Last week I went to Leighton Buzzard where Martin, a veteran of TooFatLardies’ rules, had agreed to be a guinea pig. It was the debut for some of my new 4Ground buildings, although neither my new trees or road arrived in time

The scenario was based (very) loosely on an action from the Vyazma or Bust! supplement for IABSM, with one change being that the Germans were defending against the Krasny Armii.

The West German force consisted of a weakened Jaeger company supported by a pair of Leopards, facing a Soviet recce company of 2 platoons of BMPs, a platoon of T62s an AOO who could call on higher level artillery.

A quick view of the table with the Soviet from the north:

The first Soviet blinds entered the table while the Germans sensibly stayed hidden:

One of the mechanised platoons advanced quickly along the road. Despite using a wood and building for cover it was spotted and placed on the table:

The leading vehicle was targeted by a Milan

and, despite making a desperate dash to put the wood between it and the launcher, was hit. The infantry successfully baled out taking 2 points of shock:

Meanwhile the company commander had moved to a position covered by a wood and dismount from his armoured car to walk through the trees:

The tank platoon deployed off blinds and went onto overwatch

to cover the advance of the other BMP platoon as they sought to envelope suspected enemy positions from the south:

In the centre the surviving 2 BMPs avoided further hits and unloaded their passengers

to clear the wood in order to secure the northern edge of the road. They came under fire from a defending German section but used their full platoon firepower to make headway.

To the south the Soviets met determined resistance and incredibly accurate fire! One tank was destroyed by a Milan (a double 6 on the damage result left no doubt as to the effect!):

A tactical error led to the remaining 2 tanks leaving overwatch to pour HE into the Jaegers defending the edge of a wood which gave the hitherto hidden Leopards their chance to move in and take them out with a pair of well-placed fin-stabilised rounds. With the attack faltering it was left only for the Soviet commander to fall back and book his place in the gulag.

Overall a decent try out for the rules with most of the after-match chat concerning tactical matters as opposed to rules issues. Of course there will be a few tweaks before the next game.

Maxim to Milan