An excellent game last weekend of IABSM here in South Burlington, Vermont on my patio.

The battle recreated an engagement between 12th SS Panzer Division vs. British 11th Armoured Division on June 27th near Caen. Order of Battle is from the excellent book Monty's Epsom by Skirmish Campaigns.

The Germans had four Panzer IVs, two 81mm mortars, one platoon of infantry, a sniper and tank killer team. The Brits had 2 Fireflies and 6 Shermans and two platoons of infantry. Steve Emerson and Barnaby Ore played as the Germans while Dave Goodwin and Steve Smith played as the Brits with yours truly as the umpire. Figures are Airfix, the Panzers and Shermans are Roco 1/87 while the Fireflies and Bren Carriers are resin cast by Heiser 1/87.

A big shout out to Barnaby Ore who came all the way down from Canada in his quest for some good Lard action!!!

The battle progressed slowly at first with Germans spotting the Brits as they moved from right left but holding fire. On the British left flank one platoon of tanks and one of infantry made good progress and put good shots into the buildings to set them on fire. However the panzers revealed themselves from the treeline and quickly brewed up 2 Shermans before the Firefly could return fire.

On the British right the infantry charged a squad of Germans but were thrown back with losses. Eventually however the Shermans closed the distance and were able to penetrate into the village without getting shot at by the Panzers. The German tank killers took multiple shots at the tanks as they rounded the buildings but were only able to inflict a few points of shock but no kill.

Pressed by the Shermans coming at them from both sides, the Panzers retreated to the tall grass. A Firefly coming up the British left flank brewed up one of the Panzers while a Sherman that pushed past the buildings was able to brew up another one with a flank shot.

On the British left one Sherman and one Firefly closed the distance however their accompanying infantry in the wheat field got bogged down by mortar fire coming from behind the railroad embankment.

In the last few turns, the numbers of Shermans began to overwhelm the Germans. The last panzer's shots bounced off a Sherman by the house but then he was brewed up by a different Sherman. On the British left one Sherman got a bit too close to the trees and a panzerfaust fired by the last squad brewed it up but then the squad was forced to retreat. The German commander in his Kubelwagen along with the shattered remnants of the platoon retreated through the tall grass.

Overall a definite British victory but one that could have become a stalemate had a few more Panzerfaust shots landed.

Dan Albrecht