AAR-Seige of the Ronda Colom, Part 1

We completed our first day of the campaign's Scenario #2: Siege of the Ronda Colom in early February. We had a new player, our friend Lee, who is very knowledgable about the period and really picked up the game fast, as you will see. With my phone out of commission, Lee also volunteered to take the great photos included in this post.

Lee joined Chris as the Nationalist defenders, the Spanish army in revolt against the Republic, clinging to a few remaining buildings as the workers advanced to crush the coup in Catalonia. John and I continued as the Spanish workers of the anarchist CNT union defense committees, arisen to put down the nationalist coup.

John and I had the numerical advantage, with over one hundred and fifty workers formed into groups of five. Roughly half of these groups covered barricades blocking strategic intersections across the city. 

The remaining workers formed into three groups of 25, which would be our attack forces. Our table had three roads running toward the harbor, so we placed an attack group on each road. John took the group on the northern-most road. This First Attack Group was supported by an MG installed in the bed of a pickup truck.

The Second Attack Group was poised to charge down the Ramblas, running through the center of the table. The began in front of the Teatro Principal, which also served as the headquarters for our Defense Committee's delegates council, which would coordinate the assault.

Up ahead near the front line, the workers had a second MG on the roof of the building housing the Casa Juan Restaurant, next door to the CNT Transit Union Building. With barricades on the street below, this represented the advanced positions of the workers at the beginning of the battle.

A Third Attack Group was tasked with charging down the narrow southern-most road at the Atarazanas building. 

We also had two 75mm cannons at our disposal. One was called for by the scenario, and the second we captured at the end of the previous game of the campaign. We positioned them at the top of the Ramblas, on either side of the street hugging the buildings for some measure of protection. In the photo below, you can see one cannon in the Plaza del Arco Teatro, behind a statue and near the Hotel Falcon, captured from fascist snipers the previous day by Durruti and CNT militants, and later a POUM center made famous by Orwell. At the top of the photo, you can see the pill box above the Atarazanas.

Chris and Lee set up their forces in the government and military buildings near the Ronda Colom. You can see each building, its name, and the forces deployed there--based on the historic event--in the Scenario post. Briefly, they had three buildings to defend: the Atarazanas and attached military office buildings to the left (south) of the Ronda Colom, the Dependencia Militars to the right (north) of the Ronda, and the Capatancia further north. They had two 75mm cannons, which they chose to deploy one of each side of the Ronda. They had two artillery spotters, one on the pink roof of the Dependencia, and the other across the street in the pill box above the Atarazanas.

They also had four HMGs at their disposal, one at each building, and the forth in front of the Columbus monument. Below is the MG position they set up in front of the Capatancia, supported by some infantry including one soldier with an LMG.

At the Dependencia next door, another MG crew was  positioned behind the sand bags, facing up the Ramblas. They positioned two trucks as an extension of their line of barricades blocking the Ronda.

Along with the MG and spotter in the Atarazanas's pill box, the nationalists also had a grenader. The pill box had a line of sight up the Ramblas. Knowing that very pill box historically was the position from which a soldier shot the famous anarchist guerrilla and union leader Francisco Ascaso, John and I hoped to silence it early. The south side of the line was the more sparsely-defended position, and also the weakest position given the tightness of the roads and alleys in front of it. We decided to press that end harder. Toward this end, I took command of both the second and third attack groups, which I planned to bring down heavy upon both sides of the Atarazanas. 

As the first four rounds of the game would occur in the early morning under limited night-time visibility, John and I prepared to push hard and fast to take up advantageous positions before the sunlight illuminated our forces to the deadly machinery in the hands of the fascists. 

Round 1 began with John winning the Round Initiative roll. For the Ranged Attack phase, we aimed our two cannons at the pillbox on top of the Atarazanas. The pillbox was in clear range of our spotter on top of the tallest building in the center of the table. I fired first. I overshot the Atarazanas, and destroyed a truck in the Ronda which the defenders were using as a barricade. The truck exploding killed one soldier, and damaged the second truck down to four health points. 

John fired next. His shot sailed far as well, but landed close enough to the Atarazanas to cause 5 damage points, bringing the remaining for the building down to 35.

When the nationalists had their change to fire ranged weapons, they aimed at the Ramblas, assuming we had forces advancing up the street. Both cannons, however, misfired. Their Machine Gun in the street in front of the Capatancia fired at five workers behind a barricade in front of the tavern. They landed no shots, but pinned one of the workers there. 

Chris had his grenader in the pillbox lob his ordinance at the nearest barricade, by the Casa de Juan. It was a perfect throw, landing just over the barricade and killing four of the five workers there instantly. The survivor was pinned, but withstood a morale check and did not flee.

Next came the Movement Phase. Our attack groups set off toward the other side of the table. The groups on the left and right wings reached the cover of long buildings on the edges of the table. Some of our defense groups left their barricades and joined in the advance, crossing the halfway line of the table. John added the truck with machine gun in its bed to his push up the left.

The group in the center bunched by the Arch of the Plaza Teatro, advancing cautiously down the Ramblas toward the Atarazanas. 

During their Movement Phase turn, Chris and Lee made minor adjustments to their defensive positions, ensuring that they had the best possible lines of sight inside the buildings they defended. 

Round 2 began with an initiative roll between Chris and I. The first roll ended in a tie. I won the re-roll. Our cannons continued to target the pill box. This time John's round fell harmlessly short of the Atarazanas, while mine sailed slightly long, causing 3 damage to the building. 

The nationalist artillery returned fire. Chris aimed for the Resuraunte Juan, where we had a machinegun team. His round landed short, slightly-damaging a street seller's cart. 

Lee aimed their cannon at the workers' attack group moving up the middle, somehow seeing it with their spotter through the trees in the dark. The shell landed perfectly in the center of the tight formation, killing 21 workers instantly and pinning the 4 survivors.

The few who didn't die won their morale roll and remained, pinned, in the Ramblas. 

This event, Lee's second attempt at launching artillery shells, was one of the deadliest single shots we've seen since we started playing these games a few years ago, demonstrating the differences in weapons strength between the Mexican Revolution and the Spanish Civil War twenty-five years later. Chris reminded us of an instance during the Second Battle of Mexicali when he blew up more than a score of John's Federales with dynamite as they tried to cross a bridge. Still, the carnage in the Ramblas was both brutal, and a sobering check on our attack plan and overall chances of success. Workers of the defense groups at the barricades along the Ramblas took their cue and moved into the safety of nearby buildings.

During the Movement Phase, John and I continued moving our remaining attack forces. The center of our attack was in shambles, but the workers on the flanks, unaware of the tragic loss of so many comrades, continued advancing rapidly. On the right side, as my attack groups already neared the corner of the Atarazanas.

Chris's rifleman guarding the doorway called overwatch and fired, killing one of the workers. I continued advancing the group, reaching the tall gray building across from the Atarazanas and entering the front door. I moved a dynamiter up toward the door.

But Chris called Overwatch again. I hadn't noticed the officer,  Lt. Colonel Serrano., with the pistol in the window. He gunned down the worker.

I had more forces to move, however. Refusing to sulk in the face of my costly mistakes thus far, and I brought yet another dynamiter up. As the two nearby soldiers had already fired, I was able to reach the same doorway, ready to exact revenge on the soldiers inside, if I could only get the jump on Chris during the Skirmish Phase.

Behind him, more comrades took up positions at the windows of the buildings across the street from the Atarazanas.

On the other side of the table, John's attack group neared the green house just across the street from the Capatancia. 

He had a dynamiter in the white house to the west of the green house. The dynamiter seemed to have reached the position without Chris or Lee noticing. Across the street, the truck arrived at the barricade in front of the tavern. John managed to remove the machine gun, and get it into position behind the barricade. 

John's attackers faced off against the strongest nationalist defenses. The rebels had rifles in every window of the two palaces, an SMG above the doorway, and a HMG on the street below, supported by sappers in black hats and an LMG behind the green house.

During the Defenders' turn at movement, they continued to try to improve their positions. Chris pulled 5 more soldiers into the corner of the Atarazanas where they faced off with my advanced dynamiter. A showdown for the entrance of the Atarazanas was imminent.

Next came the Skirmish Phase. Chris and I rolled for Skirmish Initiative for the corner of the Atarazanas. I won the role, and my CNT militant let loose his homemade explosive. He tossed a perfect lob through the doorway and into the crowd of soldiers, killing all six, including Lt. Colonel Serrano. Unfortunately, the brave worker was too close to the explosion and was killed by his own device.

It was an important sacrifice, however, as the front room of the Atarazanas was now cleared of defenders. During the regroupment phase, I sent the defense group guarding the nearest barricade straight up the road and into the Atarazanas. 

While I had lost almost an entire attack group, my southern attack group was now charging at the Atarazanas in numbers and with support from workers at the windows of nearby buildings. I also pulled defense groups off the barricades (where they were easy targets for the nationalist artillery anyway) to help the effort there. The thrust had its intended effect, forcing Chris and Lee to consider ways to mitigate the threat. 

During their regroupment phase, Chris pulled his grenader off the roof and sent him running down the stairs toward the section of the Atarazanas which I had entered. They were already talking about destroying the ammo cache in the next room, and perhaps even abandoning the building in favor of the stronger positions to the north.

To the north, however, John was also pressing down hard. He was approaching with more caution than I had in the south, given the wider roads and open spaces in the area. John skillfully established strong positions in buildings and behind barricades in layers running up the street. If we were able to force the soldiers out of the Atarazanas and toward the palaces, we would be able to push the soldiers into a corner. It was a corner which, we knew because of the scenario, was the same corner where our reinforcements of fifty workers were due to arrive at the start of Round 10.

We called the game there for the day after two long rounds, and picked it up the following weekend. Check back soon for the report.