Scenario 3: The Battle of Caspe AAR

  It has been a month since I've posted on the blog. I've been busy with family trips, work, and artistic pursuits, but here is an AAR for our last game day, written mostly by Lee (thanks Lee!).

This AAR is based on Scenario 3: The Battle of Caspe, which occurred on July 24, 1936, as the Durruti Column left Catalonia headed toward Aragon. It was my turn to play as the fascists, and I waited to defend the town against John and Lee, who each controlled a centuria of Durruti Column militia.

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Round 1:

Fascists go first in the battle of Caspe. Their starting position is in church (with villager human shields) and controlling the city center. 

A steep cliff blocks access to Caspe from the front, leaving a narrow path up to the fascist left flank, and a series of alleys and narrow streets restricting approach from the right flank. 

Multiple cannons, sandbag positions, machine gun emplacements, and fortifications are placed through the city streets. A spotter and sniper's post are on top of the church as a forward operating post.

The nationalists defend the north side of town with a company of Civil Guards. Their headquarters group is on top of a tall gray building just north of the church, with machine guns (on the next floor down) trained on the open fields below.

One squad of officers, bristling with SMGs waits on the street below as a reserve force.

A second squad waits further north and halfway down the hill at the Caspe train station

South of the church, falangist defensive positions guard the road into Caspe and the farmlands below.

The anarchists have a small detachment of 20 Caspe militiamen in a suburb of the city, near the fascists' right flank. They face off with the nationalists, each from their own barricades.

Two centuriae of 50 anarchist militants each approach Caspe across an open field in the distance, with Durruti in charge. 

They have four artillery weapons in tow. They have two tiznaos and two transport trucks carrying heavy weapons.

Ranged Phase - A nationalist machine gun wildly fires at approaching Durruti Column fighters - two Centuriae of 50, plus two Tiznaos and the Durruti HQ team - and misses.

Shots whiz over the head of the approaching anarchists, who are marching across an open field in column formation, more than 60 inches from the nationalist cannon, positioned at the back end of town.

The Carlists, with a 75mm cannon and guided by a rooftop spotter, fire at Centuria 2.

The shot is very good, as Jake rolls a 6 causing the shell to sail extra far and thus into range, and kills marchers at the front of the column - 12 dead, and 10 suppressed. 

Things aren't looking great for the anarchists, who were in close order and have instantly lost 3 out of 5 dynamiters.

An anarchist cannon fires at the church.

 The shell falls short, missing by six inches and hitting a civilian and a vendor's cart instead. Two other cannons are fired but fail to shoot. 

A fascist rifleman on a second floor window considers firing at the most advanced of the caspe militia group (who are formed up, in cover behind sandbags, facing the fascist right flank) but decides against it, realizing he is likely to miss. The squad of 5 Caspe militia soldiers wait for reinforcements before attacking.

The column, including its two tiznaos and two trucks (carrying machine guns and a cannon), keep driving forward on the anarchist left flank, trying to quickly advance towards the city center.

Next turn:

An anarchist cannon aims at the roof of the town church, where Carlist forces are hiding behind a series of sandbags.

A lucky shot strikes perfectly on target and kills 4 Carlist soldiers (including one spotter).

A grenadier on the fascist right flank, in a fortified two story yellow house, throws a grenade at the advancing anarchist left flank, which is currently sneaking around the edge of the town. He kills 7 and suppresses 4 with a good grenade throw, decimating the anarchist center wing! 

The explosion also damages the tiznao.

Movement phase: The fascists, seeing the main thrust of the attack is concentrated on the south flank, move around their fortified troops.  

(Photo:) Carlists and clergy at the command center, the church. 

Also, a counterattack detachment of Civil Guards is quickly advancing up the fascist left flank, trying to attack and disable the anarchist column artillery and rearguard. They push past the train station and occupy a factory.

The nationalists start kidnapping civilians at gunpoint.

They drag their prisoners up the hill toward the church.

The anarchists advance more along their left flank, and drive the two tiznaos toward the town, with the vanguard vehicle reaching the wheatfields just outside of the downtown. 

Column members rush past the cemetery, attempting to relieve the Caspe militia holding the frontline barricade.

One tiznao on the center has three of its occupants firing rifles at the falange and assault guards' middle fortified position, but misses its shots (the targets are all behind sandbags).

Skirmish: 

A falange grenadier throws a grenade at the anarchist middle, and sets it off, killing 5 Caspe militiamen at the front line.

The blast also further damages a tiznao, taking it down to 3/15 health, leaving it partially disabled and slowed.

A different, nearby falangist comes out of cover and attempts to throw a second grenade.

It detonates in his hand. The blast kills him and two comrades, and pins the rest of the defenders at the position behind a building.

Though the nationalists abandon their first barricade, the Durruti Column cannot take advantage of the gap in the defenses. There are no anarchist fighters on foot return fire, with many currently suppressed or dead, including most of the Caspe militia.

 The two reinforcement centurias, advancing carefully in loose order to avoid artillery attacks, have not yet reached the frontline.

Next turn!

Ranged Phase - The anarchist artillery has been broken down and is being moved up to the column's left flank.

An anarchist squad of 5 riflemen has taken position on their right flank/rear, near the back/east wall of the graveyard, to defend the moving artillery batteries. Everyone else advances.

The fascist artillery, now without a proper spotter with binoculars, cannot aim far. Instead, it fires at the center of the anarchist formation, and falls short, hitting a building and damaging it. The roof catches on fire.

The second shell falls in the road beside the graveyard, killing and pinning many anarchists and destroying the graveyard wall.

Movement Phase: The fascists reinforce their right flank (yellow and green houses at outskirts of city), defending the main chokepoint into the city.

Civil Gaurds fighting for the nationalists push up the north side of the battlefield, fully occupying the factory and sending a squad further toward the soft underbelly of the anarchists' formation.

After loosing a spotter and squad of Carlists riflemen to a perfectly-placed 75mm shell on the roof of the church, the fascists drag civilian hostages up to prevent further strikes.

 The anarchists continue moving up the left flank with both divisions, and a rearguard of 5 fighters still holds the right flank - the graveyard. Two tiznaos push through the wheat fields.

Undaunted by the ranged attacks, the anarchists run bravely through the burning buildings and open farmlands of Caspe, pushing up to the front line.

Another fascist dies when the grenade goes off prematurely in his hand. 

Skirmish Phase: Neither side are quite close enough to fire on each other.

The next round opens will more artillery from the nationalist side. The fascists continue to target the main road into town.

Shells finish off the burning building and pock the road.

The anarchists' cannons are all in transit in the backs of trucks and cannot return fire. 

The fearless militia men and women push down the cratered road anyway.

On their left flank, the Durruti Column fighters reach the rows of crops and, following the tiznaos, push toward the yellow house.

During skirmishing, the fascist grenadier throws a grenade and hits the front tiznao (which hasn't yet been damages and has higher health; deals 2 damage) and the shrapnel from the blast kills an anarchist fighter.

Skirmish: two anarchist tiznaos each take shots at the fascist position in the yellow house, but miss. Workers run up the left flank, toward the hayloft and farm house.

A fascist grenade from the yellow house kills some and turns others back, but cannot stop 5 anarchists from reaching the corner of the stone hayloft. 

In the farmhouse up ahead, the falangists have already arrived and installed SMGs in the windows, in an attempt to prevent the anarchists from turning the corner. They also remain strong in the yellow house.

After 4 rounds, the anarchists have pushed halfway up the table and reached the front line, but have taken many casualties for their efforts. The nationalists still hold all of their defensive positions, though they lost a couple grenaders to early detonations, and their spotter and squad of riflemen on the roof of the church.

They nationalists remain strong on the south flank, and have prepared the battlefield to defend against the CNT-FAI's next pushes by knocking down a building and severely damaging the road.

Still, the Durruti Column comrades have numbers arriving at the front, finally able to bring the fight to the nationalists on the south side of town. Two more centurias are due to arrive in 6 more turns.

The north side of town has seen very little action, other than the direct hit with a 75mm shell to the roof of the church, and another that fell short, destroying a merchant's fruit stand on the road below.

The Civil Guard, who had been pushing up in counterattack, held back, eyeing the anarchists guarding the graveyard wall. Behind the officers is the train station, which the anarchists hope to take in order for them to receive reinforcements by rail.

As the defender, I am surprised that my opponents did not choose to set up their cannons on the easternmost hill, by their edge of the table, to attempt to soften up my defensive lines first. Perhaps they did not realize that from that spot, the church and first blocks of Caspe were within range! Instead, they opted to close the distance first, carrying their cannon with them.

Will the attackers survive on the devastated front line long enough for reinforcements to arrive to help them win the town? Or will the nationalists prevail, ending the hopes of the Durruti Column to liberate Zaragoza? We will find out next time!

END

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