/
 
 
 

My afternoon game at Operation Market Lardon 2022 was a game of I Ain’t Been Shot Mum run by the legendary Phil and Jenny.

I must confess that I got so into the game that I forgot to note the background properly, but from memory Scottish infantry supported by tanks from the Lancers, commanded by Noddy and I, would be defending a village in Normandy somewhere against an attack by a combined force of infantry and armour from the Waffen SS commanded by Andy and friend John.

View from the British end of the table: superb terrain.

We began the game with three platoons of infantry supporting three 6pdr anti-tank guns and access to off-table mortars. Later on four Sherman 75’s and a Sherman Firefly would appear.

The Germans had lots of troops for their attack: two Panthers, two Tigers, five Panzer IVs, and two (or it might have been three) strong infantry companies and a machine gun platoon.

The Germans ignored the left hand side of the battlefield and attacked down the axis of the roads in the centre (one infantry company, the Panthers and Panzer IVs) and on the British right (the Tigers and the rest of the infantry).

A quick note on the terrain. The table sloped slightly upwards towards the village, so visibility of the opposition was good for both the attackers and defenders. It was also high summer, so the ground was baked hard: movement on any open ground was good and the only real obstacle was the bocage, which infantry would have to clamber over and tanks attempt to bounce over with an attendant risk of bogging down.

The Germans survey the field: my thanks to Andy and John for being excellent opponents.

We had had to cover the whole front, so had an anti-tank gun in the houses on the left, one near the bombed out church in the centre, and one lurking near the crossroads on the right i.e. covering the main road. We had a platoon of infantry dug in around the church; another in the ruined houses in the centre, and one more in the undergrowth on the right. As a bit of psychological warfare, we had two Dummy Blinds towards the German entry end of the table nicely positioned where they would clearly be seen by the advancing enemy.

Lots of pictures follow but, in summary, the Germans advanced very quickly in the centre and on our right. One Panzer got distracted by Noddy’s cunning use of a Dummy Blind and ended up bogged down on some bocage and taken out by a flank shot from one of the Nodster’s anti-tank guns.

Meanwhile the German infantry in the centre had been halted by mortar fire brought in by the British FOO, so the Panzer IVs came forward to suppress the British infantry taking potshots at the Germans from the buildings at the rear of the field. This led to the British AT gun in the centre opening fire and, with a series of what it must be said were very good dice rolls, taking out three of them. The last one had been bogged down as it crossed bocage just behind the advancing infantry.

The game in full swing

On the British right, the German infantry had advanced to within a field’s distance of where the British Blinds were, so the Brits deployed and a firefight broke out. The initial British ambush was disappointing, and we could see the Tigers coming forward to break the deadlock that had formed but, luckily, at that moment our tanks arrived. The Shermans took up positions along the hedgerows, bolstering the infantry, and the Firefly settled down to help our third AT gun cover the road.

Lucky it did so, for at that moment one of the German Tigers appeared hull-down in a dip on the road. The Firefly opened fire and (again the lucky dice) with a superb shot blew the Tiger’s turret off. The other Tiger returned fire and, despite it’s position in cover, hit the Firefly square on its front armour. This was surely Ronson time for the British tank but (do I need to mention the lucky dice?) the Tiger’s gun strike 11 bounced off the Sherman’s armour 6!

The Firefly returned fire and delivered a hammer blow to the German Tiger: bad engine damage and lots of Shock.

Meanwhile in the centre, the German infantry had just about recovered from the mortar fire and, with the two Panthers, were trying to push forward. Two platoons of British infantry had other ideas and, although the German infantry were causing casualties, they were definitely getting the worst of the firefight that followed.

Back to the right, and the British off-table mortars had started to find the range of the German infantry there: with the Tigers beaten back, there would be no advance there either.

As the game ended, the British had pushed a PIAT team along with the CSM forward right up to where the Panthers were. The last shot of the game was the PIAT firing into the flank of one of the Panthers. I’d like to say that it brewed up the Panther as well, but the CSM had forgotten to put his glasses on and the round flew off into the distance somewhere!

So it was a clear victory for the Brits aided, it has to be said, by the dice. Here are the pics:

My thanks to Phil and Jenny for setting up and running a superb game, and to Andy and John for providing the opposition.

Robert Avery

 
 
/
 
 
 

A 6mm I Ain't Been Shot Mum game played at GigaBites Cafe May 2022

This was going to be a two part battle, with the first contest covering the attack by 46 Royal Marine Commando and the Ft Garry Horse on the village of le Hamel on June 11, 1944.

Mark Luther

 
 
/
 
 
 

In the build up to the Bristol Lardy Day Winter Wonderlard II last February, Phil and Jenny asked Andy and myself if we'd be guinea pigs to try the 15mm I Ain't Been Shot Mum scenario they planned to run - Relieving St Omer.

Set during the Blitzkrieg in May 1940 the game was (if I recall correctly) based around efforts by the 3rd Royal Tank Regiment attempting to relieve the French defenders of St Omer who were under attack by the 1st Panzer Division. Phil and Jenny always put on a lovely table...

With only two A13's remaining providing any anti-tank capacity and faced with several Panzers hunting them down, the British armour decided to withdraw and leave the French with no option to surrender...

An enjoyable game, as much as I Ain't Been Shot Mum is a company level infantry game, it is a lot of fun when you start playing tank battles with it!

Steve

 
 
/
 
 
 

Hello London! Hello London!

Robert Avery reporting from the besieged French town of Arras. I’m here with the BEF, happy to report that another Bosch attack has been beaten off!

The Germans attacked from the south, with about a company’s worth of men supported by six light tanks. Our position was in front and behind the railway embankment that runs through to St Quentin, with a platoon of Welsh Guards led by Lieutenant Llewellyn (ably supported by Sergeant Griffiths) forward of the embankment dug in to three houses in a neat line. In front of us, in another house, was a brave section of French infantry: a forlorn hope led by WW1 veteran Commandant Hercule Poumier. Behind us to the left, two sections of sappers led by Lieutenant MacAlpine manned positions along the embankment: equally brave men itching for a fight.

As day began to break, we thought at first that it was some other poor fellow’s turn to feel the might of Adolf’s fist but, as the morning mist cleared, it became apparent that the enemy had snuck forward to within 500 yards of our positions! Facing the sappers were three enemy tanks, with three more behind them; and coming down the road was a mass of enemy infantry.

I hadn’t previously understood the purpose of a forlorn hope before now, but now I see clearly why men sacrifice themselves in such an endeavour…for as the enemy moved towards our main position, they suddenly spotted the French and were forced to react. Some of the Germans continued forward, some moved into the trees lining the main road, but what this meant, as far as I could see, was that the individual German squads of two platoons became intermingled, with what looked like some confusion setting in.

The enemy also sent one tank platoon across the battlefield towards the loyal French. This exposed the flank of one of the iron beasts, and the company Vickers blew its track off, its crew hightailing it back the way they had come.

The two other tanks, however, closed to within forty yards of the French position, and raked it with machine gun fire. At the same time, the enemy infantry were shooting as well, and the brave French lost at least one man killed and were pinned down by the hail of enemy fire.

What they had also failed to spot, moreover, was another German platoon moving into position for close assault. Suddenly the nine remaining Frenchmen, in their positions along the hedge at the edge of the garden, were charged by almost thirty enemy stormtroopers led by two officers! I closed my eyes in anticipation of the carnage that was due to follow.

But what was this? The Germans were held, at least for a moment, and one of their officers killed! Bravo les braves!

Unfortunately, the respite was only temporary: the Bosch surged forward again, and the French were overrun: only Commandant Poumier and two of his men escaping! Sending his two men to the rear, the brave Commandant joined us in the main position: puffing, blowing, and full of Gallic imprecations!

The enemy, however, were now under our guns, and we let them have it with the Vickers and a section’s worth of fire, seeming to knock the enemy infantry over like ninepins!

Lieutenant Llewellyn was, however, very worried at the situation. Most of three platoons of enemy infantry, albeit in somewhat of a confused mass, were coming forward towards his single platoon. Not only that, but two of his infantry sections were manning ground floor positions, and were thus not able to engage the approaching Bosche.

Now, however, he played his trump card. Three light tanks from Cooke’s party rushed from behind the railway embankment towards our main position. The other German panzer platoon opened fire, but two rounds of shooting only managed to halt one of our tanks, it heading back into cover with smoke pouring from a damaged engine. Looks like these Bosch tankers need their eyesight checked! Another three friendly light tanks raked the shooting enemy tanks with fire from behind the embankment, but at this range the damage seemed insignificant.

Although the light tanks were rushing forward, so were the Germans, and they appeared to have the drop on us. The two tanks that had so punished the French moved up to the hedge row in front of the house in which we were sheltered, and prepared to fire. Coming up behind them was the mass of enemy infantry, now finally starting to sort itself out.

What to do? The Boys gunners were dead (although they had managed to jam the turret of one of the attacking tanks), the Vickers was manned by just one brave soul, and the garden too long for even the strongest grenadier to throw over!

Desperate measures were called for. One section of infantry left their positions in the ground floor of the house, rushed up the garden, and engaged the two German tanks with grenades and Molotov cocktails! Their attack proved successful: with the undamaged German tank being permanently immobilised! Their mission complete, the eight brave infantrymen then retired back into the house from which they had come – a bit out of breath, but untouched by enemy fire! An incredible piece of audacity!

Meanwhile, the sappers under Lieutenant MacAlpine had got themselves into positions from which they could fire, albeit at long range, into the mass of German infantry; and Sergeant Griffith’s section on the right had severely punished some enemy who had strayed too close to his house! Despite this, things were still very tight, and Lieutenant Llewellyn prepared to give the order to retire to the embankment.

At that moment, however, it seems that the Bosche had had enough. With half their tanks out of action, and their infantry still some way from being organised into coherence, they decided to retire themselves, quickly melting away as we chased them with more fire.

Arras is still in Allied hands!

A great battle using the first scenario from the Cymru Am Byth booklet. The French forlorn hope did exactly what it was supposed to do: breaking up the coherence of Neil’s attack and forcing him to concentrate men to one flank, exposing them to flank fire as he did so. The fact that Poumier drew a close combat where thirty dice faced ten was an added bonus! The Germans never really managed to sort their men into three clear platoons after that, and could therefore not get organised enough to do the usual two platoons fire whilst one rushes forward tactic.

There were two other truly significant points in the game. The first was two British tanks managing to get from behind the embankment to behind the main British position unscathed despite taking some twelve flank shots from Neil’s Panzer IIs! The second, and this is without a doubt what actually broke the German morale, was a single section of Welsh Guards rushing out of their house, four inches down the garden, knocking out one of the two enemy tanks peeking over the hedge at the garden’s end and, next turn, getting a lucky run of cards and managing to get back down the garden and back into the house unscathed, despite their being some six German infantry sections closing fast!

How tight was the game? Neil conceded just as I was about to withdraw!

Robert Avery

 
 
/
 
 
 

I was in the mood to do an East Front game and hadn't gotten my Panzer 38 (t) and multitudes of T-26 tanks out lately so went with a table inspired by actions with the 7th Panzer and 3rd Mechanised Corps in Lithuania early in Operation Barbarossa.

The Germans lost 2 PzIIs and a Pz38t. Several other tanks were damaged. The Russians had only 1 FAI-M car left. 2 of the infantry sections were gone-1 crushed in an overrun attack. 1 infantry gun was also destroyed.

This was an difficult one for the Russkies even if they got decent die rolls. The random deployment also added to their woes. But so typical of the early days of Barbarossa.

Mark Luther

 
 
/
 

A great game of 1941 Russian Front IABSM with Dee VonDoom yesterday.

The Wehrmacht is advancing across the Russian Steppe at speed. It is of vital importance that the Ztarmerski bridge over the river Korbynskia is taken before the Ivan’s have the opportunity to destroy it.

A stubborn defence of the village by the Russians slowed the German advance, while engineers prepared the bridge for demolition, and although a Panzer 38t made it onto the bridge, it was destroyed by a T34 before the Germans could prevent the bridge being blown up !!

Phil Turner

 
 
/
 

The other weekend saw myself, Philip and Ru descend on Desmondo’s shed o’war to take part in another of his magnificent D-Day games (which have been documented here before). Once again I would be taking the part of ze Germans mainly as I had a very heavy night the night before so had hardly any sleep plus a quite substantial hangover so needed to reduce decision making as much as possible!

In a nice change from previous attempts at this scenario Des had increased the run in for the assault wave which helped Ru get to grips with the rules for the game and also increased the chances of things going wrong a bit too. After each landing craft or DD tank is moved we check to see if they ‘drift’ left or right and if they hit another vessel then things can go bang or head downwards quite rapidly and there’s also the added joy for the DD crews that they might get swamped.

These fun and games did lead to Ru losing his Company HQs although nearly all of the DD tanks made it to the shallows and now I was hoping for the chances of the incoming vessels striking mines working in my favour to further write down the attackers. This didn’t go so well with only two boats hitting a mine which caused heavy casualties to one of Ru’s platoons although Philip’s lads fared a lot better, just being badly shocked. It was going to be a tough fight for the defenders.

Once on the beach I could start to engage the invading forces but unfortunately for me the two AT guns I had off table positioned to fire down the beach both had very, very low amounts of available shots (I rolled for this before we started and had 1 shot in 1 gun and 2 in the other!) so I had to choose the right moment to use them and also hope that when those moments did come up I had the dice available to activate the guns.

Luckily for me they did and although one of my 3 shots missed the other 2 both brewed up vehicles (Ru’s Fascine carrying AVRE and Philip’s Sherman Crab) as they reached to bottom of the ramps of the LCT’s blocking the way for the following vehicles to exit. This would force the craft to back up and land again which would not only slow things down for the Brits a tad but also would mean that they might strike a mine whilst doing so, which unfortunately for me didn’t happen.

So, the majority of the assault troops were now ashore and so was a fairly sizable amount of supporting armour and various Funnies all intent on giving me a very hard time. My MG nests, infantry and mortars were doing their bit now too as was the one artillery strike I managed to call in but I couldn’t prevent Philip’s infantry from making it to the sea wall in front of my position even though they were caught in a particularly harsh bout of firing from my lads (a double phase was involved) and suffered quite a few casualties.

Ru’s command was heading over to the right away from the defensive nest and hence suffered less casualties, all his tanks being safe as the AT gun facing that direction was about as accurate as a fairground air rifle! Pretty soon the Brits started knocking out the AT bunkers by concentrated fire from DD Shermans and AVRE’s chucking their dustbins of doom at me and the writing was pretty much on the wall from then on.

Ru was the first one to get off the beach with his Shermans and Infantry taking advantage of the AVLB bridge and then proceeding to blow chunks out of the right hand side of the post whittling down the defending infantry in short order before then starting to advance his infantry further inland.

Phil had his bridge up against the seawall shortly afterwards and tried a rush with an infantry platoon first which I managed to repulse whilst he dropped a fascine on the left of my position which enabled a DD and a bulldozer to exit the beach. I managed to knock out the bulldozer by a lucky shot on the driver.

It was about now when the second wave consisting of another Infantry company plus armour was heading into the beach and Philip took command uttering the famous phrase “Don’t worry I know what I’m doing” and then promptly colliding two of his boats together sinking one! I then added injury to the many insults we were all chucking his way by hitting another boat carrying his Company HQ in with a mortar stonk, killing the CO.

Meanwhile on the beach, he was having a better time and decided to stop fannying about and launched an AVRE up his bridge which proceeded to literally crush the resistance of the infantry at the front of my position whilst also shrugging off an attempt to knock it out from my remaining AT gun. When he managed to take out this final surviving AT asset with his infantry pouring up the bridge behind now unopposed, with Ru’s Shermans behind my position and the second wave landing I decided the gig was up and I chucked in the towel.

Kamerad!

Once again it was a bloody marvellous day’s wargaming all carried in the greatest of sprits and I’d like to thank Des for hosting us and Ru & Philip for being such great opponents, what the hobby is all about.

Iain Fuller

More pictures from Desmondo:

 
 
/
 
 
 
 

Some pictures from yesterday’s custom breakthrough scenario in Cambridge.

James Moulding

 
 
 
/
 

Here is the fifth after action report of a demo game with the scenario "Let’s get at the Bastards" from the supplement Cymru am Byth of the Too Fat Lardies.

On the 9th of August, 1944, northeast of Vire in the bocage, the Welsh Guards supported by tanks of the Scots Guards have to capture a group of buildings on the heights named Le Haut-Perrier. The position is held by elements of the 9. SS Panzer Division Hohenstaufen.

Sergeant Perry

 
 
/
 

Here is the fourth after action report of a demo game with the scenario "Let’s get at the Bastards" from the supplement Cymru am Byth of the Too Fat Lardies.

On the 9th of August, 1944, northeast of Vire in the bocage, the Welsh Guards supported by tanks of the Scots Guards have to capture a group of buildings on the heights named Le Haut-Perrier. The position is held by elements of the 9. SS Panzer Division Hohenstaufen.

Sergeant Perry

 
 
/
 

Three companies of Canadians (Willie, Andrew and Walter) faced German Fallschirmjäger (Bart) and infantry (Mark) in a fictional setting around the Battle of the Reichswald, 1945.

The Allies had a huge superiority in tanks (16 to 3 for the Germans ) but bad weather prevented the intervention of the Allied air forces. Moreover, the ground was very soggy from days long rainfall.

We played 12 turn with the now familiar 3rd edition of the IABSM rules. The Canadian advance proceeded very cautiously. By the end of the day the German lines were still intact. so the Germans could claim victory.

The Stipsicz Hussars

 
 
/
 

Here is the third after action report of a demo game with the scenario "Let’s get at the Bastards" from the supplement Cymru am Byth of the Too Fat Lardies.

On the 9th of August, 1944, northeast of Vire in the bocage, the Welsh Guards supported by tanks of the Scots Guards have to capture a group of buildings on the heights named Le Haut-Perrier. The position is held by elements of the 9. SS Panzer Division Hohenstaufen.

Sergeant Perry

 
 
/
 

Here is the second after action report of a demo game with the scenario "Let’s get at the Bastards" from the supplement Cymru am Byth of the Too Fat Lardies.

On the 9th of August, 1944, northeast of Vire in the bocage, the Welsh Guards supported by tanks of the Scots Guards have to capture a group of buildings on the heights named Le Haut-Perrier. The position is held by elements of the 9. SS Panzer Division Hohenstaufen.

Sergeant Perry

 
 
/
 

Here is the first after action report of a demo game with the scenario "Let’s get at the Bastards" from the supplement Cymru am Byth of the Too Fat Lardies.

On the 9th of August, 1944, northeast of Vire in the bocage, the Welsh Guards supported by tanks of the Scots Guards have to capture a group of buildings on the heights named Le Haut-Perrier. The position is held by elements of the 9. SS Panzer Division Hohenstaufen.

Sergeant Perry

 
 
/
 
 
 

Scenario #01 of the IABSM campaign book "Operation Compass": the Road to Fort Capuzzo. Dug-in Italian infantry (actually Libyan colonial troops played by Karim) are attacked by a total of thirteen British light tanks and armored cars (Walter and Elias). The Italians are completely outgunned, since they do not have antitank weapons.

The British suffered losses only when they drove through a minefield, with one tank destroyed and three immobilized. For the rest, the Italians had to take what was sent their way. Even the Italian off-table artillery only managed to inflict minor damage with HE shells. A very unbalanced scenario, but good to start the campaign. And close to what happened historically...

The Stipsicz Hussars

 
 
/
 
 
 

Report of a game last Saturday in James "Hot Lead" Manto's Basement 'O Rabbits. Figures are 15mm, Battlefront and QRF. French from the collection of Patrick Faye, Germans from the club's Kampfgruppe Hotlead with a few of my own infantry thrown in. Rules are I Aint Been Shot, Mum by Too Fat Lardies.

THE BATTLEFIELD. COUCHY-END-BOIS IS THE SMALL VILLAGE AT BOTTOM RIGHT OF THE PICTURE. THE GERMANS HELD THIS VILLAGE AND THE WOODS AND TWO HILLS JUST TO THE LEFT OF THE ROAD THAT RUNS THE LENGTH OF THE RIGHT TABLE EDGE. THE FRENCH ARMOUR ATTACKED THROUGH ST. PIERRE-LES-LAPINS AT TOP LEFT OF TABLE EDGE, WHILE FRENCH INFANTRY ENTERED THE WOODS AT CENTER LEFT OF THE TABLE.

The scenario was inspired by 4th DCR's counterattack into the flank of 19th Panzer Korps between May 20 and 26, 1940. So a mixed bag of dragons porte, and assorted tanks are making an attack on a German leg infantry company with some 75mm iGs and pak 36s. Dependent upon turn of the card and die rolls German armoured reinforcements and Stukas show up to help.

The spring air was warm and pleasant at the open window where Leutnant Otto Gammel sat at breakfast. As he devoured his ham and eggs, he decided that this was the cushiest OP he had enjoyed since he had crossed into France. The top floor of the Mayor's house offered a commanding view of the fields and roads leading away from Couchy-en-Bois. The Mayor had insisted that Gammel stay here, loudly denouncing the Republic and praising Hitler for being tough on reds. Whatever, Gammel thought. He was more interested in the politics of the Mayor's daughter Madeleine, who had lingered a long time after she had brought him breakfast. In the corner of the room, Gammel's radio operator went through his morning comms check with Battery. If he had to be at war, the FOO thought, this was a good morning for it.

FRENCH MORANE SAULNIER STRAFS COUCHY EN BOIS. THE FRENCH GOT EARLY AIR SUPPORT AND A GREAT SPOTTING ROLE - OBVIOUSLY GERMAN DISCIPLINE WAS LACKING.

Within Couchy-en-bois the landsers were enjoying the warm morning and a chance to rest their feet. Some where kicking a football in the square, others sat smoking and reading letters. Gammel was finishing his coffee as he became aware of the droning of an aircraft. He set down the coffee cup and stood by the window. The troops below were waving at the fighter as it circled overhead. Gammel frowned. It looked awfully stubby for an ME1109. Now it was coming straight for him, lights along the wing winking red. "Scheisen!" He barely hit the floor before the room filled with glass and wood splinters. Another pass, and he could hear cries from below for stretcher bearers before the plane sped away.

FRENCH RENAULT TANKS MOVE THROUGH ST. PIERRE-LES-LAPINS AND ENGAGE GERMAN PLATOONS ON THE HILLS ABOVE.

In the woods east of Couchy-en-bois, Captain Walter Harnadek watched the MS climb away. "That should damn well never have happened. Field phone!" He snapped out his hand to the signaller, intending to blast the young leutnant who had so obviously forgotten his platoon's concealment discipline. He was interupted though by his CSM, who was pointing south towards the village of St. Pierre-les-lapins below them. "Bugger me, sir, if that ain't Frog armour." Harnadek dropped the field phone and brought up his Zeiss field glasses. "Bugger me if you're night right, Feldwebel. Alarm! Action front!" The first tank rounds were beginning to land among his startled landsers as Harnadek made a mental note for more lectures on concealment and camoflague.

FRENCH HEAVY ARMOUR PRESSES FORWARD WHILE FRENCH INFANTRY DEBUS AND TAKE UP FIRING POSITIONS WITHIN ST. PIERRE LES LAPINS.

Lt. des Chasseurs Alfred Blondin stood in the turret of his Renault 35 and watched the rest of his troop racing forward. Finally, a crack at the Boche. He remembered DeGaulle's lectures on speed, concentration of force, and daring. This was the way to fight, he thought. Blondin flinched briefly as a few rounds whistled over his head. The Boche on the hills to front had woken up. Hopefully he and his troop could slice through them quickly. They would certainly be faster into the fight than the lumbering Char and Soumas of Capt. Crapaud to his left. There was a loud clang from the R35 to his side, then a loud grinding sound from its engine as the tank slewed to one side. Blondin spotted the AT gun and ducked down to crank his turret traverse. Maybe these one-man turrets weren't such a great idea, he thought.

In his shattered OP, Lt. Gammel watched the French attack developing two kilometres away. The view through his binos kept moving, though, because Madeleine was pressing herself against him and crying "j'ai horreur des avions!" becomingly. Gammel had the coordinates and could have dropped a fine stonk on the village, but his operator shrugged helplessly and indicated the radio set, riddled with French bullets. "Verdamt!" His 150s might was well be back in Stuttgart. "Umm, should I leave you two alone, Herr Leutnant?" the gefreiter asked helpfully.

Meanwhile, Major Daniel L'Huter (fondly known at St. Cyr as the grossest of the gross) watched his infantry push into a copse of trees while his infantry and AT guns deployed. The fight from St. Pierre-les-lapins could be heard clearly now, while Couchy-en-bois was silent and menacing after the air attack. Across a ploughed field he could see German infantry and at least one AT gun in a woodlot. "We're ready to attack, mon capitaine" advised his CSM. "Non. Too dangerous. Let's soften them up." "But sir, at extreme range we will be ineffective." "Leave the thinking to me, CSM. Open fire."

FRENCH INFANTRY AND SUPPORT WEAPONS MASS THREATENINGLY IN THE CENTRE, WITH THREE ARMOURED CARS IN SUPPORT. THEY WOULD DO LITTLE IN THE BATTLE.

THE GERMAN 2ND PLATOON HOLDS THE TREELINE AGAINST L'HUTER'S FORCE. EVENTUALLY IT WOULD BE DRAWN OFF BY HARNADEK TO REINFORCE THE GERMAN RIGHT. INFANTRY FROM MY COLLECTION ON THE BROWNISH BASES.

Capt. Harnadek watched his landsers struggling as the woods were lashed by enemy fire. The French had set up at least two HMGs in the village below, apparently in the central courthouse. "Get that AT gun firing again!" he shouted at his CSM, who nodded and moved off at a crouching run. Harnadek moved slowly along the line, encouraging his men. To his amazement he found a section of gunners lying under cover, their low-slung 75mm guns silent. "Who said you could nap?" "Herr Captain, it's too dangerous!" said the section IC. "Either you get these guns firing or you'll be shooting shells out your arses!" Kicking and cuffing the gunners, Harnadek got them up. "There, that courthouse. Give it to them!" The officer watched in satisfaction as they began firing.

THE FRENCH ATTACK PUSHES HARD AS THE GERMANS TAKE CASUALTIES, SHOWN BY THE BLACK MARKERS. AT THIS POINT WE DISCOVERED WE HAD MISUNDERSTOOD THE BRIEFING - WE HAD TWO SECTIONS OF 75MM INFANTRY GUNS, NOT TWO GUNS. HENCE HARNADEK'S HEROICS RALLYING THE SECOND SECTION.

Blondin was surprised at the tenacity of the German defenders. Despite the pounding they were taking, the Boche fire was increasing, and now they were adding small field guns to the mix. He watched as another HE round slammed into the courthouse, which was beginning to sway and collapse. A section of MG gunners emerged coughing and bleeding, their brown uniforms red with brick dust. At that moment he became aware of a terrifying and familiar wail, and glanced skywards. Stuka! It was coming down now, not over him but over Crapaud and his CharB, "Rosalie". He waved frantically at Crapaud, who was nonchalantly lighting a cigarette in the turret. Pompous ass, look up! Blondin said, and at that moment the Major glanced skywards, to see a 500 bomb falling square onto his turret. The Char B disintegrated in a cloud of black smoke and whirling scrap iron.

GERMAN ARMOUR COME IN THE NICK OF TIME. A TURN LATER, A PAIR OF GERMAN SP AT GUNS APPEARED AND BEGAN FIRING INTO THE FLANK OF THE SURVIVING SOUMAS.

When Blondin raised his head again from his turret, it was to face a new threat to his front. Three low grey shapes had appeared to his front, their turrets spitting fire. Autocanon rounds were beginning to fall around his tank and clang off his front armour. German panzers had evidently come to the rescue. Merde. "Driver, reverse!" As his Renault began to back and turn, Blondin saw a Souma tank to his left shudder, hit in the flank. It too began to turn for the rear while its partner engaged two more low gray shapes. He had to hand it to the Boche, they were good at getting tanks to the right place at the right time. There were lessons to be learned here, and he was determined that he would learn them for the time of revenge to come. "Let's get the hell out of here!" he ordered his driver.

Firing began to die down along the line as the French fell back through St. Pierre-les-lapins. In his wood, L'Huter shrugged philosophically. "La guerre, c'est un adventure toujours." Clearly the tank boys had failed. "Come on, boys, let's go."

In Couchy-en-bois, Lt. Gammel emerged from the mayor's house. "Observe anything interesting, Herr Leutnant?" asked a sergeant with a smirk. Gammel didn't notice .. he was watching three French armoured cars approaching. So was the young platoon commander, but he was watching them like a mouse watches a snake. "Get your f'n MG going!" Gammel shouted, then ordered the crew to open fire when the Lt. stood silent. A long burst, then another, and the French vehicle halted. Kar98 fire opened up from the other houses in the village, and the French cars decided that discretion was the better part of valour and withdrew. Gammel turned to the young subby. "When you don't have big guns, use what you have to scare 'em. They're as scared of you as you are of them. At that point he saw Capt. Harnadek's kubelwagon drive into the square. Gammel nudged the young platoon commander. "Now him, him you need to be scared of."

According to the referee, as Germans we could have had more armour assets show up, but at midnight we decided that the French advance had stalled. Kudos to James for stepping up to the plate and umpiring. We continue to learn the TFL system and generally like it. When both sides complain about the way the cards break, the system definitely works. The chance to play with early war armour was great fun - it depends more on morale than on the ability to destroy the enemy.

The Mad Padre

 
 
/
 
 
 

Last Thursday I got in a cracking game of I Ain’t Been Shot Mum – here are some pics and a quick report. As part of my ongoing WW2 East African campaign project, I’ve been trying out some scenarios based on the Battle of Keren in Feb-March 1941. Last time out we tried a Cameron Ridge scenario using both IABSM and then Bolt Action; this time we played out a game based on the battles for Brig’s Peak, the highest peak at Keren – so called because ‘that’s the one the Brigadier wants.’ Brig’s Peak was viciously fought over and changed hands a couple of times, but the British never managed to hold onto and it remained under Italian control until the surrender in March 1941. 

The British started with four infantry sections, a sniper and a 2” mortar on Brig’s Peak itself – their mission was to hold off the Italians until the end of the game. They were led by RSM ‘Basher’ Mactaggart (a Level 3 Big Man) and Lance-Corporal Jones, and also had a Forward Observer who could call up the fire of a pair of 3” mortars in support. All troops were rated as Elite, although each section had to take a dice roll before the game to see if it had already suffered any casualties: I got off very lightly, only taking a few points of Shock. 

The Italians had six infantry sections, a Fiat-Revelli MMG, and additional support from a pair of mountain guns. They were led by three Big Men (levels 1, 2 and 3). All were rated as Veteran. 

Playing IABSM in 28mm, we simply used one card for each section (so the Allied Platoon 1 card meant Allied Section 1 instead), and just doubled all the distances. We also decided to deploy all units on table at the start of the game, rather than using Blinds – this gave us a slightly faster playing time (2½ hours), which was what we needed on a weekday evening with work the next day! We also added in some extra cards: Allied Ammo Shortage; Allies & Axis Rally; Allied & Axis Heroic Leaders (there were many brave feats during the battle on both sides); and two blank cards to represent the treacherous rocky slopes which characterised the Keren battlefield (if one of these was drawn, the next section/ Big Man would be unable to move that turn.) Terrain-wise, we used a sand cloth with some rocky terrain pieces on top (not quite a vertiginous as the real terrain, but fine for a wargame!) The small peak in the centre was Brig’s Peak itself. 

The battle started with a hail of fire from the Italian mountain guns deployed on the Italian right – despite the cover of Brig’s Peak, the British units took a number of hits. Not for the first time, lucky dice rolling on my part meant that casualties were minimal, and my British sniper got the gunners’ heads down with a number of Shock points caused by his sharpshooting. 

The firefight continued across the battlefield and, as the turns rolled on, the Italian numbers began to tell. My section deployed on the left was in good shape and was being well-supported by the 2” mortar team at the rear of the peak and the two Big Men; however, the Italian MMG chewed up the sections holding the front of Brig’s Peak, and the Italian Tenente ordered an advance on the Italian left and centre. 

RSM Mactaggart was about to rush back to rally his men, when he tripped over a rock and was forced to stay put! Fortunately, the British FO had managed to call up the 3” mortars and caught an Italian unit with the first salvo, causing no damage but pinning the section. With a few lucky cards and two Big Men leading the attack, the Italians rapidly approached the peak and drove off the defending units, now down to their last few men and heavily shocked. 

At this point the Italian Heroic Leader card came up, so we allowed the Tenente an extra turn to assault the peak – the three Italian sections heroically scaled the peak and drove off the defenders with grenades. At this point I certainly thought it was game over, but the next card happened to be Allied Heroic Leader! 

This allowed RSM Mactaggart to lead his final remaining rifle section in a final, desperate charge to drive the Italians off the peak. With around ten dice vs the Italians’ fourteen or so, I thought it was unlikely to succeed, so I was amazed to roll six kills against two. The Italians lost by four, and fled down the slopes, closely followed by a hail of Mills bombs and falling rocks. With that, it was all over. The British had a close victory, although were in no state to hold the peak and would have been forced to withdraw had we played a few more turns. Lots of fun and a great chance to use a mixture of Italians, Brits and Askari models. Maybe we’ll replay using Bolt Action next week?

Pictures of the game:

James Morris

 
 
/
 
 
 

Part of Russian 6th Army's attempted counter attack against Panzer Gruppe 1 on 10 July 1941 as the Panzer Gruppe broke through Soviet lines heading south east just north east of Berdichev in the Ukraine.

Elements of 2nd battalion of 10th Motostrelkovaya-Regiment of 10th Tank Division supported by a KV-1 and a weak T-26 platoon from 20th Tank Regiment are trying to cut the road behind the lead elements. The attack point near Skakovka out of woodland across fields encounters a stopped column of trucks in the outskirts of the village, which is where a reduced 5.kp company of Inf-Regt.156 of Inf- Div.16 (mot) plus a couple of AT guns has stopped for a break (the trucks parked at the side of the road) - there is also a broken down Pzkw IV of PzD.11 trying to repair a track. The Germans had enough warning to seek what cover there was in the village before the Soviets reached the near edges of the woods across the fields.

We played on a 6' x 4' which was enough though a bit cramped - the eastern 1/3 of the table was not much used.

For much of the game the left hand German platoon and the CHQ remained mesmerised by the two Soviet blinds opposite (which were of course dummies). The first movement was a German FOO team sent forward on a blind to a hillock to spot for the mortars. A really good spotting roll exposed them and they were deluged with fire for a few turns until eliminated (I'd forgotten how to handle this eventuality but we managed to come up with something workable).

The Soviet blinds mainly tried to force the German right flank, which turned out to be held by the (swiftly fixed) panzer IV and although the Soviet lead rifle platoon was roughly handled by mortars, small arms and direct fire HE it occupied attention long enough to enable the other blinds (when their poker chips came up) to move behind it and enfilade the German flank.

The Soviet centre was held by a rifle platoon (one of whose sections was virtually annihilated by a German MG in a cottage) and by the CHQ with the attached company 50mm mortars and an 82mm mortar. These were erratic but occasionally effective. The Soviet sniper scored an early success by killing a German platoon leader.

As this move included the Soviet armour the German player was concerned. Meanwhile the Event chip had been cropping up and after 8 appearances a German Pzkw III platoon appeared from the other end of the table. About the same time a Soviet MMG spotted the one remaining German blind which turned out to be a whole rifle platoon moving up the road in close order...

By the time we packed up the armour had started to engage one another with startling lack of effect. The Panzer IV was about to be forced back by a T-26 hit and the KV by a PAK36 hit (3 hits, 3 saves on the last 3 of 11 dice) and was low on 76mm ammo. The Panzer IIIs were deploying to engage but their first shots had been misses.

At the end the Soviets were firmly blocking the road but the German armour was still active. The German infantry were less well off, mainly in the open, and there were about 2 Soviet platoons in cover in charge reach. The Soviet player was determined to follow his road cutting orders and not to charge. The German player did not use his CHQ at all because it was watching the enemy dummy blinds.

Edward Sturges

 
 
/
 
 
 

I was able to get in a half a game of IABSM on Saturday night (1/21/2012) and completed the game on Sunday night. Needing a scenario, I grabbed scenario 1 from the rule book and used it. Never one to leave well enough alone, I modified it to change the British to Germans, the Germans to Soviets and set it in the Ukraine in August of 1941. The table layout was the same but much of the fields were cut off as I had a short 5' by 4' table to work with. This would cause a number of early casualties. If I had to do it over again, I would drop some of the collective farm and leave the fields. Also, I need to make some fields. Anyway....

Our Story August 1, 1941: The 11th German Army continues to push toward the Bug River. In an effort to surround the Russians in a Kessel of their own, the 11th Army sends out men to find the enemy and attempt to herd them towards the river to pin them in place. One such expedition was undertaken by Hauptmann Hermann Schmidt of the 285th Regiment. Hauptmann Schmidt has three fully manned platoons at his disposal. His Company headquarters is reduced as it only has one full strength squad. Each platoon has a light mortar. Ordered to advance upon a collective farm, the company has advanced through harvested wheat fields towards the collective.

The Collective farm was defended by elements of the 469th Rifle Regiment of the 8th Soviet Army. The soviet commander is joined by a commissar, two maxim machine-guns (this forms his headquarters) and two platoons of three 10 man squads.

The Germans entered through the fields and quickly found and began to engage the Russians deployed in the first set of trees. The distance from the table edge to these first hedge/tree line was way too close. Most of the troops counted as auto spotted. The Germans attempted to close assault immediately with two squads from the first platoon. Both were repulsed but suffered no shock. The second two squads decided to soften the Soviet positions up rather than follow the fate of their peers.

The next platoon to arrive attempted to turn the flank of the Russians in the initial tree line. It took several turns for them to do so as they advanced much more cautiously than the first platoon. Eventually they were successful.

Once the Germans were in the trees with the remnants of the Russian platoon, they were able to roll up the Soviets and destroyed two platoons to a man.

The German third platoon and had a much longer distance to travel. The Russian's moved their headquarters to attempt to intercept and halt the German advance. Unfortunately for the Russians, this did not occur until they had already lost their first platoon.

Once deployed, the two Soviet MMGs with the headquarters were able to cause significant trouble for the third platoon. For several turns they managed to pin or suppress two squads until they were broken. The remaining two squads laid fire down on the Russian second platoon while the headquarters squad flanked their position as well.

It was at this point of the game where my three year old decided he wanted to play the game too.

By this point the Russian troops were pretty much destroyed. The casualties were very high on both sides. Starting the game too close together leads to a very bloody game. For a first game of IABSM 3, it was a fun learning experience. I am looking forward to the Early War supplements to be released and see if my assumptions of force structures match. I used the cards and the markers for the first time. I was dubious of the markers when I first saw them. Now, I really like them.

Chris Stoesen

 
 
/
 

Well another gaming evening at Wally HQ last night and another hard fought game.

We used Scott Fisher and Nathan Forney's Skirmish Campaign book "Russia '41 - Drive on Minsk", along with Tom Ballou's Xmas Special article on converting Skirmish Campaign scenarios for IABSM.

I chose the "Counter-Attack at Bereza" , 24 June 1941, scenario to fight.

The German's had to occupy two buildings; a house and a barn, within ten turns. The view of the table can be seen from the German start line on their western table edge, looking eastwards. The terrain consisted of a road running EW bounded by light woods to the north, south and east, and two gullies north and south. Large fields of crops were a feature of the centre plus the two building objectives.

Max and Clivey base force had two, two Big Men led Platoons each three squads plus a 50mm mortar, of Mechanised Infantry, plus two Panzer IIIG and two Panzer IIC each with a Big Man. For variable attachment they acquired a Company HQ SdKfz 251/10 with 37mm AT gun and Big Man overall CO.

My base force consisted of a command BT7, and a three BT7 Tank Platoon plus two Infantry Platoons of each three ten-man squads and a Big Man. My variable attachments were two BA10 armoured cars and a further Big Man led Platoon of Infantry. A sizeable force. The actual scenario called for T26's but I own BT7's instead.

My troops were significantly inferior in quality, being poor, and less than half the amount of Big Men (3:7).

However, unperturbed I decided to put up a helluva fight and sell my men's lives dearly (rare for me!).

I had to deploy within 12" of my table edge. My BT7 Command was to arrive upon the relevant 'Reinforcements' card being drawn on my baseline (turn 3). However, my variable attachment BA10's and Infantry Platoon could arrive on the southern table edge, again upon the relevant 'Reinforcements' card (turn 4). I had planned that my BA10's would turn up in the southern wood and my infantry in the SE wood. The problem was to make sure that these areas, in particular the southern wood stayed out of enemy control ensuring my troops safe arrival.

I deployed my BT7's in light woods at the SE table corner hoping to blast anything that appeared in the centre or near the southern wood.

One infantry Platoon was deployed in light woods behind the house objective, the other behind a field of crops adjacent to it.

Fakes were deployed one between the infantry Platoons and one in front of the BT7's. Their job was to identify enemy blinds ASAP preventing them from using swift movement and particularly the German 'Rapid Deployment' card. Their secondary task was to make the German's think that they were infantry Platoons. Finally My BT7 command was to arrive in the extreme NE corner and make the German's think it was massed armoured reinforcements.

As all of Max and Clivey's commands were in vehicles they would almost be spotted automatically at first 'Tea Break'. I had given up all hope of holding the barn as it was too close to the German's much faster moving troops.

My 'Blinds Move' card turned up first . I decided to reserve all dice to spot and fire later in the move, if necessary, after seeing where the boys schwerpunkt was to land.

Three German blinds entered the southern wood to my horror with another two behind it! I spotted a Platoon of Hanomag mounted Infantry and two fakes in the wood, with one of my fakes.

The next turns saw four other German blinds racing up the table. Two straight up the road and two in the western woods. I spotted the two road ones as another Platoon of Hanomag mounted infantry and two Panzer II's.

My BT7s engaged the halftracks in the wood with long range fire, spooking one badly enough that it dropped its occupants the other two retreated out of line of sight behind the wood.

One BT7 hit and destroyed a Hanomag in the centre which had occupied a field near the barn. A couple of German mothers would get telegrams from the Fuhrer!

I manouevered my fakes into the two gullies and pretended they were infantry Platoons, while all my troops played the waiting game.

The German blinds behind the southern woods turned out to be the Commander in his 37mm armed halftrack and two Panzer IIIGs. These sped round the wood to engage, albeit unsuccessfully, my BT7's at long range.

The next moves saw the German's take and occupy the barn and the adjacent fields to the north and south with their infantry.

The Panzer IIIs, using their Veteran status and Big Men advantage plus their 'Blitzkrieg' movement managed to fire successfully on the move, knocked out two BT7's and forced the remaining one to retire with a turret jam and knocked out 45mm main gun. Disastrous - it was down to my infantry now.

Just as things looked bad my Command BT7 appeared as a blind in the eastern woods. Max and Clivey, knowing me well suspected KV1's. The threat of the unknown blind, out of LOS worked wonders.

I moved an infantry Platoon blind into the cornfields near the house and my fake in the southern gully made a run for the barn through the fields making like more infantry.

Next turn my fakes were spotted by the boys whose looks turned to horror as two BA10's turned up in the southern woods and machine gunned the infantry section hunkered down there into a red ruin. I decided to occupy the gully again, but this time with a genuine Platoon of infantry. My other Platoon advanced into the second gully, whilst the third remained undetected behind the house in the woods.

The game degenerated into what only can be termed a helluva scrap. Under IABSM Soviet infantry are unpredictable. They have a very good tank killing capacity plus using the 'Uhraiee' card can get really nasty and assault when you least expect it. Their firing is not to hot though as they are only in possession of two initiative dice.

Net result is that German players get really nervous when playing against Ivan.

I decided that if I laid off the German's, their halftrack MG's would crucify me. Time was on my side as the German's had been held up by my reinforcements appearance. I rushed into the assault from the gully. Three Soviet squads Vs one German squad plus an MMG from a halftrack.

I lost heavily and was forced to retreat. As the boys Identified another Platoon in the gully I decided to reserve my dice making it difficult for them to advance upon me. As the position was shielded by crops. There was a stand-off here as the supporting Panzer IIs held their dice preventing me from moving either.

In the centre my infantry Platoon was down to 25%.

Panzer IIIs and 37mm Halftrack had also knocked out both BA10's although I did hit and destroy one Pz III with a rear shot.

Luckily my unit card came up at the beginning of the next turn and so I climbed my Platoon out of the gully and into an assault on one section of German infantry in the northern woods adjacent to the barn. They were wiped out to a man and I occupied the woods and fields. One Panzer II was knocked out by my Command BT7 which made a run for it and paid the ultimate price too.

It was the critical point of the game as I was in position to threaten the barn and its defenders.

The boys shot my Soviet platoon in the centre to pieces with MG support from the Hanomags and then advanced swiftly. One squad took the house and then discovered a Soviet Platoon 5" away in the woods. This fired at the "Tea Break' reducing the German defenders by 50%.

The game ended at turn ten with the German's holding the objectives but severely threatened in both. Taking them would have been difficult for my guys but the German's had only just done it in the time required.

The game was excellent and full of surprises on both sides. The telling factor was the support of the Hanomag mounted MGs and the superior fire and movement tactics of the German infantry, coupled with the large numbers of Big Men.

I was cautious for a change with my infantry but on the whole they performed admirably.

Kev