Tactics in 'Blue Division'
Scenario #18: !No Somos Italianos!
0800 – 0900 Hours
By Doug McNair
December 2006

Of all the Panzer Grenadier games and scenario books we’ve released to date, Blue Division is the title in which politics plays the greatest role.

Though just as brutal as any other 20th century fascist dictator, Generalissimo Francisco Franco distinguished himself as a far greater master of the political game than any of his contemporaries. Beyond the obvious fact that he stayed in power and survived Hitler and Mussolini by 30 years, he managed to keep Spain officially out of World War II while satisfying Hitler’s demand to pay Germany back in kind for its armed support in the Spanish Civil War. Asking for volunteers to go fight the Soviet communists kept Hitler happy and also got the most politically active Spanish fascists out of the country so Franco could rule in peace. At the same time, sending a force of fanatical fighters helped demonstrate to the Germans that should they be so perfidious to betray him, any German army invading Spain would face an enemy far worse than any it had encountered before.

Most of the scenarios of Blue Division demonstrate the iron discipline that distinguished the Spanish soldiers’ service in Russia. In many of the early scenarios Spanish units have a morale of 9, putting them on a level with the Japanese island-defenders in Guadalcanal.

Franco put this discipline to political use with orders like “Defend Posad as though it were Spain,” showing the Germans that Spanish soldiers would defend any position to the death once ordered. The Germans remained suitably impressed until “The Black Day of the Blue Division,” February 10th, 1943. On that day, three reinforced Soviet rifle divisions attacked Blue Division, which was holding the Axis line in front of Krasni Bor. Though the Spanish fought valiantly, they were eventually overwhelmed by sheer numbers and forced to retreat, and from that point on the Germans began to think of Blue Division as a second-rate unit.

Franco got his chance to prove the Germans wrong one month later, when the Spanish 262nd Infantry Regiment stood up to the Soviet 72nd Rifle Division (reinforced by several heavy tank platoons) attempting to retake a stretch of the vital Moscow-Leningrad Highway. The Germans had moved a division behind the Spanish position as a “corset-stay,” but if the Spanish could hold off the overwhelming Soviet attack without calling for German assistance, they would reclaim their honor and prove that they were indeed not a force not to be trifled with.

Game Summary

It is then and there that Blue Division Scenario #18, "!No Somos Italianos!" ("We Are Not Italians!") begins. The scenario is fought on Eastern Front boards 1 and 3, set up vertically with 1 inverted and to the left of 3. The game starts at 0800 hours on March 19th, 1943, and lasts 30 turns.

Victory Conditions

The Spanish must hold the road, the town and the bridge against the Soviets, who enter from the north edge. The Spanish score a Major Victory if they do this without calling for German reinforcements, and fewer than 20 good-order Soviet steps are south of the road at game end. They score a Minor Victory if they do call for German reinforcements and still control either the bridge or the town, plus and at least one road hex on Board 1, at the end of the game. The Soviets win a Minor Victory if they control the bridge and the road at the end of the game, and a Major Victory if they control the bridge, the road and the town.

Red Armor vs. Iron Will

The Soviets outnumber the Spanish by more than two to one, and the Spanish will have no armored units unless they call for German reinforcements. But they start off entrenched, their base morale is higher than the Soviets, and their officer corps is of stunningly high quality. Most Spanish leaders have a morale of 9 or better and give a morale bonus of at least +1, and half of them give a combat bonus of +1 as well.

The Soviet leaders also have an average morale of 9 or better, but less than half of them give morale bonuses, and only two of them give combat bonuses. The Soviets must hope their armor can smash through Spanish discipline, and that the Red Army troops won’t abandon their officers like the Spanish troops did at Krasni Bor.

Spanish Setup

The Spanish can place six entrenchment markers on the board at game start, so they set them up along the road, spaced three hexes apart (except in the town on Board 3, which serves as fortification for the road hexes running through it). This will allow the Spanish to present a solid wall of point-blank opportunity fire (with the consequent +3 column modifier) to any Soviet infantry that dares approach. They place their 50mm and 75mm AT guns in the town on Board 3, where they can cover the entire Spanish line except the last two trench hexes on the left. The 75mm infantry gun goes in the town near the south edge of Board 1, from where it can provide long-range fire support.

Two Spanish INF platoons go into each entrenchment, except for the bridge hex (which gets an INF and an HMG platoon), and the hex on the extreme left Spanish flank. Being beyond Spanish AT fire range and thus vulnerable to Soviet tank attack, the Spanish reinforce their left flank by placing two HMG platoons there plus a teniente who has a morale of 11 and a +2 morale bonus. They also place their two 81mm mortar platoons in the middle of the wheatfield south of their left flank, from where they can cover the entire Spanish line west of town. Then they place three INF platoons and an HMG platoon in the town on Board 3.

Finally, the Spanish player deploys his elite officer corps evenly among his units. Each trench hex gets a leader, and most of them give both a combat bonus AND a morale bonus.
Will this be enough to stop the Russians without help from the Germans? Let’s find out.

Turn 1 — 0800 Hours

The Soviets get initiative, and their colonel decides that his first priority must be to take out the Spanish anti-tank guns in the town on Board 3. Until that happens, his four tank platoons can’t help take the town, and can’t even get within firing range of most of the Spanish line.

The Soviets start by bringing in a reinforced infantry battalion north of the woods on Board 3. Some of the leaders there will spot for artillery on the Spanish line while the infantry and Soviet on-board artillery takes up position in the woods to prepare for an assault on the town.

The Spanish open up with offboard artillery, hitting the hex with the major leading the Soviet advance. One Soviet HMG unit gets disrupted. Soviet OBA replies but is ineffective, and then the last Spanish OBA fire disrupts a Soviet lieutenant and an INF platoon. The last Soviet OBA is ineffective, and the Spanish pass while the rest of the Soviet units enter.

Another reinforced infantry battalion plus a company of T-34A tanks enters the woods north of the Spanish west flank. They’ll advance through the woods and try to pin down the Spanish west flank so it can’t send reinforcements to the town. A third infantry battalion plus a platoon of KV-1 heavy tanks ends the turn by entering just west of the river, hoping to screen the eastern flank of the town assault and make an attempt on the bridge. The Kommissar joins them to make sure the Fascists are shown the proper disrespect.

Turn 2 — 0815 Hours

The Soviets again get initiative as well as air support, but it’s a mere flight of Po-2 biplanes. Rather than wait for them to weakly strafe the trenches, the major orders his men into the woods north of town. A few make it, but others find their path blocked by disrupted platoons trying to recover before the next artillery barrage comes in.

Said barrage lands to their northeast, hitting the flanking battalion and scoring an X result on a hex with the battalion’s captain and the KV-1 tank platoon. One HMG platoon takes a step loss, and the captain and the tank platoon both become disrupted.

Not wishing to wait for the next barrage, the battalion’s lieutenant tells his men to head for the woods, leaving the captain and the kommissar behind. The remaining Spanish OBA hits the trailing INF platoons with the kommissar, disrupting him and one of the platoons. The western Soviet battalion and the T34s enter the woods north of the Spanish left, and the turn ends on a Fog of War roll before the captain and the kommissar can rally their troops (the Po-2s overshoot the battlefield entirely).

Turn 3 — 0830 Hours

The Spanish get initiative, but Soviet air support improves ever so slightly, in the form of an incoming Su-2 flight. Spanish OBA takes one last shot at the major commanding the eastern Soviet assault before he makes the woods (he had to stay back so most of his formation could activate as one this turn). For once they miss, and the major activates all the Soviets he can and sends them into the woods. That puts the bulk of the eastern battalions into a position of safety for now.

The remaining Spanish OBA tries to pick off the stragglers who haven’t activated yet, but once again it misses, and some of the stragglers pile into the woods. The Spanish then pass as the western-flank assault force advances south through the woods, including the T34s, which mass at the edge of the woods just within firing range of the Spanish line.

Then the Soviet mortars and OBA open fire on the bridge, demoralizing all the Spanish units their plus their comandante! The leader immediately recovers, as does his INF unit, but his HMG unit does not and flees southwest to the town. More Soviet OBA hits the bridge but is ineffective, and the Spanish pull an INF platoon back from their extreme eastern flank to reinforce the bridge.

The Su-2s try for a run on the bridge but miss, the Spaniards pass, and the turn ends with ineffective Soviet mortar fire on the western trenches.

Turn 4 — 0845 Hours

The Soviets get initiative, but their air support drops back to the Po-2 level. They pour maximum OBA onto the bridge, and it disrupts the INF unit that just moved in as a reinforcement. The bridge units can’t afford to recover because that would let the Soviets rush in unopposed, so the Spanish player passes, saving his OBA for any Soviets who rush the bridge.

T-34 fire on the western Spanish flank is ineffective, the Spaniards pass again, and the Soviet artillery unlimbers while the assault battalions infiltrate around them in the woods north of town.

The Spanish colonel gets the fleeing HMG platoon to recover, and then the Soviets rush the bridge, not wanting a Fog of War roll to spoil their attack. Unfortunately, Spanish opportunity fire form the bridge and the town is deadly accurate. An INF and an SMG platoon charging out of the woods get disrupted, another SMG platoon gets demoralized, and none of them make it adjacent to the bridge.

The Spanish then pour all of their OBA into the hex with the lieutenant leading the charge, and they roll a 10, scoring an X result. One INF unit takes a step loss, but the lieutenant makes his morale check. Unfortunately, neither of his INF platoons do, and they both become demoralized. That leaves him with only one good-order unit, and that one hasn’t even broken from the woods yet.

The once-disrupted Soviet captain at the north board edge charges south to give the blunted bridge rush a morale bonus, while the kommissar prepares to educate the demoralized troops. Unfortunately, the disrupted KV-1 platoon again fails to recover morale, so the bridge rush will not have armor support anytime soon.

The Spanish keep passing, and Soviet air support and offboard artillery are ineffective as their infantry masses on the south edge of the western woods, hoping to do better than their eastern comrades due to the welcome support of a tank company. Spanish mortar fire disrupts one of the massing INF units there, and the turn ends.

After the first hour of battle, the Soviets have lost two INF steps, and their opportunistic rush on the disrupted bridge defenders has been badly blunted by Spanish offboard artillery and opportunity fire from the town. But their western assault battalion is at full strength and almost completely good order, and it has a full company of tanks supporting it.

Will their charge break the Spanish left flank? Will the other Soviet battalions take the bridge and overwhelm the town? Will the Soviet air force ever send a pilot who passed the eye test? Tune in next time and find out!

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