Spanish Civil War Campaign - The Falange Attack on III Company, British International Brigade

Another game made it to the table a day or so ago, from the on going Spanish Civil War campaign that I'm running with Norm and Jon. Until a map is 'released' in a day or two, the situation is broadly that the British III Coy has been ordered to perform a delaying action against elements of the Falange Battalion. OOB and orders from both players can be seen below:

British International Brigade III Coy OOB

1 x HQ

3 x Infantry

1 x HQ

1 x Recce Armoured Car

Orders

Broadly - I would like my company to occupy the frontage of the woods to the right of the road (only - nothing to the left) …. So that they have an easier / shorter path of escape, which they should do before they get compromised. If possible, can the armoured car deploy out on my right, preferably in cover, so that it can give protection to my path of retreat and then retreat itself once threatened with something that can do it real harm. I think Jonathan will be manoeuvring early to cut my retreat path, likely with mobile forces, so I see this episode as one of potential high risk for my III Coy.

Falange  OOB

1 x CO

'A' Coy

1 x HQ

1 x Recce

3 x Infantry

1 x MG

1 x Pak 35/36 + tow

1 x 75mm Artillery Support Unit + tow

2 x Armoured Trucks

1 x Armoured Car with AT

1 x Schneider Tank

'C' Coy

1 x HQ

3 x Infantry

1 x MG

Orders

See image below (note that the III Coy are expected to be deploy in the woods as shown by the hatched oval):

Deployment

With the orders in, the units were deployed as follows:

An overview of the table.

'C' Coy.

'A' Coy and support.

The armoured car ready to cover the line of retreat.

III Coy at the edge of the woods as ordered.

Let Battle Commence

The photo captions will give an idea of how the game played out.

The end of Turn 1. 'C' Coy moved swiftly forward to try and block the line of retreat for the International Brigade's III Coy. 'A' Coy moved forward, with the armoured trucks reaching their position. 

The III Coy used initiative fire at the trucks, but failed to hit and then promptly failed their command roll.

The flank move by part of 'A' Coy have reached their positions and have spotted the III Coy in the woods.

The rest of 'A' Coy move forward with their support units. The artillery support unit has reached the wall but is yet to unlimber.

The end of Turn 2. 'C' Coy reached the wall and the rocky outcrop and held their positions as ordered. 'A' Coy on the 'left' flank debuss from the armoured trucks and the Pak 35/36 unlimbers and deploys. The rest of 'A' Coy, courtesy of the CO, moved forward and opened fire on the British III Coy. The volume of fire was such that the III Coy lost two platoons and had their MG unit suppressed, but 'A' Coy did take a few hits in return.

With such heavy losses early on, the III Coy began to retreat PDQ, or at least the remaining platoon that could move.

'C' Coy in position.

'A' Coy on the 'left' flank have debussed and unlimbered.

The rest of 'A' Coy and their supporting units pour fire into the III Coy along the wood edge.

Time to exit stage left as it were.

The armoured car ready to provide covering fire as the infantry begin to retreat.

At the start of Turn 3, initiative fire sees the III Coy's MG unit destroyed.

The end of Turn III.

The remaining III Coy platoon retreats but takes some fire from the Pak 35/36, but is not suppressed.

'A' Coy suddenly have no enemy in front of them and then struggle to move forward in pursuit.

The end of Turn 4. The Falange CO blunders, leaving his units stranded and unable to pursue.

As the remaining III Coy platoons continues to retreat, they come under heavy opportunity fire from 'C' Coy and are destroyed.

'A' Coy on the 'left' flank push forward into the wood in pursuit.

End of Game

Suddenly the game was over almost before it had begun. The British international Brigade's armoured car unit moved off to the North West table corner and linked up with a supporting cavalry unit (odd board and relevant for the campaign).

Post Game Thoughts

Well I'm not quite sure what to say really, but I'll try and sum up my thoughts;

• Both sides had good plans and their deployments were sound. Based upon previous experience with low CV forces (HQ's CV 7 in this game, but the Falange CO CV9), I expected it to be a drawn out affair, with the III Coy slowly making a fighting withdrawal and the Falange struggling to keep up.
• But 'twas not to be. In one of those unusual events in a game, the Falange CO had a string of successful command rolls (3 including a double 1) and the die rolls were rather good, leading to the III Coy losing two units and the MG becoming suppressed, with their brief opportunity fire failing to suppress any of the enemy. 
• Normally this sort of fire fight would have been maybe one or two rounds of shooting and that would be it. Maybe a unit on either side would be suppressed and then the III Coy could have retreated. But not so in this game!
• I know this sort of thing has put gamers of the BKC ruleset, but honestly it's a long time since I've seen anything so effective, outside of British WWII artillery barrages or German Mortars. It's just one of those moments in a game that happen: 'c'est la guerre' I suppose.

So now it is time to update the campaign and pass relevant info on to Jon and Norm, with Norm maybe needing a stiff drink to accompany it after such a devastating turn of events in just one Turn. Hey ho! Hopefully the Die Gods will show their favour to the Republicans in another game...

Until next time stay safe and keep healthy.