CMRT ITALY MOD

[Heinrich505]

Aaaarrrggghhh...it's Columbo in uniform at 1:07:00.  Same mannerisms as always.  

[kohlenklau]

^
CSIR PRIMO SANGUE <First Blood>

...late morning on the heights west of the River Bug. 10 August 1941. The sky is overcast, the wind is light from the east. The ground is slightly damp from recent rains.
^
You are Capitano D'Carlo of the MSVN Italian Blackshirts from the Pasubio Motorized Division. Your Blackshirt company is assigned to attack on the Battalion's right flank towards Prybuzhany. Taking Prybuzhany will support crossing the Bug River. The men are jubilant to FINALLY encounter some action after the long trip from Italy.
^
The Soviet rearguards are expected to offer short but intense resistance. They may hold until killed or captured. -OR- They may pull back and try to cross the river themselves. 
^
The Company Sergente Maggiore has brought up ammo crates for each squad <in your 2 platoon binary organization>. Carefully top off the small arms ammo as necessary before commencing the attack. 1 of your 2 platoons has staged down by the wheat fields and should sweep forward and swing out to the right to clear the fields and houses as it moves toward Prybuzhany as your "right hook". Your other platoon is in reserve but is covering your left flank. At about 10 to 15 minutes, they will arrive by the road to provide cover fire for your final assault, or to join the assault. The Battalion has attached 1 HMG and a team of assault engineers to assist you in accomplishing your mission. You have your own section of three light mortars to also support your assault. Mortar ammunition should be conserved as best you can...
^
You have 30 minutes Capitano! Points are awarded for destroying enemy units and occupying the terrain objectives. There are also two parameter bonuses: 1) keep your casualties very low below 10%. 2) destroy most of the enemy, more than 75%.

[kohlenklau]

Kind of a quick summary on what the C.S.I.R. was...(found at forum.axishistory.com)

Organization, transfer, assembly area.

Immediately after the declaration of war to the former USSR (June 23, 1941) the Duce proposed to the Führer the sending of an Italian expeditionary force. This not only for reasons of international prestige, but above all to continue with military cooperation on all fronts after the German intervention in Africa and the Balkans. Hitler's response came on June 30: "I accept with gratitude this generous offer, Duce, to send an Italian Corps and Italian fighter to the Eastern Front."

Even before the Berlin response, the first units of the Expeditionary Corps had already assembled in Cremona. At the end of its constitution, the C.S.I.R. (Corpo di spedizione italiano in Russia), generally had this composition:

A command of Army Corps, that between the directly subordinate formations had three squadrons for aerial observation (61° Gruppo di aviazione Osservazione aerea) and other four of combat (22° Gruppo di aviazione Caccia terrestre), in addition a legion CC.NN. (63a Legione Camicie Nere Tagliamento) as an active contribution of the fascist party in the war against the Soviet Union; Two divisions, "Pasubio" (79° and 80° Rgt. Fanteria and 8° Rgt. Artiglieria) and "Torino" (81° and 82° Rgt Fanteria and 52° Rgt. Artiglieria), so called "autotrasportabili" which did not have a sufficient number of ground transport vehicles, a "Celere" Division (the 3rd, "Principe Amedeo Duca d'Aosta" - PADA) with the 3rd Regiment of Bersaglieri, Cavalry Regiments "Savoia Cavalleria" and " Lancieri di Novara ", a group of light tanks L / 3 and a horse-drawn artillery regiment; Nine elements of support, distributed among the various units of the Expeditionary Force, an Intendance of the East, with various services. A total of 2,900 officers, 58,800 men (non-commissioned officers and troops), 5,500 vehicles, 51 combat aircraft, 22 reconnaissance aircraft and 10 S81 transport aircraft.

The movement began on July 10, 1941: from Rome, the "Torino" Division; from Verona, the divisions "Pasubio" and "Celere"; From Cremona, the Army Corps' Command. The cities of Marmaros Sziget, Felsoviso and Borsa, in eastern Hungary, were reached by rail; Then the divisions continued on their own to Romanian territory to Hormolui, Falticeni and Suceava, while the HQ settled in Botosani. The movement to transport the entire Expeditionary Force lasted 27 days, required the use of 216 trains, divided into five blocks, and ended on August 5.
 
The distance from the railway discharge zone, 80 km deep, to the assembly area was about 280 km. During the transfer, on July 13, the Commander of the Expeditionary Force, General Francesco Zingales, was forced to interrupt the trip and had to be hospitalized in a clinic in Vienna, affected by pulmonary congestion. On July 17 he was replaced by General Giovanni Messe, who arrived directly at Marmaros Sziget. The Expeditionary Aviation Command (Colonel Carlo Drago) was established in Tudora on July 29, 1941.

Sources: http://www.unirr.it/storia/c-s-i-r
http://www.unirr.it/memoria/gallerie-im ... tunno-1941#
http://digilander.libero.it/lacorsainfi ... russia.htm
http://www.ilduce.net/russia.htm

The Battle of the two Rivers.

The official historiography uses this name to indicate the maneuver carried out by the Germans in August of 1941 to crush the Soviet forces between the rivers Dniester and Bug, in which also participated the Pasubio Division reinforced by the 30º Groupement of artillery and the 1st Motorcycle Company.

In particular, the task of the Pasubio was to reach the Bug river north of Voznessensk, proceed along the right bank of the watercourse to Nikolajev and complete the siege of the Soviet bridgehead. The Pasubio detachments, fighting against bad weather and disastrous roads arrived on August 10 in Voznessensk, to continue the next day to the south. A very violent thunderstorm blocked the march of the detachments, while the vanguard under Colonel Epifanio Chiaramonti could advance another 30 kilometers.

"At 11:30 a.m. on the day 11 c.m. (August) the column under my command (Col. Epifanio Chiaramonti) vanguard of the Division Pasubio, consisting of the organic regiment (80th Regiment of Infantry of Rome), III. Group of the 8th Artillery, the 1st Bersaglieri motorcycle company, the 114th anti-tank guns and the 1st and 3rd mortars .... (about 4,500 men) received the order to press from Woznesensk (Ukraine), where it had stopped in The afternoon of the previous day to resume the march, always like vanguard of the Pasubio along the route Jastreblinovo ...... towards Nikolaiew to stop the enemy "Thus began the war in the history of Colonel Chiaramonti who met the Enemy in Pokrowskoje, intermediate locality and of unpronounceable name, between two rivers. Here the smallest river for the Italians was like the Po.

The Soviets attempted to strike the first columns with artillery and then with machine-gun fire. Colonel Epifanio quickly advanced the Third Artillery Group of Major Rossi to respond to enemy fire and to support the infantrymen's attack. In the fight that followed was mainly engaged the Third Battalion of the 80th Infantry Regiment. The presence of enemy tanks feared the worst, but the prompt response of our artillery forced the enemy to retreat. With the arrival of the other detachments was completed the clearing of the area in which 38 prisoners and other war materials were captured. Two Italians were killed and three wounded. This day also registered the first medal for bravery in Russian land, granted to the Bersaglieri Santino Alfredo Lutri.

The next day, still continuing south, the motorcyclists intercepted other enemy units near the village of Yasnaya Polyana, this time strictly participated in the fighting the First Battalion of the 80th Regiment under Major Moscardini. After a violent exchange of artillery fire and mortars, the enemy threatened to break up, even when he chose to retreat, leaving hundreds dead and many prisoners on the field. From the interrogation of the prisoners it was discovered that before the Italian soldiers was the Soviet 469th Rifle Regiment, reinforced by several mortars and three horse-drawn batteries. From the words of Colonel Chiaramonti:

 "The fight then had unequal characteristics: a battalion, a battery and a mortars company of 81, against a regiment, three batteries, and who knows how many mortars, the opponent has fought hard, and this is shown by his losses. But the infantry of the Pasubio have never been taught to count the enemy, faithful to the order received: forward at any price, in the name of Rome, the proud motto of my 80 "

 The fight on August 12 had cost 15 dead, including two officers, and 82 wounded. General Schobert, Commander of the 11th German Army, sent General Messe a message in which he wrote that the Pasubio had contributed greatly to the victorious action of his army.

Sources: http://www.unirr.it/storia/c-s-i-r
http://www.unirr.it/memoria/gallerie-im ... unno-1941#
http://digilander.libero.it/lacorsainfi ... russia.htm
http://www.ilduce.net/russia.htm

Edited February 26, 2022 by kohlenklau

[kohlenklau]

[kohlenklau]

I am doing the final playtests and this new MOD and its maiden voyage scenario will be released this weekend! It is a big mod, lots of stuff I had to rename and eff with.

 

[kohlenklau]

Kohlenklau 26 February 2022

This new CMRT ITALY Mod is just a discount project.
Remember, it does not cost you a thing in time or money.
But I hope you find some enjoyment.

The Italian Blackshirt uniforms are a combo of stock and
Vein's from 2013. Thank you Vein. 

I made some new icons and some new UI stuff but mostly it
goes with the "Juju-Ithikial" UI mod.

Thanks to everybody who helps me and encourages me.

It has tons of mods and there might be conflicts depending
on what other mods you have in your z. I did my best. 

NOTE FOR Z FOLDER ISSUES: This mod has a folder that
should only be in the z folder WHEN you play the scenario,
otherwise your script file is hosed up. There is also a
new introduction song in Italian, a real toe tapper called
"The legend of Piave" (a WW1 battle song) and a splash
screen and UI mods. Stuff you don't want in there UNLESS
playing the CMRT Italy Mod. If you have lots of extra
voices in German, you will probably still hear them. I did
mod all stock voices to be Italian. I tried to cover the
stock number of slots for helmets and uniforms. So again,
if you have extra stuff in your z, then you might see some
oddities. If you can, pull that stuff out and keep it
outside z safe until AFTER you play this new battle.

Viva Italia!

Anyway, I hope it plays out smoothly and looks ok!

More scenarios on the way soon...

Thank you,
Phil

[Heinrich505]

Phil,

   Holy Mackeral!     What the heck?  Did Il Duce forget to pay for the ammo bill?  

Are the German's being stingy again?  Was this a test of Italian manhood?  

What a crazy scenario!  

   Okay, so I caught an MG round early on...but it was just a flesh wound...no, really...and my second bandaged me up and I was able to yell commands to the rest of the troops as they rushed past me, while I soothed my damaged pride by slurping on some Gelato that the cook had helpfully brought along.  

   Yes, the boys were anxious to get into the fight, but there were a lot of questioning glances at me as they rushed past with little or no ammo.  The first wave had cleaned out the ammo stock that the Company Sergente Maggiore had lugged forward, and there was nothing left for the reinforcements.  Some of the men were seen stuffing rocks in their pockets - you know the flat ones with sharp edges that you can skim on water - and I'm pretty sure they did this for my benefit. 

   I mean, come on!  I'm not in charge of the ammo budget for this freaking ski trip to Russia.  But apparently they thought it was me anyway.  Sure, blame the guy with the braid on his sleeve, when all else fails.

   Anyway, there was a battle to fight, so the lads actually charged into the fray with a few bullets, some sharp rocks, and a lot of harsh language. 

   I know that orders were to lay low on the mortar ammo, but when we started getting serious MG fire from the Orchard House, I said "Boys, let 'em have it!"  But, in a small concession to HQ, I did give them strict orders to use only light fire.  The mortar boys complied and I'm proud to say that we managed to keep mortar rounds in the air for the entire time of the battle. 

   I gave the same orders to the MG boys too.  They complied and I'm told there were a lot of bullet holes in that Orchard House by the time the 30 minutes were up.

   Without giving away too much of what to expect in the battle, it was a really vicious firefight.  The battle is a test of one's infantry skills.  There are bits of terrain that you really need to use to close with the enemy.  There are also large open areas that will be hard to cross unless the enemy is suppressed, and that, of course, is difficult if you only have sharp rocks and two or three bullets.  I used a lot of the assault command for movement, more than I recall having used in any one particular battle in the past.

   On top of all that, HQ was worried that morale would suffer a lot if my casualties were heavy.  So, they put that one on me too - make sure you don't lose more than 10% of your guys and really give the Russians a serious drubbing for points.  Seriously?    You'd think I was in Nam and Walter Chronkite was dilligently reporting on the body count from their side and our side too. 

   Anyway, suffice to say, it was a wicked battle, extremely challenging, it really looked good with your mods, I liked the snappy Italian marching song, and I would highly  recommend it as quite the challenge to anyone's infantry assault skills.  I really thought I was losing right up to the end, and then was pleasantly surprised to find that my lads had actually done extremely well.  Still, there were a lot of dirty looks and some muttering by the troops about the ammo.  I just ignored them and finished my Gelato.

   Thanks Phil.  This was really a challenge, despite the score sheet.  

     Regards,

         Gary

 

  

[kohlenklau]

14 hours ago, Heinrich505 said:

with little or no ammo

This is all caused by me trying to NOT HAVE any panzerfausts issued out to the infantry squads and HQ's.

Scouts and breach teams and HMG's and LMG's can be at full ammo level. I set them at that for CSIR PRIMO SANGUE.

But I had to purchase the panzerfaust possible units (I call them PPU's) at scarce or severe ammo level and EVEN then the game code can sometimes dole one out.

Alright, so I bought the dismounted trucks and had the briefing say that Sophia Loren showed up in a bikini and handed out some ammo crates. So you can top off on the 9mm and 7.92 for the PPU's. I could have added another crate or dialed up the ammo in the 2 crates.

What a damn hassle! I wish we had a "no panzerfausts" magic button. CMAK did...

To TRY and keep the mood, I do alpha layer "transparent" out the panzerfausts for in game display and the UI weapon slots and now with "script file editing" I can actually have there be no panzerfaust text show up as you mouse over the little UI boxes. I guess you might see an odd puff and explosion if a panzerfaust slips through my attempts and is then used in a battle. 

 

[Heinrich505]

Phil,

   It's all good, especially if you can mod Sophia Loren actually handing out the ammo at the crates.  Can you mod a camoflage bikini?  If anyone can, it would be you!  We have faith. 

   The lads would love that, and they'd gladly charge Russian MG positions with sharpened rocks if Sophia Loren orders them to.  I had no idea that you were in a vicious struggle with the Panzerfaust script nemesis.  I did not see any invisible panzerfausts being used by my troops, so I think you succeeded.  I was very pleased to see them using grenades properly and when necessary. 

   We all appreciate your efforts, despite the game code throwing monkey wrenches into your efforts.  I had a feeling there was a reason that the ammo was so low for the squads.  Now that makes sense.  

   Thanks for the crazy battle.  It really taxed my infantry tactics and assault skills.  You are doing a great job with what you have to work with.

Regards,

Gary

[kohlenklau]

1 hour ago, Heinrich505 said:

Thanks for the crazy battle.

I will press forward to make some more...maybe we do a PBEM too? You can have Sophia's side if you want...

[Vacillator]

Phil, your entry for the wet t-shirt competition is welcome light relief to the 'other' (slightly more busy) forum thread.  I'll also try your latest and greatest when I get a moment or would happily PBEM it with you if appropriate.  I do however have a couple of appointments in Stalingrad thanks to Nigel.  Now I need to focus, just focus .

[Heinrich505]

Wow...my guys will charge any Russian MG nests with sharpened rocks if she orders them to.  I'll lead them...