¡En el filo! SCW Campaign - updated 16/05

[scrivs]

This evening, James and I kick off our first Chain of Command campaign using the At The Sharp End supplement.

I have done an introductory article on Scrivsland which you can find here

I will be blogging the events as they unfold - of course with the usual Nationalist bias.

[H.M.Stanley]

No Pasaran!

Looking forward to it.

[H.M.Stanley]

Ahh, well, when i said None Shall Pass, what i actually meant was None Shall Pass Unless Its Strictly Convenient To Allow Them To Do So.

Quite ...

[scrivs]

Ahh, well, when i said None Shall Pass, what i actually meant was None Shall Pass Unless Its Strictly Convenient To Allow Them To Do So.

Spoiler Alert !

[H.M.Stanley]

You think they're all out there with baited breath?

Stick the photos up 

[Happy Wanderer]

..lots of narrative, lost of pics...lets have it!! 


Excellent

Happy Wanderer

[Hu Rhu]

Liked the intorduction article.  I shall be following this one especially to see how the rules play out.

[H.M.Stanley]

Well, it's like this ...

[Scrivs' shepherds crook yanks James from center stage before he can wax lyrical ...]

[scrivs]

Last night the first game was played out as the Moroccans probed the Anarchist lines in the Probe scenario.





As can be expected it was a resounding victory for the Moroccans.

Although in his role as Durutti, James was a much more caring commander less contemptuous of their lives. In another surprise he also remembered to use the Tear Gas from his Asaltos!

I've done a full report with loads of pictures on the Scrivsland blog

[H.M.Stanley]

Hurrah!!

I can honestly say that this was the best game of CoC/SCW that i've been involved with to date. The Campaign adds such a different dimension to one off games (which i enjoy too of course)

Right, off to read Scrivs' version of events ... 

[H.M.Stanley]

Durruti lit a cigarette, his last, leaned against the wall to the rear of the house and considered the situation. He blew a plume of smoke in the air almost nonchalantly. The sharp crack of rifle fire emanated from the building to his front as did the chattering retort of a light machine gun somewhere towards the rear of the Regulares' lines. There was the faint taste of tear-gas in the air. Sooner them than us he thought.

Sh*t! This wasn't the type of warfare he was used to. He was a brawler, a street-fighter - at home in Barca and used to running gun battles in the slums with the Falange scum. Not here in the outskirts of Madrid being ordered about by Communists of all people. He spat ...

On his far right, his men gathered behind the cover of a wood but his runners had already delivered messages to the effect that they were under pressure from the hated Moros to their front and were also in danger of being flanked.

To his near right, beyond the entrenchments, the Panzer I loomed large. Pedro, a good man, had been assigned a small group of men but all they had to combat the monster was a few Molotovs. He knew that they would do their very best but that it would be in vain.

More small arms fire from the building shouted for his attention. Durruti grudgingly admitted that the Asaltos had fought well and he knew that there was at least one Moroccan lying bleeding in the dust with a couple more wounded and crawling for cover.

He looked about the expectant faces of his men. They had been unable to prevent the North African invaders from circling around to the cover of the woods on his left despite deploying his solitary LMG.

His entire position was in danger of being enveloped.

He made up his mind. He was going to catch hell from his CO. Well, he didn't vote for him. He smiled at that thought ...

Durruti whistled loudly, stubbed out his cigarette and circled his right arm in the air. It was now or never! He waited for the acknowledgement from both of his groups on the right and then ordered the withdrawal the Milicianos. He wasn't going to waste the lives of his men for anyone and certainly not for some jumped up Stalinist puta.

The Anarchists left their positions taking a pair of wounded Assault Guards with them. Durruti noted that his men also carried the body of an Asalto. He didn't know the man's name but he approved. Nobody gets left behind ...

There will be another day.

[scrivs]

Bravo!

[Happy Wanderer]

Well, historically what happened is pretty much exactly what did happen time and again on the road to Madrid! 

The Nationalists would pin to the front, make their ‘announcements of surrender’ whilst flanking forces would turn the position and render the defences untenable and hence cause a withdraw…so it seems the same happened to you!

The Probe scenario in this guise kind of captures that aspect of the SCW, however we have found the Probe scenario (for any era) to be one of the hardest for the defender as the attacker can choose his attack points and needs only to exit a unit off table. We’ve played it a few times and found this to be the case. I’m almost tempted to ‘weight' this scenario with a some additional defender support points so they can set up Teams to defend in entrenchments, etc  as an option to delay an attacker and make the game a bit more fluid.

Anyway, the outcome form the campaign perspective made a lot of sense to the men though, not sure the local Politicos would be too impressed with Durutti’s decision …but as anarchist, what doe he care about politics!!! 

[scrivs]

Thanks for all your encouraging comments!

[Hu Rhu]

Excellent battle report.   It sounds like Chain of Command are a good set of rules for this period. I wonder if they will do as well for VBCW.

And Jame's report as Durruti - Pure prose. 

Durruti lit a cigarette, his last, leaned against the wall to the rear of the house and considered the situation.........
There will be another day.

I read it before reading the battle report on the blog.  It captured the battle very evocatively.  Have you though about taking up writing?