Author	treadasaurusrex (Spain)
Method	VASSAL
Victor	Spain
Participants	Reconquista
Play Date	2022-12-25
Language	English
Scenario	BluD003

This was a a very tough-to-win-or-draw, 10-session slugfest with the doughty Reconquista leading the attacking Soviet side. In a surprised move, I played the defending Spanish side - I say this because the bulk of the Southern Arizona Beer & Jolly Foils group that I play regularly, all prefer to always play the Spanish side agains the evil Bolsheviks - so I usually end up leading the Soviet side. Hence, it was refreshing to lead Franco's Falangist boys in this bloody encounter against the numerically superior defenders of the People's Paradise. Luckily, the Spanish side drew far better leaders than the Russians in this huge 6-board and overlong 60-turn scenario. This encounter is not for the faint of heart, but should be reserved for play by experienced PG players. We used the excess initiative, FOW, smoke/illumination and consolidation optional rules in our extended play through that we began last October. There were a total of 11, FOW-shortened turns in this epic. I refer the reader to the well-written & detailed AARs that have already been filed on this one, and will simply cover the more notable aspected of this very costly bloodletting.

As others have reported, the outcome of this scenario hinges on Spanish determination to hold at all costs, excellent attack sequencing for the Soviets, clever husbanding of reserves, and a great deal of luck in die rolling. In the course of 10 sessions of play, we managed to throw a combine total of 43 combat 7-die rolls! Oddly, OBA proved to be mostly well-directed and relatively deadly in our play-through and directly contributed to the eventual Spanish victory. Again, as others have reported this scenario was marked by very heavy fighting in the dark via close assaults, in which the relatively poor quality of the Soviet troops & leaders made for repeated, and often extensive morale problems for the Bolsheviks. Having lots of Kommissars helped in morale recovery, but overall the low morale of the Russian infantry proved to be a crucial failing of the fragile, Red Army Conscripts in this road & town hex control-dominated encounter.

This was a fun-filled, hard-fought slog that was probably 10 turns too long, as the mass attacks by the Soviet side were already proving themselves ineffective by the and of the 40th turn. I give it a 4 out of 5, as this scenario required very good planning & sequencing by both players for there even to be a chance of a draw. The Spanish victory was bloodily-won in the end and we lost track of the number of steps lost by both sides by the end of the 35th game turn. A fun-to-play, monster scenario that must be approached with great care, and considerable luck, to win the favor of the PG fates