Favoured by a higher number of leaders (and by their overall unusually high quality) and making good use of their superior artillery and mortar support, the Blackshirts successfully assaulted the larger village on map 4 and wiped out the Soviet defenders by turn 15.

They then took advantage of the remaining turns of darkness to approach the village on map 1 without having to fear the Soviets' own artillery and mortars. Still, the defenders refused to give up and contested every inch. Italian artillery was now useless (for some reason I wouldn't have leaders call arty strikes into assault hexes, although it may have paid off), and the Blackshirts had to work hard for every hex.

They managed to contain their losses, but the last 2 hexes were cleared of defenders in the last turn, one on the last Soviet activation, when a demoralised reduced INF platoon failed to rally and had to exit the village, only to be destroyed in a subsequent assault by a 13-FP strong Italian stack.

A major Italian victory, confirmed by a very lopsided body count.

Losses: ITA 1 INF, 2 HMG steps

En este escenario se enfrentan un batallón de Camisas Negras, apoyado por una compañía de motocicletas y tres secciones de morteros del ejército regular italiano, a un batallón del Ejército Rojo, reforzado por dos secciones de morteros ligeros, una de morteros pesados y dos secciones de cañones AT de 45mm. Los italianos cuentan con el apoyo de cuatro baterías de artillería fuera del mapa (4 x 14) y los soviéticos con dos (2 x 10). Los italianos están encuadrados en la "Columna Garelli" y su objetivo es tomar unas posiciones soviéticas en la cabeza de puente de Pavlograd.

Los Camisas Negras tienen una moral elevada (8/6). La del resto de las fuerzas italianas es algo inferior (7/6). Los soviéticos tienen una moral de 7/5. Los soviéticos defienden dos poblaciones, una de seis hexes y la otra de cinco hexes. La victoria total de los italianos se consigue controlando completamente ambas poblaciones. Ganan una victoria parcial si controlan sólo una de las poblaciones. Los soviéticos consiguen una victoria completa si causan al menos 8 steps de bajas al enemigo y controlan al menos cinco hexes de ciudad. Consiguen una victoria parcial si eliminan 6 steps del enemigo. El combate dura 26 turnos y finaliza con luz mortecina (2 hexes de visibilidad).

La población occidental está protegida por dos atrincheramientos y un anillo de alambradas.

Los italianos entran por el borde oeste del mapa. Enseguida topan con las posiciones adelantadas soviéticas: dos puntos fuertes atrincherados. Los Camisas Negras los atacan decididamente, tras una barrera de fuego de artillería y de morteros. Los soviéticos se defienden con uñas y dientes y su fuego de oportunidad causa las primeras bajas a los latinos. Reblandecidas las posiciones soviéticas por el fuego enemigo, los italianos se lanzan al asalto y en unos cuantos turnos consiguen desalojar las trincheras rojas, cuyas guarniciones han resistido casi hasta el último hombre. Inmediatamente después las milicias fascistas asaltan la ciudad, produciéndose un combate casa por casa.

Paralelamente, la compañía motociclista italiana ataca las posiciones de los morteros soviéticos en un bosque contiguo. Tras un encarnizado combate los italianos aniquilan a los servidores de los morteros enemigos. (En esta partida se ha comprobado la utilidad de las unidades rápidas -motociclistas, caballería, carros blindados-, pero con escasa o media capacidad de fuego, para hostilizar e incluso aniquilar posiciones aisladas enemigas de artillería y morteros).

El combate callejero en la ciudad occiental sigue su curso: la mayor potencia de fuego y moral de los italianos se va imponiendo y sólo unos escasos reductos soviéticos resisten a ultranza. Una vez destruidas las unidades de mortero soviéticas, los motociclistas italianos se acercan a la ciudad oriental, defendida por el resto de fuerzas rojas. Rápidamente los atacantes italianos reciben el apoyo de su artillería y van castigando las defensas soviéticas, pero sin lanzarse aún al asalto dado lo exiguo de sus efectivos.

La resistencia soviética en la población occidental se colapsa y los Camisas Negras ocupan las últimas posiciones enemigas. A continuación las unidades fascistas se trasladan por carretera hacia la ciudad oriental, hostigada ya por los motociclistas, que han conseguido sin otro apoyo que el de la artillería ocupar uno de los hexes. Lamentablemente para los italianos el tiempo y la noche se les echa encima. Los motociclistas y los Camisas Negras lanzan ataques desesperados, pero los soviéticos resisten in extremis. En cierto momento parece que la resistencia roja va a desmoronarse, pero en última instancia resisten e impiden la conquista por el enemigo.

Al final el resultado es un empate, obteniendo ambos bandos una victoria menor tras una reñidísima batalla. Muy emocionante.

OR - 'A White Flag Is Raised Over Marvina'

This game was a PBEM game played against John Legan from Chicago. The game was randomly chosen by dice roll after picking Fronte Russo as the subject matter. It turned out, in my view to be a stimulating scenario representing a Blackshirt Legion attack against a defended Soviet town.

The Italian Battalion sized force of Blackshirts from the Colonna Garelli entered from the west towards Marvina. Their mission was to take at least Marvina and if possible, onward to Miziritc. They were also supported by a company of motorcycle borne troops (always very useful), three platoons of mortars and a good helping of OBA. They would need this.

Soviet deployment, although having to defend, was aggressive. Plenty of infantry and machine-guns had been sited in Marvina, with the town surrounded by wire entanglements and east of it, entrenchments to stop any flanking designs the Italians may have had. Their three platoons of mortars were positioned so as to have a good LOS over the town area and accrue maximum bombardment benefit by seeing the target themselves.

Italian plans were thus designed to be methodical. First knock out any mortar support so as to leave ones infantry attack pretty well unmolested at distance (Soviet OBA was weak). This would be achieved by concentrated bombardments on the mortars once they revealed themselves and then the use of MTC's to swoop in on any disrupted and demoralised mortar crews. Next, identify and weaken the vulnerable points on Marvina's perimeter. This would be attempted by nestling the Italian mortar crews in the farm areas and dig them in before commencing bombardment, as well as switching OBA targetting to Marvina once the enemy mortars had been culled. Finally, Blackshirt infantry were to be thrown forward to capture Marvina itself by corralling together and then leading them all in a co-ordinated and well-officered attack to assault through the wire ONCE any of the defenders showed a sign of wavering.

From 1030 hours, Italian OBA pounded the enemy mortars as planned, and these pipes were soon struggling to remain battle effecient under such scrutiny from the Italian guns as some were completely destroyed whilst others lost their morale. Italian motorcycle troops, then did attack and eventually destroy the remaining mortars. As a bonus, one Soviet lieutenant that attempted to make his way to the mortars aid was captured by the MTC's too.

Italian artillery and the dug-in mortars combined as a battery in themselves then began bombarding Marvina as the Italian advance closed in on the town. Soviet HMG and rifle fire began to crackle out from the towns edge attempting to dissuade the blackshirt soldiers. A couple of modules of artillery did disrupt some of the enemy and the Italians made for this potential breach in the Soviet line. Bravely picking their way through wire entanglements, Soviet small arms fire verily intensified, and in a fifteen minute nightmare window, 3 steps of Italian blackshirts were cut down in the acursed wire. This was the black spot of the day for the Italians. Occurring on the stroke of midday, the town was starting to look more than a handful to attack now. But one platoon did make it to the town's edge and without thoughts of their own safety, they launched a brave assault into a sector of Marvina, cutting the fire from that location in an instant.

Over the next hour, Italian pressure managed to divide the towns defenders into three distinct pockets of resistance and all were now seperated from each other. Furthermore, the Soviet OIC in Marvina, a captain became yet another officer taken prisoner when one daring motorcycle platoon took a hellish drive down the mainroad and through enemy fire to enter Marvina from the east. Soviet casualties had just started to rise now too.

The Italians now had to slowly grind away the weaker pockets of resistance, as one major pocket remained to the west of the town. By quelling all the smaller groups, they would then concentrate all their forces on the main enemy stronghold. These street battles and house-to-house fighting took almost two hours, but, overall, eliminated most enemy within Marvina..... Except the main stronghold ! That still remained.

Now the time came for the main attack. It would be bloody and also merciless. Surrender was offered, and with a Pythonesque turn down, the Soviets stuck two fingers up and blew a raspberry !! To occupy the three Soviet platoons holding out in Marvina, the Italians had tasked two platoons in the sector to hold them down in house to house fighting. This was done in a containing rather than aggressive fashion, and for the most part, the Soviets appeared glad to sit and wait for the main assault, taking their chances of holding out as the main route to a result. Also, most avenues leading to this area were now occupied by Italian troops and they would be very near the bombardment zone. The Italians OBA must have been stocked with double rounds because after the first troublesome bombardment finished, disrupting some of the defenders, another batch came straight in, causing demoralisation.

As the bombardment lifted, the Blackshirts attacked went in to prevent the defenders recovering. A vicious attack was delivered, inflicting casualties on the desperate communist forces and finally demoralising all the enemy under the Italian spotlight.

By 1445 hours, the defenders had had enough. Casualtiies had rocketed since midday and the men were in no fit state to continue. The now OIC, a lieutenant run up a white flag to signal the end of the battle. Casualties in the end tallied 3 Italian Blackshirt steps against a horrific Soviet loss of 8 infantry steps, 4 HMG steps, 3 mortars, 1 AT gun and 2 officers.

I rated this a 3. It was certainly fun, but will probably always be hard for the Soviets due to having just 3 x leaders and weak OBA. That said, the leaders did expose themselves solo and were therefore captured by the fast moving MTC troops, and the Soviet mortars also sacrificed cover for a few extra column shots themselves. This proved their undoing on this occassion and starved the Soviets of a useful tool in harrassing and bloodying the Italian attack. My view is, that on another day, the town will and can hold out, though the Soviet player must treat his leaders as gold-dust. Because once they have gone, any aggressive intent will be gone also