Wot we did etc part II

The Royal Wedding Day game ended unfinished (or did it finish unended?) so I left it set up on the garage table so we could return to it for our regular Thursday night game.

Due to circumstances we had a slight change in cast and the start was delayed as someone in our group had got a good win off e-bay which included the first sight I've had of the new Zvezda plastic 1/100 BT-5s (very nice looking, and c£2.50 per kit + postage).

However we managed to play through to the position I sort of wanted to be at lunchtime on Friday, and ended the game.

There were three crucial conflicts. The first was on the Red's right, around the station which as you will recall was occupied by a cossack regiment. Eventually they were evicted and driven backwards into the open where they were annihilated, unable to mount up and ride away. However in the process they had tied down 6 Red infantry battalions and two of their armoured cars, and at least half of the infantry was in no fit state to carry on with the battle. Several of the battalions had said "Nyet" to the odd order and been coerced into action, and in consequence we had a mutiny or two that was quelled through exhortation and the shooting of the ringleaders.

Probably, all things considered a good result for the forces of Counter-Revolution.

In the middle the Officer battalion in the wooded entrenchment hung on until outflanked by the Konarmy and assaulted rear and front. They turned to face the cavalry coming through the woods, only to be overridden from behind by another unit of horse. Due to failures in the performance of one the White armoured cars they were rather left hanging in the wind. On the upside they held on for a long time, although the damage to the Konarmy was not as great as they might have wanted.

On the Red's left the Order of Lenin for persistence in the face of the enemy went to the Conscript regiment that waded through a marsh, braved heavy fire from an armoured car and an emplaced Officer battalion in order to get to bayonet point. (Not to mention the need to quell an incipient mutiny on the approach march as well).

A protracted melee resulted in the Officers finally being overwhelmed and wiped out. Some no doubt were executed with a bullet to the back of the head in the aftermath as class enemies.

At which point we packed up. A tactical, Pyrrhic victory, for the Reds. Alas I fear they will be unable to exploit this as the Whites rush their armoured train with reinforcements to the spot.

Thanks to all of the players for their participation. The rules gave us a realistic, enjoyable, game but they are still flawed. We spend too much time reorganising units to resolve casualties, and I ran out of white & black casualty rings.

I think that I need to change the casualty recording system and also probably reduce the number of step hits each base can take. The armoured car casualty system needs a slight tweak as well.

Strangely enough the much maligned melee rules held up remarkably well, but they still probably take too long. The artillery rules are also a bit of a blunt implement and I'm not happy with their performance.

Hopefully I'll find some time to write up the changes, but alas the desk full of SCW figures beckons, and those rules won't write themselves (a blog for another time, I think). Plus this morning (Sunday) we have some Real Life in the shape of a bathroom door that needs painting/