Mud on the Zaragoza Road - March, 1937

(Italians in panicked retreat...a sign of things to come...)

My gaming buddy Alex and I met up to have a go with Five Core Company Command and the Spanish Civil War. The scenario, Mud on the Zaragoza Road, is similar to the battle of Las Olivas (and also designed with the assistance of ChatGPT). The Italian CTV (played by myself) were tasked to push through a crossroads defended by elements of the International Brigade (played by Alex). The Italians intended to get units off the northern edge and also drive the Republicans from the intersection. The terrain layout is slightly different from the previous battle and the Republican forces are provided with some different support weapons (a 37mm AT gun instead of a mortar and 2nd HMG). The Republican goals were to stop the Nationalist assault and their secondary objective is to knock out the tankettes.

Some special rules:

The tankettes will begin on the road and can move normally on the road. Because of rainfall and muddy grounds, if they move off the roads, they must conduct a D6 task roll. A "1" stops movement immediately, a "6" results in the tankette getting bogged down. A task roll must be conducted to clear the bog and the tankette can resume movement attempts next turn. 

The International Brigade has high morale so will have two chits to overturn bad shock die results. 

The Italians have brittle morale. After the first base that is removed as a casualty, the Republican side will be given two chits to induce shock die rolls on their opponents.

The CTV began with initiative and start their advance from the southern table edge and the road. The tankettes led the charge with a platoon of infantry behind them and a platoon on either flank. The International Brigade had two infantry sections deployed behind each olive grove flanking the road intersection. Their 37mm anti-tank gun was position between two hills on their right flank. They had an infantry section behind the farm house and another infantry section with the HMG as reserve in the rear,

The Italians began their advance trying to take advantage of what cover and rough grounds that were available. They didn't do a very good job of that. Very quickly, Alex began laying down a withering fire from the olive groves. In Company Command, rolling 1s and 6s when shooting is a good thing. Alex warned me he has a knack for rolling ones and he wasn't kidding. An Italian infantry section on the left flank received a "1" from a shock die which induced a flinch and soon after received a "1" from a kill die which placed it in "men down" status. 

As seen above, the Italians begin a disjointed advance covered by ineffective fire from their Carcano rifles and Breda machine guns.

The first kill occurred when some Republicans opened fire on an Italian infantry section advancing on the road in support of the lead tankette. To make matters worse for the Italians, one of their tankettes turned off the road and promptly rolled a "6" getting bogged down in mud. 

On one of Alex's turn, he rolled for a firefight and took advantage of the opportunity. The Republican 37mm anti tank gun kept unloading roads at the tankettes and eventually a round struck home brewing the little Italian tomato can in flames. The Italian infantry responded back with rifle fire on the gun crew and drove them off for the moment. Accurate Republican rifle fire drove back the advancing Italians.

The tabletop at about the midway point with the Italians on the left and the International Brigade on the right. The advance is faltering. The little Italian Brixia mortars managed to cause some minor suppression and discomfort to the Republican infantry on the left flank, perhaps one last push will change the fortunes of the CTV?

The second tankette managed to extricate itself from the mud and advance to the crossroads but were quickly assaulted by Republican infantry armed with grenades. The second tankette was destroyed. Alex, feeling confident sent another section of International Brigade to charge the Italians with bayonets. Finding some pride and fury, the section of CTV repulsed the assault and wiped out their enemy. At this stage the Italians had lost two sections of infantry and two tankettes while only killing off one infantry section of International Brigade.

Things went from bad to worse for the Italians. A section of infantry panicked (dice rolls of 6s) on consecutive turns and fled from the battle.

In an attempt to make one last rally, I attempted to rally a few units suffering from "men down". Above, an infantry section with a LMG attached rolled a "6" on their attempt which wipes them out. The Italian HMG was also dealing with "men down" and also rolled a lethal 6. 

Alex and I played 8 turns in about two hours and had a clear conclusion (i.e. Italian defeat). In hindsight, I probably should have tried some different tactics, spreading my infantry further out on the flanks to put pressure on the flanks of the smaller Republican defenders. Something out of my control was Alex's timely rolling of 1s and 6s. Even with a numerical advantage, the Italians seem to have a tough time in the assault against a defender with better morale. The tankettes aren't exactly an armored fist either. They are protected against small arms fire but are only armored with a HMG and aren't big enough to overrun infantry. They are essentially mobile, armored HMGs and I didn't use them as such. Unlike my previous game "Las Olivas", I managed to play the rules correctly for the most part and thoroughly enjoyed the game. 

Company Commander is a solid ruleset and I think they really shine when you add some special rules in the scenario to better capture the flavor of the conflict you are trying to replicate. I don't what the next game I play will be but I won't be upset if it's Company Commander again.