Tactics in 'Blue Division'
Scenario #18: !No Somos Italianos!
1000 – 1100 Hours
By Doug McNair
December 2006

Soviet armor smashes through the Spanish trench lines, and the tide of battle turns hither and yon in today’s episode of my Blue Division, Scenario 18 replay.

At the end of Hour 2, the Soviet infantry had taken 12 step losses in the rush toward the Spanish trenches and town defenses. But support fire from Soviet artillery and tanks had demoralized some Spanish units and sent them fleeing south, while the belated arrival of competent air support had silenced the Spanish mortars.

As Hour 3 begins, Soviet infantry are assaulting the bridge east of town and the trenches near the western flank, and two infantry companies are adjacent to the town and ready for the assault. The battle continues.

Turn 9 — 1000 Hours

The Soviets win initiative, but their air support drops in quality a bit (they get a flight of LAGG-3s). The town assault goes in, at least where it makes sense to do so. The northwestern town hex contains two Spanish HMG platoons plus a 75mm AT gun, which would put the Spanish on the 30+ column on the assault table (after the bonus for their leader). The Soviets simply fire at that hex point-blank while assaulting the other two Spanish-held town hexes.

The result is a mixed bag — the Spanish colonel becomes demoralized and one of his INF platoons is disrupted, but two Soviet INF platoons are demoralized and another is disrupted. Overall the town assault gets worse than it gives.

The Spanish need to put an end to the bridge assault before they can send reinforcements to the town, so the Spanish INF unit that abandoned the far right trench hex charges the bridge and leads a counterassault on the Soviets there. It’s done flawlessly — all three Soviet INF units assaulting the bridge become demoralized (leaving only their leader in good-order to deal with the chaos), and all Spanish units and leaders suffer no ill effect.

The two sides trade offboard artillery shots. The teniente in the northwestern town hex becomes demoralized while one of his HMGs and the 75mm gun become disrupted, and an INF unit about to reinforce the western trench assault is disrupted.

The Soviet air force once again sends pilots with carotene deficiency. The INF unit the planes overflew would like to break back out of the wheatfield and reinforce the western trenches, but it would be annihilated by the three T-34 platoons sitting on the trench line.

The lone Spanish INF unit in the trench counterassaults, hoping its bonuses for higher morale and a leader will outweigh superior Soviet numbers. It works – the counterassault takes the Soviets by surprise and inflicts a step loss on an INF unit and disrupts it to boot.

The Soviets have little luck getting more units from the woods down to the western trenches. The Spanish in the northwestern town hex then return fire at the adjacent Soviets, demoralizing two Soviet HMG platoons. But the demoralized teniente with the stalwart Spaniards fails to recover and flees the town.

Soviet fire on the now-leaderless Spaniards is ineffective, and the unscathed Soviets in the last town hex counterassault. Once again the Soviets are thrown off-balance by Spanish audacity — their leader is disrupted and their demoralized SMG unit is again demoralized and takes a step loss.

A half-strength, disrupted Soviet INF unit pulls out of the trench assault hex to make room for tanks. Then, with word of successful counterassaults chattering from Spanish radios all up and down the line, a teniente and an INF platoon burst out of the trench hex just west of town and charges the flank of the Soviets trading fire with the leaderless Spaniards in the northwestern town hex (an INF unit stays behind to guard the trench). If his platoon plus the town units can wipe out the vulnerable Soviets in an assault next turn, he’ll take all of them north into the woods and wipe out the Soviet artillery and reserves there.

With the town assault teetering, it’s do-or-die time in the western trenches, so the Soviet colonel jumps into the assault, radioing the tank company commander to plunge in ASAP. They do (after a fleeing Spanish unit recovers), and their assault demoralizes the only INF unit defending the trench while disrupting their teniente! The other T-34 stays outside the assault as a rearguard, and demoralizes the INF unit from the wheatfield with opportunity fire when it tries to rush in and reinforce the trench. There may be hope for Mother Russia yet.

Except at the bridge. All three demoralized INF platoons there fail to recover and flee the hex, allowing the Spanish free shots at them as they go. The Spanish get a +3 column modifier for leaders, higher morale and demoralized opponents, and score a 2 result. Compound morale failures ensue, causing the Soviets to lose a total of four steps, and all that escapes from the hex is a demoralized Soviet lieutenant and an equally demoralized half-strength INF platoon. The INF platoon in the next hex takes them in, and hopes very hard that the Spanish stay on the bridge.

The turn then ends on recoveries and slow Soviet redeployments in the woods. The advantage has swung to the Spaniards, as the eastern Soviet battalions are in danger of having their flanks crushed. But if the Soviets can take the western trench and send their tanks to the town. . . .

Turn 10 — 1015 Hours

The Spanish win initiative, and Soviet air support dries up completely. The brave teniente who charged out of the trenches orders an HMG and the 75mm gun from the town to fire on the adjacent soviets in preparation for his assault. The prep fire rolls a 12 and scores two step losses on the Soviets, and then the teniente, his INF, and a second HMG unit from the town going in for the assault.

The Soviets do no damage but take another two step losses, and at the end of the assault their good-order lieutenant has nothing left but a demoralized, half-strength INF unit.

Artillery from both sides is ineffective as the Soviet major sends troops to the south edge of the woods, hopefully blocking the valiant teniente from charging north and wiping out the Soviet artillery and reserves. The Spanish on the bridge then fire on the adjacent Soviets and assault them with an INF platoon and a leader. The Soviets fight desperately to hold their west flank together, and one INF unit on each side becomes disrupted.

With the Spanish on the bridge all activated and those in the town pinned down in assaults, the Soviet captain on the east edge of the woods takes his last three INF platoons and charges up to the bridge. Then the Spaniards in the central town hex counterassault. The Soviets hold, demoralizing the Spanish colonel again along with one of his INF units, and disrupting the other!

Pinning down the Spaniards in town until armor support arrives seems to be working, so the Soviet armor in the western trench activate and wipe out the demoralized INF unit there plus its teniente. The Soviet colonel plants his flag in the trench, and all Soviet tanks are still unscathed.

Eager to free-up their AT gun against the approaching KV-1 tanks, the Spanish in the last town hex counterassault. Neither side does any damage.

The KV-1s move south through the woods, the Spanish INF that tried to reinforce the trench fails to recover and flees into the wheatfield (the mortars there don’t recover either), and the T34 platoon that demoralized it follows it into the wheatfield to finish it off (along with the Spanish mortars).

Another Spanish INF that fled south recovers to good order, and a capitan charges out of the southern town to take charge of it. The turn ends on recoveries — significantly, several disrupted and demoralized Soviet units in the town and bridge area recover. The Soviet flanks hold, and the pendulum swings back to the middle.

Turn 11 — 1030 Hours

Last turn was very costly for the Soviets. They’ve lost 23 steps to only three for the Spanish, so Soviet initiative drops to 1. Nevertheless, the Soviets roll well and win initiative (but again, they don’t get air support).

The captain who charged the bridge with three platoons last turn shifts course to the south, throwing two platoons into a counterassault against the Spanish INF assaulting southwest of the bridge (his third platoon goes to reinforce the town assault). The Spanish INF becomes demoralized, along with just one of the three Soviet INF platoons there. The bridge defenders are all disrupted, so they can’t help the demoralized Spaniards in the assault. The bridge may fall yet!

Then the disrupted and demoralized Spanish in the wheatfield try to recover morale before the T-34s run them over. The mortar recovers, but the infantry doesn’t and flees. The leader decides not to stick around and die with the mortars, voluntarily becomes demoralized, and flees with the infantry. The pendulum swings a bit in Russia’s direction.

Then the Soviet lieutenant, whose lone, half-strength, demoralized INF north of town recovered last turn and thus barely held back the Spanish teniente, activates and calls a Soviet HMG and INF unit from the woods into the assault. This is his last chance to keep the teniente from destroying him and charging into the woods before the KV-1s can come up to block him. Unfortunately, he rolls a 1 on the 13 column, getting the only “no effect” result possible, while the Spanish roll a 4 for a “1” result on the 24 column (one Soviet step loss). The lieutenant becomes disrupted, and his HMG and a half-strength INF unit become demoralized, leaving him with just one disrupted half-strength INF. His brave but badly-executed counterattack has only served to suck most of the Soviet troops out of the woods and into a kill zone, swinging the pendulum back in Spain’s direction.

Spain doesn’t want the eastern soviets getting any help, so all Spanish OBA hits the Soviet infantry next to the just-captured trench hex. It rolls a 10 on the 42 column and scores an X result, killing a half-strength INF unit, but the other holds morale!

Maximum Soviet OBA then hits the town hex behind the teniente’s northward charge — they’ve got to take out that 75mm AT gun or the T-34s won’t be able to stop him. The Soviets roll very well, and both the gun and the HMG unit there become demoralized! The teniente can’t raise their morale because he’s in an assault hex, as is the coronel in the adjacent town hex (who’s also demoralized). The other Spanish the coronel’s hex aren’t doing well either, so they can’t assault their way out of the hex to help their demoralized neighbors. Pendulum swings back to the Soviets!

A leader and a Spanish INF on the road south of the trenches run east toward the town, hoping to save it or block the T-34s from getting there. Soviet artillery just barely fails to disrupt a leaderless Spanish INF in a trench just west of town, but the major says who cares and charges through that unit’s opportunity fire with his own last INF unit, doing an end run behind the teniente and getting adjacent to the demoralized 75mm gun and HMG in town.

That forces the teniente to try and finish his assault against the units in the kill zone south of the woods, before the major takes the town behind him. The teniente does very well, rolling a 6 on the 24 column and killing three Soviet steps due to hits and compound morale failure. But one demoralized Soviet HMG step remains along with the disrupted lieutenant, so the teniente is still stuck in an assault hex and can’t enter a new one next turn! The pendulum swings slowly back to the middle.

The tanks and infantry in the trench hex head east for town. The infantry are stopped by opportunity fire from other trench hexes, so the colonel consolidates his position in the trench while the T-34s head out alone. They drive east and adjacent to the trench hex the teniente abandoned (the leaderless INF there can’t counterassault). With Soviets closing in everywhere, the Spanish colonel and his units in the central town hex recover morale, but they’re still stuck in an assault hex.

The KV-1s move adjacent to the teniente’s kill zone, and then all the bridge defenders recover to good order! The T-34s in the wheatfield fail to kill the Spanish mortars, but the demoralized Spanish INF in the assault southwest of the bridge fails to recover and flees back to the bridge (it survives the Soviet free shots on the way out. Both sides go into recovery mode, and the demoralized Spanish HMG and 75mm gun in the town fail to recover! The 75mm AT platoon abandons the guns and the unit dies, the HMG flees the town, and the T-34s all of a sudden have a royal road straight into town. The turn then ends on a Fog of War roll. The pendulum starts swinging slowly in Russia’s direction again.

Turn 12 — 1045 Hours

The Soviets haven’t lost yet 30 steps (they’re at 28) so their morale is still 1. But the Spanish get initiative, and the Soviets still don’t get any air support.

The teniente running for town is stopped by opportunity fire from the T-34s, but his INF unit makes it into town and up to where it can block the Soviet major from entering (point-blank opportunity fire from the major into the town doesn’t break its morale).

Soviet OBA then hits the bridge and rolls a 3 on the 30 column (it’s stacked three-high because of the demoralized INF that fled the adjacent hex last turn). The arty scores an X result and wipes out the demoralized INF unit due to the hit and compound morale failure (–2 Spanish steps). But the others are OK.

There is also friendly fire on the Soviets in the adjacent road hex, but the roll puts it on the 1 column. Nevertheless, the Soviet player rolls a 2 on himself and has to make a morale check. He does terribly, disrupting his captain and demoralizing an INF unit. If there was ever a bad omen in war, that was it!

This isn’t lost on the Spaniards, who pour all of their OBA into the hex where the Soviets so effectively shelled themselves. It’s also stacked three-high, but the Spanish roll a 7 on the 55 column and only force a regular morale check (O Fortuna, velut luna, statu variabilis). Even so, a demoralized Soviet INF unit is again demoralized and takes a step loss. Pendulum slowly back to Spain.

The Soviets at the bridge try to recover morale before they’re shot point-blank or assaulted while almost completely demoralized. The two leaders and the disrupted unit recover, but the two demoralized ones don’t and flee north for the woods. With nobody else to oppose them, the Spanish on the bridge spray the Soviets with point-blank fire, but once again they roll poorly and Soviet morale holds.

Then the Soviets bring in their last available reinforcement and resume the assault on the central town hex. The Spanish colonel becomes demoralized again, but his units are OK (the Soviets are unharmed).

The teniente who set up the wonderful kill zone north of town is now in a bit of a pickle. He’s got nothing but a demoralized half-strength Soviet HMG plus a lieutenant in the hex with him, but if he kills them or they leave, the KV-1s just to his north can hammer him point-blank, with offboard and onboard artillery to follow. And with the major in his rear and about to assault the town with the T-34s not far behind, he’s got to pull back to the town now or get caught out in the open.

So, he lets the brave Soviet lieutenant and the last of his troops live, giving a grudging salute as he withdraws into town. Soviet artillery pounds him as he goes, scoring an M1 result, disrupting his HMG and demoralizing one of his INF units. But once again there is friendly fire, and this batch hits the brave lieutenant, demoralizing him and eliminating his last HMG step. Such a Russian ending.

The KV-1s rush out of the woods to join the major and his INF adjacent to the teniente’s crumbling forces. Traded fire disrupts one unit per side in the western trenches. The Spanish mortars put all the wheatfield they can between themselves and the pursuing T-34s, which leave the mortars to their flight and drive east to join the rest of the tanks for the assault on the town.

The Spanish colonel and his INF unit in the central town hex again recover morale. The Soviets send their 45mm guns on their KMS transports into the trenches to hold them against the Spanish HMGs to the west so the infantry can head east to hit the town. The units with the last Spanish AT gun try to throw off the Soviets assaulting the, but the attempt goes nowhere and the Spaniards in town are still pinned down and without AT defenses against the approaching Soviet armor. Pendulum back to the middle.

The last Soviet OBA is ineffective, and the turn ends with sporadic fire from both sides as numerous units succeed or fail in recovering.

At the end of the third hour of battle, the Soviets have lost almost half their infantry, but they’ve thoroughly breached Spanish lines and their tanks (all of which are in good order) are on their way to hit the pinned-down town defenders. The Spanish attempt to crush the Soviet flanks and destroy the Russians in the woods north of town fell before an unending human wave.

The Spaniards are back on the defensive in the town and in a stalemate with the Soviets at the bridge, all the while under a massive artillery barrage. With Soviet armor on the way, they’ll be very hard-pressed to keep control of both the town and the bridge without reinforcements. None will be had from west of town, so the dreaded call for German help may soon become necessary, even though it will dash Spanish hopes of regaining their honor and scoring a Major Victory.

Can the Axis hold out for a Minor Victory? Will German reinforcements drive off the Soviet tanks? Will that infernal kommissar ever run out of speeches and stop sending the damned Soviet infantry back just as fast as the Spanish can demoralize them? Tune in next time and find out!

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