First Look: Battle for Liberation

Having been very pleased with the latest version of I Ain't Been Shot Mum from the Too Fat Lardies, I thought I would pick up a copy of their first rerelease of information for it.  Battle for Liberation is sub-titled A Handbook for the War in the West 1943-45 and contains an overview and orders of battle for the main forces in the theatre along with details of the available support.

The supplement is available as a 99 page pdf and, after a couple of pages of introduction covers the British & Commonwealth, US, French, German and Italian forces of the period including the main types of units and troops.

Each nationality begins with a brief introduction followed by a single page detailing each type of company, then a couple of pages covering possible battalion, divisional and other support which might be available.  Each pages is neatly split into various colour coded boxes to distinguish between the various units making it clear whether these are on table or off table elements.  Tables are then provided to give stats for the various troops, vehicles and heavy weapons  along with any special rules and an outline of which additional cards may be applicable.

Each section covers the various unit type - for the British & Commonwealth this includes the Rifle Company, the Reconnaissance Squadron, the Tank Brigade Squadron, the Armoured Division Squadron, the Motor Company, the Parachute Company, the Air Landing Company and the Commando Assault Troop.

After covering the ground forces there is a short section providing tables and rules to determine the availability and effectiveness of air support.  This is followed by short sections on using smoke with 2 inch mortars, how to manage supply for airborne operations and a final page of credits.

The presentation style is very similar to the main IABSM rule book, the text is clearly laid out and interspersed by various photographs and relevant diagrams and everything is easy to find and understand.

Some may think the £10 price tag high (especially when compared to some previous Lardies' offerings) but I think this needs to be considered against the quality of the production and the amount of research which has clearly gone into producing the supplement.  This is a very useful addition and I am looking forward to future material.