Blitzkrieg Commander suitable for Spanish Civil War?

[Dannyboy]

At the moment I think I may be looking for Nirvana, a set of Brigade level rules for the SCW, enabling both sides to field around 3 - 4 battalions of infantry with some tank/ AC support. Ideally looking for something that is infantry orientated rather than the tank fest slogging matches of later war era. Likewise am I on the right tracks in thinking the SCW was orientated more towards a WW1 organisational/ tactical structure of the company as opposed to platoons and fireteams which we see emerge in WW2.

Question is does BKC3 accommodate this as well as the importance of morale and wide range of experience/ ability found in SCW forces with the professionalism of the Army of Africa, the International Brigades and the various militias on both sides as well as the CTV, where there is a continuous balance between motivation/ enthusiasm and actual experience?

I'm seeing the challenge of recreating this on the table-top as successfully blending WW1 tactical strategy with the more mobile elements of early WW1, more MG's (lmg's) to a lesser extent, a more efficient AT ability and better artillery/ aircraft support. Any suggestions or ideas really appreciated guys.

[Dannyboy]

Also forgot to add is there an opportunity for cavalry to play a role, I imagine this may come into the early war options for the likes of the Poles?

[Steve J]

I see no problem with BKCIV working for the SCW, as BKCII does perfectly well IMHO. In fact we have a SCW game tonight, with the Italian CTV against the International Brigades, so watch this space for a forthcoming BatRep.

[Lord Kermit of Birkenhead]

Yes it should, although its going to be a slow game

[Dannyboy]

Thanks for the feedback, in what way would it be a slow game?

[Lord Kermit of Birkenhead]

All infantry in most cases !

[Shedman]

I did a couple of 15mm SCW games when BKC 2 first came out - 1000 points per side - worked fine so it should be ok with BKC 4

Steve J has done a fair bit of VBCW,using BKC 2, which is essentially SCW

For granularity you can start with command CVs

Then there are the following the Special Abilities - Fanatic, Fierce, Fragile, Green, Relentless & Veteran

In the BKC 4 Beta copy there is also Stubborn [R] - Roll -1d6 when testing for suppression or fall back move. I don't know why that was missed out

If you are up for a challenge then consider assigning different tactical doctrines to different formations within a force

As it is a more infantry based game then it will be slower due to movement unless you have high CVs for the command units so i would suggest the front lines aren't too far apart

I would advise against playing with forces of 50 infantry bases or more per side as it will be really slow

Finally don't do frontal assaults against unsuppressed troops as BKC replicates the carnage of Western Front WW1 extremely well

[Dr Dave]

Ideally looking for something that is infantry orientated rather than the tank fest slogging matches of later war era.

Slogging? I still have nightmares about May 1940 with my British infantry brigade retreating across some part of Belgium with that bloody Jerry recce bttn hurtling past my flank towards my main exit route over a canal. No slogging, just speed and fear.   

[Dannyboy]

Sounds like it captures the atmosphere and feel of the period well. Certainly in Spain it's the Italian CTV who are pioneering Blitzkrieg rapid movement, 10mm I imagine gives you the space for flanking that 15mm and above don't. A friend has introduced me to the idea of large scale SCW, I'd only really thought of it in terms of skirmishing until I watched the Famous Battles of the Spanish Civil War series on YouTube which helps to put into perspective the actual epic nature of these engagements.
Link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QY2iqw3txM

Salud j

[Steve J]

I normally play on a 4' x 4' table with about a Battalion per side, plus supporting elements. Plenty of space to manouevre, even more so on a 6' x 4' table, but the games take a lot longer.

[paulr]

At the moment I think I may be looking for Nirvana, a set of Brigade level rules for the SCW, enabling both sides to field around 3 - 4 battalions of infantry with some tank/ AC support. ...

There is a SCW version of Spearhead that looks very interesting and uses D12s. I have not played this version but we have found that Spearhead gives a very good Brigade or higher level game and handles infantry heavy forces well

The amendments are available here https://philbancients.blogspot.com/p/the-rules-all-rules-of-sh-apply-unless.html along with QRS and Data sheets

[Big Insect]

In theory, Yes. BKCIV should give you everything you need to play SCW.

Some of the optional rules - such as Civilian Refugees and also Rolling Barrage might also be helpful.

It will be an infantry heavy game but as long as you have enough commanders it should work well enough.

I'd be interested to hear how you get on.

Mark

[Dave Fielder]

Watch for SteveJ's BATREP. We played last night and it was an absorbing game with plenty going on and even through no one had Tiger Tanks and JU99s (with Flake) there was plenty of armour, PBI, guns and cavalry all mixed up nicely with mortars, CAS, machine guns and idiot commanders :-) What more could one ask for?

[Steve J]

The "idiot commanders" refers to my Republicans who were, shall we say, not as effective as one would have hoped. Maybe an Admiral Byng type episode would "encourage les autres"... .

But as Dave says, it was a great game and I had forgotten how much fun the SCW can be. A follow up game is in the offing. Batrep also in progress.