Scenario 4: August 1, The First Battle of Siétamo.

 

Scenario 4: August 1, The First Battle of Siétamo.

On August 1st, the Durruti Column, in an effort to assist the neighboring columns in catching up to their advance, sends forces north to join in the siege of Siétamo. On July 30th and 31st, the Column of the POUM, reinforced by loyal peninsular military soldiers, starts a new offensive aided by a battery of the 8th Light Mataró, located 3 km from the town. On July 31st, A pro-Franco reinforcement column formed by 26 Falange militants, 24 civilian guards, 24 machine guns and 2, 50-mm mortars from Huesca entered the town. Throughout this time, the Republicans have bombarded Siétamo, especially the church on the Plaça Mayor, where the fascists set up their machine guns.

On August 1, POUMistas, militiamen of Barbastro, and the Durruti Column form two prongs that enclose the villa. At 11am, Three armored trucks try to break the village defenses. The fighting lasts into the night.

Set up: Clear summer weather, visibility at 40”, 60” with binoculars. Arrange the table with a crossroads to the south of the town. Farms surround the area, with a large hill to the north-west and a smaller hill to the south-west. The Plaça Mayor is close to the crossroads, near the south-east corner of the town.

Entry points: The workers have 3 Entry Points. #1 will be on the end of the table on the hill just south-west of Sietamo. #2 will be along the road at the far east edge of the table. #3 will be in the hills at the northern edge of the table. 

Nationalists will set up their immediately-avaliable forces within the town. All reinforcements will arrive at Entry Point # 4, on the western edge of the table.

Unit Sheets: Make unit sheets for the groups/squads/companies etc. 

Ammunition: Nationalists have 8 ammo each, an ammo dump worth 200 ammo points, at the church, and may be resupplied by truck after turn 10 for an additional 100 ammo points. CNT have 5 ammo per unit, 20 for artillery. Receive ammo resupply by road, worth 100 ammo points, after turn 10, but can also steal the nationalists’ supplies.

First half: 10 turns. On turn 5, the nationalists renault tank is captured by an Siétamo youth and driven to Republican lines

Rightist orders:

Defend the town. HQ is the Church.

Objectives

-Defend the barricades at perimeter of town

-Defend Church

Republican Orders:

Capture the town, establish defense positions west of town. Capture cannons intact. 

Objectives

-Break defensive perimeter 

-Capture Church 

Nationalist forces

Civil Guard: 

-HQ: Lieutenant Angüés Manuel Lahoz,, 2 runners, 4 guards, 1 MG and crew, 1 ambulance

-1st platoon: Sergeant Antonio Javierre Arnal and 19 men

Carlists:

-HQ: Sergeant, 2 armed priests, nuns, 4 grenades/molotov men

-1st platoon: 1 officer, 19 men

Falange:

-HQ: Sergeant, 4 grenaders/molotovs

-1st platoon: 1 officer, 19 men

Regiment of Valladolid:

-HQ: Sergeant, 4 MGs

-1 Renault tank and crew

-2 mortars and crew

-1st platoon: 1 officer, 19 men

Republican Forces

Regiment of Valladolid (Entry Point 1):

-HQ: Colonel Villalba, 1 bearer, 1 runner, 1 x HMG and crew, 4 x 75mm cannon and crew

-1st platoon: 1 officer, 19 men

-2nd platoon: 1 officer, 19 men

-2 bomber aircraft

CNT Detachment HQ:

-General HQ and Artillery: José Mira, 1 bearer, 1 runner, 4 x 75mm cannon and crew

-Dinamiteros: 2x mgs and crew, 5 dynamiters. Guard HQ, support assault groups.

-Armored trucks: 3x armored trucks.

1st Centuria:

-HQ: delegate, 9 shock fighters

-1st group: 1 delegate, 9 militia

-2nd group: 1 delegate, 9 militia

-3rd group: 1 delegate, 9 militia

-4th group: 1 delegate, 9 militia

-5th group: 1 delegate, 9 militia

Anarchist Shock forces:

-Advanced Group: 20 shock fighters

-Armored trucks: 3x armored trucks.

2nd Centuria: 

-HQ: Delegate, 9 shock fighters

-1st group: 1 delegate, 9 militia

-2nd group: 1 delegate, 9 militia

-3rd group: 1 delegate, 9 militia

-4th group: 1 delegate, 9 militia

-5th group: 1 delegate, 9 militia

POUM Militia (Entry point 3):

-HQ: Delegate, 9 dinamiteros

-1st group: 1 delegate, 9 men

-2nd group: 1 delegate, 9 men

-3rd group: 1 delegate, 9 men

-4th group: 1 delegate, 9 men

Second half: 10 turns

Nationalist reinforcements (whatever available forces):

100 ammo points 

-HQ:  Commander Jose Aranaz Conrado, 2 MGs

-1st platoon: 1 officer, 19 men

-2nd platoon: 1 officer, 19 men

-3rd platoon: 1 officer, 19 men

-2 bomber aircraft

CNT reinforcements (By road or train at Entry Point 2) 

100 ammo points

3rd Centuria

-HQ: Delegate, runner, 2 MGs and crew

-1st group: 1 delegate, 9 militia

-2nd group: 1 delegate, 9 militia

-3rd group: 1 delegate, 9 militia

-4th group: 1 delegate, 9 militia

-5th group: 1 delegate, 9 militia

Outcome: If the workers are victorious, they may move on to the next scenario, and carry over any remaining ammunition, including the captured ammo dumps. Any and all machine guns and cannons not destroyed in the fighting are added to the equipment list in your general supply.

Historic Note:

Before the Durruti Column detachment led by Mira arrived outside Sietamo, the nationalists had consolidated various forces from the surrounding area to hold the important gateway to the region’s capital, Huesca, twelve kilometers to the west. In Sietamo, Guardia Civil officers, infantrymen of the Valladolid Regiment No. 20 (coming from Huesca), local right-wing militia volunteers, and a variety of survivors and exiles from Catalan and Aragonese towns and cities fortified the town. Lieutenant Angüés Manuel Lahoz, head of the police in the neighboring town, assumed overall command of the rebels in Sietamo. Antonio Javierre Arnal, a sergeant of the Sietamo Civil Guard, was Manuel Lahoz’s second in command and the leader of the Guards. Local priests Marcelino Playán and Rafael Febrer rallied the troops and even participated in the fighting, taking their post in the church tower to shoot at the attackers. 

The first Republican wave reached Sietamo on July 26. Loyal soldiers from Barbastro lead by Colonal Villalba and supported by POUMista and other Catalan militants, failed to take Sietamo. Many were arrested by the defenders. 

Four days later, Republican aircraft began to bomb the town, and a second assault commenced on the ground led by three armored vehicles. Jose Mira’s detachment from the Durruti Column joined in the battle, charging into the town from the hills north of town. The Nationalists held out in a tightening circle around the church and the Abarca de Bolea palace until August 1. 

The following afternoon, the Nationalists returned in force. A column from Huesca led by Commander Jose Aranaz Conrado stormed into Sietamo, surprising the Republican defenders. Colonel Villalba narrowly escaped. The Nationalists managed to capture and execute some loyal Civil Guards, General Llano de la Encomienda’s son, and thirteen others.

The Nationalists’ assault pushed the Republican forces straight out of Sietamo and all the way to the Guatezalema River east of town. The leftists reorganized and began their flanking movements again, with the Durruti Column on August 9 joining the assault against the 200 rebels with two cannons, and 6 machine guns holding Sietamo.

Siétamo

 

Siétamo

From the East

From the North

The Placa and the Church, Nationalist HQ for this scenario

From the West

From the South

Forces

Nationalist

HQ Civil Guards and Carlists

Rebellious soldiers from the Regiment of Valladolid and Falange militia

Republican Forces

POUM militia

Regiment of Valladolid (Loyal)

CNT Detatchtment HQ and Shock Group

CNT Centurias 1 and 2

Battle of Caspe AAR Part 5

So here I am posting in February the AAR of a game we wrapped up on July 6. 

We began the 5th day of battle over the small Aragon town of Caspe. In the preceding four days and 15 Rounds, the workers militia of the CNT-FAI bloodied themselves trying to liberate the town with little to show for it. The Nationalist had caused severe casualties, suffered few themselves, and held their positions firmly. At the end of the forth day, however, effective artillery and dogged infantry action had destroyed most of the objective buildings and brought the anarchist forces into rifle range of the church - the nationalists' headquarters.

In the closing minutes of day 4, I had quietly gathered my remaining forces from their far-flung positions and massed for a last-ditch counter-attack.

The first roll of Game 5 came out for the nationalists, and I shelled the anarchist columns with my 75mm cannons.

The very first fascists shell landed near the south flank, hitting one of the immobilized tiznaos and killing a machine gun crew.

The next shell damaged the train. 

This was not a big deal, as the anarchist workers continued to repair their train as it inched along. I guess that was a perk of having your army made up mostly of industrial workers' unions.

I lobbed two more shells at the stream of revolutionaries rushing up the central road into town.

When the volley subsided, 17 workers lay dead.

Now, the anarchists fired three cannons at the fascists. Nationalist targeting of anarchist artillery had knocked a few cannons and crew out in the previous days. 

Their first shell fell short of the church, causing some structural damage to an already-battered section of town.

The Republican side aimed their remaining cannons. 

The next shell pinned a couple soldiers and caused more damage to important buildings. A Republican crew set its sights on the factory by the train tracks occupied by many Assault Guards and Falangists.

The shell fell short, causing damage to both the factory and the already-burning shack.

Next, the movement phase commenced. It was time the desperate charge I had anxiously awaited for around 6 months.

For those six months, a handful of small squads of rebel soldiers had waited, in the corners and edges of damaged buildings, in small, dark crevices in the table, beneath little puffs of cotton-ball smoke.

I rolled the die and brought them quickly to the front doors of the large gray building. This was the ruins of Objective B, a strategic building which the anarchists had conquered in the previous day's fighting, from which they could fire down on the courtyard behind the church.

Using the melee mechanism of our rules, I tried to breach the door. I rolled high enough to break through. The five anarchists on the ground floor inside fired at the soldiers, killing the first three who stepped through the door.

The fascists rushed in, however, killing four of the workers and forcing the fifth to flee outside.

The skirmish played out, with both sides trading shots and grenades. Workers caused some casualties, but they certainly took worse than they gave.

The nationalist push carried them all the way to the upper floors of the building. Objective B was now back in the hands of the Spanish Peninsular Army. What had taken the CNT-FAI 4 days of battle and hundreds of fighters to conquer, the Nationalists had retaken in a single push.

While the Nationalists were counterattacking in the center, in the North they were preparing to withdraw. The factory was initially a good, strong position, but it had been badly damaged by the shelling. There were other good defensive positions behind it, and I hoped my opponents would continue to send half of their forces toward this north approach to the town. My defenses were much weaker on the southern approach, as can be seen by the militia's progress there.

I brought two trucks up to the back of factory to facilitate a quick withdrawal.

During their movement turn, the anarchists tried to advance on their left flank. Their vanguard push into the outskirts, but fascists had overwatch and kill the first two workers with SMG and rifle fire.

The anarchists continue to move their units forward, bringing a HMG crew up in a truck.

They did not see the fascist with a grenade hiding in the burning farmhouse.



With a perfect throw, the grenade obliterated the machine gun and crew and badly damaged the truck.

The Nationalists held their positions around the yellow house, keeping the anarchists from entering the town from the south, which would threaten the artillery positions.

The Nationalist counterattack on the southern end of the line of contact had blunted the anarchists' most-potent push.

Still in their movement phase, the CNT-FAI tried to retake the gray building south of the church.

As CNT-FAI reinforcements raced to reach the front line, two more fell to fascist bullets.

The movement phase came to a close. With the front-line such a confused mess after last round's melee action, there was a lot riding on the roll for initiative during the coming Skirmish Phase.

I won the roll again, and the soldiers gunned down two CNT-FAI riflemen. A fascist officer in the gray building also shot down an anarchist bomb-thrower lining up to grenade the building.

While I had landed some hits, most of my soldiers missed their targets. There were still many anarchists in the skirmish zone, who returned fire and killed the officer and two other soldiers.

Further north, the anarchist reinforcements joined their comrades in the graveyard and the orchards beneath the church.

Soldiers fired on them from the factory, and a Carlist with a HMG fired from the church roof, but they all missed their shots.

Round 17 of this epic battle commenced with the Nationalists winning the Round Initiative roll yet again. I fired half of my cannons at the central zone, striking multiple anarchists advancing up the middle street. 

One shell struck an already-damaged tiznao.

The anarchists were growing particularly strong on the North flank, where reinforcements used the train as slow rolling cover.

I shelled the anarchist right flank, hitting the train again.

The shell did minimal damage to the locomotive, and the workers militia just continued to fix it up each turn. Overall it was not a very effective volley. 

Next, the CNT-FAI's cannons opened fire on Caspe.

The Republican artillery fired on the fascist center, managing to kill three troops holding in cover behind the buildings. 

The anarchists also shelled the factory building, which the Nationalists had yet to abandon.

The Movement Phase began. I had little to do, but my friends tried again to advance across the board.

 Again, they ran into deadly overwatch.

The nationalist volley of rifles and MGs from the church sector killed three anarchists in the orchards, routing them to the graveyard.

7 nationalists killed 3 republicans trying to advance to take the concrete factory on the fascist left flank.

On the south side of the board, the fascist hiding in the burnt out farm building threw a grenade at the workers crossing his window.

The grenade exploded in the back of the truck, causing severe damage.

For my movement phase, I removed most of the Civil Guards and Peninsular soldiers from the factory, leaving just two falangists behind to slow down the anarchists.

They withdrew on trucks to the buildings around the train station just up the hill.

On the south side of the table, the Nationalists held on to the burnt down farm house.

Most of their numbers, however, had been pulled back toward headquarters. Only a few soldiers remained in advanced positions on the south part of Caspe.

The anarchists advanced at them from the fields, and during the skirmish round they managed to kill a few fascists in that sector.

The anarchists lobbed a well-placed grenade to kill soldiers in cover.

While reinforcements straggled through the carnage into the agricultural fields, the nationalist line continued to hold.

In the north, the CNT-FAI column pressed forward with armored vehicles, machine-guns, and a train. One of the two fascists left behind to cover the retreat of their compatriots threw a grenade at the attackers.

The blast killed three workers, including a delegate, and pinned others.

Machine gun fire from the buildings above the cliff pinned other workers taking cover in the graveyard.

Along the northern edge, the workers continued to repair the train, moving slowly and steadily toward the station.

But they would never arrive. After 17 rounds and hundreds of casualties, my friends decided to give up the assault on Caspe. The Fascists still controlled the church and Objective B (what was left standing of it anyway).

The day's fight had mostly turned out to be a stalemate, with little ground gained. In fact, the Nationalists had recaptured ground while causing severe casualties against the attackers.

And while the CNT-FAI column still had decent numbers along the north flank where they moved with the train, the fascists' defensive positions were especially good there. In the center and south of the battlefield, the workers militia numbers had been reduced to the point of making any renewed attacks futile.

The anarchists could have decided to pull out of the city and continue their bombardment from a safe distance until the church and surrounded buildings crumbled to the ground. In this way, they may have won a long battle of attrition, though it would probably take a few more game days. The nationalists also had a strong artillery section, however, and had some success targeting the Republican artillery positions. In the end, my friends had lost the will to fight. This battle, anyway. 

While I enjoy winning, it was unfortunate to see the fascists victorious. Even worse, fascists seem to be winning across the world right now, in conflicts with much higher stakes then our little campaign game.

 

Join us next time as we try out the next scenario, Scenario 4: The First Battle of Sietamo.