Castello Fatato ETO (id:#65722)
See Also: Castello Fatato by Multi-Man Publishing Castello Fatato by Avalon Hill
Designer: Steve Petersen and Brian Youse
Starter kit scenario?:    Deluxe scenario?:
 
Balance:
ItalianRussian
38.461538461538%

Overview:

The Italian 8th Army had been retreating since the prior morning in the face of the Russian winter offensive aimed at encircling and destroying Paulus’s 6th Army in Stalingrad. Charged with defending the flanks of the 6th Army, Germany’s brittle allies had been shattered by the mighty blow of the Russian counteroffensive, with many units swallowed up by the advancing Russian armies. Lt. Felice Bracci and the 3rd Bersaglieri Regiment were ordered to destroy all heavy weapons, save Bracci’s two anti-tank guns, and lead the Italians’ retreat to the town of Meshkov. Late in the afternoon of the 20th, Bracci saw a “fairy castle”, the cathedral in Meshkov, dominating the skyline. Forming a skirmish line, the Bersaglieri approached the town. Suddenly, mortar shells began to fall and Russian machineguns opened up on the advancing troops. The Russians had beaten them to the town and were using the cathedral as a strongpoint.
Attacker: Italian (3° Compagnia, 3° Reggimento Bersaglieri and 172° Compagnia Cannoni Controcarro)
Defender: Russian (1st Guards Army)  
6.5 turns
    Players: 2     OBA: None     Night: Yes
Unit Counts:
Squads: A:20.0 D:8.0
AFVs: A:0
AFVs: D:0
Guns: A:2
Cannone da 47/32 x 2
D:0
50mm RM obr. 40

Victory Conditions:

Exit VP: Building Control VC: Area Control VC:
Unit Based VC: LOS Style VC: CVP Cap:
Misc Rules: Deep Snow (E3.73), Extreme Weather (E3.74), Steepe Terrain (F13.2), Night (E1.) A: HW (A25.23)
Overlays: X7 X8 X9 X10 X11 X12 X1 X14 X15 X18
Errata (source)
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Scenario info

Last Played:
DateReporterOpponentBal.ResultTimeComments
2023-04-27(A) Jeff B vs John Fedoriw Russian win2 hrsWe knew this would almost certainly be a Russian romp, and it indeed was, with the Italians losing five squads on Turn 1. No FGs at night would almost force the Italians to stack up to muster any semblance of firepower, and this in turn would draw all sorts of Russian attention. I had abandoned my guns on Turn 1 in favor of the two additional bodies to conduct the assault, but with their 3 ROF and the above-mentioned problem this was probably a mistake. While much less deadly, Turn 2 proved equally disastrous, with almost all Italians getting within sniffing range of the VC building broken. Never ones to bounce back quickly, night rules would make this almost impossible. Even had any survived, the fact that the VC building cellar was fortified (combined with no FGs), would make it nie impossible to enter. I gave it one more go on Turn 3 before I had enough of this nonsense. Once again I question why MMP would allow another unbalanced dog to acclaim the status of a core scenario.
2022-12-17(A) Kermit Mullins vs Dan Best Russian winAs expected my Italians were shot down like the dogs they were. Not a fun game.....night rules, poor ELR, deep snow, HIP Russian 6-2-8's in celllars...all kinds of not fun. If you want to experience getting annihilated..then you'll love this one.
2022-12-17(D) Dan Best vs Kermit Mullins Russian win
2022-05-29(A) Rich Weiley vs Dave Wallace Russian winHad the Italians in this one. It was a quick game. Conceded at the end of Italian turn 2. At that stage I had 5 1/2 good order squads on the map with two good order leaders (I guess wounded 6+1s technically count as good order). CVP count was 13 to 2. This included losing 4CVP to one sniper attack. I might have made a better fist of this if my morale rolls had been better but VASL says I averaged 7.76 over 33 rolls. Meanwhile my opponent averaged 6.43 on the IFT.

For the record my human wave came down the Z to FF hexrows. My plan, such as it was, anticipated clearing the woods mass and buildings around CC5 and using that a a base for a two pronged attack on the victory building. Almost immediately discovered a HIP 628 in 28 AA1 which spray-fired and broke three of the 4 adjacent squads. I did manage to get into CC with this unit and eliminate it for no further loss, which was the sole highlight of the scenario for me. With a few other assorted breaks left the survivors of the initial human wave around the 2/3 hexrow on board 28. Soviet HMG was in V3 and had little impact (and in fact broke in Soviet turn 1 prep fire shooting at one of the ATGs). The second turn human wave was the icing on the cake, I launched this with six squads and a 6+1. By its conclusion there remained an unbroken halfsquad and wounded 6+1.

Nevertheless, I think this is a very evocative scenario particularly on VASL where the map appears suitably bleak and desolate, underlining the desperate circumstances these Italians found themselves in. I'd like to try it again (with better dice next time).
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ActionDate
Turuk Modified the gps location2024-09-06 17:19:37
buser333 Added a playing2023-06-04 18:54:33
Danno Added a playing2022-12-18 01:18:07
grumblejones Added a playing2022-12-17 03:08:01
Rich Weiley Added a playing2022-05-29 02:20:35
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Statistics:
Avg Rating: 5.00Votes: 4
Views: 0
To-Play list count: 0
Estimated Play time: 6.7 hours
Recorded Games: 3
Archive recorded plays:
Italian0
Russian3
Drawn:0

ROAR Data: (as of today)
Castello Fatato [Confirmed]
[A] Italian 5
[D] Russian 5
All Rights Reserved. (c)2022 Dave Ramsey.