Spanish Civil War

[TimBuktu]

Can anybody tell me if there are lists for the Spanish Civil War or if not is there some way to convert a current list to that period?

Thanks

[Big Insect]

Can anybody tell me if there are lists for the Spanish Civil War or if not is there some way to convert a current list to that period?

Thanks

There is a full set of SCW lists, scenarios & mechanisms, in the BKCIV supplement - 'Libertad!'. You can buy it on the Pendraken website.
Cheers
Mark

[Shedman]

This came up on the facebook group

In the BKCIV supplement 'Libertad!' there are scenarios for several battles

The first one, The Battle Of Jarama, has the following forces for the Republicans

Republican
British Battalion
3 x Rifle companies (1,3 and 4)
1 x Machine gun company (2)
Dimitrov Battalion (in support)
3 x Rifle companies
1 x Machine gun company
Plus:
Off-table Artillery Support

How many HQs are there?

How many bases are there to ...
a Rifle company
a MG company
Off-table Artillery Support

[Big Insect]

TBF I'd have to take a look at that.

NB: I didn't create the scenarios, but it should be reasonably easy to convert the Republican list in the book to recreate the OOB. I'll investigate and reply.

Cheers
Mark

[Big Insect]

The reconstruction in the scenario is broadly consistent with what is known of the British Battalion at Jarama. The difficulty is that the International Brigades in February 1937 were still very much improvised formations. They were rarely at full establishment, companies varied enormously in strength, and casualties rapidly altered their organization during the battle.

British Battalion (XV International Brigade) at Jarama

The battalion that arrived at Jarama had approximately 500–600 officers and men, organized as:

Battalion HQ
No. 1 Rifle Company
No. 3 Rifle Company
No. 4 Rifle Company
No. 2 Machine Gun Company
Small headquarters and support elements (signals, runners, medical, transport, etc.)

The Dimitrov Battalion, one of the strongest battalions in XV Brigade, supported the British during the fighting on 12 February.

Therefore the proposed OOB of:

British Battalion

• 3 Rifle Companies
• 1 Machine Gun Company

Dimitrov Battalion

• 3 Rifle Companies
• 1 Machine Gun Company

Off-table artillery

is therefore a very reasonable representation.

If we then look more generally at the Republican Rifle Company, there was no completely standardized establishment during early 1937, but surviving brigade documents and International Brigade organization suggest:

Component   Approximate strength
Company HQ   10–15
3 Rifle Platoons   30–40 each
Light MG section   2–3 LMGs
Total   100–130 men

Most companies therefore fielded roughly 110–120 men when close to establishment.

By Jarama, however, many companies were already below strength before the battle began.

For tabletop purposes I would assume:

Nominal: 120 men
Average at Jarama: 90–110 men

Rifle Platoon

A typical Republican platoon was approximately:

Platoon HQ (officer + NCOs)
3 rifle sections
1 light machine gun*
(* for BKCIV purposes the LMGs are included within the Rifle platoons)

So, about 30–35 men armed mostly with Mausers and a single Lewis, Chauchat or similar LMG depending on availability.

Machine Gun Company

This is perhaps the point of greatest interest.

The International Brigades attempted to model themselves on contemporary Soviet organization.

A Machine Gun Company usually contained

Company HQ
3 Machine Gun Platoons, each platoon with 4 heavy machine guns, giving 12 Heavy Machine Guns at full strength.

This is probably the theoretical establishment.

However, evidence from Jarama suggests many companies had fewer operational guns due to shortages and ammunition problems. During the battle the British Machine Gun Company famously suffered because it initially received the wrong ammunition, rendering many guns temporarily ineffective.

A realistic figure would therefore be 8–12 Maxim/Vickers-type HMGs per company.

Dimitrov Battalion

The Dimitrov Battalion was larger and considerably more experienced than the British Battalion. It numbered roughly 700–800 men on paper before Jarama.

It was organized similarly:

Battalion HQ
Three rifle companies
One machine gun company
Small headquarters/support elements

Although stronger than the British Battalion, individual rifle companies were probably still around 120–150 men rather than dramatically larger.

Artillery Support

The XV Brigade possessed no organic artillery regiment.

Fire support came from Republican Army artillery assigned at brigade or divisional level.

Typical support consisted of batteries equipped with:

75 mm Schneider field guns
76.2 mm Russian M1902 guns
105 mm Schneider howitzers

For most scenarios, treating artillery as off-table divisional support is entirely appropriate.

Recommended BKCIV Unit Strength

For a battalion-level game, I would suggest the following as both historically credible and playable:

1 x CO + 1 x FAO + 1 x Recce (INF:)

For the British Battalion:

Unit   Historical strength
Battalion HQ x 2 (1 for the Rifle Companies & 1 for the HMGs)
Rifle Company ×3 (each made up of 3 bases of INF:)
Machine Gun Company x1 (made up of 3 bases of HMGs)


For the Dimitrov Battalion:

Unit   Historical strength
Battalion HQ x 2 (1 for the Rifle Companies and 1 for the HMGs)
Rifle Company ×3 (each made up of 3 bases of INF:)
Machine Gun Company x 1 (made up of 3 bases of HMGs)

For the Artillery I'd suggest 3 bases of Artillery - 2 x the 75/76.2mm and 1 of the 105mm.
TBF we have no hard evidence for what artillery was assigned to this section of the battlefront, so this is just a guess.

These figures align well with the available evidence and reflect the understrength but still functional nature of the International Brigade battalions at Jarama.

Hopefully that is helpful.
Thanks
Mark
NB: I dont 'do' Facebook, but I'd be happy if somebody wanted to post this up. Cheers