IABSM AAR: Race to Brussels

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At Operation Market Larden 9 last Saturday, my morning game was a superb Race for Brussels game put on by Phil and Jenny.

The Dynamic Duo had playtested the game a few days before, and Steve Blease has written a lovely After Action Report that you can read by clicking on the picture below:

But how did you do at the game, I hear you ask?

Rest assured, I’ll be writing a full report concerning my execrable performance when I have time to do so but, put it this way, it was definitely an “interview without coffee” for my company commander when he limped back to base!

IABSM AAR: Spanish Civil War Action!

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Lee Young and friends recently played out a game of I Ain’t Been Shot Mum set in the Spanish Civil War. I missed this on the IABSM Facebook Group, so it’s a pleasure to feature it now. Lee says:

Another great game of IABSM, this time our Wednesday night game takes us back to the Spanish Civil War.

The Nationalist had to break through the Communist line and reach the top of the road to Madrid. Had to do some tweaks to the FT-17s and placed some extra cards in for ammo shortages. Played better than I expected.

IABSM AAR: Action at Galmanche

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I hope that everyone can be lucky enough to play in one of Phil Turner’s excellently presented and run games of I Ain’t Been Shot Mum. I did so at one of the Operation Market Larden events, and enjoyed myself immensely.

Here’s another game from Phil that uses one of the scenarios from the rulebook. Click on the picture below to see all…

IABSM AAR: North of Caen

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Here are some pictures of game Alex Sotheran has been playing using the first scenario from the I Ain’t Been Shot Mum rulebook: North of Caen. These were posted in the IABSM Facebook group.

IABSM AAR: Russian Civil War Action

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The core I Ain’t Been Shot Mum system is really very flexible indeed, and here’s an example to prove my point.

Taken from the IABSM Facebook Group, here are some pictures of a Russian Civil War game played by Lee and friends. Technically 20-odd years prior to the period, and ran very smoothly:

I love the sabot bases: they work really well.

IABSM AAR: Blenneville or Bust! #01: West of Pierrecourt

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Just before Christmas I had a chance to play a great game of I Ain’t Been Shot Mum using the first scenario from the Blenneville or Bust! scenario pack: West of Pierrecourt.

The Allies are moving up the valley hoping to hook round Pierrecourt to the west. In order to do this, they need to be able to cross the Moire River. There’s a major bridge at Belle Maison, but Belle Maison is apparently full of Germans, so it would be good to find somewhere else to cross. Aerial assets have spotted a small bridge west of Pierrecourt, and the reconnaissance elements of the US 107th Infantry Division (nicknamed the Coyotes) have been sent forward to check it out.

The Germans, meanwhile, are keenly aware that the troops in Pierrecourt are relying on the Moire to protect their wider left flank. As the Allied advance begins, their commanders send out 30th Panzer Division’s reconnaissance units to cover as many river crossings as they can. This scenario covers the first clash between the opposing scouts.

Click on the picture below to see what happened:

IABSM AAR: Happy Christmas!

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Over the Christmas period, I got a chance to play in a Christmas-themed game of I Ain’t Been Shot Mum set in late December 1944.

It was a Battle of the Bulge scenario, with me playing a US force defending a major supply dump against an attack from a German armoured column. I could expect some support from nearby Brits, but couldn’t be sure when they would arrive.

Click on the picture below to see what happened…

IABSM AAR: A Writtle Bit of Lard

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I couldn’t make this year’s Lardy event in Writtle, A Writtle Bit of Lard, but, looking at the photographs up on various Facebook groups, I wish I had.

Legendary game runners Phil and Jenny put on a superb looking I Ain’t Been Shot Mum: here are a few photos from the day posted by Ian Roberts on the IABSM Facebook Group.

IABSM AAR: Strongpoint Hillman

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James Mantos played in a D-Day scenario put on by Brian Hall: Strongpoint Hillman. Not a full report but duplicating the pictures he posted to the I Ain’t Been Shot Mum Facebook Group:

On a beautiful October Saturday, when I should have been doing some gardening, I instead drove with Weirdy-Beardy to deepest, darkest, downtown Hamilton for a Lardy themed game day. A change in route thanks to recommendations from a Hot Lead friend made the drive there and home much less fraught with peril, unlike my last three trips to play in Hamilton. Victory for old fashioned map reading! Take that Google Maps and GPS!

I got a spot in friend Brian's 6mm I Ain't Been Shot, Mum game refighting the 1/Suffolk Regiment's 2nd assault on Strongpoint Hillman during the afternoon of D-Day. See also a Youtube video here.

Brian is a fantastic game master who always brings his depth of knowledge about the battle being played to the game to help the players understand what is going on and facilitate any rules interpretation required. His terrain is also very well made and thought through.

This scenario was one of the players fighting the GM/table since the Germans were pretty static and didn't have much to do except react. Looking at the situation I quipped to my team mates: "Two up, one back, bags of smoke?" One of them replied, "Yeah, sounds good."

Fortunately our supporting 25 pdr batteries got on the job quickly and the first missions were on target so we had the most dangerous German MG emplacements blinded for the critical break in phase while the Engineers widened the gap in the minefield to let the tanks in.

Brian introduced me to using Force Morale for IABSM, which is a great idea that I'll use from now on instead of troops fighting to the bitter, ragged end.