Disposable Heroes - Latest Game in 1/72 Scale

On Saturday afternoon my mate Alejandro invited us to his house and we got together with another of our gaming buddies, Juan, and managed to get in a good skirmish game using the the Disposable Heroes ruleset by Iron Ivan games.

We've only recently got back to using these rules, maybe the last time we gamed regularly with them was about 4 - 5 years ago, so there were a few things we'd forgotten, but we remembered the basic mechanics and with the rulebook at hand we got in a good 1:1 skirmish game (the rules are about 15 years old, and there's a version II recently released which we'll maybe give a try soon).


The scenario was taken from the "Go Forward Together" British / Commonwealth armies list


It's set in Normandy 1944, British attacking with numerical superiority against a smaller force of SS Panzergrenadiers.


"Montgomery is determined to tidy his lines as part of the drive on Caen. He sends heavy attacks driving around the town to capture vital positions before launching the major operation designed to take Caen itself"


The British have to take the majority of the scenario objectives to win.




General view of the table




Sherman close-up (Airfix kit with "extras" to hide the undersized turret)




British advance





Pz IV Straddles the road





And takes out a Sherman on the 1st turn




The PAK 40 took various pot-shots but missed miserably




German troops regroup behind a barn




More Germans emerge from a field




And successfully immobilise a Sherman too eager to advance without infantry support




A Churchill "races" along the right flank to take one of the objectives




Meanwhile a brave PIAT team (actually a bazooka wielding ancient Matchbox 1-76 Brit) move ahead and spy the Pz IV straddling the road.




Boom ! - A lucky shot from the PIAT and the Pz IV goes up in flames.


Despite the numerical superiority of the British, it was not easy for the attacker, they (ie : me and Alejandro that is) made the mistake of not going full-out to reach the objectives.


We found it was a good balanced scenario and the Germans SS and have a higher morale rating but less units and so less activations, and it was hard to get them pinned.

The British had some luck with a 3" mortar and the PIAT, but they only reached one objective, which was really their own fault for dawdling around given the limit on the number of turns.

Arnhem campaign no.1: Recon rescue - Disposable Heroes Rules

Well, here we go again with the Arnhem campaign with Ironivan Disposable Heroes.

Set on September 27, 1944 when the British reconnaissance squadron, commanded by Major Freddie Cough, began to move towards the Arnhem bridge. His orders were to get ahead of the infantry and take the bridge in a surprise attack, but when they advanced they fell under the fire of an SS Training Battalion. The Major was killed by machine-gun fire and the soldiers who accompanied him were wounded. The British objectives are to rescue the wounded and destroy the enemy machine guns, while the German objective is to maintain their troops in good order and destroy the largest number of British units.

The battlefield :

The wounded para next to his overturned jeep in the centre of the table

British paras in jeeps roar onto the table to rescue their wounded comrade.

German troops open fire from the cover of light woods

We've got him ! Let's get out of here !

German snipers take aim

Meanwhile a British light mortar fires into the woods at the Germans to cover the retreat.

The Brits finally manage to evacuate their wounded comrade, although they have suffered various casualties in the process.

Campaña de Berlin. Lucha por el Reichstag. Escenario nº14: El Reichstag - Brazo de Nelson Wargames Club

Escenario nº14: El Reichstag.

30 de Abril de 1.945. Para alcanzar el edificio del Reichstag, ahora envuelto en llamas, tropas de la 150 División de Fusileros soviética tendrán que cruzar los 400 metros de terreno abierto que ocupa la Königsplatz. Un túnel derruido lleno de agua es la principal defensa de los alemanes. Un observador soviético escribió: "Sin resistencia esa distancia podría recorrerse en pocos minutos, pero ahora se presenta impasable, cubierta de cráteres, raíles de ferrocarril retorcidos, alambre de espino y trincheras..." Son casi las 06:00 y el Untersharfürer Georg Diers y su tripulación permanecer en su King Tiger numerado 314 guardando la Königsplatz. Diers manda uno de los dos últimos carros pertenecientes al Batallón de Carros Pesados de las SS 503.

El comandante alemán observa el destino inevitable de sus hombres.

El avance soviético será realizado sin tener en cuenta las bajas...

...con apoyo de morteros pesados...

...e innumerables tropas de asalto.

La preocupación es ya sorpresa ante la barrera de fuego arillero que cae sobre sus tropas.

Campaña de Berlin. Lucha por el Reichstag. Escenario nº13: El puente Moltke - Brazo de Nelson Wargames Club

Escenario nº13: El puente Moltke.

29 de Abril de 1.945. Hace algunas horas, el sargento Pyatnitsky cruzó con su sección el puente Moltke después de un intento fracasado por parte de los alemanes de volar la estructura del mismo. Ahora, pocos minutos pasada la media noche, durante la mañana del día 29, fuerzas alemanas contratacan para eliminar la cabeza de puente soviética en el Spree. ¿Podrá mantener sus posiciones el sargento Pyatnitsky, o logrará el asalto alemán llegar a detonar los explosivos que aún están conectados al puente Moltke?

Königstiger que sirvió de muy poco a los alemanes.

¡¡Cuidadito que hay ruskis!!

Corre Klaus que aún llegamos al puente...

...a ver si estos no se dan cuenta...

Siempre están que no se entienden...

Campaña de Berlin. Lucha por el Reichstag. Escenario nº12: Los cazadores de carros - Brazo de Nelson Wargames Club

29 de Abril de 1.945.

Irónicamente, entre los defensores más aguerridos de Berlín se encontraban noventa franceses pertenecientes a la División de las SS Charlemagne. Cinco días atrás, su comandante, Henri Fenet, hizo una llamada para obtener voluntarios para defender la capital del Reich. Casi se ofreció el batallón al completo pero Fenet sólo tenía vehículos y transportes para noventa hombres. Ahora, los SS franceses de Fenet tenían una merecida reputación como cazadores de carros enemigos. De hecho, eran los causantes de la destrucción de más de la mitad de los carros soviéticos puestos fuera de combate en el Distrito Central de Berlín.

April 29, 1945.

Ironically, among the fiercest defenders of Berlin were ninety French belonging to the SS Charlemagne Division. Five days earlier, its commander, Henri Fenet, made a call for volunteers to defend the capital of the Reich. Almost the complete batallion volunteered, but Fenet only had transport vehicles for ninety men. Fenet's French SS had a fierce reputation as enemy tank hunters and in fact, were the cause of the destruction of more than half of the Soviet tanks put out of action in the Central District of Berlin.

En la mañana del 29 de Abril, los franceses preparan una emboscada cerca de Wilhemlmstrasse...

On the morning of April 29, the French prepare an ambush near Wilhemlmstrasse ...

Los franceses esperan la llegada de los carros soviéticos en las ruinas

The French await the arrival of the Soviet tanks in the ruins

BOOM !!!!

Los cazadores de tanques matan a su presa.

The hunters kill their prey

Los rusos siguen avanzando por las desiertas calles de Berlín, y se nota en el fondo una presencia...., la cara más cruel del Dios de la guerra.

The Russians keep up their advance through the empty berlin streets, and they are suddenly aware of a presence in the background....., the cruel face of the God of War.



Al otro lado de la larga calle, los viejos policias berlineses, protegiendo la entrada del metro, y escondidos detrás de barricadas de escombros, disparan incesantemente contra las tropas soviéticas

At the other end of the street, elderly Berlin policemen, protecting the subway entrance and hidden behind barricades of rubble fire incessantly at the advancing Soviet infantry.

La artillería rusa bombardea las defensas alemanes sin descanso, pero con poca precisión y sólo consigue dar unas cuantas bajas entre los policías.

Russian artillery bombards the defending Germans without respite, but with little accuracy, only managing to cause a few casualties among the elderly police.

Otro tanque T-34/85 arde, una nueva  víctima de los panzerfaust de los franceses de la División de las SS Charlemagne. Mientras tanto la calle se convierte en una ratonera para las tropas que están siendo diezmados por los disparos de los alemanes en en los edificios en ambos lados, en frente y por detrás.

Another T-34/85 burns, a victimo of the French SS panzerfuasts. Meanwhile the street has become a deathtrap for the Russian troops who are being decimated by the fire from Germans hidden in the buildings on all sides.

Dos francotiradores rusos consiguen avanzar por las calles sin ser detectados, consiguiendo matar al mando de los defensores del la entrada del metro, pero luego caen víctimas también una vez descubiertos del fuego alemán.

Two Russian snipers manage to slip along the street without being detected and take out the officer in charge of the men defending the subway, but once they reveal their position they too fall victims to the Germans' gunfire.

Al final los rusos tienen que detener su avance, los defensores de Berlin han aguantado heroicamente, deteniendo completamente el avance soviético y aniquilando a prácticamente todos los atacantes.


In the end the Russians to stop their advance, the defenders of Berlin have endured heroically, completely stopping the Soviet advance and wiping out almost all attackers.