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Played one of the introductory scenarios from IABSM with Stephen 'South of Cherbourg'.

This is an all infantry scenario with regular Wehrmacht defending against advancing US troops. Been ages since we have seen Stephens Yanks on table with any rule set and ages since we have played IABSM.

Very enjoyable it was too despite less than stellar card sequencing for Germans even with two 'Tea Break' cards in deck, I had two turns I got virtually no activations whilst Yanks had several.

Must say this sort of system really appeals to me as I prefer this to standard you go I go styles overall and IABSM works pretty well for the Company-a-side game it covers.

We failed to finish (spent way too much time waffling about our frustrations with ongoing Covid crap) but did get to see lots of action.

The on table 60mm mortars teams (3 of the buggers) seemed pretty effective especially compared to my largely ineffectual off board 81mm mortar battery.

This of course assume we were doing things correctly which not a given after so long away from rules, and still find some parts rather under explained despite this being a third edition.

We fluffed the auto spot and close combat rules somewhat forgetting that close combat is automatic when units end up 4" apart.

Still a fun outing and whets appetites to revisit them again in future.

Sergeant Steiner

 
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This Saturday in Cambridge we played through 4B of Blenville or Bust. We reversed roles, with the Germans pushing up the hill to the houses and ridgeline, with a Polish company defending.

Elements of the Polish armoured brigade in France:

  • Company HQ with two Big Men, FOO and 2 x 2-inch mortars

  • MMG Platoon with 3 x Vickers guns

  • 2 x 6pdr anti-tank guns

  • 1 x Sherman Firefly

  • 2 x Veteran infantry platoons, with two sections and a PIAT team each

German deployment:

  • Company HQ, with FOO & Sdfkz 222

  • 3 x Infantry Platoons, with two Sdfkz 251s

  • 2 x Panzerzug, with four Tiger Is and four StuG III Assault Guns

The Game

A sustained German attack faced an uphill struggle when it tried to clear the strategic road junction at the top of the ridge of allied defenders. A tattered armoured vanguard eventually made it through machine gun fire, mud, and thick Normandy hedges to break through the allied east and west flanks. But with a single allied machine gun and an anti tank gun heroically holding the junction and more German reserves held up by engine failures and French paddocks, and a fresh allied platoon still lying in ambush to the south, the two forces were left in a deadlock.

With the British defending the ridge line and the house, the Germans initial attempts at spotting identified a trio of heavy machine gun teams overlooking the German advance on the right.

The first panzer platoon immediately opened fire on the ridge scoring two 17s, destroying two of the teams in the ridge - before advancing through the thick hedges and into a British mortar smokescreen.

Meanwhile, the German left, a second panzer platoon of a Tiger I & 2 Sturmgeschütz IIIs, pushed through to the hedgerow on an armoured bonus card - coming face to face with a full British platoon, who summarily jumped the hedge and failed in an attempt to quickly place charges on the tanks. The tank platoon reversed down the hill away from the British, as two Sdfkz 222 armoured cars moved up to take out the exposed troop. As they did so, a British anti tank gun in the garden of the house quickly took out both vehicles, destroying one, immobilising the other- and taking out the Company HQ in the process.

As this happened, the British machine gun on the right retreated into the house in the face of the advancing panzers, with the other anti tank gun on the road repeatedly missing its shots. As the panzers finally made their way up the hill, the British command fled down the hill and a Firefly emerged from the bocage, but before it could let off a shot, a round from the leading Tiger had destroyed the Sherman.

At long last, the German reinforcements arrived, including the German command and a further two Tigers supported by half tracks. But just as they arrived the lead Tiger containing the chief Big Man suffered an engine failure, forcing the convoy up through the fields.

In an effort to stop the relentless haul of fire coming from the house on the hill, a Stug on the right lined up a shot and blasted the house, causing a fire to quickly spread forcing the gun team to flee - but not before (somehow) an extremely well placed machine gun AP round managed to penetrate the rear of- and kill off -one of the German assault guns.

On the other side of the fight, the anti tank gun in the house, directed by the British big man, decimated the two German assault guns, leaving just the Tiger and supporting infantry platoons. Before the Tiger raced back up the hill to finish off the British platoon on the other side.

Here’s the tale of the battle in pictures:

James Moulding, David Dahlborn

 
 
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A banner weekend! People were available so I serendipitously had my FIFTH face to face game in THREE weeks!

This past Saturday Scott brought his never played with before WW2 Americans up for a game of I Ain't Been Shot, Mum. Americans attacking over some generic Normandy type terrain. They got 6 platoons to the German 4. They also rolled well and got a Forward Air Controller. Mikey helped Scott run the Americans and Patrick helped me with the Germans.

Scott took an American Armored Coy HQ plus 2x tank platoons and 2x Armored Rifle platoons, a MMG platoon and a platoon of M10 tank destroyers.

I took a Grenadier Company HQ with MG42s, 2x infantry platoons, a Pak 40 AT gun platoon and a platoon of Tiger 1s.

A clear, but bloody American victory when we called it at midnight.

The Germans had lost about 30 KIA (including AT gun and tank crews), a Pak40 and 3 Tigers, but they'd be lucky to get the remaining two Pak40s away I think. The Americans had lost about 45 or so KIA (including tank crews) and 6 tanks with another heavily damaged, all of which will probably be replaced within the week.

James Mantos

 
 
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A 6mm IABSM game played at Gigabites Cafe in December 2021.

This was a somewhat generic game based on actions to the east of Warsaw in August 1944 where the Soviets had sent masses of tanks through thin lines of the German defenders. The panzer units were then forced to scramble to cut those units off before they totally disrupted the front.

Casualties were a lot closer than I knew. Jon's StuGs had one inoperable main gun and one with engine damage. His grenadiers along the southern field had taken nine casualties (of 24). In the village he had one section left. The only real loss to the Panthers was the gun of the Tank Ace's vehicle

My infantry lost two of their platoon COs and 18 casualties, but shock was building up. My armor on the other hand had four good tanks left.

 
 
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Jon suggested we do a game with US troops for Veterans Day (Nov 11), and since I had no US 6mm minis he would supply them. So I stole another scenario off of Rob Avery's Vis Lardica site that would be a simple set up. For variety I wanted a game that was in Italy so the Highway 7 scenario from the Anzio pack looked good.

The scenario takes place on January 31, 1944 with units of the US 3rd Division trying to expand the Anzio beachead out through the dug in Herman Goering Panzer Division.

And this is a good time to call the game as I was out of AT weapons. No ‘fausts or ‘schrecks. Both StuGs gone and the Pak 38 down to 2 crew.

Overall casualties for the US were 29 out of 90 with a couple of Big Men down. As green troops their activations would be 0 when down to 4 men/squad. At this point they had one good platoon in operation.

The Germans lost one full section and 1 MMG team and 2 other men along with the IG. Fun game with some challenges for the US players.

Mark Luther

 
 
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Battle of Stonne game played at Bristol Independant Gamers on 30th October 2021.

On 13–14 May 1940, German tanks crossed the Meuse river under the command of General Heinz Guderian. The village of Stonne and the woody hills of Mont-Dieu were the single area where it was possible to try to stop this German advance. German forces moved various elements to this area to secure Stonne.

The 1st company of the Grossdeutchland Infantry Regiment, supported by tanks of the First Light company of the 7th Panzer Regiment were among the first to reach Stonne and were involved in the heavy fighting to control the small, but strategically important village.

Among others, the Germans faced troops of the 10th company of the 51st Infantry Regiment, supported by reconnaissance armoured cars, tanks of the 1st company of the 45th Tank Battalion and 3rd company of the 49th Tank Battalion (Char B1bis tanks)

The village changed hands 17 times over the course of three days of fighting between 15 May and 17 May 1940.

This game ended with French forces outflanking the Germans, but without the strength to evict them from the village.

Phil Turner, Jenny Owens

Joe McGinn took a few photos as well:

 
 
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This was a 6mm IABSM Caucasus 42 game played at GigaBites Cafe in October 2021.

I had been wanting to get my 6mm Soviet Naval troops on the table for awhile so this scenario was designed around that thought. The game was based on the fighting in north Caucasus in August 1942. The Germans were closing in on the port of Novorossiysk from the north and the Soviets had set up blocking positions before Verkhnebakanskiy. This represents the 83rd Naval Infantry Brigade's fallback spot. They were facing the 125th Inf Div with some StuGs and armored cars.

After I launched a close assault on the entrenched Soviets and won, the Russians felt they had done what they could. Our recce infantry had moved over to the right flank and the armored cars were in a position to blast the retreating troops.

Three of their T-26s were abandoned. They also lost their company CO and one of their platoon leaders. Total Russian casualties were 34 of 96 infantry. Both ATR were lost along with two of the MMG teams.

The Germans lost one SdKfz 222 and had a StuG damaged. The mounted infantry lost 14 of 24 and my ground pounders lost 18 of 72 including a platoon CO.

A costly victory for the Germans.

Mark Luther

 
 
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After a late war game I thought some early actions in the Poland 39 campaign would be in order for a September IABSM game. I stole this scenario directly from Rob Avery's excellent Vis Lardica site. See AAR here.

The Germans now had overwhelming firepower to throw at the Poles.

Their casualties had been acceptable: only four tanks were KO'ed or immobilized. Five casualties on the MMG platoon. Twelve casualties in 1st platoon, two in the 2nd platoon, and twelve in the 3rd platoon. Total of 21 dead along with the 2nd Platoon leader.

The Poles had twelve Regulars dead and thirteen in the KOP platoon. one taczanka and one ATG wiped out.

Definite victory to the German attackers!

Mark Luther

 
 
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A 6mm IABSM game played at Gigabites Cafe Sept 2021. This was a pretty basic Soviet attack on the defensive line NE of Seelow , 16 April, 1945. Elements of the 26th Fallschirmjaeger Regiment were dug in forward/east of Alt Langsow and the 301st Rifle Division and 220th Tank Brigade were ordered to overrun them and head to Neu Langsow.

MInor victory for the T34s

This was a pretty one sided affair with the Oderbruch getting a great deal of credit for our tardy advance.

Overall the 84th Tk Bttn lost 4 T34s outright with 2 immobilized with engine damage and 1 losing its main gun 3 out of 10 were still runners. The IS2s immediately had 1 vehicle bog. The SU76s also had 1 bog also.

1054th Rifle Rgt lost 32 of 72 men and one platoon CO.

The FJ lost 17 of 72 inf and 8 of 10 MG crew The PzJag IVs never even came on table.

Time for the second wave.

Mark Luther

 
 
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Taking advantage of being off work for a week, last night I travelled the many miles to the Farnborough Wargames Society to meet my regular opponent Neil for a game of IABSM. Neil had two friends from the Society, Jon and Steve, who had played Charlie Don't Surf, but now wanted to try IABSM as part of their gradual indoctrination into the ways of Lard.

The scenario played was #18 from the Anzio scenario pack, Wildcat to Whale, and involved an historical action that took place 16th February 1944 as part of Operation Fischfang, the German counter-attack on the Anzio beachhead. Here a strong company from the Parachute Demonstration Battalion attached to the Herman Goering Panzer Division would assault the American line at the point between the positions of the US 30th and 7th Infantry Regiments where careless deployment had allowed a gap to form.

The tabletop was typically flat, with the only cover available being natural folds in the ground. The US position was centred on a collection of three farmhouses near a road running east-west across the table, with two small platoons from the US 30th Regiment under cover in trenches to the west of the farmhouses and another two small platoons from the US 7th Regiment under cover in trenches to the east of the farmhouses: the gap being the farmhouses themselves.

The German Fallschirmjagers entered the table cautiously, beginning the game by pushing only two Blinds forward. These were quickly spotted by the Americans, and revealed as a single rifle squad and a platoon of two 81mm mortars. The American trenches proved hard to see, so the Germans pushed another couple of Blinds onto the table, both of which again were quickly spotted: revealed as a platoon three Panzer IV Hs and an infantry platoon. As all the US infantry had to use against the tanks were two bazookas, they called for reinforcements, and the Turn card went into the pack.

Meanwhile one US platoon had been spotted, 4th Platoon from 30th Infantry under command of Lieutenant Art Schmidt, in trenches just to the west of the farmhouses. The Americans opened fire, but a combination of the range, some tactically clever use of smoke from the mortars, and the fact that the Germans were advancing by rushes using the folds in the ground as cover, meant that almost no damage was done. The Germans returned fire: their squads using 5d6 (6d6 with a Big Man) due to their elite nature and two LMG teams!

The Germans continued bringing Blinds onto the table and eventually had all three of their infantry platoons advancing forward, again by rushes from fold in the ground to fold in the ground. They had concentrated on the centre and western side of the battlefield (their right), and brought their tanks forward as well. The Americans had revealed the two platoons to the west of the farmhouses, and the nearest platoon to the east of the farmhouses, and were laying down as much fire as possible, but were definitely getting the worst of things as the weight of German fire from numbers, equipment and skill levels significantly compensated for the American trenches.

As the Germans continued to storm forward, the Americans were gradually being whittled down, Lieutenant Schmidt's platoon in particular losing an attached MMG and almost the whole of one squad. The other squad kept firing however, and would play a key part in delaying the German advance throughout the rest of the game. In fact, when the battle eventually ended, Lieutenant Schmidt still held his position and had eight men left in his remaining squad (see picture, right).

Then the US artillery arrived: three off-table 105mm howitzers. Although initial ranging shots were poorly placed, they were rapidly zero-ed in by the American FOO from his position right at the western end of the US line (no Germans shot at him throughout the entire game despite the fact that he was in the only Jeep on the tabletop!) and landed first on the German Company HQ, taking out one MMG and suppressing the infantry squad; then on a platoon of Fallschirmjagers, effectively stopping them dead; and then on to the German mortars, taking one of them out. It is worth noting here that the artillery rules worked really well: there was a distinct and flavour-adding contrast between the much slower but observed American fire and the rapid but unobserved German 81mm mortar fire.

At this point the Germans were generally under 18" from the American line, with one of their platoons heading straight for the three empty farmhouses that were their objectives. The final American platoon to the far right (east) of their position had decided to move to reinforce the centre, but was spotted and caught out in the open by the German mortars, losing their attached Big Man and an MMG in a horribly effective stonk. The survivors quickly headed for a hedge that provided the only cover available, and effectively joined the US firing line but still leaving he farmhouses unoccupied.

Luckily for the Americans, however, their reinforcements now arrived: three Wolverines from the 191st Tank Destroyer battalion and another small platoon of infantry from 30th Regiment. They arrived right in the gap between the two American positions, with the tank destroyers immediately targeting the German tanks that had, so far, only managed one area fire shot at the US infantry: naturally targeting Lieutenant Schmidt's platoon, as every other German seemed to be, but to little effect.

Although one of the newly arrived American squads managed to occupy one farmhouse, the other got caught moving up and was forced to ground under heavy fire. This allowed the leading German squad to get into the northern-most farmhouse, although fire from the surrounding American troops rapidly reduced their numbers to four men and a dead Big Man.

The German tanks and US tank destroyers began a duel that would last the rest of the game, with large amounts of Italian scenery and German paint work being ruined as the American Wolverines could hit anything they aimed at but not penetrate, and the Germans just couldn't hit anything. Net result: one abandoned German Panzer IVH.

At this point the game ended as we were out of time. The Germans had failed to capture two farmhouses, so had only achieved half their victory conditions. The Americans had allowed the Germans to take one farmhouse so had failed their victory conditions. An honourable and extremely hard-fought draw was awarded to both sides.

Had the game continued, it could have gone either way. Probably the American tank destroyers would eventually have tipped the balance in their favour, as happened historically with the US .50 cals mounted on the Wolverines doing horrendous damage to the advancing Germans, but it would only have taken the armoured duel to go to the advantage of the Germans for victory to probably have been theirs. Certainly the superbly armed and trained German infantry were more than a match for the US footsloggers, although now that the ranges were coming right down, it would have been who fired first that really counted.

Hero of the day goes to the Lieutenant "Ironically" Schmidt of 7th Infantry, who held his position despite being under devastating fire for turn after turn. Loser of the day was the American sniper, who obviously had his telescopic sight on the wrong way round: multiple shots throughout the game, not a single hit! An excellent evening's gaming all round, however, and I look forward to running more games at Farnborough whenever life allows!

Robert Avery

 
 
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As we move through this excellent scenario pack we are now actually nearly arriving at the end. We decided to play one big one before we called it a day for now, as I need to get my WW1 skills up for Newbury!

This is a big one with two companies of Germans attacking a strong unit of Americans with plenty of supports. It is even bigger than I thought as the Germans Platoons have four Sections in them, so a sorry goes out to the British troops who had to join the enemy for the day! As always I took the good guys and Steve the Jerries; after all they are my figures so what can one expect.

Photos 1 and 2 show the terrain. This is basically consists of one building with a road running down the middle of the table. This building was to be the focus of most of the action and as it is the only real cover on the table you can understand why. The surrounding fields are all wet and so all off road movement was a danger any tanks moving.

Photo 1 shows the field from the Germans position and the road they have to clear to win the game. Photo 2 shows the nature of the open terrain that covers all the rest of the battleground.

This was not a game for the faint hearted and the action started immediately as Blinds went up the road and also to the west. These Blinds consisted of the Infantry and surprisingly four Panzer IIIs who were darting up the roads. The Germans had the better of the exchanges to the west and the loss of the British officer here was key (1 in 10 chance, oh how I laughed; not!). As you can see in Photo 3 the American Support Section on MMGs and HMGs were shocked. Luckily the tanks were also surprised and let them get away, Steve forgot to carry out any actions out when he took the tanks off the Blind.

At this point the Panzer IIIs turned off the road towards the house. I decided as it was getting messy to bring all my troops onto the field. My idea was to use all my firepower to hit the Germans as they came onto the field. Good plan, I thought, but I would soon see.

The action now gravitated towards the solitary house and the main action would stay here for the rest of the game. In the west the Germans beat the Americans and the HQ Sections which then moved there couldn't do much except hold the Germans for the rest of the game.

As one can see there was a MMG and Section of Americans in the house and also the same outside guarding the open flank.

The action was now general across the whole board. In this busy photo you can see the Germans victorious in the centre and west. The tanks have chased away the MG section and in the background you can see the Germans attacking the suppressed American sections. This was not a good watch for me at all.

If you are wondering why there are sticks all over the place, these are actually used for sections which have gone into cover.

Now my cunning trick came into play as the Panzers had left their flanks open to both the M10s and Bazooka teams. This was what we had been waiting for. Well not quite as Artillery, M10s and Bazooka all missed or slightly damaged just the one Panzer. In the end I actually managed to kill one Panzer from a Bazooka hit in its flank, but for the firepower I threw in there it was minimal return.

Again in the background you can see the German charge in clear detail as they pushed the Americans out of their slit holes. The Germans had all their MGs on this flank and this firepower was just too much for me.

The action now moved totally over to the house as Steve brought his 2nd Platoon onto the field in this area. He played the same tactics both times. For the Blinds arrived and then cunningly next up was the Bonus Move before I could spot them and they then proceeded to charge the House

The first attempt was three Platoons, i.e. 33 figures and leaders, against my MMG and one Section. To cap it all we noticed Blinds don't take off for movement dices; this showed how many times this has happened before.

Miraculously we just survived this attack as the MMG team beat its enemy. This was the last highpoint of my defence. In the next turn the victorious other half of the Germans cleared the house, or rather both had too many pins and retreated.

I managed to get two MMGs into the building and actually thought I would be safe as I had infantry rushing towards the building as well. But again the old Blind - Bonus move action did for me.

This time it was four sections against two MMGS. Not good odds at all and this time the Germans took the building without actually too many losses.

This was game over for me. He had too many men in the area and enough tanks on the field that would now destroy the M10's and AT Guns.

I still had a lot of men on the field but with the Germans now having the advantage of terrain and numbers as well as quality, I felt the chances of my winning were too small to continue the battle.

All in all a great game. Funnily in the end the casualties were minimal with most coming in the Close Combat, and shock counting more than normally. I was doing well, except for being to kill tanks, until I was hit with those perfect infiltration tactics of Steve and his powerful Germans.

Craig Ambler

 
 
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Phil and Jenny have supported Clotted Lard right from the get-go and have graced the show with some lovely games in that time with Jenny's ability to create a glorious table around their chosen theme and this year it was around a favourite set of rules for me, I Aint Been Shot Mum, that I played to destruction a few years ago with my Normandy collection of 15mm figures but here recreating the famous battle for Stonne in the May of 1940.

The fighting in this table-top engagement focussed around the main street as French recon elements clashed with the German armoured spearhead before French armour and each sides infantry joined the fray amid the maze of houses, back yards and streets.

Carojon

 
 
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So D-DAY dawned and the brave British troops began their liberation of Europe. 15mm scale game using the dice activation version of IABSM. Two company assault with DD tanks and Funnies on Queen Beach, clear two exits and neutralise COD WM.

Wont do too much of an AAR, but it was brilliant fun with my first ever assault ( I am always umpiring for my mates to try this out). I lost two LCA on the run in, three of my four DD tanks sank, One LCA and a DD tank collided ( I have drift rules) an LCT actually drifted into the survivors of a sunk LCA!!!

On the plus side the Funnies all landed and played a full part in the game: the Petards destroyed bunkers, bulldozer cleared mines and obstacles ( but lost a track!) flail cleared a path before being hit, the fascine petard AVRE took out a bunker as well.

Phil did far better than me by getting most of his infantry off the beach, my chaps were in a bad way and I hate to think how they would have fared taking secondary phase objectives!

Iain arrived to command the C company and promptly crashed two LCA together, drowning one whole platoon! Later on he threw the remains of the company on a direct assault on COD while I took part of A company on a flank attack. Casualties were high in C Company.....

Warren did great service to the Fatherland and for a time had us on the ropes

Overall British losses were very high. We never played a game where so many swamping/collisions occurred. Yet we still managed to get ashore and do what we needed to do.

IABSM continues to do the business, and with the dice activation bolted on produces a splendid game.

Des Darkin

And here are some more pictures, this time from Iain Fuller:

 
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Another great game from the Anzio: Wildcat to Whale scenario pack by Robert Avery. This is the return match from scenario 2 played over the same ground but this time with the Germans trying to wrest the ground lost only days earlier back from the Allies. Should be easy enough with all these Elite Germans! As is normal I will be taking the Allies whilst Steve takes on the Germans.

Here is the map with the wrecked building showing testimony to the vicious fight previously. The view is from the rear of the Allied position and shows the ground the Germans will be attacking across.

The Germans forces are large: having two full companies and well equipped both in support weapons and tanks. The Allies have excellent troops but they are a real mix of British Guards, Americans Paratrooper and even some Sappers, and with only with M10s in support they are not the best equipped Allies you will even see.

The Germans were able to advance their Blinds almost up to the Allied frontline, but luckily most of them were shown to be scouts and were removed. At this point I thought it would be the quickest game we had played as I would be swamped with Platoons hitting my weak sections, but, lo, all the Blinds were dummies. Why didn't they move slowly and spot?

This calm was not going to last very long though as the German Paratroopers towards the North were getting especially ambitious, although it may have had something to do with the strong presence of tanks they had with them. The Scots Guards entrenched in front of them were very happy they had purloined a PIAT team to support them.

The MMG looking out of the window had the support of the Irish Guards which made it feel a lot better. The numbers of Germans here was certainly getting frightening and a fire fight started here which went on for most of the game except for one burst of exciting action that came later.

If the masses of Germans coming on the northern edge was large, the Germans coming on the western side were enormous. To be honest though this log jam was in my favour as he could not get them all into action at the same time. Still just about the largest grouping of men I have seen in an IABSM scenario. I think in the larger games troop management comes to the fore, and I would have left most of the German troops on Blinds and used specific troops for specific tasks.

To the north the Scots were having a hard time of it as the numbers of Germans were just too much. The Germans though suffered especially from the Allied artillery which managed to hit the troops on the hill several times throughout the game. Not sure why he didn't spread them out after the first hit.

In the house behind the suppressed Scots were the Irish Guards who had another MMG to assist them. The Germans behind are massing and can just be seen making their first move to cross the stream to attack the causeway.

The Grenadier Guards and American Paratrooper had a great view over all the field and were concerned with the Germans move towards the stream. Both M10s (painting some up now) advanced to get a better firing angle on the advancing Germans who were taking a long time coming forward.

The blurry photo, above right, shows the Germans crossing the stream and also trying to attack the Irish Guards in the nearest building. In the background the resistance of the Scottish Guards is almost at an end. They have held up the Germans for longer than expected, and even if the PIAT didn't damage any of the tanks it hit, it was still an heroic stopping of the Germans.

Now was the time things got interesting as I moved my Tank Destroyers out to try and actually get him to move his tanks. As soon as I did this for some reason he sent a section over the stream to hit my MMG in the Railway station. This was not a good move as the MMG and supporting Guards had far more melee power than the Germans and destroyed them, although of course not without some loss to themselves. The MMG was then destroyed by tank fire, but the Guards survived.

The Germans to the east finally decided to attack the embankment with one platoon attacking the American Paratroopers section dug it at the top, although unluckily only getting two of the sections involved. Again this was closer than it looked and the American bravely hung on to the ground and badly damaged the Germans. This was the main turning point in the game and he never tried that again and wasted his large force advantage in the area.

This hazy photo (I must tried harder), shows the position at this time from behind the Allies line. What is does shows is that despite some very hard fighting the Germans have actually not taken any ground and the Allies are still in the position they held at the beginning. The casualties on both sides have been horrendous but of course the Germans have suffered more being mostly in the open.

The move by my M10 gained the immediate bonus of hitting and destroying one of the Panzer IVs that was hanging around the Railway. This upset my mate somewhat and he could see the fight slipping away. This excellent view shows the Irish Guards still easily holding the Station. Various Germans Platoons are just hanging around behind the stream and not actually doing a lot, which seemed strange to me but was apparently the plan. In the far distance you can just see the Panthers taking the scenic and long route round the village.

Several quick turns with not much happening ended with the Panthers in position and from which he easily destroyed my M10 guarding that flank before it could retreat to safety. I also had my first ever collateral damage as well, when the Bazooka Team that had retreated from the bridge found that hiding behind a tank was not always a good idea. This I thought was it and the Germans really would go for it. The M10 had done exactly as it did historically and been hurting the German infantry with its HMG. Nothing of the sort as the damage I had done had hurt my mate and he gave in. His Germans had only taken the one building in the end and lost a lot of men.

This series of photos shows the table at the end of the game. Personally I thought my mate's resignation was premature but he had lost heart with his men being in the open and being shot at by my entrenched infantry. His tactic of a slugfest didn't work and he was also unable to bring his MMG and tanks to really bear, something I also did in the last game. So we both need to learn to play the game and use our forces better.

In hindsight with this big a force he should have managed it better and left some of his forces off table. The masses of men look impressive but in the end either became a traffic jam or nice targets. Playing with a large force is certainly different from just playing a normal game. Of course it is easy to criticise and I had the easy job and just sat still shooting Germans whenever I could, with the excellent troops I had.

Looking at the photos you can see that the German masses have gone and one can see why the constant pressure told on his forces.

All in all another excellent game from the Anzio: Wildcat to Whale scenario pack with some enormous forces and equally brilliant fun. Next one up is Scenario 1 which is a more free flowing fight between mobile American and Germans with minimal cover and so a very different game. Brilliant!

Craig Ambler

 
 
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Table Set-Up

After a long lull, we recently got in another game of IABSM 3 using a scenario from the "Anzio, From Wildcat to Whale" book by Robert Avery. This game was set during the German counterattacks that took place once the allies had exhausted themselves trying to break the German perimeter. Apologies for the few and crappy pictures - I forgot the camera and just had my phone… plus the game was a good one and I forgot to take many pictures.

I was set to play the Germans for this one and the ref had sent out the map and briefings, so I was able to organize my two reinforced companies for the attack and make a thorough plan. My objective was to drive the length of the table, cut the Via Anziate, and isolate the British force to the north. The map showed British entrenchments immediately in front and minimal cover between those and the road. A ditch paralleled the road and made a useful jumping off position fro my final push if I could reach it in force. So I made my plans to pin the right side of the British trenches, assault the left side with overwhelming force, including armour, then push down the left and leave some blocking positions to protect the flank of my drive. That was the plan…

After we set up the table and minis and after a fair amount of British teeth gnashing over the pre-attack artillery stonk, the Brits got their blind card first and much to my surprise jumped out their entrenchments and started hauling ass to the rear, making for the safety of the ditch. Well, that was a bold move on the part of their CO and a great opportunity to mow down a bunch of them in the open Except that these were the fastest moving Highlanders on record! A combination of great movement rolls and favourable card sequence meant the Highlanders scurried back to the safety of the ditch (which was apparently deep enough to completely hide in). Oh well, the plan would still work, I would just be putting in my attack further down the table. However, as the troops began moving up, the units on the left (the leading elements of the main force) outpaced the units on the right (the pinning force). The British commander then used the safety of the ditch to move troops to my left - exactly what the pinning force was supposed to prevent!

THE BRITISH RETREAT

THE GERMANS ADVANCE

With the original plan looking bleak, I decided to switch the axis of attack and started sending new arrivals to the right while initiating a strong pinning attack on my left with two platoons and a couple of StuGs. This had the desired effect - the Brits continued to put reinforcements into that side of the table and I started moving troops to my right. The 75mm infantry guns under personal direction of the first company CO made the top of the hill and began to shell the British positions in the trench. The 81mm mortars came in and dropped a couple of rounds on the same positions as well. The British armor arrived and rolled up to engage the StuGs. However, they needed more gunnery practice as they mostly missed the assault guns and the shells that hit simply bounced off. Shortly thereafter two Panthers came off blinds on the other side of the table and smashed all four Shermans in a matter of seconds.

BURNIN' SHERMANS!

STUGS

With the British armour out of the way and any PIAT that stuck their head up drawing a mass of MG fire, I was able to use the guns of my armour (along with the 75mm infantry guns) to whittle away at the right side. Then I started sending in the assault sections. The first couple were thrown back, but they inflicted losses and the highlander's line was getting really thin. While the British were occupied with my on table troops, I was able to move up on blinds and concentrate three relatively fresh platoons against the remnants of a single platoon of highlanders. When it got late and we called it, I had pushed into the ditch and was in excellent position to push across and take the road. Some British reinforcements were on the way, but they were not going to be in time to clear out my strength on the right. The lead platoon on the right and both platoons on the left were pretty badly chewed up, but the Germans had a narrow win.

Another really great game that felt just right. We have now had a handful of games using the IABSM 3 rules and this one went very smoothly with a minimum of rules reference. Considering the size of the scenario and the variety of troops, it also played along quite quickly. Definitely looking forward to the next one.

Brian Cantwell

 
 
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We played one of Rob Avery’s excellent Anzio IABSM scenarios for the first time this weekend: Scenario 10, Highway 7, January 31, 1944. The US Third Division is trying to push out of the Anzio beachhead through tough Herman Goering Panzer Division vets. The Americans are loaded with armor and have a big, albeit green, infantry force, but have no off board artillery to pave the way across a very open, featureless battlefield. And worse yet, they have to take 4 fortified farmhouses on the far side of a virtual tank trap—actually a sharp below grade railroad cut across the entire width of the board. It is spanned by a single bridge, probably wired to blow up.  

The US forces ably lead by Lee, Brandon, and Will have a plan: Use the creek bed and bold movement on blinds to run all their infantry to the below grade rail cut, cover the advance with smoke from their 60mm mortars and armor and rush the German left and roll up the defenders from that side, covered by their tanks from the far side of the cut. The Germans, ably lead by the crafty John and Mike, have four MMGs and five elite squads of infantry entrenched in and around the strongpoint houses, with a 50mm AT gun and a 75mm infantry gun dug in on the ridge behind the houses. Two StuGs lurked out of sight behind the houses as well. They have just discovered their explosive charges on the bridge will not “go boom” and have called for artillery to try and drop the span before the seven American tanks can creep on over.

US RIGHT ASSAULTS UNDER SMOKE COVER

3RD PLATOON PAVES THE WAY—AND GET WIPED OUT

The Germans had trouble spotting the US who managed to get into the ditch with little opposition and no casualties. The US mortars and tanks put down a lovely smoke screen on the right to blind the defenders….but it also screened them from any sort of preparatory fire, so they remained intact until the US infantry burst through the smoke clouds to launch their close assault. The 50mm AT gun opened up on the US tank destroyers during this build up and a dual ended with the gun missing the thin skinned M-10s over and over while their opponents whittled down the crew with HE to one man. At that point, the German commander himself, drawing a heroic action chit, ran over and helped sight and fire the last round…only to also whiff. He then ran back to the right flank to assist his MMG team, only to be driven out of the structure as tank fire set it ablaze.

2ND PLATOON FINISHES THE JOB

STUG BEHIND THE LEFT FLANK

Once all three US platoons were forward and ready to go, the 3rd platoon had its platoon card pulled. To it went the honors of being the first wave to run out of the smoke into the waiting arms of the defenders—one NCO, a squad and a MMG team, with a StuG peaking part way around the fortified house. All three squads and their lieutenant were wiped out first by fire and then finished off in close assault, but took out a few defenders as well, including the German NCO. All 3rd platoon was no more, that is except for their bazooka team who lingered in the rear. Next, the lieutenant for 1st platoon was drawn and he pushed his men into the fray. They took the house by close assault, but their leader went down in the process. 1st platoon then moved into the house, making the StuG uncomfortable through bazooka fire. But there they had to sit, leaderless, and too loaded with shock to do much but fire. Continuation of the assault would have to fall on 2nd platoon or HQ platoon far behind. The American Captain, realizing he needed to be up at the sharp end of the spear, soon ran forward in hopes of helping reorder 1st platoon.

GERMAN CAPTAIN ORGANIZES THE DEFENSE

ALL BUILDINGS BURNING

Meanwhile, the US armor would not be moved to cross the perilous bridge and made good use of their time and position to reduce the other 3 farmhouses to flames, driving their occupants out into the trenches behind the buildings. The second German assault gun tried to come out and dual with the M-10s across the ditch, but it too couldn’t hit a thing and went up in flames. It was a terrible day for German optics. We called the game at that point. The defenders were still strong, but somewhat disarrayed: Most of their infantry was okay, their 75mm infantry gun was still in action, and their one slightly bazooka damaged StuG was inching back to cover. The defenders were going to be hard to shift with the heavily depleted US infantry. Great game by all!

THE LAST DITCH!

FINAL POSITIONS…1ST PLATOON READY TO TAKE HOUSE #2

Joe Patchen

 
 
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Fun outdoor WW2 Skirmish Game recreating the attack of Herman Goering Panzer Division on the 82nd Airborne and 1st US Infantry (Big Red One) on July 11, 1943 in Sicily.

Based upon Scenario #6 Piano Lupo 3 from the Sicilian Weekend IABSM Scenario book but using map and some unit suggestions from Belly of the Tiger scenario in Skirmish Elite, Combat Jump Sicily book.

Excellent turnout with both experienced and new players. Germans were commanded by Brett McLay, Steve Emerson and Jon Fry while Americans were commanded by Steve Smith, Dave Goodwin and Elroy Davis and yours truly as host.

Game played fairly true to history with American naval artillery as the key decisive stroke to break up the attack of the panzers along with some "great shooting, Tex" by the crews of the 57mm AT guns.

Dan Albrecht

 
 
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We set up our gaming tables outside on a lovely July day to recreate the cold and damp Anzio campaign battle at Carroceto, January 25th 1944. Our scenario played out very much like the actual battle described in Robert Avery’s excellent "Anzio Wildcat to Whale" campaign booklet.

Our British Guards commanders stuck very closely to the historical plan--unbeknownst to themselves. A preliminary bombardment around the railway station was followed closely by smoke to screen the attack through and around the cuts in the elevated embankment. That was followed by a series of tough and vicious hand-to-hand fights around the station. It played out like the real thing. In fact it played out so similarly that the first officer casualty in the British assault was Lieutenant The Honorable V.S. de R. Canning, just as in the battle.

STONK, SMOKESCREEN AND HAND GRENADES

The British swung their four Shermans and their three Bren carriers (both still on blinds) through the cut in the embankment, past the smoke toward the right.

The Germans were frustrated in not getting their well placed three MMGs  and two supporting 75mm infantry guns and two self-propelled 150mm  armed Hummels into the  fight around the railway station  and this drove them to reveal those units off blinds early on. Their  fire whittled away a considerable portion of the British infantryman and  put in question  the attempt at the railroad station. 

HOLDING THE TRAIN STATION

THE GUARDS PUSH INTO TOWN

DEFENDERS IN THE ATTIC

mmediately after the German heavy weapons opened up, the Germans became aware of the Shermans and the personnel carriers coming out of the smoke and off of blinds. Immediately, a long but losing duel began with the British armor. Meanwhile, the Guardsmen made excellent use of their 2 inch mortars to vigorously mask the medium machine guns and 75mm infantry guns that were pelting them as they pushed towards the railway station.

The Germans gave a good account of themselves around the train station and their machine gun emplacement behind the village near the bridge was a continual source of British attentions. Their sniper deployed a bit too far forward and the tanks advanced and ran him off before he could do much damage.

The MMG nest at the bridge was continually masked by smoke from the mortars. Repeated close assaults on the emplacement from their flank were thrown back by the grenades and pistols of the machine gunners. A good portion of two platoons went down  trying to knock out this one machine gun. 

THE HEAVY WEAPONS PLATOON FIND IT ISN'T HEAVY ENOUGH

OBERLEUTENT OVERSEES ONSLAUGHT

As this was taking place, the British armoured thrust up the middle had unfortunately stalled.

This gave the German tank killer team a welcome opportunity to slink down the creek bed and rush the tanks right under the not particularly watchful eyes of nearby British infantry. Two Shermans were brewed up before the tank hunters could be shot down.

TANK KILLER TEAM SCORE A KILL

TANK KILLERS CHASING KILL #2

Eventually, the bloodied British threw all the Germans out of all the buildings around the train station and the station itself—and then one medium machine gun team snuck into the back corner of the station. The one remaining Hummel SP on the other side of the stream made it hard for the Guards to reinforce and hit the gunners in flank, but they would eventually do so.

GERMAN SP GOES UP IN FLAMES

SECOND SP HOLDS THE RIGHT FLANK

HEROICS AT THE BRIDGE

Meanwhile, the overall British commander in personal charge of the one squad of British infantry borne by the three Bren gun carriers persisted in his drive up the right flank over the stream and toward the cluster of buildings known as The Factory. The British second objective was the local Fascist party headquarters building at the Factory. The carrier section got lucky with their Bren guns and finished off the medium machine gun on the second story of the building across from the Fascist party HQ, clearing the way for a dash at the goal.

CARRIER SECTION BLITZES FASCIST HQ

CARRIER SECTION BLITZES FASCIST HQ

The very next turn, the Captain boldly (one might say foolishly) drove straight up to the front door of the Fascist party headquarters. At that moment, of course, the last intact squad of German infantry lept at them from the upper story, grenades flying and rifles blazing. Against all odds, the equally numbered but highly disadvantaged (albeit well lead) squad of Guardsmen nearly wiped out the German defenders in the first round of close combat and sent them fleeing. The second objective had been captured, and the day was won.

GARDEN PARTY

Lee and Robert had a well thought out defensive set up and responded dynamically. The British persisted bravely and showed an imaginative and flexible attack that pried open the defences and won the day. Well played Brandon, Mike, and Will. 

Joe Patchen

 
 
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My mate and I decided to have some games of IABSM after a bit of a gap. I have had the Anzio pack for several years now but never really looked at it, but on closer examination after recently receiving the updated for IABSM 3 I found out that I had been missing something. All the scenarios are interesting and with a lot of variations, and the advantage that there isn't a lot of terrain to buy.

As can be seen from this photograph taken looking over the two villages looking west the terrain is fairly close with the villages of Aprilia and Carroceto. This photograph is one taken by an English tourist in the 30s as the more observant among you will notice that the railway line is not completed yet.

The British will come over the embankment in the distance with the objective of taking both villages. The Germans are heavily outnumbered but are entrenched and have some good support weapons as well. It will be a close fight as always.

Steve will be the Germans whilst I take the British hopefully forward.

The early action was slow with the British advancing cautiously using the smoke as cover, and moving under the embankment (yes they are). Classic British advance, marred by lack of skill but more of that later. The Germans are out there somewhere and surely these houses must be occupied.

Then suddenly the first Germans appear and are about to unleash the death knell to the British Platoon to its front, when it realises that the stonk had affected it badly when action was most needed. This lucky break drove British morale to new heights. With one British ensconced in the house to the right everything looked rosy for the Allies at this stage, although the unit in the centre which had failed to reach the enemy in a charge was a concern.

To east the Allies are getting grips with an Infantry Gun and some Tank Hunters which are hidden in the building in the distance. Just out of the picture are the two Hummels who suddenly have found their distance and shocked the British with their immense firepower (150mm indeed, that's the last time I let Steve bring his own models!).

On the embankment the section giving covering fire isn't in good health mainly from mortar fire and those Germans in the building have now miraculously rallied. Why are all my tanks in a line waiting?

This is the railway station (photo, above right) and the unbreakable rock for the British. In here were placed a MMG and infantry section with their officer. The stonk obviously didn't harm them too much as they shot the British in droves. First the section in open about to attack its fellow section in the first building as seen earlier, and then the British section that had gained the building opposite. I never did force them all out of this building

For good measure you can see the 80mm mortars in the background which never missed a shot, and took out the section on the embankment in two deadly salvoes.

In the east again one can see the British section that just assaulted the infantry gun, and failed badly. This was then destroyed by the Hummels for good measure. Finally the Bren Carriers moved forward and to minimal effect tried to shoot the infantry gun, but there were obviously shaken when they noticed those Hummels across the stream as they totally missed.

The end, as the Germans still hold the Railway Station and the Hummels have destroyed the infantry to the east. Where you may ask were the Allies tanks and indeed that was the question I had throughout the game.

At this point I conceded, mainly due to the lack of officers for the infantry. My dead pile was amazing and I really hadn't made any dent in the German defence. All in all the British performance was poor and there was no co-ordination at all between different arms.

Despite the result it was an excellent game. I was always in the fight but the real threat I couldn't counter was Steve always throwing 5 or 6 for casualties and myself throwing 1 for leaders. In the end I had one leader left and only three sections at any strength at all.

I played badly and was too slow advancing and should have been more aggressive. I also couldn't get my men of the blinds early enough and the Germans have several turns of one section against them which allowed the Platoon and MMG in the village to take out one of the Allied Platoons without too much damage to themselves.

Next week it will be the return match with the Germans attacking the same villages.

Craig Ambler

 
 
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Fellow Lardy Zippee recently began working his way through the Operation Compass scenario pack using 6mm figures. Unfortunately the tripod on his camera fell apart just after he had set up the terrain. Here's the AAR, but the only pictures available are eerily deserted (pun intended).

The campaign opens with a British armoured car attack on some trenches: a deceptively simple scenario which begins as a strong force from 11th Hussars spots an Italian trench position...

If the British had done the sensible thing and worked the flanks (thus unknowingly avoiding the minefield in front of the Italian trenches) it would have been a very dull affair. As it was the British behaved in a very 1940's style and pretty much charged the trench line on their Rolls Royce steeds, not even bothering to spot!

BEFORE ANY ACTION, LOOKING UP THE RIDGE (NORTH-WEST) TOWARDS THE ITALIAN TRENCH LINE THAT COVERS THE ROAD TO FORT CAPUZZO

As referee, I was partly responsible: worried about how easy the British would find the game unless they encountered the minefield, I told them that the Italians appeared to have cleared the ridge to their front to open lanes of fire, heavily implying that the going was therefore perhaps less difficult on the straight forward approach. I needn't have worried given the gung ho cavalry charge mentality that was quickly adopted by the 11th Hussars!

As the British charged forward, the Italian artillery landed in timely fashion just to the front centre of the minefield and kept up a sustained and accurate fire. Here I added huge clouds of dust and sand to hamper spotting and allowed a roll for minor damage to the cars from flying shrapnel: I think this immobilised one and jammed the turret on another. 

The remaining cars pushed on, hit the minefield and lost another four to immobilising detonations. This actually ended up frustrating the Italians, as they then couldn't force the Hussars to retire with small-arms fire. Ultimately, however,  three Rolls Royces were abandoned and one retired from the field seeking repairs. It did take some unusual umpiring to handle repair attempts and abandonment rolls in the midst of a barrage or minefield! 

In reply Lt Col Combe (the British FOO) brought down the RHA on the east trench but slightly overshot and was unable to redirect through the Italian barrage, so this was only sporadically landing with any effect. He kept trying to manoeuvre further west to get a LOS but the bogging and manoeuvre dice were unkind to him. 

PRE-GAME VIEW LOOKING ACROSS THE TABLE FROM THE EAST, ITALIAN TRENCHES ON NORTHERN RIDGE, BRITISH BLINDS ON THE TRACK TO THE SOUTH

In the meantime the first MkVI light tank troop drove full pelt up the road, losing one tank immobilised and abandoned in the minefield, with another receiving a turret jam from desperate Italian AT efforts after it bogged down next to the trench line. However the troop eventually made it to the high ground above from, where they set about spraying the trenches with machine gun fire (I allowed this to be more effective than the fire from below the ridge). The second troop of 7th Hussars sensibly tried to find the edge of the minefield, being led by TSM Howarth (in a borrowed car - his was abandoned in the minefield - the only runner left to 2nd Troop), and managed to skirt the western edge and drive off up the road, whilst TSM Howarth added his fire to that of the remaining MkVIs. 

Lt Halliday (one of 2 runners left in 3rd Troop) drove around the east edge of the eastern trench and down into it (irretrievably bogging the car down and leaving it very vulnerable to Italian AT efforts, which were to prove fruitless) but enabling him to sweep the trench itself with MG fire like shooting rats in a barrel. Between this and fire from the 18/25pdrs, the Italian 2nd platoon was effectively wiped out. 1st Platoon (west trench) with Sgt Shorba were heavily washed by the MkVIs on the ridge, but survived with eight men, one dice and the Sgt leading a charmed life. 

We closed the game by the real-life clock as there was no turn card for this scenario - my only criticism of this (and I think the next scenario) as without it really the Italians have no great hope. In the end it was a fun game, even if we proved somewhat rusty: it being quite a while since we last played IABSM.

Zippee