In November 1936, Franco launched a three-pronged attack to take Madrid and end the war by Christmas. The Nationalists are confident of success, with Franco even boasting he would attend a celebratory mass in Madrid’s Catedral de la Almudena on Christmas Day. Led by General José Varela, one of these thrusts featured a series of attacks down the Corunna Road to the northwest of Madrid. The opening assault included some 3,000 Legionnaire and Moroccan troops supported by tanks. met with initial success as the Republicans were routed, with the surviving defenders abandoning their positions en masse, fleeing pell-mell to the rear.
Attacker: Republicans (Galan's People's Army with Reinforcing Armor)
Defender: Nationalists (Army of Africa, Spanish Foreign Legion and Moroccan Regulares)
7.5 turns
Players: 2 OBA: None Night: No
Unit Counts:
Squads: A:20.0 D:13.0
AFVs: A:4
T-26 M33 x 4
AFVs: D:6
PzKpfw IB(g) x 6
Guns: A:0 D:0
Misc Rules:
Grain: Brush. Bldgs: Ground Level. Steeple: N/A. A: EW (A25.212)
The Nationalists set-up an up front defense with the Moroccans in the town and a tank on each flank in the woods. The Republicans attacked in the south, but swung around to the middle and north as that way was blocked. The Nationalists channeled their German allies to fall back in a mobile defense, mostly avoiding prep firing each turn. All panzers were gone by around turn 5 and the final two T-26's were brewed up as they entered the village on turn 7 due to street fighting. The Nationalists fell back to form a ring around the church for the final turn. As the final hs entered the lone chink in the ring, back to back 2's were rolled to trigger a HOB roll of 12. The hs became berserk due to no quarter and charged into the church. The penultimate DR of the game occurred when the hs failed it's morale check from the final fire shot from two adjacent squads. The final DR was the sniper direction DR triggered by the last attack, breaking one of the squads adjacent to the church. Also fire lanes made a huge difference on defense, with all of the hindrances/wrecks on the board.
2023-09-16
(A) Ricky Bobby
vs
J & H P
Republicans win
A fun scenario, weighted towards the Nationalists. Fortunately for me, the Nationalists didn't concentrate their armour. I kept my T26s together and attacked through the north of the town with some infantry support. The rest of the infantry attacked from the middle/south.
Only one T26 was lost to a Pz I early on (fortunately it had a malfed MA that I was reluctant to roll to repair), with 5 of the 6 Pz I eventually destroyed. The remaining Pz I malfed its MA, after running around the rear of my line DMing broken squads and generally causing havoc. Low breakdown numbers caused havoc on both sides - tanks, MA and MGs seemed to break every turn.
Turn 6 saw the T26s in the village sleaze freezing the Nationalists, allowing my infantry to close up for close range IFT attacks followed by CC. Fortune smiled on the attackers - no tanks were lost to streetfighting and the Republicans won all three CC on the first rolls for no friendly losses.
The VASL dicebot was its usual capricious self, first favouring me, and then the Nationalists. Luckily it swung back to me in time for the final assault. The Republicans held the church and 12 buildings by the start of Nationalist Turn 6. A timely Pin result stymied any chance of them retaking the Church, so the game was called.
A fun scenario - unreliable weapons, tin can tanks (that Intensive Fire at great risk). low morale for broken units. The attackers must push hard right from the start, and the defenders need to set up forward to thwart them,.
2023-06-01
(D) David Ramsey
vs
Martin Barker
Nationalists win
This was an interesting matchup of early war combatants (SPW, technically!) and the use of Russian Military Doctrine putting a fresher spin on tin can affairs. My Nationalist tanks held up the attacking infantry long enough to allow the infantry to fall back in good order making the Republicans pay for every hexrow the advanced. Nice scenario but felt a little pro defenders.
2023-01-08
(A) Jobbo Fett
vs
RootinPutin
Nationalists win
A drawn-out defense by the Nationalists, fires into blazes, gusts, and poor morale management were deciding factors in Rootin's victory. The Republicans were made to pay with buckets of blood as they trundled through the woods, brush, orchards, and buildings to seize the objectives. A miscount by myself lead to us concluding the that Rootin won the hard-fought battle, only for us to recalculate building control while decompressing 20 mins later and noticed that the victory was still in question, thanks to a remaining CC we didn't bother with. Luck, at the time, was with me and I was able to kill the units in the objective building, but by that point it was against the spirit of the game we'd played. Well done, Rootin, it was well deserved! :)
2022-07-30
(D) nathan wegener
vs
Bob Bendis
Nationalists win
Up front defense greatly aided by poor TK tolls from the Russian armor. My Pz1s ruled the battlefield causing mayhem and slowing the attack. StL2022
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