User blog:LB&SCR/Unknown Tales of the Paramilitary: Brownshirts vs. Blackshirts







Ah, warfare. The glorious sport of the men. Long, endless lines of foot infantry, letting loose endless volleys of musket fire and.... wait.. it's not that century anymore, is it. Let me rephrase. Warfare, the quick-paced, blitzkrieg of speed; where the individual infantryman is just as likely to change the war as an entire unit. Then, you have these guys: the paramilitary, the fighters who helped push those warmongering leaders into power, whether it be through revolution or through the sheer intimidation of the soldiers themselves. Today, we have two of the best examples of these types of soldiers. In this corner, we have the Nazi Sturmabteilung (SA), also known as the Brownshirts, the original paramilitary arm of the Nazi party; the men who guarded the Nazi rallies, disrupted meetings of opposing parties, and fought other paramilitary groups in the streets of Germany. In the other corner, we have the Milizia Volontaria per la Sicurezza Nazionale , also called Blackshirts, the paramilitary wing of the National Fascist Party, and later the all-volunteer militia of the Kingdom of Italy. When these groups go head-to-head, which group will come out as the deadliest warrior? ==Sturmabteilung (SA) (Brownshirts) == The SA has it's origins in 1920, where Hitler was giving a speech at a brewery, and several protesters who didn't want the rally to take place, where sent "flying down the stairs with gashes on their heads" by Hitler's army friends, who were armed with mainly truncheons. That was the birth of the SA Organization. Originally made up of Ex-soldiers and beer hall brawlers, their main job was to stop Social Democrats and Communists from interupting party meetings. Two units were originally born from the SA: the Hitler Youth, originally called the Jugenbund; and the Shutzstaffel (SS), were originally branches of the SA. They earned the name 'Brownshirts' from their brown uniforms, which were leftover from WWI German African Troops.

Hitler feared the growing power of the SA, which was aiming to replace the normal German Army. On 30 June, 1934, Ernst Rohm (head of the SA) and 200 other senior SA officers were arrested, and between 100-150 of them were killed, including Ernst Rohm.

Even though mainly existing on paper after the murder of many of their leaders, attacks on Jews in the '30s escelated, many of those terrorism acts perputrated by the SA. They beat many Jews to death and arrested 30,000 more over the course of all actions.

When WWII begain, most of the remaining SA members joined the Wehrmacht. Just like there were SS Combat Units, a plan went through to create a SA combat unit, which was formed as the Panzer Corps Feldherrnhalle in 1944. They saw action ont he Eastern Front.

Milizia Volontaria per la Sicurezza Nazionale (MVSN) (Blackshirts)
The Blackshirts were formed in 1919 by many disgruntled soldiers and Mussolini. They were given the task of combating the mortal enemies of the Fascists - The Socialists. By the time Mussolini pulled of his March to Rome, the Blackshirts numbered 200,000 (though only about 30,000 marched on Rome), and they had taken control of the many key areas in Italy. After Mussolini was handed power by Victor Emmanuel III, the Blackshirts were reorganized as the national militia. They earned the name 'Blackshirts' from their black uniform, which were modeled on the uniforms of the Arditi, Italy's elite WWI Troops.

Even though they were a national militia, three divisions of Blackshirts were sent as part of the Corpo Truppe Volontarie to fight in the Spanish Civil War. After the defeat at the Battle of Guadalajare, one division was disbanded and merged with one other, and both were renamed.

In 1940, the Blackshirts mustered 340,000 front-line combat troops (approximentally three divisions), of which all three were destroyed in North Africa. In 1942, a fourth and fifth divisions were mustered to replace the losses. These two divisions fought everywhere else that Italy fought, almost being destroyed again due to being undermanned and undergunned. In 1943, the Blackshirts were integrated into the normal armed forces.

Weapons of the Brownshirts
These are the weapons the Brownshirts will be packing for firepower.

|-| Rifle =

Karabiner 98k




 * Weight: 9 lbs.
 * Bullet: 7.92 x 57 Mauser
 * Effective Range: 500 meters
 * Feed System: 5 round stripper clip
 * -| Submachine Gun =

MP35




 * Weight: 9.3 lbs (unloaded)
 * Bullet: 9 mm Parabellum
 * Effective Range: 200 meters
 * Feed System: 32 round box magazine
 * -| Machine Gun =

MG 34




 * Weight: 26.7 lbs
 * Bullet: 7.92 x 57 Mauser
 * Effective Range: 1200 meters
 * Feed System: 250 round belt
 * -| Pistol =

Walther P38




 * Weight: 1 lb 12 oz
 * Bullet: 9mm Parabellum
 * Effective Range: 50 meters
 * Feed System: 8 round magazine

Weapons of the Blackshirts
These are the firearms that the Blackshirts are packing for firepower.


 * -| Rifle =

Carcano Model 1938




 * Weight: 8.8 lbs
 * Bullet: 7.35 x 51 Carcano
 * Effective Range: 500 meters
 * Feed System: 6 round magazine loaded en-bloc
 * -| Submachine Gun =

Beretta Model 38




 * Weight: 4.2 Kg
 * Bullet: 9mm Parabellum
 * Effective Range: 250 meters
 * Feed System: 30 round magazine
 * -| Machine Gun =

Breda Model 30




 * Weight: 10.6 kg
 * Bullet: 6.5 x 52 Mannlicher-Carcano
 * Effective Range: 800 meters
 * Feed System: 20 round stripper clips
 * -| Pistol =

Beretta M1935




 * Bullet: 7.65 x 17 Browning SR
 * Feed System: 8 round Magazine

X-Factors
Most of the combat the Brownshirts took part in were brawls and firefights in the streets with other paramilitary groups that were run by opposing parties in Germany. Then, the only real experience against a professional army was against the Russians for about a year. The Blackshirts have fought in both the Spanish Civil War and World War II, fighting werever there were Italians present, giving them much more experience fighting against professional armies.

The Blackshirts took part in the Second Italo-Ethiopian War, in which the technologically disadvantaged Ethiopians bravely fought against the mechanized Italians. The only crimes they commited was killing prisoners, but didn't really commit any other major crimes themselves. The Brownshirts beat many Jews to withing inches of their lives, arrested many more, and destroyed and burnt many synagogues and Jewish-owned businesses. They murdered many in the streets also.

The Brownshirts were ex-soldiers and beer hall brawlers. Some who had had military training, and some who had had no training at all, giving them a mixed quality of trained soldiers at the beginning, before slowly militarizing. The Blackshirts had been military for most of their existance, whether it be front-line soldiers or just the fascist Italian version of the National Guard. Both of these groups have probably the same effectiveness in tactics. Fighting mostly in street fights with opposing paramility troopers of other parties, the Brownshirts didn't exactly rely on exact planning, relying on their superior organization, weapons, and training (if you can call it that). The Blackshirts are a trained, professional unit, but they suffered from relatively poor leadership and strategy. Though, there was that time when the Italians saved Rommel in North Africa.

Battle Notes

 * The fight will be 6 v 6.
 * The map will be a small town surrounded by flat grassy areas with small hills.
 * The Brownshirts didn't usally use Machine Guns, but I gave them one due to the fact that the Blackshirts would be using them.
 * Bayonets will be available to use.