Panzer Grenadier Battles on April 27th:
Arctic Front Deluxe #40 - Children's Crusade Broken Axis #14 - Târgu Frumos: The Second Battle Scenario 3: Sledge Hammer of the Proletariat
Army Group South Ukraine #6 - Consternation Road to Berlin #73 - She-Wolves of the SS
PG-HQ Library - Panzer Grenadier Hall > Scenarios > BlDi003
Errors? Omissions? Report them!
By the Book
Blackshirt Division #3
(Defender) Italy vs United States (Attacker)
Formations Involved
Italy 1ª Divisione Corazzata "Mussolino"
Italy Gruppo di Corazzata Leonessa
United States 1st "Old Ironsides" Armored Division
Display
Balance:


Overall balance chart for BlDi003
Total
Side 1 1
Draw 0
Side 2 1
Overall Rating, 2 votes
5
4
3
2
1
3.5
Scenario Rank: --- of 913
Parent Game Blackshirt Division
Historicity Alt-History
Date 1943-03-05
Start Time 06:00
Turn Count 36
Visibility Day & Night
Counters 128
Net Morale 0
Net Initiative 1
Maps 3: 76, 78, 79
Layout Dimensions 84 x 43 cm
33 x 17 in
Play Bounty 196
AAR Bounty 171
Total Plays 2
Total AARs 1
Battle Types
Exit the Battle Area
Hill Control
Inflict Enemy Casualties
Conditions
Off-board Artillery
Randomly-drawn Aircraft
Reinforcements
Scenario Requirements & Playability
An Army at Dawn Maps + Counters
Blackshirt Division Base Game
Introduction

Thrown into the path of Patton’s offensive, the Blackshirts would be expected to halt the American assault – and with their new 75mm anti-tank guns, a weapon rarely seen so far in the North African campaign, they stood a good chance of doing some damage to an un-coordinated tank-infantry attack.
Conclusion

The Royal Italian Army had gained a great deal of experience in the Western Desert, defending positions against British tank attacks with infantry well-supported by anti-tank guns. The organizational tables for the M Division reflect this, and show some similarities to the Army’s AS42 divisional organization which mixed infantry, automatic weapons and anti-tank guns down to company level though not going nearly as far. The Blackshirt outfit’s success would depend in large part on how much of that institutional knowledge was passed on from the Army to the MVSN.

In reality such cooperation did not appear to be at the top of the Royal Army’s to do list but we are not held hostage to the actual history here.
Display Relevant AFV Rules
AFV Rules Pertaining to this Scenario's Order of Battle
  • Vulnerable to results on the Assault Combat Chart (7.25, 7.63, ACC), and may be attacked by Anti-Tank fire (11.2, DFT). Anti-Tank fire only affects the individual unit fired upon (7.62, 11.0).
  • AFV's are activated by tank leaders (3.2, 3.3, 5.42, 6.8). They may also be activated as part of an initial activating stack, but if activated in this way would need a tank leader in order to carry out combat movement.
  • AFV's do not block Direct Fire (10.1).
  • Full-strength AFV's with "armor efficiency" may make two anti-tank (AT) fire attacks per turn (either in their action segment or during opportunity fire) if they have AT fire values of 0 or more (11.2).
  • Each unit with an AT fire value of 2 or more may fire at targets at a distance of between 100% and 150% of its printed AT range. It does so at half its AT fire value. (11.3)
  • Efficient and non-efficient AFV's may conduct two opportunity fires per turn if using direct fire (7.44, 7.64). Units with both Direct and AT Fire values may use either type of fire in the same turn as their opportunity fire, but not both (7.22, 13.0). Units which can take opportunity fire twice per turn do not have to target the same unit both times (13.0).
  • Demoralized AFV's are not required to flee from units that do not have AT fire values (14.3).
  • Place a Wreck marker when an AFV is eliminated in a bridge or town hex (16.3).
  • AFV's do not benefit from Entrenchments (16.42).
  • AFV's may Dig In (16.2).
  • Open-top AFV's: Immune to M, M1 and M2 results on Direct and Bombardment Fire Tables, but DO take step losses from X and #X results (7.25, 7.41, 7.61, BT, DFT). If a "2X" or "3X" result is rolled, at least one of the step losses must be taken by an open-top AFV if present.
  • Closed-top AFV's: Immune to M, M1 and M2 results on Direct and Bombardment Fire Tables. Do not take step losses from Direct or Bombardment Fire. If X or #X result on Fire Table, make M morale check instead (7.25, 7.41, 7.61, BT, DFT).
  • Closed-top AFV's: Provide the +1 modifier on the Assault Table when combined with infantry. (Modifier only applies to Germans in all scenarios; Soviet Guards in scenarios taking place after 1942; Polish, US and Commonwealth in scenarios taking place after 1943.) (ACC)
  • Tank: all are closed-top and provide the +1 Assault bonus, when applicable
  • APC – Armored Personnel Carrier: These are Combat Units, but stack like Transports. They can transport personnel units or towed units. They are not counted as combat units for the +1 stacking modifier on the Direct Fire and Bombardment Tables (4.4). They may be activated by regular leaders and tank leaders (1.2, 3.34, 4.3, 5.43). They do not provide the +1 Assault bonus (ACC).
  • Prime Movers: Transports which only transport towed units and/or leaders (May not carry personnel units). May or may not be armored (armored models are open-top). All are mechanized. (SB)
Display Order of Battle
Italy Order of Battle
Milizia Volontaria per la Sicurezza Nazionale
  • Mechanized
United States Order of Battle
Army
Display AARs (1)
Patience pays off
Author TFGA73
Method Solo
Victor United States
Play Date 2020-02-28
Language English
Scenario BlDi003

Blackshirt Scenario 3: By the book

Background: The Americans, with a decent combined-arms force, need to punch through a large Italian infantry force, take the high ground, and exit the board. The map alignment is such that the Americans don’t have far to go, but there are a lot of blackshirts between them and the finish line.

Setup: The Italians set up on the board first. With almost no armor of their own they are dependent upon their field guns to stop the tanks, so I set them up to cover as much of the map as possible and pile the infantry around them.

The Americans start off-board and all can enter on the first turn.

Summary: The game is 36 turns, so the Americans had plenty of time to soften up the Italians and flow through the weak points. Eventually they focused on the southern half of the map, using off board artillery to knock out the 75s. The blackshirts scored some hits with their 88s, but the Americans had too many tanks, too much artillery, and too much time for them to hold out for very long.

By turn 20 the GIs had pushed the blackshirts out of the way and the armor started to break through. The rest of the game was mostly mopping up, but some Italian positions held on stubbornly until the end.

Ultimately the US controlled all 40m and 60m hills and exited 55 steps—more than enough for a major win.

Analysis: It was fun using the blackshirts in a battle, but this scenario is too long. The US had enough advantages in mobility and firepower that, preventing a major screw-up, they will eventually beat down their opponents and get the win. Around 20 turns would put more pressure and give the Italians a chance to stall them out.
0 Comments
You must be a registered member and logged-in to post a comment.
PG-HQ Library - Panzer Grenadier Hall > Scenarios > BlDi003
Errors? Omissions? Report them!
Page generated in 0.415 seconds.