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Szack, Eastern Poland, 28th – 29th September 1939.

This game is taken from the TFL supplement: The September War Part Two.

Part of the narrative in the booklet is thus:

Soviet troops consisting of the 112th Infantry Regiment, some 13.000 soldiers supported by fifteen T-26 tanks and fifteen guns, arrived at the village of Szack on September 28th.
The Polish force near the village numbered 4.000 men of the Border Protection Corp, including General Wilhelm Orlik- Rückermann, and sixteen anti-tank guns.

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

The Polish troops now launched an all-out counterattack: covered by their artillery, the soldiers of the Border Protection Corps charged at their enemies with bayonets fixed. By the afternoon the village was back in Polish hands.

The game, played last Friday, takes up the story from that point on. Charged with the task of retaking the village the Soviets again attacked in force. Dave again brought his Polish figures and was ably assisted by Barry whilst Steve brought his early Russian troops to be used by myself, Richard and Bruce. Steve and Archie elect to play umpire and tea masher.

A beautiful set of cards

As ever scale is 20 mm and we played on a 1.5 sized version of the scenario giving us a table width of six feet and a length of just over nine. Because of this increase in the grand scale we again adopted the use of the Lard; one lard being the equivalent of 11/2 inches.

The Russians all deployed on Blinds and had a couple of false Blinds available to them. The deployment area was the 1st foot and a half in across the entire southern base edge whilst the Polish were considered to be in the process of recovering the lost ground and so only 60% of their force was available to start the game under hidden Blinds with the other 40% being available upon the turn of the Polish Blinds card.

The terrain was mainly open vast areas of clear space for the Polish troops to sweep with their machine guns and anti-tank guns; the majority of the wooded area being around the two roads on the on the Russian baseline.

Having chosen their objectives play began and each side took things rather cautiously. The Russians had deployed tanks and a couple of Blinds on the two roads and made quick headway towards a village. The downside of that was that they became within auto spotting range, exposing the vehicles and disclosing the Blinds. Behind them and in the trees were their infantry and support weapons.

The Russians had the disadvantage of not having their vehicles netted into a radio net and in that respect every vehicle was its own unit waiting to be activated upon the turn of its individual card. This took a bit of getting used to at every game we've played so far have allowed AFVs to move by platoon but the Soviet play soon got used to it.

A couple of Tea Breaks later and the Soviets had brought out most of their infantry combat the mass of anti-tank guns that had set up around the Polish objective, the farm next to the church. Those guns had been pretty effective from the off, one gun disabling the forward T-26 on the left flank. It took the draw of an heroic Soviet leader card to have the local tank commander open up his turret, climb down off the tank with his magic spanner in hand and ‘repair ' the temporary fault preventing movement and thereby release the vehicle back into play. For it was certainly needed. It was looking bad for the Russians with all that open terrain to cross to get to their tormentors.

A Soviet T-26 takes damage

And then it happened as if by magic: Steve drew from the pack the Human Wave card enabling all the left hand flank Soviet infantry platoons to join together in one suicidal dash towards Polish defences. Whilst not making a particularly great movement throw a lead section did reach the walls of the farmyard and Polish anti-tank guns. They had support within distance and annihilated the gunners who put up minimal resistance against the organic onslaught. Soviets lost a couple of men in exchange for eliminating their worst threat. Technically at that point the Soviets had one having completed their mission of capturing one objective intact and having no hostile troops within close proximity however either by luck or judgement we continue to carry on.

The Soviet Human Wave attack is successful in clearing the farmyard of Polish anti-tank guns

The Soviet right flank showing the advance of the three T-26 tanks and the Polish infantry platoon defending the cemetery. The objective is indicated by the streetlamp adjacent to the cemetery entrance

Several opportunities for Soviet air support came and went as did chances for the Polish to obtain their off-board artillery, the forward observation officer frustrated at the time being taken to deliver the first ranging shot. That was disappointing as the table was festooned with Soviet infantry squads spread out in the open across a large area-a very tempting artillery target indeed but alas no reply from the battery.

On the right flank Soviet armour had advanced, probing towards the village with three T-26 light tanks cautiously approaching a previously located Polish infantry platoon in the buildings across the road from the church. Using a combination of move and fire techniques they advanced, spraying everything they could see with their machine guns but, given the amount of cover the Polish troops enjoyed, the results of that harvest were few and far between. Very rapidly one of the tanks was immobilised by fire.

The infantry on that flank had remained in the wards on the southern edge but cautiously advanced to give some belated fire support to their tanks; who were close to gaining the second objective. The Polish players so that dispatched a section of infantry across the road into the cemetery to contest the second objective in the churchyard. That infantry unit became the focus of firepower on that flank as it provided the only barrier to total success for the Soviets.

A view of the church and the cemetery with the adjacent objective number one. The Soviet T-26 tank is engaged in a firefight with the Polish infantry section to the top of the picture. They remained a thorn in the side for a significant period until defeated by weight of firepower from supporting Soviet armoured fighting vehicles .

Over on the left flank a Polish platoon had deployed in the north-westerly farmstead on the southern side of the road and they rapidly engaged the swarms of Soviet infantry who, following their mass attack, had remained milling about in the open without orders. The slaughter was relentless and every available gun was trained on the Polish threat in the farmyard. The firefight was significantly in favour of the Polish behind their cover and slowly Soviet losses in the centre and left increased to an almost critical level.

The first objective was located in the central farmstead south of the main road. This is where the battery of three Polish anti-tank guns had set up. They were subsequently overrun and destroyed by a Soviet Human Wave attack. The remnants of that attack are now seen in around the farmyard, with some precariously remaining in the open and taking heavy fire from the barns at the top of the photograph.

We had played for about 2 1/2 hours now with limited beverages being consumed: the game was that intense!

However looking at the board after the heroic Polish section had finally succumbed to the weight of firepower on the right flank and decided to bug out leaving the objective undefended it was agreed that the Russians had a achieved a complete victory albeit as some heavy cost. 'Uncle Joe' didn't mind as he had got millions more men ready to run into the maelstrom that would follow for the next four years.

Tim Whitworth

Soviet infantry sections in the south-east woods

 
 
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My second game at this year’s Operation Market Larden (the Evesham Lardy day) was a rather exciting game of I Ain’t Been Shot, Mum. The scenario, written and umpired by Mike Whitaker, involved a clash between British and German reconnaissance forces somewhere in Italy in around 1943.

The Morning Game: Noddy in Action

I had seen people having a good time playing the game in the day’s morning session, so was very much looking forward to getting stuck in. Friend Dave had been one of the three players, and although he wouldn’t give me any clues as to what the scenario involved, he did advise that I played the Germans: something to do with superior firepower!

So I played the commander of a British reconnaissance force who were responding to reports of lots of sudden German activity along the main road from A to B…I can’t remember the exact location! My mission was to investigate and see what was going on. At my disposal I had a strong platoon of reconnaissance infantry consisting of three sections and an HQ element that included one Vickers machine gun, all supported by a platoon of Universal Carriers.

The British end of the table

As can be seen in the pictures, the table featured a long straight road running between two small villages. Away in front of me to the north-east was a villa on an area of high ground; near the cross roads were some wheat fields (waist high crops) surrounded by a hedge and a stone wall; otherwise typical open Italian terrain.

The Game

My plan was simple. As I had no idea what the Germans were up to, the first thing to do was to find out. Under Blinds, my carriers shot forward straight down the road followed by a platoon of infantry. My rationale was that the carriers were quick enough to get out of there if they met anything too heavy, but could also provide a base of fire to allow a bit of ‘pin and manoeuvre’ with the following infantry. I also wanted to own the centre of the table as fast as possible rather than being forced to place catch up later on.

In response, the Germans moved a wave of Blinds onto the table from their end: one thrust being from the high ground by the villa, the other towards the far field surrounded by the stone wall.

The carriers quickly positioned themselves in the grove of trees just to the left of the crossroads, reporting that they could see something down the road on the other side of the junction. My platoon, still under a Blind, headed forward to investigate, rapidly coming across the downed wreckage of a small plane (probably a Storch). There were no bodies in the wreckage, however, but a trail of crushed corn leading into the far field towards the German baseline.

All became clear: downed plane, secret plans obviously on board, officers carrying plans escaping through the corn, go get the secret plans!

This was all very well, but those German Blinds were awfully close to the other end of the field.

Ah well, “in for a penny” and all that: my infantry platoon, still under a Blind, plunged into the cornfield and headed after the escaping secret plans.

Things now happened very, very fast indeed.

The picture above actually shows the situation after the clash that immediately took place. To summarise:

  • my platoon moved forward to stone wall and captured two German officers plus aforementioned secret plans

  • before I could do anything else, German Blinds revealed themselves as a small platoon of infantry (just two squads) but backed up by four SdKfz 250 half-tracks: three with 20mm autocannons, one command version with an MMG

  • After a horrendous round of autocannon fire, my platoon was Pinned then close assaulted by the Germans. A huge melee broke out (my 24 Pinned men versus 16 Jerries) ending up with my platoon being sent reeling backwards having lost both the fight and possession of the officers/secret plans

I hadn’t been able to destroy any halftracks during the melee, but had done them some damage and quite badly beaten up the German platoon

The observant amongst you will have noticed in the picture above that I have another of my Blinds approaching the wall. I was definitely “in for a pound” now, as this was another of my platoons, who immediately moved forward and close assaulted the Germans themselves.

Meanwhile, however, my HQ element had joined the carriers in the small grove by the crossroads, and set up the Vickers gun to protect my left flank.

Vickers plus company commander on the left flank

This proved a very sensible, may prescient, thing to do, as the Germans were sending infantry down from the villa towards the flank of the fight in the cornfield. The Vickers opened fire at the side of the German column at what was close range for the machine gun, and one German squad lost all interest in continuing the fight, retreating back to the villa leaving a line of grey-clad bodies behind it.

Meanwhile, my second platoon of infantry had begun their assault. Another horrendously costly close combat took place…but this time finishing in my favour with the wall, officers and secret plans all ending up in my possession.

Those pesky half-tracks were still there, however, and pouring fire into my men, now crouched behind the stone wall desperately waiting for the carrier I had brought up to move forward, pick up the prisoners and secret plans, and then all to bug out as fast as possible.

The combined fire of the half-tracks proved too much, however, and my platoon evaporated under cannon fire, leaving two downed German officers (clutching the secret plans) frantically calling upon their kamarades to cease fire for long enough for them to climb over the wall!

I had one more trick up my sleeve, however: PIAT teams.

Now the PIAT is not a very good anti-tank weapon. It has a short range, is difficult to load, and packs only a middling punch. I had, however, by now managed to get two of the three PIAT teams at my disposal (one from the infantry, one from the carriers) into a position from which I could shoot at the two lead half-tracks. It took three or four shots, but one went up in smoke and the other’s crew abandoned their severely damaged vehicle.

Meanwhile, my Vickers gun had managed to disperse the other German infantry platoon coming down from the hill…and my third infantry platoon had charged forward from its “back” position (two up, one back: always have a reserve!) and re-taken the wall, officers and secret plans.

Wall re-taken, two half-tracks down, PIAT team in the right foreground about to turn round and deal with a third

We paused for a second to assess the situation.

The British had possession of the wall and secret plans. They had about a platoon and half’s worth of men. In support, they still had the three Carriers and the Vickers. And two PIATs.

The Germans had two half-tracks (one in quite a vulnerable forward position) and…oh, no infantry left. Yes: all the German infantry had been removed from the table either as a result of the Vickers on the flank or the four close combats at the wall.

It was victory for the British. The officers and secret plans were bundled into a Carrier and whisked off to HQ whilst the two German half-tracks presumably beat a hasty retreat.

That had been a tough game. Okay, so I had the plans, but I had lost most of two platoons of infantry to get them: a costly exercise indeed.

My thanks to Mike for running what was an excellent game, and to my two opponents John and Bob: my usual apologies for my playing style!

Robert Avery

 
 
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Tonight’s game of Operation Sealion: scenario six, The Drive Inland.

It is Day S2 of the German invasion, and the reconnaissance battalion of the Wehrmacht 26 Infantry Division is heading towards the sleepy village of Herstmonceaux.

The reconnaissance unit is light in vehicles and most of the troops are mounted on bicycles ‘liberated’ from a sports shop in Pevensey.

So far British resistance has been patchy comprising of pockets of Home Guard and the occasional unit of regulars but the British are now frantically attempting to form a solid defensive line to the north of the landing beaches.

What will this day hold in store for Hauptmann Ralph Sturmer and his company?

The Game

The Germans entered the table not under Blinds as it was determined within the preamble that the British had full sight of the approach route with their FOO spotter in the village church tower.

Entering the north edge of the table with a maximum of two platoons per move the Germans initially brought on bicycle infantry and sought to establish a forward position within the church cemetery, surrounded by its stonewalls.

The second platoon made a concerted dash along the tree lined pathway towards the north east barn in attempt to outflank the village and arrive at the two farms adjacent to the targeted exit point on the eastern side of the table.

There was no response from the British at this point. However the German bicycle troops in the cemetery did locate a British pillbox at the entrance to the village.

Failing all their attempts to identify the contents of the pillbox, the Germans were surprised to receive fire from their flank from a section of Home Guard troops in the orchard near the church.

Turn 2 saw a further platoon of bicycle troops appear, along with some elements of support including a 50mm mortar and an anti-tank rifle.

The German outflanking attempt continued but just as they felt they were making headway the German cyclists encountered a full British Home Guard platoon taking cover behind the hedge row. This immediately brought them to close combat and they were routed back in the direction of the north east barn.

The next turn the Germans brought on the armoured cars and attempted to rush down the High Street to the centre of the village. However the British had got something waiting for them. An ace up their sleeve. The British brought out their Northover Projector into play and it promptly disabled the lead German armoured car.

The Germans took evasive action as a result of these two setbacks with little headway being made yet more bicycle riding platoons having been brought into the table along with company headquarters and the remaining support weapons.

It looked like the German advance may have been brought to an early standstill with them electing to sit on the high ground and set up the machine guns to cover the village.

It was not to be an easy life and the contents of the pillbox made themselves noticed by putting an anti-tank rifle round through the next armoured car!

As they scrambled to get a grip on the village they received fire from all quarters. The first armoured car had only been temporarily immobilised and it set off to drive through the village to deal with a British Vickers machine-gun that has set up with a clear line of fire able to sweep the German entry point. Indeed it caused great disruption and had to be dealt with accordingly.

Somewhat warily the armoured car car crew set off to deal with the Vickers however they were met with a blast of small arms fire at their open top vehicle from some British regulars at the rear of the village. This resulted in the armoured car racing off the table in reaction to the surprise and never to be seen again during the course of the game.

This is a scenario that calls for the British to set up kill zones and overlapping fields of fire with their limited resources to be able to have any effect on the German advance. However we were successful and after 2 1/2 hours playing time and several cups of tea the Germans had lost almost 50% of their number mainly as a result of the British off table artillery getting a bearing on their position and dropping a ferocious barrage upon them.

Nonetheless a wonderful evening was had by all and we look forward to playing it again.

Not going to give away any more of the secrets contained within this game and thereby won’t spoil it for anyone who wishes to purchase the scenario book and play it through for themselves!

Here are some more pictures:

Tim Whitworth

 
 
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Dawn breaks once again over Mike Whitaker's fantastic Omaha beach game at Posh Lard. Many thanks for a great day Mike ... although I think you were relishing those German MG Bonus cards a little too much!

James Tree

 
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Fellow Lardy Desmondo Darkin travelled abroad to play an impressive game of IABSM put on by Paul Spence.

The action represented the assault on Sword Beach on D-Day and, I think you’ll agree, looks amazing.

SWORD Beach..... East Yorkshire and 13/18th Hussars approach the beach.

The landing

We are ashore! Lost DD tanks on the way in but we have cleared a lane for the Funnies to move to the seawall. Andy has destroyed the bunkers in WN20. The Germans are about to open up with small arms.

Off the beach at last. Infantry pouring off in the follow up waves and heading for the streets of Ouistreham. Andy is further behind but destroyed the opposition in WN 20.

The East Yorkshire Regiment drive into the town. No.4 Commandos were sacrificed to keep the Germans from concentrating fire on my exit. Andy has no opposition, all Green Fields and Beyond for his boys!

Game by Paul Spence

Photos from Desmondo Darkin & Paul Spence

 
 
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Great game recreating night assault by Americans. Game was historically accurate with Americans making some initial progress but timely arrival of Panzergrenadiers in halftracks (plus some great dice rolling by two Panzer IVs!!!) forced the Americans to call retreat.

Americans lead by Brent Coulthard and Brett McLay. Germans by Steve Smith. Used "Sharpening up IABSM" Command Cards by Derek Hodge which were easy to use and very understandable. Kept overall random flavor of IABSM unit activation but allowed a little more leadership ability.

Dan Albrecht

 
 
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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