Three Bridges, Four Players

More Spanish Civil War. Jon nudged me recently to send out proper briefings for the games, so people knew what was going on. That's a fair point, so I spent an afternoon working out a scenario, rather than just chucking stuff on the table 'til it looks okay on Tuesday afternoon, my normal approach. So, I present for you, "The Battle of the Three Bridges." Autumn 1936, the Nationalists are trying to seize three bridges to the west of Madrid, as part of the encirclement of the capital. The Republicans, naturally, are trying to stop them. 

This was, unusually for these games, an encounter battle. Other new things included switching to Zoom (I've taken out a monthly licence to see how it goes), and the return of a MNG member who has been absent for most of lockdown.

The Republicans are to the left, and have 3 "mixed" brigades, made up of Peninsula Army, Asaltos and some union militias. There's even a tank in there somewhere. Ian and Richard took charge of them. The Nationalists are to the right, and have two brigades. One of them is a Legion Tercio (which Phil got), the other an ad hoc brigade with a mix of troops (which Jon controlled). Neither side has a lot of on table artillery. During the game we were trialling a slightly different way of handling the command cards in a multiplayer game.

The Republicans won the initiative roll (which they did a lot in the game, although they shouldn't have), and Ian set off and occupied one of the bridges. The turn passed to Phil, who immediately played a joker, and got three rounds of off table heavy artillery. The first round missed the target, but the other two were dead on.

With his opponents pinned in place, Phil marched on a Bandera of Legion troops.

Up the other end of the table, Jon brought on his Civil  Guards.

Richard stealthily advanced his Asaltos into the olive grove, and then moved some Communist militia into one of the fields.

Phil now dropped his Bandera into skirmish order, and got ready to storm the bridge.

I then discovered I had followed Jon's orders incorrectly, and swapped over his Civil Guards and Falange.

The first of Phil's Moroccan Tabors appears, and threatens the central bridge.

Absolute glee from the Republicans as a joker brings a squadron of medium bombers in. Jon has men badly exposed in the open - an excellent target. Alas, they decide to plaster the olive grove instead...after all who knows what might be concealed in there?

A quick overview of where we've got to. The Republicans are pressing up on two of the bridges, and still have quite a few units at the back of the table. The Nationalists are showing two contrasting approaches. Phil is dashing forwards aggressively, and Jon is patiently building his approach.

Ian activates the unit on the bridge, and resolves his blast markers. He then leaves his MG company watching the bridge, and occupies the olive grove with the rest of his battalion.

Leaving his MGs to cover the troops in the grove, Phil rushes the bridge.

It is all over rather quickly, and the Republican MG company are no more (note to self for this scenario - should the bridge and river bank provide cover?). Also, once more, a unit is close assaulted on a position having used all of its activations. It seems obvious to me (well, I wrote the rules) that just because you can activate three times in a row, doesn't always mean you should. Being deployed with an activation in the back pocket means you get to fire as you are attacked, which might be more effective.

Richard is pressing hard on his side, and seems to have the bridge well covered.

Could things get worse for Ian? Phil has now brought on his last Tabor of Moroccans, and has lined them up to close assault the olive grove, having first delivered a round of firing.

Richard has got a unit of Asaltos and some militia in a firing line, and is able to put a few rounds of firing into Jon's Regular Army battalion by the bridge. The fire is so intense, that Jon becomes Disordered.

More off table artillery is called in to support Phil's troops. Ian's unit on the hill crest takes a plastering.

The Republican bombers return, and home in on the Civil Guard, who have taken the high ground. A lot of blast markers are placed. Jon has to take a Terror Test for the air strike.

The Civil Guards panic and flee, Jon is not having a good evening.

The Moroccans charge into the olive grove. They don't leave a lot of the Republicans alive.

Ian's luck turns, and another wave of bombers come in (believe me, this is all generated randomly), and they carpet bomb the bridge area, and Phil's Bandera. They pass their Terror Test at a canter.

And another joker turns up! One of Richard's militia units gets a proper hammering.

When the smoke cleared, Phil was able to resolve the air strike, and got away comparatively lightly, but it was a nasty shock, methinks.

So we stopped it there. There are no pictures, but Jon's infantry by the bridge are in a bad way. They've held on and passed their "It Tolls For Thee" test, but a determined push will see them off the objective. Phil has his bridge held securely, and he has sorted out Ian's best unit. The middle bridge is probably controlled by Jon's Falange Bandera, and Phil's other Tabor. The left hand bridge is probably safe for the Nationalists, as Ian doesn't have enough, most likely, to kick Phil off it. If we were to play another hour or so, it might get close over there. Probably a winning draw for the Nationalists at this stage, although Richard has a lot of uncommitted militia...and a Renault FT-17. 

Another satisfactory playtest, and I got a couple of little changes out of it. Using the smaller playing area is an improvement (and the table colour helps with the photos too). Zoom was an improvement with the HD setting turned on, although at this stage, with my current camera, probably only marginal. It is easier to manage the participants, however, so a guarded thumbs up for the change from Skype. It looks to me now that I probably won't be getting the rules out in January, when I factor in the turnaround on proof copies.

More next week.