The Italian Job

[flatpack]

Yesterday, a few of us got together for a game.
We based it on the Italian armoured counter attack in Sicily 1943, during operation Husky.
The Italians were actually armed with R35 tanks, but we used Ft17’s cus that’s wot I got !
Scenario saw the Allied forces take the town after coming ashore, with the aid of a naval bombardment.
The Italians and their German allies, then counter attacked.
In the actual battle the Axis forces were defeated, but it didn’t come out that way in our game.
Rules were the splendid Fistful of Lead Bigger Battles.
Fun game, played in the right spirit.

Quiet day in Sicily before the battle takes place.


German fallshirmjager troops advance on the allied held town.


British forces grab anything that’s to hand. Here they bring two old Italian field guns up to the edge of the town, to defend it.


Italian armour (if you can call a cv33 armour ?) rush (gulp) forward under fire from the British guns.


German forces advance on the left flank, taking the small farm.


Captured Italian field guns are turned on their owners, with British HMG support.


The Italian armoured force advances ( no sniggering at the back)


British troops do their best to hold on to the town.


Slowly but surely, the British defence crumbles in the town, as Axis forces advance on it.






The final nail is put in the coffin as the German paras enter the town.


As I said, fun game, and it pushed me to finish the new buildings and troops for it.
Many thanks to Has.been for umpiring, and the lads that played.

[voltan]

That's a lovely setup you've done there.

[Tim Haslam]

Awesomeness

[has.been]

Just to add a few pictures.
Flatpack (Bob) our genial host reaching his end
 of the table the hard way!
The captured Italian field guns put to use by the Aussie
allied contingent (If it ain't nailed down it's ours, &
if we can prize it loose, it ain't nailed down).
Untrained in the finer points of artillery use, they do
proceed to pepper the Italian armour.
The prize for the day, the town. Some very nice work
by Bob.

[has.been]

The rest of my pictures.
The Germans advance through the Orange & Lemon groves.
Allies respond by opening up with a HMG.
Tanks on the road gain the support of Fallshirmjager.
The 2nd troop of Italian tanks move to attack the left of the town.
Brits add a mortar to the firing at the road & wheat fields.
Concealed amongst the buildings & ruins the Aussie section,
supported (?) by a single squad of Yanks (The early hours of
operation Husky were chaotic) await the Italian tank attack.
Fallshirmjager in the town!  Game over!!!

Thanks to Flatpack for hosting, JC for the food (sausage &
bacon batches with hash browns) & the players Ian (Brits)
JC (Aussies/Yanks) Garry (DAK) Flatpack (Fallshirmjager) &
yours truly  (Italian armour) for taking NONE of this too seriously.

[FlyXwire]

Eye-feastin' festival here!

Super looking game Bob.

[vodkafan]

Aw mate that looks ace! 
So glad you have binned Rapid Fire rules ....how did the vehicle rules work in FFoL Bigger Battles?

[Westbury]

A the allied commander all I can say is I'm shocked!
When I was called away to a briefing at regimental HQ everything was under control 
The colonial types were still manning the guns after the earlier confusion of which way in the shells went  and the infantry types were popping away effectively from the cover of the ruined buildings ably supported by their American cousins on the roof above them.
The pride of the British army were well established in their own cover and the mortar team was doing a fine job.
Early reconnaissance photographs would seem to prove my point.

[Westbury]

Now there was some confusion with the 'old lag' in charge of the colonial types and this confusion did seem to grow as the day went on and references to VB were lost on me but perhaps the slurring of words should have alerted me 
The AAR however has been composed solely from filthy Axis sources who can never be trusted and I suspect foul play 
Quite how a few ragged paratroopers hanging out on a street corner while some broken down tanks linger outside the town and the 'famed' DAK pick fruit in a farmyard can be considered an Axis victory is quite beyond me 

[Westbury]

I'm not completely convinced by the rules but freely admit to being a bit 'too serious', however that didn't stop it from being a top day out with many a laugh being had at fortune and misfortune. Kudos to Bob for organising a great day and respect to all the participants for a game played in a buoyant spirit. I maintain of course that 'we wuz robbed' and that some kind of bullying of the elderly went on during my enforced absence   

[vodkafan]

Ah General Westbury thank you for making everything clear. So it wasn't an AXIS victory at all! 

[Westbury]

and my post war memoirs will make that perfectly clear 

[flatpack]

Allied officers deserting their posts to resolve “ lady issues” will never be tolerated in the British army. Lol. Maybe “the wife” could write your post war memoirs  ?

[Zingara]

Great looking game. Ian's experience is the opposite of Frederick the Great's - he was losing at Mollwitz, decided he had urgent business elsewhere, only for one of his subordinates to turn things around.

Never mind, I am sure Ian's memoirs will give the correct impression, the winners write history after all.

[flatpack]

Decided I needed something to break up the skyline of the Italian town, so ordered a tower from TT Combat.
Arrived and built yesterday (good turn round for me !)
I’m now thinking this tower may be too tall ?
What do we think ?
I could separate the lower section and add a roof to it ?

Full tower built


Full tower next to 2 storey building - too tall ?


Tower lowered in height, and base unit to have a roof added ?

I think this one would work better ? And less chance of being knocked over ?