Blue Division « Steven's Balagan

Category: Blue Division

250. Infanterie-Division (Span.); 250th Infantry Division (Spanish); División Española de Voluntarios; Spanish Volunteer Division

Crossfire Stocktake – My forces for the Eastern Front

Given the upcoming year long campaign for Stalingrad, I thought I should do a stocktake of Crossfire forces for the Eastern Front. It turns out my collection is insane. Your average gamer doesn’t need this. If you are new to Crossfire then you can get by with a lot less figures; check out How many figures will I need to start playing Crossfire? For the first 10 years of my Crossfire gaming, I only had a reinforced battalion for each of Germans and Russians, backed up by a couple of Pz III Gs and three T-34s. That was more than

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Paper Factory – A Crossfire Battle Report from Krasny Bor

Jamie Wish and Chris Harrod played “Paper Factory” (KB1R), the second game of Krasny Bor, featuring the Blue Division in an epic Crossfire campaign. The Spaniards were defending the Paper Factory, in a loop of the Ishora River, against overwhelming odds. Jamie’s Soviets captured all three objectives and won.

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Advance from Ian Ishora – A Crossfire Battle Report from Krasny Bor

Jamie Wish and Chris Harrod played “Advance from Ian Ishora” (KB1F), the first game of my Krasny Bor Campaign featuring the Blue Division defending against overwhelming odds in an epic Crossfire campaign.

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Playing the Krasny Bor Crossfire Campaign with two players

Krasny Bor Campaign - Two Players

At the end of last year Jo asked if I had ever revisited my Krasny Bor Campaign for Crossfire and the Blue Division. Sadly the answer was no, but it prompted me to rectify the lapse.

I have persuaded Chris Harrod and Jamie Wish to play the campaign. This was a bit different: two players not eight; two months not two days. Here is some advice for anybody who wants to give it a go.

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Crossfire 2 Foot Participation Games at SELWG

2x2 Scenario brochure page 2 The Woods

Last year Dick Bryant published Six Small 2’x2′ Crossfire Scenarios. I’ve played four of them and really like them. Each offers a good tactical challenge but is fast to play taking no more than one hour. Dick intended them as a way to introduce novices to Crossfire. I think they work well for this and hence they are a good option for taking to a show as a participation game(s). So at SELWG 2013 I’m going to give it a go.

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Spanish Blue Division in Megablitz

A Megablitz order of battle Blue Division. Officially the 250th Infantry Division of the Wehrmacht and comprising Spanish Volunteers, this unit was also know as the Spanish Volunteer Division, Division Azul, or the Blue Division.

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Spanish Blue Division in Flames of War

Flames of War are the company level WWII rules being written by Battle Front Miniatures . Here are my suggestions for using the Spanish Blue Division under Flames of War.

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Volkhov Bridgehead – A Crossfire Battle Report

Rich Wilcox and I played out my Volkhov Bridgehead / Posicin Navarro scenario the other day. As Rich took some photos, I thought I’d write up a battle report. This is one of my Blue Division scenarios, so features the 250th (Spanish Volunteer) Division on the Eastern Front.

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Volkhov Bridgehead – A Crossfire Scenario featuring the Blue Division

A Crossfire scenario with II/269 battalion of the Spanish Blue Division attempting to establish a bridgehead across the Volkhov River and hold it against Soviet counter-attacks. See also my Battle Report.

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The ‘Old Chapel’ – A Crossfire Scenario featuring the Blue Division

Old Chapel Scenario Table

A Crossfire scenario with two companies of the 1/269 battalion (Spanish Blue Division) attacking a Russian battalion at the ‘Old Chapel’ near the Vokhov River. This is an assault where the defender doesn’t really want to defend.

The scenario is draft at the moment.

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Sitno – A Crossfire Scenario featuring the Blue Division

Table for Sitno Scenario

A Crossfire scenario with II/269 battalion of the Spanish Blue Division defending the village of Sitno north of the Volkhov against massed Soviet assaults.

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Krasny Bor Campaign: Phase 2 – Consolidate gains

Krasny Bor Campaign - Phase 2 Tables

Phase 2 of the Krasny Bor Campaign is for consolidation and each Soviet player has different objectives. It ends at 13.00 hours and is fought on the Rear tables.

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Krasny Bor Campaign: Phase 1 – Break the line

Krasny Bor Campaign - Phase 1 Tables

Phase 1 of the Krasny Bor Campaign is the Soviet attempt to breakthrough the Spanish Front Line troops and get as many troops as possible into the Spanish rear for use in Phase 2. It starts at 08.00 hours and is fought on the Front tables.

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Krasny Bor Campaign – A Crossfire Campaign featuring the Blue Division

Krasny Bor Campaign - All Tables

In mid-2003 the guys at the Shed asked me to set up a scenario for a weekend bash. The parameters they outlined were: WW2, Crossfire, 8-9 players (optional umpire), 4 tables, 2 real days of gaming, and BIG. Krasny Bor appealed to me for a number of reasons:

It involves the Spanish Blue Division It is very BIG There aren’t many tanks It is seemingly one-sided, and I wondered if I could still make it a good game.

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“Black Wednesday”: The Blue Division at the Battle of Krasny Bor

The Battle of Krasny Bor was the climax of the Blue Division’s time on the Eastern Front during WW2. Four Soviet rifle divisions, supported by tanks and guns, smashed into the equivalent of five Spanish battalions. the Spanish took a mauling but were only pushed a few kilometres back from their starting positions before the line was stabilised.

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