Phil Turner, Jenny Owens , Tim Howard , Leigh Jackson and I played a great game on Saturday. It was a 1940 scenario set around Arras. Here are some pictures:
Joe McGinn
Following on from trying out my first game of IABSM, I wanted to try out the rules again and made this our Christmas game. Dean and Ninjasaurus Rex joined me the week before Xmas and I talked them through the rules. This game was set in Malaya again, and was a fictional engagement just after the Japanese had broken through the Allied lines during the disastrous Battle of the Slim River.
The mixed British and Indian force was defending a palm plantation against the attacking Japanese. My defence consisted of two platoons of infantry, supported by two 2 pounder anti-tank guns.
The Japanese attack had two platoons of infantry with three Type 97 tanks in support. The Japanese elected to split into a two pronged attack down the road and through the jungle on their left flank. The village held a battalion refuelling point which was the objective for the Japanese attack.
The Battle Begins
Aftermath
The game was over with a major Japanese victory. Although the Allied defenders had caused heavy casualties, they had lost their anti-tank guns, transports and the refuelling point. Their defence line was in disarray and the Japanese were pushing back across the board.
This was very similar from a historical point to the actual Battle of the Slim River, with the Japanese running riot in the Allied rear areas. You can find out more about this battle on the Storm of Steel Wargaming video on the subject (click HERE).
As another game of IABSM, this was an exciting clash and we all enjoyed the quick play aspect of the rules. We all quickly had the basic rules in our heads and there was little referring to the rules during the game. The one thing I missed out was having my British defenders concealed at the start of the game. This is something I need to understand a bit better for future. But we are still learning the system!
Alex Sotheran
The hamlet of Krickenbeck
Played a 20mm 1945 game tonight with Daren B.
British forces were pushing down a road towards Oldenberg. They had to clear the road and secure the area. A small hamlet was on table, with fields surrounding it. The key feature was an area around a stream. The flood controls had been destroyed so the fields around it were flooded, leaving only one crossing point.
The British had overwhelming force, but the avenue of advance was very limited. Two troops of tanks, an AC troop, a carrier section and a MG section all supported an infantry platoon. Artillery support from a battery of Sextons was also available.
Facing this formidable force was a platoon of Volkstrum, a platoon of SS, one PaK 75. One HMG, one SdKfz251 and a Jagdpanzer IV. All the infantry sections had two Panzerfausts. The game hinged on the British not losing men, rather using firepower to win the day. For the defenders, any sort of damage done to the Brits was a victory.
We used the IABCYM from the Toofatlardies 2019 special and it handled the scenario very well.
The result: the British lost one Cromwell, one Bren carrier and six infantry KIA. The Volkstrum took a beating losing two Big Men and ten other ranks, the remainder broke and went home. The SS still held the village but the Brits were about to assault it using artillery and HE. On balance I think the Germans “won” as they managed to do some damage to the advance.
Desmondo Darkin
Before Christmas, I tried out the Too Fat Lardies I Ain't Been Shot, Mum. I have wanted to try these rules out for a long time and decided to put together a small action set in Malaya and play it solo to get a hang of the game. I used the Fall of the Lion Gate TFL supplement to create the OOBs for the opposing Japanese attackers and British defenders.
A small village is attacked by Japanese soldiers in Malaya
The Japanese were attacking down a straight road into a small Malay village and had two platoons each of four sections of ten men each. The two platoons were each commanded by a level 1 Big Man and there was also a Level 4 & Level 3 Big Man as commanders.
The British defenders had two platoons each of three sections of eight men and a 2" mortar. Each of these platoon were commanded by a Level 1 Big Man, with an extra Level 4 Big Man in overall command. One defending platoon blind was placed in the area of the village and the second blind placed in a rear area patch of jungle.
The Japanese began their attack crossing the river and being spotted and immediately coming under fire from the defenders in the village.
Japanese attackers swarm over the bridge
They took heavy fire from the British riflemen, but it couldn't stop them advancing
On the Japanese left the second platoon began moving around through the jungle to try to outflank the village.
Meanwhile, one section made it across the bridge and attacked a British section in a small hut on the outskirts of the village
The fighting was heavy as both sides tried to gain the upper hand
Fives and Sixes were needed in close combat and the Japanese rolled high, almost wiping out the British section with seven kills!
Most of the defenders are killed
the sole surviving british soldier is forced to retreat
It wasn't all going well though as British riflemen laid down a heavy fire on the platoon, killing some attackers and pinning a section.
The jungle and river was proving to be difficult to get through and the flanking manoeuvre was taking a slow pace.
The Japanese were slowly pushing their way into the village.
Soldiers from the second Japanese platoon charged a second building holding British defenders.
The overwhelming numbers broke the line and the remaining British soldiers were thrown back out of the village.
There was still another British section in the third house, a ill disciplined charge by the Japanese had poor results and the defenders held on.
Despite this small set back, the attackers were gaining ground and forcing their way through the buildings, one at a time.
Now the Japanese get into the village proper, and The British defence line was wavering
Meanwhile, the second British platoon deployed from its blind and began firing at the Japanese that they could see from their jungle position.
The second Japanese platoon had got past the British defence line…
and pursued the beleaguered defenders across the fields.
Once in a good position, the second British platoon was assaulted by two Japanese sections led by their commander.
The fighting was brutal, with both side taking heavy casualties.
The Japanese commander was cut down at the head of his men under fire from the British rifles.
At this point the final tea break card came up and I ended the game in a Japanese victory.
As a first game of IABSM, it took a little while as I had to go back to the rules every so often, just to remind myself. However, most of the basic rules can easily be held in your head and I think a few games would be enough to cement them in there. It's a fast play game and had a lot of friction and unpredictability due to using the command cards which allow units to activate.
This means you have to be careful and use opportunities as soon as they arise, such as using Big Men to command units when they can. This was a lot smaller than a typical game of IABSM, but it was enough to give me an idea of the game flow and the general rules. What I do like within the rules is that they are not prescriptive, it is about enjoying the game rather than being a rules lawyer and that might not suit a lot of players. For me, I really like that approach, as the Lardies say: play the period, not the rules. I've been looking for a replacement for Rapid Fire! for some time now and think I've found it!
Alex Southeran
Played a 1940 using the IABCYM rules from the recent TFL Magazine (I Ain’t Been CoC’d Yet Mum: a variant of I Ain’t Been Shot, Mum that uses the dice-based system from Chain of Command for activation rather than cards or chips). Philip Andrews and Iain Fuller battled out a scenario I put together based on the “Arkforce” that was left to defend a perimeter near Le Havre, in June 1940.
The Germans had a standard infantry company and two Panzer zugs ( Mark II and Mark I’s); the British had an infantry company, two understrength AT platoons ( two 2pdrs and two 25mm AT), a troop of Vickers tanks, and a Vickers MMG platoon, but these were spread thin across two lines of defence trying to keep the main escape route open.
The British had a tough job on their hands.
Both sides had variable reinforcements, and each time a “Mums” dice was accumulated a reinforcement could be rolled for.
The table was 10ft by 6ft and the action was non-stop and by the end of 3.5 hours of fighting the Germans managed to get almost to the main road and cut the last route to safety.
The rules worked well and it was good to try them out on a 1940 scenario rather than the 1944 Normandy. The light armour of all the tanks was frightening for those of us used to Panzer IV or Panthers!
Philip Andrews comments:
Iain Fuller and Philip Andrews contemplate Phil’s appalling die rolling😂
It was a hoot even as the Brits. There was some scoffing at my front line being two platoon ‘bastions’ in densest terrain flanked by the light armour of the Hussars (if it was good enough for Wellington...) with 2pdrs and MMG in deep defence and long fields of fire. My dice rolling was, er., well below the bell curve , but I managed a local infantry counter attack (also to spread out my platoon when the artillery ranging started on my position!) and I killed a lot his Big Men, admittedly one by the flukiest bomb drop by a Fairy Battle. Nice proper suppression then assault by Iain on the farmhouse. On the scenario, the Germans probably have 6in too far to go. Thanks again to Des and Iain.
Iain Fuller comments:
1940 action with Jerries taking on the Jocks of Arkforce. Great fun game with Panzer I & II's taking on Vickers Mk.VI's and 2pdr and 25mm AT guns. A couple of Fairey Battles even turned up too!
We used our 'I Aint Been CoC'd Yet Mum' adaptation again and it is playing better each time we do. Big thanks to Des for the game and Phil for being a gentleman opponent.
Desmondo Darkin
It's 1800 on 11 July 1943 in western Russia, where the German I Battalion, 195th Infantry Regiment of the 78th Sturm Division, is on the attack, looking to evict the Soviet 1023rd Rifle Regiment, augmented by the remnants of the 1019th Rifle Regiment, themselves refugees from the defeat at Shirokoye Bulotev. The goal of the fight is possession of the 1 May Collective Farm; the Soviets are defending prepared positions while the Germans are conducting hasty attack supported by Corps artillery (rockets) and armor.
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 under strength, but Steve is working with me to make sure the fights I get match up with the forces I have. Please enjoy the last instalment of my support to Steve's campaign at Kursk.
Overview, north is up. The 1 May Collective Farm is the series of buildings at bottom left, while "Yuri's Hovel" is at top right. Other than that it's all cultivated farmlands, uncultivated grassland, and stands of trees bisected by a southwest-northeast running road with several branches coming off it. Highly significant to the military terrain on the battlefield are the stands of trees that line almost every single road on the map; the various hedges you see spread across the table (mostly lining the cultivated crop fields) do not block line of sight, but the stands of trees absolutely do, so the battlefield isn't nearly as open as it may appear at first glance.
Once again I'm using the Too Fat Lardie's excellent "I Ain't Been Shot Mum" rules, which I find work great for solo play. I'm playing on a 6' x 4' mat (from The Wargames Company) using 10mm troops that are a mix of Pendraken, Minifigs UK, and Takara. The buildings, trees, and hedges are from Crescent Root Studios, the fields are from Hotz Mats, and the beautiful roads are from Fat Frank in the UK.
Orders of Battle
The Germans
Commanding Officer
2 x Rifle Company
Each with three Platoon Commanders and nine rifle squads
1 x Schwere Company
MG Platoon (PC and 3 x MG-42
Mortar Platoon (PC and 4 x 8.0cm tube)
Infantry Gun Platoon (PC and 2 x 7.5cm howitzer)
Truck Platoon (2 x Opel truck)
1 x Panzer Company
2 x Panzer Platoon (3 x Pz Mk IIIJ w/long 5.0cm gun)
1 x ersatz Panzer Platoon (2 x Stug III w/long 7.5cm gun, 1 x Marder w/76.2mm gun)
1 x Armored Carrier Platoon (3 x Sdkfz 251 halftrack)
1 x Rocket Artillery Battery (2 x Nebelwerfer)
The Germans are rated as average capability and average morale; yes, they are very experienced and grasp the importance of this attack, but they have suffered heavy losses and are worn out from six straight days of ferocious fighting.
The Soviets
Commanding Officer
1 x Rifle Company
Three Platoon Commanders, three 50mm mortars, and nine rifle squads
1 x MG Company
PC, 2 x SG-43, and 3 x Maxim 7.62mm MG
1 x "Tank Killer" Company, consisting of:
1 x Anti-Tank Rifle (ATR) Platoon (PC and 4 x PTRD ATR)
1 x Field Gun Platoon (3 x 76.2mm 'crash-boom' guns)
1 x Anti-Tank Gun (ATG) Platoon (PC and 4 x Zis-3 57mm ATGs)
1 x Mortar Platoon (PC and 3 x 82mm mortars)
The Soviet Rifle Company is comprised of the scraps of two beat-to-hell Rifle Regiments that mostly weren't particularly well-trained or experienced and are pretty much shattered at this point, but they've been stiffened by the additional automatic weapons of an understrength Machine Gun Company and a specialized "Tank Killer" company.
The Tank Killers are an elite force comprised of savvy veterans with very high morale. They are specially trained to avoid target indicators by dispersing their guns and digging them in in open areas, almost flush with the ground, where they allow the Germans to advance to point blank range. They use their field guns to separate the panzers from their supporting infantry, their ATRs to harass tank commanders and force them to button up, and their long-barrelled 57mm guns to engage the enemy's flanks.
I don't know if any of that is true, but it sounded good, and it's how I used them in this fight!
There's another wrinkle, which I'll cover below.
Overview again, this time with troops. The German start line (which is quite crowded) is at top right, around Yuri's Hovel, while the Soviets are dug-in from top left to bottom left to bottom right, defending the 1 May Collective Farm (bottom left).
All Soviet units except the 82mm Mortar Platoon begin the game dug-in and camouflaged. The Soviets are, once again, utilizing a 'hedgehog' defense of mutually supporting strongpoints, of which there are three.
At top left is Strongpoint Nadia; at center left is Strongpoint Mila; and at bottom right is Strongpoint Sasha. Each strongpoint consists of the following:
Platoon Commander
50mm Mortar
3 x Rifle Squads
Maxim 7.62mm MG
76.2mm Field Gun
Soviet Deployment
So you've got a beat up, worn out rifle platoon bolstered by a machine gun and the 76.2mm field gun. I thought long and hard about whether to split to break up the Field Gun Platoon and one of the MG Platoons, but in the overall scheme of things, each strongpoint has close defense provided by its three rifle squads, and each strongpoint has a significant long-range capability consisting of the MG, light mortar, and field gun. I believe the long-range capability and the elan and training of the tank killers provides the low-grade infantry a real boost in confidence, such that breaking up an MG platoon and the Field Gun Platoon was warranted.
The 82mm Mortar Platoon is at far left bottom, in a field. The 'other' MG Platoon (PC and 2 x MGs) is at bottom center left. The Anti-Tank Gun Platoon is split: the PC and two guns is at far left top (the "West ATG" position), and the other two guns are at bottom center right (the "South ATG" position). The Soviet CO is at bottom center, between the MG Plt and the South ATG position. The ATR Platoon is dug-in at center, just below the road, the purpose of which is two-fold: first, engage German armor coming down the road, and second, keep between any German infantry and the ATGs below them.
My only regret with the Soviet deployment is that I wish I could have even further dispersed the four Zis-3 ATGs (in order to counter German supporting fires sure to be levied against them); I would have but I didn't have enough sandbagged emplacements, so I had to double up each set of ATGs!
German Plan of Attack
Okay, this is ugly and not terribly creative, for four reasons:
The Germans are attacking on the hop, conducting a hasty attack straight off the march, immediately following an attack earlier today. They've barely had time to untangle and reorganize their units following the earlier attack, and no time to rest or replenish.
The Germans are in a very big hurry as supplies, men, and equipment are all worn out and Intelligence reports strong Soviet forces en route to reinforce the 1 May Collective Farm garrison.
The Germans had no time to conduct reconnaissance of the battlefield, so they have no idea the strength or disposition of the enemy facing them.
In order to get to the Collective Farm, the German infantry have a tremendous amount of ground to cover on foot. Moving cross-country would be almost as exposed, and would be even slower than heading straight down the middle via the road.
So this is literally 'hey diddle diddle, straight up the middle,' in a hurry to take and consolidate on the Farm before the Soviet reinforcements arrive. The German CO was at the head of the column coming into the area; he called a halt at Yuri's Hovel, sent for his senior leaders (some companies are now being led by Sergeants), and climbed atop the roof to get a look at the situation. He can't see anything in terms of Soviet troops or activity, but a simple appreciation of the terrain makes a few things clear:
the Soviets are sure to be thick in the Collective Farm and its adjacent wooded areas; he'll sic the the Nebelwerfers (which Corps has placed in direct support) on them.
the wooded area to the northwest (in the vicinity of Strongpoint Nadia) is sure to contain a bushel of the Red devils. He can ignore them/use direct-fire support to keep them at bay.
the wooded area to the south (at bottom right, in vicinity of Strongpoint Sasha) is also sure to hold hordes of the Bolsheviks. They're too close, they'll have to be deal with.
So, the German Colonel climbed down and quickly sketched out the plan of attack to his subordinates:
Direct fire-supports (MG Plt and IG Plt) will emplace in/around Yuri's Hovel with the mission of protecting the Kampgruppe's right flank and isolating the objective (keep any Soviet forces north of the Farm away from the Farm). (target acquisition and quick, accurate engagement will be king, might be a bit much to ask of worn out troops)
1st and 2nd Platoons of 2nd Company will assault the southeast wood (SP Sasha). This assault will not be supported; their mission is to tie down the defenders without becoming decisively engaged. (god luck with that!)
The Ersatz Panzer Platoon (hereafter referred to as the "Stug Platoon") will lead the entire 1st Company, in platoon order, down the road, straight into the objective. Speed is of the essence! (emphasis on speed can get real expensive real quick!)
The indirect-fire supports (Mortar Platoon and Nebelwerfer Battery) need to get in where they fit in, i.e., find some space out of LOS to likely enemy positions and set up. They are tasked directly to the Kampgruppe commander. (terrible idea, a leader's job is to lead, a commander's job is to command, a forward observer's job is to forward observe. There's a reason the duties are split!)
1st and 2nd Panzer Platoons, and 3rd Platoon, 2nd Company (mounted in the halftracks) are the Kampgruppe's reserve (begin game off table to east).
So, what did he miss?
Well, he's incorrect in his assumption that the Collective Farm is a bulwark of the defense; you see, the elite Soviet 'Tank Killers' are trained to look for target indicators (such as a cluster of buildings and clumps of trees) and stay the hell away, knowing the Germans will target them with copious amounts of artillery and mortars. This means Nebelwerfer rockets will soon be falling on unoccupied ground, and the KG's assumption, along with his inability to conduct a real reconnaissance, means he completely missed SP Mila, which his Stug Platoon and 1st Company will be waltzing straight down the road to. And he has completely missed the flanking deployment of the deadly Soviet Zis-3s.
Time to Fight!
Wow, I still can't believe it, the Germans just couldn't get it done. 2nd Company got shot to pieces before it could even decide to not get decisively engaged, and 1st Company got mortared to death before it could make use of the road. The Germans committed their reserve rather early, but the mechanized infantry just sort of floundered about as the armor got shot to pieces by anti-tank weapons that the German infantry never got the opportunity to locate. And while the Soviet mortars did yeoman's work, the German heavy weapons (MG Plt, IG Plt, Mortar Plt, and Neblewerfers) were next to worthless, so from that standpoint, the Soviet hedgehog defense worked wonders in just keeping the German supporting fires occupied while their mortars and machine guns handled the German infantry.
I haven't been doing this, but I figured I'd share the loss figures:
German
4 tanks, 1 assault gun, 1 tank destroyer knocked out
1 tank, 1 assault gun, and three halftracks destroyed to keep from falling into enemy hands
10 rifle squads (out of 18) knocked out and 3 captured
Soviet
3 Zis-3 ATGs knocked out
2 76.2mm Field Guns knocked out
1 50mm mortar team knocked out
4 anti-tank rifle teams knocked out
6 (of 9) rifle squads knocked out
Man, that was a slog, very tough fight, with an every dwindling chance the Germans would be victorious, but still a possibility of snaking out a victory, right up to the very end. If only they could have gotten those halftracks moving just a little sooner; should have used their CO to get them moving, rather than continuing to use him to try and get 1st Company and the Stug Platoon (stalled out after the Soviet ATR Platoon whacked their Platoon Commander) moving. C'est la guerre...
Just Jack
The table looking from the German lines
This is an interesting scenario with objectives that may frustrate players. This scenario is by Robert Avery and is part of his 'Anzio: Wildcat to Whale' scenario booklet.
It considers the German counteroffensive on the first day and focuses on the pinch point attack made by the veterans of the 29th Panzer Grenadier Regiment against the green troops of the United States E company, 2nd Battalion, 157th Regiment and their associated supports.
The Americans start on blinds in their hastily dug shallow trenches and scrapes, having retreated back from the area known as the Factory during the previous two days. The ground was hard and the weather cold and the troops found it very difficult to break into the earth. The resultant efforts generated only light forms of cover to add to the already almost spartan and featureless terrain of the valley area around the Via Anziante.
The Germans on the other hand are not only experienced troops but have the benefit of being supported by a full-strength platoon of panzer III tanks and a second platoon of assault guns. The Germans do not have any offboard artillery support as their barrage is assumed to have just been lifted from the American frontlines to enable their advance. Conversely, the Americans have the ability to call upon a three gun battery of 105 mm guns from the 58th Field Artillery Battalion directly behind their lines.
The Germans are allowed to enter the battlefield on Blinds using a randomised number of Blinds each turn.
We played the game with Barry Foster and Togs being the Germans; the Americans being played by Dave Wilson, Andrew Sharp, and Martyn Cartlidge (his place being taken later in the day by Dale Askew).
There were no Turn Cards required in this game pack however there were a few surprises namely a pair of Vehicle Breakdown cards to represent the frozen ground warming up and becoming the ubiquitous thick Italian mud which in real life halted much of the German advance. The action starts at around 06:30 hours.
The German advance platoons reach the railway embankment
The Germans made initial strikes using their Blinds and quickly raced to the edge of the railway embankment where they took up initial positions in cover behind the collection of linear obstacles and light hedging which denoted the irregular field boundary markers. The Americans undertook some initial observation and detected the Panzer platoon almost immediately.
A cuckoo in the nest. Just to mix things up a bit I added a false Tiger Mk 1 into the Panzer III platoon.
As is my way, I decided to add a little entertainment into the game and represented one of the Panzer III tanks with a Tiger I to represent the fear that a lot of Americans had of these vehicles and their inability to distinguish them from other less lethal vehicles at long range.
Rapidly the Germans deployed their infantry platoons, of which they had many, and quickly established a fire base with their heavy weapons platoon comprising of four medium machine guns who set up on their right flank (the western side of the table). Simultaneously they also advanced on their Eastern flank and began to take fire from the American positions deep within their half of the table.
One thing is that American platoons are blessed with is the number of heavy and medium machine guns and these started to make their mark as the Germans advanced. This would have been catastrophic under normal circumstances, however Barry was in his element once again and was making saving throws time after time with the result that the Germans were actually sustaining very few losses indeed during their advance.
As the German Blinds became uncovered the American Forward Observer began to target their advance with the off table artillery support. The results of this bombardment was that many of the Panzers in the centre were pinned by the barrage and their adjacent accompanying infantry were also temporarily halted. This was a major factor in the American defence plan and they continued to use it most effectively. The Germans were distracted by this and frequently had to redeploy their Big Men accordingly to remove Shock and Pinned markers on the affected units. This bought the Americans considerable time and helped them prolong the time that the Germans were under the sights of their numerous and effective machine guns.
The StuG III Platoon gets into action
The Americans continued to be successful with their observation efforts and more German platoons including that of the assault guns were unmasked. The StuG III unit drove through the centre attempting to make a dash over the railway line and along the track towards the single building on the battlefield. This terrain feature was surrounded by some lightweight hedges and vineyards but again the cover was considered minimal. It was in this area that the Americans had deployed to 57mm anti-tank guns in temporary camouflaged dugouts but these remain silent for some time. The Americans were also blessed with holding a pair of M10 tank destroyers, again in camouflaged dugouts however these two were held back as the German onslaught followed.
The battle then continued as the Germans attempted to make headway from their positions behind the railway embankment, across the road and into the fields containing the slit trenches and scrapes occupied by the Americans. They in turn continued with their unrelenting machine-gun fire; however this was successfully defended by the German players continuing to have good luck with their saving throws.
The German Panzers and their assault gun support platoon made a play and concentrated their efforts using the Blitzkrieg card to good effect; driving hard through the centre of the battlefield in a concerted manner. It was at this point that the Americans declared their hand and their phenomenal anti-tank capacity by masking three separate Bazooka teams. Under normal circumstances this would have been dire for the Germans but once again their saving throws were outlandishly effective and many a hollow charge projectile failed to damage the advancing armour. The Germans retaliated and quickly destroyed two Bazooka teams with a pair of throws of "Lucky 17".
Close tank/ infantry support
Barry pressed home with his attacks on the American right flank and given their ‘green’ nature, many of the units under fire quickly became ineffective and started to abandon their positions. He also made good use of the Blinds card and a blinds bonus move card to quickly bring up another full Panzer Grenadier platoon along that flank with which he then attempted to get into close assault with the remaining defenders holding out in that area. It was at that point that his luck ran out somewhat and he failed to make the distance to get into contact, leaving his troops exposed in No Man’s Land and with many American machine guns trained upon them. It looked rather dire at that point.
German Panzer Grenadiers advancing on their left flank.
Meanwhile in the centre the Panzer versus American anti-tank weapons battle continued unabated with units trading shots. Quickly two more Panzers were damaged and one totally abandoned as the morale of the crew deteriorated under such pressure.
Eventually the close combat did take place on the flank but as the American defenders were neither suppressed nor pinned, they managed to drive off the Panzer Grenadier assault and their respective position was made more precarious by the massive firepower placed against them by the dug in machine guns.
German units start to suffer.
NB The red market in the corner of the hedges is the fall of shot marker for the American off table artillery
The Americans were starting to lose heavily but they still held on. The Germans managed to get one of their assault guns free from the clinging mud and back into action but as time progressed it was apparent that they had not done enough in the time available and their attack began to falter.
They had been set the objective to clear the road entirely of Americans and also prevent any units being able to be in a position to fire upon the road. This they had unfortunately not been able to achieve and after playing with approximately two dozen reshuffled decks we decided to call it a day.
It had been a demanding and at times frustrating game but the outcome was very similar to the real historical events that took place around the extended Anzio beachhead in February 1944.
Tim Whitworth
Valle delle Marie, Italy, August 1944.
Here is the set up for the latest encounter set around the Gothic line in 1944. A British company attack this time supported by Sherman tanks and artillery against Germans dug in and determined to fight for the last inch of their territory.
The valley lies between two fictitious towns but is typical of the terrain encountered by the Allies during this campaign.
Again we will be playing this game using the three new mats from Geekvillain, a new mat manufacturer based in Leicester. A fantastic product and highly recommended is the rocky grass mat for this geographical area.
For those interested in this scenario appears in a Too Fat Lardies Special and was penned by Mike Whittaker.
The Game
The village of Sante Magdelene; the British second objective.
We played this game again using the Too Fat Lardies rule set "I ain't been shot Mum" and played it over two evenings. Barry and Ralph played German defenders whilst Bruce and Richard aided by myself play the attacking British force. As ever the tea and refreshments were kindly provided by Steve and Archie.
The scenario albeit fictitious is typical of the sorts of frequent missions carried out in this theatre of war during 1944. The terrain was arduous and frequently mountainous. The roads that did exist were passable in summer but during winter quickly turn to mud.
The table layout includes two villages, one burnt out yet still occupied (Santa Maria) and the other intact and occupied. The intact village of Santa Magdalene and its associated church were on the rising slopes of the northern end of the valley, the main road passing from south to north with a branch off via the destroyed village to the east which then took a D shape swinging back to the West and joining up at the village of Santa Magdalene.
There were frequent copses and small woods along with copious amounts of high crops adjacent to the road, on its western edge and on the eastern edge of the table there were large vineyards. The two southern corners of the table both had sloping fields and along with the northern slope where the village of Santa Magdalene lay combined to make the Valley of the Two Marys.
The Germans set up quite far forward and could occupy the village of Santa Maria, drawing a line back through the central ward and in front of Santa Magdalene. This deployment area gave them considerable amounts of cover options as well as the high ground around the church from where they could see most of the battlefield.
They elected to set up their two depleted infantry platoons, one in each village and their forward observation officer on the high ground outside the church, surveying the whole of the battlefield. He had access to an offboard battery of four mortars of 81 mm calibre with unlimited fire missions and a couple of preregistered fire points.
The Germans also had a surprise in a depleted platoon of two STuG III assault guns that they deployed in the central wood and in the corner of the vineyard adjacent to the D-shaped road. All were on hidden blinds.
The table looking from the northern edge hill, held by the Germans and looking towards the village (fall left) of Santa Maria. The magnitude of the smoke bombardment is obvious.
The British had to deploy in the South Western corner under blinds with a maximum of two arriving per turn. Very cleverly, they elected to put their forward observer and a lone Churchill close support tank on the high ground adjacent to that corner of the board.
The next two blinds arrived and were quickly automatically spotted by the hidden German troops as they passed through open terrain. The first was a column of five Sherman 75 mm tanks, the second a standard British infantry platoon; both platoons with an appropriate number of Big Men to hand.
The tanks with infantry support and the benefit of the Churchill set about creating a massive smokescreen between them and the village of Santa Maria, conducting a brisk advance as they did so. Unbeknown to them either they were under the gaze of the German forward observer who had contacted his off board battery to bring down fire on an adjacent preregistered target point. This was a key point in the game as fire was maintained in the region almost constantly, pinning the vehicles and infantry in that area.
The scenario used a game turn indicator card as well as the Tea Break card. The scenario had a maximum of 15 turns before it was considered to be nightfall; by which time the British had to take both villages to achieve their objective. The Germans had to defend both villages in timeframe for them to win.
The first seven turns of the 15 turn game seemed to race by and it appeared that the British would run out of time long before they even crossed the centreline of the battlefield let alone got close to their objectives. However IABSM is a clever set of rules with twists and turns along the way, aided somewhat by the chance sequence of cards drawn and obviously the way in which players maximise their opportunities as a result.
The next three turns seemed to take a little longer with probably six or seven packs of cards being used but it was at this time that the British troops started again and with their armoured thrust through the centre. Having driven the German troops out of the village of Santa Maria they were surprised to receive fire from the camouflaged assault gun in the corner of the vineyard. It claimed the lead Sherman and disabled it for the rest of the game.
That assault gun continued to pick fights with each other Sherman's rapidly destroying a second containing the tank platoon commander. He was a survivor of that attack and rapidly dismounted from his wreck and commandeered the tank of a subordinate within the platoon!
The three remaining Shermans then set about the STuG with a vengeance, quickly they placed shock upon it and immobilised it. Further hits resulting in the crew abandoning the vehicle. At which point the second assault gun appeared in the centre towards and entered into a firefight with the three remaining tanks. Smoke was called for from the Churchill who could view the fight developing from his hilltop position and under such pressure the STuG fired a shot and then withdrew back into the wood and out of sight.
More smoke cover as the British prepare to assault the beleaguered Germans
This was the moment the British were waiting for and having been dealt a succession of their cards the general advance followed at a pace into the centre area of the battlefield; infantry advancing along both flanks with the tanks desperately trying to fill the vacuum the centre. At this point it became quite inactive in terms of offboard artillery strikes with both sides waiting for their cards to be dealt, yet to no avail. A couple more turn cards were drawn very quickly and the game then rapidly moved into the next phase.
Who would win, the odds were quite even but with only three more turn cards available the British had to do something quickly.
Under the cover of another almost continuous smoke screen barrage from the Churchill and the infantry mortars there followed a number of infantry assaults on the German occupied buildings within the village of Santa Magdalene. These attacks were made from both the left and the right flanks; both of which saw the Germans withdraw from their cover and back towards the church upon the hill however they had made the British pay for it dearly and it is about this point in the battle that the British had lost approximately half of their force. A costly day indeed..
The two Shermans remaining on the table supported by their friendly Churchill continued to pound the village of Santa Magdalene until all resistance there ceased. It looked as if they were on the edge of victory with the Germans occupying just the church with a depleted machine gun team and a couple of badly mauled sections heading back to the hillside. Could the British make the final advance in time?
The answer was unfortunately no as just in time for the Germans the final turn card was drawn. The Germans had managed to achieve their objective just by the skin of their teeth but at a great loss.
This is a very interesting game and required considerable skill on the part of the British to use combined arms tactics and the cover of smoke well in order to proceed at a reasonable pace in a hostile environment against a determined enemy dug in and supported by significant amounts of firepower. However all agreed that again the rules had through and produced a very realistic representation of this sort of combat frequently endured in this theatre of operations.
Tim Whitworth
Cracking all day game today on a superb 12' x 8' Table.
German assault on dug in British troops. We allocated 3:1 ratio in the attack. Early sun glinted off the advancing Panzers before a 25lber artillery strike destroyed a half track platoon.
Stubborn British infantry were finally over run in the woods. A Tiger was lost to a plucky PIAT team on a Heroic action card: never had that happen before.
A Sherman reinforcing troop was then stonked on its startline by Nebelwerfers losing 50% strength. Eventually the flanks were turned and a German victory declared.
Julian Whippy
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
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
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
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
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
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.
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
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
