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in 1943. I really wanted to see how effective 88mm guns would be in an IABSM scenario. I've
read loads of accounts of how effective they were against the masses of Soviet armour.
I wanted to create a feeling of depth of defence in the scenario. The basic scenario was that a
German force had been forced to retreat and were holding the high ground. Two 88mm were
on table plus three Tiger Is, two Marder IIs and a reduced dug-in Infantry Company of FOrward
Observer, Sniper and seven squads, four MG42's plus two 88mm off-table firing over open
sights. We use our own IABSM house rules for this. I allowed Jez to deploy D4 1" x3"
minefields and 24" of hastily constructed barbed wire.
The whole position was to be hit by a Katyusha pre-barrage. These are particularly nasty in
IABSM. They suppress a unit initially until its unit card appears for the first time, after which it
is pinned until its card appears for a second time. We decided to extend unit cards to mean the
'Blinds Move' card also.
Jez rolled DAv + 3 for his fakes. He then marked down all his units with numbered blinds
shuffled them and handed them to me. I chose three blinds and removed them from his pack.
Without an umpire this is an excellent way of adding the element of the unknown. As I own all
the troops and write the orbats I have advanced knowledge of what I'm facing. I hate this and
so we use the system to move the goalposts.
My force was a Company each of T34's, T70's, and KV1's with supporting Platoons of OT34
Flamethrower tanks, SU76s and SU122s. I was going to use an infantry company but Max
suggested giving my cavalry squadron an airing. By using a dismounted troop of cavalry, or
two, these would appear to be infantry to the Germans, only later would I reveal the mounted
troops, hopefully striking terror into the enemy. I also had a Platoon of SMG armed troops who
were riding into combat on the KV1s.
the Soviet cards trying to keep the pack number down. As
Soviet tanks mostly operated without radios a card is required
for each tank. This makes the pack huge.
The Katyuska strike hit and my first wave roared into attack. I
used my T70's on my right flank whilst my T34's advanced up
the left flank and the OT34's up the centre.
An 88mm roared and a T70 was catapulted into space. The gun
was hiding in the small copse on the northern hill, protected by
barbed wire and dug-in. We diced for the gun and found that the
Katyusha had killed a crew member. Sadly as the first move had
been a quick one, and 'Tea Break' had turned up quickly, the
gun had become pinned instead of suppressed. At such short
range it had not mattered much.
The next turn was even quicker and this time a Tiger I was
revealed behind the copse and another behind the small copse
on the southern edge. This Tiger had been immobilised by the
Katyusha strike. These opened fire claiming several T34's and
T70s. My OT34's spotted the German Company HQ in the woods
near the farm. An MG42 was deployed in the woods and another
in a barn. One MG42 was broken, or out of ammo, as a result of
the Katyusha strike.
Shots from my T70s and T34s were failing to hit, and then the
off-table 88mms started! There was now a total of six tactical
elements armed with 88mm guns. I failed to spot exactly where
the off-table 88s were and so continued to advance hugging
terrain features to provide cover. The first 88mm had by now
knocked out nine T70's. This started to have a serious effect
upon visibility though. Flaming tanks within 4" of each other
were connected by smoke and only units at short range could
fire through smoke.
I called a halt and revealed infantry moving up through the
smoke along with my second wave of KV1's which emerged with
tank riding SMG armed troops through the woods in the east.
My T34's managed to penetrate the wood infront on the second
Tiger but one hit mines and exploded! Verdamdt!
Two of my OT34s brewed up really quickly. We decided that as
their hulls were full of fuel a hit of three or more would mean an
instant explosion!
My third wave now appeared. Consisting of four Su122 and four
Su76s these started to bombard the on table 88mm with smoke
and HE further restricting visibility.
When Jez spotted a blind coming though the smoke near the
farm he was horrified as it revealed itself as a Troop of Cavalry!
These managed to dismount and assault the dug-in German
troops in the wood. These were killed to a man and their
accompanying Big Man captured. The Soviets occupied the
foxholes and awaited support.
I had managed to get a T34 past the Tiger which was still
functioning behind the southern copse whilst another T34 and
the Tiger engaged in gunnery at only 60 yards! For two turns the
Tiger missed whilst the T34 hit the tracks and caused engine
damage. I was also assaulting the Tiger with tank killers. The
beast seemingly would not die. It could not last though and the
crew eventually abandoned the vehicle after it had been
damaged five times!
As my seemingly victorious armour rolled on, four StuGs arrived
as German reinforcements on the baseline but, as we'd reached
move 10, I had included a German 'Out of Ammo' card. this
restricted a unit following it to close range fire only, Guess what
it was the StuGs. Hastily rushed forward with little ammunition
to plug the front.
Worse still a third Tiger appeared in the woods in the south
western corner. There had also been a fourth 88mm but this had
been destroyed by the Katyusha.
The on-table 88mm fell to an assault from dismounted cavalry
and a Tiger was knocked out by an Su76! Waves of dismounted
Soviet cavalrymen were pouring forward now occupying various
buildings, copses and fields of crops.
The German FO was frantically trying to contact his batteries but
due to the large pack size his cards just weren't happening. I
would normally have allowed Jez some sort of pre-logged
co-ordinates to fire on but I had decided that as the Germans had
hastily arrived to block the Soviet advance they had not had time
to survey the ground properly.
A Platoon of German infantry opened fire from fox holes near the
Hamlet, another revealing themselves near the third Tiger.
My armour was for the most part out of LOS hiding amongst the
smoking hulls of their comrades.
I advanced my Su122s through the farm buildings and began to
engage the German infantry with HE. I attempted to engage the
German assault guns with infantry in an effort to buy time for my
SPGs, to no avail. Two were knocked out in quick succession
by the StuGs.
The 'Ammo Shortage' turned up again. This time it was followed
by the card for the third Tiger. Jez was infuriated. His StuGs
were also blocking the LOS for his off-table 88s. As he advanced
off the hill, I assaulted some German troops in the Hamlet and
discovered two Marder IIs hiding in amongst the buildings.
My KVs and SU76s were advancing for the coup de grace with
my remaining OT34, supported by Cavalry, both mounted and
dismounted. The German's were grimly hanging on, their
tenacious defenders refusing to retreat ,making the Soviets pay
dearly for every yard gained in blood.
The game ended as a tactical draw. Unbeknown to Jez my
objective had be to take the Hamlet and high ground. I had
occupied the Hamlet but in the last move Jez had moved in
some German infantry to contest it, thereby denying me the
victory. At what cost though; I lost twenty-seven vehicles out of
thirty-seven deployed. I had destroyed two Tigers and an 88mm
gun a 9:1 kill ratio!
We decided that the Soviets would probably dig-in and have
called in more Katyusha strikes. The writing was on the wall for
the Germans but what an excellent game.
CARDS
Soviets - 56 German - 27
Big Man 1 (Snr Lieut D4) - Pltn 1 Big Man 1 (Hauptmann D4) - HQ Pltn
Big Man 2 (Jnr Lieut D4) - Pltn 2 Big Man 2 (Untefeldwebel D6) - Pltn 1
Big Man 3 (Snr Sgt D6) - Pltn 2 Big Man 3 (Unterfeldwebel D6) - Pltn 2
Big Man 4 (Jnr Sgt D4) - Pltn 3 Big Man 4 (Leutnant D4) - Tiger I
Big Man 5 (Snr Sgt D6) - Pltn 4 Big Man 5 (Stabsfeldwebel D4) - Tiger I
Big Man 6 (Jnr Sgt D6) - Pltn 4 Big Man 6 (Obegfreiter D4) - Tiger I
Big Man 7 (Jnr Sgt D6+1) - Pltn 5 Gun 1 FLaK36 88mm
Big Man 8 (Jnr Sgt D6) - Pltn 5 Gun 2 FLaK36 88mm
Pltn 1 - Three dismounted Cav Squads, ATR Gun 3 FLaK36 88mm
Pltn 2 - Three Mtd Cavalry Squads Gun 4 FLaK36 88mm
Pltn 3 - Three Mtd Cavalry Squads HQ Pltn - Panzerknacker Squad, two MG42
Pltn 4 - Three dismounted Cav Squads, ATR Pltn 1 - Three Squads, MG42
Pltn 5 - Three SMG Squads Pltn 2 - Three Squads, MG42
Armour 1-4 - Four SU76 Armour 1 - Tiger I
Armour 5-8 - Four SU122 Armour 2 - Tiger I
Armour 11-13 - Three KV1 Armour 3 - Tiger I
Armour 14-16 - As Above Armour 4 - Two Marder II
Armour 19-22 - Four T34/76 Armour 5 - Four StuG IIIG
Armour 23-25 - Three T34/76 Sniper
Armour 26-28 - Three T34/76 Forward Observer
Armour 29-31 - Three OT34 Flamethrower tanks Blinds Move
Armour 36-39 - Four T70 Dynamic Commander
Armour 40-42 - Three T70 Heroic Leader
Blinds Move Rally
Rapid Deployment MG Bonus Fire
Recce Force Gun Bonus Fire
Bugle Bonus Reinforcements Arrive
Armoured Bonus x 4
Uhraieee
Heroic Leader
Vehicle Breakdown
Soviet Tank Killers
Reinforcements Arrive 1, 2
Out Of Ammo (move 10+)
