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Time for another game of I Ain’t Been Shot, Mum. This time, as a change, we were to fight late war as opposed to our usual early war Poland and France encounters. As today was going to be a three-hander, I set up a scenario involving a large Soviet force (the Two) attempting to force a gap in a ridge held by the Germans (the One).

Rather than this being a static battle, with the Germans established in defensive positions as the Soviets slowly grind towards them, I wanted to add a bit of momentum, so the Germans would also start the game on the edge of the table and would need to advance onto the ridge/into the gap in order to hold it against the advancing Russians. The ridge/gap was much, much closer to the Germans, so they could easily get their first, but it just added a bit of oomph to the situation to make them have to move forward as well.

The Gap is where the road passes between the line of hills

The view from the German end of the table

Although it’s difficult to see from the pictures, above, the Soviets (who would be played by John and Dave) had a good six foot of table to cover before they even hit the ridge and gap. What is also quite difficult to see is how much the table slopes down from the ridge towards the Russian start line.

The Forces

This was a chance to use some of my painted-but-never-used late war kit, so the sides would be somewhat eclectic in nature.

The Soviets

HQ Element

  • Big Man Level IV

  • Sniper

1st Platoon

  • Big Man Level III

  • 3 x Rifle Squad (8 men each)

2nd Platoon

  • Big Man Level III

  • 3 x Rifle Squad (8 men each)

3rd Platoon

  • Big Man Level III

  • 3 x Rifle Squad (8 men each)

MMG Platoon

  • Big Man Level II

  • 4 x MMG Team (5 crew each)

  • 4 x Lend-Lease Dodge Trucks

Attached Engineers

  • Big Man Level III in Gaz Jeep

  • 3 x Engineer Squad (each 8 men plus a 2-man flamethrower team)

ATTACHED ARMOUR

Recon Platoon

  • Big Man Level III

  • 3 x BA-64 armoured car

Tank Platoon

  • Big Man Level III

  • 5 x KV-85

Tank Hunter Platoon

  • Big Man Level III

  • 3 x SU-100

Ridiculous Attachment for a Laugh

  • 1 x SU-152 SP Artillery

The Germans

HQ Platoon

  • Big Man Level IV

  • Big Man Level II

  • 2 x Panzerschrek Team (two men each)

  • 1 x Horsch Field Car

  • 2 x MMG Team (5 crew each)

  • 2 x Kettengrad

1st Platoon

  • Big Man Level III

  • 2 x Rifle Squad (8 men each)

  • 2 x Steyr Car as transport

2nd Platoon

  • Big Man Level III

  • 2 x Rifle Squad (8 men each)

  • 2 x Steyr Car as transport

Heavy Weapons Platoon

  • 3 x 81mm Mortar

  • 3 x Kettengrad

Anti-Tank Platoon

  • 3 x PaK 40 (5 crew each)

  • 3 x Opel Mautier

Scouts

  • Big Man Level III

  • 1 x Scout Squad (10 men)

Attached PanzerJaeger Platoon

  • Big Man Level III

  • 4 x Jagdpanzer IV

Attached Artillery

  • 1 x Wespe SP Artillery

  • 1 x Support Vehicle

The Game Begins

The game began with the Germans rushing forwards towards the ridge. First things first: get those mortars and the Wespe deployed and ready to fire. This was all very well, but unfortunately I forgot to put the Wespe’s chip into the deck, so the damn thing sat there whilst it’s crew fiddled about with whatever for most of the game!

The German Mortars are Good to Go!

The Soviets also flooded onto the table: there did seem to be an army of Jo Stalin’s on their way towards me!

Things were going quite well for the Germans: the right chips were coming out of the bag, allowing me to get set up nice and early on. I had to guess which side the Soviets would deploy their armour, so went for the right hand side for my anti-tank guns. The models, by the way, are PaK 38s not PaK 40s, but we fired them as PaK 40s.

As it happens, the right side was, indeed, the right side: my anti-tank gun crews could see three SU-100s advancing towards them, so opened fire immediately.

Ridiculous!

My first few volleys were very successful: one SU-100 had it’s main gun knocked out, and one was blown to bits. Two down, one to go: and the anti-tank gunners congratulated themselves on a job that was going well.

Unfortunately, I had forgotten about the “ridiculous attachment” that I had given the Soviets. With its fire zeroed in by the sniper (we allowed this, but obviously he couldn’t snipe and FOO at the same time), the SU-152 opened fire with its horrendously huge gun.

It’s first round fell short, but it’s next landed right on top of two of the anti-tank guns, blowing them and their crews right off the table!

Meanwhile, the Soviet KV-85 platoon had advanced quickly up the centre of the table, ignoring anything in their path. This included the wood just near the main road leading up to the gap, which they motored through as if the fir trees were made of balsa wood.

Unfortunately for them, however, I had a little surprise waiting for them on the other side of the wood: my scout squad was dug in to fox holes and, as soon as the beasts appeared, hurled sticky bombs and grenades and all sorts of other nasty, dangerous things at them.

The tanks stopped dead, bits knocked off some of them, and tried to machine gun the scouts with their secondary weapons. The scouts proved very resilient to fire, however, and the next few turns would see a bit of a duel develop, but with the advantage slightly to the scouts.

It’s also worth mentioning at this point that other Soviet Blinds were swarming forward. On my right hand side, one Blind headed speedily towards where my anti-tank guns had been; on the left, two Blinds inched their way forward to where one of my infantry platoons and both medium machine guns lay waiting for their arrival. I was in no hurry to spot them off their Blinds: the chip bag was pretty full, so it was going to take quite a lot of game time for the Soviet Blinds chip to arrive!

Meanwhile, my Jagdpanzer IVs had revealed themselves and taken a few pot shots at the KV-85s that weren’t covered by our own scouts. One KV-85 was knocked out.

Finally, one Soviet Blind arrived on the right hand side of my line. It revealed itself as an infantry platoon plus a squad of engineers with a flamethrower (yikes!) and swept over what had been my gun line and close assaulted one of the Jagdpanzer IVs.

The Jagdpanzer IV survived, reversing away from the Russian at top speed. This allowed me to fire my mortars at the Soviet infantry: neatly framed on the ridgeline against the sky. It was only just outside minimum range, but I was firing directly, and dropped a lovely little barrage right on top of them.

On top of that, I had a platoon of infantry that decimated one Soviet squad, and prepared to the same to the others. Apart from losing my final anti-tank gun to an enemy infantry squad close assault, I reckoned that I probably had that flank held, and would eventually push the few remaining Soviet footsoldiers out.

The Climax of the Battle

Meanwhile, everyone was screaming at the Russians on the other side of the battlefield to stop dithering around and get moving forward. So incensed by this harassment was the platoon commander under one Soviet Blind that he abandoned all thought and launched an immediate charge forward.

This was a crazy thing to do, as my two machine gun teams were both on overwatch. I waited until I could see the whites of their eyes and opened fire, and the Soviets were slaughtered on the spot, all hope of closing to close combat gone.

As you can see, the Soviet infantry was so keen to get to grips with me that they rushed straight past one of my Jagdpanzers, which also ignored them!

In the centre, as well, the KV-85s moved forward, now deciding just to ignore the scouts in front of them. Two of their number took fatal hits: all from the Jagdpanzer with its backside to the Soviet infantry…it had now taken out three of the hefty beasts. My machine guns then got off another volley, further hammering the unfortunate Soviets, and I reckoned I had the game if not won, then certainly on the way to being won.

Then disaster struck. Out came the Soviet Heroic Leader chip, and the Soviet platoon leader who had been responsible for the death of so many of his men, shamed by his stupidity, grabbed the flamethrower off the engineer next to him and charged forward on his own, hurling himself into the path of the German machine gun facing him.

He was shot down, but not before taking out the machine gun team in front of him. I was down to one machine gun to hold that flank.

Then in swept the other Spviet platoon, through the gap where the missing machine gun was supposed to be. I had a platoon to hold them off with, and a massive close combat broke out: superior Soviet numbers countered by the fact that I was defending.

The Dice Gods, however, had deserted me. I lost almost half of my men without causing the Soviets a single casualty!

And that, as they say, was that. We were out of time, but the Soviets had smashed in the German line, even if it had been a truly Pyrrhic victory. The Soviets had lost two of their three infantry platoons, three of their five KV-85s and one SU-100. The Germans hadn’t lost any of their Jagdpanzers, but had just run out of infantry to support them with.

Aftermath

It had been a great game, with the Soviets really only able to use their superior numbers right at the very end. As one of the Russian commanders pointed out, he might have lost an infantry platoon charging straight at ready machine guns, but that had turned out to be the right thing to do: without that, his other platoon would have had no gap to charge through.

I could have kept on playing, and might have achieved some kind of a draw, but I’m thinking that at this stage of the war, the Germans would have retreated rather than fighting it out to the last: after all, there are plenty more Soviets on the way!

I also like to think that my scout squad got away!

Robert Avery

 
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This game was inspired by the Operation Martlet CoC campaign and will use the CoC/IABSM variant using dice, not cards. Des put the game on in his shed o'war using his fantastic 15mm kit.

We played a full three-company attack by the Duke of Wellington regiment supported by tanks and Divisional artillery on the 12th SS positions. The British will need to secure Le Grande Ferme, St Nicholas Ferme and push on towards Rauray. Tessel Woods will be on the flank and an eye kept on that as it was defended by elements of the Panzer Lehr.

Here are some RAF photos from the 6am overflight:

Pictures of the Duke of Wellington Regiment and support moving up to the start line.

The British players have indicated pre-game stonk targets, and “The Off” is at 10.00am GMT.

Update: mist and traffic jam delaying the attack (one player missed his bus!).

The Briefings

Below you will find the two briefings given to the players: downloadable pdfs.

British briefing

German briefing

The view from Tessel Woods. Le Grande Ferme is neatest. The British start line is on the left.

The Game Itself

A terrific day of gaming and banter yesterday with The Fuller, The Bombardier and Maureen taking commands.

The Duke of Wellington Regiment successfully breached the 26th Panzer Grenadier line, but at some loss. 40 infantry were killed or wounded, but tank losses were light, with only two abandoned and one brewed up. German losses were heavy in the infantry, with no losses in the supporting AFVs (more on that later)

The British players had no plan, were late and brilliantly (but accidentally) mirrored the command of this regiment on the real day! The German player had a far better grasp of what was needed, but had very little chance of defending everywhere. The siting of his MMG's was crucial, and use of the farmhouses, and orchards. The fields gave great fire zones, but revealing the defenders units too early could just bring down concentrated fire from the British. A delicate balancing act was required.

To all our surprise, The Bombardier and Maureen used British tactics, and stated deploying off blinds and using the 2" mortars to lay smoke screens. Infantry and tanks all steadily moved up, and the The Bombardier had great success moving on St Nicholas Ferme. Maureen was determined to clear the orchard in front of Le Grande Ferme and deployed a platoon to do so. In the ensuing action two MG34 teams were eliminated, but the platoon was somewhat damaged from blundering into them and instigating Close Combat.

Things were still looking good for the British as they had two companies to work with and a squadron of tanks, so a gradual move forward, eliminating all defenders bit by bit was working. Maureen decided to throw a right hook and released the two troops of tanks past Le Grande Ferme and engage the farm from the flank. At that very same time, the reinforcements that the Germans had been trying to get released and on table made an appearance. Five Panther tanks deployed off Blind and looked menacingly at the oncoming British Blinds. In a series of die rolls The Fuller could not make his mind what to do with his precious Panthers, while Maureen took one look and ordered a general "redeployment” away from the Panthers!

The fight for Le Grande Ferme continued, but it was now a numbers game as the British piled on fire from all the platoons. St Nicholas Ferme was also receiving a lot of fire, while in the centre the tanks engaged the dug in Panzer Grenadiers but were careful to stay out of Panzerfaust range. Bit by bit the German defenses were eliminated. The Panthers still were the concern for the British, and the combat area around Le Grande Ferme became a stalemate. The British tanks would not advance in the face of the five Panthers, while The Fuller held back his Panther tanks, menacing either attack (The German player had picked an Armoured Bonus Card and was harboring it for a sudden rush on the British).

At that point Panzer Meyer ordered the redeployment of the Panthers to help stop Operation Epsom (which was now underway) and the British players looked on in confusion as the five Panthers moved off table(where are they going, are they being moved off table to reappear?) Their tiny minds were a whirlpool of uncertainty!

Near the end...

With the withdrawal of the Panthers, the German commander realized that there was only one chance to keep his command intact and withdraw to Rauray. He needed a diversion, and it came in the form of a halftrack zug from HQ, deploying on the main road from Rauray. It appeared on table and battered the British platoon that was working its way down the road toward Rauray. The Bombardier was suddenly recalled to HQ (Mrs. B does not like him staying out after dark…..) and so I stepped in to command his forces. I immediately pushed another platoon and tanks towards the far left baseline. There was no German defenders remaining and it was clear that the time had now come for the 26th Panzer Grenadier Regiment to withdraw.

The Fuller used his halftracks to lay down covering fire and the infantry began to move off table. Snipers were left to play havoc on the British troops following up.

It was a great day of gaming and it was so pleasing to see the dice version of IABSM stand up to a big game test like this.

Uncaptioned Pics

Iain Fuller & Desmondo Darkin

A fine gathering of GentlemAn wargamers

 
 
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It's dawn on 10 July 1943 in western Russia, where the German II Battalion, 507th Infantry Regiment of the 292nd Infanterie Division, with support from II Battalion, 18th Panzer Regiment, 18th Panzer Division, is on the attack, looking to evict the Soviet 1019th Rifle Regiment, which has been whittled down to less than company strength! Shirokoye Bulotev itself is a bit shell-shocked, having changed hands several times, this is the sixth battle for this very ground in less than a week.

It's tough to gauge who has the advantage in this fight; the Germans are veteran troops, and though they're understrength, they still have plenty of heavy weapons, and are buttressed by a platoon of Panzer Mk IIIs. Additionally, they're commander has commandeered three armored halftracks to give his infantry some added mobility. The Soviets are worn down conscripts, vastly understrength, but they've got quite a few heavy weapons themselves, and they recently took in three T-34 refugees from the fight in Kastenwald, plus the Germans have a lot of open ground to cover in order to take the ultimate objective, the Collective Farm.


I am playing this game because I have the good fortune of being buddies with Steve of the "Sound Officer's Call" blog, and he is running a "Firestorm Ponyri" campaign. He is playing some games with his local buddies, but was unable to play all of the games himself; rather than simply 'dice off' for results of campaign fights they were unable to play on the table top, Steve asked if anyone in the blogosphere wanted to help, so here I am.

It's been a little bit of an issue that I literally just sold off a bunch of German late war gear, so I'm a bit understrength, but Steve is working with me to make sure the fights I get match up with the forces I have. This is the first fight I've played, and I hope it wasn't too much a pain for him, I certainly want to keep going! First, I love to play games; second, it's been way too long since I've played any Eastern Front games (maybe eight years or so?); and lastly, I'm a solo gamer that still craves some camaraderie, so whenever I can help another wargamer out, I'm always quick to jump at it.

Overview

North is up

Running north-south in the center of the table is a significant piece of terrain in this fight, a railway on a raised embankment, which is high enough to mask the movement of tanks. The overall objective for each side is the Collective Farm, which is at bottom right. There are patches of woods in the northwest (top left) and southwest (bottom left), which will feature prominently in the upcoming fight. There are a couple dirt roads running up to the railway embankment, the eastern of which also branches in/around the Collective Farm, though they're pretty much here for decoration as pretty much the entire map consists of crop fields, i.e., drivable terrain. I've done what I can with craters and 'rough ground' patches I'm using to try and show burnt fields in order to reflect the fact this patch of ground has seen more than its fair share of fighting.

Orders of Battle

The orders of battle for this fight:

The Germans

  • Commanding Officer

  • 5 x Rifle Platoon

  • 1 x MG Platoon (4 x MG-42)

  • 1 x Mortar Platoon (4 x 8.0cm tube)

  • 1 x Infantry Gun Platoon (2 x 7.5cm howitzer)

  • 1 x Anti-Tank Gun Platoon (2 x PaK-38 5.0cm ATG, with prime mover)

  • 1 x Armored Carrier Platoon (3 x Sdkfz 251 halftrack)

  • 1 x Truck Platoon (3 x Opel Blitz)

  • 1 x Panzer Platoon (5 x Pz Mk IIIJ)

The Soviets

  • Commanding Officer

  • 3 x Rifle Platoon

  • 1 x Machine Gun Platoon (3 x Maxim .30-cal MG)

  • 1 x Mortar Platoon (3 x 82mm tube)

  • 1 x Anti-Tank Rifle Platoon (3 x PTRD)

  • 1 x Anti-Tank Gun Platoon (2 x 45mm ATG)

  • 1 x Tank Platoon (3 x T-34/76)

Introduction

The railway embankment terrain feature essentially turns the fight for Shirokoye Bulotev into two separate fights. I actually deliberated long and hard on how best to reflect this, based on what the Soviet defense would/should look like.

The Germans are attacking from the northwest, so the patch of trees at top left will serve as both their base of fire for support elements, and their line of departure for assault elements. My initial inclination was to put the railway embankment at the far left edge of the table, and let that be the German start line, with the Germans having to skyline themselves, then cross an entire table consisting of crop fields, devoid of cover, with the Soviets dug-in at far right, even not occupying the Collective Farm (which would have been in about the same location as it is now, maybe a little further left), but prepared to counterattack it with their tank platoon, maybe even carrying a platoon of tank riders, should the German assault make it that far.

However, the Gamemaster informed me there needed to be a definite differentiation between the Veteran German force and the Conscript Soviet force. So, that made me consider not only how the German and Soviet forces would perform on the tabletop (in the event, the Germans had some real problems keeping their troops moving and getting their ample support weapons to perform effectively, despite this, and I probably let the Soviets get away with some actions that were probably a bit too crafty for beat-up conscripts), but also how they would deploy on the tabletop.

So I decided that the 'skyline the Germans with the railway embankment' defense was too tactically advantageous for the beat-up Soviet conscripts, so I put them on this table and started them with the classic rookie mistake (and one I regularly make in wargames, anyway, just look what the Germans do!) of splitting their forces, no unity of effort, no concentration. Let's take a look.

The map again, this time with troops.

ll the Germans are in the northwest (top left), either set up and ready to support, or sitting tight, ready to advance. The Soviets are scattered across the table, trying to defend everything: the Soviet 1st Platoon is at bottom left, in the woods, with their Machine Gun Platoon and Anti-Tank Gun Platoon. The Soviet 2nd Platoon is dug in on the embankment (center) with their Anti-Tank Rifle Platoon. The Soviet 3rd Platoon is dug-in to the ruins of the Collective Farm (bottom right), and the Soviet Tank Platoon is dug-in at right/top right. That's right, another aspect of the 'conscript' classification is that the Soviets are not keeping their tanks for a mobile reserve, but are using them in static defensive positions. In their defense, the hull-down emplacements will make them very hard to detect and hit, and the German armor and infantry will have to skyline itself coming over the railway embankment, but the problems are that 1) once over, the Germans will be practically on top of them, and 2) the T-34s will not be a factor in the fighting west of the railway embankment.

I didn't get a separate picture of it, so I'll address it here: the Soviet Mortar Platoon is at bottom center, just right of the railway embankment, with their Platoon Commander sitting atop the railway embankment, acting as their forward observer.

So, the German plan, in order to make things easy for the Russkies, the Germans will split their efforts. The German 1st Rifle Company will clear the woods in the southwest (bottom left), then wheel left and push east for the objective, the Collective Farm. 1st Company has three rifle platoons: 1st Platoon is in the assault, 2nd Platoon is supporting from the wood, and 3rd Platoon is the reserve, loaded up in the halftracks. In the halftracks, yes, but not as battalion reserve, they are 1st Company's reserve; the German battalion commander knows he should probably just bypass the southwestern woods and sweep around to the north in order to reach the objective, but he is very much concerned with not leaving a Soviet force of unknown size and composition in his rear. Therefore, he has 1st Company's 3rd Platoon loaded up in the halftracks, ready to dive into the woods, and they'll be moving out on a hair trigger, he really wants those southwest woods as soon as possible. He then intends for the halftracks to double back to the woods to pick up the 1st Company's 2nd Platoon and rush them forward.

The German heavy weapons (MG Plt, Mortar Plt, and IG Plt) are all set in in the northwest woods (with 1st Company's 2nd Plt), looking to shoot in 1st Platoon's attack into the southwest woods. Once the southwest woods are secure, the MG and IG platoons will load up in the trucks and push up to the railway embankment to support the assault on the Collective Farm.

The two rifle platoons of 2nd Company and the Panzer Company will push straight east; the Germans have already spotted Soviet defensive positions atop the railway embankment, so one rifle platoon will handle those, while the other rifle platoon and the panzers will push straight over the railway embankment and look to envelop the Collective Farm from the east, isolating the objective.

The Germans don't have a reserve force to speak of; owing to 1) a necessity to press this attack home as quickly as possible, and 2) being severely understrength, all forces are committed either to the attack on the southwest woods or the railway embankment envelopment. Everybody but the German ATG Platoon, which is starting the game limbered up and will be waiting to see if and when any Soviet armor appears (the Germans are not aware of any Soviet armor in the area).

 

It’s Go Time!

 

Aftermath

So the Germans did it, they re-took Shirokoye Bulotev. In the overall scheme of things, this means all options are still open, which in turn means that the Germans can actually beat 'real life' by succeeding in this portion of the Battle of Kursk. What does that mean? Well, the last campaign turn is coming up, so stand by for more vicious, desperate fighting!

So, the game was fun, but didn't go the way I thought it would. First, it took forever; I figure the game took about four and a half hours, played out over about six and a half hours, because I had to take a couple breaks when my family was bothering me ;) But the game itself; man, part of how long the game took was just down to how bad I was rolling to get the Germans moving. The German heavy weapons couldn't seem to get anything decisive done, so their infantry was just constantly getting pinned down by Soviet mortars and machine guns, whose heavy weapons were doing a great deal of damage. So the German infantry would get roughed up, and then couldn't get moving again.

Keep in mind that the southwest woods wasn't really taken; the Soviets beat the hell out of the German 1st and 3rd Platoons, knocked out two tanks, then walked way. Hell, the German 1st and 3rd Platoons could barely get rallied after the Soviets had pulled back!!! And the German success in the center was really all down to their 2nd Platoon, 2nd Company, Platoon Commander grabbing a single rifle squad, getting lucky enough to have advanced before the Soviet mortars laid waste to the rest of his platoon and 1st Plt/2nd Co, then moving up and clearing the Soviet trenchline on the railway embankment all by themselves!

With the German 1st Company pinned down outside the southwest woods and the 2nd Company pinned down pretty much on their start line, I was having serious doubts as to whether the German assault was going to succeed, and it was really the weakness of the Soviet deployment that did them in. If the Soviets could have gotten anything, anything into the southwest woods to bolster their defense their, they'd have almost certainly won. I seriously pondered having the Soviet 3rd Platoon leave the Collective Farm, cross the railway, and reinforce the southwest wood. But being conscript, I figured that would probably be beyond what you could expect of them, and in game terms, they were only foot mobile, so they probably would have never made it in time, even if I'd have re-grouped the PC and last squad of 1st Platoon with the last MG team and the CO and had them make a final stand. And even if they had, I think at that point the Germans re-focus their effort: with the objective (the Collective Farm) now abandoned and with increased enemy activity observed in the southwest woods, the Germans pull back the 1st and 3rd Platoons of 1st Company and use them (with heavy weapons, as necessary) to contain the Soviet force in the southwest woods, then have 2nd Plt/1st Co load in halftracks and move to support 2nd Co, along with the Panzer and ATG Platoons to make the attack via a left hook. The Soviet tank platoon would have been the only thing left on the east side of the embankment, and you saw how well they did, so you figure it would have been a cake walk for the Germans to get to the objective and leave the Soviet forces in the southwest woods to wither and die.

And that's what it really all came down to for the Soviets: the lack of a reserve (much less a mobile reserve), the inability of the Soviets to get a reserve where they needed it because of the 'segregated battlefield' owing to the railway embankment (even if they had one), and the extra poor showing of the Soviet tank platoon. I don't feel bad about having the Soviet tanks dig-in; it was a conscript force, and digging tanks in for the defense was done in real life, but damn, I was expecting the Soviet tankers to do a bit better than losing three dug-in tanks and only killing one panzer in the open. In the narrative I put that the climax was German Halftrack PC running into the Soviet 1st Platoon PC, but that was really more of the breakaway point. The climax was the German tanks and ATGs getting up on the railway embankment to shoot it out with the dug-in Soviet tanks, but that turned into an anti-climactic stalemate, so the real climax was when the Germans flushed out T-34 #2 with 1st Plt, 2nd Co, and charged their tanks down the embankment into point-blank range. That was the action that decided the game; if the Soviet armor was destroyed they wouldn't have been able to hold the Germans off of the objective, and the German armor was destroyed (and assuming the Soviet mortars finally knock out the German ATGs), the Germans don't have the wherewithal to get over the railway embankment and take the Collective Farm while subjected to HE fire from those tanks. And if you're thinking, "just smoke them," I'm pretty sure the Soviet tanks would have come out of their positions to deliver HE and MG fire on any German infantry advancing without anti-tank weapons. And I can't really see German infantry taking the T-34s out, there just wasn't enough cover (the only thing saving the German 1st Plt/2nd Co was that the Soviet tanks had to deal with the German tanks and ATGs).

But the halftrack/Soviet riflemen matchup sure was fun! ;)

Just Jack

 
 
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I hadn't played I Ain't Been Shot Mum for years until today, but what a great game!

We played the second historical scenario from the rule book - South of Cherbourg - in 15mm.

The Americans began to advance under Blinds up the centre of the table through the woods but, as soon as the Germans spotted them, they came under a hail of fire from two platoons. The confusion this firepower caused halted them in their tracks until their officers realised they had to get their troops moving.

The main American force swung towards their left flank, taking heavy casualties but destroying the German platoon there. Advancing through the woods on their left, they were assaulted by a second German platoon. The Americans withdrew slightly and gunfight developed in the woods that lasted the rest of the game. They were outgunned by the Germans, however, and losing officers, so the odds were stacked against them.

Meanwhile, another American platoon tried to advance through the woods in the centre but were caught between a mortar bombardment and HMG fire from a commanding German position in the house on a hill. Eventually the Americans simply took too many casualties and were forced to withdraw.

Apologies for the crappy phone photos !

Rob Goodfellow

 
 
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It's 1800 on 9 July 1943 in western Russia, where the German 507th Infantry Regiment of the 292nd Infanterie Division is scraping out hasty defensive positions in preparation for a counterattack by the Soviet 1061st Rifle Regiment and armoured elements of the 1442nd Heavy Breakthrough Artillery Regiment. Cut-off, alone, outnumbered, and low on ammunition, this should prove to be tough sledding for the German infantrymen.

I am playing this game because I have the good fortune of being buddies with Steve of the "Sound Officer's Call" blog, and he is running a "Firestorm Ponyri" campaign. He is playing some games with his local buddies, but was unable to play all of the games himself; rather than simply 'dice off' for results of campaign fights they were unable to play on the table top, Steve asked if anyone in the blogosphere wanted to help, so here I am.

It's been a little bit of an issue that I literally just sold off a bunch of German late war gear, so I'm a bit understrength, but Steve is working with me to make sure the fights I get match up with the forces I have. This is the first fight I've played, and I hope it wasn't too much a pain for him, I certainly want to keep going! First, I love to play games; second, it's been way too long since I've played any Eastern Front games (maybe eight years or so?); and lastly, I'm a solo gamer that still craves some comradery, so whenever I can help another wargamer out, I'm always quick to jump at it.

The Field of Battle

Overview, north is up. The objective is the village of Snava, a Soviet supply depot, at center left. You can see hardball roads running all over the place, and a water treatment pond at left. The forest called "Birnenwald" is at right/bottom right, and other than that it's a couple patches of wood (top center left, left, with a stand at bottom center and a strip just east of Snava) with cultivated fields throughout. This is the third fight at Karpunevka; the first saw a desperate Soviet defense throw back the German attackers, before the Germans were able to rebound and throw the Soviets out on the second try.

The Soviets have attacked north, past Karpunevka (would be off camera to top), cutting the German forces here off from supply, and are now coming back to eliminate the pocket. Technically speaking, all Soviet forces should enter the map from the northwest (top right), which is where the counterattack is coming from on the campaign map, but I'm allowing Soviet infantry to attack from right/bottom right as well, figuring they infiltrated via the Birnenwald which, off camera to right, actually extends further to the north/northwest.

This is a Soviet hasty assault vs a German hasty defense. Here are the orders of battle:

The Germans

  • 3 x rifle platoon

    • each has a platoon commander Big Man (PC), two have three rifle squads, one has two rifle squads

  • 1 x machine gun platoon

    • Big Man, only two MG-42s

  • 1 x mortar platoon

    • Big Man, only two 8.0cm mortar tubes

  • 1 x infantry gun platoon

    • Big Man, only two 7.5cm howitzers and two prime movers

  • 1 x anti-tank gun platoon

    • Big Man, three PaK-38 5.0cm guns and three prime movers

  • 1 x 'ersatz panzer' platoon

    • Two Panzer Mk III, one StuG III, and one Marder III

*Being out of supply, the German OOB was knocked down by 20%, which is why they are missing one rifle squad, one MG team, one mortar team, and one Panzer Mk III.

The Soviets

  • 1 x rifle company

    • Three platoons of PC and three rifle squads

  • 1 x machine gun platoon

    • PC, three Maxim .30-cal MGs

  • 1 x mortar platoon

    • PC, three 82mm mortar tubes

  • 1 x infantry gun section

    • PC, two 76mm howitzers

  • 2 x T-34 platoons

    • Three T-34/76 each

  • 1 x Su-122 platoon

    • Three Su-122s*.

  • 1 x Su-76 platoon

    • Three Su-76s

  • 1 x 'Tank Rider' platoon

    • PC and three rifle squads riding the S-76s

  • Off table support

    • One battery of four 120mm heavy mortars

*I used Su-122s because I don't have enough T-34s, but the vehicles were treated as T-34s on the tabletop

Overview

This time with troops

The Soviets are at right, the Germans at left. At top right is the Soviet mechanized force, from top to bottom: Su-76s with tank riders, Su-122s, 2nd T-34 Platoon, 1st T-34 Platoon. At bottom right is the Soviet infantry force, from bottom to top: 1st Platoon, 2nd Platoon, MG Platoon, Mortar Platoon, Infantry Gun Platoon, 3rd Platoon. And, or course, the Soviets have the heavy mortars off table.

The Germans have their 1st Platoon in the woods at top center left, which we'll call 'the north wood.' 2nd Platoon is in the woods at left, which we'll call 'the west wood.' The understrength 3rd Platoon is in the village of Nava, center. At the 'T-intersection' at center bottom left we have the German Infantry Gun Platoon (just right of the pond), the MG Platoon (just below the bottom of the 'T'), and the Anti-Tank Gun Platoon (just right of the MG Platoon). The Mortar Platoon is at bottom left, and the German armor is chilling at far left.

Here's my scheme of maneuver overlay, showing the plan for both the Soviets and the Germans.

The Soviet plan is pretty simple, though they're splitting forces a bit more than is probably normal. The plan is for the Soviet armor to jailbreak through the gap between Snava and the North Wood, while 3rd Rifle Platoon takes Snava and the other two rifle platoons flank Snava to the south, both pincers supported by their heavy weapons stationed in Birnenwald.

The Germans have a bit of an interesting concept going on: first, they're short on fuel and ammo. Second, they're facing a serious disparity in firepower. Third, they're facing a serious disparity in mobility. So, they decide to emplace their direct-fire heavy hitters (the IGs, MGs, and ATGs) to interdict the Soviets most likely avenues of approach (the ATGs at bottom center to cover the entire arc between Snava and the Birnenwald, the MGs and IGs looking straight into the dark forest of the Birnenwald, where everyone is sure the Soviet infantry must emerge.

The German armor is in reserve, waiting to stem any Soviet breakthrough. But the different piece is the three German rifle platoons: outnumbered and outmatched (very little organic anti-personnel capability beyond point-blank range, and no anti-tank capability beyond point-blank range), they are essentially conducing a 'reverse-slope' defense.

Yes, I know there is no slope, but what I mean is that they are looking to take advantage of restrictive terrain in order to maximize their capability against enemy armor and infantry by forcing engagements at point-blank range only. They are doing this by occupying the North Wood, the West Wood, and the village of Snava, but by occupying only the west, i.e., trailing, edge of those terrain features. So, by occupying the west edge, the Soviets will have to push into the east edge in order come to grips with the Germans, negating the Soviet firepower advantage. Or at least that is the theory. So spotting and 'recon by fire' will be a big part of this game because the Soviets are carrying out a hasty attack, so they didn't have time to conduct a thorough reconnaissance and thus they have to identify where the German defenders are emplaced.

I am playing this game in 10mm on a 6' x 4' table. The toys are a mix of Pendraken, Minifigs UK, and Takara. The matt is from The Wargames Company, with trees, hedges, and buildings from Crescent Root, the pond from Battlefront, and the fields from Hotz Mats. I am using the Too Fat Lardies' I Ain't Been Shot Mum rules, modified a bit for simplicity. I already mentioned spotting and recon by fire being a big part of this game; IABSM usually uses 'blinds' to depict hidden forces, but I am not going to do this as I'm playing solo and don't want to confuse myself any more than normal ;) It's actually quite simple, no confusion involved, I just don't want to do it as I'm not going to be able to surprise myself anyway, so I'm putting the toys on the table and rolling to spot.

 

The Game Is Afoot: Time To Fight!

 

The German Kampfgruppe Commander consoles his ATG Platoon Commander; "they were true heroes, and they, especially in these difficult times, will be missed. I will ensure they receive their Iron Crosses, and I will do everything I can to ensure their families are looked after."

Not long after, he was made aware of the exploits of his 1st and 3rd Platoon Commanders on the left flank, which cost the 1st Platoon Commander his life. But the 3rd Platoon Commander's feat of knocking out one Soviet armored beast, then standing his ground and knocking out a second when it charged him, is also the stuff of legends.

Analysis

I've already outlined the Soviet casualties (though I forgot to mention, the Soviet heavy weapons units actually suffered a tiny bit of casualties, a single infantry gun was knocked out), guess I should do so for the Germans as well:

  • 2 Platoon Commanders (1st Rifle Platoon and Infantry Gun Platoon)

  • 1 Anti-Tank Gun

  • 2 Infantry Guns

  • 1 Machine Gun Team

  • 1 Rifle Squad

Pretty lopsided in terms of casualties, but it had to be, I suppose, as the Soviets had a much larger force.

So, what happened? Well, I'd sum it up by saying the Soviets experienced an inordinately large amount of battlefield friction. Or plain bad luck, whichever you prefer ;)

The German anti-tank guns had a wonderful field of fire; it would have been unreasonable (in my estimation) for the Soviet off-table heavy mortars to have been zoned in on them from the get go. Without reconnaissance, there's no way the Reds are putting supporting fires on that location, they're putting it on the objective at least 99 times out of a hundred. Yes, the ATG position is a clear point of interest (that amazing field of fire is why they were emplaced there, after all), which is why I did allow the Soviets to commit two rifle platoons to its seizure (and only one to the objective itself), as well as allowing they and their heavy weapons to 'infiltrate' the Birnenwald in order to emplace right across the way.

The Soviet armor knew it had an issue right from the jump, in that it was going to have to cross a great, wide open expanse (what many folks would call 'good tank country,' so don't beat me up too bad), but that's kinda what you expect tanks to do.

Similarly, the German ATG's got off to a very weak start, not getting many shots in and then missing most of them when they did. But the issue for the Soviets was just that the Soviets couldn't get to where they needed to be; I really thought the Soviet armor would have a good chance of punching through the Snava-North Wood gap in a relative hurry (at least fast enough to avoid getting shot to pieces by the German ATGs). With that, I figured the Tank Riders would be in the North Wood in a hurry, tying down the German 1st Platoon, maybe even beating them with close support from their Su-76s and Su-122s. I figured by that time the ATGs wouldn't be an issue, so the off-table mortars and on-table heavy weapons could shift fire to Snava and the West Wood, keeping the Germans there (3rd and 2nd Platoons, respectively) pinned down, and the deciding fight being the German armor being committed to stem the breakthrough by Soviet armor, which, by that point, should have enjoyed something like a 7 or 8-4 advantage.

And if their infantry on the left could flip a trick and somehow get into the German ATG position, thus forcing the German MGs and IGs to fall back, maybe they could have even tied up the German armor reserve some, too, maybe force it to be split to deal with two separate calamities.

Overall, the Soviets had a huge problem with Platoon Commander cards coming out, but Platoon cards not, which meant that Platoon Commanders were able to push forward very far, very fast, but with very limited capability as the rest of their units were still stuck back at the start line.

I'm sure some will say that my big mistake (as the Soviet commander) was not concentrating the Soviet force; personally, I'm always very aware of unit spacing, not wanting to get bunched up and pounded by supporting fires. So that one doesn't bother me; what bothers me, what I worry my big mistake was, is when the Soviet 3rd Platoon got their Platoon Commander and one rifle squad into the eastern edge of Snava, I halted the rifle squad there and sent the PC back to get the rest of his platoon. That worked, I suppose, but not until both flanks had collapsed. I will always wonder what would have happened if I would have kept the 3rd Platoon Commander there in Snava, with his 1st Squad, and every time his card came out, led them further into Snava, moving forward cautiously, spotting the German forces there, then coordinating with armor for fire support in order to blast the Germans out systematically. I could have done that, but it just didn't seem to feel like a very 'Soviet' way of doing things, so I did what I thought they would do, which was try to get the rest of the platoon forward.

And that shines a spotlight on the other big problem for the Soviets: they couldn't spot anything! Their armor had countless chances to spot German positions. Not good chances, but my goodness, lots of them! You would figure they'd have accidentally spotted some of the German units they missed, but no, they didn't even when they were on top of them, and they had like a 90% chance of successfully doing it.

The last issue, or possible failure on my part, was not concentrating organic supporting fires on the German ATG position. To a human player playing another human player, I have no doubt that I, or anyone else, would have said "ta hell wit da German MGs and Infantry Guns, I'm taking out dose Anti-Tank Guns!" But, again, I try to play from the perspective of the force's commander, knowing only what he knows, and doing what I think he would have done given 1) his knowledge of the tactical situation and 2) his role on the tabletop. The issue, then, was 1) the organic heavy weapons (machine guns, infantry guns, and 82mm mortars) belonged to the infantry company, not the tank company, and not, really, even the Task Force Commander. So, 2) the job of the organic heavy weapons was to do whatever they could to keep their infantry comrades from getting shot to pieces, not to keep their tanker comrades from getting shot to pieces. So they ended up splitting the baby and not doing either very well...

From the German perspective, really it came down to 1) having (I think) a solid plan, with the long reach weapon having long fields of fire and the rifle platoons playing reverse-slope defense to maximize their firepower, then 2) pure luck. Like I said, the German ATGs got plenty of shots in on the Soviet tanks because they just took so damn long to get through the kill zone, the Soviets just couldn't get their Tank Riders into the fight, and they just couldn't spot a damn thing, with both of those factors allowing the German 1st and 3rd Platoons to creep riflemen into position to close assault their tanks.

So, a helluva fight that was a helluva lot of fun! I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

Just Jack

 
 
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We had another run through of the Arras Counter Attack game for Salute in 2020.

 

Michael Curtis

 
 
 
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21 Scenarios for £7.80 – that is a good deal! Whether you are using IABSM or not it is an excellent source and contains a lot of varied scenarios.

On Saturday the Little One and I had a real treat as we were invited to Mike Whittaker’s Mill Studios to play the eminent Omaha Beach game that we had missed to play at Salute this year. The Little One, Andy (who built the terrain but never played the scenario) and I played the American side, we were being skillfully umpired by Mike who also played the Germans.

The scenario is from the excellent IABSM scenario book called “Where have you been boys” and can be bought from the Too Fat Lardies website here.

This is scenario #06 in the book and promises “The game will be nasty, bloody and gritty, it shouldn’t be anything else”.  It takes place at the eastern end of Omaha beach (Colleville-Sur-Mer) and  involves the US 1st Infantry Division – the Big Red One.  This is very much the scenes from Saving Private Ryan stuff. The scenario shows the difficulties on the day and for this kind of operation in general. The Germans have relative little firepower but are in very good protected position whilst the Americans are mainly in the open up to the shingles of the beach, then protected by the cliffs before having to be in the open again trying to get through the wires and mine fields.

The US forces, just like on the day, come in waves, and basically first wave took a lot of damage, so did the second but managed to clear some wires and take out some of the nests from a distance, then the final and third wave started to turn the balance. 

The Famous Capa Photo

It was a different wargame in that most of the time, from our American side, was spent hoping that the next barrage of artillery, HE guns, sniper fire and MG would not wipe the whole section out and that some of the men who survive and get to the shingles and momentarily be safe.  The two Sherman tanks who had made it to the beach did provide some initial fire power but they were soon taken out. It was very sobering and certainly kept to the promise in the scenario book, as it was indeed “nasty, bloody and gritty” and leaves you with a lot of reflection on the terrors facing the men on that day.  

We had to leave just as the third wave had arrived, but at this time it looked like the first part of the job was done, at least on the side of the beach I was not responsible for (luckily Andy and the Little One had cleared a lot of wire on their side of the board).

Mike had added a few features like General Norman “Dutch” Cota, coming as part of the second wave, who was useful in rallying and getting some moving on where needed and also Robert Capa who took some iconic photos.

 
 

Mike Whitaker writes…

Having promised Per and his young lad M that I'd run the game for them, since they missed it at Salute, and likewise AndyM, who's missed every public showing of the game, I arranged to put it on today. Sadly, one other couldn't make it, but I will probabaly arrange another run sometime next year for him and a couple of others. We didn't quite finish - Per had a train to catch - and Andy and I are going to run the arrival of wave 3, seeing if Robert Capa makes it back to Blighty in time for his press deadline and how hard the Germans get clobbered tomorrow afternoon.

Much fun was had, many bizarre dice rolls happened, many photos were taken: I'll caption a few in the gallery below. A number have been cropped and adjusted to look like period shots from Robert Capa :D

Huge thanks to Per, M and Andy for playing, and to my wife for... well, not resisting the temptation to bake - those maple apple scones were a) still warm and b) amazing! And as ever to Rich and Nick for the scenario and the rules.

Andy and I decided to see what would happen with Wave 3 of the US landing craft this afternoon.

Answer? Mopping up is really, really hard when the things you're trying to mop up are in hard cover behind barbed wire and they have lots of razor sharp 7.92 mm teeth!

After about three hours, Andy had reduced the Germans to two manned MGs and a pair of 5cm Granatenwerfer. and we called it a day.

A number of interesting takeaways from the game as a whole - most I'll share in the article I've just finished for Lard Magazine, which you'll have to buy :D I was, though, amused to realise I'd been being slightly lenient to the Americans in a couple of rather important places as regards firing at German positions. I don't think it would have affected the outcome of the game, but I think they'd have had to figure out how to concentrate their forces at a weak spot more to get ashore and inlands.

 
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Here is an After Action Report for another game recently played using the TFL I Ain't Been Shot, Mum rules and another scenario from Rob Avery's excellent scenario book The Defence of Calais. This scenario, The 3RTR at Hames Boucres saw the British and Germans take part in an encounter game.

Dingo’s the Neighbourhood!

The British were already deployed on the table with their lead elements in a sunken road (denoted by loose scatter material to the sides of the road) in front of the crossroads which dominated the table. The rest of the terrain was rather sparse with a little bit of the village hearing on one table edge and a few copses hither and thither. The crossroads area was occupied by several groups of refugees randomly determined in number and size by the umpire previously.

The Germans started the on the opposite table edge in column with a light tank section of two Mk II Panzers patrolling the left-hand advance flank and a medium tank section of three Panzer Mk IIIC tanks patrolling their advanced right flank, close to the village. The Germans were allowed to bring on a limited number of units per turn whilst the British were free to move forward and reconnoitre the position from the start.

Panzer IIs lurking as civilian refuges hover around the crossroads

The British encountered difficulties with the groups of French refugees at the crossroads and their presence was preventing the British from exiting of the sunken road with their lead units of Dingo armoured cars and Vickers Mk IV light tanks.

This caused some consternation for the British players and they were quickly under attack from the German light tank section whose autocannons took a heavy toll of British armour, several of which became immobilised and ultimately abandoned as their morale deteriorated.

The Medium platoon with more refugees getting in the way

The British were quickly boxed in and with a significant amount of German reinforcements appearing on the table, notably for PaK 36 anti tank guns, from their road column they quickly made the decision to head on back to base having been unable to break through.

German supports arriving and quickly de-bussing.

Apologies for the lack of detail in this report: there is always a slight difficulty in undertaking an AAR with many of Rob's scenarios as they frequently contain hidden surprises, and for those of you who may wish to play the game yourself it would be unfair to give away all of the secrets.

Hope you like the pictures and here's to the next report!

Tim Whitworth

 
 
 
 
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In this scenario, the British must defend a crossroads that is intended as the jump-off point for the next Allied advance, whilst the Germans must snatch it for exactly the same reason.

As this point the German avalanche looked unstoppable by the British troops who opposed them, especially because the German tanks were perfectly positioned to beat the British Sherman and Churchill facing them on the left flank.

Although it would probably have taken another two to three turns to be sure, all agreed that the Germans would eventually carry the day.

Burt Minarot

 
 
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Some pictures from a recent game of I Ain’t Been Shot, Mum by Joe McGinn and Tim Howard.

 
 
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Friend Dave and company have been playing a mini I Ain;t Been Shot, Mum campaign, Chasseur, and invited me to take part in game three. The campaign is set during the invasion of France in May/June 1940, and I would play a column of German Panzers as it motors towards the Seine. Here are the game briefings:

The Allies (British & French)

Following the splendid showing yesterday (didn’t those Panzers burn well!) your boys are now in the tow of Hallencourt together with a small force of Frenchies who also encountered the Hun two days ago. A shame the rest of the 7th Argylls haven’t turned up…in fact none of the 51st have now that you think about it. Hmm…

Your job today is to stop the enemy here and to prevent him from reaching the Seine bridges just to the south of the town - or at least to delay him whilst a covering force is put in place. The men are in good spirits, the French tanks are supporting you and you have defensive options. Rather than four weak sections, you have reorganised the platoon into three full-strength sections.

Your first task, though, is to agree dispositions with the French so as to cover all possible routes through or round the town. The only problem being that apart from the tans, all the French seem to have disappeared just at the moment. Ah well, better just deploy the chaps and get on with it.

  • Company HQ

    • Big Man A: Captain Brember (Level III)

    • Big Man B: Sergeant Gray (Level II)

    • Two Vickers MMG teams (5 men each)

    • One Boys Anti-Tank Rifle Team (2 men)

    • One Light Mortar team (2 men)

    • Two trucks

  • 1st Platoon

    • Big Man 1: Lieutenant Baxter (Level III)

    • Big Man 2: Sergeant Mackay (Level II)

    • Three sections of 8 men each

    • One Boys Anti-Tank Rifle Team (2 men)

    • One Light Mortar team (2 men)

    • Three trucks

  • Support Platoon

    • Big Man 3: Sergeant Dalgleish (Level II)

    • Two 2-pdr Anti-Tank Guns (5 crew each), two carriers as tows

  • Carrier Platoon

    • Big Man 4: Sergeant Law (Level II)

    • Three Carriers: two with Bren LMG, one with Anti-Tank Rifle, 12 men in total

  • French Support

    • Big Man 5: Lieutenant Blanc

    • One Somua S-35

    • Three Renault R-35/40

  • Off-Table Support from a battery of three 25 pdr guns with pre-registered targets

  • Bonus Cards: Rally, AT Bonus, MMG Bonus, Dynamic Commander

Although the British troops had three Actions, the French tanks had only two Actions (and therefore two morale) and could not move and fire in the same activation.

The Germans

What a glorious morning! It's just after dawn on 7th June 1940, and at last your Panzers are on the move again. After the easy successes in the north, with the British running for their lives at Dunkirk, the final attack on the remains of the French army is about to begin.

You (Major Beckenbauer) are the tip of the advance (the schwerpunkt!) as 7th Panzer Division rolls forward again. You have elements of the 25th Panzer Regiment, a detachment of engineers, and are ordered to head for the river Seine with all haste, and if possible to seize a bridge there. Once taken, your orders are to make the bridge safe and hold until the rest of the Division catches up or until Rommel thinks of the next lightening move.

After crossing the Somme easily on the 5th June, you have bypassed the major French strongpoints by going cross country, and have been joined by your lorried infantry of the 7th Rifle Brigade. Now the little town of Hallencourt can be taken or bypassed and after that you'll be in open country towards Rouen and the Seine.

So, here you are on the outskirts of Hallencourt, a town you need to pass through – or go round – to reach the Seine bridges which are your objectives. Your recon platoon has drawn you the attached map, a bit on the thin side but adequate! It would seem you have a choice of a run down the main road through the town, or going round it. The report tells you that enemy troops have been seen moving within the town. You have met both French & British in the last few days, so this could be either. They also report the ground towards the river looked very green (soft?), but could not get close enough to check.

Your Panzers are a little battered after yesterday's encounter with the British, although one of the Panzer II's has been repaired and is back with you. The recon platoon is now nearly back to full strength, but you are especially pleased that Regiment has sent up a support platoon of StuG with a Panzerjaeger attached. This should give you the artillery support you desperately needed yesterday. However, you should not attempt to subdue or take the whole town – the mission is to capture that bridge. The Luftwaffe have promised support as usual.........

Vorwaerts!

  • HQ Platoon

    • Big Man A: Major Beckenbauer (Level IV) in Kfz 13

    • Big Man B: Leutnant Heller (Level II)

    • Two MMG teams (5 men each), each in a Kfz 70

    • One squad of 8 pioneers in SdKfz 251

    • One FOO in Kfz 14

  • 1st (Panzer) Platoon

    • Big Man 1: Hauptmann Heldt (Level III)

    • Three Panzer IIC

    • One Panzer 38(t)

  • 2nd (Panzer) Platoon

    • Big Man 2: Leutnant Seeler (Level III)

    • Two Panzer IIIE

    • One Panzer IVD

    • Two Panzer 38(t)

  • 3rd (Grenadier) Platoon

    • Big Man 3: Hauptmann Weber (Level III)

    • Big Man 4: Ofw Schnellinger (Level I)

    • Four infantry squads (8 men each)

    • One Anti-Tank Rifle Team (2 men)

    • One Light Mortar team (2 men)

    • Two LMG teams (2 men each)

    • Four Opel Blitz trucks

  • 4th (Artillery) Platoon

    • Big Man 5: Leutnant Grabowski (Level II)

    • Two StuG IIIA

    • One Panzerjaeger I

  • 5th (Recon) Platoon

    • Big Man 6: Leutnant Haller (Level II)

    • One Panzer IB

    • Two SdKfz 222:

  • Limited Off-Table Support from a battery of two 81mm mortars

  • Bonus Cards: Rally, Rapid Deployment, Blitzkrieg, Tank Killer (Panzerjaeger only)

German infantry had three Actions; German AFVs had three Actions and a morale of three.

The Battlefield


The Germans would enter the table from the road at the bottom of the picture, and needed to exit on the same road at the other end of the battlefield. They thus had a choice whether to go straight down the road through the town; take the long way round by the road heading right; or go across the field down towards the river on the left (although they had been warned about soft ground near the river).

The pictures below show the views from the opposite end of the table, and where the Allies deployed their troops. As you can see, their infantry was concentrated in houses and church within the town itself, with the French tanks lurking behind; the anti-tank guns were dug-in behind the hedges surrounding the cow barn; with the Carrier Platoon hidden in the pig sty to the left.

The Game Begins

As I (as German commander) had no idea where the enemy was, I couldn’t commit my schwerpunkt until I had identified the enemy’s positions. I therefore decided to probe all three of the routes discussed above: left of the town, through the town, and round the roads to the right of the town.

  • Through the town would be quickest, but to take vehicles into a town is always risky, and if my enemy had assets that could block the far end of the High Street, I would be trapped like rats in a barrel.

  • To the left looked a strong proposition, but I was a little worried about this “soft ground”, especially for my wheeled vehicles, and again I could be blocked from my exit point by forces currently out of sight behind the town.

  • Right looked a long way round, but my wheeled vehicles (all the trucks and armoured cars) move double on a road, so could speed round and be off table before the enemy could react.

  • My only consolation was that the British and French had no idea which way I would go, so would have to make sure they could cover all angles. That meant, to me, that the infantry would be in the town, with any armour or anti-tank guns as wild cards that could be anywhere so would need to be spotted and neutralised before a general advance could occur.

First on to the table, therefore, was a probe to the left with 1st Panzer platoon: the Panzer IIs along with one Panzer 38(t). They, under a Blind and accompanied by a Dummy Blind, can be seen forward and to the left in the trees in the picture below.

I then deployed my artillery platoon. Unusual to lead with the guns, but I knew from previous recon that there were no enemy immediately on me, and their job was to try and identify threats within the town, and then neutralise them with long range 75mm fire. As luck would have it, my first spotting roll was “double 6” and I managed to see a glint from the British FOOs binoculars coming from one of the windows in the white house in the distance at the end of the High Street.

StuGs Deploy

This was all the excuse I needed, and both StuGs opened fire. Again, luck was with me, and although the shells did no more than add a bit of Shock to what turned out to be the British HQ platoon and leading Big Men, the house was set alight by my bombardment, meaning that all inside would have to vacate as soon as possible. Talk about keeping the enemy off balance!

Meanwhile my Recon Platoon headed out along the roads to the right, followed by Blinds representing my HQ and truck-based infantry platoon.

Recon Platoon scooting to the right

Things then started happening quickly on my left. The Blind concealing 1st Tank Platoon had reached just past the woods and turned towards the town when it was spotted and forced to deploy. Then, out from behind the town came two French tanks: the Somua and one of the R-35s. They opened fire and manged to immobilise one Panzer II and knock out the 20mm cannon on another!

This was not good (an imagine what it would have been like if the French tanks had had more than the rather rubbish two Actions) but I soon got to return fire and, much to my surprise, the ‘broadside’ from the entire platoon managed to knock out both enemy tanks. This was a major achievement, in my opinion, and well worth the damage they had done to me.

The British Commander, in the background: decidedly unimpressed by the performance of his French allies!

My tanks then turned towards the town, discovering and engaging a section of British infantry in the big house in the foreground of the picture below. As you can see, the Panzer II with its 20mm autocannon knocked out was doing a bit of reconnaissance by proximity: no way could the Brits remian hidden with a Panzer in their back garden!

Knock, knock!

In a few moments, I would do the same sort of thing with the Dummy Blind: sending it right into the High Street just to the right of the big house, forcing the British infantry in two other locations within the town to deploy as well. Now I knew where they were!

The German Recon Platoon had also been discovering things: the British anti-tank gun platoon to be exact, hiding behind the hedges surrounding the cow shed. The guns opened fire, and although they didn’t take out the lead SdKfz 222, it’s crew decided that being a sitting duck was no fun at all and decided to abandon ship and bailed out!

Now that I knew where the anti-tank guns were, I could kill them, even if they currently blocked my route round to the right. The FOO called in my off-table mortars but, as it would take a bit of time for that to arrive (presumably lots of paperwork to fill in) I moved my infantry forward forward to take them out.

Unfortunately, the Recon Platoon had managed to drive straight past the British Carrier platoon hiding in the pig sty and, as my trucks drove past, these opened fire at point blank range!

The lead two trucks were hammered: one squad losing five of its eight men, the other losing two but racking up the Shock.

Leaving aside what I was going to do to Leutnant Haller after the battle, quick action was needed. Fortunately I had another squad ready to jump in so, on their next activation, they jumped down from their trucks and the whole lot charged into the pig sty, overwhelming the two closest carriers for the loss of one more man. The surviving carrier bugged out.

The surviving German infantry from the first three squads then headed forward for the wood, intending to take up a position where they could start to lay down fire on the anti-tank guns. Again unfortunately, they then came under fire from the British section in the church, losing a few men and getting pinned down. This was another awkward situation, only solved when I brought the two Company HQ MMG teams up and into the white house bottom left. Once set up, they would have a clear, point blank range shot into the British lining the windows of the church.

Meanwhile, back at the town, one of the remaining Renault R-35 tanks had turned back towards my advancing Panzer II platoon. Whilst getting into position under cover behind his burning comrades, however, the tank commander left his rear end sticking out into the main road. Up came my Panzerjaeger on a Tank Killer bonus card, and put two rounds through his side armour: end of R-35.

Worse for the French, my Panzer 38(t) had managed to get a shot in at the last French tank: sending several rounds of AP right up its, er, backside as it tried to manoeuvre towards my infantry. The Allies now had no armour left…well, they had one battered carrier, but that wasn’t much interested in doing anything but leaving rapidly!

Unfortunately I was almost out of time. Not game time (we’d actually only had a handful of Turns) but real time, as I had another event to go to. That meant that rather than reducing the now-all-British force from a distance, I had to get stuck in and do the job quickly. Much against my better judgement, therefore, I sent my medium Panzer platoon straight down the High Street, as shown in the pic below (the Panzer IV is in the lee behind the right hand house).

A fierce fight broke out between the British infantry contingent (two MMGs and two sections of infantry) and my tanks: the PBI dropping grenades from the houses, my tanks raking them with machine gun fire. You can also see the survivors of the light tank platoon joining in. As the battle ended, the German tanks had picked up a bit of Shock but had just about halved the numbers of infantry.

It was a stupid thing to do, however. I would have been much better hanging back and letting the 75mm guns on the StuGs and Panzer IV blow the houses down around the enemy foot, and then machine gunning any survivors in the rubble. I wanted to try and finish the game with a decisive win, however, so took the risk…

This is especially true as (and you can just see it in the picture, above) my off-table mortars had finally ticked all the boxes on their various forms for unscheduled fire, and landed the first of many bombs onto the anti-tank guns, one of which had moved round to cover the flank. It was a good shoot: knocking half the gunners out. A couple more of those and the way through would be clear

Aftermath

But the game had to end before all that because, as I said, I had to go.

The Allies had lost all four French tanks, two of three carriers, and had their infantry contingent reduced by about half. The Germans had lost half a platoon of infantry, but no tanks: those that were out of action had not been destroyed, their crews had bailed, meaning that “in real life” they could be recovered later.

My mission, however, had been to get troops off the table, which I hadn’t actually done yet. The Umpire therefore awarded the Germans a Moderate Victory, as all could see that the end was in sight for the Allied force.

A great game from a great scenario: my only regret is not having the time to finish things off properly!

Robert Avery

 
 
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It's 1430 on 7 July 1943 in western Russia, where the German 292nd Infanterie Division has been caught off guard by forward elements of the Soviet 57th Tank Brigade. The Germans rear echelon troops (supply, maintenance, training company, administrative, military police, walking wounded, etc...) stage into the nearby treeline to mount a hasty defense and their commanders flee in search of reinforcements, which had better hurry as everyone can hear the roar of T-34 engines!

I am playing this game because I have the good fortune of being buddies with Steve of the "Sound Officer's Call" blog, and he is running a "Firestorm Ponyri" campaign. He is playing some games with his local buddies, but was unable to play all of the games himself; rather than simply 'dice off' for results of campaign fights they were unable to play on the table top, Steve asked if anyone in the blogosphere wanted to help, so here I am.

It's been a little bit of an issue that I literally just sold off a bunch of German late war gear, so I'm a bit understrength, but Steve is working with me to make sure the fights I get match up with the forces I have. This is the first fight I've played, and I hope it wasn't too much a pain for him, I certainly want to keep going! First, I love to play games; second, it's been way too long since I've played any Eastern Front games (maybe eight years or so?); and lastly, I'm a solo gamer that still craves some comradery, so whenever I can help another wargamer out, I'm always quick to jump at it.

Overview, north is up. The objective is the wood at center; there is a healthy hardball unimproved road network running throughout the area, with a small village present in the southwest (bottom left). Other than that it's manmade crop fields interspersed with a few stands of trees and untamed grassland.

This game is a bit smaller than the previous two; the first two were a reinforced German battalion vs a reinforced Soviet company or two. This one is a Soviet reinforced Company vs a German reinforced platoon, which is actually what the rules are designed for, so went a lot quicker. Also, there were no off-table reserves in this game, everything started on the table so I could get right at it.

Orders of Battle

German

  • Ersatz Infantry Platoon (PC and three rifle squads)

  • Ersatz Weapons Platoon (PC, two MG-42s, two 8.0cm mortars, and two PaK-38 5.0cm anti-tank guns)

  • Commanding Officer

  • Ersatz Mechanized Platoon (PC and three rifle squads in 3 Sdkfz 251 halftracks)

  • Ersatz Panzer Platoon (two Stug IIIG and one Marder PzJgr)

  • Off Table 120mm Mortar Platoon

Soviet

  • Rifle Company (-) two platoons of a PC and three rifle squads)

  • Weapons Platoon (PC and two Maxim .30-cal MGs, two 50mm mortars, and one 76.2mm 'crash boom' field gun)

  • Tank Company (-) (two platoons of three T-34s)

  • Tank Rider Company (-) (two platoons of a PC and three rifle squads)

  • Off Table 122mm Field Artillery Battery

  • Off Table 120mm Mortar Battery

I'm playing in 10mm (figures, vehicles, and gear a mix of Pendraken and Minifigs UK) based at one stand=one squad, weapon, or vehicle. I'm playing this game using Too Fat Lardies' "I Ain't Been Shot Mum" rules, simplified a bit in terms of combat, morale, and movement.

Overview, this time with troops.

The German defenders consist of their rifle platoon and weapons platoon dug-in on the west (left) side of Kastenwald (center), while their mobile force is coming from the northeast (top right). The concept with the mobile force is that the local HQ Battalion Commander ran off to scrape together whatever reinforcements he could find, and this is what he's back with: a 'panzer' platoon of two Stugs and a Marder, and he flagged down three halftracks to carry all the rest of the clerks, bakers, and candlestick makers he could find, which amounts to another platoon of 'infantry.'

The Soviets have their infantry company manoeuvring in from the southwest (bottom left), supported by their weapons platoon, while their tank company (with tank riders) are coming in from the northwest (top left). The goal is to take/hold the wood.

The Soviets southwest, where they have their 1st Rifle Platoon at left (in trees just above the right-hand building), their Weapons Platoon (the 76.2mm gun is next to the right-hand building, the rest of the Wpns Plt is in the field below it), and their 2nd Rifle Platoon is at bottom center. You can see the understrength Tank Company at top left.

The Game Begins

 
 

Wow, that was a tough one for the Germans, though Soviet sluggishness probably made it a bit closer than it should have been.

Not that the Germans didn't have a chance to pull it out, they just didn't seem interested! The Marder had enough shots to knock out everyone of the T-34s, he just didn't manage to hit a damn thing! And I don't think he was ever even actually shot at! And then the German halftracks and their inability to overcome the Soviet 2nd Rifle Platoon, which their PC had caught out in the open! Unable to finish them off, they ultimately succumbed to those very same Soviet infantrymen! I suppose the German Landser on the objective never really had a chance; they just took body blow after body blow from the Soviet off table artillery and 120mm mortars. Having said that, they were the only ones to knock out a Soviet tank!

But if the German armor and halftrack shooting could have been a little better, they may have just fought the Soviets to a standstill and force them to fall back.

Well, let's see what big Steve has got next for us. Awaiting my orders ;)

Just Jack

 
 
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Operation Martlet, 25th June. Set up the table to play Day Two of the British attack on the German line at St Nicholas Farm and the Grand Farm. Figures were 15mm.
We used the Oh What a Total Bummer, dice driven version of IABSM. Iain Fuller gamely agreed to be the British and I take the German defenders.

Grand Farm to the right, St Nicholas on the left. View is from the British side.

The final game will be the whole attack, but today we just played a company attack on the Grand Farm, carried out by the Tynesdale Scots supported by the 24th Lancers. The initial assault wave was one full strength company and two troops of tanks. An AT troop was available, as was an AVRE. A pre game stonk also gave the British a flying start.

The Germans had one company to cover the whole table ( not just The Grand Farm!) two dug in Panzer IVs at St Nicolas Farm and a mobile reserve of HQ halftracks. There was also an off table force of four Panther tanks, but they would have limited table time (these were historically withdrawn in the late morning of the 25th to support the line as Operation Epsom started).

The game tested just one part of the attack and it worked really well. The full game will be run in November/December.

Next time we will have FOO per side and battalion mortar support.

Desmondo Darkin

 
 
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Just played the In By The Back Door scenario: the seventh scenario from the excellent Sea Lion scenario pack, and not a reference to my sexual habits. Play was enhanced by being set against an audio backdrop of the fireworks being set off in the vicinity!

It's Folkestone, two days after the German invasion began, and a platoon of Kiwis are holding the station and vital Dover Road. From the wrong end of town, an entire company of FJ's descend on them. On the sixth turn, two Maori re-inforcement platoons are expected to arrive.

The battle opened with the FJ's moving smartly though the town. The Kiwis were a bit spread out, and the Germans managed to pin two sections of infantry and a Vickers (isolated by the heavy "town" terrain) with 2 platoon, and then close assault them one by one with 3 platoon from the flank.

The close assaulting FJ's of 3 platoon realised they were on a roll, and immediately followed up with another assault on the single Kiwi section guarding the station itself. This was forced out of the station buildings straight into the field of fire of the other FJ platoon, and regrettably ceased to exist. Lt Oskar Felther was awarded an Iron Cross for three consecutive successful close assaults, and settled down with his men to barricade themselves into the station.

The final section of Kiwis currently on the table (the re-inforcements had obviously got lost, not being from round 'ere, and were nowhere to be seen) was skulking in a small cottage at the edge of the table, exchanging long range fire with a couple of FJ MMG's, but was soon rendered ineffective by the combined fire of everything the Germans had available!

At this moment the Maori's arrived.

Faced with fighting their way onto the table, one platoon entered the terraced housing at the bottom left of the table, opposite the station, with the other outside in the gardens exclaiming at the sophistication of the loos.

Lt Felther's 3 platoon, in the station, suddenly found themselves under heavy fire: with Felther himself being killed by a sniper almost immediately. Casualties mounted rapidly, and the station buildings were soon empty of effective FJ's.

Meanwhile the so far untouched FJ 2 platoon and the second Maori platoon had both moved forward so that only a thin partition wall separated them. The Maori card came up first, and they decided to shoot house-to-house through loop holes etc.

Little damage was done to the FJ's, however, so when their card came up next, two sections offered the Maori's a taste of their own medicine but, being German, didn't play fair and blasted them with "a plethora of automatic weapons". With china ducks literally flying everywhere, the Maori's were supressed: a tad unfortunate as the other two FJ sections now close assaulted them.

The FJ's, being used to fighting Kiwis, expected another easy victory, and were somewhat surprised to come up against tattooed tribal warriors screaming haka at them and counting as elite troops in hand to hand! A brutal combat erupted, with good dice from the Maori's meaning they lost by only one '6'. Being elite's, the combat continued immediately for another round. The Maori's lost again, but again only by one dice, so the combat continued for a THIRD round. This time the Maori's were properly duffed up (there were only a few of them left!) and were ejected from the house not to advance again until a Big Man inspired them.

The FJ's were so battered, however, that they couldn't hold what was left of the house. With what remained of one section sacrificed to cover their retreat, the others blitzkrieged in reverse back to their start point.

This left one Maori platoon holed up in the bottom corner of the table, with the Germans in a loose ring around them. Big Men had been dying all over the place as well, so neither side felt like doing much: with the Germans currently in victory position as they held the station (1 platoon had advanced, delayed by the death of the CinC Major Stenzler, up the blind side and occupied the station, but, in a fairly obvious bit of gamesmanship, refused to show their faces and be shot at, content to be "in control" of the station building whilst hiding out of sight behind a wall of British Rail sandwiches.

Deadlock was broken by the arrival in spotting position (finally) of the FJ Forward Observer. He got into a position where he could see the houses the Maori's were in, but couldn't really be shot at, and then directed the loving attentions of the 4 81mm FJ mortars.

This was too much for the Maori's. Their final Big Man was killed (as I said, they were dropping like flies: the Empire troops lost all four of theirs, the Germans 4 out of 6!) and the battle conceded.

This took, believe it or not, only 2¾ hours of gameplay! I played the FJ's, with the Kiwis and Maori's commanded by my friend Dave: suffering from having had "the snip" four days before but ably supported (figuratively I hasten to add) by his 12 year old son.

The boy had only ever played Evil Empire games before...but I'm pleased to say that he declared that IABSM was far superior in every respect. I shall be bringing him to the next TFL Games Day, I hasten to add, as his ability to roll good dice was supernatural enough for me to check his hairline for the sixes he kept rolling!

Robert Avery

 
 
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Having enjoyed our first IABSM game, Michael and I agreed to try the first scenario again, to see how the game flowed when we had some grasp of the rules. This time, I’d printed the scenario map out, made a new quick reference sheet including the Fire table and the Unit Actions table, and put stickers on the Big Man cards with each one’s name, rank, Command Initiative, and what they command. Last Friday at the NWA was very busy indeed – when we went to grab a table, we found there was only one trestle left. Luckily an old hand pointed us to some others. After a period of dithering, we decided to just play the sides we’d played last time.

After we’d set up the table, Michael spent a while writing his hidden deployment on the printed map. Having read the scenario a bit more closely I found that I had three pre game ‘stonks’, so I chose to spread them along the hedgerows and orchards bordering the wheat field I was to advance through. Michael then spent a bit more time rolling dice and writing notes while he resolved all that. I then placed my three platoons, with my dummy blind on the far left.

THE EMPTY BATTLEFIELD

We decided that we should make spotting easier than we did last time, so we decided that spotting would be only partially obstructed in the wheat field. The consequence of that was that my 3rd platoon was spotted in the very first action of the first turn. Michael had deployed his two tripod mounted MG42s in the centre orchard. They were only a little worse for wear after the stonk that had hit them, and they and my 3rd platoon exchanged shots for a few turns. That was not the best thing I could have done – I should have closed the range, but I kept just shooting back and forgetting to take cover. Another mistake I made was to move my dummy blind right up to a range where it was auto-spotted, but the Germans, who were in better cover, were not. That felt like a bit of a waste, but I didn’t have anything over on that side of the table anyway, so it wasn’t as if I could have done anything to the unit the blind was trying to spot. My other blinds made good progress down the table. My 1st platoon, on my right, was spotted and engaged by Michael’s 1 zug.

1ST PLATOON FACES OFF AGAINST 1. ZUG (BEHIND THE HEDGE)

Luckily the stonk that had hit that platoon gave them quite a beating, which meant that my platoon was able to do some good advancing by bounds. The Germans didn’t manage to kill many of them, but the platoon commander, Lt Watson, was kept pretty busy keeping his men moving. As an aside, it really made a difference having the Big Mens’ names on their cards (‘Come on Sgt MacAlpine’ is rather more catchy than ‘Come on Allied Big Man 4′). My 2nd platoon, still on its blind, managed to get in close to the orchard before it was spotted, and with some good shooting it was able to cause one of the German HMG teams to lose their bottle.

ALL MY FORCE IS NOW DEPLOYED (REMNANTS OF 3 PLT ARE OUT OF SHOT)

They then advanced right up to the hedge surrounding the centre orchard. Michael’s 2 zug deployed (it was them on my right, after all) and moved to the orchard as well.

Sadly we had to call it a night at that point. It would have been fun to see how the shootout in the centre orchard played out. The game flowed quickly enough, but I suspect that IABSM in Northwest Europe might need just a fraction more than a club night to finish a game. Playing at a club you have to do all the terrain setup and packing up on the night, and there’s a fair bit of terrain in a Northwest Europe game. To save time the stonk and hidden setup could be done before the game. Also I hope to have some Soviets painted in a few months, so there should be a bit less terrain to set up too. If I can get enough done I could host the odd game at my place, so that I could set up the night before and pack up the following day, so the whole evening could be used playing the game. The kids would just have to eat their dinner off the floor or something…

Small Sagas

 
 
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Michael at the NWA and I have been attempting to have a game of IABSM for ages, and at last on Friday there was room on our dance cards.

We played the first scenario in the rulebook: North of Caen. Michael has a number of Crossfire armies, so it wasn’t much of an effort to glean the figures we needed for the two forces. Michael had the Germans, with two rifle platoons and a section of tripod mounted MG 42 medium machine guns. Facing him I had a British rifle company, with three platoons (let's say that I had A Company in a Regiment, so 7, 8, and 9 Platoons).

THE TABLE WHILE WE WERE SETTING UP. MICHAEL'S 2 ZUG WAS IN THE ENCLOSED ORCHARD IN THE CENTRE

We started off by misreading the ‘pre-game stonk’ rule, but I found out later that the area I chose to use the stonk on turned out to just have a dummy blind on it anyway.

I put Capt Jones, the company commander, with 8 Platoon, in the centre of my line, and my dummy blind on the right flank.

Michael spotted 8 Platoon fairly quickly, with his 2 Zug, which were deployed in an enclosed orchard. They came off their blinds, and the two platoons exchanged fire at fairly long range without much harm being done to either side.

My other blinds proved very difficult to spot, and I got a fair way down the table with them.

I moved my dummy right up to the blind that was on my right, and it proved to be the German machine gun section. Not wanting to get in a firefight with them I charged 9 Platoon, still on their blind, right up to close combat. At this point we realised that that was going to be costly for me. Each of Michael’s MMG crews ended up with nineteen dice (dug in, MMG attacked from the front, etc), against the nine dice that my assaulting sections could muster. The two MMGs held, just, and put one of my sections to rout. I did manage to cause one of the German MMGs to fall back, and the other was down to two men.

Meanwhile Lt Watson had led 7 Platoon into a good position to enfilade the Germans in the orchard, and with the combined firing of two platoons the Germans started to become weakened.

On the right flank I finally put paid to one of the Spandaus, but 9 Platoon was down to one section.

At this point Michael and I called it an evening. We had spent a long time discussing a few rules that we either couldn’t decipher or couldn’t find on the night, so the game went a little slowly. We plan to play the same scenario again to see just how fast we can play the game. I feel that we should be able to play the game pretty quickly the second time around. I’d definitely like to play some of the more advanced scenarios to see how tanks and artillery support feel because I enjoyed that little session.

Small Sagas

 
 
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I Ain't Been Shot, Mum! game this evening at Hailsham Wargames Club. This was a refresher for myself, as it's been at least a year since we last played a game, and a first game for one of our newest members. Tim Howard very kindly played the Germans and hand held us through it.

A British infantry company supported by a machine gun section in carriers and a platoon of Shermans were clearing the hedgerows just off the beaches in Normandy. The Germans had a couple of platoons, attached MGs and a couple of PaK 40s deployed on hidden (map) Blinds. The British were coming on from table edge in full view of the Germans.

Fierce fighting ensued around the farm building, with both sides taking significant chunks out of each other.

The game concluded with a very narrow British victory. They wiped out a German platoon and two anti tank guns. In return, two of the British platoon were completely mauled.

It's easy to forget how great a set of rules IABSM is. It is however a bit like Marmite: you either love or hate it! I for one am a big fan of this game, and would play it more often if only the others at the clubs I attend would too. I think more persuading is required!

Joe McGinn

 
 
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France 24 June 1940

The view along the Gravelines to Calais road

We played a game last night using TFL IABSM rules.
Robert Avery’s Defence of Calais booklet: ‘ Scenario 4: On the Road to Gravelines’.

I had completed some background reading on this battle. The unenviable task facing the British was to get a massive truck borne supply consignment of ratios from Calais to Dunkirk along the road via Gravelines.

Early in morning the convoy left the Calais Gate and travelled the route until it reached the village of Le Beau Marais where 1 Panzer Division forward elements had set up a substantial roadblock on the village crossroads and billeted up for the night.

In the early hours prior to the convoy journey two other British probes had received differing results. One force of carriers had turned back reporting German tanks in the area, whilst a second force of three light tanks and a A13 Cruiser tank of 3RTR had somehow passed through the roadblock unrecognised by the Germans manning the obstacle.

The game started with the British truck convoy reaching the roadblock and the Germans being alerted to their presence.

In short the battle went much according to the historical outcome. The lead tanks of the column quickly succeeded in dozering the obstacle to the roadside and causing sufficient casualties to its defenders to chase them off. However the Germans soon got their infantry up and awake and brought numerous support weapons to bear on their attackers.

Two 3RTR A13 tanks burst through the roadblock pushing it aside having immobilised a Sdkfz 221 and sent the defending infantry packing.

The road was soon blocked with abandoned armour leaving the British commander no alternative but to turn back and return to Calais. The rations not being delivered to the beleaguered garrison of Dunkirk.

Bruce and Dale played the Brits (I pushed the ration lorries along slowly) whilst Barry and Ralph defended. The NAaFI being provided by Archie ably assisted again by Steve.

Good points: The scenario was another to have players think about achieving their objectives quickly and efficiently; German difficulties exist because their Officership are all eating breakfast sausages in their separate billet and take time to conclude before rousing their hungry minions into action.

Bad points: I had a thick head and let a few rule errors in.

Plus points: I managed to complete all of the new industrial buildings and get them on the tabletop but alas I was unable to complete the school house build in time through illness. Bruce brilliantly put his Eaton playing fields fair attitude into the game and accepted full and absolute responsibility for the whole debacle. He has his firing squad in the morning.

Tim Whitworth

 
 
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Colonnello Carlo Pellion di Persano's ride to glory, or some background for the story

This is a history-inspired campaign about the Italian invasion of British Somaliland in autumn 1940. In reality, three columns attacked from south and west and overpowered the defenders in short order. The British reinforcements allowed them to pull off a brilliant fighting withdrawal that saved most of their troops. Some Italian troops were sighted by the eastern coast, but a light cruiser firing a shore bombardment drove them off. This is an alternative story about the fourth column from the east, tasked with cutting off the British withdrawal routes. Timing is critical and the avenue of attack is non-optimal with lots of small passes, so a secret task has been given to a mechanized bersaglieri task-force (a reinforced battalion) with veteran autosahariana troops from Libya providing the recon force (its composition is not historical, you may commence breathing).

In the grand Italian tradition of making sure that at least titles are magnificent, this group is called Grande gruppo speciale di Africa Orientale Italiana (The grand special group of Italian East Africa), headed by capo di tutti, Colonnello Carlo Pellion di Persano. Facing him is an old British officer with a ragtag group of Indian troops, high on morale and determination, very low on everything else.

It is a story told with none too serious tone (think of Tintin and WW2 comics), so reader might be advised not to take it too seriously, either.

Both commanders have period maps of the area, with varying amount of help from GM. 

Some of the persons of note we will later meet:

"Colonnello Carlo Pellion di Persano", capo di tutti

A rising star in the magnificent Italian army, one of the great leaders for the east African empire. Man of small stature but big ambitions, he was given this command as his forefathers were condottieri and leading armies is in his blood. He is the villain of our story. 

Capitano Rafaello Peppone, commander of the autosahariana company

Operated previously in northern Africa, shipped here to spearhead the assault. He is a veteran of many years, hard but fair, loved by his men, distrusted by his superiors. What else could a recon company commander be? 

Major Jacob "Indian-Jack" Montjoie

Old man carrying white man's heavy burden. Most of the relieving units are still lost at the sea, so he ended up commanding a battalion from 15th Punjab Regiment, tasked with flank security for the main force in Berbera.

A Missionary Man

"Don't mess with a missionary man. He's got God on his side. He's got the saints and apostles backin' up from behind."

August 9th, 1940 Ceelayo missionary station in eastern British Somaliland

Lieutenant Bruce of 1st Ceelayo militia (or Little-Bruce, bastard son of reverend Jeff Huntington, head of the Ceelayo missionary station, as he was usually called) was a man with a mission. Italians were coming, everybody knew that, but no-one wanted to fight them. King's African Rifles and other regular troops had been withdrawn from the eastern border to defend Berbera. It made perfect strategic sense - in case you were planning a fighting withdrawal like the cowardly high command was. So Bruce had raised his own militia from the able bodied men of the area and had received some second-rate weapons from regular and colonial troops before they had withdrawn: a dozen rifles, an old Lewis-gun and prized Vickers machinegun on an AA mount. Just enough for his band of brave men to give the spaghetti-eaters a bloody nose!

The previous days had seen the village prepared: the generator was ready for firing up the radio to signal to HQ that Italians were coming; AA was covering the village; the Lewis-gun was in a well-camouflaged and fortified forward position and a decoy artillery pit was there to draw enemy attention away from real defensive line. All was set for the self-titled Lieutenant's day of glory.

Early morning, sentries from both direction came running. From the east arrived an armoured car (home made from a truck) from Laasgoray garrison with two trucks carrying normal supplies. And from the east came a column of armed trucks, sporting Italian flags. And an ominous sound of bomber could be heard from the distance.

A SLEEPY MISSIONARY STATION

Initially everything went like a clockwork, decoy artillery soaked enemy fire while Bruce woke up his garrison, saw that they manned the firing line and then he ran to operate the radio.

LEWIS-GUN IN FORWARD POSITION OPENS FIRE. NO-ONE IS HIT BUT EVERYONE WITHIN HALF A MILE TAKES COVER

The Lewis gun had a brilliant opportunity as none of the Italian saharianas spotted it, but in their great excitement the militiamen shot wide and the Italian trucks passed the position with just a scare. The Italians came forward with wild abandon, all guns blazing. The lone goat attached to the wooden mannequins by the artillery pit finally escaped (six casualties and eight shock were absorbed by the decoy, so it worked well) and the saharianas concentrated their fire on poor militia. Several men were immediately gunned down and the rest never had an opportunity to return fire.

A moment later, most of the defenders were down

But Bruce got the radio running and the armoured car came forward to cover the retreat of trucks. It hunted forward carefully and engaged the forward-most sahariana platoon with its machine gun. Four gun-trucks against a lone MG was never going to be a fair game, but its crew fought valiantly. Two saharianas were shocked enough to retreat and one sustained serious engine damage before the 47mm gun found its mark and the last ace for defenders was abandoned.

AVANTI! AVANTI!

The "ghibli" bomber assisting the attack made a few passes, but as soon as it came closer, the tracers from the Vickers convinced it to take distance again. During the whole battle, AA Vickers kept up steady stream of fire, not causing much damage but frustrating attackers several times.

After his armoured reserve was lost and the trucks had disappeared over the horizon, Lieutenant Bruce decided that his duty to the King and Country was done, at least for a moment. So after several SOS messages, he destroyed the radio, ate the papers containing codes, and came out with a white flag, cheerfully congratulating the slightly befuddled Capitano Peppone on his lightning victory.

The Italians quickly rounded up rest of the militia survivors and placed them under arrest, while the area was secured. Tenente Visili led his reserve platoon in a chase for the escaped trucks and a while later came back saying that the trucks and supplies have been captured, mostly intact. Victory was reported to the commander of theGrande gruppo speciale di Africa Orientale Italiana. After an hour, while vehicles were being repaired, one of the guards came back to report that the leader of the prisoners along with a camel was missing, having overpowered the guards with a pistol hidden inside a bible. Fortunately everyone was sure that the lunatic would not get far in the scorching African heat, so incident was not reported upwards.

Topi

 
 
/
 

It's 0630 on 7 July 1943 in western Russia, where the I Battalion, Panzer Grenadier Regiment 101, 18th Panzer Division is carrying out an assault on Soviet defensive positions in and around the village of Snava (which is also a Soviet supply depot) held by elements of the 2nd Battalion, 676th Rifle Regiment, 15th Rifle Division. This is part of the German offensive to eliminate the Kursk salient, specifically on the northern shoulder of the bulge, as German forces push towards Ponyri.

I am playing this game because I have the good fortune of being buddies with Steve of the "Sound Officer's Call" blog , and he is running a "Firestorm Ponyri" campaign. He is playing some games with his local buddies, but was unable to play all of the games himself; rather than simply 'dice off' for results of campaign fights they were unable to play on the table top, Steve asked if anyone in the blogosphere wanted to help, so here I am.

It's been a little bit of an issue that I literally just sold off a bunch of German late war gear, so I'm a bit understrength, but Steve is working with me to make sure the fights I get match up with the forces I have. This is the first fight I've played, and I hope it wasn't too much a pain for him, I certainly want to keep going! First, I love to play games; second, it's been way too long since I've played any Eastern Front games (maybe eight years or so?); and lastly, I'm a solo gamer that still craves some comradery, so whenever I can help another wargamer out, I'm always quick to jump at it.

Overview, north is up. There are a couple primitive roads, mostly running north-south, with a couple patches of heavy wood in the west (left), a large, man-made pond in the south (center bottom right), and the village of Snava in the east (right). Other than that it's flat terrain covered in crop fields broken up by a few stands of trees, with over grown brush flanking them. The brush provides limited concealment, but no cover, and does not block line of sight. The buildings of Snava are stout stone structures, offering good cover.

The orders of battle:

Germans

  • Battalion Commander

  • 1st Company (three rifle platoons of three rifle squads)

  • 2nd Company (three rifle platoons of three rifle squads)

  • 3rd Company (three rifle platoons of three rifle squads)

  • Schwere Company (MG platoon of four MG-42s, mortar platoon of four 8.0cm tubes, infantry gun platoon of two 7.5cm guns, and an anti-tank platoon of two PaK-38 5.0cm guns)

  • Panzer Platoon (five Pz IIIJ with long 50mm)

  • Battery of 10.5cm Artillery (off table)

  • Flight of Ju-87 Stuka dive bombers (off table)

Soviet

  • Battalion Commander

  • 1st Company (three rifle platoons of three rifle squads)

  • 2nd Rifle Company (three platoons of three rifle squads)

  • Anti-Tank Rifle Platoon (3 x PTRS-41s)

  • Anti-Tank Platoon (4 x 45mm ATGs)

  • Field Gun Platoon (3 x 76.2mm "crash-boom" guns)

  • MG Platoon (4 x Maxim .30-cal MGs)

  • Mortar Platoon (3 x 82mm mortars)

  • Tank Platoon (three T-34/76s)

I'm playing in 10mm (figures, vehicles, and gear a mix of Pendraken and Minifigs UK) based at one stand=one squad, weapon, or vehicle. I'm playing this game using Too Fat Lardies' "I Ain't Been Shot Mum" rules, simplified a bit in terms of combat, morale, and movement.

And again, this time with troops present. The Germans are attacking from the north (top); at top left is their 2nd Company, and at top center right is 1st Company, with their Schwere Company spread between them.

The Soviets are dug-in to four strongpoints:

  1. Strongpoint Marta (in woods at left center), where they have 1st Platoon, 1st Company (platoon commander, three rifle squads, a Maxim .30-cal MG, and a 45mm anti-tank gun)

  2. Strongpoint Katarina (in stand of woods at bottom center), where they have 2nd Platoon (1st Company, same as 1st Plt)

  3. Strongpoint Masha (top right), where they have 3rd Platoon, 1st Company (same as 1st Plt)

  4. the village of Nava (right), where they have 1st Platoon, 2nd Company (same as 1st Plt, 1st Co), a platoon of three 76.2mm 'crash booms,' and just in front of them, a platoon of anti-tank rifles dug-in in an ambush position

The Soviets have a platoon of 82mm mortar platoon of a PC and three tubes.

The German Panzer Platoon will start off table but come on as soon as possible following the initial strikes by supporting fires. The Germans are holding their 3rd Company and AT Platoon off table, in reserve. The Soviets are holding 2nd Platoon, 2nd Company, and their T-34 platoon carrying 3rd Platoon, 2nd Company, off table in reserve.

 

On the Soviet left flank is 1st Platoon, 1st Company, manning Strongpoint Marta.

In the Soviet center is 2nd Platoon, 1st Company, manning Strongpoint Katarina.

On the Soviet center-right, occupying the village of Snava, is 1st Platoon, 2nd Company, the Field Gun Platoon (3 x 76.2mm guns), and the Soviet ATR Platoon (bottom left).

And on the Soviet right flank (with Snava just visible at far left) is 3rd Platoon, 1st Company, manning Strongpoint Masha. This would be the scene of some incredibly intense close combat that would ultimately decide the fight here at Karpunevka.

And the Soviet 82mm Mortar Platoon in the southeast (bottom right, looking northwest).

The German far right flank, where 2nd Company has crept up to the line of departure, with half of the Schwere Company in direct support (far left, two MG-42s, two 80mm mortars, and a 7.5cm Infantry Gun).

In the German center, the German CO and the other half of the Schwere Company, supporting 1st Company's (just visible at top left) attack.

And the German far left, where 1st Company is prepared to cross the LOD, looking straight into the teeth of Strongpoint Masha (top center, with Snava at top right).

A buzz is heard in the distance, and all eyes turn skyward as a flight of Ju-87s streaks in...

And drops its bombs on Strongpoint Marta, knocking out the Soviet machine gun team, putting casualties on two rifle squads and the 45mm ATG crew, and suppressing the PC and last rifle squad!

And then sky is filled with the sound of runaway locomotives...

Followed by German 150mm HE shells slamming into Strongpoint Masha, knocking outa rifle squad, putting casualties on two others, then suppressing the PC, the 45mm ATG, the MG team, and an adjacent 76.2mm Field Gun!

Attack!!!

On the German left, the 1st Company (far left) looks on as they're Schwere Company attachments (mortars, MGs, and infantry gun, bottom left) open fire on Strongpoint Masha (top center)...

And the 1st Platoon and 2nd Platoons jump off into the attack, firing as they go.

The combined fire keeps Masha's defenders suppressed, even forcing the ATG crew and MG team to fall back out of the bunker!

On the German right, 2nd Company's Schwere attachments (far left) open fire on Strongpoint Marta (top right) as the 2nd Company attack jumps off (2nd Platoon moved up, center bottom, from bottom left).

But Masha's defenders (top center right) call in mortars (bottom right) on the German 1st Company (top left), knocking out a Nazi squad!

And that fire is joined from the south, where Strongpoint Katarina's machine gun team (in bunker at bottom left, firing past the ATR Platoon at center top, with Snava at top right) lays into the German 1st Company's flank (top center, approaching Strongpoint Masha, top right), knocking out another German squad while pinning a third!

On the Soviet left, Strongpoint Marta continues rallying back into fighting shape, though a rifle squad loses its bottle and fall back (bottom left, from trench)! Other riflemen open fire on the German 2nd Company (top right), to no effect.

Back on the German left, the German Commander (bottom left) pushes 3rd Platoon up to maintain the momentum of 1st Company's faltering attack (top left, where 1st and 2nd Platoons are taking fire and pinned down), as their Schwere Company attachments (bottom center left) continue pounding Masha (top center).

The German 3rd Platoon leader pushes his lead squad up to the road (bottom center left, from bottom right), looking to get into Masha's abandoned bunker (you can see the Soviet ATG crew and MG team suppressed behind it at top left).

In Snava, the valiant platoon commander of the 'Crash-Boom' platoon sprints right to rally his suppressed #3 gun (far right, from left)...

But he takes a stray round (casualty figure at far left) and goes down, which is enough to convince the gun crew to haul ass (bottom right, with red bead) !

But the Soviets are able to rally a tremendous amount of firepower to counter the Germans 1st Company's assault, as the remainder of the Soviet Field Gun Platoon (the two gun emplacements at bottom right) open fire on the German 1st Company's Schwere Company attachments (top left), suppressing an MG team.

Strongpoint Katarina's bunker (bottom left) continues pounding German 1st Company's (top right) flank.

And the Soviet 1st Platoon, 2nd Company (in Snava, bottom left), opens fire on the poor German infantry caught in the open (top right).

All told at this point, the German 1st Company has two squads out of action, one 'men down,' one suppressed, and one PC and one squad pinned!

And then, as the German 1st Company's 2nd Platoon Commander stands up to rally his men, he is hit in the chest and goes down (casualty figure above the squad with white bead). So 2nd Plt, 1st Co is now leaderless and down to two beat up squads!

On the German right, 2nd Company continues its rather cautious advance on Strongpoint Marta (top right).

In Snava, the Soviet CO moves up and rallies the 'crash-boom' crew that had abandoned its gun (right, gun at center left), then signals for part of his reserve, the foot-mobile 2nd Platoon, 2nd Company, to move up and reinforce Masha (top center), which, despite the withering crossfire from the mutually supporting Soviet defensive positions, is still under tremendous pressure.

With the defenders of Strongpoint Masha (bottom right) suppressed, the Soviet riflemen and machine gunners in Snava (bottom left/center left) continue to pour fire into the German 1st Company (top center/right)...

Which forces the German 2nd Platoon to break and run (top right, from far left)! The supporting fire allows the Soviet Platoon Commander in Masha to work on rallying his men...

But the remaining German platoon commanders of 1st Company are aggressive combat veterans, and so they keep pushing: the 1st Platoon Commander leads one of his rifle squads forward (center left), so near Masha's bunker they can smell the borscht cooking!

The Soviet Platoon Commander (far left) has got his MG team (center right bottom) rallied, and now it's literally a race to see who gets into the bunker first! The Soviet Lieutenant begins to rush to the MG team to usher them back into the bunker...

But the German infantry gun attached to 1st Company (bottom left) keeps banging away at Masha (top right, with 1st Company at top left)...

Pinning him down (top left)!

Soviet mortars continue to fall on 1st Company (top left), but mostly the German assault troops have moved out of the kill zone, so only one squad is suppressed (red bead), as Soviet reserves begin to arrive at Masha.

Well, not exactly; concerned about German infantry (top right) nearing Masha's bunker, the Soviet Commander is forced to commit his 2nd Plt, 2nd Co, into the fight piecemeal, as they arrive. The 2nd Platoon's commander and 1st Squad arrive and move up (behind trees, at left bottom, coming from off table to bottom center left).

On the German right, the German Commander has ordered his Anti-Tank Platoon up, so they arrive in the northwest (far left), behind 2nd Company.

Which is only receiving sporadic fire from Strongpoint Marta (top right) causing it to advance ever so slowly, in fits and starts...

German Schwere Company (bottom left) continues pounding Strongpoint Masha (top center), knocking out a Soviet rifle squad...

As the 1st Company's 3rd Platoon Commander grabs a squad and charges up to the bunker, into close combat with the Soviet MG team (bottom center, from top right, with 1st Platoon's PC and a squad at top center)!

They quickly overrun the Soviet machine gunners and move on the pinned anti-tank gun crew, which is joined by their Lieutenant!

And the Soviets stand their ground (bottom left), throwing the Germans back in disarray (far right, suppressed)!

German mortars (bottom left) in support of 1st Company (fighting for their lives at top left) turn their tubes on Snava and begin raining 80mm HE rounds on it, knocking out 76mm gun #2, suppressing #1 and a rifle squad, and pinning the 45mm ATG crew!

While German mortars in support of 2nd Company (mortars at bottom left, 2nd Company at bottom center, moving slowly towards Strongpoint Marta (far right), seek to relieve some of the pressure being placed on 1st Company (top left), so they fire on Strongpoint Katarina (top right), whose machine gun has been punishing them...

Placing smoke directly on target!

The Soviet mortars (bottom right) adjust fire and continue dropping rounds on the German 1st Company (top center left), danger close...

The rounds knock out the recently thrown back squad from the German 3rd Platoon (center) and force their PC to fall back to the road (top right, with 1st Platoon PC and one squad at top center). The Soviet PC at Masha (far left) exhorts the ATG crew to get back in the bunker and re-man their gun...

But he mysteriously takes a round and goes down (bottom right), which is enough to convince the ATG crew (far right) and the least remaining rifle squad (top left)...

To get outta Dodge (right top, from left, with PC and 1st Squad from 2nd Plt, 2nd Co below them)

But now the fire on Snava (top right) from the German Schwere Company...

Is beginning to tell, as Snava's MG team (center, in house) is knocked out! Snava now has all three 76mm guns out of action (one KO, one suppressed, and one had its crew run off, and though they were rallied, they still haven't been able to return to their gun), its 45mm ATG suppressed, and its MG team knocked out.

And on the German right, despite the incredibly slow advance of 2nd Company (bottom right), the Schwere Company's (bottom left) fire on Strongpoint Marta (top right)...

Is having a deleterious effect, with every unit still in action looking a bit roughed up.

With more units beginning to fall back.

The German 2nd Company is making slight progress towards Marta (top right) as their 3rd Platoon moves through the woods and begins popping out the other side (top right end of woods at bottom center).

On the Soviet right, the 2nd Plt, 2nd Co, PC grabs his lead squad and rushes towards the abandoned bunker (center top, from bottom center).

Right back where we started.

While further left, in Snava, the Soviet CO finally coaxes the crew of 76mm gun #3 back up to their weapon.

Schwere Company fire (bottom left) in support of 2nd Company (right) on Strongpoint Marta (top right)...

Has become overwhelming, and empties it of Soviet troops! "Comrade, I hope the Lieutenant doesn't realize we all ran away from our position!" Soviet Lieutenant: "Shut up, Ivanenko, you're so stupid!" "Stupid, eh? What are you doing back here, Lieutenant?"

The Germans begin committing their infantry reserves: 1st Platoon, 3rd Company, arrives (center top, the three stands in a row facing towards bottom) in support of the beleaguered 1st Company. The 1st Company's 3rd Platoon leader, suppressed on the road (red bead at center top right, with 1st Platoon's PC and a squad below him) stands up to rally the troops!

And is promptly laid back down, permanently (center top right)!

Things are looking up for the Germans as their platoon of Panzer Mk IIIs arrive in the center!

They immediately push south (Strongpoint Marta is at top right)...

While on the German right, riflemen are finally almost into Marta (top right).

But the defenders are all hanging out, out back! The Soviets are all suppressed at bottom center, the Marta trench is in the trees at center/center right, German 2nd Company is at center/top left, German tanks at top right).

German 150mm artillery shells crash down on Snava, further roughing up the defenders.

Over at Strongpoint Masha, the remaining two squads of the Soviet 2nd Plt, 2nd Co, arrive (left, with their PC and 1st Squad near the bunker, top right)...

The remains of 1st Company creeps right, towards Masha's bunker...

The last remaining officer, 1st Platoon's commander, and one squad get into the bunker and open fire on the Soviet reserve platoon trying to get into the bunker!

As the rest of 1st Company (center) attempts to isolate the objective (the bunker, far left) by fire.

But the German 1st Plt PC and squad getting into the bunker (top left) is enough to convince the Soviet PC and squad to fall back and regroup with the rest of their platoon (bottom right)!

German Schwere Company (bottom left) continues to pound Snava (top right), wracking up more casualties and keeping the 76mm Field Guns out of the fight.

As the smoke on Strongpoint Katarina lifts...

The German tanks push east...

And two of them (bottom left) begin pounding on Katarina (top right), knocking out a rifle squad and suppressing another, as well as the Soviet MG team.

The remaining German tanks turn their guns on Snava...

Knocking out 76mm Gun #3 (center, Gun #2 knocked out at bottom left) and suppressing the Soviet CO (just right of Gun #3)!

Gun #1 fires on Panzer #4...

A near miss shakes up the crew (yellow bead).

The German CO immediately moves over (far right, from bottom left) and rallies the crew.

As the German ATG Platoon moves up (still limbered, center left, from bottom left). The German 2nd Company continues advancing at its glacial pace (bottom)...

And the Germans finally have infantry in Strongpoint Marta!

And over on the left, German infantry (in bunker, center, and at their top right) are keeping Soviet infantry reserves (top left) at bay in Strongpoint Masha.

So far the Soviet Anti-Tank Rifle Platoon (bottom center) hasn't had much to do; despite the arrival (finally) of German tanks (top center), they're still not close enough for the ATRs to do harm, so the Soviet gunners lie there patiently, baking, waiting for the German steel beasts to come a bit closer.

On the Soviet right, German small arms fire has driven off one of the Soviet reserve squads!

Their Lieutenant curses his cowardly comrades, but orders his 2nd Squad (bottom right) to lay down a base of fire as his 3rd Squad moves to envelop (far left).

But the Germans continue to attempt to reinforce, moving troops towards the all important bunker (just visible at far right). The Soviet Platoon Commander knows he must do something before the Germans are able to marshal their strength on the objective...

So he lets out a 'Hurrah!' and charges, leading his 3rd Squad into close combat with a German squad on the other side of the trench!

The marauding Soviets quickly knock out the squad, then turn and advance down the trench, into the bunker, where grenades, spades, and trench knives are wielded...

But the Germans mow them down in the trench!!

Seeing their Lieutenant and comrades mowed down at the bunker (top right), the last remaining squad of 2nd Platoon, 2nd Company, flees the battlefield (bottom left)!

But, just in time, just like the cavalry in the old-timey Westerns, the last of the Soviet reserves arrive: 3rd Platoon, 2nd Company, riding on T-34s!!!

The Soviet reserve has come on directly behind Snava (far right), with Strongpoint Masha at top right and Strongpoint Katarina at bottom left).

The three T-34s immediately push on Masha, closing directly on the bunker...

And begin blasting it with their 76mm guns at point blank range...

Killing the German Platoon Commander and his squad!

And with that, the last two remaining squads of 1st Company head for the hills (top right, bunker at bottom left), three squads of 1st Platoon, 3rd Company between them)!

One of the Soviet tanks spots a Panzer III (top right) and fires...

Immobilizing the German tank!

Over at Strongpoint Marta, on the Soviet left, the leader of 1st Platoon, 1st Company, manages to rally all three of his rifle squads, though it's cost him precious time, time that probably will allow the Germans to get enough troops into the trench (top, where the Germans already have one rifle squad, top left), which will make it very, very difficult to dislodge them.

On the German left, 1st Platoon, 3rd Company gets ever so near to the bunker at Strongpoint Masha, though they've got to be careful, what with three T-34s and a platoon of Soviet infantry on the other side....

German artillery continues to pound Snava, but there's not much left. Hell, the Soviets don't have much left on the table worthy of a fire mission, but for the T-34 platoon, though it's recent arrival meant it couldn't yet be targeted. A rifle squad is knocked out, the last remaining 76mm gun (#1) is 'men down,' the PC is pinned, and the 45mm ATG crew falls back, abandoning the gun.

The German 2nd Company keeps pushing towards Strongpoint Marta (top right), but they're so slow, and still only have one squad in the trench.

Back on the Soviet right at Strongpoint Masha, T-34s continue firing on German tanks, ineffectively.

The German Schwere Company (bottom left and top left) packs up its MG and infantry guns on their trucks, preparing to displace forward.

The German 3rd Company's 2nd Platoon comes on (top left) behind their 1st Platoon, pushing hard on Strongpoint Masha's bunker (right, with two T-34s below it).

And the Soviet tank riders dismount on Masha...

Just as the German Stukas arrive for a second pass!

The birds of prey dive on Strongpoint Masha...

The Soviet PC's T-34 is knocked out (far right) and the other two tanks are suppressed, as are two of three Soviet rifle squads!

The big question is, can the German 3rd Company take advantage of this?

Aware of the threat to Strongpoint Marta (top left), the Soviet Mortar Platoon (bottom right) cranks their tubes over and begin dropping rounds in that direction...

Putting the squad in the trench 'men down,' suppressing their Platoon Commander, then pinning two nearby squads and another PC!

Down at Strongpoint Katarina, where the Soviet MG team in the bunker has a great enfilade shot on the German 3rd Company trying to get into Strongpoint Masha's bunker (and contributed significantly to the German 1st Company's route while trying to do so), but they're suppressed. The Soviet PC moves over and rallies them successfully!

But the German mortars immediately rain down and suppress them again!

With Soviet tanks spotted in vicinty of Strongpoint Masha (off camera to top right), the German ATG Plt PC moves one of his guns up (center right top, from bottom left), looking to get them into the fight.

While the German Panzer Platoon Commander pushes his tank forward (center top, from center)...

Before lurching to a halt and firing on a Soviet T-34 at Masha...

The 50mm armor piercing round skips harmlessly off the T-34's mantlet (top center), as the Soviet 3rd Platoon, 2nd Company, PC begins getting his men back into fighting shape after the Stuka attack.

On the German right there is some success as they finally get more men into the trench at Strongpoint Marta!

The Soviet 1st Platoon, 1st Company commander decides he cannot wait any longer, so he grabs a squad and leads them through the dense forest, into close combat in the trench!

But the veteran Landser are hardly surprised by marauding Russians appearing suddenly out of the forest, and the Communists are mowed down in their tracks!

The German PC an a squad dash ahead, looking to catch the Soviets off guard, and they pop through the other side (center, from the trench at top center), running square into the remaining two squads of the Soviet 1st Platoon, 1st Company...

Who promptly drop their weapons and surrender to the Germans!

Strongpoint Katarina's MG team finally gets back into action and lays into 3rd Company, suppressing several squads, which is furthered when the Soviet Mortar Platoon gets in on the action as well, pounding the hapless German infantrymen and suppressing some more of them!

German mortars (bottom left) begin pounding Strongpoint Masha (top center)...

And it's deadly, knocking out a Soviet rifle squad and suppressing the other two, freshly rallied, squads! The Soviet Platoon Commander can only manage to rally one of his squads, but it's all come down to this...

He (far right) grabs 2nd Squad and leads them around the bunker, into close combat against a German 1st Platoon, 3rd Company, that has been beat up by Strongpoint Katarina's MG team and the Mortar Platoon (all the red beads are suppressions)! The enraged Soviets easily knock the German squad and PC out, then turn on the next squad (top right), and knock them out too, completing the destruction of the German 1st Platoon, 3rd Company!

They rush into the street, braving fire from their own machine guns and mortars...

Where they crash into the lead squad of the German 2nd Platoon, 3rd Company!

The Soviets knock out the lead squad (far right) in brutal, hand to hand combat, sending the remaining two squads fleeing for the hills (top left)!

The spent Soviet heroes then fall back to the relative safety of the bunker at Strongpoint Masha, having saved their comrades, saved the defensive position, and saved Snava!

The German Panzers continue to advance and fire, knocking out a second T-34...

They push south and fire on Strongpoint Katarina...

They even push east and fire on Strongpoint Masha, but their 50mm guns aren't much use against fortified defenses, and the bigger issue is, with two of their three rifle companies seen off by Soviet tenacity, the Germans don't really have the infantry support left to continue and seize Snava. The German CO yells at the 2nd Company's commander to get his ass in gear; they've only now taken Strongpoint Marta, who knows how long it will take them to move on Katarina, then Snava. But it must be done...

But as 2nd Company is re-forming on Strongpoint Marta (top left), the Soviet Mortar Platoon again goes into action..

And the results are devastating, knocking out one squad, putting two more 'men down,' suppressing two PCs and a rifle squad, and pinning two rifle squads.

The boys just don't have it in them, so the CO orders a withdrawal.

But they were already leaving (top left, from bottom right).

On the south side of the Marta wood, the 2nd Platoon, 2nd Company PC and his lead squad are flabbergasted. They shoot the Soviet prisoners...

Then fall back to collect the casualties left by their comrades fleeing...

Well, that was a helluva fight! I really thought the Germans were going to pull it off after the Stuka strike on the Soviet tank platoon at Masha, but that damn MG team at Katarina and those damned mortars compromised 3rd Company's strength so bad that they were turned into a virtual house of cards, just waiting for a PC and squad from 3rd Platoon, 2nd Soviet Rifle Company to come up and blow them over. I'm really loving how "I Ain't Been Shot Mum" is working out for these games, it's been a lot of fun. I'd complain about how long they're taking, but, then again, it's kinda my fault: IABSM is designed to play reinforced company-sized games, but I'm playing battalion-sized games, so I really can't blame the rules.

I actually played two fights in Kursk this weekend, so stay tuned for the Soviet counterattack at Kastenwald!

Just Jack