O Group - Arras 1940 Scenario updated to 1944.

 

Because the Club had it’s AGM this month I decided that it would be easier to use a scenario that did not require huge amounts of terrain. I looked at this one and remembered the fun we had playing in it’s correct format. However, all my toys are 1944 onwards. So, using my spreadsheet skills, I updated the equipment to what I have. As it is 1944, I had to give the British a few extra toys (aircraft) and both sides had unrestricted mortars, and the artillery was more balanced for the period.

O-Group has become a firm favourite battalion-level game with
several members of the club and Steve has developed his 15mm collection around them. 
https://toofatlardies.co.uk/product/o-group-rule-set/

The British launch a surprise attack which catches the Germans with their trousers around their ankles,

so to speak.

The games started in the usual manner with combat patrols (CP’s)being deployed all over the place by

both sides. After a couple of turns the British decided to convert their CP’s, to physical platoons on the

table. The reason being to shoot away the German CP’s thus preventing them from deploying. Pretty

sound you would think, but the victory conditions were to inflict 3 FUBARS (12 Sections) on the Germans. This was all in the briefing handed to the players.

From turn 4, the Germans were able to dice to reinforcements. So there appeared on the German left

flank a pair of StuGs. Now this had the effect of forcing the British to bring on their armour. Consequently, there appeared on each flank a pair of Cromwell’s. This caused the Germans to attempt an artillery strike. No luck. Those damned radios!!

Eventually the Germans managed to deploy on CP’s and infantry actions took place with exchanges of

killed sections. The Germans kept trying for their artillery strike and eventually it happened, with a

vengeance. Rocket attack that incorporated 2 Cromwell’s and an infantry section. The first Cromwell was damaged, the second, after some great saving throws only had shock. As did the infantry platoon.

This carnage upset the British so they called in an airstrike. From the cab rank in the sky a Typhoon

appeared and attacked the 2 StuGs. As with the German artillery the result was mixed. One Stug was

destroyed whilst the other only received 1 shock. 

From their reinforcements the Germans the received 2 PzIV’s and a Flak 36 88mm. Eventually the British managed to inflict a FUBAR on the Germans. There followed a series of exchanges between the remaining StuG, plus the 88mm and the British remaining armour. This then forced the British to bring on the Churchill’s they had kept back. They pushed forward on the right flank. On the German right flank there appeared the 2 PZIV’s 

Time was running because of the AGM. The battle was called as a German victory as they prevented the

British victory conditions.

We then retired to the pub, as all good wargamers should. There was an exchanged of emails later when

all the things we had missed were highlighted.. As we hadn’t played for nearly 12 months, we didn’t do

too bad. We do have a couple of games planned so hopefully they will be better. Any omissions or errors were down to me. It was my game.

My thanks to Bob and Vince, our Germans, and Steve M and Matt, our British. The game was played

without fisticuffs or handbags being wielded, and I enjoyed the power of the umpire despite the errors.

Steve L

Tank versus Tank action with Achtung Panzer!

 

One of the best aspects of being in a club like the Devon Wargames Group is that we are a club that is definitely among the 'early adopter' group, a term so beloved by marketing managers across the various retail sectors, but an aspect of the club that means if there is a new or relatively new set of rules out there we are likely to see someone bringing it along for a game.

So it was that one of our younger club members Charlie, and one of our not so younger members, his Dad, Jack, offered to host a game of 'Achtung Panzer!' launched by Warlord Games last year, a World War II tank combat game using 28mm scale models and focusing on platoon-level engagements.

To quote the Warlord Games folks when describing their new game system;

'Achtung Panzer! is our brand-new game of in-depth 28mm WW2 tank combat that lets you fight exciting close-quarter battles in dense terrain, and experience the effectiveness of armoured fighting vehicles and their crews in WW2, with enormous customisability and a rewarding campaign system.

You’ll control a small number of tanks, and using a unique initiative order system do battle through heavy terrain on the tabletop. Detailed spotting and destruction mechanics will require you to first identify your targets, then line up the perfect shot before you fire. The action and event card system ensures that no two games are the same, and the linked campaign system allows you to see your crews and tanks progress over the course of numerous battles.'

Now as a bit of an 'Old Grognard' who in my fifty-two years in the hobby has seen just about most things in wargaming, I try to vary my diet of games now and then, just to make sure 'I'm down there with the kids and keeping it real', and of course to sit down to a lovely table, terrain and marvellous collection of WWII vehicles in 28mm or should I say 1/56 scale, is always a pleasure, and so I prepared to see what Warlord Games had come up with this time with their new tank game 'Achtung Panzer!'

I don't usually play WWII in the larger scales, having in my own collection a large selection of 15mm tanks and infantry from Battlefront, mainly set up for Western Europe 1944-45, and I have used them using I Aint Been Shot Mum (IABSM), and occasionally Chain of Command (CoC), both from the Too Fat Lardies.

More recently I sat down to have a go with a more recent Lardy incarnation, and similarly scaled for small tank actions, 'What a Tanker' (WaT), and I have to say that these tank on tank rule sets probably inspired by the online 'World of Tanks' game have not really grabbed my enthusiasm in that I probably prefer more of a simulation, all arms set of rules like CoC, where infantry and anti-tank capable troops keep the tankers on their guard among the close terrain of NW Europe in the later years of WWII.

However, putting all my pre-conceptions to one side I decided to see what sort of game could be had with 'Achtung Panzer!' and paid close attention as Charlie explained the basics to our group of rookie tank commanders as we prepared to battle it out among the houses and hedgerows of a typical Normandy hamlet circa 1944.

As you would expect from Warlord, the game comes with some nicely produced components to compliment the vehicles and terrain of your table with an example of one of the vehicle status cards above and some of the chance cards each tank commander can hold and play when the opportunity presents, but always with the threat of a counter card held by ones opponent.

The game sequence is driven by a series of chit draws determining which particular model tank can activate to move and fire, and we managed to play two games during the day with the first game very much on the 'learning curve', with myself commanding a Panzer IV alongside another such tank, a Panzer III and StuG IIIG, facing off against an assortment of Allied types including a Sherman, Cromwell, Sherman Firefly and Stuart.

Both sides were tasked with controlling a small village between our lines, and so with the Panzer IV's attempting to get into a covering position it was left to the StuG and Panzer III to get into the village, whilst the Allies seemed content to sit back on their ridge line and take pot shots at manoeuvring German tanks in the fields below their ridge overlooking said village.

Not surprisingly the Firefly drew most German return fire, forcing it to reverse into cover to make repairs allowing the lighter German tanks to use the respite to get in among the buildings to lay claim to controlling the hamlet.

In our second game we had the German force fielding some big cats including Tiger and Panther alongside the Panzer IVs and with the Allies attempting to storm our position on a ridge as they looked to present multiple targets in the hope that one of them would be able to close for a fatal flank shot.

The German big-cats won the day though smashing up the advancing Allied armour with a few tense moments of card play and dashes between cover to spice up the play, before the Germans got the drop in the important exchanges of fire.

So rather than giving a detailed blow by blow account of Achtung Panzer! I thought I would offer my very personal impression of the game, very much similar to that of What a Tanker, in that these games are much in vogue at the moment along with skirmish games in general; with it seems a new generation of historical gamers less inclined to build and field big collections of miniatures, requiring the time to play the larger battle, with all its added complexities of command and combined arms tactics, but rather the low-level skirmish game focussed on the minutia of which armour piercing shell to stick in the breach and how good is my driver at performing a high speed reverse.

So what's wrong with that you might say, to which I would reply nothing, if you enjoy that kind of game, combined as here with the terrain and vehicles to compliment play, and that said, I enjoyed this break from my normal diet of play, but I don't think Achtung Panzer and other similar offerings have enough nutrition to satisfy my personal hunger for historical simulation, similar to the choice between a MacDonalds and a gourmet three course dinner with wine.

If nothing else, WWII land warfare generally marked a return to combined-arms warfare, where infantry, artillery and armour worked best when brought together in combat teams, specifically arranged in quantity for the task at hand; and with the array of anti-tank capability in the hands of the poor bloody infantry, the tanks tended to often enter battlefields, as seen above, like shy debutantes stepping onto the ball-room dance floor, only too aware that that hedgerow in front could easily be shielding a Panzerschreck or PIAT team waiting for their opportunity to cause absolute mayhem.

Thus the infantry screen for such armoured advances were a necessity, whilst the armour, proof against machinegun and most artillery, particularly the more common mortar round, offered the infantry heavy support in the face of such threats, often being used to shoot the infantry onto the target such as a large wood or village.

There are of course occasional actions that come to mind where this type of tank v tank engagement with the occasional anti-tank gun on the scene was an event and actions such as SS-Unterscharfuhrer Ernst Barkmann at what became known as Barkmann's Corner and SS-Obersturmführer Michael Wittmann at Villers Bocage readily offer themselves as potential historical scenarios playable with these rules. 

During the brave engagement often called "Barkmann's Corner", 

SS-Unterscharfuhrer Ernst Barkmann pictured, destroyed approximately 

nine Sherman tanks and many other various vehicles with his lone Panther tank.

http://www.achtungpanzer.com/gen5.htm

I can easily see the attraction of these 'Tank Heavy' games and for Warlord in particular, with models to sell, the rules make perfect marketing strategy, and I rather hope they prove to be the entry-drug required to attract a new generation of wargamer into the historical gaming arena, and in due time a desire to replicate the history that these sort of games should inspire further reading to produce.

So in closing, I think Achtung Panzer! is a well produced game of tank versus tank action that gives a tense skirmish 'knife fight' of a game playable to a conclusion in a few hours of play, but for the WWII aficionado perhaps just a light interlude to their normal gaming and to the new student of WWII warfare a set of rules and game that should hopefully encourage further exploration into other rule sets that produce an equally fun game with all the complexities and challenge of combined arms warfare that WWII tanks were but a part.

Thank you to Jack and Charlie for my first game of Achtung Panzer! and to Stephen, David, Nathan and Owen for the fun we had trading APDS among the hedgerows.

JJ

American Civil War Action using Pickett's Charge.

As is usually the case with me the scenario is not from a Civil War battle but from Napoleon vs the Russians. The Union taking the French and the Confederates taking the Russians.

The objective of the game was to take either the village on the T junction or the redoubt on the hill on the Rebel right flank.

Potential ADC’s were allocated, five to the Rebels and six to the Union requiring 4 to 6 to be in command and 1 to 2 Hesitant. Hesitant Brigades are limited in what they can do. I also set the game up as two divisions and made the players take it in turns dicing, hoping to instil a little friction between them when it came to allocate the ADC’s on their throw.

https://toofatlardies.co.uk/product/picketts-charge/

To start the game the Rebels set up first. This was to signify the union recce. I have to put it out there now that things took a bit longer for this game because only myself and Nathan have played these or 

General d’Armee II (GDA2). Steve M, Matt and Tom were Picketts Charge virgins. Some amendments such as the skirmishers (plus my own take as well) and the casualties were taken from GDA2. I hope Mr Brown is not too offended. I may incorporate others at a later date, perhaps he’ll offer me a job, hee, hee.

Anyway, The Rebels deployed along the entire front with their cavalry on the left. Due to the recce the Union forces were able to deploy as they wished. They decided to keep the Rebel right flank in place by putting their cavalry brigade, which included a battery of 12-pdrs and dismounted cavalry. I had decided that dismounted cavalry would be treated as skirmishers.

For information - each skirmisher stand had one D6, at effective range 4,5 and 6’s were required. At long range 5 and 6, less any modifiers for cover etc. Two hits were required for one casualty. It seemed to work OK.

Onwards. The Union main thrust was in the centre and they pushed up along the road in column. They used their ADC’s to reroll Brigade activation and to Double quick their movement. Meanwhile on the flanks the Union forces were holding the Rebels in place with probing attacks.

The lead Regiment on the road was taking a pounding as the rebels in the centre used their ADC’s to ensure the centre brigade remained active by using one ADC for a Command reroll. Hoping that the activation would take place they also added two ADC’s for Artillery Assault Fire. I can’t go into all the different options available for your ADC’s, you’ll have to buy the rules.

A note about the use of Artillery Assault fire. Neither Nathan nor myself could find any restriction on its use. I am inclined to amend the use to every other turn or low on ammo, or fatigue casualties for continued use. More things to think about.

Needless to say, casualties mounted on the front regiment, and after a few turns of abuse, it was forced to disperse. This caused a Faltering Brigade test on the next turn (my interpretation and my game). Adding a command reroll, Matt, our union commander threw a 2, Withdraw. Thinking he couldn’t do any worse he rerolled, and you’ve guessed it got a 1. Catawamptiously Chewed Up, the whole Brigade was forced back 300mm and took two casualties per regiment in the brigade.

With the centre in disarray Tom was forced to reroute his infantry brigade to the centre. Luckily his cavalry was strong enough to keep Nathan occupied. Matt used his other brigade to pressure Steve on the Rebel left pushing him back.

With the Judicious use Of ADC’s, One for command reroll and three for Rally. Matt threw a 6, well in command, and then another 6, so three casualties removed from each of the regiments. This put them into a good state.

The damage had been done though, and despite getting back into the fray and all the pressing now in the centre by two brigades, and the flanks, the Union attack just wasn’t in a state to carry out the mission.

Attacking forces will always take more casualties than the defenders and if the dice had gone better for Matt this could well have been a closer thing. The joys of throwing dice. Some you get and some you don’t. For Matt, he wanted to try the rules as he has figures, and this was an opportunity to try them, even with my amendment’s.

He said he liked them and went home with a copy of the QRS and other stuff I had written. A convert. I like them and will play them again.

A note about David Brown’s scenarios. I have played various sets of his rules from WW2 to ACW and things in between and his scenarios have always left me thinking, I may have lost or I may have won, but if something had happened differently, or someone had done this rather than that, then the result could have been very different. In short you seem to be ensured a balanced battle.

My thanks to our Union commanders, Tom and Matt (who took the ribbing in good heart. He did come back to the pub after all), and Nathan and Steve M who fought valiantly to keep the Rebels in place. Also cheers Nathan for helping go through things with some whilst I was explaining things to other players.

Any misinterpretation or misuse of the rules were entirely my fault. It was my game.

Steve L

For those who may be interested.

Rule Set – Picketts Charge (mostly)

Figures – AB and Blue Moon. As always, I would like to thank Nick S and Mr Steve who painted my figures for me.

Trees were from Buffers near Axminster, and Amazon

Roads and Rivers – Search Fat Frank on EBay.

Snake Fences – also on EBay. Search 15mm snake fence.

Walls – I’m pretty sure they came from Pendraken and came ready painted but I can’t remember the link.

Hills –totalsystemscenic.com.

Battle Cloth – the now defunct Tinywargames

Clotted Lard 2025.

Last weekend the club gathered in Lympstone Village Hall to celebrate Clotted Lard 2025, the eighth Lardy show since we started back in 2018, and another opportunity for DWG club members to enjoy the company of other enthusiasts for the Lardy stable of games, many of who have been coming since the first show and have become firm friends of the club with our regular annual gathering.

As well as enjoying the multiple games on offer and the opportunity to play two of them over the day, with games ranging from Sharp Practice, I Aint Been Shot Mum (IABSM), What a Tanker, What a Cowboy, Midgard, Coastal Patrol, Chain of Command II and Infamy, the gathering would see the club raising monies for our local charity, Devon Air Ambulance, as well as enjoying our usual Devon Cream Tea to keep everyone going in the afternoon.

This year I decided to take a break from hosting a game during the day to opting to play in two of those on offer, thus this show report will differ from those of previous years in that I intend to present it from the perspective of a player, focussed very much on the games enjoyed rather than an overview of the show as a whole.

My game choices would see me in the morning session of play enjoying reappraising myself with the delights of IABSM, a set of rules I played to destruction when they first appeared way back in 2002, and so different from the then typical IGO-UGO playing systems that gave player commanders a control omniscience that real life commanders could only dream of; instead IABSM introduced tabletop wargamers to the principles of 'Clausewitzian friction' and the frustrations of potentially not being able to do things when or indeed how one would like to, a principle that has become in one way or another a feature of many of the games we like to play today.

With their card generated play sequence and the possibility of units not being able to activate in any given turn, or units not quite doing exactly what their player commanders intended, these rules revolutionised the concepts around initiative-driven-activation ways of playing our games and creating some of the command issues (friction) faced by real-life commanders, having to deal with issues beyond their control, and still carry on fighting their battle to achieve a given outcome.

So once we had finished setting the rooms up and helping game organisers arrange their table spaces, I joined friends Phil and Jenny Turner for the morning game as our group of players settled in to recreate some of the drama experienced around the Oosterbeek area of Arnhem in September 1944.

The battle around Arnhem as the British battalions, including the Border Regiment, break off their engagements and withdraw into the Oosterbeek perimeter, 19th–21st September.

During the Battle of Arnhem in September 1944, elements of the 1st Battalion, The Border Regiment, a part of the 1st Airborne Division, successfully destroyed a German PzKpfw B2 (f) Flammpanzer, which was a captured French Char B1-bis tank converted into a flamethrower tank by Panzer-Kompanie 224, using a 6-pounder anti-tank gun. The action took place on September 20th, 1944, near the Oude Herbergh in Oosterbeek, as German forces advanced on the area defended by the British paratroopers.

A Flammpanzer B2(f) which was commanded by Leutnant Siegfried Giesa and belonged to Panzer Kompanie 224. This tank took part in Operation Market garden and was involved in the fighting in Oosterbeek, Holland. On the 20th September 1944, Giesa’s vehicle was on the move but as it stopped in front of the De Koude Herber restaurant, at the intersection of Sonnenberglaan-Utrechtseweg, it was engaged by Captain Peter Chard from C Troop, №2 Battery, 1st Airlanding Light Regiment, 1st Airborne Division. He fired a PIAT at the tank some 20 meters away though the weapon misfired. Armed with grenades, the captain attempted to run around the enemy vehicle and drop a grenade inside. Unfortunately he wasn’t quick enough as the Flammpanzer reacted the quickest and using its hull-mounted flamethrower, spewed fire onto Chard who ran back to his comrades. Enveloped in flames, he screamed at his men to shoot him and end his misery. As Chard did this, he was grabbed by his colleagues who rolled him around in the sand and were able to put out the fire. The burns the 24-year old officer received were so severe that he died on 9 October 1944 in a hospital in Apeldoorn. While this was happening, a 6-pdr AT gun named “Gallipoli II” from №26 Anti-Tank Platoon, S Company, 1st Battalion, 1st Border Regiment, 1st Airborne Division, which was located at the corner of the Van Lennepweg and the Utrechtseweg, took aim and positioned Leutnant Giesa’s Flammpanzer in its sights. As the tank approached the Oude Herbergh, the crew of the British gun, commanded by Corporal B. Lever and manned by Private Joe Cunnington, Private G. “Taffy” Barr and Lance Corporal Wilf Pridmore opened fire and struck the German tank in the bow, knocking it out. The enemy crew bailed out and ran away, covered by German small arms suppressing fire. Leutnant Giesa was slightly wounded but went on to survive the war.

Phil and Jenny had recently visited the battlefield where our action took place and used that experience to inform their delightful table married of course with their usual attention to matching it up with an equally glorious collection of model figures and vehicles.

We quickly sorted out sides and I joined fellow clubmate Jack to command the German forces as we quickly decided to focus our efforts to take the ornate art-deco restaurant that was shelled to smithereens by the Germans in the actual battle, being that it occupied a vital position overlooking the Driel Ferry on the Lower Rhine (see the map above, showing the location of Driel) and a potential crossing point for the Polish Airborne Brigade sent to reinforce the bridgehead.

German infantry sections spread out as they move towards the towered restaurant building, with tank support on the road to their right. 

Our force, Kampfgruppe Von Tettau, was the usual hotch-potch mix of former Luftwaffe groundcrew now recently recruited to a ground force role in support of our intimidating force of Char B Flampanzers, clanking towards a series of blind markers set up around the restaurant and in among the light woods that surround the area.

I hadn't played IABSM for several years now, but the sequence of play quickly became familiar again, and the need to practice the 'one foot on the ground, one foot off' method of advancing infantry towards an unspotted enemy, so trumpeted by the likes of General Montgomery, by constantly placing forward sections on overwatch as advancing rearward sections attempted to close on suspected enemy positions.

The use of blinds is a very effective way of simulating jump off points for deployed troops and adds other choices to the players on the attack as they balance the need to move forward with the need to stop and provide covering fire, should the enemy reveal themselves, as well as using activations to attempt to spot undisclosed blinds and force the enemy to be revealed prematurely.

Inevitably the time comes when the defenders feel impelled to reveal their positions and open fire, and thus the first rounds of 6-pdr AT fire slammed into the leading Char B, disabling the tank but not sufficiently to force its crew to bail or to impede its ability to fire.

The Char B responded with a devastating burst of flame that destroyed the 6pdr and its crew but then itself falling prey to a nearby PIAT team as the Borderer infantry revealed themselves, and then to shoot up the first German infantry teams passing through the British smokescreen in the wake of the tanks and closing with the hedgerow in front of the Parachute troops.

Our attack plan was simple in that the tanks were the spearhead to help shoot the following infantry onto the target, namely the restaurant area, and with all the tanks arriving together in front of the enemy a multiplicity of targets ensured some of them would survive long enough to do the damage that was required of them; thus although they suffered from multiple rounds of PIAT fire as they closed the position to begin spraying flame, the damage inflicted on the dug in Paras was horrendous.

As the Paras battled with the Char B's more and more German infantry closed in on their positions forcing a desperate 'Whoa Mohammed', the battle cry of 1st Airborne troops, as the red berets surged out of their trenches to battle hand to hand with the leading sections of German infantry.

Hand to hand combat is always a bloody affair and this fight was equally so with both sides suffering heavy casualties, but with numbers favouring the German troops, the victory went to Kampfgruppe Von Tettau and the airborne troops were forced to fall back shaken, only to be hit by another charge to combat that drove the surviving airborne troops to take shelter in the building.

As our game drew to a close, Phil declared a draw, with the surviving Paras occupying the building ready to sell themselves dearly, but with a sizable group of German infantry in close proximity ready to attempt the final assault that had been enabled by the three wrecked Char B's that sat smouldering on the nearby approach road.

Thank you to Phil and Jenny for putting on a very entertaining scenario and to Chas, Jeff and Jack for providing the fun of playing it.

So with a quick break for lunch, the afternoon session soon beckoned with a scone, clotted cream and jam to look forward to a bit later and also the next game which was a complete change of theme and indeed century as I looked forward to a bit of Sharp Practice action in the Peninsular War, with fellow DWG clubmate Bob.

I'd had the pleasure of play testing Bob's scenario at our last club meeting and having played the Allied Anglo-Spanish force, I opted to have a go with the French this time, being careful not to give anything away to my fellow French commanders as to what might happen, so as to keep the game fresh for my fellow players; and with myself taking command of the French hussars and voltigeurs found myself at the head of the French column tasked with marching out of the town to the opposite board edge whilst escorting our waggon load of ill-gotten booty.

The congestion of French troops trying to extricate themselves from the tight streets of the Spanish hamlet replicated the play test game and the situation presented soon caused enough suspicion among my fellow French commanders, that troops were soon positioned facing outwards from the route of march in anticipation of any potential ambush along the way.

As the French infantry guarded the route of march, the light troops and cavalry assumed the role of advance guard as the more open country beyond the shallow creek beckoned an increased opportunity to manoeuvre, should a fight develop further along the road.

Of course as I suspected we didn't have to wait long for the British and Spanish opposition to make their presence known, as the Spanish guerrillas in the town, supported by light cavalry with lances took the opportunity to add a bit more chaos and confusion amid the streets of the town, this while British infantry started to emerge from the olive groves and small buildings in the open country beyond the town. 

The French seemed to give a better account of themselves in the town fighting than before, but the poor old French hussars got a right seeing-too from combined British musketry and rifle fire, as they vainly attempted to manoeuvre their line into a position to charge.

The French dragoons witnessing the remnants of the hussars ride back past their position, tucked into dead ground behind a large hill, wisely decided on discretion over valour and stayed put, leaving the battle on the other side of the hill to the voltigeurs and line infantry pushing out of the town and over the bridge.

British firing superiority was taking a heavy toll on the French as they attempted to dispute the open ground, but the threat to the French rear and the booty wagon seemed to be being contained, but the French progress was slow because of the fight in the town and the unequal struggle over the river was made worse by the fact that the small number of French units fighting the British were in desperate need of reinforcements that were otherwise engaged.

The situation remained somewhat deadlocked as we called the game to a close, with a strong force of French holding the town, but with a formidable British roadblock growing in strength beyond it.

Thank you to Si, Chris, Alistair, Ian and Bill for their company and the fun of the game and to Bob for letting us play with his marvellous collection of toys.

Our team of players and game organisers for Clotted Lard 2025

As always much fun was had by all, with a great choice of Lardy games, lovely tables and figure collections, good company and an enjoyable day doing what wargamers do best, all this whilst raising money for a very important local charity, the Devon Air Ambulance who help lots of local folks and perhaps even more, the thousands that visit the county every summer on holiday to the region.

Thank you to the DWG Clotted Lard organiser in chief, Colin, running this his second Clotted Lard event, to Jack for providing the cream teas from his bakery, and to fellow DWG club mates who helped set up and prepare things for our guests, and to the Lympstone Village Hall committee who have supported this event for the last three years and enabled our use of their magnificent facilities.

Here's to Clotted Lard 2026

JJ