Normally we chaps at Wally HQ post game reports amongst ourselves....as we are a little sad like that. With the imminent arrival of IABSM 3, we have been playing some IABSM 2 to prepare ourselves.

Unlike Kev, I forgot to use a camera, but I thought a quick report might whet the appetite...please excuse the spelling. Max

Clive and I played the 3rd scenario in his D Day campaign on Friday. After the previous two attempts with the Fallschirmjaeger failing, this time the Grenadiers were attempting to take Fountenoy. US troops, streaming from the beach, were piling through the town, over the Seine. Roughly a company, albeit with reduced strength, supported by M10 tank destroyers were facing a similar number of Germans with two Tigers:  strangely Clive had "forgotten" the troops of Stugs he "thought" I should have.

Early moves saw the US blinds hold their momentum as they moved into advanced positions in front of the town. The Germans massed in the woods but milled around for a while.

Clive spread his troops to cover the front, with the M10's in a strong reserve. He recognised a wooded knoll as a key point on his left and moved a reduced platoon, supported by the HQ towards it. The Germans eventually gained a run of cards, and pushed the largest group down the right, the HQ manning a couple of houses in the centre, overlooking the road junction on the outskirts of the town.

The US were afflicted by short sightedness and struggled to identify the massing enemy. The German HQ spotted the Americans on the knoll, these troops suffering badly under the sustained MMG fire. Under cover (blind) the first German platoon moved to the edge of the wood and engaged the section in the farmhouse in the trees on the knoll. Two more blinds moved in support, with two others held around the bend of the path. The US troops were under some pressure as the walls of the house were riddled.

Clive didn't realise that I had left his right alone, just holding blinds there. This bought time for the HQ sections who were alone in the centre and became the open flank of the German thrust.

The German 1st platoon pinned the US on the knoll in a tough firefight as we waited on the supports to get moving. When they did, under cover (blind), the second platoon rushed the embattled Yanks on the hill with grenades, forcing he remnants back in a rush. Three Americans more lay dead for no German casualties, although Clive's support made the hill a hotter place pretty soon.

The German FO now ranged his battery in on the Yank centre as the remaining platoon were made obvious in the yards on the towns outskirts. To the American right, Clive realised that the German left was a shadow, and he concentrated efforts on unsettling the HQ and therefore the flank. With well aimed fire (big man) the two MMG sections were silenced and, with this, the US right hand platoon surged forward at the remnants, wiping them out and killing the CO. The remaining infantry section took cover in a couple of buildings and awaited their fate!

With the knoll in German hands, Clive needed to bolster his position. His two M10 sections were on this flank, the furthest left engaging the knoll with HMG fire. In hope the Germans advanced the two Tigers forward but one stuttered to a halt, out of fuel! The other trudged forward, aimed and hit the M10 but the shot merely ripped off the men's baggage and the crew reversed not believing their luck. Behind the Tigers, the Germans massed their remaining infantry to turn the flank, attempts to close with panzerfausts being made under fire from Clive's remaining infantry.

The German artillery was pinning the troops in the centre but they remained in place. The four M10's engaged in a close fight that see sawed but saw one damaged by a panzerfaust and immobilised although it's crew stayed in place. Another was KO'd by the remaining shot from the advancing grenadiers but not before it's colleague, shooting and scooting, placed a fantastically aimed shot into the Tiger and brewed it up!

All was now in the balance as the Germans were in large numbers near the town (their objective being a foothold there) but sufficient Americans remained in the centre despite the artillery and, most threateningly on the left, near the remnants of the HQ. Using the dynamic leader card, the Lieutenant from the 1st platoon raced to join the battered HQ infantry section, placing them on watch. Clive felt he needed to regain the advantage and his platoon commander bravely charged his two sections into the six men and the Lieutenant. As they rose, the Germans unleashed a vicious fire, downing three men and killing the Lieutenant. The attack faltered and broke, causing no casualties to the Germans who in turn captured the platoon!

At this point, the US realised that their day was done and began to retreat into the town to organise a remaining defence. Under heavy artillery fire, this was a difficult task but with infantry in close assault range, the M10's needed to move back, the strength of the force being withdrawn. The Germans were bruised and had no running armour, but hd gained a significant foothold in the town.

Reports back at Regimental HQ told of "hordes of German troops backed by large numbers of Tigers pushing through the town, local forces forced to retreat after a valiant defence".

Max Maxwell