"Operation Market Larden and the Battle for Lardsdorf" Topic

Last Saturday saw Operation Market Larden, a day of Too Fat Lardies games ably hosted by the Wyvern Wargames Club near Evesham. I ran 2 games using the WIP Cold War version of I Ain't Been Shot Mum, the first AAR is on the blog:

maximtomilan.blogspot.co.uk

Looks interesting, I am looking for a set of rules for my 20mm 1986 project. Can you give a brief on the rules mechanisms?

Cheers,

Tally Ho!

Very nice Nice miniatures and lots of fun. Thanks for posting!

A great day out, many thanks to all concerned.

Bob

Can you give a brief on the rules mechanisms?

Of course. The rules are company-level at 1:1 and follow standard Lardy practice so have certain key elements:

Blinds – troops enter, or are deployed on, the table on blinds or which some may be dummies to represent the 'fog of war'.

Cards – platoons are activated by the drawing of a their card from a customised deck. There are also cards providing bonus moves, bonus shots and other events as well as a card to end the turn. This means provides a degree of uncertainty as to when and if a unit will act in the turn representing what von Clausewitz termed 'friction'.

Big Men – these are the important officers and senior NCOs who get the men to do the fighting. They each have a card in the deck and can activate units out of turn, improve morale, spot, communicate etc.

Actions – troops and big men have a number of actions that they use to move, shoot, spot etc. Usually there are not enough necessitating the player to make decisions and prioritise.

Actions are undertaken by infantry sections, weapons teams and AFVs, with the number – typically 3 in a turn – being dependent on the strength and quality of the unit. Shooting results in kills and shock (negative morale effects that inhibit actions) being suffered by troops who can also be suppressed or pinned. This means morale is factored into the result removing the need to take lengthy reaction tests. Big Men can remove shock on their turn. A unit may reserve all or some of its actions to use in reaction to enemy moves allowing for overwatch and opportunity fire.

The player represents a company commander and has limited control over supporting arms such as off-table artillery and anti-tank helicopters.

Sound interesting, would they handle a multi player game with, thinking the scenario for my demo game, a heli-assault on a canal crossing at one end and a Regt (-) attack on a Coy BG position?

Cheers,

Tally Ho!

It's aimed at up to a reinforced company per side at 1:1. It could possibly scale up but would require a lot of work as certain elements are specific to this level if play.

Multi-player is possible but there is the uncertainty of when units are activated so a player may be inactive for a while if his cards don't get drawn. An umpire to hurry things along and look ahead in the deck have helped alot.

Cheers, just bought IABSM. Is the Cold War bit a supplement or stand alone? It will be umpire led, more so as my games will be based on our old mid 80s scenarios which were never equal sized, generally working on at least a 3:1 Soviet advantage.

Tally Ho!

It will be standalone. The basic mechanics are as per IABSM but there are changes as appropriate to cover advances in technology, organisation and practices. Some parts of IABSM are unchanged while others have been tweaked as required while others have needed a complete rewrite and of course there are new sections added. Certainly not IABSM with guided missiles! The games so far have had varied results but have shown a need to prepare attacks and plan well; blundering forwards is a good way to lose quickly which seems right.