Last night‘s game of TFL World War II. The attack on San Marco, Italy, July 1944.

Germans played by Ralph Gibson and Barry Foster. British played by Richard Hudson, Martyn Cartledge and Andrew Sharpe. Meth and Archie were in charge of the tea and Doritos.

As ever we used the rules “I Ain’t Been Shot, Mum!” from the TFL stable.

Both sides started on Blinds with the Germans defending the hillside between the factory and the village. They placed their only AFV, an assault gun, next to the factory covering the whole of the valley. Their only anti-tank gun was positioned on the edge of the village covering the main road from the valley, paying particular attention to the area around the gully where they hoped the Allied advance would take place. A lucky shot against any armour advancing through the gully would cause a blockage. They also placed their for machine guns liberally about the hillside and protected them with infantry sections.

The Allies were fortunate in the early rounds with the Blinds card appearing several times where as the Germans card didn’t and frustration set in a little.

Andy managed to get an infantry platoon under cover of smoke right up to the vineyard at the edge of the village under Blinds before falling victim to auto spotting. He was also supported on that flank by a group of Sherman tanks.

On the right flank Richard successfully negotiated the hillside which was heavily populated with olive groves. A combined infantry and armour assault here caused significant discomfort for the German defenders of the factory, who soon retreated with heavy losses.

The Germans responded with some very effective fire from the machine guns who raked the valley and caused mayhem. They combined this ferocity of defence with some determined artillery support who homed in on a series of pre-registered target points along the main road, between the gully and the village.

Not everything went the Germans way. Up on the hillside their StuG Assault Gun came under significant anti-tank fire from the Sherman troop in the valley. The clever use of tank support is key to British success in this game and Andy interchanged his AFV direct fire between the assault gun and by using direct high explosive at the closest buildings in the village.

We played the game for about two hours at which point the Germans considered a tactical withdrawal, leaving the British to clear the hillside under continuous artillery bombardment for the next day also. Very similar to the real thing.

Here are some pictures of the game:

Second Go

A second go at Attack on San Marco, Italy 1944 using IABSM rules. We imported/ exported half the players for good measure and to maintain some original play.

All set and ready to go we competed 12 packs of cards in 2.5 hours with Ralph Gibson and Togs aka Michael Togwell as the defending Heer with Bruce Carlton, Martyn Cartledge and Dale Askew as the British. Steve Meth and Archie ran the mobile NAAFI.

Here are some pictures:

Tim Whitworth