Operation Market Larden and the Battle for Lardsdorf

 

Last Saturday I was privileged to attend the Operation Market Larden games day hosted by the Wyvern Wargames Club in Bishampton near Evesham. There was a good selection of excellently presented games using TooFat Lardies rules - both released and under development - covering the Russo-Japanese War, WW2 (both company and platoon level), Arthurian Britain, the Napoleonic Wars, the Wild West and Diesel Punk air combat, in addition to my latest playtests of IABNM. There were about 30 attendees and a good time was had by all, so hopefully it will become a regular event. Thanks again to the Wyvern lads for a well-organised day, and some great cupcakes.

 

I ran 2 games, this first was the battle for a village appropriately named 'Lardsdorf' defended by a company of West German Panzergrenadiers who had dismounted from their M113s and swapped a platoon for a pair of Leopards. They could also call upon some helicopters lurking off-table.

The attacking force was a Soviet BTR Motor Rifle Company supported by a platoon of T64BVs.

 

The quiet before the storm. A view of the table from the south, the Soviets will enter from the east (right):



 

And from the north:

 A close-up of Lardsdorf (In the rush to escape the approaching red horde someone forgot his Porsche):

The attack is preceded by an artillery bombardment and a smokescreen:

Soviet forces move on blinds to outflank Lardsdorf from the north:

West German forces stay hidden waiting for a glimpse of a target:

A Soviet platoon is spotted making thrust for the northern edge of the village:

West Germans prepare for to repel the attack:

As the smokescreen thins the Soviet platoon runs into an ambush.....

.....and quickly sustains casualties. All three BTRs are destroyed and the infantry are either killed or put to flight. The first Big Man casualty of the day is suffered:

The Soviet artillery observer sees the fighting at the edge of the town and calls for support:

A second platoon dismounts and attempts to roll up the defenders outside the village. Some good shooting wipes out one West German section quickly and the rest of the platoon falls back to the village:

A BO105P spots a BTR in the open and destroys it with a HOT:

The Soviet commander sends in his tanks:

Which is what the West German tank commander is waiting for:

Firing from hull down a T64 is hit and knocked out. The Leopards also account for the BTRs that survived the helicopter attack. A standoff develops as the remaining T64s dare not advance into the sights of the Leopards:

With the attack faltering in the north, the Soviets attempt a move to the south:

Spotting the danger, the Leopards move to deal with the threat:

One tank is a bit slow to move....

and the Soviet tanks see a chance.....

...that they take:

The Soviet tanks advance on the village pouring high explosive into the village as they go taking advantage of their stabilised guns to offset their movement:

The Soviet move to the south is recognised as the remaining 2 platoons:

The remaining Leopard drives through the village to provide some extra firepower:

The Soviet third and support platoons dismount using a wood for cover from the defenders in Lardsdorf....

....and advance through the wood:

The West Germans take up new positions along the south side of the village:

The T64s get to the village....

where one receives a nasty surprise.....

...from the Leopard:

The Leopard quickly turns round and heads back through Lardsdorf.

With a perfect display of driving and shooting it is thrown around 2 corners and claims a third T64:

The remaining T64 draws a bead on the Leopard's side along the street and takes it out:

The fighting is getting desperate as the result is in the balance and a West German section throws itself at the Soviet tank to no avail:

The West Germans need help and get it. A BO105P spots the T64.....

......and delivers a HOT into its side. The reactive armour saves the tank from being destroyed but it loses its main armament and shakes the crew:

At this point we called an end to the fighting. The Germans held the village although they'd lost their tanks and most of one infantry platoon. Thanks to Noddy and Elton for ably commanding the 2 sides and making it an exciting and hard-fought game.

IABNM - 3rd AAR

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.

IABNM - Second Playtest Game

This was the first playtest using Version 0.2 of the rules which incorporated changes from my first playtest and one by Derk in the Netherlands. It was another attack by a Soviet force against a West German held position. The table is below and incorporates a hamlet astride a road bordered by 3 small woods. On one side of the table was a ridge while the other held corn fields.

 

 The Bundeswehr force was a deployed on blinds and consisted of dismounted Panzergrenadiers:

 

Company HQ

Level 3 Big Man

Level 1 Big Man

Infantry section of 9 men, Carl Gustav SG550, Pzf44, Handflammpatrone

Platoon 1

Level 2 Big Man

1 Infantry section of 9 men, Carl Gustav SG550, Pzf44, sniper, Handflammpatrone

2 Infantry sections of 9 men, Milan, Pzf44, sniper, Handflammpatrone

Platoon 2

Level 2 Big Man

1 Infantry section of 9 men, Carl Gustav SG550, Pzf44, sniper, Handflammpatrone

2 Infantry sections of 9 men, Milan, Pzf44, sniper, Handflammpatrone

Panzer Platoon Detachment

Level 2 Big Man

2 Leopard 1A4

Off-Table ATGM (BO105P)

Orders were to prevent any Warsaw Pact advance.

 

The Soviet force was a reinforced Motor Rifle company:

Company HQ

Level 3 Big Man
One BTR70
Infantry section of 7 men, RPG 18, sniper

Platoon 1
Level 2 Big Man
Three BTR70
Infantry section of 7 men, RPG 18, RPG 16
Infantry section of 7 men, RPG 18, RPG 16
Infantry section of 7 men, RPG 18, RPG 16, sniper

Platoon 2

Level 2 Big Man
Three BTR70
Infantry section of 7 men, RPG 18, RPG 16
Infantry section of 7 men, RPG 18, RPG 16
Infantry section of 7 men, RPG 18, RPG 16, sniper

Platoon 3

Level 2 Big Man
Three BTR70
Infantry section of 7 men, RPG 18, RPG 16
Infantry section of 7 men, RPG 18, RPG 16
Infantry section of 7 men, RPG 18, RPG 16, sniper

Machine-gun / Anti-tank Platoon

Level 1 Big Man
Two BTR70
One machine-gun section of 6 men
Three AT4B Spigot teams of 2 men

Tank Platoon

Level 2 Big Man
4 T62MV

The Soviet commander was told that capitalist forces had been detected ahead of the advance and he was to attack their expected position so as to ensure unimpeded progress along the road. Two pre-planned stonks hit the German forces causing casualties and shock on the second platoon that was holding the wood in front of the hamlet and the German left. This softening up was accompanied by a smoke screen that blinded most of the defenders.

The Soviets entered and immediately came off blinds. The MR company was concentrated in the centre with the infantry dismounted and the BTRs following in a mixture of close and distant support. The tank platoon was kept intact instead of being broken up to add intimate support to the MR platoons and carried out a rapid advance on the right flank.

 

 

The Soviet advance was rapid making the most of the effects of the initial bombardment

 

Making use of bonus moves the tank platoon and an infantry platoon advanced rapidly around the German left flank losing one BTR to a lurking anti-tank helicopter that appeared in the right part of the table.

The 2 Leopards had been hidden behind a wood at the rear of the German right flank and moved to engage the Soviet flank attack.

The German 2nd platoon came off blinds and opened fire on the advancing communists. One Soviet section was pit out of the battle in the initial exchange. Concentrated Soviet fire from 2 platoons and their supporting BTRs destroyed one German section but not before the Soviet company HQ section was devestated, the Big Man being amogst the dead.

The Leopards engaged the T62s helped by a Milan from the 1st infantry platoon. One T62 took a hit from a tank and an ATGM losing its gun sight and being immobilsed whilst taking out one Leopard. The other Leopard finished off the T62 and destroyed another before making full use of its gun stabilisation to move away from possible retaliation.

 

 

The game ended with one German platoon smashed and sufficient Soviet forces remaining to make life difficult of the other. So a Soviet win was declared.

It was quite a quick game consisting mainly of one big firefight. Flaws in the German deployment meant that their forces struggled to support each other so a rapid Soviet attack carried the position. The Soviet player took a big risk as even a limited amount of German artillery (he was not aware that there was none available) could have casued carnage.

There were a few areas to review in the rules, a lesson in scenario design and I really need to get some better terrain done for the next game!