Great game of IABSM with Jenny Owens today using the “Les Attaques” scenario from Robert Avery’s excellent “Defence of Calais” scenario book.
The Territorials from the Searchlight Battalion and the anti tank guns held off the Germans for a while, the British reserves didn’t appear and the German tanks pushed on towards Calais.
Phil Turner
IABCYM game this afternoon. First three turns of the dice driven version of IABSM.
A British company supported by two troops of Churchills are tasked to capture the crossroads and the small bridge. Artillery support is readily available and a pre game stonks have messed up Monsieur Gartier’s Orchards. Opposing them are three infantry zugs and a zug of STuGs.
British Morale is 9, the Germans 8 (air attacks on the way to the deployment area has left the Germans a touch nervy).
The British advanced on Blinds with two infantry platoons advancing, expecting a hard fight for the orchard. Churchill troop A moved under a Blind to support. The final platoon was spotted by the German Commander who was installed in the two storey building, rolling 11 on the spotting dice, but no German fire poured down. The Germans used their dice to put zugs on Overwatch and remove Shock off hidden units. The spider sat back, waiting for the prey.....
The British pushed into the orchard expecting a close combat..... empty slit trenches were all they found.
The Germans activated their FOO and called in fire on Platoon C. This takes time to arrive, and the Germans do find it difficult to get this, but if it arrives it can be devastating.
The British decided on turn three to lay a 2” smoke screen in front of the deployed platoon C, and the first troop of Churchills deployed on table and poured HE on the two storey building on the edge of the table. This is a house rule - you may fire at a physical feature and “brass it up”. However, you can only inflict Shock. No kills, no pinned or suppression. Clearly the two storey building is an obvious FOO location, so it was deemed a legitimate target. The result was somewhat disappointing for the British ( in a two player game they would obviously not know if there was anyone impacted by the HE fire)
The turn ended with the British some what relieved that first line had been captured, but the concern was where was the enemy? A long one that with over 6 phases per side.
Turn four will see the British move to capture the next orchard and watch the flanks. For the Germans the prey edges further into the trap....
Setup. British will attack the big orchard in the centre, with the tanks supporting the flanks.
Les Bleu Ferme, defended by a German zug. This is not an objective for the British but it lies on the flank of their attack.
The main defence line, StuGs and the reserve zug.
Pre game stonk. Cider a bit cordite tasting this year.
Second orchard gets a battering.
Final wood is pumelled. This was the only area the Germans had forces.
Platoon A advances.
Turn 3 ends. Platoon A and B are in the main orchard. Troop A is top. The Germans lurk in the Le Bleu Ferme...
Troop B deploys and brasses up the two storey building. They did no damage or shock.
Platoon C is deployed (spotted by the German CO in the two storey building) . 2” mortar deploys smoke in preparation for the next move forward.
The British FOO got a ranging shot close to the StuGs near the bridge and they wisely have dispersed as much as cover will allow. The German infantry have hunkered down around the bridge praying Lt. Percil is no good with maps.
On the left Churchill Troop A wont move forward without infantry support so it is holding position peppering the StuGs with AP but with little impact. In the centre Platoon C has taken the barn but is waiting for Platoon B to attack the orchard and remove that threat from their attack route. Troop B is holding place, but “ Devastator” had to be abandoned when its gun was badly damaged by an AP round, the crew losing their bottle and abandoning the beast.
Platoon A and B are heavily engaged in a firefight with the zug in Le Bleu Ferme. The sneaky zug deployed off a blind, fired using three dice and then went prone. The British had little to aim at, but combined four sections firepower got one or two of the defenders and pinned the MMG. Bad news for the Germans was that Oberleutnant Neumann was killed by steady British fire. Bad Things happen was not kind, the Germans rolling a 6, so losing two morale. They are at 6 vs British 9.
All to play for and now the 25pdrs are in the game.
Lt Percil and Captain Trinkheart at last make an appearance.
These StuGs traded AP rounds all through todays game. Neither they or the Churchills really ever had a mega die roll that gave one of them the edge.
Platoon C and “ Determined” assault the Chicken defended abandoned barn. Many hens fell before B Section secured the building.
View at the end of todays gaming. Left to right.... Troop B, Platoon C with Troop A support. German river line top.
Left to right. Platoon B and A engage the Zug in the farm. The smoke screen just completed this new Turn, so Platoon B is ready to attack the orchard top left.
German StuGs and infantry survey the fields. A ranging shell just landed causing the StuGs to try and disperse.
Defenders of Le Bleu Ferme.
Brits on 9 morale, a fire mission in play, Mum dice accumulated. Looking good for the next push.
German morale a bit shaky. Fire mission ordered over 8 phases ago but needs a 5 to arrive...no luck so far.
The weather out in the real world was too nice to stay inside today so only got the two phases per side done. The British got the second support request approved and Battery B opened up, and almost on target! Le Bleu Ferme was smothered in 25pdr HE. The damage was not as bad as it could of been in terms of hits, but for the Germans, the problem was these were almost all Kills.
In the centre British Platoon B has begun the assault on the orchard covered by a 2”smoke screen and supported by Churchill tanks. No fire came from the orchard so the Churchills inched forward and engaged the StuGs but to only limited effect.
On the far side the StuGs continued to disperse as another ranging shot from Battery A landed too close for comfort. StuG “ Lowenbrau” managed to cause enough shock that the crew of “Determined” abandoned her and fled for the safety of the rear. The continuing action is slowly tilting in the favour of the StuGs.
No Bad things Happened to either side
With the British barrage now on table, the Germans must hope loads of 6’s are rolled and the Turn ends, the barrage ending. If not, the troops in Le Bleu Ferme will be in deep trouble.
Second ranging shot lands and the StuGs scatter.
Le Bleu Ferme. 25pdr HE. Small amount of Friendly Fire but it was deemed acceptable as this barrage neutralised the German zug threat.
Platoon B assaults the empty orchard. “Deception” adds HE cover fire.
View from platoon C position as the barrage struck Section 3...two deaths caused by Friendly Fire.
“Detractor” edges forward and engages a StuG.
Cows.
The British had been making steady progress in the centre with Platoon B supported by Churchill tanks securing the orchard beside the crossroads. Le Bleu Ferme on their flank was blasted by 25pdr HE while the StuGs to their front were hit by Battery B. Platoon A awaited orders to attack Le Bleu Ferme, while Platoon C ready to cover any German zugs that showed their heads. Things were progressing well.
Platoon B dashed for the orchard and found no opposition, quickly capturing it and defending the hedgerow line. The PIAT team moved forward to fire on the forward StuG. The Churchills inflicted some shock and the crossroads looked within the Brits grasp.
The Germans suffered badly in the barrage in Le Bleu Ferme, and as soon as it ended pulled out leaving comrades dead and wounded and fell back on the second line. Zug 2 and 3 were still hidden, and they chose to remain that way until the Brits advanced further. One was close to the bridge, the other on the far right, looking across the British advance.
In a phase, the game was decided. The German player rolling a D6, indicating two phases in a row. Also a 1 was rolled and a support request confirmed (it was requested phase before). The German player needed a 5 to request, but used two “Mums Dice” to reduce that to a 3, which they duly rolled. The deviation dice rolled a “On Target” and the orchard beside the crossroads disappeared in smoke and shrapnel
Dice were rolled and at the end of the phase six infantrymen were dead and four Shock taken. Lt Jefferies was also dead.
The Germans had the next phase as they rolled D6 and promptly rolled a 1 again, so the barrage kept firing. Inside the orchard the death toll rose and the shock mounted.
At that point it became clear the lead Platoon was a write-off and the attack had faltered. The CO called off the attack and told Platoon C to fall back and Platoon A to hold position. The remnants of platoon B struggled back later in the evening a sorry state.
FOO and CO watch Platoon B and the Churchills advance towards the crossroads
Platoon C after the pounding. Three phases of mortars hit them. Highly unusual for the game, but devastating.
Platoon A prepares to take Le Bleu Ferme. The barn is in fire from the barrage.
Disaster for Platoon B. German barrage lands on target, and lasts 2 phases. It smashed the platoon who fell back in disarray in the evening.
The duel with the StuGs went on all game. The low silhouette made them hard to hit, and the dice kept netting out at 0 or 1 hit only.
The only AFV to be lost to AP all game. Two Churchills were abandoned, and one retreated, but none destroyed.
Zug A withdraws from Le Bleu Ferme. They wee the only zug the British spotted all game. The line if advance took them away from one, and the other was on the 2nd line of defence and kept quiet awaiting the Brits.
View from the German side. Le Bleu Ferme is lost, but Tommy is yet to occupy it. The Centre is still intact, although the Brits drive some way into the defences. The far right positions are untouched.
The scenario was certainly favourible to the defenders, but I had forgotten really how powerful a defense can be in these rules. Yes the British had the choice of avenue of attack, but I think the firepwer I gave the Germans easily countered that. The British artillery should of had a bigger part to play, but was largely ineffective.
A great game and once again reaffirmed my belief the Toofatlardies produce the best WW2 Company sized rules.
3 platoons regular infantry, 1 additional BM per platoon.
CO in Bren carrier
FOO in Dingo AC
2 troops of Churchill tanks
2 Batteries of 25pdrs
2 sections of pre-game stonks
3 zugs of infantry with additional BM.
CO BM 3
2MMG assugned to the zugs
4 StuGs
1 mortar battery
In retrospect the British force was too weak to take the objectives, but they did their best. If you are inclined, make the game a two day affair. Let the Germans hold their end of Day One positions and let the Brits attack again with fresh forces on Day 2. This would reflect the problem the Germans had in continually trying to stop fresh attacks with no fresh troops of their own
Time to pack up!!
Des Darkin
Excellent game of IABSM with Jenny Owens today. The British could not stop the German advance towards Dunkirk.
Phil Turner
With no sign of any real-life games on the horizon, I decided to bite the bullet and ask to join a virtual game of I Ain’t Been Shot Mum run by my friend Bevan.
My previous reluctance to try anything virtual was mainly down to the fact that I spend a lot of the day working via Zoom now, and although it is truly a marvelous communication tool, it’s also quite draining to use. Nevertheless, with the Beardless King (daughter #2) busy with schoolwork and Kavan (daughter #1’s boyfriend) back at Uni, it was Zoom or nowt!
The scenario was a simple one set in France 1940. I would play the Germans, and would start the game in situ defending a bridge against an anticipated attack by a French armoured column. At my disposal I had three Big Men, a platoon of infantry, a platoon of anti-tank guns, and a support platoon consisting of a couple of MMG teams.
Here’s how I set up. The French are expected from the far left-hand corner:
Bevan had sent round the briefing and table plan 24 hours before the game, giving everyone a chance to make plans. My plan was simple: to keep as far away from the French as possible!
If this was an armoured column, then it was likely to consist of well-armoured tanks with a pop-gun main gun and MMGs. I wasn’t too worried about HE from the main guns: it was unlikely that I would be facing Char B1 tanks with their 75mm guns, and there’s not a lot of damage done by the 37mm and 47mm guns carried by the other French tanks.
I was, however, worried about the effect of close range (under 18”) MMG fire on my anti-tank gun crews, especially as I was using the rubbish early-war German AT guns known as “door knockers” as their shots, even if they hit, would generally just bounce off.
I therefore had, as you have seen above, set up to defend from a distance: clearing his scouts (Dummy Blinds) and spotting his troops as soon as possible, then opening fire with everything I’d got, preferably defilading the axis of the French advance.
For those not familiar with how these virtual games can work, Bevan had set up the table with his webcam perched on a bookcase looking down on the battlefield.
Trevor, Dave and I could all see the table on our computer screens, and there was an open mike that we could all use to issue orders, hurl insults etc. Bevan rolled the dice and moved the kriegspiel-like counters (although you can equally well use figures); Dave and I worked out the dice rolls; with Bevan adjudicating any disputes.
The French duly entered the table where they were supposed to, meaning that just after the first round of spotting took place, the table looked like this:
As you might be able to work out, the first of my plan has achieved its objective: my Dummy Blinds and spotting have already disposed of three French Dummy Blinds.
The French then did exactly what I had hoped they would do, and crept cautiously forward, spotting every hedgerow, house, tree, blade of grass as they went. My troops kept very, very still!
The French Blinds then split. One moved straight ahead and crossed the main road, one went into the house, and one turned and lined the hedgerow by the house.
This gave me a chance to spot them and, with thirteen units able to use their entire turns to spot, I had soon seen exactly what I was up against: six Hotchkiss H-39 tanks and a weak platoon of infantry.
As predicted, heavily armoured tanks with a pop-gun main gun. Knocking them out would be a problem, but I did have another advantage: H-39s only have a crew of two, a driver and a much-overburdened commander, who has to look where the tank is going, issue orders to the driver, load/aim/fire the main gun and shoot the machine gun. In the rules, this meant that they couldn’t move and fire in the same activation, which also meant problems with such things as a platoon “Hunt” order.
Even better, more by luck than judgement, all the French tanks/squads were over (sometimes only just over!) 18” from my men. I opened fire with everything I had, forcing one Hotchkiss crew to abandon and knocking over a handful of infantrymen despite their being under cover in the house.
My excessive shooting, most of it ineffectual (you would not believe how many shells bounced off those tanks during the game!) had the desired effect: the French stopped their advance. I don’t blame them actually: each turn I had the ability to pump out a maximum of ten aimed AT gun shots (4 guns and a bonus fire card), and with a Big Man with two of the guns and the cards turning my way, there was a veritable storm of steel (as Alex would say!) pouring down the table.
The French stayed where they were for another couple of turns, and although no more of their tanks were taken out, they had all soon started to accumulate Shock…three or four points of which would be enough to force a tank crew to abandon ship.
We could all see that the writing was on the wall, so the French finally decided that they had no option to advance. Unfortunately, they had left it too late. The Shock on their tanks (I just couldn’t take the armoured monstrosities out!) mounted even more, and Dave and Trevor realised that they had left it too late and ordered the retreat.
A technical victory for the Germans: although I hadn’t “wiped the French out”, I had “cleared the battlefield of all French troops”.
A great game, even if everybody felt some frustration during the event. I was frustrated because I just couldn’t KO the French tanks, the French were frustrated because they just couldn’t take my men out at that range, and Bevan felt frustrated because he’d hoped to see more action. He was probably exhausted as well from rolling so many AT hit dice!
What would I have done if I were the French?
Well, Capitaine ‘Indsight has vingt/vingt vision, obviously, but I think my knowledge of the capabilties of the H-39 would have made me use very different tactics.
I would have charged forward as fast as possible with my tanks (the H-39 has an improved engine over the H-35, so doesn’t usually have a Vehicle Breakdown card in the deck) forgetting about my main gun and concentrating on getting into a decent MMG range, concentrating my fire on one German position at a time.
Four kills would take out each AT gun: once within 18”, an average roll of ‘7’ on 2D6 gets you two hits even as a Poor shot, so each turn, if you have three tanks concentrating on one AT gun, you’re killing 0.99 of an AT crew member per turn*. Given that throughout the entire game I only managed to force one French tank crew to abandon, and that being closer does nothing for the AT guns’ penetration, I reckon that taking the Germans out is therefore pretty doable. But, as I said, Capitaine ‘Indsight was late to the battle, and there were an awful lot of anti-tank shells heading the French’s way!
A great game, and I am now sold on virtual games, certainly until we can get back to facing each other across the tabletop.
Robert Avery
*50% chance of activating in a turn, three tanks in a platoon, average of 2 hits per tank, chance of a kill is a third so 50% x 3 x 2 x 0.33 = 0.99.
This AAR is lifted from the Internet from a Hungarian language blog. Google Translate gave me a basic English text, but a text needing plenty of editing. Here, then, is my version, with my apologies for anything lost in translation.
End of May 1940, Calais region. The Germans have surrounded the British Expeditionary Force, one part of which has taken refuge in a small village. There is no chance of rescue: proud Albion's army is in retreat everywhere. The battle seems to be lost, but the British would not give in and would try a desperate break out.
Both sides were commanded by experienced wargamers. The Germans, commanded by yours truly, lined up along three sides of the table, with the British troops concentrated in the village in the middle.
The German force was as follows:
One platoon of leg infantry
One platoon of motorized infantry in SdKfz 251 half-tracks
One platoon of light tanks consisting of one Panzer I and one Panzer II
One platoon of medium tanks consisting of two Panzer 38(t) and one Panzer III
One reconnaissance platoon consisting of two SdKfz 231
If I remember correctly, the British force ranged against us consisted of:
One platoon of leg infantry
One battery of two 2-pounder anti-tank guns
One 3" mortar
Four Matador trucks, one of which contained the Company HQ
The game began with the Germans advancing their reconnaissance units, including the light tanks, on the right wing; and their tanks and half-tracks on the left wing. In front of them, the British anti-tank guns protected the path to the village, and enjoyed considerable initial success.
The first few British shots at the German right wing attack shook one tank and damaged both the steering mechanism, the turret and main armament of another. On the left wing, the situation was even worse: after a few shots all three medium tanks were destroyed. Fortunately, the German half-tracks had got close enough for the infantry they carried to dismount and attack.
The German infantry charged forward, and despite heavy mortar and machine gun fire succeeded in routing the British infantry.
The British anti-tank guns still seemed dangerous but their shots at the reconnaissance armoured cars went wild: there was much cursing at the dice!
Meanwhile, the German light armour arrived and opened fire on the gunners with their machine guns. Many were killed, with the others seeking refuge in the grass: one gun was rendered hors de combat. It was amusing to see the British Company HQ scrambling for their lorries and attempting to flee the scene.
The German armoured cars, having narrowly avoided fire from the British anti-tank guns, bumped into the fleeing British lorries. They opened fire, and KO'd one Matador. The other lorries, however, successfully made their escape. Those British soldiers left behind were still running everywhere and hid and prayed.
The last anti-tank gun on the main square targeted the approaching light tanks. First shot, and the Pz II was set on fire. The second shot jammed the turret of a Pz I, but third emerged from the smoke undamaged and headed for the village unperturbed.
In the final act of the battle, the German infantry forced the final British anti-tank gun crew to surrender, and heavy machine gun fire took out another British truck. The battle ended here.
Although part of the British force escaped, many were captured or shot. Four guns and some mortars and machine guns were captured. The Germans, however, suffered an embarrassing loss of armour: three medium tanks, one light tank and one armoured car were destroyed; with another light tank and armoured car needing serious repairs. A significant set back for the invading Germans!
All in all a very good game.
KVadasz
Well, Lard Island last night saw Robert Avery join us for a trip to Syria as column of the Royal Scots Greys bumped into the Vichy French.
The game was set, historically, a couple of days after the fall of Merdjayoun, as Todcol advanced north to Jisa el Burghaz to screen off Vichy forces in the central mountainous region. Three Allied columns had headed north at the outset, on the left one took the coastal road towards Beirut, on the right one headed up the plain towards Damascus, whilst in the centre one maintained communication between the two in the hilly country of the intervening mountains.
Needless to say this middle route was hard going, and after the fall of the central nodal point of Merdjayoun the Allied decided to withdraw most of their forces in this region and merely screen off any Vichy troops in the area. The Royal Scots Greys, who had just been converted from horse mounted cavalry to lorry borne infantry, were now sent northwards to under take this role.
Under their Colonel, Todd, they, along with elements of the 6th Australian Cavalry Regiment - an armoured formation - moved up through tough, hilly terrain. Dispersing into a wide screen they felt the full weight of the Vichy counter-attack that recaptured Mardjayoun and threatened to push on into Palestine. It was this surprise action that I wanted to replicate.
The British had one squadron (Company) of the Greys mounted in truck. They had a troop of three Mark VIb light tanks and three Universal carriers mounting Vickers MMGs. Two Bofors guns provided support against what had up 'til now, been a strong Vichy presence in the air.
This force, commanded by Robert, Harpers and Biffo had no particular idea where they were going, but were just told to provide me with their order of march.
The French were in strength, with on full company of the Legion, a platoon of four R35 tanks and a platoon of Chasseurs Libanaise.
The table, all 6' by 7'6" of it, was essentially a winding road running north to south about 2' in from the western edge (6' in lenght). To the left of this the terrain was largely hilly, with a small village about 18" from the northern table edge. half way up the table a road branched off to the right, and headed, in a curving manner, off to the north-eastern corner. To the south of this road was a small olive farm, with a few scraggly groves, before more hills resumed. To the north was a central area of open terrain, before a large hill dominated the top half of the board, being around 5' by 3' in size, stretching from the north-east corner (where the road exited) almost across to the village on the road.
A dried up river bed ran along the southern side of the branch road.
The game started with three French blinds entering the table on the N.E. end of branch road - tucked tight in to the side of the large hill.
The British column being put on the table (not on blinds) along the main north south road as per the order of march given to me by the players. At the head of the column, in the village near the northern edge, was the tank troops. Stretching back down the full length of the road was the convoy of truck (all spaced as per the rules for fast or wheeled vehicles - it stretched some distance). A Vichy straffing had seen all of their men jump from their vehicles to find whatever cover there was, and they started the game in the dust next to their transport. Behind them the carriers and Bofors were still off-table. This was now going to be a test for them how quickly they reacted to the French threat.
The British began by attempting to get into some position of advantage, with their first troop running for the cover of an orange grove just to the south of the village. The tanks headed off road to the western edge of the big hill. Number two troop tried to get some cover in a road side drainage ditch and in some rocky ground just on the north side of the T-junction where branch road met main road. Three troops took advantage of some undulating ground to nip round the back towards the farm, with their leading sections jumping into the dried up river bed to the north of the farm, on the southern edge of branch road.
The French advanced with their tanks down the road. On the big hill their Chasseurs Libanaise headed for the summit. A platoon of the Legion headed south through the dried up river bed. Both sides were now jockeying for position having blundered into each other.
The first shots of the day came as the British second troop spotted the white kepis of the Legion moving down the river bed. Firing across the open ground they killed one man, and clearly really annoyed the Legionaries. The whole platoon lined the edge of the river bed and poured fire into the Jocks who enjoyed rather less cover in an 18" deep drainage ditch, and consequently suffered rather worse. However, this action was suffice to allow 3 troop to move round into the farm and occupy it and the olive groves without disturbance.
A second wave of French now followed the Lebanese troops up the hill, this was where the French main blow was planned to fall. Now the Lebanese Chasseurs opened up with their single Hotchkiss MMG on the British light tanks that were quite sensibly avoiding the better armed and heavier French tanks. It was to no avail, and the Australian tankers were quite happy to reply round for round.
The British carriers now arrived and moved into the olive groves around the farm, whilst the first Bofors dropped in a ditch by the road junction in order to counter the French tanks. On the big hill the French deployed their HQ troops, and quickly brought smoke down to mask the Bofors, as well as adding their three MMGs to the fire going in on the light tanks. One of which now pulled back to a hull- down position behind a rocky patch, its miniscule turret presenting the French tankers with a vaguely tempting target.
One French tank decided to leave the road, hoping to deal death and destruction amid the Australian light tanks, but the Bofors, thus far starved of a target, put paid to it's advance, first causing minor engine damage and then blowing the turret clean off.
On the right the Chasseurs Libanaise were to even the score, immobilising a Mark VIb with their MMG and then causing the crew to abandon it.
On the left the Legion in the river-bed attempted to rush across to the rocky slopes of the hill to the east of the farm, thereby outflanking the Jocks therein. A hail of fire from No. 3 Troop stopped them in their tracks and allowed the British to send one section up the hill to themselves bring enfilading fire down on the somewhat frustrated survivors of the first fusillade.
But now, with a cheer and cry of "Vive la France" down the western slopes of big hill swept two platoons of the Legion and the less enthusiastic Lebanese. In the orange grove Squadron Sergeant Major Corky Caldwell moved swiftly amongst his men, holding their fire until the enemy emerged into the open at the foot of the hill. Now fire sprang from the mouths of twenty odd rifles, and the front ranks fo the French went down in the crimson sand. A party of Senegalese troops set about two of the Mark VIb tanks, attempting to wrench off the tracks with their rifles and to fire into the vision ports, but the crews stayed calm, their turrets rotating as they fired into this seething mass.
Now up came the lead Australian carrier, its Vickers blazing into the mob, as more and more men fell for a France that some had never seen. High above them on the big hill, Capitaine Legume swung his machine guns to bare on the orange grove. Amongst the first to go down was SSM Caldwell, and his men felt his loss painfully. Where brave resistance had been their watchword they now sought cover where they could. Only those men unaware that their brave leader had fallen still continuing to put fire into the stalled French platoon.
With one Platoon decimated by fire, the second Legion platoon veered off to the right, into the village seeking shelter from British fire. Behind them came the Lebanese to secure the position. From the big hill a bugle call rang out as Legume called off further attacks, and the French now sought to consolidate their gains.
The position now stabilised with the British holding the junction and all ground to the south, whilst the French held the village and the big hill.
The French had failed to seize the important junction, their objective, the British had failed to move up to Jisa el Burghaz. An honourable draw.
Historically the action that took place on this terrain saw a Squadron of the Scots Greys face the Vichy counter attack alone, and without support they fled the battlefield, Merdjayoun falling later that day. This scenario allowed a bit more balance.
Hopefully Robert enjoyed his visit to Lard Island where we treated him to a delicious doner kebab with chilli sauce and green chillies (personally I like extra chillies and no lettuce - just onion, cabbage, tomatoes and cucumber). As a consequence he is probably in hospital as I type this.
Richard Clarke
Used my Japs for the first time yesterday: a little outing to Malaya and an encounter battle with some Indian Army types.
The Japs had five light tanks (Ha Go's) and two strong platoons of infantry. Unfortunately the company's heavy weapons and medium tanks were still at Payne Ting Station and thus unavailable for this action. Each platoon was three squads strong, but with a fourth "mortar" squad of three light mortars.
The Brits had a far more balanced force: three platoons of infantry, two British, one Indian; four Indian Pattern carriers (Brens only) and a Lanchester armoured car with its twin-Vickers turret and another Vickers in the hull. In addition, the Company HQ boasted a couple of Boys ATR's and two Vickers MMG's.
The battlefield comprised lots of jungle, a couple of "splash across" rivers, one road, and one abandoned building.
The Brits formed a column and headed north up the road. The Japs quickly deployed their tanks, and sent them south down the road, but with a platoon of infantry in the jungle either side with a False Blind even further out. Even under Blinds, however, this proved such slow going that all the action took place in the third of table closest to the Japanese baseline.
The Brits on the road thundered forward pdq, running straight into the Japanese tanks. A fierce fight developed between the three lead Japanese tanks, spraying machine gun fire right, left and centre, and a British platoon on the right of the road, supported by the Company HQ on the left. It soon became apparent that Ha Go's are made out of papier mache, as three of them succumbed to enemy fire: one taking nine hits with a Boys ATR before being abandoned!
Meanwhile, the Japanese had deployed their platoon on their left of the road, ie facing the deployed British platoon, and had formed a firing line with one squad to pin them while two more formed column and moved forward and to the flank.
On the other side of the road, a Japanese Blind had moved up towards the flank of the meddlesome British Company HQ. A Rapid Deployment chip followed by the platoon chip was too good an opportunity to miss: the platoon's three light mortars rained down onto the enemy, and the three squads of riflemen charged forward with the Company and Platoon commander at their head. Banzai!
There was another British Blind there which was revealed as two of the four carriers, their LMG's being put to good use as the Japs charged in. A huge melee developed, and the British were overwhelmed by sheer weight of numbers and bounced back 12" down the road.
Meanwhile the British Lanchester armoured car had shot forward past this melee and had engaged a squad of Japanese infantry and one of the two remaining Ha Go's at point blank range. This Lanchester was obviously one on loan from the Argyll's, because the bloody thing just wouldn't die! The squad attacked it, the tank shot five shells into it: no damage! Meanwhile it's Vickers were proving to be a right pain in the Rising Sun! Finally it was forced to retire and, as it had Japanese troops on all sides, had no choice but to turn tail and sprint down the river. This unfortunately exposed it's rear end, and a final shot from a Ha Go blew it all the way back to the Mull of Kintyre.
During all this excitement, the victorious Japanese had sent one squad down the road after the retreating Brits, and formed the other two into a firing line and were peppering the remains of the British platoon on the other side of the road. Not only this, but the Japanese sniper was having the best day of his career: not a single shot missed during the entire game as he accounted for three Big Men, an MMG team and a couple of infantrymen whose sections needed pinning!
The other two British platoons now revealed themselves and moved forward. The British (as opposed to Indian) platoon was in front and prepared to assault the two Jap sections in front of them. Unfortunately, this mass of men was too good a target, and six light mortars rained down at the juxtaposition of all three sections. A slight touch of gamesmanship, perhaps, but my opponent said that that was exactly what he would do were circumstances reversed, so that was okay then! Two turns later, the sections were carrying 5, 5 and 3 wounds respectively, and all thoughts of charging into combat had disappeared!
Back on the road, the Jap section chasing down it ran straight into the other two carriers and the remains of the Company HQ. It was a real Scooby Doo moment as the squad skidded to a halt and charged back up the road again, with the carriers in hot pursuit, followed now by the Indian platoon who had decided that the British platoon was attracting far too much fire to be worth standing next to.
The Japs headed into the jungle, but had been badly hurt by the carriers. Mass fire from four Brens is quite unpleasant! The Indian plan was to keep shooting the Japs then go in with the infantry. Unfortunately the Jap light mortars ruined everything: dropping shell after shell onto the Indian sections forming up to charge. The two remaining Ha Go's were also moving forward, preparing to engage the carriers.
At this point the Jap sniper polished off the last British Big Man, and the Brits decided to retreat. Although beaten, they had given the Japs a real bloody nose: definitely in no position to follow up the retreating enemy, Ha Go's or no Ha Go's.
This proved to be a cracking battle: much closer than the report above perhaps suggests. If the last two Japanese tanks hadn't been imminent, the Indian Carriers would quite possibly have done enough damage for the Indians to wipe out the Jap platoon in the tree line. This would have left around two British platoons (in strength) against one Japanese one, and victory might have gone the other way. As it was, the Lanchester's charge forward had proved suicidal, and Neil was left cursing the fact he didn't have it handy for the endgame.
What was very interesting was how closely this battle mirrored actions from the Malaya campaign: the thrust of the "unstoppable" Japanese tanks being answered by the Brits hurling everything they had at them; a Lanchester doing real damage everywhere it was; Japanese mortars landing everywhere and, of course, the Japs pinning the front and attacking the flanks. The only dodgy note was the success of the Japanese sniper!
I highly recommend giving this theatre a go. The British/Indians and Japanese have such different forces that it's quite unlike a game where each side has a couple of platoons and a handful of tanks/guns. The close terrain, but lack of buildings, gives a very weird wave structure to the game: all slow, slow manoeuvres punctuated by lots of horribly close range firefights and melees. False Blinds proved much more important than in any other game I've played, as spotting was so difficult, and the road was at the same time the only place where you could move at normal speed but the most dangerous place on the table.
Robert Avery
After reviewing the IABSM3 rules earlier in this issue, the least we could do is to report on a playtest using those rules! We had played IABSM during its first incarnation and we've played Sharp Practice several times, so we were already familiar with the major parts of the rules system. I had painted up three boxes of Plastic Soldier Company WW2 Russians, so we had several squads, AT guns, and heavy weapons, plus a few 1/48th scale Hobby Boss tanks. After reading through the rules a few times, making some shock counters, plus a few odds and ends, we were ready to at least try a small game.
It's late fall in 1941 on the road to Moscow. A German recon force has been ambushed and set on fire along the main road, plus there are reports of a heavy Russian attack. A German kampfgruppe consisting of a platoon of PZIVDs and a platoon of mechanised infantry in halftracks is rushed to the scene to prevent the Russians from seizing a vital crossroads. The Russian force consisted of two KV-1s and a KV-2 with one squad of SMG troops riding on the tanks. They were backed by a sniper (we wanted to see how the system worked with these), two infantry squads, two 45mm AT guns, and a 81mm mortar section with two mortars. At this stage we had no idea about the scenario balance, so it was a credit to both sides that they went along with the game to try the system out. Both sides used blinds to hide the advance of their forces.
We were using a 4x6 table, which with the number of vehicles we had was not a good choice and it should be recommended that larger tables be used for more than a platoon of armour per side if using 28mm or 1/48th kits.
The blinds moved up fairly quickly and when the first one was revealed it was a bit shocking to the German side: a KV-2 was sitting dead centre along the main road! The Sdkfz-251/10 that spotted it opened with its 37mm AT gun, but would have needed a miracle and didn't get it. The return fire from the KV-2 immobilized the halftrack, then the Russian 45mm AT guns revealed themselves and knocked the halftrack out for good.
The German PZIVDs deployed and tried to use cover to engage the KV-2 along with the AT guns. The KV-2 shook off the several hits it took, but the SMG squad riding it were not so lucky. One of the dismounted German squads in the barn opened fire on them, killing several. The first PZIVD went up in flames after being hit multiple times and the Germans were reeling.
Another blind was spotted and unfortunately for the Germans it was a KV-1 moving up on the Russian left flank. The Germans responded by turning one of the PZIVDs to engage this new threat while the other two squads of infantry moved to take up defensive positions.
The KV-1 and -2 then engaged a pair of PZIVDs in a battle that went on for a number of turns.
The Russian AT guns began to shell the barn that a German squad was in, but got more than they bargained for when the return fire knocked out the crew of one of the AT guns.
The KV-1 was then immobilized by a hit from a PZIVD and for a second it looked like the Germans might get back into the game. However, the PZIVD was then itself knocked out by the KV-2, which sat like a fortress in the middle of the board, taking everything the Germans could throw at it. Also, another KV-1 appeared on the Russian right flank and the Germans then moved to counter it.
A brief counterattack by a squad of Germans and a halftrack knocked out the final Russian AT gun, but then the halftrack was hit and knocked out.
The KV-2 then began to do something it was designed for; knocking out buildings. The German squad in the farmhouse took a battering and had to fall back.
The last two PZIVDs got the benefit of the card draw and were able to fire on the Russian armour first the next two turns, but couldn't score any knockouts. The return fire destroyed both of them and with that the game ended as the Germans would be forced to withdraw. The Russians still had mortars and two squads of infantry that had not even deployed yet!
A few observations from our first game...
First, the rules are a huge improvement over the first version that we tried years before, so that was good. The infantry firing chart and the anti-armour charts need to be on a reference card as those are what gets used the most as far as we could tell from this game.
I think that there was some confusion on our end about running vehicles as a platoon or individually. It appears from the rules that you should have a Big Man in charge of vehicle platoons to issue orders, but what if there isn't one? We couldn't make heads or tails of that during the game, so we'll need to look into that further.
The infantry and anti-vehicle firing systems are fun to use and there is some excitement when seeing if a vehicle can block a number of hits to it with its armour saves.
I've always been a big fan of the shock system that is used in these rules and I like how it degrades the performance of the units during the game.
We felt that the game's base systems work well and can be easily picked up by gamers in a group setting. Once everyone understands how the card system operates and you get through the first few turns the game proceeds pretty quickly.
In terms of problems there were a few, but fortunately they were pretty minor. First, there is some preparation time required to run a game, most notably getting the right cards, quality of troops, and Big Men organized. Nothing that takes hours, but it does help to come prepared.
We found that snipers are particularly nasty as well as early Russian armour, which really unbalanced the scenario in hindsight. We were just learning the system, so no big deal, but in the future we'll look at these things more closely.
I think the biggest thing that skirmish gamers may need to get used to is the number of troops that you will need for a group game. We're talking about needing (in our estimation) at least a platoon per player and some of the scenarios have quite a bit of stuff on the board. These rules are definitely designed for large skirmishes, i.e., company sized engagements with maybe two platoons of infantry plus heavy weapons along with support. Now some might argue that it will slow the game down, but actually IABSM3 handles large amounts of figs pretty well with the card system, plus infantry don't last long in these battles!
Overall, it was a very fun game and we liked the rules. I'm already working on getting some more infantry and vehicles painted up for even larger battles! For the cost of the rules you certainly can't go wrong.
Republished from Warning Order #33
with kind permission of the Wasatch Front Historical Gaming Society
Jez and me hadn't played a game of IABSM for ages. I realised that this would be my 57th game this year, and so decided to call it Heinz's Revenge.
Lately we've been playing quite a few tank orientated games at Wally HQ so I decided that we should address the balance with more of an infantry game.
Jez really likes to use tanks, and in fact vehicles of any sort. I thought I'd surprise him with a scenario allowing me to use a massed infantry attack.
The scenario was set in July 1941 shortly after the invasion of the Soviet Union.
Jez was told that his force was charged with securing a crossing point over the river. His force, full of vehicles was essentially a force to allow a recce in strength to take place. His infantry were all Elite and possessed four initiative dice, his vehicles were all Veteran and there was six Big Men in his force.
The table consisted of an unfordable winding river with numerous copses, boggy areas and a couple of small farms with cropped and ploughed fields.
Jez was told the existence of a bridge on the western end of the river, but was not told about the second bridge towards the eastern end of the river. I had decided to tell him about it if he arrived within 12" of its location.
True to sneaky form, I decided to place a bunker complex on table, telling Jez he knew its location but not if it was occupied.
Jez's German Aufklarungs Force
Forward Observer in SdKfz 250/5 in contact with four off-table 105mm howitzers.
Company HQ
Hauptmann (D6+2) [Can act as FO]
One Rifle squad (8 men)
One SdKfz 251 Halftrack
One SdKfz 251/10 Halftrack
One SdKfz 10/5 AA Halftrack
One M/C Combo
Platoon 1
Leutnant (D6)
Feldwebel (D6)
Three Rifle squads (8 men each)
One AT Rifle (2 men)
One SdKfz 251/10 Halftrack
Three SdKfz 251 Halftracks
Armour 1 (all veteran)
Leutnant (D4)
Two PzKpfw III G (Veteran)
Armour 2 (all veteran)
Leutnant (D4) [Can act as FO]
One SdKfz 221
Two SdKfz 222
One SdKfz 223
Armour 3 (all veteran)
Feldwebel (D4)
Three SdKfz 231
Gun 1
One SdKfz 11 Towed 75mm Infantry Gun
Gun 2
One SdKfz 11 Towed 75mm Infantry Gun
National Characteristic Cards
Air Support x 2
Rally
Dynamic Commander
Heroic Leader
Blitzkrieg Bonus
Recce Force (A/C only)
Gun Bonus
Artillery Support
Rapid Deployment
Vehicle Breakdown
Kev's Soviets
Platoon 1
Senior Lieutenant (D4)
Three Rifle Squads (10 men each)
AT Rifle (2 men)
Platoon 2
Junior Lieutenant (D4)
Three Rifle Squads (10 men each)
AT Rifle (2 men)
Platoon 3
Senior Sergeant (D6)
Three Rifle Squads (10 men each)
AT Rifle (2 men)
Platoon 4
Junior Sergeant (D6)
Three Rifle Squads (10 men each)
AT Rifle (2 men)
Platoon 5
Commissar (D4)
Three Rifle Squads (10 men each)
AT Rifle (2 men)
Support 1
Two Maxim MMG (3 men each)
Support 2
Six 81mm Mortars (3 crew each)
Support 3
12.7mm AA HMG (3 Crew)
Gun 1
Horse Drawn M27 76mm Infantry Gun
Gun 2
Horse Drawn M27 76mm Infantry Gun
Armour 1 (Green, operate on individual cards)
Two T-28
National Characteristics Cards
Commisar
Uhraieeee x 2
Soviet Tank Killers x 2
Hesitant Leader
Hesitant Troops
Heroic Leader
Gun Bonus
MG Bonus
Mortar Bonus
Vehicle Breakdown
I allowed myself four Big Men in my substantial force though rated the troops as poor with only two initiative dice maximum. The T-28's I decided should be green crewed as well!
When Jez and I usually play we only have time for a three hour game maximum. Usually I have a small defensive force and Jez has a fair sized attacking force. This time it would be different with the advantage of numbers firmly on my side. I wanted to see Jez panic as the German commanders had when initially when hit by human wave attacks.
I deployed AT rifles separate from their Platoons, but to operate on the same chip, well in advance of my main line of defence in the small fields around the western farm.. These would hopefully halt the lightly armoured German AFVs which I envisaged making a run for the bridge early on. I placed my 12.7mm AA HMG, a Maxim, and my six mortars in a copse on my side of the bank, in the loop of the river where they could command the battlefield.
Next to the bridge I deployed a 76mm Regimental gun and sniper to pin troops in the farm should they dismount from their armoured vehicles as I knew they would. Supporting them and hidden by the copse with the mortars were two T-28's my ultimate reserve in case the Germans captured the bridge.
My second HMG and a sniper were located in a small copse on the northern riverbank to protect the second, unspotted bridge. In the boggy areas, adjacent to this feature, I had deployed two Platoons of infantry, with a further two platoons sharing the same blind on the southern bank hidden by the copse.
Finally in a small copse on the extreme eastern table edge I deployed yet another infantry Platoon and my second 76mm gun.
I hoped to launch an assault via the second bridge throwing the enemy into confusion whilst their forward progress was held up by AT rifles and snipers. My mortars would support either the attack or pin troops in the farm.
The bunker was revealed to Jez on his baseline in a large copse, guarding access via the road. Jez was told he could deploy within 12" of either northern table corners.
So much for the plans then....
My blinds came up first and I easily spotted a mass of armoured cars heading towards the farm. I decided to hold all my dice and as Jez's 'Blinds Move' came up he spotted a blind in the cornfield, west of the farm. Deciding it was a fake he advanced a SdKfz 231's right through the blind.
Big mistake. I hit him in the rear with a close range shot from my AT rifle. Ka-boom, vehicle destroyed.
This really shook Jez. He soon recovered though and his remaining heavy armoured cars blazed away, killing an AT rifle crew member and causing three wounds.
Ominously, other blinds of Jez's occupied the woods to the east. Relieved, I was praying at his point that Jez was not going to make a run for the bridge as I had concentrated most of my infantry in the east near the second, as yet undiscovered bridge.
He spotted blinds in the small copses on the northern bank and discovered the bunker to be empty, and was as yet unworried. However, his arse began to grip the chair when he successfully spotted my six mortars and two HMG's in the river bend.
As 'Tea Break' came up Jez was forced to place his Panzers and armoured infantry on table. They were just behind the farm, in cover.
The next turn saw Jez dismount and occupy the farm whilst one Panzer drove right along the road, another skirting the farm to the north.
When my 'Blinds Move' came up I decided the time had come to mess with his mind.
A blind left the boggy ground it was hiding in and occupied the large wood in the centre of the table. An AT rifle located on the northern edge of this feature started popping away at a Panzer III hitting it with alarming accuracy though failing to penetrate.
I spotted a 75mm infantry gun in the eastern woods and decided foolishly to shoot at long range with my infantry and 76mm gun located in the copse to its front, to no effect.
The photos do not do the spectacle justice as twelve squads each of ten infantry launched into the advance to contact.
I have never before used a wave assault in IABSM but judging from the look on Jez's face I will be doing so again. He was absolutely terrified! Jez was incredibly impressed with the number of troops he was facing. He had thought initially that I would only have a skeleton force but by now he realised he was on the defensive himself.
Luckily for me I activated an AT rifle in a yard near the second farm and managed to hit his forward observer a couple of times, unnerving him somewhat.
The action switched to the western side of the table as Jez killed my AT rifle near the first farm and then successfully assaulted and killed another AT rifle with his infantry, clearing a field, and outflanking my remaining AT rifle. He also spotted my fake as a fake and began to realise that a run for the bridge may work.
A Stuka descended from the clouds and dropped its bomb, engines screaming, before pulling out of its dive and flying away. Had the pilot managed to look back he would have realised that his detonation was in fact on top of a SdKfz 223! Blue on blue! Jez was not impressed. I seem to have a magnificent record of friendly fire when others have air support, and I do not.
My 'Mortar Bonus' chip arrived. the first time any of my mortars had had the chance to fire. I dropped a shell onto a section of Schutzen in the farm. Killing a couple of vipers! However, scoring a lucky 17, a pinned German section destroyed my Maxim HMG without it firing in anger.
Jez continued to mop up AT rifles with MG fire from his AFVs but he was somewhat surprised when my 76mm Infantry gun fired at his Panzer III, jamming its turret with its first hit, and forcing it to withdraw upon tea break or its next initiative with its second shot. Lucky for him that the third shot missed!
Things were looking a little uncertain for me near the farm so I decided upon 'Heroic Leader' to motivate a section and lead them from the central woods to assault Jez's Big Man led Panzer III. Minor damage forced it too to withdraw.
However, my exposed infantry squad were shot to red ruin by Halftrack MGs. Surprisingly the Big Man survived, but collapsed to the ground, no doubt sobbing.
It was a brave but foolhardy tactic, nevertheless one I would try several more times in the game.
Over in the east, Jez's 75mm infantry gun fired into the mass of Soviets heading toward him causing several casualties. However, suddenly a Big Man rose from the throng on the ground to cry Za Rodinu, for the Motherland! A loud 'Uhraieeee' sounded as the chip was pulled from the bag and three section of Ivans assaulted and wiped out the gun crew capturing the piece.
Other infantry Platoons headed further north when their chips were drawn, one Platoon however, headed back over the second bridge in an attempt to manouevre back into a defensive position.
The next turn saw Jez's armoured cars get the bit between their teeth and head in the direction of the bridge as he realised that time was running out.
My 12.7cm finally was destroyed by autocannon
He killed my last AT rifle with another infantry assault and was now a mere 12" away from the bridge.
I now drew a couple of 'Tank Killer' chips in quick succession and proceeded to attack the front and rear of Jez's Company HQ, still near the second farm and still awaiting their chip to be drawn.
The brave Ivans lobbed grenades at his 251/10 Command vehicle, immobilising it and also managed to immobilise a 251/1 at the rear.
However, when 'Tea Break' arrived next chip the smile was wiped off my face as both assault squads were hit with close range 2cm AA, Hanomag mounted MG34, Motorcyle Combo MG34 and 251/10 37mm AT cannon wiping out all except one man who dazed was captured and no doubt executed for his foolish bravery.
As Jez's Armoured cars continued their progress towards their objective my 76mm gun opened up again, missing wildly.
Once again as 'Tank Killers' was drawn I rushed a section from the central woods and permanently immobilised a SdKfz 222 with a flank hit.
Jez's infantry had been pinned with accurate sniper fire in the previous two moves but made a run for the bridge, shooting and butchering my victorious tank killers in the bargain, and finally setting foot on the rickety bridge.
My infantry Platoon which had captured Jez's 75mm in assault manhandled it to the edge of the wood intent on using it on the German HQ vehicles.
In a final act of suicide I assaulted Jez's SdKfz 10/5 2cm mounted light AA gun with yet another section. Managing to jam the weapons traverse they too were wiped out by yet more concentrated MG34 fire.
My fifth and final section to meet the same fate that day.
With the drawing on the 'Tea Break' chip, and it being lunchtime we called it a day.
Jez had managed to set foot on the bridge but not control it. It is arguable whether he could in fact have successfully held it close as it was to two T-28's.
My mortars had fired once as a platoon and twice as single tubes with no real effect and had been very disappointing. The number of chips in the bag seemed magically to prevent their chip turning up (I know, I know Clivey its 50% probability of a chip turning up - but it didn't!)
Jez's Company HQ also, armed to the teeth, had their chip turn up only once and relied on the fact that when 'Tea Break' came up they were within short range and could shoot my brave troops to ruin.
Spectacular is the only word to describe 120 Soviets running towards you!
I really wanted them to get into the German's but lacking 'Uhraieeeee' chips, also noticeably absent from the draw, and only in possession of two initiative dice with which to move meant that progress was slow. Luckily, Jez's lack of automatic weapons in that vicinity of the table meant that they hadn't accumulated wounds or it would have been a massacre.
The attacks on the AFVs, by the infantry were suicidal but often very effective. There was a real air of desperation about the savageness of the fighting worthy of a report in Signal with brave German's facing hordes of Ivans.
The game was a cracker, one of the best IABSM games I've ever played.
I shall use Human Wave assaults again. Back to the drawing board....
Kev
Playtesting IABSM III:
Ce este asta?" What colour there ever had been there had drained from Major Vlad Impalescu's face, what was it indeed. He adjusted the binoculars again to make sure he wasn't seeing things. Five turrets! What sort of tank was this.
"Nu ºtiu!" Bogdan Inzamud was equally at a loss. Their R2 tanks looks pathetically insignificant when compared to the Soviet monster that had been lurking amid the ruins of the factory complex. He wanted to run, to get away from this limbering beast that, bristling with guns, was surely unbeatable. "Run!"
At least that was what he had intended to say, but somehow it can out "Fire!". Around him the popping of several 37.2mm guns showed him that his command had been picked up by the other tanks in the platoon, and shell after shell was streaking towards the iron behemoth.
Had the armour of the T35 been iron then Serzhent Andropov would have been happier. In fact it seems that the metal sheets that protected the tank were little more than old dustbins that had been rolled flat and riveted into place. In seconds two turrets and the main gun were out of action and the driver was crashing his way through the gears in an attempt to get away from the small but effective olive green tormentors in Romanian colours.
In the main office building Igor Blimie's platoon were occupying the rubble left after the Stukas had visited yesterday. It was a shame that the roof had gone as the Romanian infantry that had occupied the ridge some distance away were now dropping their 60mm mortar rounds in with frustrating accuracy. It was fortunate that the enemy seemed to be having problems with his machine guns, but for now Igor could but watch as the enemy tanks that were operating to both the west and the south seemed to be waiting for something to happen. The small R35 tanks were firing into his positions with their low velocity 37mm guns, but the damage was insignificant. Why were the enemy waiting?
Ivan Kompostiip waved his flags frantically. Never before had he commanded his platoon in action, but he was determined to fight well to defend the revolution. In his BT5 cavalry tank he could well be seen as the successor to Semyon Budyenny, the hero of the Soviet Union. Across the ridge and there before him lay the industrial complex. Off to the south he could see the Romanian tanks, he waved his flags again and the five small tanks swung to follow him. His only regret was that he had no bugle.
Leytenant Nikka Grabescu rotated the small one man turret to face the oncoming threat. Only three of his five tanks were atop the small ridge, two others were behind it in the dead ground. Quite clearly he could see the flags being waved by the red tanker, and the fast moving light tanks swing to face him before rushing across the steppe at an unlikely pace. The R35's cracked out their welcome, one BT5 slowing down as its turret was clearly damaged, but the rest rushed onwards.
"Move to the enemy's rear, attack them from the flank and the behind", Ivan had read the manual on tactics and knew just what he should do. As he crossed the ridge the two hidden Romanian tanks cracked out a welcome. The low velocity guns were too light to be ideal, but at this range it was difficult to miss. Rounds thudded home, tearing bits from the tanks.
It was a swirling fight, more akin to an aerial dogfight than a tank battle, but ultimately it was the heavier armour of the R35 that decided the day and the poor morale of the red tankers. Within a minute two BT5s were scuttling away, their bottle gone. Ivan fought on until his tank began to burn, only then slipping out and making his escape across the endless steppe.
The Romanians did not halt to trouble themselves about a few Soviet tankers, their tanks were now closing in on the industrial complex, sealing off all exits. For Igor Blimie there would be no escape, he could fight on, maybe win an hour for the defenders of Odessa, but lose his life in the process. His company quietly disposed of Commissar Nikolai Krossdressavitch and surrendered to the Romanian victors.
A relatively bloodless victory for the Romanians, they despatched two light Soviet armoured cars and either destroyed of drove off the T35 and a platoon of BT5s before simply shutting off any escape route for the Soviet infantry. This was another opportunity to develop further the tank battle system, which worked well, and we nailed 60mm mortars too.
Richard Clarke
Having painted up an entire Battlefront Company of Fallschirmjager, in only three days, I decided in might be nice for Nige to try them out straight away. I set up a nice little game based on Operation Mercury and the Invasion of Crete in 1941.
Nige's FJ had to capture a small port facility garrisoned by an unknown force of Kiwis. The table consisted of the outskirts of a typical small Cretan town, located in the SE quarter. The southern table edge was designated as the sea with a quayside laden with empty barrels awaiting a fuel shipment. To the north west of the town lay an area of fields - both corn and vineyards providing much cover. Immediately to the north lay a ridge of high ground, lightly scrubbed and rocky in places. Another features of the table was the predominance of substantial stone walls lining the dirt tracks exiting the town.
HQ Platoon
Hauptmann Bereich (D6)
One Rifle squad (8 men - Automatic Weapons)
Three 50mm mortars (2 men each)
Two MMG’s (3 men each)
Infantry Platoon 1
Leutnant Wutrzgarten (D6)
Feldwebel Pfalz (D6)
Three Rifle squads (8 men each - Automatic Weapons)
One MMG (3 crew)
Infantry Platoon 2
Unterfeldwebel Ursiger (D6+2)
Three Rifle squads (8 men each - Automatic Weapons)
MMG (3 crew)
Infantry Platoon 3
Obergefreiter Bassermann (D6+1)
Two Rifle squads (8 men each - Automatic Weapons)
MMG (3 crew)
Support 1
Gefreiter Ockfener (D6)
Two 81mm Mortars (3 crew each)
Gun 1
75mm Geb36 Mountain Gun (5 crew)
Gun 2
75mm Geb 36 Mountain Gun (5 crew)
Air Support
x 3 Stuka attack with Bomb
Close support from a Stuka Schwarm flying overhead.
When card is pulled Roll D6
1 = Friendly fire on a visible unit.
2 - 4 = Flies over table but attacks a target off-table
5 or 6 = Attacks a visible enemy target on-table.
NATIONAL CHARACTERISTICS: Rally; Gun Bonus; MMG Bonus; Air Support 1-3; Dynamic Commander; Mortar Bonus; Heroic Leader; Rapid Deployment; Ammo Shortage.
HQ Platoon
Major. D. Saster (D4)
One rifle section (8 men)
2” mortar (2 men)
AT Rifle (2 men)
Infantry Platoon 1
Lieutenant Hugh Jego (D6)
Three rifle sections (8 men)
Infantry Platoon 2
Sergeant 'Ripper' Hymen (D6+1)
Two rifle sections (8 men)
Support Weapons 1
Corporal Les Bow (D6)
Two 3” mortar (3 men)
Support Weapons 2
Sergeant Hal I. Tosis (D6+1)
Two MMG’s (3 crew)
Gun 1
Bofors 37mm AA
Gun 2
Bofors 37mm AA
NATIONAL CHARACTERISTICS: Heroic Leader; Gun Bonus; Mortar Bonus; Rally; MG Bonus
Initially I had placed a 'Short on Ammo' chip into the bag to simulate the fact that the Fallschirmjager had limited resources. I explained to Nige that there were several drop canisters containing ammo scattered across the table. To negate a 'Short on Ammo' chip a Platoon needed to spend a full move, in contact with the canister, and perform no other actions with their initiative die.
Nige's blinds were permitted to be deployed within 6" of the northern and western table edges.
My deployment consisted of a Bofors on the quayside, with another dug in on a small hillock north of the town.
In the eastern half of the town I had deployed my weak second Platoon, of only two squads.
The western extreme of the town was the location for the other stronger Platoon of three squads. I chose to deploy my HQ Platoon also and added a Vickers MMG to it also.
My remaining Vickers crew with Sergeant M Hal I. Tosis were deployed in a pillbox located on the western road where they could command approaches to the town.
Finally I had dug in two 3" mortars due south of the vineyard.
Nige started with blinds making an appearance on the low hills to the north.
My Bofors was spotted and engaged by the FJ's 81mm mortars, which caused only a wound.
My Bofors proved its worth though by spotting a Platoon of FJ working their way towards the towns northern approach and then firing as an HMG, pinning, and causing heavy casualties on the advancing parachutists, who dived for cover behind a low stone wall.
A Stuka spiralled down in an attack upon the 3" mortars only to be engaged and shot down by my Bofors.
Small arms fire continued to pour forth at the Bofors causing it to be pinned in successive turns and suffer several wounds and kills before eventually its only crew member slumped to the ground exhausted.
However, I decided to activate my 3" mortar squads and with a stunning display of fireworks quickly destoyed one 81mm mortar.
Nigel had been spotting frantically to find my depositions but I had ensured that my forces were not deployed at the towns edge and so had largely remained hidden.
He advanced a section into the north western building of the town, supported by two others.
I opened up with my HQ Platoon and light mortar, my attached Vickers causing real problems as point blank range.
I had now discovered that blinds appearing on the west of the table edge were in fact fakes and realised that Sgt Hal I. Tosis's pillbox outflanked the main German position. Nige realised too and when a Stuka appeared overhead he had hoped that it may target the dug in Vickers. However, the Stuka bombed his infantry Platoon sheltering unconvincingly near a wall hitting two of its sections and causing fearful casualties.
Nigel's HQ Platoon with its two MG34's, three 50mm mortars plus rifle squad and yet another infantry Platoon appeared on the edge of the cropped fields and began to engage my forces in and around the town's northern edge.
I now revealed my Platoon in the buildings at the western edge of the town, near the sea. These fired into the emerging FJ as did the pillbox Vickers causing them to be pinned and suppressed.
Nige now started to pin down my troops as two Geb.36, 75mm mountain guns, were revealed. One was sited in rocky ground just north of my Bofors and the other in the NW corner of the table. These proved to be very useful in causing a critical hit on a building containing my HQ Platoon and also dropping a couple of shells into my first Platoon.
More seriously perhaps, the FJ now penetrated into the northern half of the town but then found themselves pinned down in the buildings with little hope of advancing as wounds mounted up.
On a 'Heroic Leader' chip, Sgt 'Ripper' Hymen led his section, and a Boys AT rifle crew, into an assault into a building defended by FJ a Big Man AND a MG34. Defeated he was forced to retreat to the church but only just lost as Nige threw lots of bum rolls.
My pillbox Vickers MG had by now forced a FJ Platoon into cover, and had turned the FJ HQ into a ruin of screaming, bleeding remnants. My remaining 3" mortar continued its good service killing the German C-in-C and also knocked out a mountain gun.
I was forced to manoeuvre my first Platoon along the road and into the eastern half of the town to shore up my defences. I was in the process of doing so when they were hit, first by a Geb 36 and then by the surviving 81mm mortar.
A last act saw my pillbox finally succumb to a Stuka attack but by then it was too late.
My Kiwi's had held the town but had lost almost a full third of their number. The FJ had manoeuvred well and even with their superior firepower had just managed to occupy the northern edge of the town. The cost had been very high though. Over 50% of the FJ would never jump again!
An interesting game involving the very effective FJ. Fielding four initiative dice, and throwing an extra dice at short range, plus one if accompanied by a Big Man, meant that in some cases they could advance three dice and still fire with three.
I managed to hold them up though largely due to my pillbox Vickers MG and Sgt Hal I. Tosis who controlled the entire western flank and centre and my 3" mortars which hit everything they fired at.
Not defending the towns edge meant that the FJ would get bogged down due to their spotting attempts going astray whilst I could defend the perimeter using the advantages of interior lines. This was extremely important when I rushed reserves over to the eastern side of the town after realising that my Pillbox MG could more than keep the FJ occupied.
The Geb. 36 proved to be very useful at engaging my forces and caused far more casualties than their infantry counterparts.
Kev
Our second reunion game was one Lenin and I had been thinking about for a while - the German assault on Crete - in 28mm using our combined figure collections. We chose to use the Two Fat Lardies' I Ain't Been Shot, Mum! rules as the game was rather too large for Nuts!
The Germans had an ad hoc formation from the 2nd Fallschimjäger Regiment based around the remnants of the 2nd Company, I Battalion and supported by elements of the Headquarters Company, I Battalion, 9th Company, III Battalion and 13th Company. Their objective was to take Hill 'A' which dominated the airfield. Whilst they were facing remnants of C Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Australian Infantry Regiment supported by elements of 1st Platoon, 1st Australian Machine Gun Company.
Both Lenin and I were playing in the game (largely to take advantage of playing on a larger table than normal - 8 x 6') but decided to let the other players take the lead as we had set the game up. As usualy I played on the German side with Lenin taking the Aussies.
The German plan was to advance up the road on the left flank and secure the farm buildings then move into the woods and secure the other farm at the other end of the table before assaulting the hill itself. Things started to go wrong for them pretty much straight away. They hadn't read the brief fully and so didn't take advantage of the initial bombardment available and then they were spotted whilst still advancing in the open on the road. The Austrailians were dug in on the hill so the ensuing fire fight was somewhat uneven with the Germans pinned in the open gradually taking more and more casualties.
Eventually we managed to take advantage of the limited cover at the base of the hill but our fire was relatively ineffective against their position. With no smoke for the light mortars and assault under heavy fire was going to the very costly and so the attack was stalled pretty much straight away.
Due to some rather poor communication on the German side the blinds advancing down the side of the hill to outflank the Australian position were simply dummies whilst the one behind us in the farm yard turned out to be the third platoon!
Fortunately we were reinforced by a medium mortar and an infantry gun and with their support we started to advance up the hill but it was terribly slow going.
Our plan had been for the morning (real time) to be the evening (game time) and for the afternoon to be the following day. So when lunch (real time) came around the Germans still had not taken the hill. Fortunately for the Germans, the Australians received an order to withdraw (higher command thought they had better intelligence and wanted to consolidate their forces) which allowed the Germans to occupy the hill unopposed. When the Australians realised their mistake the organised a counter attack for the next morning.
During the night the Germans had been reinforced with two medium MGs and an anti-tank rifle team but had run out of ammo for the mortar and had been unable to manhandle the infantry gun up the hill. They reorganised their force into two full strength platoons and started to dig in. The Australians had four understrength platoons with medium MG support and two light tanks for the attack. (At this point I had swapped sides to help with the numbers too)
Unfortunately for the Aussies their troops and armour were almost immediately spotted and came under fire. Even with smoke from the light mortars the attack became heavy going and things began to slow down. One of the light tanks threw a track when crossing the ditch at the edge of the road and the MGs were held up for some reason.
The attack devolved into a rather unequal fire fight and when the second light tanks attempted to move into support it was assaulted by the Germans and caught fire. The only close assault was thrown back by the Germans for little loss on their side and the attack stalled.
The attack then turned into making an orderly withdrawal for the Australians, which proved difficult under the heavy German fire but over half the force managed it.
Whisperin' Al
Scenario: May 11, 1940.
Yesterday, the Germans invaded the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and France. Against all odds and forecasts, they quickly advanced through the Ardennes. The resistance of the Belgian and French troops varies: some units fight hard, some run at the first sight of the enemy. The main problem for the Germans is how to get their thousands of vehicles through the hilly landscape. There are traffic jams as far back as the Rhine.
In the late hours of 10 May, German troops capture the town of Auville, and the bridge over the Semois. The Belgian Chasseurs Ardennais offer fanatical resistance, but they are no match for the Stuka divebombers that bombard Auville: the Belgians hastily withdraw to the hills surrounding the bridge.
It is now May 11, 6am. The Germans (played by Jürgen C. and newbie Luke) attempt to expand their bridgehead at Auville. The Ardennes Hunters (played by Juvanov) try to stop them, aided by reinforcements in the form of a French armored column (played by Willie).
The German tanks move over the bridge, but are stopped by three strategically placed anti-tank guns from the Ardennes Hunters. The Belgians are soon strengthened by French tanks: Somuas and Char B1Ss that the German light tanks (Pz 35t and 38t) have difficulty destroying.
An heroic charge of four Belgian T15 tankettes against a screen of three German 88mms ends predictably in the immediate destruction of the tankettes. A nice story for the history books, but also a pointless waste of life and material. Meanwhile, the Ardennes Hunters evict the German infantry from Auville.
The battle ended in an Allied victory, thanks to:
the clever deployment of the Belgian anti-tank guns
pretty much constant poor dice rolling by the Germans
Willie's luck on rolling to arrive with his reinforcements on the table very quickly
and finally, German nonchalance in not reading the briefing properly!
The Stipsicz Hussars
The scout platoon from the 15th Punjab had constructed a hasty forward defence line between sea and dry lagoon in the Ras Gaan narrows. The road has been dug open to make enemy wary of mines; and a platoon, along with a reinforced squad of local infantry, had been dug in. A single Vickers held their seaside flank and an FO with 3" mortar was hidden by the hillside (unfortunately the initial bomb run apparently cut the phone line, as FO never took part in the game. On the other hand, the FO was the reason why the Italians were not allowed any Blinds).
The Brits had no heavy equipment so their whole AT capacity consisted of one HMG, one ancient Lewis gun LMG and two nearly useless Boyes AT Rifles. Every section also had one grenade bundle prepared. Their enemy had a full autosahariana company with multiple cannons of varying calibres, a platoon of armoured cars, and light bomber, so it was not a fair game at any point. The Brits were tasked to inflict as many casualties as possible and then withdraw before their own casualties became too heavy. Their plan was to stall the Italian attack on both flanks and funnel them to a narrow pass where 3" mortar would wreak havoc amongst the enemy's softskinned vehicles. It almost worked...
"After sending the motorcycle messenger back towards battalion, I gave my company a command to advance best possible speed along the shoreline. Afternoon sun from clear African sky was bright and hard. Despite driving as fast as we could, not even wind gave any respite from the heat. But my brave company looked as glorious as ever! On the left side, Dabehshin hills rose sharply and menacingly. I am quite sure that the menace was not only of poetic kind, as occasional movement was reported. It was a perfect spot for an artillery observer and I am quite sure Johnny Englishman was following us while sipping his tea.
SITUATION STILL QUIET, SOME MOVEMENT REPORTED ON FLANKS
"Tenente Albertini's plane came back from the sea on schedule to start the attack with a diversion. Previously reported truck were no longer in sight, but he started a bombing run around the place where infantry was last sighted. Hard to gauge the effect, but at least the dust clouds were impressive and the improvised AA fire stopped as soon as the first bomb detonated.
BOMBS, RUN AWAY! TAKE COVER!
"Terrain along the coastline was broken, with small hills and piles of rock along the tideline. With careful driving my trucks were able to keep up good speed and no problems were reported. It was Masell's platoon at point that had the privilege of reporting finding the enemy dug in along the rocks. Well planned fields of fire, deeply dug positions and sharp fire control told me immediately that these were not some ragged Somaliland volunteers! Based on the volume of fire and availability of support weapons I would say we faced at least a platoon of Indian regulars: our little venture was in danger of stalling even before we were airborne.
CONTACT, CONTACT!
"Fortunately young Mellini quickly gathered his wits and returned fire with everything and the kitchen sink. 20mm Bredas were reported to be particularly effective in suppressing enemy troops. To be fair, this far I have been quite sceptical about the autoblinda platoon given to me. These things, painted with gaudy colonial police patterns have been shambling along with not a spark of initiative shown this far.. So my surprise was great but welcome when they handled themselves well, charging to fray without second thought! They took position besides Mellini's braves returning fire with the best of my men. They might be good men after all.
"I ordered Viesell's platoon to join the battle from the inland side, with the supply platoon using them as cover. Adriano would cover the road and act as left flank security. I myself stayed slightly back to coordinate fire, acting as a local reserve. Enemy was now receiving fire from a broad front and had to hug their foxholes tightly. I must say that their ability to return fire even against odds was impressive - particularly the Vickers machine gun kept returning fire despite losing several men.
VICKERS OPENS FIRE, SHOCK AND DAMAGE STARTS ACCUMULATING
NO TRAFFIC JAMS, KEEP ROUTE CLEAR!
"The rocks in the middle created a natural obstacle and despite my best efforts, the traffic jam was soon looking familiarly Roman, with heavy supply trucks honking horns and gun trucks zigzagging between them. Johnny Englishman did not hesitate to use this to his unfair advantage and light mortar rounds were soon dropping amongst the trucks. Mother of God was favourable towards us and enemy did not have anything heavier, as even a salvo or two from proper artillery section would have ended in tears and blood. Even then, enemy light mortar knocked out AS37 belonging to Giorgi and our radio truck is now very well ventilated - mercifully the precious radio equipment was spared.
NOW, WHAT IS THAT SOUND, INCOMING? INCOMING!!
"Along the tideline, our nickel infused lunch was finally convincing the enemy infantry that their position was untenable. We were not able to count their casualties, but I am sure they left as many men behind as we lost. From the roadside we received only sporadic fire from long range, so it looks like the bomb run took their will to fight. Good old Albertini!
LIEUTENANT SINGH SURVEYS THE SITUATION AND DECIDES THAT IT IS TIME TO WITHDRAW. 2" MORTAR FIRES THE LAST GRENADES AND PREPARES TO DROP SMOKE TO COVER WITHDRAWAL.
"Price of valour, like always, was heavy. One man paid the heaviest price and four more were injured. Giorgi's truck was a total loss and we had to destroy two more damaged trucks, so that they would not fall to enemy hands, as our own orders were to bypass all defences. We have now passed the purgatory and are heading towards the dark valley, behind the enemy lines. I hope we can keep our cool and keep the Johnny Englishman and has Indian lackeys busy, otherwise everything has been in vain."
It was a unfair game, being part of a campaign. The Italians were trying to break through with minimal casualties while the Sikhs and their supports wanted to cause as much havoc as possible. Small table as defender was in well camouflaged position and waited as long as they could. End result was a minor victory to the Italians, as the British forces were unable to cause many casualties despite a good try. Several trucks were abandoned, but the big men were able to de-suppress the crews and they went on their merry way again. It would have been completely different if the defenders FO card would have come up even once, as their plan otherwise worked well. Oh, the beauty of the card driven system!
Topi
Tenente Adriani - pilot who managed to bomb friendly troops
Tenente Zepeda - cautious pilot
Capitan Trouhet - captain of the 1st infantry company
Tenente Roma - tank platoon leader
Tenente Frederico - platoon leader of 1st platoon
Two tank platoons and an improvised infantry company attacking the British position directly, while three infantry platoons flank it. Attack starts with two stonks and light fighter-bombers.
"At 12.00 hours, after the initial barrage, I initiated a bombing run towards Bandar Harshau with Tenente Zepeda. Artillery had completely failed to suppress enemy anti-aircraft weapons, so we had to turn back and attack along the road. As we approached the target, green smoke went up as promised. Enemy was not supposed to have armoured assets, but seeing how ground based recon had failed time after time during this campaign, I assumed it was another recon snafu and initiated bombing run against marked target. I am very happy to report that first run left two smoking tank wrecks and platoon worth of infantry destroyed, while the second run bagged another enemy tank and another squad of infantry. After this, I headed back to home, leaving Tenente Zepeda to finish of the enemy. Tenente Andriani."
"Tenene Andriani, will you in front of this gathered court martial and your peers swear upon you honour that this is your truthful report about the attack upon Bandar Harshau 11th August 1940?" "Yes, sir."
"Capitano Trouhet, would you please give your own account about the event on said day?"
"Sir, 1st company of the Grande Gruppo Speciale di Africa Orientale Italiana was reinforced with the battalion recon and combat engineer assets and two platoons of tanks were attached. Tanks supported by one platoon of infantry were to pin the enemy with a frontal attack over the wadi, while two bersaglieri platoon and motorcycle recon troops were to flank the enemy position from south. 100mm artillery strike was to land 12:00 sharp on the suspected main enemy AA position and 81mm mortars were to strike enemy rear assets - as soon as the barrage was lifted, air force was to hit the village after which the main attack started. The artillery hit on time, but went wide and the aircraft turned back as soon as enemy directed AA fire at them. The intel we had said enemy had at most two dug in platoons and some sandbagged bunkers with light AT assets. While the flanking force was getting into position, Tenente Roma spearheaded the attack clearing path through the barbed wire. Enemy machine gun position on the hill caused light casualties, but was quickly suppressed and eliminated by our combined firepower. Likewise for the enemy platoon protecting the mouth of the wadi. At that point a green smoke popped amidst our formation and.."
"Captain, where did this smoke originate from?"
"Sir, I would say it was fired from the enemy position, as it landed along several light calibre mortar rounds. As soon as the green smoke popped, we launched our own marker smoke towards the enemy position. At this moment, Tenente Zepeda had gathered his courage and made a bombing run at us, despite frantic waving and all tanks marked by our own flags. I hoped that he was diving for the enemy, as all pilots were specifically briefed that enemy had no tanks. He dropped bombs directly on our position and after that I woke at battalion hospital a few days later."
AFTER A BOMBING RUN, TWO SQUADS AND COMPANY COMMANDER ARE DOWN, TANKS ESCAPED WITH SCRATCHES.
"Tenente Andriani, were you briefed about the tanks?"
"Sir, yes, I was. But it was also a known fact that ground troops security was very lax and enemy had stolen several trucks from them. I assumed that the FO on ground knew what he was doing and tanks were captured equipment. After.."
"Tenente, you know that trucks being stolen was malicious rumour spread to confuse our troops?"
"Eh, sir, I.."
"Tenente Zepeda, you did not attack our own troops, why?"
"Sir, As soon as I saw several green smokes, I assumed a trap. I made a fly by and saw that at least one smoke was amongst own tanks. So I made another pass, identified another target and bombed them. I also tried to signal to Andri that he would abort the attack."
"Was it obvious that tanks were friendly?"
"Sir, they had all our own air ID flags and did not fire back. Plus they were attacking from the direction our own troops were supposed to come from. So I just assumed there was a SNAFU."
"Tenente Roma, you assumed the command of the pinning force after captain went down. Would you please tell us what happened then?"
"Sir, the blasted plane made few more passed at us, wiping out most of our infantry support. As the command was to advance at all cost, I pushed a half platoon forward after our mortar barrage had landed and used the rest of the tanks to keep enemy heads down. As expected, enemy infantry counterattacked the exposed half platoon and managed to damage both tanks, so they had to withdraw. At this point Tenente Frederico signaled a general withdrawal, so I pulled my tanks back and kept enemy down with machine gun fire."
HALF PLATOON TRIES TO OVERRUN INFANTRY, WITHDRAWS AFTER A RAIN OF GRENADES. BRITISH PLAYS COMMIT RESERVES FROM THE FLANK.
"Tenente Frederic, would you please let us know what happened to the flanking force?"
RECONS FINDS A CONCEALED AA POSITION.
"Sir, we took the force over the wadi via the route marked by the recon. The recon then mounted again and covered our left flank, while we pushed towards the low hill overlooking enemy position. At some point recon uncovered enemy AA position and for some reason charged it directly. This worked as well as could be expected and the AA gun cut them to ribbons, fortunately the survivors were able to suppress the gun from a safe position. Meanwhile, my men knocked out enemy AT gun with some damn nice long range rifle fire and then advanced to the hill crest. We uncovered an enemy dug in platoon - quite many of them in the area, particularly as enemy was supposed to have 2 platoons in the area. We gave as good as we took, waiting for the 100mm to land. At this point the battalion gave the signal to abort the attack. Impossible to say if we could have taken the enemy position, but at least the follow-up attack by the 2nd company reported that enemy position was well and truly hammered by us and arty by the time they arrived."
YET ANOTHER PLATOON OF SIKHS.
"Thank you, gentlemen."
the end
Like one participant said, Italian air force guaranteed that both sides won a bloody victory. British forces stopped the Italian advance and Italian air superiority stopped Italian tanks cold. This was due to two things happening in the campaign: (a) the British player acquired information that Italians used green smoke to denote priority air targets and (b) Italian recon did not communicate very well to higher ups. So an enemy position with two identified dug in platoons and some AT assets, plus two inbound truck borne platoons became two platoons in total. This led to situation that in manpower alone defender actually outmanned attacker. Of course he was still sorely lacking in AT power.
Attacker had a reasonably solid plan of utilizing air assets to maximum and then pinning the enemy from front while rolling up the flank. This failed as the pinning force got a bit too greedy and advanced after losing the infantry cover - two lead tanks had to withdraw after a spirited close assault by the Sikhs. Few more rounds of mg fire and this probably would have fared much better - time was on the Italian side, as British player had no AT assets to speak of.
On the flank, the recon platoon was bit to eager for glory and frontally charged enemy AA position without any suppressive fire. They were cut to ribbons, as expected by everybody else. Otherwise the flank attack worked ok, they took more damage than they dished out, but the arty was hitting squarely on the defenders when command to abort came.
This time the Brits had a more forward defence and it cost them dearly, as infantry had very few tools to deal with even light armoured cars, let alone tanks. The lone AT gun made a brave effort, but was knocked out by a lucky 17 almost immediately.
Brits are still holding their position, but Italians are launching another attack to turn the flank.
Topi
10th August 1940
Orders from the battalion commander had reached Capitano Trouhet an hour before the noon. As the point of spearhead, he was expecting to meet the enemy at some point, but a prepared position came as a surprise: "Advance to the village of Las Khoreh. Envelop the enemy and destroy or capture them. It is imperative that they do not stay operational, as this is the main supply route for us. Avanti! Avanti!" Enemy was expected to be Somaliland militia, but some recon reports spoke of regular Commonwealth troops.
By the midday, the first company of bersaglieri and their supporting tanks had cleared way through yet another dummy minefield and navigated the wadi bottom so that the opposing side was visible. Recon teams had confirmed that the wadi wall held at least two enemy bunkers, one with a machine gun, one with a probable AT weapon. Team on the left side was still trying to find a way through the rockier part of the dry riverbed, so a frontal attack commenced with a cry of "Avanti! Savoia!". The 1st Platoon under Tenente Frederico would lead the main thrust at the right flank, while the autoblindas would probe at the left, with tanks at reserve. Capitano Trouhet would himself oversee the covering heavy weapons and join the fray later. As expected the opening stonk went wide, but the attack commenced anyways.
ITALIANS ADVANCE TOWARDS THE SIDE OF WADI, ONLY TWO SANDBAGGED BUNKERS IN SIGHT. CAMOUFLAGE OF THE BUNKERS WORKED REASONABLY WELL, TRY TO SPOT BOTH OF THEM. YELLOW SAND FOR THE SEASIDE WHERE WHEELED VEHICLES COULD GET STUCK. SUSPECTED MINEFIELD IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD. STONK WAS SUPPOSED TO HIT THE HILL ON THE FAR SIDE, BUT WENT MILES OVER IT. VERY LUCKILY, AS WE WILL LATER SEE.
After the first dash, 1st Platoon got pinned by a single shot from unseen sniper, men taking cover in the rough terrain. That gave the British FO ample time to radio for a mortar round or two and soon the 1st Platoon was truly pinned by 3" mortar section and sniper. If the first "fire for effect" had hit the mark, effects would have been truly horrific for the brave attacker, but now first salvo went wide and most sections got to at least some cover. Even then, this badly delayed the 1st Platoon and cost the attacker quite a few men. It was nice to see that even a section of 3" mortars had quite an effect when used skillfully.
SNIPER OPENS FIRE, 3" MORTARS WITH DARK ORANGE MARKER GO WIDE AT TOP RIGHT
Meanwhile on the Italian left flank a truly lopsided firefight was ongoing. Three autoblindas and a section of 45mm AT guns were trying to smoke a lone Somali militia ATR from his bunker. They would pour everything they had at the feeble sandbagged bunker and after a moment of silence a whiplash bang would announce that the Boyes rifle was still functional. The ATR was also always firing under a "poor fire discipline" card, so miles out of range. And close to the bunker, a well camouflaged and dug in Vickers team was waiting for prey. As soon as the autoblindas would advance, they would present a flank to these predators. The terrain was quite open but multiple small rough patches meant that a defender could hide anywhere.
THE UNFAIR GUNFIGHT. VICKERS HIDING IN THE GREEN BRUSH BY THE WHITE DICE.
At this point, the second platoon, led by Tenente Massimo, took the lead and passed the pinned first at a brisk jog. Their attack only stalled for a moment after someone noticed that the 4th squads from both platoons were still sipping their coffee around the jump-off line (the Italian player was used to having only three squads to a platoon!). A moment of hand waving and yelling remedied the situation, and soon the 2nd Platoon was safely hugging the hill guarding British left/Italian right flank.
2ND PLATOON ADVANCES, FIRST SQUAD REACHES THE HILL
At this point Capitano Trouhet decided that it was time to join the attacking infantry. As soon as he took few steps to open, sniper fired again and to the horror of the Italians, the brave Capitano fell. Cheers from the British lines were short lived, as he would soon roll over and hide behind a large rock (Pinned and lots of shock does not a Big Man faze). He would spend several minutes there before a passing machine gunner from support platoon stopped by to inquire if Capitano wanted help.
After a short rest, the lead squad of 2nd Platoon climbed the hill to take a peek around. They found the first British platoon well hidden and dug in on the reverse slope and never truly recovered from the initial warm greeting! This saw the beginning of a prolonged firefight: the Sikhs were well dug in and veterans, whereas Italians had a 4:1 numeric advantage and given the protection of the hill, could flank the defenders. Even then, Italians had to commit their medium tanks as two Sikh squads proved to be quite a challenge to a full Italian platoon and several machine guns. The Italians were quite lucky: their initial pre-battle stonk went badly wide, but hit the hidden defenders, destroying 2" mortar, ATR and attached LMG team. These might have actually turned the tables.
sikhs open fire
DEFENDER IS FLANKED, ENTER TANKS. RED FOR SHOCK, BLACK FOR PIN/SUPPRESSION.
Meanwhile on the other flank the ATR bunker had finally fallen silent (with Italians suspecting a trap), so autoblinda platoon went forward. Only to be ambushed by the hidden Vickers. Initial burst took out the lead armoured card. Remaining two autoblindas returned fire, but it was soon obvious that the five Sikhs and their MMG were more than a match for the armoured cars, even when they were able to present frontal armour. They were not outright destroyed, but slowly shocked into oblivion while their guns and engines deteriorated sharply.
The stalemate at the Italian right flank was finally broken when a platoon of M13/39 tanks entered. They were greeted by a lone 2-pounder and the Sikh reserve platoon, with the fire from both sides reaching a crescendo. The turret front of the lead tank held, but Tenente Roma of the support platoon was not as lucky, his chest pierced by a well-placed rifle round. The first Sikh squad just refused to die, returning fire with only few men remaining, shielding other squads. The 2-pounder was well dug in and out of the reach for most infantry, so the few MGs able to target it were not having much effect - the situation started to look grim for the attacker.
REST OF THE DEFENDERS REVEAL THEMSELVES. 2 POUNDER FIRES AND DIES.
Until one of the Bredas manning the crest of the hill finally saw something through the 2" smoke and a lucky burst took out the 2 pounder. The dice were truly against the Italians for most of the game, but a lucky "17" arrived just when it was needed. At this point the tanks had free reign and British commander gave order to fall back: the remaining troops from the mauled 1st Sikh platoon would cover the retreat, others got out intact.
This was somewhat larger game than before, with a well supported Italian company against two platoons of Sikhs and their support. Neither of the players had actually played IABSM before, but learned the ropes quickly enough. Both committed to their plans early on and were able to play accordingly, even when situations changed rapidly. British defence was a classic reverse slope, somewhat hampered by the fact that the attacker came from unexpected direction. And attacker refused one flank with mobile troops, commanded the centre with heavy support weapons (as the Brit guessed, thus reverse slope) and them put all his weight on one flank. A nail-biter of a game, once again. Tactically an Italian victory, whereas for the campaign probably a draw: Italians won, but lost one of the precious armoured (in the loosest possible sense of the word) units and Brits were able to withdraw at least some assets, even if valuable Vickers and 2-pounder had to be abandoned.
Also, being part of a campaign, neither player knew what the other was bringing to play. Attacker actually had quite good recon, but most of that was lost in the chain of command, so only knew to expect maybe two infantry platoons, who were not supposed to have any heavy support, instead of knowing the rough location of the ATG and main line of defence. And defender knew roughly a battalion of motorized infantry was heading their way, with tanks leading. For most of the game, attacker had no idea what to expect, as trap upon a trap was sprung.
BRAVE ATTACKERS (SOME ARMOURED CARS BORROWED FROM BRITS, AS SOMEHOW LOCAL SUPPLIER THINKS 1940 ITALIAN ARMOURED CARS SHOULD NOT NORMALLY BE AVAILABLE OFF THE SHELF)
THE WHOLE DEFENDING FORCE
Topi
A smallish test game of "I Ain't Been Shot, Mum!" by Too Fat Lardies, a company-level WWII game which features a card-driven activation system and has gotten quite favourable reviews over the years. It also helps that it contains a source book for the early war in Africa. This time Italian forces were starting their invasion of the British Somaliland.
In reality the British force had no armoured vehicles, but we wanted to test them. And the invasion was mainly handled by colonial troops, even if Italian East African Empire did have bersaglieri available. To this end, there will be a fourth attack column, its' mission so secret that no mention remains in history books. So there. British Indian troops (Sikhs of the Punjab regiment) were considered elite and bersaglieri as good. Terrain is almost non-existent, as we just wanted a quick test game (and game boards were in wrong place): thus very few pics.
British defender had an infantry company depleted down to two undersized platoons, two Vickers MMGs, and two 2pdr AT guns in support. In addition, his force was joined by a small mobile task force consisting of a section of Indian-pattern carriers, two sections of armoured cars (Marmont-Herrington and Rolls Royce), and one Matilda II. Finally, a battery of 25pdrs were on call, as the area was assumed to be the target of the enemy's main force. His orders were to delay enemy as long as possible and then withdraw in good order. British Big Men: the company commander (level IV), two platoon leaders (level III), and a tank leader (level III).
The Italians on the other hand had two full bersaglieri infantry platoons and a weapons platoon; a platoon of M13/40 medium tanks; and a section of Autosahariana scouts. A battery of 81mm mortars, pregame barrage (stonk) of 105mm artillery and Fiat CR.42 fighter providing air cover and ad hoc ground support. Their task was to capture some nameless village along the main axis of attack, so the main force could pass through.
British troops were covering the road and village, while Italians threw the bulk of their troops on the right flank, with tanks in the centre and saharianas handing the open left.
JUST BEFORE THE STONK ARRIVES, ITALIAN TROOPS PREPARE TO LAUNCH THEIR ATTACK FROM RELATIVE SAFETY OF DRY BRUSHES. BRITS KNOW SOMETHING IS ABOUT TO HAPPEN AS TANKS ARE REPORTED ALONG THE MUDDY ROAD.
Italian infantry had the orders to wait until the artillery barrage had landed at 07:00 sharp and then claim what was left of the mud and brick houses on the right. This was to be the jump off point. At 07:08:30 105mm finally opened fire with barrage going wide, catching only one squad. Italian lead platoon immediately opened fire on the defenders while 2nd platoon waited for the order to advance. Unfortunately the brave defenders were able to return fire and a lopsided firefight developed. This would take a few minutes, but brought the Brits enough time to bring the armoured cars into the game.
In the middle, the lead Italian tank received light damage from hidden 2pdr, but was able to silence it. For several minutes tanks were pondering what to do, as any avenue of attack would present flank to at least one enemy AT weapon. Finally they decided to silence them all and advance only then. This decision saved steel, but would cost them lots of blood on the flank, where infantry was getting cut down by massed machinegun fire.
2 PDR OPENS FIRE. BOYS ATR IS STILL OUT OF RANGE, HIDING BY THE WALL
Autosahariana and Marmont Herringtons were playing cat and mouse on the other flank, nothing to report. And above everything circled a lone bi-winged plane, desperately trying to identify targets - not an easy task, when dust is covering everything.
After few minutes, the Sikhs and their supporting Vickers were either dead or pinned on the Italian right flank and squads started leap frogging forwards. Not a moment too soon, as the Brens and machine guns from carriers and Rolls Royces were starting to take their toll. A lone Solothurn ATR tried to keep them at bay, but was forced to seek cover. Unfortunately this assault stalled, as the FO has ordered the regimental 81s to bombard houses between the hill and village proper, but nothing was happening - no one dared to charge through the gap, as risk of getting hit by own artillery was not a nice prospect.
ITALIANS LEAP FROGGING TO HILL, WHILE ATR DESPERATELY TRIES TO KEEP THE CARRIERS AWAY. INFANTRY SQUADS MOSTLY MADE IT, ATR DID NOT. BREDA MMG IN THE MIDDLE MADE A VALIANT EFFORT TO FLANK THE ACS BUT WAS UNCEREMONIOUSLY CUT DOWN.
In the middle, the lone 2" mortar had smoked the Italian tank platoon, making sure they could not fire at armoured cars chasing saharianas, but simultaneously making sure that company commander could not start shelling them with 25pdrs that were just waiting for orders. After the smoke cleared, Italian tanks quickly destroyed the other 2pdr and then scattered. The lead tank with Big Man headed to help the infantry against carriers, the damaged one engaged in a mutually futile long range firefight against the Matilda II. The Matilda has almost invulnerable armour, but is also armed with a veritable pea shooter. And the remaining two tanks tried to achieve a break though in the middle, hoping to catch the Matilda on the flank.
The end of game saw Saharianas catching the armoured cars and quickly shocking them out of action, while the remaining Sikh squad on the Italian right gunned down one squad of bersaglieri before being silenced. And despite all the Italian tricks of flanking Breda MGs and using terrain to cut LOS, the carriers extracted a toll, severely mauling many squads. Tanks and ACs waltzed here and there along the British baseline, hence the title.
At this point it was nearing silly o'clock, so we called it a day. Italian infantry was hurting, but probably had enough oomph to force an entrance to the village, while the British had lost quite a few men, but could still make an orderly withdrawal, so a draw was called.
Overall it was nice little game. IABSM was very easy to learn and the hyperlinked book should be an example to all game designers - most of them don't have even a good index, whereas this on provides hyperlink to everything you'll need. It will take a good few games more to actually learn the rules, but thus far IABSM looks like a keeper. FoF with WWII modifications is nice for a small infantry engagement, whereas this one seems to shine in somewhat bigger engagement. Blinds system seem to be very interesting too. For this game we just agreed that small teams (AT guns) could deploy hidden and cherry picking targets like FOs or single Big Men was not allowed, unless they moved or fired.
Compared to Piquet, Fog of War, command and friction work differently, but are there. Particularly artillery was a pleasure to use, it is reasonably efficient and area is ok'ish, but takes time to arrive and is not too accurate. Much more realistic than say the surgical scalpel of FoF. Main complaint seemed to be that this system takes quite a lot book keeping by our standards - actions left when Big Men activate one section of platoon, pinned/supressed, shock and damage. But that is probably just a matter of learning or making enough of suitable markers. Looks like I need more casualty bases for shock markers!
Topi
We, Scandinavian Lardies, met on one of last year’s last days. Winter is a good time to game the Finnish Winter War, but so far this winter has been a joke. That was not the case in 1939. We use the new IABSM v3 rules, and as were still not fully proficient with them we do make mistakes…
We gamed in a conference room this time, which helped when our umpire and Winter War-scenario writer Thomas showed us where we were using Google Earth.
It’s a day or so after we, the Russians, started our glorious liberation of the oppressed Finnish workers and farmers. The imperialistic White Finns are fleeing, and we drive west, pretty much unopposed, along a small Finnish road. South of us, and parallel to this road, other Russian troops attack along the Raate Road… Where are the oppressed farmers who should be standing by the road cheering us?
Our objective: Drive through and exit along the road as fast as possible. Near us a deep forest with light snow on the ground (-1 pip moving without skis) and beyond the village open ground with a few scattered birches. There the snow is deep (-2 pips without skis).
Gallery Part One:
What's this?
About this time we agree that the Russian advance goes a bit too fast, so we ditch the Russian Recce card (this was a recce unit, but that doesn’t necessarily means it must have a recce card) and we remove quite a few Russian leaders, a slight glitch made them far to numerous.
Gallery Part Two:
The advance continues.
The Finnish objective was to slow us down as much as possible, and then withdraw. That they say they did. A platoon of Finns slowed down a company of Russians (marginally we say, we had to take a break anyway). We, the Russians, drove the imperialist away and liberated even more pine forest and burnt down peasant houses. We all felt like winners (especially when we reported back to HQ).
We plan to continue our adventures during the Winter War, with more fighting around the Raate Road, so we’ll probably see a motti next time (we were rather afraid of this actually, now it was a delaying action instead). Lessons learned for next Winter War-time. Some we discussed, some I have thought of afterwards: -
Less Russian leaders
Nothing to help the Russians advancing, like bonus cards
I think the Russians should come in on board as they are, i.e. not under blinds. That will give the Finns the advantage they need.
Finnish troops should be able to go back under blinds, something like in Charlie Don’t Surf.
Finns should be able to stay concealed at shorter ranges.
More?
The Miniatures Man
My men and I had been ordered to go to the outskirts of the village Neunkirchen and assist the engineers there in setting up defences along the new Siegfried line. With all the going on in Poland, it didn't feel like winning the lottery.
So far a minefield had been laid and two bunkers had been set up. For some reason the trees in front of one of the bunkers hadn't been cleared yet, so there was a very limited use for it. The mines had been laid in large parts of the open area west of us and only the road was kept free so far.
A small hilltop in the near of the first bunker had been designated by the engineers as the best place to build the next bunker. I had ordered two sections out to help assist in clearing the hill. Another section was helping out by the first two bunkers in loading ammo and setting up MMG's. Rest of the company had been sent to Neunkirchen town on other duties or leave.
At 8.40 AM out of the blue shells started landing on our bunkers. I didn't last long, and caused no real damaged. We had all fallen flat to the hill not knowing what had been happening.
At 9 AM – 2 hours into our work – a body of enemy troops were spotted in front of the hill top. This came quite unexpected and again we fell flat on the hill, not knowing whether we had been spotted or not. After trying to grasp the size of the enemy force – concluding that it was no more than a section at best – we opened fire hoping to scare them off. My initial thought was that a scouting party was trying to get the whereabouts of our new defences.
This soon turned out to be a grievous misunderstanding. The ”scouts” opened fire with at least three machineguns inflicting many casualties. These guys didn't shoot to wound...
Wild panic spread through the two sections on the hilltop, and strangely no counterfire was coming from our own MG's. I tried to get the men to their senses but I wasn't easy.
I got hold of my communications officer and tried to make contact with Neunkirchen. I requested that the whole garrison be sent immediately. Further more I enquired about the three 75mm infantry guns I knew was there. Thankfully they were able to support us without further ado.
It was obvious now that my platoon was facing at least two enemy platoons. A third enemy platoon gave notice of itself when it waltzed directly into our freshly laid mines. Somehow this must have woken up our MG's as they started – at last – to pour some lead over the Frenchies.
A ranging shot from the artillery was way off mark and the Hauptmann directing it was furious. Meanwhile it didn't matter much as the enemy forces had left the area originally designated. We discussed it briefly and decided to land the artillery about 75 yards from the hill denying the enemy an easy advance towards us from at least one direction.
Soon afterwards the ranging shot landed again, this time spot on! A barrage commenced and to our surprise the enemy was already there. They must have been taking heavy tolls as only little or no protection was at hand some the shelling. A short halt in the firing let through the echoes of soldiers screaming their lungs out in pain. Then the barrage continued and nothing more could be heard.
On the hill things looked bad. The French shooters hardly caused anything but straight out kills. Morale was in free fall. Still we held our position in hope that reinforcements would soon reach us.
When the reinforcements actually got to us it turned out rather disappointing. Instead of the expected two platoons, and that turned up was a scouting vehicle and a single infantry section. ”Madness” I thought. While the 20mm gun of the scout car would definitely come in handy it just wasn't enough. Especially not as the appeared to have a tiny little tank with them! I'm no expert on French armour but I believe it to have been a Hotchkiss H-39.
Suddenly things went very fast. The Hauptmann directing the artillery took a bullet in the head, causing a minor lapse in the barrage, which again was enough for the French platoon to get on their feet and storm the hill. We were surrounded. I myself must have taken a bullet too, as the last thing I remember is lying on the ground watching our Sd.Kfz 222 firing relentlessly at the French tank.
When I woke up a few hours later I was told that I had been taken for dead and that we had managed to beat off the French. But just barely. The rest of the reinforcements had indeed arrived and the French had seemed to stop going for it. Just as if their near breakthrough had been unexpected.
Forces used:
German: one Sd Kfz 222 in reserve, four infantry sections (all German line, one in reserve), three MMG's, one 50mm mortar, one anti tank rifle, four Big Men (all d4), one forward observer and three infantry guns off table. Two bunkers were available.
French: one H-39, one HQ squad (Good+), three platoons (good), four 81mm mortars (off table), three MMG's, five Big Men.
French had orders to take the bunkers. Both players were promised large amounts of reinforcements that never turned up.
Amokfigur
