Where Are the All the Horses? AAR

We played the “Where Are the All the Horses?” scenario of the Campaign Game four times resulting in three South Australian victories to the Russians one. The first time was a solo run through by me to test the balance the other three were face to face games. Two were decisive South Australian victories the other two were shared and VERY close. It’s a hard game for the Russians as the Colonials have hidden deployment plus a very good defensive position. The Cossacks one advantage is their superiority in melee and this can make a big difference especially if they get into the barn as they can turn it into a charnel house for the locals in quick time!

We’ve decided the fourth game played, a South Australian victory is the “historical” one. So the Colonials are now one up with six to play.

Here’s how it ran…

Lieutenant Pomerov was suspicious of the seemingly abandoned and desolate barn that stood in open rolling ground before Sub-Lieutenant Yuskovich and himself. Yuskovich was less worried and eager to get his Cossacks forward as per their orders and he prevailed in the heated exchange between the two officers on how they should procede. Concentrating all their troopers on the north side of the road giving some of them cover from a wooden palisade fence they deployed and moved out toward the barn the sun on their backs.

The Cossacks rushed forward as quickly as they could run and it wasn’t long before the crack of Martini Henry fire rang in their ears! Sergeant Bill Smith and his picked riflemen were deployed in the barn and a nearby rocky outcrop expecting Russians the shrill whistle accompanied by roar of “Huzzah!” ended their wait and they saw blue clad Cossacks appear in no apparent formation running toward them. Smith gave the order ‘Fire at will!”. The first Russian fell to one of his rounds!

Lieutenant Pomerov’s section of Cossacks being deployed on the left were intended to move to the rear of the barn but the musketry coming from the rocks to the north of the road distracted them and became their target. Pomerov couldn't continue his flanking move while the enemy held that position. Covering the ground quickly and dodging to and fro they only suffered a single casualty as they closed on their objective.

Meanwhile the main strike toward the barn led by Sub-Lieutenant Yuskovich suffered severely from accurate fire coming from the barn's loft negating the fences cover. As they moved along the road as quickly as they could the losses mounted, two Cossacks were down and three wounded including Yuskovich himself and his bugler all before they had even reached the barn door! With a third of his men casualties the leading troopers threw themselves at the barn’s barricaded northern gates and they had an initial success killing one of the guards and pushing the other back but they did not actually breech the gates allowing more Colonials to fill the gaps they created.

Sergeant Smith’s men in the barn kept up a hot fire as the Russians neared the barn and once they arrived he led the ground floor defences maintaining the integrity of the gates and windows while riflemen continued to pour withering fire into the Ruskies from the loft. Casualties at the barn gates were replaced by the men from the loft as the Russian morale faltered. The Cossacks had had enough and fled back down the road to whence they had come only a short time ago, a few rifle shots accompanying them.

Rifleman Billy Hughes and his two mates from the Unley Butchery had been located in the rocky outcrop to provide enfilading fire on any Russians attacking the barn’s north gate but the course of the battle did not allow this they instead became the target of a furious charge of desperate looking Cossacks! The mates fire had been ineffectual until the Russian came in close and a sharp melee ensued with the Ruskies being forced back with one dead and one wounded at the loss of only Billy McMahon’s left shoulder strap! While the Russians were stunned by this setback the three men poured several deadly volleys into their blue clad assailants when the smoke cleared four were dead and the others had turn tail and were running, a shot from the Russian officer had wounded Billy Hughes. The three men looked at each other grinned and then cheered after the fleeing Cossacks!

Turns one to three saw the Russians advancing under hot fire form the Colonials the men in the barn scored several crucial hits:

Pomerov's men on the left and Yuskovich's are to the right advance on turn one

Pomerov in the green tunic leads his Cossacks

Yuskovich's Cossacks rush toward the barn during turn two

Positions at the end of turn three

Turns four to six saw a close fight between Sub-Lieutenant Yuskovich's section and the Colonials defending the barn there were several close melee dice rolls which went to the South Australians allowing them to keep the Russians at bay:

The Russians almost breech the north gate of the barn!

Overview at the end of turn four

The fight for the rocky outcrop was short and decisive, the Russians got in close with few casualties and were able to get to grips with the three South Australians but again the dice went against the attackers. Then thanks to the Colonials winning the initiative roll of turn six they were allowed four Action Phases in a row (last two of turn 5 and the first two of turn six)allowing them to pour fire into Pomerov’s unlucky men. The Cossacks broke with around half their strength casualties:

"Trouble" at the rocky outcrop!

 "Trouble" averted at the rocky outcrop thanks to Mr Martini Henry!

  Overview at the end of turn six

Turn eight and the Russians are in flight!

 Ruskies fleeing into the setting sun, the rooms window was in the right place for effect!

Captain Darling visited the scene of this action late in the evening and spoke with Sergeant Bill Smith about the afternoons events and his thoughts on the invaders, he reported back to Lieutenant-Colonel Downes just after midnight and declared "Sergeant Bill Smith says we have the Ruskies measure and you can all sleep soundly tonight Sir!" Both he and Downes laughed roundly...

 Time to take a breath and plan when to play Campaign Game Two!

Campaign Game 1 Set Up Details & Special Rules

These are the set up details and special rules for the first of the The Russians Are Coming campaign games. A map of the play area is included. Please feel free to try this yourselves (you may have to adapt it for your rules) and let me know how you go!

The Forces 

Russian Cossacks two units – fire as raw, melee as trained, both officers are veteran

• 1 army officer (Lieutenant Pomerov)
• 11 Cossack troopers
• 1 Cossack officer (Sub-Lieutenant Yuskovich)
• 1 Cossack bugler 
• 11 Cossack troopers

South Australians one unit – fire as trained, melee as raw, the NCO is veteran

• 1 NCO (Sergeant Bill Smith)
• 8 privates

Deployment

Russians - Enter board from west edge turn 1
South Australians – may deploy in up to two groups of any strength anywhere on the board. They are hidden until the Russians contacts them, the Russian has a line of sight to them (only if they are in the open) or the South Australian player chooses to reveal them to move or fire them

Game Length

The game ends after 12 turns unless the Russians occupy the barn or if either side routs or is eliminated

Victory Conditions

At the game end the Russians must have at least one figure within 15cm of the barn or they lose, if they don't lose due to this condition Victory Points determine the winner they are calculated as below:

• Russians gets 3 VPs for killing the NCO and 2 VPs for each killed private (maximum 15VPs) They also get 5 VPs for clearing the barn of Colonials
• South Australians gets 2 VP for an officer killed and 1 VP for every other man killed (maximum 27VPs)

Special Rules

• Turn 1 the Russians have the ‘initiative’
• Cossacks can't use formed line if a units leader is killed they maintain in skirmish order and move at half speed
• For morale rolls use the units troops highest value
• The "hills" are actually rolling ground they block line of sight and give those on them melee and shooting advantages but cost no extra movement points to climb as the slopes are gentle
• The copses and fences are light cover (copses anywhere within and fences if directly behind and fire coming through it) and do not block line of sight
• The Barn and rocky outcrops are hard cover and block line of sight
• The barn has a loft so is two levels high
• Figures defending unbreeched barn doors in melee get an extra +1 die modifier as well as the usual cover modifier
• Due to loophole, window and door availability no more than 4 figures may shoot from any side of the barn on ground level
• Due to loophole limits no more than 2 figures may shoot from any side of the barn on second loft level
• Maximum attacker/defender at a window is one
• Maximum attacker defender at a barn doors is two i.e. two figures against one would only be possible if there was a single defender and two attackers
• Only two figures may pass through an open barn door per Action Phase
• Regarding command rules if the South Australian player selects to deploy their unit in two groups a figure of the second group is selected as its commander and they are treated as two units, if the two groups join at any stage standard rules come back into effect and the NCO becomes the only command figure (if he is a casualty there is NO command figure) and they are again one unit
• Cossacks may be up to 20cms from their leader
• At any stage the South Australians may nominate ‘withdrawal’ and all their movement allowances add 50% but all movement must be made DIRECTLY toward the east edge of the board

This is the actual sketch map drawn by Captain Darling soon after the action had occured and he had spoken with witnesses. The Scale, Legend and edge lengths were added by someone unknown in later years!

 The "historical" AAR will follow shortly!

Campaign Game 1 - Where Are All The Horses?

This is the background of the first of the seven scenarios of the Russian Invasion of the Colony of South Australia campaign game:

Where Are All The Horses?

Dawn on Sunday 17th August 1879 found South Australians with a new view off their coastline a Russian invasion fleet! While a frigate acted as lookout for the fleet, an old monitor blockaded the port and four fighting ships bombarded the Fort Glanville building site ‘just in case’ the rest of the ships lay at anchor off Henley Beach disembarking the invasion force by row boat! It was a long and back breaking task! The first troops ashore were two rifle companies from the 36th Division and their task to secure a safe perimeter and they met no resistance. Later in the day the men of the 1st Transbaikal Cossack Regiment were ashore and they were relieved as they were more used to life on steppe than on the rolling waves. Lieutenant-General Lazarev and his staff were ashore by nightfall.

While a few junior officers urged the army commander to push to the city of Adelaide with the four companies he had at hand Lazarev was a wily old bird and was not going to risk his troops in small packets at least not without a complete picture of the South Australians positions. The failure of the fleet to secure an intact jetty was telling and he was painfully aware that to get his full force ashore with all their equipment was going to take at least 48 hours!

Monday afternoon Lazarev was at last confident to move, he looked to the Cossacks who had now rested and were eager for action. They were ordered to advance from the beachhead in small groups and obtain intelligence on the enemy’s dispositions and more importantly begin foraging for victuals, horses and vehicles.

Lazarev's opposite Lieutenant Colonel Downes the commander of the South Australian military forces was meanwhile working like a man possessed he had no sleep in the nights before the invasion as he busily reacted to the initial sightings of the Russian fleet and had instigated the burning of the jetties and the sinking of two steamships in the harbour entrance to block it. While Governor Jervios met with the Russian diplomatic mission that had been sent out from the beachhead Sunday afternoon he garnered all the knowledge he could about his foes. He learnt an important piece of information from various sources viewing the Russians coming ashore they appeared to have brought with them only ammunition and ordinance, there it was crate after crate of bullets piling up on the beach, he opined from this they would be reliant on various locally procured items so immediately dispatched riders and Constabulary to instruct all the residents to the west to withdraw to the confines of the city mile with haste and bring with them every item of food, all their livestock and any wheeled transport they may own so as not to leave them for the invaders. The squares in the city soon resembled farm yards but little was left for the Russians.

Sunday evening Downes spoke with his available company commanders and selected squads of expert marksmen were dispatched westward toward the beachhead to lay in wait for the expected Russian reconnaissance parties ambush them and retire promptly, his aim was to inflict maximum casualties on his foes at the minimum cost while he concentrated his defending forces.

The stage was set, Monday the 18^th of August 1879 would see the initial clashes of the campaign and it was men from the Unley Volunteer Rifle Company and the 1st Transbaikal Cossack Regiment who would exchange the first shots...

AAR and scenario forces, set up, special rules and victory conditions to come next!

Captain Darling & The Russian Army....

The Russian Invasion of the Colony of South Australia was not Captain Darlings first encounter with the Imperial Russian Army, he had fought alongside them during the Second Great Martian Invasion of Earth with the 3rd Steam Powered Armoured Brigade comprising men from the British, French and Russian Empires in the Crimean theatre of operations during 1875. It was during this period of Darling's life that he acquired his fondness of vodka and caviar. He got on well with the Russian warriors of the Brigade and preferred their company to that of the French,he was heared to have said:

"You know where you stand with simple Russian folk but how can you trust a Frenchman who scoffs frogs legs and washes it down with red wine that would be best used to strip paint from a privy door!"

The 3rd Steam Powered Armoured Brigade fought continuously against the Martian invaders until their defeat in 1876 and was looked upon as an elite force with a prestigious reputation.

There is only one known picture of the good Captain from that era it is of poor quality and is below. He was photographed by the wreckage of a Martian Scout Tripod Machine in the company of a Russian staff office called Colonel Ovsiannikov who is on his left and another unknown junior officer carrying a Russian standard to his right.