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Amongst the chaos and crap of COVID, we gathered for (secure) gaming and what an utterly brilliant day we had.

It was actually day 2 of an Op Goodwood type of 1944 scenario. Armour Heavy Brits, with Typhoons, AVRE and Funnies pushed against PAK front and Heavy Tank support (PzVIs ).

On a lovely, and huge 12 ft x 8 ft table Germans were forced back to literally the final 18" of board, that included the objective, but just held on as dusk fell on our day.

 

Julian Whippy

 
 
 
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Post 41, Bumfluff at Bardia

By 15th December the Italian army was out of Egypt and the British paused to count their gains, with both sides holding their positions. The Division, less 4th Armoured Brigade, surrounded Bardia waiting for the 6th Australian Division to be brought up to prepare for an assault on Bardia and for supplies to be brought up.

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The enemy positions around Bardia, which was garrisoned by 45,000 men and over 400 guns (off all types), 12 M-13 Tanks and a Hundred L-3 Tankettes. consisted of a 18 mile long perimeter, with double barbed wire, a four foot anti-tank ditch, many natural wadis and scores of artillery and MG positions, plus six well dispersed minefields.

Having captured plans of these defences back in June, the defences were probed for weakness for a while. There was also a need to re-equip as the strength of 7th Armoured had dropped to 108 light tanks and 59 Cruiser tanks, of which many had outrun the designed track mileage.

While the Italians in Bardia enjoyed every luxury, the Australians and 7th Armoured Division settled down outside the perimeter for their Christmas lunch, waiting for the main assault in the new year.

Major Mick Dundee of 2/2nd Australians has the task of capturing Post 41 and allowing passage of Matilda tanks from 7RTR. The Aussies are green but keen, having replaced the veteran 4th Indian Division up the Blue.

Major Mick Dundee with one of his mates, in happier times.

Major Mick Dundee with one of his mates, in happier times.

The Regimental diary of the 11th Hussars records that Lt Bumfluff Farthingdale was captured by the enemy on the night of 2nd January 1940. The Colonel was not too upset. Bumfluff`s armoured car was reported to have become "lost" in the area between post 41 and the Australian lines. As Major Dundee and his men prepared their attack on the post Bumfluff was being royally entertained by the Italians, and regaling them with tales of his time at Eton, don`t you know...

Clearly Mick's mission is not just to capture Post 41. He must also rescue that 11th Hussars idiot. It's not going to be easy.

The Forces

Elements of Major Dundee’s Company, 2/2nd Australian Infantry Battalion

Company HQ

  • Captain Mick Dundee

  • 1 x Boys Anti-Tank Rifle Team (2 crew)

1st Platoon

  • Sergeant "Little" Wally Little

  • 4 x Rifle Section (8 men each)

Supporting Tank Troop from 7th Royal Tank Regiment

  • 2 x A12 Infantry Tank Mk II “Matilda” tanks

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Defenders of Post 41

Headquarters Element [in easternmost bunker]

  • Tenente Giuseppe Pesci

  • 2 x Rifle Squad (8 men each)

1st Platoon [in westernmost trenches, either side of gun pits]

  • 4 x Rifle Squad (8 men each)

2nd Platoon [in easternmost trenches]

  • 4 x Rifle Squad (8 men each)

Weapons Platoon [in guns pits]

  • 1 x 65/17 Field Gun (4 crew)

  • 1 x MMG (3 crew)

In The Gun Pit At The South-East Corner Of The Map

Elements of 45th Artillery Regiment

  • 1 x 75/27 Field Gun (5 crew)

The Game

A win for the Aussies, who must now continue with the assault and take the town.  Major Dundee won`t have a chance to send Bumfluff back, so he has in effect been temporarily drafted into 7RTR for the second game.

A Wargamer in Cyprus

 
 
 
 
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On 9th December 1940 whilst Op Compass got underway in attacks on the Italian camps, 11th Hussars discovered the Italian 64th Catanazaro Division, under General Armico, well dug into the dunes west of Buq-Buq.  This was potentially a strong position, behind the salt flats, with thirty-five guns of all types covering the east and another twenty-five guns of all types covering the south. 

A hastily assembled force of 3rd Hussars, a squadron of 2nd RTR, cruisers from the 8th Hussars, along with 'B' & 'C' Squadrons of the 11th Hussars, plus a battery of 4 RHA, all under the command of Lt-Colonel John Combe (11th Hussars) attacked the Italian force.

8th Hussars in 1939

8th Hussars in 1939

I have some disagreement with the IABSM Op Compass Supplement, although I`m not following it directly.  From my reading 8th Hussars were almost certainly using Vickers MkVI light tanks, upgrading from these to the Honey in 1941, but 3rd Hussars may well have been in cruiser tanks, probably a mixture of A9, A10, before upgrading to the Crusader.

Editor’s Note: Although for this scenario I chose to give 3rd Hussars their light tanks, I don't think we actually disagree on the composition of 3rd Hussars as on page 83 I do say: "the British had a habit of moving squadrons from one unit to another to ensure that each force had the right mix of light and cruiser tanks, so I am merely following suit! Note that this is why many histories that mention specific units are contradictory e.g. 3rd Hussars were a light tank regiment, but were bolstered by cruiser tanks either through attachment or through a squadron exchanging tanks with a squadron of cruisers from another unit." Scenario writing would be so much easier if people in real life stuck to their on-paper OBs!

In action at Sidi Barani

"Combe-Force" met strong opposition from the Italian artillery, which stopped the advance of 'C' Squadron, 3rd Hussars, and knocked out many of the tanks of 'A' Squadron. The Italians were finally overwhelmed by a flank attack by 8th Hussars, along the western seaward side.

In my IABSM game "Barker Force" are tasked to cause as much damage and chaos as possible to Italian communications and supply lines around Buqbuq.  The Italians dug into the dunes are well equipped with field guns, infantry and light tanks.  Should be an interesting fight.

The Forces

"Barker" Force 

11th Hussars C Squadron

Major The Hon. Ronald Barker VC

Sergeant-Major Ronnie Corbett

2 x Rolls Royce Armoured cars

Attached from C Battery, 4th Royal Horse Artillery 

Lt Milligan 

2 x 18/25-pounder Field Gun (5 crew each) 

2 x Quad 

Attached From Rifle Brigade

1 platoon 3 sections Lt Thomas Trinder

1 MMG Northumberland Fusiliers 

Lieutenant "Bumfluff" Farthingdale 11H

Attached Armour from 3 Hussars:

2 x MkIV Light tank

Attached 2RTR  Cruisers:

Lt Max Miller

4 tanks mixed A9 & A10.

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The Maletti Raggruppamento

Raggruppamento HQ

Colonele Lorenzo D’Gelato 

Staff Caravanette filled with "luxuries"

1st Platoon, IX Light Tank Battalion

3 x L3 tankette 

2nd Platoon, IX Light Tank Battalion

3 x L3 tankette 

Elements of 17th Battery, Libyan Artillery

4 x 77/28 guns (5 crew each) 

4 x Lorry 

Elements of 24th Battery, Libyan Artillery

4 x 77/28 guns (5 crew each) 

4 x Lorry 

Position HQ 

Capitano Vermicelli

1 x Rifle Section (8 men) 

1 x MMG (3 crew) 

1st Platoon 

4 x Rifle Section (8 men each) 

2nd Platoon

2 x Rifle Section (8 men each) 

Artillery from 250th & 204th Artillery Regiment 

1 x 65/17 Field Gun (4 crew) 

1 x 75/27 Field Gun (5 crew) 

1 x 105/28 Field Gun (6 crew) 

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The Game

Il Duce has had a bad day.  Perhaps the "fortress" at Bardia can hold?

A Wargamer in Cyprus

 
 
 
 
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July 6 1943: a 6mm I Ain't Been Shot Mum encounter gamed remotely in August 2020

I was in the mood for a tank bash and I try to do a Kursk game every July - this time pushed back a month due to C19.

It was based on the lopsided engagement in the area between Step' and Hill 227.9 on the morning of July 6, 1943 involving the 107th Tank Brigade and the StuG IIIs of StuG Abt. 245 and off-table Tigers of s.Pz. Abt. 505.

Analysis

The story was in the dice though. Sheridan was hot and William and I were not. 3 out of 18 shots from the Tigers scored. William had terrible robustness rolls for the entire game. What I feared might be a one sided affair became one, but with a completely opposite result.

Mark Luther

 
 
 
 
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14th September 1940. The Italians have finally begun their invasion of Egypt, what, what?

Two days ago, newly promoted Lt Bumfluff Farthingdale watched in amazement as a huge column of Italians - motorcyclists in front, followed by infantry in trucks, followed by those tin cans they call tanks - streamed across the border in almost a parade ground formation. Five divisions-worth!

And in front of them? Why, just the Whoosarse, supported by some gunners and grease monkeys from 1RTR. A sticky wicket, if ever there was one!

Ah but the Eyeties have to keep to a narrow strip of land near the coast - no good in the desert these foreigners: takes an Englishman to do the business, eh? - so can’t project their force properly around your flanks. Means as well that you can punish them as they come forward, eh? What? What?

Bumfluff has been ordered not to lose any guns or any tanks, but to delay and do as much damage as possible to our pasta-loving chums. Hah! Hah!

Map & Terrain

The map shows the path of the rough track running along the coastal strip. The track gives no benefit to movement. The terrain in general is very rough: any vehicle that intends to move must roll 2d6 at the start of its turn. If it rolls a ‘double 1’, then it has become temporarily bogged down, and cannot use its initiative dice for movement that turn. Otherwise it moves as normal over rough ground.

The hills and patches of rough scrub shown provide some sort of cover and spotting benefits, but are shallow/sparse enough not to affect movement.

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The Support Group

Company HQ

Major The Hon. "Will" Hay

Sergeant-Major Stanley Holloway

1st Platoon, 3rd Coldstream Guards

Lieutenant Charles Hawtrey

3 x Rifle Section (8 men each)

Attached from 1st Royal Northumberland Fusiliers 

1 x MMG (3 crew each) 

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Attached from C Battery, 4th Royal Horse Artillery 

2 x 2pdr A/T gun portees (5 crew each)

Attached Armour from 1RTR

Capt George Formby

2 x A9 Cruiser Tank 

Attached Armour from 11 Hussars

Lt Bumfluff Farthingdale

2 x Rolls Royce A/C

Elements of 1st “23 Marzo” CCNN Division

Company HQ, CILVIII “Tavogliere” CCNN Battalion 

Capitano Pietro Porcini 

1 x Staff Car 

2 x Rifle Squad (8 men each) 

1 x Truck 

Motorcyclisti Scouts 

1 x Motorcyclisti Squad (8 men, on motorbikes) 

Recce Elements from XLI Light Tank Battalion 

4 x L3 Tankette, 1 x L3-lf flamethrower tankette 

1st Platoon, CILVIII “Tavogliere” CCNN Battalion 

4 x Rifle Squad (8 men each) 2 x Truck 

Attached from CCI MG Battalion 

1 x MMG (3 crew) 1 x Truck 

Platoon from XLI Light Tank Battalion 

4 x L3 Tankette, 1 L3-lf flamethrower tankette

The Game

 
 

The Campaign Roll indicates that Bumfluff is out of favour for losing Sergeant Pitkin and one of the precious Rolls Royce armoured cars.  

Division add a troop of Vickers Mk VI light tanks to 11th Hussars and the Colonel sends Bumfluff to command them.  Mr Grimsdale will now command the 5th Armoured Car troop.

Worse, a troop of RAF Fordson Armoured cars is also added to supplement 11H, and Bumfluff must take these under his wing too (not having any Fordsons I will be using Marmon Herringtons for the next game).

A Wargamer in Cyprus

 
 
 
 
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Just twenty-four hours after Mussolini declared war on England and France, six troops from 11th Hussars left Dar el Hamra and set out westwards for the Wire.  The Hussars’ veteran Rolls Royce armoured cars were organised in troops of three, and were to immediately establish an ascendancy over their Italian enemies.   

Whilst A Squadron was attacking Fort Maddalena, a larger British force had been assembled and tasked with taking Fort Capuzzo. The force, from 4th Armoured Brigade, was divided into two parts. Most of the brigade would attack Fort Capuzzo, with a smaller force protecting the northern flank by harassing the Italians around Sidi Azeiz. Fort Capuzzo fell without a fight after the garrison surrendered following an air attack.   The Italian positions further north were located on a ridge astride the “road” from Sidi Azeiz to Fort Capuzzo. 11th Hussars made contact, and attacked.  

The game reflects the assault on the ridge near Sidi Azeiz.  

11th Hussars

No.3 Troop B Squadron 11.Hussars

2nd Lt Bumfluff Farthingdale,

Troop Sergeant Major, Mr Grimsdale

3 x Rolls Royce Armoured Cars 

No.5 Troop, B Squadron, 11th Hussars 

Troop Sergeant Pitkin

3 x Rolls Royce Armoured Cars 

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Bumfluff begins these games as a 2nd Lt.  As he progresses he will have the chance to rise in rank and reputation.  

Bumfluff has a current reputation as a "bit of a duffer."  It is well earned.  He will (quite unhistorically) be swapped among the various regiments of 7th Armoured as they all try to get rid of him...

Elements of II Battalion, 7th Libyan Infantry Regiment

Company HQ

Sergente Gellato  

1st Platoon

2 x Colonial Infantry Squad (7 men each)  

2nd Platoon

Corporale Stracciatella

2 x Colonial Infantry Squad (7 men each) 

Attached

Corporale Pistachio

One 77/28 gun from 2 Gruppo, 2nd Libyan Artillery Regiment. 

The Game

 
 
 
 

Aftermath

And the moral of the tale:

"Rolls make a quality product," and "Don’t mess with the 11th Hussars."

A Wargamer in Cyprus

 
 
 
 
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Some more IABSM last night as the British launched a probing attacking against Japanese pickets.

As ever the British advanced cautiously in two wings in order to try and confuse the Japanese but some effective handling of the Jap Blinds resulted in the left wing deploying earlier than intended. On the right wing, one platoon got caught up in the trees and failed to roll the needed dice to do anything useful.

Meanwhile the brave Japanese CO managed to get back to their nearest village and summon some light tanks.

Eager to get stuck in the British deployed their Boys AT rifle but failed to realise that the range was pitiful and instead tried their luck with the Vickers.

Meanwhile the Japanese deployed out of the jungle and managed to pin down a section or the right flank whilst slowing down another.

By the end of the game, the British had captured one of the bridge but with the Japanese tanks advancing and spitting lead, it would not be long before it had been lost.

Another great game of a IABSM..

Chris Lane

 
 
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Today Bevan and I had a first try at a game based on the famous British attack near Arras on 21st May 1940. Yes the 7th RTR against the 7th Pzr Division, and the German's introduction to the Matilda II.

Unfortunately Trader Dave’s pictures disappeared into the technological ether, but here’s a picture from one of Michael Curtis’ Arras games: B Coy 7RTR Matilda II's and 8DLI cautiously advance towards Wailley

Unfortunately Trader Dave’s pictures disappeared into the technological ether, but here’s a picture from one of Michael Curtis’ Arras games: B Coy 7RTR Matilda II's and 8DLI cautiously advance towards Wailley

The British Attack had already broken through the main road west from Arras – the N25 - and this was an attempt to close the other viable road west Rommel would have to use to supply his over stretched tanks.  This road (the D3) runs through the village of Wailley just west of Arras, so the British mission was to take the village and block the road. The German brief was to keep the road open at all costs.

The British attack was designed to simulate reality, with poor liaison between tanks and infantry and poor communications all round. Hence the four troops of British tanks, consisting of a recce troop of Vickers Vib's of the 11th Hussars with 3 troops of 7 RTR attacked on time with no sign of the supporting infantry. Initially the Hussars were slow to move, and it fell to the Matilda's to do the main spotting work – not an ideal start!

The 3 Matilda II's and 6 Matilda I's moved slowly of course, but their armour was a shock to the Germans and the 2 pdr on the Matlda II hammered the opposition, not helped when the two assigned 2 pdr ATG's of  65 ATR turned up and fired from the northern ridge.  Panzer I's, II's and III's  were wrecked or burning everywhere, but the tanks of 25th Pzr Regiment died hard and used all the terrain to best advantage, thanks to some effective deployment by Oberst Rothenburg.

The German infantry – a platoon of the 6th Rifles - holed up in the solid village houses, and with no HE shells available, spraying the  buildings with MG fire from the Matilda I's was taking a long time to have an effect. What the British needed was supporting infantry, but the lads of the 8th DLI had taken a wrong turn and only their Coy HQ turned up and their light mortars and ATR's were never going to help much.

As time passed, the inevitable German response came.  A platoon of Pzr IV's was not seen as a great threat, but a Stuka attack took out one of the Matilda II's  whilst a couple of the  Matilda I's were now abandoned as the German fire slowly knocked pieces off them.  Finally, in the distance on the southern ridge, a battery of Flak 88mm guns appeared and some heavy artillery fire started to come in.  The British commander (Lt Col Heyland) decided hanging around with a reduced force against an enemy growing in strength was not a good idea and pulled back over the northern ridge.

Trader Dave

 
 
 
 
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Tonight saw part two of what has now become our fall of Singapore game.

In this battle, a full strength British company was tasked of taking two strategic hills while the Japanese (briefly) rested. The Japanese commander, played by Simon Godly-Kelly, was tasked with holding the hills but with the option of taking a junction for a major victory.

After some slow moving as the British tried to advance and spot through some heavy jungle, the company HQ and FO started getting to work with the 2” mortar laying some smoke.

1st platoon, after failing to spot anything on the first hill, managed to capture it.

However, the Japanese had some light cavalry that managed to outflank platoon 3 on the western side of the board and charged both into their flank and that of the Company HQ. Within moments the HQ had been wiped out but a fierce hand to to hand combat resulted in a stalemate for platoon 3 and elements of the Japanese horsemen.

The Japanese then used some of their cavalry to secure the junction, but only lightly.

Platoon 2 rushed back to secure the British line of retreat but a much delayed Japanese blind resulted in Simon being able to open up with his 37mm anti tank guns that threw in some rather nasty HE, putting the wind up the British. Simon had also successfully rolled for some of his light tanks to enter and they started to roll down the main road.

At this point, we called time. The British controlled one hill and the Japanese were due to loose the junction. They had also suffered significant losses to their horses. However the British has lost half of platoon 3 and taken loses to each of the other platoons with one section of platoon 1 being suppressed. In addition the company HQ had been utterly destroyed.

Simon generously called a Pyrrhic victory for the Japanese.

This game was designed to test artillery which neither of us got to use! The pregame stonk for the British was ineffective as it missed.

However it was a thoroughly enjoyable game and we continue to learn more.

Chris Lane

 
 
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Had our first test game (I’ve played before but only only twice and a long time ago) with the Japs and British fighting it out over a rather European looking Malaya.

It was good training game as we got are heads round the basics. The British had to hold the river in a rearguard action.

In the end, the Japs got across and banzai charged the platoon holding the local buildings.

Thank you Simon Godly-Kelly* for a great game!

Chris Lane

*Who comments: There seem to be a lot of pictures of a failed cavalry charge and not too many of the village assault. Media bias I tell you...

 
 
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From the Too Fat Lardies scenario book: "From Wildcat to Whale" Scenario #14.

This scenario focused on the German attack on the Right Flank Company of the Scots Guards holding the area of Carroceto railway station during the late evening and night of 9th/10th February 1944. One of the forward companies of the Scots will be holding positions out along the railway track to the north: the Germans will be trying to wipe them out.

Dan Albrecht

 
 
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The latest remote viewing and text game was from the IABSM rule book. Scenario 4, A Canadian VC. This game is based on the August 19, 1944 Canadian advance into St Lambert where the Allies are trying to plug the Falaise Gap.

Normandy games look nice but with terrain like this you really have to send a lot of pics to convey the tight confines of views available. I did adjust the basic map a bit to add more buildings and some walls. Really one of the best scenarios I've played/run. We had four players scattered around Atlanta area and in Florida.

We called it at this point. Smoke was covering the crossroads so the Canadians could move up to close assault the defenders who were suffering from HE fire.

Final tally was 2 German sections down to 1 action only and the 3rd zug had taken 4 casualties (out of 13). The 1st zug was wiped out. 1 Pz IV and a Panther KO'ed. The leaderless Tiger had damage to its gunsights.

The Canadians lost Maj Currie and 2 M4s and his Firefly. Lt Armour was down and his platoon lost 10 of 28. Mitchell's pla was down 11 of 28. The 2nd troop had taken 1 hit to a M4's track only.

This is one of the best scenarios I've run and could've gone either way.

Mark Luther

 
 
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I spent Saturday 'at' (virtually) VL2: in the morning I ran an IABSM Lite game, with a couple of twists that were only possible on Zoom, and I played SP2 in the afternoon.

I ran a small IABSM scenario set in my favourite corner of WW2 - northern Italy. I nicked an idea from Bloody Omaha in that the Germans were a very small, well dug in force (a section., two '34s, a StuG, a PaK40 and a sniper) run by me as the umpire, and the four  (reduced to three, sadly) players took a cut down British company: 2 sections, a carrier section, 4 Sherman IIIs.

The other twist was that they got a briefing and some recce photos, and from then on (as they were all connected via Zoom) they were restricted to a units-eye view (using an iPhone on a custom stand).

The British reccee photos: an overhead pass and, to quote, "One of the PRU Spitfires made a low pass over the valley this morning. Took MG fire from the church doing it, so the pilot really hopes you appreciate the effort." The British are attacking from the left (south).

8 Platoon make it across the river, and flush out some Germans in front of the church, as well as an MG34 in the nearer farm,

7 Platoon meanwhile are being very wary of the main farmhouse, in which they keep spotting movement but aren't sure what. CSM Moxon is kept busy yelling for more smoke from the 2".

“Gunner: Jerry tank, right of the pine tree…traverse…no, further right of the wall…fire…GOT HIM!”

We didn't finish, in part because I had three relatively new to IABSM players and was wrestling a bit with the tech. I'd love to run it again: definitely a fascinating game,. and the players seemed to think the viewpoint idea worked.

Mat by TinyWargames, buildings by Empires at War, Battlefront and I think SHQ, figures by Battlefront, Shermans by PSC.

Mike Whitaker

 
 
 
 
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The second part of a 6mm I Ain't Been Shot Mum game played remotely in June 2020

So a week later we had a couple of replacement gamers picking up the attack on Wulkow in eastern Germany on April 18, 1945 defended by elements of the 27th Fallschirmjager Rgt. Jess is now the FJ player and Sheridan the Soviet.The defenders are down 28 out of 76 men, both Paks are gone, 1 MMG gone, and they have 3 Hetzers left. Both the 120mm mortar btty and the 150mm sfH 18 were still around but would soon have to displace.Sheridan had a new company from the 301st Rifle Div, 1050 Inf Regt of 2, 3 sect platoons. A T34/85 (8 tanks) company from 51st Bttn, 220 Seperate Tk Brig and the surviving IS2 of the 92nd Gds Hvy Tk Rgt 1 IS2 was immobilsed but could provide fire support. The MMGs were also available to give support from the industrial area. 82mm mortars were also a possibility.

The Paras would attempt to ex-filtrate with the 2 Hetzers providing some cover. The FO teams had packed it in about midgame since their batteries were on the run. Both MMG teams were wiped out. The 1st company was down to 16 men (of 38) It had lost its company CO and the 2nd plt ldr to 122mm firing 2nd company had been hit hard in the 1st game and they now had only 14 survivors.

The attackers lost all of 4 IS2s(1 immobile) The T34s still had 5 runners. But infantry was scarce. 1st plt down to 5 of 16 men, no ldr left. 2 plt also had no plt CO and only 7 men of 16. the 3rd plt lost its cdr and had 8 men of 16. The company CO was still alive.

Another tough game for both sides.

Mark Luther

 
 
 
 
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Ost Front 1944. Bagramyans drive to the coast of Lithuania with 5th Guards Tank Army colliding with Gross Deutschland and 551 Volksgrenadiers.

Russians had to clear the railway station and blow up the railway line with engineers before a train arrived in Turn 10. Captions on the pics.

We used Minefields and Naval Gunfire from Prince Eugen, and a Soviet Super-Stonk. What a cracking game!

Julian Whippy

 
 
 
 
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The first part of a 6mm I Ain't Been Shot Mum game played via text 6/2020

I ran another remote game of IABSM using Messenger and my 6mm stuff. It was a late war East Front game that was suggested by one of the players. I decided to do something a bit different and set this up to be a game run over two sessions with a different pair of gamers each time. Being a lazy git it meant that I didn't have to make up a new table for the second game!

The scenario was to depict the defense of Wulkow in eastern Germany on April 18, 1945 by elements of the 27th Fallschirmjager Regiment.

A larger overview of the battle from Bob Mackenzie's excellent site:

On the 16th of April 1945 the Soviet army unleashed its last offensive against the German Reich. The bridgeheads over the Oder River split asunder and spewed forth red infantry and armor which forged forward to take Berlin. Although by this late stage in the war the German army was on its knees, it had a strong defensive position on the Seelow heights and gave a good account of itself, selling each meter of the Reich dearly.

Pressure began to mount and the German line broke. Soviet forces flowed either side of Seelow and pushed along Reichstrasse 1 into the country beyond. As the best German forces were deployed along the road, which was the direct route to Berlin progress was slow. However to the north of the road the Soviets had penetrated several km's further. This meant that the Germans around Reichstrasse 1 were on a salient. Guarding the North edge of the Salient was the village of Wulkow. The Soviets wished to take it and push to the south east to support their advance down the road to Berlin.

The main assault fell to the 301st Rifle Division, supported by the 220th Tank brigade. Behind were the tank brigades of the 11th Tank Corps and 1st Mechanised Corps waiting to exploit the the breakthrough. All the Soviet troops were seasoned fighting men.

So we ended the first part at this stage.

The FJ still held Wulkow but had heavy loses. Both Pak40s were gone. 1 MMG was down to 2 crew. Total infantry loses were 28 out of 76 FJ. 1 of the 4 Hetzers was out of the gameThe Soviets had a rough time with their Big Men. Losing 5 of 8 including 1 company CO. Infantry was down 59 of 108 with only 4 functioning sections. 2 IS2s were knocked out and 1 immobile of the original 4.

Part 2 would be a second wave attack with Sheridan taking over for the Soviets and Jess handling the Paras.

Mark Luther

 
 
 
 
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The lockdown games with K, Daughter#1’s boyfriend, trapped with us for the duration, continue. My intention is to gradually walk the lad through WW2 theatre by theatre in a vaguely chronological order. We’ve had a go at Poland and France, now it was time for the Eastern Front with a few games from my Vyazma or Bust! scenario pack.

Background

The first battle of the campaign takes place in September 1941 as the Germans begin Operation Teifun (Typhoon), the assault on Moscow, with an attempt to take Izdeshkovo, a town sitting astride the main Smolensk-Vyazma highway. If they take Vyazma, then the road to Moscow is opened.

The German player is tasked with clearing a section of the road which his division will use to advance to their assault. The Soviet player commands a collection of battered troops withdrawn from the front line to rest and recuperate. The German attack is somewhat of a surprise!

View from the northern, Soviet, side of the table

View from the northern, Soviet, side of the table

The Battlefield

As can be seen from the picture, above, the battlefield was mostly covered in light woods. These were traversable by tracked vehicles and foot, but penalised movement. They also provided some cover from spotting and fire.

The Forces Involved

I played the Soviets: most of my force in scrapes facing south around the bridge and the village. This outpost consisted of three infantry squads, an MMG and a light mortar, supported by three 45mm anti-tank guns.

A KV-1 heavy tank, the mainstay of my defence, was near the point where the road has a junction with a track, supported by another anti-tank gun team and a squad of infantry. My three T-26 light tanks (a big gun on a cardboard vehicle!) were spaced out along the track.

My plan was to hold any advance along the road with the KV-1, forcing the Germans to assault the small village and bridge across open ground. My T-26 tanks would then swing round in a right hook manoeuvre hopefully hitting the advancing enemy in the flank.

The Germans had a platoon of motorised infantry, mostly in trucks; some MMGs and medium mortars; and a platoon of tanks: all Panzer IIIs, one “H” and three “F”s.

The Game Begins

The game began with the Germans advancing strongly onto the table.

First blood was to the Soviets as the German Company HQ was caught napping cruising along the road:. Out popped a Russian 45mm anti-tank gun and took their truck out, also killing half the infantry squad inside with the help of some remarkably accurate machine gun fire from the KV-1.

I then moved my T-26’s forward through the light woods, beginning my outflanking hook.

Meanwhile the Germans, recognising the threat, had sent their tanks towards what looked like developing into the schwerepunkt . This did, however, expose their armoured column to flank fire from my anti-tank guns positioned around the bridge.

By rights, I should have KO’d at least two of the Panzers, but despite vast numbers of 45mm shells winging their way towards them, only one was hit and destroyed.

No matter, I was pretty happy that the KV-1 could deal with the others as they came into view through the trees.

Unfortunately the dice Gods were against me. Shells from the monster tank just bounced off the leading Panzer III, and when it returned fire, it’s first shell scored four penetrations, blowing my game-winning asset into smithereens!

This was a disaster of serious proportions, made even more damaging when K used his Armoured Bonus Move card to bring his tanks forward.

Worse followed!

An unfortunate Tea Break card saw the Panzer III N take out the anti-tank gun right in front of it. Things were getting desperate.

So desperate, in fact, that I used an infantry squad to close assault the rear of the Panzer III N, leaving the cover of their scrapes to do so.

They did manage to do it some damage, but not enough to take it out of the game., and then my infantry squad got hit in the rear by the German motorised infantry platoon that lurked under the Blind you can see in the background of the photo, above.

I survived the initial round of combat, as the Germans rushed in, but was soon overwhelmed by sheer numbers, and thrown backwards, effectively Shocked out of action for the rest of the game.

Meanwhile, my poor dice rolling continued with my T-26s: all three were taken out by the two surviving Panzer III Hs, with only one Panzer III H losing its main gun in exchange.

I had a moment’s consolation as my single mortar managed to land a shell in the middle of the German motorised infantry, but otherwise it was effectively game over: especially as I’d lost another anti-tank gun to some more extraordinary machine gunning from the Panzer III N.

The Germans now had five infantry squads versus my two; two operational tanks versus my single anti-tank gun; and had got their 4-dice MMGs into a position where they could start to lay down some serious fire…and they hadn’t even called in their air support yet!

Aftermath

I suppose, being Soviet at this stage of the war, I should have fought on to the last man, but the writing was well and truly on the wall, and I ordered my men to retreat.

We’d have to leave the Commissar in a ditch somewhere to avoid a visit from the NKVD, but at least we had lived to fight another day!

A disaster for the Soviets, so it’s on to scenario #2B for our next encounter.

Robert Avery

 
 
 
 
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Its been a while, so high time for a game of IABSM. Michelle chose the Soviets so I had the Germans.

The Germans are on the attack and need to get through the village occupied and defended by the Soviets.

It was good to play IABSM again and another game is called for. Michelle definitely doesn't need any lessons from me !

Norseygamer

 
 
 
 
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Still on lockdown, but it’s bank holiday Monday so it must be time for another game of I Ain’t Been Shot Mum against K, Daughter #1’s boyfriend, trapped with us for the duration, but rapidly becoming a regular wargamer with, now, eight games under his belt.

The premise for today’s game is simple: it’s France 1940, and Rommel’s Germans are advancing rapidly on Lille, aiming for the village of Lomme, whose capture will seal off the escape route of all English and French forces in the area. The Allies have realised what the Germans are up to, and have dispatched a small force to hold Lomme for as long as possible. The scene is set for an epic clash!

Lomme

The village of Lomme is shown in the photo, above. The Germans will enter from the south (the “top” of the picture) anywhere along the table’s edge. The French start anywhere they like on the table, and must prevent the Germans from exiting any troops to the north i.e. anywhere to the right hand side of the picture.

Please excuse the rather anachronistic clearly marked lines along the main road: Lomme is obviously a very progressive place!

The Germans

The Germans disposed two strong, truck-mounted platoons of infantry, each four squads strong, with each squad having 8 men. Their Company HQ contained three MMGs, an anti-tank rifle, and another squad of infantry. Accompanying them were two PaK 35 anti-tank guns towed by Kfz 70 trucks. Finally, four Big Men would command the German infantry: more than enough to make sure everything ran smoothly.

Panzer reinforcements were due to arrive after six appearances of the Turn card: a zug of four Panzer II and a zug of three Panzer IV. Each zug had its own Big Man.

The French

The French also had two platoons of infantry, but their platoons each had three squads, with ten men per squad. They had two MMGs, and had also been assigned two ageing soixante-quinze field guns.

Due to reading the listing incorrectly, the French had four Big Men to command the above: two more than they should have had. It did mean, however, that they had none to command their tanks.

The French briefing also contained the promise of two platoons of tanks: three R-35 and three Char B1 bis tanks. I couldn’t, however, find any mention of when they were due to arrive, and suspected, therefore, that they were a cruel jest on the part of Mr Clarke and destined never actually to grace the tabletop with their presence. As K is much less experienced a gamer than I am, I decided to give them to him anyway, and have them arrive at the same time as the German Panzers.

The Game Begins

The Germans advanced quickly onto the table. My Dummy Blinds scouted the first few houses, but were then Spotted after only clearing some of the open ground in front of the village.

I had some idea of getting into the nearest row of houses along the main road before the French really knew I was there, but this was a foolish notion, and I suffered for it when a squad of French infantry opened fire at Close Range on 2nd Platoon.

This picture, like my men, is slightly over-exposed!

Acknowledging my foolhardiness, 2nd Platoon’s commander was forced to order a retreat, but unfortunately a lack of command levels left half their number still under fire

“Vere has everyone else gone?”

At least I now knew where the French were, and the game settled down into a long range war of attrition, with my superior firepower (especially from the machine gun platoon) from behind hedges being countered by the larger French squads firing downwards from the upper floors of the houses.

Lovely models, but the tops don’t come off!

Lovely models, but the tops don’t come off!

Both K and I were, obviously, awaiting the arrival of our armour and, eventually, the Turn Card came around the right number of times, and on trundled two Blinds per side. I brought my Panzer IVs on my left which, although neither of us yet knew it, faced them off against the monster Char B1’s ; and my Panzer IIs on my right, which of course meant that they would come up against the R-35s. My anti-tank gun platoon had also been lurking at the back of the table, awaiting something decent to shoot at, so now sprung forward into action.

“Sommes-Nous en Stonne?”

Although the arrival of the Char B1’s was a bit of a shock to my men in the gardens of the houses by the crossroads, the next phase of the action actually began on my other flank, where one of my anti-tank guns rapidly unlimbered and, with a series of crackingly good shots, took out the rear-most Renault.

This allowed my Panzer IIs to arrive unmolested, with the lead tank even sneaking a quick round of 20mm cannon fire into the backside of French Tank 5.

One more round and French Tank 5’s crew bailed out, with Tank 4 speeding off down the road to avoid the same fate. My Panzer II’s were then free to swing round onto the French flank, with the lead tank moving up to a position where it could open fire on and Pin the crew of the soixante-quinze as they frantically prolonged their gun into a position from which they could resist this latest incursion.

Unfortunately, the French gun crew was made of stern stuff, and despite soon losing three of their number to more cannon fire, sent a round into the lead Panzer II that blew it to bits!

ouch!

Meanwhile, a foolish decision of mine to bring up one of the anti-tank guns “as fast as possible” lead to them speeding down the road and ending up right under the guns of one of the remaining French infantry squads. Bye-bye anti-tank gun crew and tow!

The smell of burning flesh mixed with lavender would haunt Sergeant Mahon for the rest of his life

The smell of burning flesh mixed with lavender would haunt Sergeant Mahon for the rest of his life

The other two Panzer II’s were chasing after the last Renault, and would eventually corner it with one facing it forward and the other on its flank. The tank was still fighting gamely on when the game ended.

Meanwhile, the Panzer IVs had engaged the Char B1’s, taking advantage of their four Actions and flank position to take out the two rear “mobile pillboxes”. It did take more than a few shots to force their crews to bail, but the French were unlucky in their activations and more unlucky in the dice they rolled for movement even considering the Slow Tank rules, so gave the Panzers plenty of time to shoot them up. Note that over several turns a rare German anti-tank rifle fired all its ammunition at one of the Chars and failed to penetrate its armour once!

peekaboo!

The final Char, however, had got itself into a good position on the corner by the crossroads, and blew the lead Panzer IV to bits with a couple of well-aimed shots.

Despite this success, the writing was now firmly on the wall for the French. They only had a couple of infantry squads left, and one of their 75’s had also been destroyed so, with many Gallic shrugs of the shoulders, they retreated. The day belonged to Major Lardich von Skinner!

Aftermath

That had been a brutal game with large casualties on either side. I paid dearly for my unusually impetuous advances, and would have had plenty of explaining to do once the butcher’s bill had become apparent.

The French were fairly passive, but then they were defending buildings and saw no reason to move. They were a bit unlucky with their tanks, but the one card per tank limitation stopped them properly co-ordinating their efforts.

All in all, another great game!

Robert Avery

 
 
 
 
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Another lockdown game of I Ain’t Been Shot, Mum against Daughter #1’s boyfriend, K, trapped with us for the duration.

This time we would be returning to Poland in 1939, using scenario #37 from the second September War scenario pack: Minsk-Mazowiecki. The action takes place on 13th September as Polish cavalry under General Wladyslaw Anders attempt to break through elements of the German 3rd Army as they march on Modlin.

The Set Up

K volunteered to play the defending Germans, which I appreciated as I had no wish to field a force of SS Verfungstruppe.

Two interesting thoughts crossed my mind at this point: firstly, am I a hypocrite as I’ll quite happily play Assyrians or Romans, but don’t like playing SS; and, secondly, interesting how the fact his troops were SS had literally no effect on K at all: he had no comprehension of what that represented. I can feel the words “generation gap” marching towards this conversation faster than the Rifles towards Corunna!

Musings on the quality of modern education aside, the Germans would field a couple of small infantry platoons defending a village, and be waiting for a platoon of Panzers to appear as reinforcements.

View from the Polish entry point. Figures are not technically on table yet, just set up ready to go.

The Poles would field three mounted and one dismounted two-squad platoons of cavalry backed up by two taczankas, a platoon of armoured cars, and a platoon of tankettes.

They needed to have taken and held either on of two objective points in the village by a certain number of appearances of the Turn Card.

An impressive sight…but a pitfall for the unwary!

Now I have played Polish cavalry before, and although they look magnificent (and take up an awful lot of room on the table) the one thing to remember is not to charge anyone under any circumstances. No ifs, no buts: just don’t do it, it always goes badly.

With that settled in my mind, I prepared to do battle and deployed.

Lots of Polish Blinds!

The Game

I knew that time was of the essence, so deployed as far forward as I could, and then advanced my Blinds forward quickly as well.

One of my mounted platoons was quickly spotted, and came under fire from a German platoon ocated in a large building on the left hand side of the field. Their first volley emptied four saddles: an inauspicious beginning.

Painful first encounter with the German defenders

I obviously needed to get some firepower down onto them as quickly as possible, so my armoured car platoon deployed and sped down the road, backed up by the tankettes. By using the central road, I could bring them to bear on either side of the battlefield as necessary.

Forward the armoured cars!

At the same time, I’d also spotted some Germans just in front of the church, so sent the taczankas and dismounted cavalry forward to deal with them: the plan being to then infiltrate the village from the rear right flank. A bit of pin and assault!

Dismounted cavalry under Blind, top right

Taczankas behind the trees

At that point, the German Panzers appeared at the back of the table. As I had no proper anti-tank capacity, this was about to get interesting!

At this stage of the war, Panzer IIs are pretty useful tanks!

Back on the left, my attempts to dislodge the German infantry in the building were proving not very successful and pretty painful in terms of cavalrymen lost. Oh for some mortars!

Go on: poke your lance through the window at them!

I Thought You Said…

Things were, however, about to get very interesting on the other side of the battlefield.

My dismounted platoon had crawled forward to the edge of the corn, and Pinned the nearest German squad in front of the church whilst they were distracted by the large numbers of mounted cavalry heading towards them.

Why is he on his ‘phone in all the pictures? Generation gap again!"

The chip out of the bag was the Polish bonus chip “Charge!”. Now I had promised myself that none of my cavalry would be doing any charging…but these chaps were dismounted, so that didn’t really count.

Out of the cornfield they poured, and the cowardly SS troops in front of them just fled.

Unimpressed!

The chips were really with me, and next turn my chaps got to move before the Germans. One squad chased the fleeing SS squad off the table, the other blew the other German squad away with a bit of close range fire.

One position was now cleared of enemy, although taking out his FOO, in the church tower, did cost me a bit of time and a couple of cavalrymen.

Meanwhile, on the road, the German Panzers had split their efforts. Two went to help the other German position, two engaged my armoured cars. As I said earlier, the Panzer II’s 20mm cannon is a powerful tool at this stage of the war, and the crew of one of my WZ34s was soon forced to bail: their vehicle having been turned into a colander!

Run away!

At the same time as this was happening, the German infantry in the building on the left had started to waver. One squad moved out of the back of the building onto the road where the Panzer I was trundling forward.

I wandered around the table to have a look at this…

Horse, check. Lance, check. Enemy in sight, check.

I knew I shouldn’t charge the Germans on the road,…but there were the same number of them as I had but they had seven points of Shock. And these are Polish cavalry for God’s sake!

Glorious!

It was glorious!

The enemy were mown down and evaporated from the table. Okay, so I lost a few men, including the cavalry platoon commander, but I had now wiped out all the enemy infantry.

Meanwhile, all the troops I’d had near the church on the other side of the battlefield, including an anti-tank rifle team, had been creeping round towards the flank and rear of the German tanks.

The German Company Commander was also in the area: he’d been with the FOO in the church tower but had avoided death or capture and was busy laying low, effectively surrounded by Polish troops.

At that moment, the German off-table artillery (a couple of 105mm guns) declared themselves ready for action and, without a moment’s hesitation, SS-Hauptsturmfuhrer Eins called their fire down onto just about his own position.

The deviation dice were called for and rolled: direct hit:

German Big Man is in front of the taczanka

Superb shelling!

This was a real pain, and did me lots of Great Shot damage. My troops were forced to abandon their advance, and flee from under the barrage.

Endgame

This was, however, merely a hiccup on the footpath to victory!

Although I had to be careful of his artillery, I had loads of tankettes and armoured cars and taczankas that I could deploy against his Panzers.

One by one they succumbed, and my men were eventually able to saunter over and capture the objectives.

Victory to the Poles!

Gone to Ground meaning Bailed: I couldn’t find my tank crew stands!

Riddled with bullets!

Aftermath

So that had been another cracking game of I Ain’t Been Shot, Mum.

Although the day was mine, I had lost about a platoon’s worth of cavalry or 25% of my force. I’d been a bit lucky, as well: the Germans in front of the church never really got a clean shot off at my advancing troops…and that could have been quite nasty.

More proof of the pudding that IABSM rewards aggression, certainly when attacking. I’d kept the pressure on throughout, and never really given any of the enemy time to get settled.

Postscript

I wasn’t going to mention it, but I did end up charging a German tank with the remains of the cavalry that cleared the German infantry off the road.

No damage to the tank, five dead cavalrymen.

Don’t charge with your cavalry!