying out the scenario. Let’s get on with playing it!

I am going to play this scenario solo. Firstly, because I want to test how I have set it up in BGE, and secondly because I want to test the balance of the scenario. Once I kn9ow all is good on both those counts, I’ll find a human opponent.

This is also the fist game I am going to play with support and armour troops. So I’ll be referencing the rules a fair bit too.

First we need to deploy the Germans.

The Germans can deploy anywhere on the map and get three dummy blinds. I deploy the dummy blinds (numbered 6, 7 and 8) at the northern end to scout out advancing US blinds. I then position Zug 1 (Blind 1) in one of the copses on the hill in the west. Zug 2 (Blind 2) is positioned in the field in the east to stop any troops coming down the eastern track. Kompanie HQ (Blind 5) is positioned in the ruin to use its panzerschecks and MMG to stop any jeeps running for the bridge. Finally, the AT and Armoured Car Zugs (Blinds 3 and 4) are positioned south by the river on the track so they can act as an armoured reserve and rush wherever they are needed.

I am hoping to use my off table mortars to break up any US attacks. What I need to do is inflict enough casualties that they will not manage to reach the bridge. If my infantry zugs take losses, I’ll pull back to the bridge. I also want those dummy blinds to spot and retreat, hopefully remaining hidden, while spotting the enemy. As the US troops are all in vehicles, it should be easier to spot them.

Turn 1

Turn 1 – The Allies approach

The first cards out are Axis Deployment Bonus (which is of no use as with no Allied Blinds on the board there is no reason to move), Allied Deployment Bonus (again no use as no Allied Blinds are on the table to get a bonus), Axis Blinds (again no use), and finally Allied Blinds.

The Allies are allowed to bring three cards on to the table. The blinds move on to the table slowly, attempting to spot German blinds, but failing.


Turn Two

The Allied Blinds card is first out the deck. So the Allies move and spot as much as they can.

Knowing where the enemy is is essential to winning the game, so spotting enemy units before they spot you is vital. The US blind rolls a 10, and spots German blind 7 in the house. The German blind is a dummy and is removed.

US Blind 3 also moves and spots, but fails. US Blind 2 moves, but can’t get in to a position to spot.The German Blinds card is next. German Blind 8 uses one action to spot US Blind 1, and does so easily. I randomly determine if the blind is a dummy or a unit, and it is US Recon Platoon 2. I deploy the vehicles, with the troops in the Jeeps. German Blind 8 then spots US Blind 3, which also turns out to be a Recon Platoon. Now that’s Recon in Force!

Meanwhile, on the East side of the map, German Blind 6 spots US Blind 2, and that is revealed as being the Intelligence and Reconnaissance Platoon. 7 jeeps are deployed in column. They take up a bit more room than the blind would normally allow, but it’s not easy fitting all those vehicles on the space of one blind.

As the German Aufklärungskompanie is on the radio net, The Kompanie HQ knows what is coming and immediately radios his mortar halftracks that are off table. I add the Axis Support One Card to the deck, ready to start the process of getting some mortar shells to land amongst those jeeps. That would put a cat amongst the pigeons!

Next out is the Allied Rapid Deployment card, but the US player no longer has blinds. The German Rapid Deployment Card sees German Blind 4 accelerate. I’d like to get them in the field to ambush the approaching US Recon platoons.

The Allied Support Card is out next, which means a possible air attack, but the skies remain clear. Then the Tea Break ends the turn.

The US troops are spotted advancing in force

Turn 3

The manoeuvring starts

The US Intelligence and Reconnaissance Platoon activates first and splits up. I can see the wisdom in advancing half down the road and half through the field. We don’t have a time limit, so taking it easy is a wise decisions, and that will allow the troops to catch Germans in the flank. Obviously, as the fields are broken ground, it will be harder to move, but the Americans are not in a hurry to die. The first platoon attempt to spot German Blind 6 but fails.

The German Blinds card emerges next. I retreat my dummy blinds, so I can lure the US troops in to my guns. German Blinds 3 and 4 move up to ambush the approaching American armour.

The Tea Break card ends the turn.

Turn 4

The US Recon elements continue to advance – albeit cautiously

US Recon Platoon 2 acts first and begins cautiously moving with just one dice. Half of the platoon will head up the hill and attempt to spot from higher ground.

Captain Martin Minnesota, commander of Recon Platoon 1 acts next. He activates his platoon with a “Hunt” order, allowing them to move with 1 dice and gain an extra +1 to spotting attempts. Captain Will Winnipeg of the Intelligence and Reconnaissance Platoon activates next. He activates his platoon and they continue their flanking manoeuvre. The lead platoon spreads out as they are too bunched up.

Captain Steve Seattle comes out next, but does nothing.

The Tea Break Card then ends the turn.

Not having the Germans move is going to be tricky. The US are advancing slowly – they know something is out there and until they figure out what, they are not going to commit.

Turn 5

The US Recon Platoon 2 activates first. The troops begin to advance, but are still unable to spot any Germans, despite being very close to the blinds.

The Allied air support card is drawn next, but again the skies remain clear.

US Recon Platoon 1 activates next, but I decide not to move them to avoid bunching up. Captain Winnipeg of the Intelligence and Reconnaissance (I&R) Platoon activates next and he continues with his flanking mission.

The German support card emerges, but as it is the first one the Germans don’t get a chance to roll for availability. We are still trying to get through.

The Allied Blinds card allows the US to bring on another 3 blinds – which they most certainly do.

The Allied Recce Bonus allows a Recon Platoon to move or spot with a bonus action. I choose Recon Platoon 2 but they STILL fail to spot German Blind 8.

The Axis Deployment Bonus lets me give a blind a bonus move. German Blind 3 gets in to position read to fire through the bocage at the approaching US Recon elements. The German Blinds card comes next and the German Blinds use it to get in to good firing positions. Turn 6 is going to be a bloody one.

Turn 6

The US learns about friendly fire

Well the first card out is the Axis support card. That means I need to roll a 5 upwards to get in touch with my mortar platoon and have them start firing. Well I roll a 5. I target Jeep 2 of Recon Platoon 1, but the fire scatters off table. I mark the target point on the map with a big red map pin.

First Recon Platoon are next, but they are jammed in. They could move maximum rate, which would get them clear of the mortars, or else, hang tight and wait for the traffic to clear. I think I’ll roll for it. First, let’s see what type of a commander Captain Minnesota is. A dice roll tells me he is aggressive (Note: I am using a chart I devised to determine tactical stance of leader), but a second dice roll tells me he is going to be cautious. So they hang tight.

Captain Seattle is next and orders his men to keep up the flanking move. But both of his Greyhounds can’t get traction on the hill and stay locked in place. That creates a jam with the jeep on the hill. The rest of the platoon shoot down the road as I suddenly remember the road bonus for wheeled vehicles. However, they still fail to spot any German blinds.

The I&R Platoon activate next and edge forwards, the road section slowing to keep pace with those in the field. Still no German Blinds spotted.

The Allied Blinds are next, but they don’t move. Those blinds are likely to contain the Company HQ and we don’t want that roaring ahead.

The Axis Bonus Deployment allows German Blind 8 to re-deploy, while the Allied Air Support makes an appearance. I will use the Air Attack rules in the Battle for Liberation supplement. The US sweep in to attack Blind 8 which is holding up the US attack, but a roll of 1 means the aircraft instead attack a friendly unit of the German player’s choice! Disaster for the US troops. Being as the aircraft are MG armed, I target the jeep 3 of the I&R Platoon, and hit it. The MGs rattle and the jeep is immobilized, with all occupants killed. That means Section 1 of the I&R Platoon just lost their LMG.

Not good for the US. Especially as that jeep now blocks the gate to the field and will force the platoon to dismount.

The Allied Recce Bonus allows Recon Platoon 2 to successfully spot German Blind 8 and reveal it as a dummy. That means they know where most of the units are now and will act accordingly.

The Tea Break then ends the turn. I really wanted the German Blinds Card!

Turn 7

These US recon troops are everywhere!

First out is the Air Support turn, and the US pilots come back around for some more. It swoops in and inflicts two shock on German Blind 6 (which I randomly determine). Allied Platoon 2 is next. The vehicles on the road are not going to move any further and leave German blinds behind them, so they spot and reveal German Blind 6 as the dummy blind. That means they know all remaining blinds are troops. The vehicles on the hill advance rapidly, while Greyhound 2 remains stuck.

Recon Platoon 1 also moves up. The US war machine is on the move. And a Recon Bonus card allows them to have a go at spotting German Blind 1, but they fail.

All the US blinds then advance.

The I&R Platoon also continues its advance.

Then the Tea Break Card ends the turn.

Turn 8

The Germans get caught out and get revenge

The I&R Platoon begins the game. They move up cautiously, getting an LMG in to a firing position as well. They will soon make their assault to clear away German Blind 2.

Recon Platoon 1 are next, but they hold off, waiting for Platoon 2 to clear. They can always activate later on the Big Man’s card.

More US Air Support – and once again a 1 says that this will attack a friendly target. I am beside myself with glee! This time I pick the jeep holding the commander of the I&R Platoon and the attack scores a hit. Two men are killed, the occupants are pinned and they also suffer a point of shock. Unfortunately, I don’t kill the platoon commander, but I’ll settle for weakening them.

A US Recce Bonus card fails to spot any units, and after several useless cards Captain Winnipeg of the I&R Platoon is activated and rallies the point of shock on his men.

The Axis support card allows the mortars to fire again, this time with reduced scatter. It hits, catching a jeep and an M8 Greyhound in its blast. But the shelling causes no effect at all. Dud rounds I reckon.

Then Recon Platoon 2 activates. German Blind 1 is spotted and is placed on the map. We are going to struggle against M8 Greyhounds! The Greyhounds open fire, killing 5 German infantry and causing shock. This is not a fight we can win! One of the Jeeps rushes forwards, but still fails to spot anything.

The Tea Break card comes next. At this point I need to deploy and fire. So I will take that option.

Section 1 of Zug 1 unleashes a torrent of firepower at the closest jeep. They butcher the occupants and destroy the jeep.

Next comes the Armoured Car Zug which uncloaks from Blind 4. One SdKfz 231 fires at point blank in to the jeep, destroying the jeep and making the lone survivor flee in to the woods. Another destroys an M8 Greyhound with a flank shot, then swivels its turret and destroys another jeep. The command SdKfz 231 finishes off the survivors of the abandoned jeep with its MG.

At this point the Americans have almost had Recon Platoon 2 destroyed (all the infantry in the platoon and jeeps are destroyed, as is one of the M8 Greyhounds). The I&R Platoon has also taken 4 casualties. The Germans have lost 5 men.

The next turn will be crucial.

Turn 9

a quick turn

The first card out is the Tea Break Card! However, units within 9″ can still fire at each other.

On the western hill the infantry and M8 Greyhound duel it out, with the infantry trying to drive off the vehicle by weight of small arms fire. They force it to halt and engage them next turn, while the infantry only take a point of shock in return.

I also deploy my infantry in the eastern field, firing on the jeep as it is within 9″. The occupants are killed to a man.

Turn 10

It’s a free fire zone

The Axis Recce Bonus card comes out first and the Germans spot US Blind 6, revealing at the US Company HQ. Next one US Blind gets a bonus move and the eastern blind moves up in to the field.

US Recon Platoon 2 is next. The M8 fires at the German infantry as it is required to do, and causes another casualty. Captain Seattle’s M8 fires at one of the SdKfz’s, misses and reverses.

The US Blinds are next. The M8 with the Company HQ gets stuck on the hill, so that leaves US Blind 5 to scoot forwards in the hope it is the HMC. Major Bob Boston calls for the light tanks to move up. They will appear the next time the US Blinds card is drawn.

Leutnant Spaten of the Armoured Car Zug activates next. He issues an Engage order to his platoon and they blaze away. When the dust clears, another M8 Greyhound is destroyed, abandoned by its crew.

Luetnant Eirliekor of 2nd Zug is next and he activates two squads, getting them to open fire and spot that pesky US Blind 5. That does indeed turn out to be the M8 HMC and it appears in close assault range for my troops, who immediately assault it and temporarily immobilize it, also causing a point of shock on it. The other German squad drives back the infantry LMG that was setting up in the small clump of trees. An Axis Rally Bonus then allows us to remove a point of shock from our western troops.

The I&R Platoon is next and they move up, trying to get good firing positions so they can maximize the benefit the firepower of the HMC’s will give them.

I use the Axis Dynamic Leader card to move up Leutnant Spaten to provide fire support for Zug 2. The next card out activates 2nd Zug. I use the reserve squad to rush forward and engage the M8 HMC in a close assault, and with luck destroy the main gun and get the crew to abandon it.

Captain Seattle is next and he rallies a point of shock from his vehicle.

Then the Tea Break ends the turn.

NB Some of you eagle eyed readers will notice that I have removed a German Blind in the east. It was because I moved it there to be out of the way and then forgot it for several turns. It should not have been there.

Turn 11

The first card drawn is Oberstleutnant Apelwein of Zug 1. His men have taken a pounding in the woods, and I want to pull them back to safety so they can help defend the bridge (and prevent them taking more casualties). The woods will give them cover until they get across. I leave the untouched 1st Section there to offer cover fire and to stop vehicles rushing after them. The Platoon’s card comes out next and so I put the inactive section on overwatch, just in case some jeep shoots up the hill.

Lieutenant Chicago in the M8 HMC has just watched his buddies blow up for getting too close to the hedgerow. He has a 75mm shell loaded and lets rip at the hedgerow, but misses. The I&R Platoon opens fire on the Germans and cause casualties, while the section with Captain Winnipeg struggle to get over the bocage.

The US call it a day

The US blinds are next, and two more are brought on. One of them will be the Stuart Light tanks. That could change the game…

Captain Seattle fires next at the Sdkfz 231 hiding behind the bocage, but misses.

Leutnant Spaten and his armoured cars are next. They open fire, destroying one M8 Greyhound, immobilizing Captain Seattle’s, damaging the gunsight of the remaining M8 HMC, and damaging the engine of another Greyhound.

The Axis Rally card allows me to remove a point of shock from an infantry team.

Zug 2 activates next, firing a vast amount of lead in to the I&R troops advancing through the field. Four US troops are killed and the unit gains enough shock to send it scurrying back across the field. The Dynamic Leader card allows me to pull OberstLeutnant back to his men so he can start rallying their shock. Leutnant Eirliekor moves up to his men on his card.

Next comes Captain Minnesota of Recon Platoon 1. He’s in a dilemma. If he advances his jeeps will be shot to pieces, and his M8′s are faring little better. If he stays where he is, he could take mortar fire. He holds for now (as mortars will do less damage).

Sure enough, the mortars land immediately and cause no damage.

Next is Major Bob Boston. US losses so far are 3 M8′s destroyed, 3 Jeeps gone, one M8 HMC destroyed, 3 other AFVs damaged, almost all of 2nd Recon Platoon’s infantry dead, and most of the I&R Platoon’s infantry dead. He knows that he no longer has the strength to push forward, and to try do so will cost him the rest of the company. He orders the retreat.

Sure enough, the next card out is the Tea Break card to oblige him.

Aftermath

So what happened?

Firstly, using dummy blinds to lead your troops is a really good idea. Yes, they get spotted quickly, but they do also find the enemy quickly. And finding the enemy is vital in order for you to subsequently kill him. Effective use of dummy blinds is important in IABSM. Fail to take advantage of them and you will suffer.

The German blinds, concealed behind bocage or in the woods are very hard to spot until you get close. And then you are dead.

The US do not have it very easy in this scenario. While they do have a lot of armour, they can get ambushed easily. I think it might be safer for the armour to advance through the fields by using the gates. Still, no matter how you go about advancing, you are going to lose men. It gives you a lot of respect for fighting in bocage country.

Get in to good matchups when you fight. The German infantry have 4 actions and an extra LMG. They roll a massive 5 dice when they shoot. That is lethal and will gun down sections in short order. They lose firepower quickly. Soften them up!

The German AFVs are actually quite weak, but having four actions lets them get off two aimed shots every time they activate. Respect aimed shots as they hit often. Eventually, they will cause damage to lightly armoured Greyhounds. Have a healthy respect for the SDKfz 231.

The US player can’t get bogged down, he needs to maintain momentum. By splitting the US forces, I didn’t given them enough power to push through the German defences. That left me unable to break through on both sides.

The US here attempted to steamroller through the inferior Germans and were taught a sharp lesson. As the defender, I felt I used cover well, fired and moved well, overlapped my fields of fire well, and had good support. I should have gotten the Panzerschrecks further forward, perhaps cascading them down to the infantry Zugs. I think that gives the footsloggers some excellent AT capability. Also, having an MMG in the bocage would be good too as it will make short work of jeeps.

This was another fun game, played much faster as I am getting to grips with the IABSM rules now.

I suppose it is on to Scenario 2, following a German win...but that's a tale for another day.

The Wargaming Addict

 
 
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Recently I ran a game of I Aint Been Shot, Mum! where I could use the armoured cars show in my earlier post on this blog. We are doing the Operation Compass campaign. This week we ran a very strange scenario, the Battle of Girba fought in what is now Libya in 1940. In this battle a column of the Italian's Libyan allies were caught in the open desert by British armoured cars. The Italians inexplicably formed square and waited for the British forces to attack.

We changed the scenario a bit and had a wounded armoured car set between the Italians and Brits, with six of the tiny Italian L3 tankettes closing in. This gave the opening phases of the scenario a bit more drama as the Brits raced to save the crew.

The British task force arrived on the table in Blinds but were quickly spotted as soon as they crested the hills since they were moving fast and there was little cover.

The two British A9 Cruiser tanks and the two MkVI infantry support tanks moved in quickly on the Italian Square. The L3s desperately charged and were gunned down or rammed into the British tanks, an optional rule I cooked up on the spot to give the Italians some small chance to stop the Brits.

The Italians had one other trick up their sleeves. The had hidden two artillery pieces in the corners of the square. These revealed themselves and the two Italians commanders attached themselves to the guns and added their dice to the rolls to hit. There were plenty of hits but all this seemed to do was slow down the advancing Brits. Inevitably the guns were wiped out by the ferocious gunfire of the A9s and light tanks.

Meanwhile, the infantry had been digging in which helped them survive the fire of the British machine guns. But with their artillery and tanks all gone, we decided it was time to call the game. Since the Italian player had done far better than the historical Italian commander did (the entire column was wiped out) we called the game a draw.

John Sullins

 
 
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I am currently about halfway through the Bashnya or Bust! late war eastern front scenario pack for IABSM, with fifteen out of the thirty-one scenarios completed i.e. stages one to four in the pyramid. This AAR is a report on the playtest game for the first scenario: #01: Near Osen. You'll be pleased to hear that all went well, and the only change needed was a minor adjustment to the number of Blinds each side can bring on to the table at any one time.

Bashnya or Bust! is set in late July/early August 1944 towards the end of Operation Bagration. The Soviets are heading for Kaunas, and one route there takes part of the Red Army through the Chera Valley. There, the newly-arrived-from-Normandy 30th Panzer Division and 1001st Infantry Regiment will try and not only stop them, but push them back out of the valley for good.

NB those of you who have played any of the Blenneville or Bust! scenarios will have spotted that the Germans that fight in Bashnya or Bust! are the same ones that fight in Blenneville. Slightly different equipment and OBs, but same unit insignia, albeit updated by my newly acquired graphic designer person. Means you can use the same cards/chips!

Bashnya or Bust! is, as befits the Eastern Front, a bit more...shall we say 'extreme' than Blenneville. There are no half-measures: which is why the first scenario, Near Osen, involves a clash between two armoured columns with only one platoon of infantry apiece. I don't want to give too much away, so without giving any details about forces, objectives etc, here is the table:

So, onto the game.

Both sides advanced cautiously onto the table, using the small clusters of trees and rough uneven ground to keep as out of sight as possible. Dummy Blinds were of particular importance at this stage, with the Soviets using them very aggressively to keep the Germans back on their side of the road.

The action proper began with the spotting of a platoon of Soviet T-34/85s sheltering on the edge of a cluster of trees just over the road to the bridge. This was not good news for the Germans, who were fielding Panzer IVs: although they had four Actions per turn to the Soviet three, the T-34/85s had much better armour and a slightly better gun. In practice this meant that the Germans needed 3-4 shots to take out a Russian tank, whereas the Russians tended to blow a Panzer IV to bits with the first shot that hit. More Actions versus Better Tanks would be the over-riding theme of the game!

As they had spotted the Russians first, the Germans de-cloaked a platoon of their own (just visible middle-right in the photo, above) and hoped to batter the Soviet tanks before they could get a shot off. Unfortunately, a multiplicity of shots from the Panzer IVs did almost nothing to the T-34/85s, and a volley of shots in return, plus fire from another Russian tank platoon (one of the Blinds with a dice on it in the photo, above) blew two of the three German tanks to smithereens!

The Soviets, realising the superiority of their tanks, charged their forward platoon, er, forward: aiming to get to force as many enemy Blinds as possible into deploying onto the table. The last German tank in the wood was dispatched with ease and, for a moment, it looked as if the T-34/85s would just keep going all the way to Berlin!

Fortunately for the Germans, another platoon of Panzer IVs arrived (a platoon of Panthers are proxy-ing for them in this game) along with the Panzer HQ platoon, and the combination of large numbers of shots and some flank fire finally began to tell. All three of the advancing T-34/85s were eventually KO'd or abandonned, but not before the Puma you can see in the photos was also destroyed.

The second German tank platoon moved into the wood containing the burning tanks of their comrades, along with a Blind that the Russians strongly suspected was infantry. For reasons to do with their objectives, they were determined to force this to deploy, so hurled a section of BA-64 armoured cars forward in what can only be described as spotting-by-suicide!

Whatever you call it, the Germans did deploy their Blind, and it was the infantry the Russian armoured cars had been seeking. In fact, the crews of the Russian armoured cars got a jolly good look at the German infantry as they moved forward to destroy them with grenades and sticky bombs!

Meanwhile, some Russian infantry had rushed forward and got onto the bridge at the end of the road. There they stayed, despite starting to suffer HE fire from the German tanks in the wood. More T-34/85s moved forward to protect them.

At the same time, the German CinC had managed to get his tank forward and round onto the flank of the Russian tanks. A lovely flank shot brewed up one Soviet tank, and things started to look up for the Panzers.

Unfortunately, and still trying not to give too much away, the Germans were then forced to retreat, and the game ended as a Soviet victory. My apologies for the deus ex machina ending to this report, but I am trying not to include any blatant spoilers for those who will eventually play the scenario!

It was a terrific game, with the situation and contrasting abilities of the German and Russian tanks really adding to the excitement. And, as I said, only a few tweaks needed to finally polish the scenario into its final version. I can't wait to playtest the next encounter!

Robert Avery

 
 
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This was a terrible day for Steve Clarke, the Soviet commander, as the cards and the dice were completely against him - fortunately for me he shuffled and dealt so no blame could be laid at my door!

Usually our games are tense, fairly evenly balanced affairs, so this was most out of the ordinary.

Still, after two defeats on the trot against Steve, I’ll take this one!

Norseygamer

 
 
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The first scenario in Bashnya is a meeting engagement between two mainly armoured forces but each with a Platoon of infantry. The Germans are better trained but the Russians have the better tanks (Panzer IV vs T34/85).

The field is fairly open with hills on the north edge and with clumps of trees all over the place to use as cover. The bridge is in the South centre and this is where the action should be.

After a slow start the Russians are the first to move and gain the road fairly early and the central position as well.

Then the Russians also gain the bridge with their tank riding infantry. Where are the Germans, as the Russians do seem to be bathing in the bright sunlight?

It all then started to happen as the Germans cunningly advanced through the woods to take the T34s in the flank and quickly dispatch one of them, but they don't have it all their own way at all. Those big Russian guns and weak German armour are not an even match.

By the river the Russian infantry dig in and the Russians tanks see off a weak attack by the Germans.

The German Puma then advanced to attempt to save the situation in the South. In a common theme for the Germans in this game though they hit with two good shots on the Russians tanks they couldn't get past the armour. The next play was obvious as the Russians T34s destroyed it although not as easy as it should have been

The game was over very quickly as again the German tanks again hit and then couldn't penetrate for some reason and the Russians didn't wait for another go.

In the south the German infantry really hurt the Russians with their automatic weapons, but once all the German tanks had left the field they have no options but retreat.

All in all another great game, and certainly a lot closer than the previous Russian walkover. The Germans really should have won but at all the crucial times they found they were firing blanks.

Now it's onto Scenario 2A amongst the streets of Osen and some more bridges.

Craig Ambler

 
 
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Adapting CoC *Citadel: The Breakthrough* PSC table 3 to IABSM using Des Darkin’s CoC dice activation.

So far, Soviets won the first table and got plastered on table two. To make a more “tank-y” game, two Tigers and three Panzer IVs took on six T-34/76s and nine T-70s.

One of each panzer eventually bailed from the storm of steel (each Tiger probably getting hit 6-7 times), Russkis effectively using tall grass to give “ok” shots to panzers. Never needed to pop the two surviving Strelkovy platoons.

One T-70 platoon tried to reach the backside of Tigers before getting swamped in Panzer Grenadier tank assaults. We’re thinking a major major Kursk demolition derby after table five, but are still working on how to get CoC support lists balanced in IABSM terms.

Will Depusoy

 
 
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Ran a game of Utah Beach: Exit 1 at Pouppeville last night. This was largely based on Scenario Nineteen: Blocking the Way from Where the Hell Have You Been Boys? I modified it so everybody came in on the first turn-- the Germans were told of the 4th ID approaching from the beach direction, then the Airborne placed their blinds on the inland table edge on the first US Blinds card. The Germans had a full strength company, and each US platoon only had two full strength squads per company, due to disorganization on the beach or from the air drops. I did not give the Germans the suggested Tank Killers card.

The US tanks came up the road from Utah beach, and the closest house held a Panzershreck team. The Panzerscheck team annihilated the lead Sherman, before the other Shermans started pasting the house. Another Sherman was immobilized by a Panzerfaust.

The 4ID infantry came through the bocage on the right flank. The squad nearest to Pouppeville was pinned down by a German sniper. The remaining squads then turned in to approach the town via the road. However, a German blind revealed themselves at the edge of some bocage and caught them in the open, tearing them up. The airborne had those Germans in a pincer, but did not get to press home due to time constraints.

It went well and everybody seemed to have a fun time. I had seven players show up, one of which had played a single game of IABSM before. So, we only got through about four turns in the three hours we had before the store closed. I didn't hear any complaints, though, and the players seemed eager for another game.

One improvement I made for this game was to paint single Old Glory CD Panzerfaust figures to be used as Panzerfaust counters per platoon. And I painted the US infantry company (well, most of it) for this game. I also made some orchards from some very cheap aliexpress trees, but I had them out on my workbench and my dog ate them the afternoon of the game.

Andy Cowell

 
 
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Just a few hurried snaps from our six player game today. British hasty assault on Cristot, June 1944, against 12th SS Panzergrenadiers met the same fate as historically.

Good progress on the right flank cleared one village after much to and fro in close assaults. The British centre unfortunately collided with German reinforcements and was mauled. Left flank cursed by repeated failure of cards to emerge before Tea Break in the face of tough dug in opposition with anticipated results.

Nick Bellamy

 
 
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Hong Kong, Christmas 1941, the 2nd company of the HKVDC hold the road to Stanley Village against the 3rd company, 229th IJA Infantry Regiment, supported by Tankettes.

Alex Sotheran

 
 
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Great game today - Paras in the Woods with paras trying to clear the way to Arnhem.

Great progress by Alan and Nigel Chapman initially made using small unit tactics lead by effective use of the Platoon leaders but significant NCO (and CO!) casualties eventually stalled the attack in the face of stiff and entrenched opposition.

Great game and lots of fun!

Nick Bellamy

 
 
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Hong Kong, Christmas 1941, the 2nd company of the HKVDC hold the road to Stanley Village against the 3rd company, 229th IJA Infantry Regiment, supported by Tankettes.

Alex Sotheran

#stormofsteelwargaming

 
 
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Mercian Miniatures writes:

Cracking game of Defence Of Calais with the boys from 1st Corps .

Played over two days with some interesting twists on previous encounters .

A British victory , in terms of blunting the tip of the German thrust and certainly bought more time for the defenders.

Superb kit on lovely terrain all from the collection of Michael and Simon. The AFV’s etc in 1/48 are just beautiful!

And here’s the same game from the camera of Michael Curtis:

 
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After about 11 months, finally organized another IABSM game with my buddies from Vermont Historical Gamers Group: scenario i from Skirmish Elite book series, Falaise Firestorm. St Eugenie, Normandy, August 1944.

Dave Goodwin and Elroy Davis commanded one platoon of Germans along with two Panzer IVs plus two halftracks, one with short 75mm gun and one with long 75mm gun. Brent Coulthard commanded the Americans, with three M-4s, one M-8 armored car, two towed 3-inch AT guns and two platoons of infantry.

The US had to try and get at least three armored vehicles or AT guns off the board edge with large orchard.

IABSM rules used, supplemented by use of TFL's Command Cards plus my tweak of adding two extra Big Men joker cards to increase likelihood of Big Man activation.

Dan Albrecht

 
 
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A 6mm I Ain't Been Shot Mum game based on the Counterattck by Hungarian assault gun batteries and grenadiers of Feldherrnhalle against Soviet 4th Guards Mechanised Brigade. Played at GigaBites Cafe in August 2024.

Mark Luther

 
 
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Cracking game tonight : set near Winsen Aller in Germany in 1945.

Having destroyed the nearby bridge the Germans settle into defensive positions throughout the night.

By first light two Bailey bridges are across the Aller and the Germans stand to!

A very close game with one bridge put under shell fire but the other bridge deployed wider , enabling an easy run in to the German right flank.

Went down to the wire ! A narrow British victory .

Mercian Miniatures

 
 
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IABSM in 20mm. Somewhere in Normandy:

Mercian Miniatures

 
 
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The boy and I had a bit of refresh game tonight. As much as the club is enjoyable, it can be quite noisy and you can often be bothered by others which makes learning the rules hard.

Anyhow, tonight it was Barbarossa. The Germans consisted of 3 panzer grenadiers platoons, a pair of 75mm infanttry guns and 4 panzer IIIs H.

The Russians had two platoons, two 45mm ATG and 4 T26s. The Russian tanks could only show up when our event card was drawn 3 times.

Both sides had access to medium mortars but these played to part in the game.

The Germans advance boldly and their reconnaissance team quickly revealed one of the Russians platoons on their left flank whilst their right flank advanced cautiously through a field.

The boy deployed his Infantry guns and started pounded the revealed platoon but some return fire kept them quiet, at least for a term.

Meanwhile the German right flank was spotted by the Russian HQ teams whoes HMGs opened up, causing a great deal of shock little casualties. This was the sum of the right flank for most the game.

On the left flank, then Germans kept surprising the Russian platoon by the woods which allowed a well timed assault from their 2nd platoon, which was successful.

The Russian atgs had appeared and tried lobbing shells at the Inf Guns to very little effect.

At this point the T26s rumbled on very little. The both panzers IIIs pounced, setting one T26 ablaze whilst kicking the others about.

The Germans had control of the board and the Russians decided to bug out; their commissar was dead so there little the political party could do.

Chris Lane

 
 
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My afternoon game at Operation Market Larden X was Phil & Jenny’s excellent Throw Them Back scenario for I Ain’t Been Shot Mum.

This involved a German counterattack on one of the Normandy beaches just after D-Day, with my instructions being, as one of the German players, to get a significant force “onto the sand”.

View from the inland “German” end of the table

The forces involved

Knowing that the Allies had access to reinforcements coming off the beach, there was no time for shilly-shallying around, so my co-commander and I sent our troops up the table as fast as we could.

We knew we’d run into prepared defences, but felt that this sort of “reconnaissance by panzer” was still the best strategy to adopt.

Reconnaissance by panzer

The first obstacle we encountered was a dug-in 6lb anti-tank gun blocking off the left side of the table. It opened fire from its concealed position and battered one of our Panzer IVs as it struggled to get through a particularly thick hedge.

Another IV was on the road just to the right, so I picked up the dice and announced that the tank would swing round and come at tbe AT gun from the rear. An enormous dice roll later, and it ended up just short of actually crunching the gun under it’s tracks.

It was now just a question of who got the drop on whom, and unfortunately and despite cutting down half the gun’s crews with the co-ax, the Panzer IV took a couple of 6lb rounds point blank and promptly brewed up. Other tanks got their revenge however: HE and machine gun fire rapidly removing the gun and its accompanying infantry as a threat.

Meanwhile, on the other flank, a column of tanks supported by infantry was making its way along the track towards the beach. Another AT gun, again supported by infantry, opened fire, and the Germans soon lost two of their Panzer IIIs.

Back to the left and centre, and the Germans were getting their advance going, although another Panzer IV was lost to an AT gun lurking at the beach end of the central road.

But the Allies were also on the move, with tanks starting to pour off the beaches and advance towards the action.

Up in front, the Allied commanders were obviously nervous about their right flank, particularly as we now had a platoon of infantry supported by a couple of aged Somuas advancing forward.

They moved two platoons of infantry up as a blocking force but, in the heat of battle, forgot that we had more infantry avdancing up the central road.

With a quick trot across the asphalt, the German infantry set themselves up behind the hedge bordering the road and prepared to open fire.

Most wargames give a bonus for fire on the flank, but IABSM doesn’t. It does, however, give a bonus for shooting at multiple targets…such as six squads of infantry plus support weapons all crowded together in a neat line behind a hedge at close range.

The dice were rolled, and we had generated thirty casualties on the unfortunate Tommies! Thirty!

The saving rolls were not good, and half the Allied firing line disappeared, the rest suffering from more shock than an electric eel wearing a copper jacket!

Unfortunately at this point time beat us and although there was a bit more jockeying for position, nothing more of any great significance occured.

Phil carefully weighed up the situation (ignoring both sides’ loudly exhorted claims of victory) and declared a the game to be a draw.

Aftermath

Which was actually a fair result I think.

Although we had advanced just over half way down the table and cleared the Allied forward defences, we had lost two thirds of our tanks…and although we had caused two of the three Allied platoons horrendous casualties, the end game would realistically been our infantry (admittedly armed with plenty of ‘fausts) verses the Allied tanks from the beachhead.

All in all a brilliant game of IABSM played across what can only be described as a fantically created tabletop. Well done to all concerned and particularly to Phil and Jenny for putting on such a great display.