Cara al Sol Blue Division #14 |
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(Defender) Spain | vs | Soviet Union (Attacker) |
Formations Involved | ||
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Soviet Union | 72nd Rifle Division | |
Spain | 250th Infantry Division | |
Spain | 250th Replacement Battalion | |
Spain | 262nd Infantry Regiment |
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Overall Rating, 5 votes |
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2.4
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Scenario Rank: 907 of 940 |
Parent Game | Blue Division |
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Historicity | Historical |
Date | 1943-02-10 |
Start Time | 06:45 |
Turn Count | 40 |
Visibility | Day |
Counters | 159 |
Net Morale | 1 |
Net Initiative | 2 |
Maps | 9: 1, 15, 18, 19, 20, 3, 4, 5, 7 |
Layout Dimensions | 129 x 84 cm 51 x 33 in |
Play Bounty | 204 |
AAR Bounty | 165 |
Total Plays | 4 |
Total AARs | 2 |
Battle Types |
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Inflict Enemy Casualties |
Rural Assault |
Conditions |
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Entrenchments |
Minefields |
Off-board Artillery |
Randomly-drawn Aircraft |
Smoke |
Terrain Mods |
Scenario Requirements & Playability | |
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Blue Division | Base Game |
Eastern Front | Maps + Counters |
Red Warriors | Counters |
Road to Berlin | Maps + Counters |
Introduction |
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The "Black Day of the Blue Division" came on a Wednesday, when three Soviet divisions took aim at part of the division's lines in front of Krasni Bor, southeast of Leningrad. On the Spanish left flank, a reinforced Soviet rifle division faced two reinforced Spanish battalions. After an enormous artillery bombardment, the Red Army came forward, led by "punishment companies" of released prisoners to help clear the Spanish minefields. |
Conclusion |
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Steady personnel rotation had given the Blue Division a very different character than the professional force that entered the Soviet Union in the late summer of 1941. The new troops, little more than conscripts, proved willing enough to fight as long as their officers led them by example. When Soviets broke into his trench lines, the portly Capt. Alfredo Miranda Labrador of Replacement Battalion 250 grabbed a submachine gun and led his headquarters staff in a doomed counter-attack while bellowing the Falangist hymn, "Face the Sun." Miranda and his orderlies were mowed down, and by nightfall only two platoons of the once-proud battalion still resisted. |
Additional Notes |
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The Soviet Penal units (PEN) come from Red Warriors. |
AFV Rules Pertaining to this Scenario's Order of Battle |
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2 Errata Items | |
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The reduced direct fire value in Kursk: Burning Tigers is 4-4. (plloyd1010
on 2015 Jul 31)
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Kommissars never get morale or combat modifiers. Ignore misprints. (Shad
on 2010 Dec 15)
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Not enough spanish to hold back the Soviet Wave. | ||||||||||||
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I'll try to update with a detailed summary later. For the time being it probably is enough to say that the Spanish got annihilated. Only two Spanish units remained on the map at the scenario end. limited number of entrenchments and massive Soviet artillery allowed the Soviets to breakthrough the lines. They then proceeded to mop up the Spanish an entrenchment at a time using a combination of assaults, artillery, and armour. Nasty. Fun scenario but probably impossible for the Spanish to win results in a 3/5 |
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0 Comments |
Push Back the Falangist Mob | ||||||||||||||
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This was a 6- session play-through with the able, Tubac52, leading the defending Spanish side. Luckily, I drew the attacking Red Army, which has armor in the counter mix! My most frequent opponents in Southeast Arizona, have been focusing on scenarios with little or no armor to force me to fight in infantry-dominated situations for the last 3 months or so. This is a very tough row to hoe for a former-tankie like me! We used the FOW, consolidation, extended assault, excess initiative and smoke/illum optional rules. Both sides drew generally middling leaders, but the Spanish had better senior leadership. In this action, we experienced 14 FOW-shortened turns of the 31 we played, before the inevitable, but costly, Soviet triumph. As others, have included in their AARs, I am sorry to report, that in spite of my indomitable opponent's fierce brand of leadership & tactical skill, this was an ugly & bloody Russian walk over in which the Spanish went down fighting to the last man. All Spanish units were eliminated by the end of game turn 31. The Spanish set up should have included significantly more entrenchments, some wire and minefields to make this a fairer fight. Despite my throwing 19 combat 7-die rolls for the Bolsheviks, many Soviet OBA strikes, and adjacent-hex firefights, proved quite deadly. This encounter was fun to play with a crafty and gracious opponent, but as others have reported, this overlong (40 turns - 10 hours) and unbalanced scenario is virtually impossible for the Spanish to win. I give it a generous 2, and recommend it for SOLO play only. This one may be an accurate historical simulation, but IMHO, it needs a thorough rewrite. |
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0 Comments |