IABSM AAR: US Airborne on D-Day
/Another great AAR from Carole from her blog Hippolyta's Tiny Footsteps.
Click on the pic below to see how Capt. Eugene O’Neill of the US Airborne makes out as his men hit the ground on D-Day...
IABSM AAR: The Battle of Pszczyna
/Played a great game of IABSM earlier this week, using the fifth scenario from my newly-published scenario pack for Poland 1939, The September War.
The game covers the German 5th Panzer Division's attack on the town of Pszczyna, held by the Polish 6th Infantry Division.
Click on the picture below to see whether the Invader's assault succeeded...
IABSM AAR: Attack Through The Bocage
/Great After Action Report from Carole and her friends at Lincombe Barn Wargames Society involving an American attempt to push through the bocage in Normany, 1944.
Click on the picture, below, to see all:
Converted Polish Infantry Guns Completed
/The latest unit to roll off my painting table is a platoon of 75mm wz.02/26 guns for my WW2 Polish collection.
When fielded as a two-gun platoon, these will represent an infantry company's division-level Infantry Gun Platoon; when fielded as a three-gun platoon, these will represent a cavalry squadron's brigade-level Horse Artillery Platoon.
The guns themselves were nicknamed "orthodox" by the Poles, as they were old re-chambered Russian guns left behind on Polish territory after WW1. Always good to be equipped with the latest kit!
As for the models, the guns are from Battlefront by special order. I think they are down as Finnish or something as Battlefront doesn't really acknowledge its Polish range at the moment: far too busy in the desert!
The crew are actually WW2 Soviet artillerymen with head-swaps using Peter Pig's excellent range of heads. I've used infantry helmets for most of the crew, with an officer type wearing a rogatywka.
The limbers are general purpose Battlefront limbers, again with the driver having a swapped head.
Finally, I've also now reorganised my Polish cavalry squadron gallery. Click here to see them all (will open in a new window).
Modern AAR: South of Sidon
/Quick Lebanon 1982 report from the archives of Jon Yuengling.
Click on the pic below to see what happens 'South of Sidon':
IABSM AAR: Spoiling Attack, Russia, 1943
/Joe Patchen sends us another of his excellent I Ain't Been Shot, Mum battle reports.
It is Fall, 1943. The Russians have had quite a summer, pushing the Germans back along a broad front after their failed Kursk offensive. The local situation is fluid.
A small infantry force of two Russian platoons holds a ford and bridge over a river with the aid of a couple of 76.2mm AT guns. Their job is to push across the other side and pave the way for a platoon of SP guns and two platoons of T-34/76s to push across and exit the far side of the board. The tanks are expected in the not too distant future.
Unbeknownst to the Russians, a strong German armoured reconnaissance force of armoured cars, panzergrenadiers, and a couple platoons of tanks are on their way to spoil the anticipated offensive. They're tasked to reach and blow the bridge if possible or at least jam up any attempted Russian crossing.
Click on the pic below to find out what happened next...
IABSM AAR: Charge at Krojanty...Twice
/It’s off to Poland, 1939, again, as Bevan, Dave and I play another action from my scenario book for IABSM: The September War.
This time, the game was from scenario #03: Charge at Krojanty. Based on an episode from the larger fighting around the Tuchole Forest that took place over the first couple of days of September 1939, the action would involve a large force of Polish cavalry surprising a German infantry platoon that had paused for a rest. Each side would then gradually be reinforced, developing into quite a large encounter.
There are several object lessons here for would-be Polish and German commanders. Click on the picture, below, to read all...
IABSM AAR: Highway to Hell!
/Here's a battle report from Mark Kinsey's blog, Daddy's Little Men. It's from a game of I Ain't Been Shot, Mum using a scenario, Highway to Hell, taken from the 2013 TFL Summer Special (still available on the TFL website).
Click on the picture, below, to see all:
The Doornboom Crossroads
/Another great IABSM AAR from Mark Luther's archive. This time, the action takes place in Belgium in 1944, near the Albert Canal.
German SP guns and some Luftwaffe infantry try and hold off the Durham Light Infantry supported by Shermans.
Click on the pic below to see all...
Quick Liongate AAR
/Those excellent gentlemen at The Stipsicz Hussars recently played a game of I Ain't Been Shot, Mum using scenario #20: Nee Soon from the Fall of the Liongate scenario pack.
Click on the pic below to see a few photos of the game:
Polish Tankettes
/To finish off Polish week on Vis Lardica, celebrating the publication of The September War, my new scenario pack for IABSM covering the German invasion of Poland in 1939, here's a picture of some painting I completed last weekend: a unit of five Polish TKS tankettes.
These are Battlefront models and, as you can see, I have built two of them with the 20mm cannon and three of them with the standard MMG.
Now these things are small: significantly smaller than an Italian tankette or a Bren gun carrier. Although I can see that it would be nice to have a bit of protection against smallarms fire, I think you'd have to be crazy to ride one of these into battle against panzers!
Whilst I was researching The September War, I came across the fact that every year there is a big military re-enactment in Poland celebrating one of the battles of the campaign. Here's a couple of pictures of a TKS tankette from two of the re-enactment days.
As I said: these things are small!
Blinds for the September War Campaign
/
Following on from yesterday's launch of The September War, my new scenario pack for IABSM covering the German invasion of Poland 1939, I've now added a set of Blinds for the campaign, downloadable free from the Poland 1939 page of the IABSM section of this website. Or click on the image to the right to get there!
There are four Blinds available: the Polish ones shown to the right, Soviet Blinds, and two sets of German Blinds: one using the historically accurate plain white cross; the other, my preferred version, using a more late war version.
I just pop a few sheets of stiff paper into the printer, print them out, then cut them out, and away you go. You can laminate them if you like, but I usually don't bother these days.
Objective Markers
And whilst we're on he topic of useful things, check out my new Polish objective markers:
These are resin disks 2-3 inches across that you can buy from Army Group North. They don't appear in the AGN webstore at the moment, but if you e-mail them on info@agnminiatures.com, Andrew will sort. They are $10 for three markers and paint up very easily.
A recommended buy, especially as many of the the September War scenario pack scenarios have two-four objectives in them.
The September War Publishes Today!
/
The German invasion of Poland on 1st September 1939 precipitated the greatest conflict the world has ever known, ending the lives of some 60 million people across the globe.
Written by Robert Avery and Alexander Kawczynski, The September War is a collection of thirty-three scenarios for I Ain’t Been Shot, Mum covering the German invasion of Poland 1939. It is priced at £9.50.
Divided into eight mini-campaigns, the pack begins with the battles at the border, then covers the fight for the Polish corridor, the Polish Thermopylae at Narew, the Siege of Warsaw, the climactic battles at Bzura and Tomaszow Lubelski, and the actions of the 10th Motorised Cavalry “Black” Brigade and the Independent Operational Group Polesie. There are attacks, counter-attacks, encounter battles, desperate defences…there’s even an armoured train or two.
No need for any preparation: each scenario contains a brief background history, maps, a full game briefing, and a full briefing for each player. Simply print out the pages you need, make up the deck from the list of cards required, unpack your figures and dice, set up the table and away you go!
Click here or on the picture of the front cover to buy The September War scenario pack for IABSM.
The September War: #01 Chojnice...Twice
/Barring major disasters, The September War, my new scenario pack for IABSM containing 33 scenarios from the German invasion of Poland in September 1939, should be published tomorrow, Wednesday 15th March 2017.
The September War is largely based on Alexander Kawczynski's supplement for another rule system, but with the scenarios fully adapted for IABSM. As usual with my packs, each scenario generally consists of six pages: two for the Umpire and two for each player. Once you add the background and support material, The September War comes in at 240 pages long and will cost £9.50.
To wet your collective whistles, here is an AAR from the playtest of scenario #01: Chojnice. Will the Poles manage to blow the vital railway bridge in time? Or will the Germans manage to capture the bridge and defuse the explosives, then send their armoured train in to wreak havoc on the Polish border defences? Click on the picture below to find out more...
Polish Cavalry Conversions
/To celebrate the publication of my The September War scenario pack for IABSM*, I am declaring this week to be Polish week on Vis Lardica. All the posts through to Friday will be Polish in nature.
To start us off, here a bit of painting that I finished this weekend: a squad of Polish cavalry and a Big Man.
All the above are actually converted Battlefront Cossacks i.e. I've taken spare Cossack figures and given them new heads using Peter Pig Polish cavalry heads.
This was remarkably easy to do: snip off the old head, use a pin drill to create a hole in the decapitated torso, then pop the new head in. Takes about five minutes a time and gives you a nicely varied set of cavalry and reduces the lead mountain as I was never going to use those Cossacks.
Tomorrow's post features an AAR from the play-testing of The September War.
*The September War publishes on Wednesday 15th March 2017. It contains thirty-three scenarios from the German invasion of Poland, 1st September to 6th October 1939, and will be priced at £9.50. It is largely based on the first half of Alexander Kawczynski's Poland in Flames scenario pack for FOW, but totally adapted for IABSM.
IABSM AAR: Valle della Marie
/
Mike Whitaker, fresh from proof-reading the Poland scenario pack for me (it's out next week), presents a lovely little battle report from the first game in his club's IABSM campaign.
It's Italy, 1944, and the Allies are tasked with capturing a village from the Germans. As it's a campaign, the players get a core force and get to choose some supports. I wonder if they chose wisely...?
Click on the pic to the right to see how the game went.
You can visit Mike's blog Trouble At T'Mill by clicking here.
Revised Army Lists for Poland 1939 Now Available
/Again in preparation for the publication of my IABSM scenario book for the invasion of Poland, The September War, due on the 15th of the month (that's next Wednesday, so get your pennies ready!), I have re-vamped the army lists for both the Poles and the Germans.
These are available as FOC pdfs from the Poland 1939 page in the IABSM section of this site, or you can click on the images below.
IABSM AAR: Action Near Luchatschi
/Another great battle report from Mark Luther: this time, action on the Eastern Front from 1941.
The game is played in 6mm, and Mark uses some rather natty Shapeways 3D Printing vehicles that, presumably, you can't get anywhere else. Well worth a look.
Click on the pic below to see all:
IABSM AAR: Random Game on the Eastern Front
/Another great AAR from the archives of the "Burt's Stuff" blog, a Spanish-language blog that you can visit by clicking here.
This time, it's a random game set on the eastern front, with the Germans trying to take a small town from its Soviet defenders.
Click on the pic below to see all:
IABSM AAR: The Bridge at Urk
/Nice to see someone playing a scenario from Vyazma or Bust!
Here, fellow Lardy Vaggelis plays #2A: The Bridge at Urk in 6mm. Will the Germans manage to find a way through to outflank Sychevka? Will the Soviet commander survive the disgrace of his last battle? It all happens around the bustling metropolis that is Urk. Click on the pic below to see the story unfold...
You can visit Vaggelis' excellent looking blog Wargames and History by clicking here.
