PBI

PBI = 'Poor Bloody Infantry' is what the British fighting man of World War 2 was known as. I was invited to bring a 1750 point Late War list to help my friend Stephen flesh out a new German company he's been building. I usually play Germans but it was nice to bust out some Brits for a change. These guys haven't seen some action in a eyar or two.

Here's the list:

(25) HQ

(135) Infantry Platoon

(135) Infantry Platoon

(165) Machine Gun sections (w/ piat and Universal Carriers)

(95) 3 Universal Carriers converted to Wasps

(275) 4 Gun section Royal Artillery 25 pndrs (this just seems so damn cheap!)

from Division support I chose:

(280) 3 Shermans w/ Firefly

(400) 3 Churchill Crocodiles

and

(220) Priority Air Support (Typhoons)

total is 1730. 20 points short, not bad. The British Infantry Company get a fair selection of tanks. Granted: the Sherman is only as good as the player, but I chose some Crocs. I've never used them: they're flamethrowing punch will roast some tanks or any kraut infantry hiding out in cover. As a plus, they have a decent gun (if I can get alongside a tank) and a wicked front armor of 13..... unstoppable except with a very good hit at close range! Add a few Wasps and I figured, more flamethrowing punch will cause concern for my opponent.

Another new addition to my normal list is air support. And I chose Priority: I can roll more dice for a better chance of some planes showing up: I figure that if I'm spending the points I might as well spend enough to make the planes show up and see what they can do.

The Sherman Platoon was a throw-in. I was happy with the list and added it up to just under 1500... I still had 250 points! So, more tanks! Woo hoo!

When I looked up: Stephen had some infantry in trucks, and a couple of Tiger tanks... big deal ... and some rockets .. OK, no problem so far ... and 5 Panthers. F-i-v-e .... P-a-n-t-h-e-r-s.

I had to ask him, "Uh, are those Panthers?" Because I couldn't believe so many would be put out on the table at once (When I play German tanks I start to cringe at using 3... those puppies are expensive). Stephen responded with a too-smug, "Yupp!" and I swear there was a smirk....

Here's how the board looked at Game Start:

Stephen anchored his Tigers on his left flank. With an observer for his rockets. His right flank looked exposed .... but it would be a long run to get there and I'd have to battle my way across some rockets to get to the first objective. That second objective was nestled between some Tigers and Panthers ... with a platoon of Mobile Infantry for kicks... how to crack this nut?

Not sure why my edits aren't working. Anyway: I moved my armor up my right flank to challenge the Tigers. As it turns out I was too hasty moving my Shermans out: the Tigers and Panthers soon moved in to make quick work of them.... 3 burning wrecks on the field. But, my Crocs were moving in on the Tigers. And my Ifantry was moving toward the Hedgerow, hopefully to dig in and defend any German assaults... (against Panthers and rockets and infantry???!!)

I didn't want to make it too easy for the krauts... so i moved my Universal Carrier MMG platoon up some cover to threaten Stephen's right flank... and his rockets. Those puppies can unload a LOT of dice!

As you can see in the background, Stephen's Panthers are getting ready to help support an infantry assault to crush that PBI platoon defending my middle from behind their flimsy hedgerow..... oh the brave British infantry.

While the German infantry was digging into their new defensive position along the forest edge across from my PBI platoon the Panthers were suddenly pulled back to defend the exposed German right flank from the MMG carriers. One Panther was left, bailed out with the Infantry while the Company Commander, in his own Panther, charged over to the struggling German left flank: My flamethrowers had done their work: the Wasps had bailed out a Panther and the Crocs had burnt a Tiger, the other getting lucky to still be running.

THis is when things got really interesting: my planes were coming in and managed to knock out one of the 3 Panthers that had pulled back to defend the German objective which is not visible in the pic below (sorry).

Here is where the PBI really showed themselves to be the true heroes of the British armed forces. A piat team bailed the Panther who was left with the Infantry, a Croc flanked the defending German infantry and flamed out one rifle team (leaving 6) add some artilery and they are pinned: ripe for Infantry assault: Not only did they survive the 3 hits of defensive fire but they effectively wiped out the German infantry, swept over the injured Panther (adding the to their score) but had set themselves up to move left, center or right from the woods....! The British crocs were showing the Germans that good tank engineering could be had across the Channel, too by outflanking the Tiger and Panther and giving them a whollop.

This left the Germans with 3 Panthers, some rockets and a Tiger.

The German company commander had his Panther exact revenge on the brave croc and knocked it out with a shot to his side armor...... a brave sacrifice, he did manage to pin the German infantry down which enabled the PBI to successfully assault the German held forest... and now, led by their own Company Commander they would exact their own revenge......

The Croc platoon commander moved to flank the German Company Commander, he will take a shot and bail the tank.... the PBI had moved to the right and was in position to assault the lone and vulnerable Panther (Stephen ... tsk tsk .... those Panthers look so good from the backside when looked at from the scope of a PIAT). Stephen moved his lone Tiger back toward the objective.

My second PBI platoon (unpainted ... I apologize) had abandoned their left flank and double timed it to move into the center for support in case something went horribly wrong, as you can see above.

Here's the last pic and in it you can see that the PBI of the 1st Platoon had overun the German company commander swept up and overran the lone Tiger and was in position to hold the German left objective. Stephen is measuring the move of his 2 remaining Panthers to shortly discover that they are out of range and cannot contest the objective..... Game goes to the British.

Afterthoughts: One thing I can say about Stephen as an opponent: he's a good sport, challenging opponent and he takes a few minutes to reflect on the game afterward. Yes, he might have pulled his infantry back with his Panthers and deny me an assault, and yes, charging into battle with Panthers is risky business. I worked hard at putting as many pressure points on him as I could. With 5 Panthers and 2 Tigers he was putting a lot of eggs into 2 baskets. So, I took a risk and ran a pincer offensive moving light MMG carriers into his lightly defended right flank and the armor around his left flank. My middle stayed hunkered down and I prayed he wouldn't ignore my flanking for a push through the Middle. First of all my right flank attack didn't start out too well: he knocked out my Sherman tank platoon right away. On reflection: weak tanks like Shermans can be better utilized in reserve: when his Panthers and Tigers pounce on my Slow Moving Crocs ... I bring out my fast moving Shermans and hard hitting Firefly. Ah well. Next time! But still: the heroes were definitely the PBI of that 1st platoon. COmbined with flamethrowers their assault was awesome.... it helped to make some nice rolls shooting with the PIAT team, too.

If I had to change the list I'd drop the Sherman platoon for a 3rd infantry platoon and a line of 4 six pounders... they are a lot of gun for the points!

Thanks for the game Stephen! I'll paint up these Brits and maybe buy some Hurricanes to replace the Typhoons so I can knock out more Kraut Tanks!

SGT