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This year is the 75th anniversary of the successful assault on Pegasus Bridge by glider infantry of the 2nd Battalion, the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, British 6th Airborne Division, commanded by Major John Howard. The successful taking of the bridges played an important role in limiting the effectiveness of a German counter-attack in the days and weeks following the Normandy invasion.

The Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum (SOFO) is putting on an exhibition to celebrate the anniversary, and it looks as if a few of us might be able to run a demo game of IABSM one weekend at the museum to help bring the event to life for the general public.

All the running for this is being done by friend Dave, so all I had to do recently was to take part in a playtest of the game to be run…

At this point we ran out of time (we had been dilly-dallying around playtesting things rather than playing hard) so the game was declared a draw. The Brits had the upper hand to the right, the Germans had the upper hand to the left, but time was ticking on and the first serious British reinforcements (Paras!) were apparently about to appear.

A good game, and lots of food for thought for the exhibition game.

Robert Avery

 
 
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Late War in Germany. I was trying to hold back the Red hordes the other night – we had a great time and feel like the rules are running more smoothly now we've played a few times.

It was a very close game, but it didn't look like it was going to be: the Germans were on the wire with only three regular platoons and one of Volksturm, four tank hunting team, two HMGs, and two PaK 40s…much of which disappeared in the initial bombardment (damn those Katyushas!) or was avoided by the positioning of the Russian advance and didn't get into play.

Meanwhile, the Ruskies were fielding three tank platoons, three infantry units (one of SMGs) and had two bombardments and a Katyusha strike (so able to cover all the main deployment areas). Note to Self: Don't deploy forward into combat areas at first if you have even the vaguest idea the Russians might have artillery...

Remarkably, I as the Germans managed to squeak a narrow victory by holding the buildings at the last :)

More info in the pic comments...

 
 
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Case White: the Assault on Sochaczew, 13 September 1939
Using TFLs ruleset I Ain’t Been Shot, Mum with a scenario by Rob Avery taken from the Lardies Summer Special 2017, Dave made a welcome return with his Polish and pitched them against my early war Germans. An interesting attack and defend scenario with a time limit so it’s Blitzkreig or bust for Gerry!

The Poles are all on hidden Blinds and the German force entered on Blinds.

Led by Richard Hudson in his ‘little tank’, Dale Askew and I could only watch in wonder as he speed full speed towards the town with his entourage of Panzer I tanks. In the town Dave and Barry Foster waited, anti tank guns and anti-tank rifles at the ready…

Tim Whitworth, with extra pics by Richard Hudson

 
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Today’s scenario was nice and straightforward, and would be used to test out Des’ suggested IABSM/CoC mash-up i.e. I Ain’t Been Shot, Mum! rules, with the Chain of Command activation system. Andy and I had to take a small village somewhere in the Bocage country. Facing us was the all singing and dancing ‘Kamp Gruppe Bartram’ led by Daren.

We managed to set up a rather spiffing table with the club’s terrain and Des’ lovely ‘Empires at War’ Normandy buildings (the 15mm versions of the ones seen on this blog before). The main picture below shows our view of the battlefield, and we hit upon a nice simple plan. I would take two of our platoons of infantry and push through the orchard to the right of the road whilst sending our recce jeep along the right flank whilst Andy would take our Sherman platoon along the left supported by the remaining infantry platoon. The enemy would be pinned in place once discovered then destroyed.

Things started very well with all of us getting into the swing of the new activation system easily enough. We decided to push my attack through first and soon I had two platoons in the orchard and the jeep barreling around bocage as it headed for the lateral road on the right. Then the shit hit the fan! My lads in the orchard must have been fresh from England as they failed to spot the PanzerGrenadiers that lined the hedge at the far end of the orchard until they opened up a murderous fire on my Napoleonic looking column.

Pretty soon I was in all sorts of trouble as the German machine guns chewed through section after section and soon one of my platoons was pretty much out of action. My return fire was not the best but I did manage to cause some casualties assisted by the company mortars but I was forced to pull back out of sight to regroup and re-asses whilst the Germans slipped away to take up new positions in the village.

Just when I thought things were pretty bad, they got worse. My recce jeep bumped into something along the road and I actually felt my jaw drop when Daren gleefully put out two Tigers: indeed, both Daren and Des laughed at my reaction. I did have a go at one of the behemoths with my .30-cal before scooting back desperately trying to get into cover but both efforts were futile and one of the giant beasts pumped a HE shell into the plucky Jeep.

As the right flank was now well and truly shut down we decided that Andy best get forward on the left so he pushed his Shermans forward followed by the infantry.

However pretty soon the sharp crack of an 88 signalled the appearance of 2 more Tigers! The American tankers tried valiantly to take on the big cats but pretty soon their platoon commander and one other tank were burning. There was one small glimmer of hope though as the remaining infantry platoon managed to creep forwards whilst the tank duel was going on and soon a couple of bazooka teams were in position to get a flank shot at one of the Tigers. If they could get a successful shot away we might just be able to overpower the remaining one with the concentrated fire of the surviving tanks.

But it wasn’t to be, the GI’s manning the rocket launchers were just too jittery and their missiles either sailed harmlessly past the massive tank or glanced off the thick steel (how they missed is still puzzling me, just how do you miss a Tiger side on?!!). Darren then turned the Tiger’s turret on the hapless bazooka men who would have been blasted to atoms if they weren’t close assaulted by a fresh platoon of PanzerGrenadiers.

With this further defeat Andy and I decided that enough was enough, most of our infantry was knackered and our tanks had been well and truly assaulted by the Tigers so we decided to concede defeat. Strangely though the surviving tanks disappeared during the retreat, and even stranger when we tried to get them on the radio to ask where they were we received this message back: ‘Woof, woof’. Odd.

Despite the defeat it was a cracking game and we all agreed that the new activation system vastly improved things and even I said I’d love to have another game so hats off to Mr. Darkin for coming up with the rules, we did come up with a few tweaks here and there but nowt too much which shows how well they worked.

Apart from the rules more thanks to Des for putting the game on and for bringing his lovely village set, the figures and models were Daren’s but now in the collection of Andy which is great as we will still get to play with them as they are crackingly well done.

Iain Fuller

 
 
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I really should have posted a report on this game a lot earlier but was suffering from a bit of a fug at the time and hence now the details are a bit hazy which is a shame as it was good fun. Oh, and it had tons of motorcycles and sidecars.

The Germans (my side) were tasked with clearing a village of French types and had the following to do so: a platoon of Kradschutzen, a Platoon of Sdkfz 221/222’s, a PanzerGrenadier platoon, a platoon of 8-rads and a support platoon of Infantry gun, MG and Mortar sections.

Things were going quite well for ages with our infantry and Hells Angels bumping into defending Poilus and blatting them with fire from supporting armoured cars until they buggered off. It’s the second time that I’ve used these cars and both times the 20mm autocannons and MG’s they are armed with have made mincemeat of the opposition.

We did suffer a bit from some defensive infantry and AT gun fire and artillery stonkage, but we thought we were gaining the upper hand…and then the Somua’s turned up and ruined everything, trundling about nonchalantly with a Gaulois hanging out of their gobs shrugging off our feeble attempts to damage them whilst brassing up everything they could. We prudently decided to withdraw and let the Stukas take over.

Good fun was had though and we got to use Ian’s lovely early war kit.

Iain Fuller

 
 
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Club night at the South London Warlords tonight and we had another go at the St Aubin D-Day game, but with a bigger piece of coast, and a sandy beach instead of shingle. We used 15mm and I Ain’t Been Shot, Mum! with an activation system taken from Chain of Command.

48 Commando landed a company on the left of the table, aiming to drive inland and take a command bunker. Two troops of the 1st Hussars and A Company of the Royal Winnipeg Rifles were to land at St Aubin and to the right of the sea defences.

48 Commando roared onto the beach with a double move, all three landing craft making it to shore safely, only to get set upon by two MG 42’s and an infantry section. It was a bloody affair and by the end of the game half the initial force was dead or wounded, but the seawall was taken and two sections were moving through St Aubin. The other two sections were preparing to move against the bunker.

In the centre, the assault wave was slow to arrive, with the currents causing some near misses amongst the LC and DD tanks. Eventually all of A Company made it to the seawall but also took heavy losses. The Germans did eventually break as all three DD tanks made it ashore and blasted HE at any German position that showed itself. My own troop had terrible luck. Two tanks sank in the deep water, the other lost power and drifted offshore.

A great game and Iain Fuller did an amazing job fighting to keep the three Allied players from breaking the Atlantic Wall. He was exhausted and later found he had his jackboots on the wrong feet.......😄

I am determined to do the next game as a “ next wave and supports” and will start the planning for that in the coming weeks

Desmondo Darkin

 
 
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First game using the new terrain. We had just over three hours to play a German attack on a Soviet held village in 1944 using I Ain’t Been Shot, Mum! with a Chain of Command-modified activation system.

Both sides had a core Infantry Company and each side then picked support options using a Support list which is basically the Chain of Command list but sized up to IABSM-sized games. The Germans had 60 points, the Soviets 40.

I added in a wild card with the Soviets getting an Armoured Rail Car. They got this on Turn 3, and it made a glorious, but brief impact to the game.

Here are some shots of the terrain prior to playing the game itself:

The Game

Desmondo Darkin

 
 
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BEF holding action vs advancing Germans - see photos for captions - we had a lot of fun and it was a near run thing 🙂 .

I love the way the Blinds and other mechanisms work to simulate ambushes

Alistair Birch

 
 
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With the Soviets scoring the victory in the first encounter, we followed the scenario tree for the next encounter. Full details and forces can be found in Bashnya or Bust! campaign book.

In brief, this clash takes place around the small town of Osen. The Germans are holding out whilst their engineers set charges on the last remaining bridge (bottom left in the picture below), before withdrawing their remaining troops over the river and blowing the bridge to bits. They are outnumbered and face a swift Soviet attack that features plenty of T34s and SMG-armed tank-riders. They need to drive through and capture the bridge.

Overviews of the battlefield before any blinds were dropped

All figs and tanks by the ever-reliable (and recently relocated) Heroics and Ros. Buildings, roads, etc by Timecast.

Opening Phases

The Soviet Blinds chip made a couple of appearances and they began the engagement. In an unexpected move, the Germans deployed a single "dummy" Blind which shot up and spotted the tank HQ and accompanying T34-85s with (invisible) tank riders.

 It's a trap! Or ambush. Or ambuscade. Whatever word you choose, the Soviets are now in a spot of bother. Two Hetzer tank-killers open up on the Soviets at extreme close range.
Predictably the T34s take a pounding but remarkably none explode! Nice dice rolling by the Don. "Fritz" Freddie tramped outside to burn his dice. 

Trying out a new system for tank damage - yellow dice for shock and red dice for number of Actions remaining next turn (a common thing in IABSM). Chits explain nature of damage. It's a bit messy, so maybe a return to pen and paper for those details?

Aha, found you! A second Soviet tank zvod (the much-maligned T34-76s) plus tank riders spot a Blind in the town. This is auto-spotted at the end of the turn. A German rifle zug with attached PaK40 support replete with extra Big Man to command it (special German rule). 

At this point, it might have been a painful and quick end for the Russkis! 

The Tank Riders dismounted and, after a quick think and a spot of yodelling [why?], decide on the time-honoured charge into the face of the entrenched enemy. The thing is, it worked. Very much. 

Well, okay, one section fled after suffering extreme machine-gunning and mega-shock (mid-right) but the PaK40 was massacred. Can you massacre a gun? 

Cue question about Russians using captured German weaponry. 

Ouch! White dice were Russian (that's a lot of dead and shock). Black dice are German. That'll be a fistful of nothing, then. And just like that, the German centre started to evaporate.

The Mid-Game

More Russian Blinds - a dummy followed by more tanks and riders

After a lull we return to the original ambush, where the Hetzers brewed up / bailed the T34s this time. But they ran out of actions to attack the lone HQ tank. Would this be costly in the future? 

The tank riders got lucky and dismounted - they then scooted past the Hetzers and dug in on the far side of the wood. Over the next hour or so they crawled their way towards the bridge with grim determination ...

Meanwhile, see that smoking house in the picture below, right? It used to be intact and feature a section of German rifles plus NCO. The "useless" T34-76s got lucky with a double-6 with High Explosive. Boom! In the house directly above this, another High Explosive shell sees off another squad. 

Have we found out what the 76s should be doing? I think so ...

Meanwhile, Germans were racking up the demolition points whenever the Turn Card was drawn. 

Just 14 more to go ...

Nein! HQ tank gets a bit of revenge on the Hetzers who are now somewhat screwed (technical term).

Fritz got a bit nervous as his advanced guard disintegrated and he had no troops left on the table. Out plopped the Blinds chit a couple of times and the Germans showed their hand. Mind you, the troops would be dug-in and had a few more surprises up their sleeves.

Pooofffph! Another High Explosive shell from the 76s gets the lucky "66" and a house collapses around another squad. Ouch. Yup, load the HE boys!

No, I'm not quite sure what happened below either. 

Russians a bit strung out but heading en-masse for the bridge and to hang with the casualties!

Germans seem to have deployed their Stug IVs in the wood (mid-left).

Ah yes, the end is nigh. The Russian Blind got this close to the bridge (below) before the Stugs revealed themselves on a chip: the result was catastrophic for the last zvod of T34-85s. Once again the best Soviet tanks in the force go up in flames. The Soviet players began a dismal communist hymn to the fallen and prepare to throw in the towel.

The situation deteriorates for the Russians as their infantry is slaughtered in the open fields by a rifle gruppe and 2 MG teams activated by the CO Big Man (level 4 - powerful!)

SMG vzvod going, going, going, gone ...

Just a few more chips ... it seems to be drawing to a close. 

The Russians score some revenge on the centre rifle gruppe, rendering it useless.

Human Wave! Urrrraaaaaaahhh!

A run of unusual Soviet chips emerged, allowing the remaining infantry to scoot into position and charge the remained PaK40, German CO and associated MG teams in the rear/flank. Painful.

Heroic Leader! 

After a discussion, it seemed fair that the Russian CO (who finally arrived on the scene) could organise a last-ditch charge into the German rifle section that was guarding the bridge. 

It was swift and bloody.

Now the Soviets had control of the bridge!

The sideshow continued as the Soviet tank HQ zipped about and dispatched the final Hetzer.

Back at the bridge. One SMG vzvod was wiped out by the German rifles supported by Stug fire.

But the remaining SMG group plus Big Man dig in on the opposite bank.

German rifles come under fire from T34s and SMGs.

And that was where we decided to end it. Time was pressing on and the Germans were in a right old mess. Even the Stugs were being hit in the flank by now as they desperately tried to rescue the bridge. So, out of thin air, the Soviets pulled the win out of the bag!

German Dispatches:

Urgh. It was all going rather well until the final few rounds. It was another great scenario which was evenly balanced despite the uneven forces. The Russian steamroller was hard to stop. The Hetzer ambush did a decent job but their chip stubbornly refused to re-emerge and so they could not pull back to help defend the bridge. The Stug ambush also worked a treat. I think the exploding houses probably swung it as that weakened my defence in the town and allowed the Russian infantry to get to the bridge.

If I had it over again? Get the FOO onto the table sooner (attach him to a forward platoon before the battle); place at least one AT gun on the flank to make the Russians think about diverting to deal with it; I'd be tempted to deploy nearly everything near to the bridge, just to see how that panned out. My force was defeated in detail, really. That said, we were sitting pretty comfortably until that cinematic Uraaaahhh! turned the tide. You've got to love that. But with 2 losses now, the campaign is in danger of ending pretty quickly for the Germans.

Next time? It's off to Zima. My Tiger Is make an appearance and we have some hard-hitting troops to play with.

Russian Regimental History:

Kolbasa! This was an epic battle. The newspapers have no need to make up a story this time! Mind you, they might want to gloss over the inept T34-85 displays. Did any of them fire a shot? At all?

After our surprising discovery that Russian scout cars can lay down some serious firepower in a previous battle, it was interesting to see what the much maligned T34-76s achieved. The fast steamroller (swiftroller?) tactics seemed to work well enough and we had enough hardware to waste a few tanks here and there. Tank riding worked well and they can hop off pretty effectively if they come under fire. I also loved how the COs on both sides intervened dramatically and decisively.

Of course, bragging rights go to our boys for the charge that overwhelmed the German command stands.

The next "Zima" scenario looks tough. We have swarms of infantry again and the ISIIs make a pleasant appearance but other than that the support is pretty thin...

Captain Cliche

 
 
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Played a second game of the St Aubin scenario and huge success.

Desmondo Darkin

 
 
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Played our dice version of IABSM today. Afternoon game was a warm up for tonight’s bigger two Company game.

A Company of the Royal Winnipeg Rifles and a troop of the 1st Hussars land at St Aubin , 6th June 1944.

The Company cleared the beach defence line, but at a fearful cost.

Desmondo Darkin

 
 
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We enjoyed our second outing of IABSM last night - and upped the ante on the force size after our simple game last week - this was Kicking in the Door from one of the old v2 Russian Front supplements.

My Germans got pretty much stopped in their tracks on entering the board and an attempt to flank a nasty sniping KV-1 (behind the house, top centre) on the left was equally thwarted. Still, was good fun, we're gradually learning the rules and are going to continue the battle next week, but I think it may be the Russkie's game

We played the second part of our Russian front game the other night, oranges having been served at half time...

My left flank Panzer push ended in multiple toasted German tanks, but attempts by my fresh second platoon of infantry to take the village initially went very well - my opponent had revealed a platoon of Soviet sailor boys who, despite their jaunty attire, got stopped by my fire.

Then he revealed another tank and another small platoon of Naval Infantry to my front! Yikes!

Flanking attacks from his NKVD and a KV1 stopped my infantry in its tracks and the game ended with the Ruskies still in charge of the objective.

This was our second outing with IABSM. We're enjoying learning the rules and there are some nice mechanisms which make for fun play.

Note to self: Don't de-cloak a platoon of infantry off a blind so near to the enemy that he can immediately fire and get a fistful of bonuses for adjacent targets!

Alistair Birch

 
 
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‘Take the high ground’ is Scenario #04 from the Operation Sealion 1940 scenario booklet. The Hyde Home Guard Platoon defends Paddlesworth under the watchful eye of their daring commander Major Fforbes-Cole MC (platoon commander)(retired).

Barry Foster played the chaps from 7 Fliegerdivision whilst Dale Askew played the defending forces. It turned out to be a proper good game and played out in about 24 turns.

In the end, the British held the village despite the relentless assault by the heavily armed Fallschirmjagers.

Tim Whitworth

 
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In this scenario, elements of the London Irish Rifles defended the small sea side village of Seabrook against the German 21st Infantry Regiment. The Germans had to capture this position on their way to Folkestone. Securing of the port of Folkestone was necessary to allow German armour to be brought ashore.

While the German advance was halted in the previous scenario because they lacked artillery and armour support, the German commander (Frederik) now had Stukas and two 75mm infantry guns to his disposal to pepper the British positions. Especially the infantry guns would prove to be very helpful. Anecdote: it was only a few hours before the start of the game that I suddenly realized that I had painted the wrong guns for this scenario. Fortunately, I found two 75mm IG in my boxes of unpainted stuff and gave them a quick paint!

Fearing a German attack along Seabrook Road and the Princess Parade, or even a seaborne German operation behind his lines, the British player (Elias) concentrated his troops in the southern sector. This left the northern sector quite vulnerable.

The Germans indeed seemed to focus their attack on the houses of Seabrook Road. A Stuka attack and the well-aimed fire of the infantry guns made the British positions hard to keep. Both sides took heavy casualties in house-to-house (and soon: ruin-to-ruin) fighting.

With all attention focused on the southern sector, Frederik managed to get one of his Blinds (a full platoon) over the weir, thus threatening the back of the British positions. The combination of German fire and this new threat proved too much for the British. Some elements were soon surrounded and fought to the last bullet (at least, so they told afterwards), while the few remaining British sections fell back to Folkestone. With British losses in the range of 60 to 85 k/w/m against 32 Germans, this third scenario ended in a German victory.

Karim Van Overmeire

 
 
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Mike Whitaker ran his excellent “Bloody Omaha” game at Salute 2019. I stopped by several times, and the table was never less than three deep in players and spectators.

Here’s loads of pics of the set up and game:

 
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Battle of the Underpass. The steep Railway embankment showed how terrain is a massive influence on combat and manoeuvre. Interestingly the Americans, who were choked by the Pontoon bridge, were slow to deploy but destroyed most Germans by artillery and mortars (realism evident).

German Marder anti-tank guns KO-d several Shermans & Stuarts, but were punished by infantry with bazookas when they nosed through the underpass with insufficient support.

A cracking game. Allied win.

Julian Whippy

 
 
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In the second scenario of Sea Lion, German infantry of the 39th Infantry Regiment (played by Frederik) had to clear the area around Pevensy and overcome several pockets of resistance of the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry. To balance the scenario, I allowed the British player Elias (who is only 9 y.o.) a free deployment and upgraded the local Home Guard platoon to regular infantry status.

Elias posted almost all his forces in the houses in Wallsend Road, overlooking both bridges that were vital for the German player to capture. Two sections of British infantry and a light mortar were positioned in the area of Bexhill Road with orders to delay the German advance. Although these two sections were eventually wiped out, they kept some German troops busy for most of the game.

The rest of the Germans advanced to the bridges, but were halted by heavy British fire. Lacking artillery support or armour, the Germans took heavy losses and managed to establish only a small bridgehead. After fifteen turns, the Germans had run out of steam (and troops) and decided to wait for further reinforcements. Although losses were about equal (42 British k/w/m against 40 Germans), the British had held their positions and had thus achieved a clear victory.

Karim van Overmeire

 
 
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It’s September 29th, 1939, and Independent Operational Group Polesie are marching south towards Koch. Attacked by Soviet cavalry and tanks, the Poles are at first beaten back, but then counter-attack and manage to re-take the village of Milanow. This they then prepare to hold in the face of further attacks from Russian infantry with tank support.

The above is a condensed version of the bakground given to scenario #31: The Battle at Parczew from the September War scenario pack. I would play the Poles, defending Milanow; with John and Dave commanding the advancing Soviets.

The picture above shows Milanow as it was represented on our table. The Poles begin the game dug-in under Blinds. All the Soviets have to do to win the game is take one of the two objectives shown by the green ‘eagle’ markers within a certain time limit: the Polish position might be a good one, but it is quite fragile. The Soviets would also gain extra victory points by getting units off my side of the table.

The Forces Involved

The defending Poles had three platoons of infantry, each about 20-men strong. One was a regular platoon, but the other two were border patrol units (KOP). Supporting their infantry were a platoon of three machine guns, a platoon of three anti-tank guns, and a couple of medium mortars. They also had access to two batteries of off-table artillery, controlled by a couple of FOOs.

Much more fun, however, was the fact that a squadron of Polish cavalry would appear from one of the two table corners behind the Soviets at some stage during the game, with the only proviso being that the Russians knew which corner they would be coming from.

The Polish CinC pops in to the church: the spire is “off” to show where the Polish FOOs are

The Soviets had, on paper, a very strong force. In addition to a large company of infantry, (three platoons of 40 men each), they boasted a platoon of four machine guns and a whole of company of T-26 tanks: nine of them to be exact. They could also expect air support from Polikarpov bi-planes!

The only problem with the Soviet force was that is would arrive somewhat piecemeal, with only seven of their ten platoons starting the game on-table. The other three would arrive during the game, their appearance governed by the dice.

Initial Positions and Plans

I had deployed my men in three locations. Two platoons guarded the objective out to the left; one platoon, the machine guns and anti-tank guns guarded the objective in the centre; and my dummy Blinds were out to the right in an attempt to bluff the Soviets from punching through and then swinging round into my rear.

The Soviets had a cracking plan. Their seven initial Blinds would conceal all three infantry platoons, the machine guns, the tanks and their commander-in-chief for calling in air support purposes. All their strength would hit the right hand Polish Blinds (covering the objective out on the Polish left), with one platoon of tanks covering their open left flank.

The Game

Unfortunately, although the Soviets had a great plan, something got a bit mixed up in its execution!

Rather than starting the game with seven combat platoons on the table, the Soviets actually deployed only two of their three infantry platoons, one tank platoon, and their two HQ’s, the other Blinds being dummy. As this was a big game, with plenty of unit chips in the bag, this meant that they didn’t get to dice for their reinforcements very often and, as the Dice Gods were against them, didn’t get any extra troops even when they did.

That meant that rather than enjoying a numerical superiority appropriate for attacking dug-in troops (at least 3:1, should be more 5:1) they actually had eighty men and only five tanks against sixty Poles with six decent support weapons.

Each tank has its own little marker because each tank acts on its own chip

After much shaking of heads had taken place about their less than optimum deployment (presumably accompanied by the execution of several of their Big Men: “Shall we save on paperwork, Comrade?”), the Soviets deployed a tank platoon in the middle of the table, and two infantry platoons on their right.

The Poles quickly deployed the troops around both objectives on table: the aim being both to flood the chip bag to delay the Soviet reinforcements and to have as much time as possible to take pot shots at the Russians as they advanced towards contact.

Polish strong point in the centre of the table. Comrade John looks on disapprovingly!

A couple of the Soviet tanks fell victim to Polish anti-tank guns almost immediately, with the others scurrying for cover behind the woods.

Soviets take possession of a wheat field

It now looked as if the centre of the battlefield would settle down to a long, drawn-out war of attrition, with each side taking long range pot shots at each other without ever doing any substantial damage. This I didn’t mind: as the Poles, I wasn’t the one on a time limit!

Polish Anti-Tank Gun

Soviet T-26 crew abandon ship

Unfortunately, Soviet air support then showed up in the form of a rather ancient Polikarpov biplane. After one absolute miss, the pilot managed to drop a bomb right inside the Polish trenches, wiping out one anti-tank gun and a machine gun.

Missed by miles!

Spoke too soon!

This was enough for the Soviet commander to try and break the deadlock by charging out of the field in an attempt to close assault the rather bomb-damaged Polish position.

Unfortunately for the Soviets, there were still a couple of Polish machine gun teams available to defend their trenches, and the Russians were knocked backwards badly damaged.

Knocked back and badly bashed!

This is where the Soviet troops that hadn’t made it onto the table could have swept forward and finished the job.

Maybe.

That Blind in the picture above is a 20-man Polish KOP platoon dug in to the houses at the back of the Polish position. I also still had two anti-tank guns left…which would have made, it to say the least, “interesting”!

But the Soviets hadn’t got their extra men onto the table, and showed no signs of doing so…so a moot point. The salient point, however, was that the Soviets had been held and stopped in the centre of the battlefield.

Meanwhile…

Meanwhile, the Soviets had also been attacking the Polish position defending the other objective marker: moving slowly forward into assault range and then pausing to wait for the reinforcements that would give them enough strength for a successful assault to arrive.

These, however, showed no sign of appearing, so the Soviet commander, his time limit for success rapidly approaching, was forced to try and take the Polish position with what he had. This was unfortunately a bit of a forgone conclusion: forty attacking Soviets versus twenty-four dug-in Poles, and the attack came to nothing.

Commissar looks on as Russian troops are Pinned down

The End

So that, as they say, was that.

Without their reinforcements, the Soviets had been unable to break the Polish lines around either objective, and were now out of time.

To give you an idea of how serious this problem was for the Soviets, this is what they still had left to bring on:

Are we there yet, Comrade Kapitan?

That’s a few cavalry scouts, a platoon of infantry, a platoon of machine guns, and two platoons of light tanks.

Could they have done it with the above? Well, the battle would certainly have been a lot closer than it actually was, particularly as two of those tanks are KhT-26s i.e. flamethrowers!

A lost opportunity but a good game.

Robert Avery

 
 
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Battle recap. Vermont Historical Gamer's Group. South Burlington, VT bunker.

Skirmish at "Grandcamp" from Skirmish Campaigns' book, "Heroes of Omaha and Panzer Lehr"

About ninety American infantry plus one Sherman and a six-man HQ squad versus twenty-four Germans augmented by two MMGs plus one LMG plus one 50cm PAK and one six-man HQ squad.

Americans moved quickly on their left and overwhelmed one German squad. Fierce close range firefights with Germans and Americans stumbling into each other led to decimation on both sides. On the US right flank fire from 1 MMG plus one full strength German squad completely decimated three US squads before they could close the distance.

The Sherman and the PAK exchanged fire with no result. One American squad penetrated the courtyard but then was pinned down by German defenders in the house and could not return fire. On the US left, two squads went down the flank with one squad overwhelming the PAK crew and then both squads moved on to engage in a protracted firefight with the remaining German defenders in the farmhouse.

The Sherman eventually found a safer way to get in HE fire on the building and set it afire. On the 12th and last turn of the game, with the building on fire, Germans were forced to flee. As they fled, a US sniper took out their 5th man, leaving the German squad with only four out of its original complement of eight and thus were rendered "combat ineffective."

All in all, a very accurate historical representation of the intense and deadly nature of infantry vs. infantry combat in the Bocage of Normandy.

Dan Albrecht

 
 
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The Run for Tunis, an effort to capture Tunis in late 1942 following Operation Torch, had failed and since the end of the year, a stalemate had settled on the theatre as both sides paused to re-build their strength. The 5th Panzer Army defending Tunis was being strengthened as was the Allied First Army.

Map showing the campaign area and front in 1942 with allied forced centred around Medjez al Bab and the Medjerda Valley

The Battle for Longstop Hill showing the area for our battle around Sidi Ahmed to the north east

This battle takes place thirty miles from Tunis in the Medjerda Valley, which has the German held peaks of Djebel Ahmera and Djebel Rhar, later known as Longstop Hill after the position just behind the wicket keeper in a cricket match.

On the 22 December the Battle for Longstop Hill commenced with an assault on Djebel Ahmed by the Argylls and two squadrons of the North Irish Horse. By nightfall the Argylls supported by the Surreys had captured the hill but couldn't press the attack to Djebel Rhar the second peak until a small ridge to the north had been cleared of Anti-tank guns and machine gun nest, this ridge was called Sidi Ahmed.

The rule system I`m using for this is I Ain`t Been Shot Mum.

German Forces

  • HQ: Big Man (Level IV), two MG42 teams and one PzB 39 AT rifle team

  • Two Zugs of 3 x Gruppe (8 men, all veterans)

  • AT platoon of 3 x 50mm PaK 38 AT guns

  • Off board support of a battery of 105mm leFH18 Field guns, pre-registered fire support.

Reinforcements of 2 x Panzer IVs and 4 x Panzer IIIs enter after the Turn Card is pulled out three times.

Allied Forces

  • HQ: Big Man (Level IV), Big Man (Level III), one Boys .55 AT Rifle team

  • 4 x 3" mortars

  • Three platoons of 3 x 8 man sections, two veteran and one elite

  • Three troops of armour: 3 x M3 Grants, 3 x Sherman, 3 x M3 Stuarts

To soften up the defenders the Allies get one pre-game stonk.

The Game

The German position is set in a small group of buildings with a small compound to the left flank and other small buildings running through the middle of the deployment area.

A road runs through and off to the rear of the board where their are two small hills, one covers the right hand flank and the other to the rear of the left hand flank.

These two hills have an AT gun dug in on each and the right hand hill has a MG42 dug in. The buildings to the centre has a German Zug entrenched with a Big Man (Level IV). The small compound on the left has the other Zug and the MG42 with firing positions cut in and reinforced walls. The last AT gun and the AT gun team is positioned behind the compound looking down the road.

All German units set up on blinds with two dummy Blinds positioned in the centre of the defences.

The Allies have to advance across open ground towards the enemy with no cover at all but the dust churned up by the tanks. The tanks advance to the front with the M3 Grants to advance on the hill to the German right flank with the Sherman and Stuarts to attack the centre and compound with a veteran infantry platoon following close behind them. The other two infantry platoons are to attack the compound with a Big Man (Level III) and the mortars giving support.

The tanks made good the charge towards the German defences managing to get halfway across the stretch of open ground before two of the AT guns opened up on the Sherman`s,knocking out one and immobilising another. The Grants instantly returned fire with their hull mounted guns forcing the crew of the AT gun on the hill to their front to abandon the gun.

The infantry advancing on the compound came under fire forcing them to go to ground and, for the moment, stalling the attack.

The M3 Stuarts came out from their Blind to fire HE at the compound catching it on fire. The defenders had no choice but to abandon part of the building.

But the AT gun on the hill behind knocked out one of the Stuarts and the AT gun behind the compound knocked out another. With the building on fire and the defenders in disarray coming under ever increasing infantry fire from two infantry platoons which silenced the MG42 position and drove the defenders back into the courtyard on the opposite flank, the M3 Grants charged up the hill and over ran the AT gun and the MG42 position crushing the two guns.

It was then that the Allied 3"mortars decimated the AT gun on the hill behind the compound leaving just the one AT gun left intact behind the compound which had new targets in the form of M3 Grants on the hill.

The Zug in the middle opened up and fired at the advancing infantry behind the Shermans but with tanks on their flank they were over run in no time.

The AT gun behind the compound fired three times at the Grant with no results before one of the allied infantry platoons charged them from the rear and captured the position. With the compound surrounded and on fire the remaining Germans, with the sound of there own tanks just the other side of the ridge, surrendered. With the road captured and the guns knocked out the Panzers were pulled back.

With Sidi Ahmed captured the push for Djebel Rhar could now commence. By the 27 April the whole of Longstop Hill and Djebel Rhar had been secured. Longstop was the last great natural barrier barring movement towards Tunis.

On the 7th May, British armour rolled into Tunis, taking Axis forces buy surprise. By 15th May all Axis forces had been cut off and soon surrendered with more than 250,000 taken prisoner, ending the campaign in North Africa.

Carojon