Battle for Penrithski Junction : RCW

In the gradual tightening grip of lockdown so it looks like virtual gaming will be back on the menu. Sadly not the massive games I love so much but entertaining, and way better than nothing. This time Phil from NEWS FROM THE FRONT was up for a game so I rolled out my RCW figures. 

A small game using Bolt Action which works for virtual games lasting at most a couple of hours. Somewhere in the Northern Ukraine a train has been stopped before it could reach the intended Tsarist forces. The prize for both sides is a recently imported Mk IV Tank but food is also running low and troops are getting hungry not far from the abandoned train is a local pig farm !

Penrithski junction where the train has been stopped, both forces are rushing to claim the tank 

The Whites from the north, fan out and position their Howitzer in the long grass

The Reds a more mixed force of elite sailors and irregular troops, but they do have a captured armoured car and a machine gun. But the machine gun only last one turn with a fluke direct hit from the howitzer second turn !

But the Reds are not holding back and already have numbers of troops looking to defend the tank

The Whites also advance towards the Pig Farm realising this is equally important to capture

Urged on by the commissar and motivated by hunger an irregular unit also races for the Pork !

A fire fight kicks off across the pig pens

and initially the Reds get the better of it, able to direct more fire in this direction

The white commander looks on with disgust as a unit of Cossacks mis-understand their orders and retreat away from their objective ( this was Phil’s first experience of my random events and he got the better of them !)

Finally the Cossacks rally back towards the objectives but they are caught in the centre and it’s not clear where they should go ?

The Reds are still in a commanding position, a full unit over looked by Natasha the Red Commander

A second white unit has replaced the first at the pig farm and continues to exchange fire their morale supported by the standard bearer

On the far side the ‘white’ unit has been exchanging fire with the Red sailors who have been whittled down to the last few, the Whites then see their chance and charge towards the tank across the road. 

At this rate there will be nobody left to eat the pigs !

After an initial exchange of fire the Reds make a determined assault, leaping across the tank to force the enemy away. This is classic grim hand to hand combat lasting several rounds. 

but wielding his grandfathers saber Captain Philipski somehow manages to single handedly  fight off the White assault 👍

No wonder the White commander is looking glum there will be no bacon for him this evening as the commissar and the irregulars take control of the Pig farm in the last turn

The reward for Captain Philipski is a warm embrace from Natasha whilst the sailors admire their captured prize, but his mind is already thinking of a bacon sandwich !

A fun game played in good spirits. Nice to get the RCW on the table, I do have a couple more units to paint up when I get around to them 🙂