IABSM AAR: Bashnya or Bust! #01: Near Osen

Here’s an After Action Report from a game from this weekend that I was due to play in but eventually could not make because of scheduling issues!

Friends Bevan, Mark and Dave have started to play through the Bashnya or Bust! scenario pack for I Ain’t Been Shot Mum, and here’s the battle report from the first game: #01: Near Osen.

Click on the picture below to see all:

IABSM AAR: Bashnya or Bust! #2A: Osen

Another great battle report from Captain Cliche this time featuring action from the second scenario from the Bashnya or Bust! scenario pack.

After a Soviet victory in the first battle of the campaign, this clash takes place around the small town of Osen. The Germans are holding out whilst their engineers set charges on the last remaining bridge , before withdrawing their remaining troops over the river and blowing the bridge to bits. They are outnumbered and face a swift Soviet attack that features plenty of T34s and SMG-armed tank-riders. The Russians need to drive through and capture the bridge.

Click on the picture below to see if the Soviets took the bridge.

IABSM AAR: Lardiarz or BoB: Near Vcheva

Captain Cliche and friends have played another game based on one of the scenarios from the late war Bashnya or Bust! scenario pack.

This time, they have adapted scenario #5D (or scenario #5N): Near Vcheva. This is an encounter battle as two armoured forces meet to contest a vital junction.

Click on the pick below to see all:

IABSM AAR: Bashnya or Bust! #01: Near Osen

It’s always great when someone sends me an AAR for inclusion on the site, especially when they also say nice things about one of my scenario packs.

Here’s an example of what I mean: Captain Cliche (you can read his excellent blog here) and his wargaming friends have begun playing through the Bashnya or Bust! scenario pack (more details here, opens in a new window), starting with the first encounter: Near Osen.

Click on the picture below to see all, including some great 6mm figures:

IABSM AAR: Bashnya or Bust! #4A: Holm

Another great I Ain't Been Shot, Mum! AAR from Sergeant Steiner's marvellous blog, this time also supported by the comments of the Duc de Gobin, author of the epic Warfare in the Age of Cynics blog.

This time, The Sergeant and the Dice Demon, Steve, are playing one of the scenarios from the Bashnya or Bust! scenario pack for IABSM: scenario #4A Holm.

What's quite fun for me, as the author of Bashnya or Bust!, is working out which exact scenario they're playing from the photos. On this occasion, I knew it was Holm immediately (distinctive terrain!), but which one. Well the only one with that exact number of T-34/85s and that exact number of Panthers is 4A...so hopefully that's it!

Anyhow, click on the pic below to see all. Recommended...along with a quick visit to the two blogs this comes from as well. Excellent stuff.

 

As usual, I hope that neither of the gentleman mentioned above objects to me re-posting their text and pictures. It is genuinely intended as a way to spread awareness of both IABSM and their excellent blogs rather than anything else.

IABSM AAR: Bashnya or Bust #5M: Near Bashnya

Here's a cracking AAR from the Norseygamer blog: scenario #5M: Near Bashnya from the Bashnya or Bust! scenario pack.

The Germans have their backs against the wall: well, Bashnya's walls to be exact. Here they attempt to stop the Soviet advance one last time.

Click on the pic below to see all:

IABSM AAR: Bashnya or Bust #4C: Holm (The Llardiff Game)

This report is from the game played on October 15th 2016 at the first ever TFL Llardiff Games Day that took place at Firestorm Games in Cardiff.

The idea of this games day was that gamers not necessarily familiar with TFL products could come and have a go at a variety of different games, getting a taste of Lard and then hopefully coming back for more.

I was tasked with showcasing I Ain't Been Shot, Mum!, and told that I should prepare for a series of different players dipping in and out throughout the day, with my efforts focused on setting up and umpiring one game in the morning and one game in the afternoon.

Hmmm, I thought, multiple players dipping in and out: my favourite - not! No matter: Lard calls and I answer...so I decided to bring to Cardiff one of the larger (if not the largest) games from my Bashnya or Bust! scenario pack: scenario #4C, Holm.

This is a late war game where a battalion of Soviet infantry (and remember IABSM is a company-sized game!) supported by just a few tanks tries to overrun a German force defending a small village on the Kaunas front. 

Click on the picture to see all the action.

IABSM AAR: BoB #3D: Zhena

The first battle report from the games of IABSM that I ran at this year's Operation Market Larden games day in Evesham.

For those not familiar with the event, some thirty Lardies gather deep in the heart of tractor country for a day of superb gaming followed by a curry and the usual mild drinking session! My thanks, as always, to Ade for organising the event so well.

Back to the action.

My morning game featured scenario 3D from the Bashnya or Bust! scenario pack: a small German force holds the village of Zhena during Operation Bagration. The Soviets are attacking in large numbers, but reinforcements are on the way. Will the vital road junction be held?

Find out by clicking on the picture, below:

IABSM AAR: Bashnya or Bust! #4E: Holm (Again)

As per my post, below, I ran the morning game of IABSM at the recent Market Larden event.

I couldn't, however, do the afternoon game, as I was down to play Fighting Season: the new ultramodern variant for Chain of Command.

Step forward Geoff Bond, who kindly agreed to step into the breech and run the afternoon IABSM session using my figures and scenario. This was especially brave of Geoff as, by his own admission, he was a bit rusty re the rules, only having played once this year. Lucky the scenario was a small one, eh? 

Click here, or on the photo below, to see a quick report on the action.

PS  Probably best to draw a veil over my performance playing the British in Fighting Season...but the Taliban really shouldn't have shot my medic!

Apparently, when told that I had off-table support in the form of a 50mm sniper; a 50mm HMG and Javelin missiles, I said: "Haven't you got anything bigger?".

As Rich said afterwards: "Two dead, including a female medic; one platoon scarred for life; an ordnance bill topping half a million quid...all in exchange for sixteen dead Taliban and about fifty civilian casualties. I'm not sure Robert made a smooth transition from playing eastern front WW2 to modern day peace keeping in Afghanistan!"

IABSM AAR: Bashnya or Bust! #4E: Holm

June 2015 saw the annual Market Larden event in Evesham. Around fifty Lardies travelled deep into the heart of tractor country to play a variety of TooFatLardies' games. I was originally due to attend just as a player but, when one GM dropped out, stepped in to run the morning game of I Ain't Been Shot, Mum!

As I didn't have time to prepare something new, I delved into my library of scenario packs and decided to play one of the games from the Bashnya or Bust! book i.e. late war, eastern front.

Click here or on the picture below to see the battle report from the game. My thanks to Ralph, Noddy and Jamie for being excellent players, and to Ade for organising the day.

AAR: Ploschad

Last week Neil and I played the climatic battle in our Bashnya or Bust! campaign: with the Soviets trying to get past the German defenders of Ploschad.

A cracking game, even if my camera was playing up a bit.

Click on the picture below to read the whole AAR...

I've also found the time to re-load the first eight or so IABSM AARs from the Blenneville or Bust! scenario pack too, so check them out!

AAR: Near Devyat

Craig Ambler gives us the next installment in his solo-play Bashnya or Bust! campaign. This time it's action near Devyat, featuring a German raid to spike some Soviet guns.

Click on the picture to read more...

And for those who like a bit of Vietnam action, I've finished loading all the Charlie Don't Surf! After Action Reports. Use the navbar in the header to go there now (well, after you've read Craig's AAR, of course).