Apologies for the radio silence on the blog, life, the universe and whatnot... Having a quick look at the draft posts for the blog there are at least 20 so I better try and finish some of them... :-)
Earlier this year with Winter Wonder Lard V then creeping up very quickly, Phil and Jen recruited Andy and I to play-test their new I Ain't Been Shot Mum scenario which featured a change of scene for them being set during Operation Barbarossa where a German reconnaissance unit was tasked with capturing a strategically important bridge...
Near the bridge was a Kv-1, unfortunately it had broken down and the crew were trying to fix it by banging it with spanners...
Starmaskaya village was a nondescript little hovel but had a nice church - and a Soviet supply dump.
The German reconnaissance unit, commanded by Andreas von Krähe, aggressively advanced down the main road to the bridge a Schwerer Panzerspähwagen leading the way.
Not realising the Soviets, commanded by the legendary Bolshevik Krasnyy Stiv, were lying in wait!
But before the Soviets could meaningful react Von Krähe gunned his BMW motorbike combinations down the road to the bridge, though some Germans were caught in the rear by Soviet rifle fire.
The Kv-1 crew manfully fought off the first assault by the now dismounted motorcyclists - more than one fascist receiving a dent in his helmet from a quality Workers spanner - but they were soon machine-gunned down.
Heroes of the Soviet Union to a man, their sacrifice for the Motherland will not be forgotten and even as their still warm blood seeped into the soil of the Rodina, their noble delaying action allowed the Soviets to bring up more armour in the form of two T-70's!
Pikiruyushchiy Bombardirovshchik!!! With the German advance stalling on the outskirts of Starmaskaya a dreaded Stuka appeared and rained hell on the defenders inflicting casualties and shock!
On the opposing flank German armour appeared over the hill a second Soviet 45mm 53-K anti-tank gun (Sorokapyatka) engaged the panzers, though it soon fell victim to another Stuka attack!
However despite several of its crew lying dead around it the other Sorokapyatka fought bravely on...
An Sd.Kfz.231 falling victim to the deadly "little 45"!
Meanwhile with the Soviets no longer having any anti-tank capability to protect the other flank, Von Krähe aggressively pushed his jack-booted force forward...
The Soviets on the outskirts of the village put up an valiant resistance against the superior numbers of fascist invaders but were pinned under the weight of enemy fire and eventually pushed back into the village itself.
However with dusk starting to fall and the Sorokapyatka AT gun, now down to just one crewman, taking out a Sd.Kfz.222 (another Hero of the Soviet Union here!), Von Krähe realised he was not going to able to complete his mission despite the crumbling Soviet defence and would have to try again another day (assuming he was not sent to a Strafbatallion for his incompetent failings).
Another fun IABSM game owing a lot to Phil's running of it and Jenny's lovely terrain, it went down well at Winter Wonder Lard V and subsequent Lardy Days were P&J ran it - hopefully I'll get a chance to play the follow up 'Return to Starmaskaya' at some point and remove all traces of the fascist from the Motherland!
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