Thursday 26 March 2020

Surprise assault : Russian Civil War

I had set up a scenario for our next Russian Civil War game. Is was sadly blown out by the virus so having left the set up on the gaming table for a while I thought I would amend slightly the scenario and play it through solo.

Setup - Colonel Alexandrov the local commander of Royalist Forces has spent the night in a small farm house. Having had inside information on this the Reds have sent an elite force to attempt to capture the Colonel.
The farm house, Alexandrov is hidden inside, his troops have been sent on patrol in a range of directions at this stage they do not know where the assault may take place. The scenario is very close to one in the Warlord Operation Sealion book.
The White forces must be outside of the farm fence at step up and do not know where the enemy will come from as an added random feature a unit of white officers corp infantry will be randomly placed in one of the two other buildings.
The Red Forces up against it will come on randomly from each of the four sides they must capture the White Commander and get him to the edge of the table
Straight into the action the Red field gun is wheeled on only to be charged first turn by the eager Cossack cavalry
Red infantry are ordered to charge straight towards the farm house hoping their rush forward will surprise the field gun
The ‘elite’ reds are supported by some local irregulars
More ‘Reds’ advance along the road, only to find out the wooden barn building is where the white elite infantry are hiding !
They have made the gun and easily knock it out
...but the Cossacks are charging about the fields and are looking to wipe out the peasantry 
An urgent shout from the farm draws some of the defenders back to support
Despite losing a couple of men the Cossacks easily take out the peasants 
The officers Regiment are also now rushing to the north sensing their commander is in danger
The reds are in a pretty hopeless position now but the residue of one unit has made the building, automatically capturing Alexandrov, but they are just about to be swamped
Somehow though the survive the attack and the Cossacks galloping pell mel are ambushed from the woods
Even the Red standard bearer is in on the action assaulting the final member of the defenders machine gun crew
But there are simply too many white defenders surely...........
By some excellent dice rolling the red infantry survives not one but two attacks, and with only three remaining comrades are able to get away with Alexandrov for questioning, torture and death !

A pleasant diversion played over a couple of evenings, not quite the result I expected as all looked lost after 3 turns, whilst the reds captured the objective they paid dearly in terms of manpower. Nice to get the newLy painted Reds on the table, the good thing with solo games is you can’t really lose.

24 comments:

  1. Splendid stuff Matt, you have amassed a fine collection there.
    I plan to have a solo BA game in the next few days.

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    1. Thanks Phil, I have a couple more units I would like to get although the size of this project was never meant to be more than 10 to 12 units per side. I have been trying to get a whippet tank but with no success. I probabaly also need a little more infantry...we’ll see but the sides are fairly balanced and I have a little scope to build in some variety.

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  2. Replies
    1. Thank AJ yes much blood was spilt on both sides

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  3. This looks like a pleasant (and handsome) diversion, indeed! Nice job!
    When playing solo, I always win because it is an enjoyable exercise.

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    1. Thanks Jonathan yep I have a plan for the next game........ACW

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    2. Sounds good! Next up for me is another run out of Norm’s Tigers at Minsk.

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    3. ACW is always good no matter what! Solo or otherwise. 😀

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  4. Lovely shots, great aesthetic.

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    1. Thanks Norm........hopefully a little colour and brief diversion for people locked in their homes

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  5. marvellous. I nee to play a solo game

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    1. Cheers....yes happy to try some form of remote gaming if you can work our a system ?

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  6. Replies
    1. Thanks for taking the time to look and comment 👍

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  7. That's a grand collection and a fine looking table. Thanks for raising my spirits.

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    1. Thanks David if it provided a brief diversion that is good 👍

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  8. Great game, nice to be geeing some games even if it is solo.
    Cheers
    Stu

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    1. Thanks Stu .....we all need to keep up with the hobby if nothing else if my meagre efforts bring a very brief respite from the real world 👍

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  9. Solo games seem to be the only ones on the menu these days. But no matter, with a gorgeous game like this who needs opponents! 😀

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    1. Thanks Stew , I’m not a big solo gamer as find it more relaxing to paint when I am on my own but needs must 👍

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  10. Great looking game, nice to see your Russian civil war stuff out and about!
    Best Iain

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  11. Great RCW miniatures, tabletop, game and AAR!
    Well done.
    I think 'playing with ourselves' is all the go now...hold on when wasn't it...sorry may have crossed the line there hahaha

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