This third Campaign Game Scenario was the
first to see the Colonials on the attack and it was the first where the
defensive position had open flanks in the previous games the defenders were in
locations with all round defensive bonuses. The scenario had ten replays plays but
the first four could not be counted as the design of the game changed radically
during them. With six ‘proper’ games played four of which were face to face
there were four South Australian victories to two Russian ones. So this round is
a win to the gallant South Australian defenders leaving the Campaign Game running
total at two wins to the Colonials and one to the evil Russian Invaders.
For this scenario the South
Australians elected for the Hero option so Lieutenant Lime was replaced by the
valiant Captain Darling! This really gave the Colonial units a huge advantage
with positive modifiers to morale rolls when he was in their line of sight. Luckily
for the South Australians even though wounded once the Captain was never removed
from the board as a casualty despite putting himself fearlessly in the line of
fire several times. This scenario can really be affected by the initiative
rolls if the Russians are lucky they can have their Cossack reserve right up
close to the action before the Colonials can defeat the Siberians with their initial
weight of numbers. Attacking at dawn helps the Colonials approach with the
defenders firing into the sun. The attackers also have a lot of options to choose
from to advance, one game even resembled a Zulu attack with one unit acting as
the body pinning the Siberians while the other two acted as horns rushing the
flanks! Another game saw all three South Australian units form a line approach
the barricade loose of a devastating volley in their turn’s first action phase
and charging in their second one. Every game we played had a melee at the
barricade and with a lot of raw troops it was fairly bloody, whenever the
Cossacks could get into melee with the Redcoats their superior combat value
really counted!
Here's how our selected 'historical'
game ran...
Just before daybreak on Friday August
22nd the men of the Norwood Volunteer Rifle Company were position as
per their orders and ready to launch a surprise attack on the Russians before
them. Anxious thoughts were running through each individuals mind when the
sounds of nature were interrupted by a clang and groan! Sergeants Fraser and
Kerr move stealthily to the location of the moans of pain to discover their
commander Lieutenant Lime writhing in pain an animal trap clamped to his ankle!
He said calmly to his worried NCOs through gritted teeth, “Damn it! This is
going to make it awfully difficult to get to grips with those pesky Ruskies!”
Captain Darling arrived at this very
moment, “Oh Harry ol’ boy that looks a nasty scratch you have there, I doubt you’ll be a part
of this foray now!” He turned to the pair of Sergeants with authority oozing from
his every pore, “Don’t worry boys I’ll lead the attack, let the men know we
jump off as scheduled!” Sergeants Fraser and Kerr acknowledged Darling and with
grins on their faces swiftly returned to their sections, Darling grabbed Harry
Lime’s whistle saying, “You’ll be fine Harry and don’t fret I’ll look after
your lads!”
Soon the Colonial ranks were alive
with excited whispers as the troopers learned that the famous Captain Darling
would lead them in their first engagement with the Russian invaders. Enthusiasm
was rife in the ranks and all the pent up anxiety was dispelled there was no longer
the fear of defeat in their minds only thoughts of victory; some men even haughtily
remarked they’d be drinking at the Henley Beach Hotel that evening!
Just to the east of the Colonials as
daybreak approached a tired Lieutenant Ourumov fretted as he awaken his men and
positioned them at the barricade they had constructed the previous evening.
Unlike his superiors he feared the South Australians would attack to try to
recapture the vital crossroads his men occupied and the noises emanating from
the enemy’s positions during the night indicated that was exactly what they
were planning to do. He knew there were Cossack reinforcements at hand so he
sent word to them to come to his assistance at the first sign of trouble but he
distrusted these irregular cavalrymen and wondered why space was wasted on the
transports to bring them on the expedition when more regulars could have been
accommodated in their place, his thoughts were disturbed at this point though as
the sound of battle commenced he heard rifle fire and cheering coming from the
direction of the city, he held his hand to his forehead straining to see into
the rising sun and gave his men the order to fire!
The Colonials plan was Captain Darling
would lead the section of Sharpshooters to the right of Sergeants Fraser and Kerr’s
sections that would advance in line directly toward the Russian defences. .A
shrill whistle signalled the attack was to begin! The charismatic Captain Darling’s
men moved quickly through the apple orchard in open order and were soon clear
of the trees where they were able to fire on the enemy while threatening to
flank them. In the centre Fraser’s section advanced in line as ordered but
Kerr’s men eager for action moved in a column down the road and were soon ahead
of everyone else taking heavy fire. Directly in front of the enemy’s barricade
Kerr then deployed his men into line and engaged the Russians in a fire fight
while waiting for Fraser’s force to catch up. Kerr’s casualties started to grow
but his men’s morale was strong!
The Siberians kept up a hot fire on
the Redcoats as they advanced but scored few hits at long range due to the the brilliant
sun blinding them, their morale in face of the superior numbers was maintained
by Lieutenant Ourumov’s continual cajoling. Ourumov was concerned by the
Colonials moving to his left and was relieved when he saw the Cossack reserves
moving briskly forward, he used furious hand signals to direct them to his left
flank he hoped they would have the discipline to follow his commands!
Having heard the sound of battle
coming from the crossroads Sergeant Vargas stirred his Cossacks and moved them directly
toward the sounds of the guns! He could see smoke enveloping the plain before
him as the din of battle grew and he could make out the Siberian Officer, he
was signalling for him to move to the open left flank, Vargas thought twice
about this as he believed reinforcing the barricade would be the better tactic,
he hesitated and in the end ignored his own convictions and followed the
Siberian Lieutenant’s order he signalled his men to oblique to their left as
fast as they could move!
Once Fraser’s section caught up with
Kerr’s the two Sergeants roared the command to charge and a furious melee
ensued! Kerr’s men found it hard work breeching the defences in particular at
one spot where a giant Russian seemed invincible as he fought like a tiger. Meanwhile
the left flank of Fraser’s section was able to move around the southern end of
the fortifications and get amongst the invaders from the flank! After furious
fighting Kerr’s force’s morale faltered and they fell back. From this new
position these men fired at the barricade in support of Fraser’s men who continued
to grind down the defenders.
Ourumov continued to urge his men on
as the Redcoats engaged them; the brave giant Private Lukashew was a rallying
point for the Siberians as he dealt with several Redcoats and roared with every
thrust of his rifle. Ourumov himself was soon amongst the thick of it, he now
wished he had ordered the Cossacks directly to the barricade and he recalled
them from the flank to fill the gaps appearing in his wavering defences.
Just before the assault reached the
barricades Captain Darling’s Sharpshooters began sniping at the Russians there
only to be distracted by a group of blue clad Cossacks rushing directly toward
them from the Russian rear. Darling calmly commanded the men to redirect their
fire and they turned their attention to the Cossacks. Shouldering his own
Martini Henry which he affectionately knew as ‘Beth’ Darling ordered his men to
fire, he repeated the command four times and then he let the smoke abate to
survey the results. The Sharpshooters had lived up to their name through the
haze they could see they had downed many of the Cossacks and the rest were recoiling.
Sergeant Vargas lead his Cossacks
toward the flank threat and he was confident he could engage the Colonials
successfully he observed that the Redcoats they were approaching were not even
looking in their direction and they were busy firing on the Siberians. While
considering his best charge options out of the corner of his eye he noticed the
Siberian Officer now beckoning for him to bring his men to the barricade. He
shouted the order for his men to change direction when suddenly all hell broke
loose about him Cossacks started falling to the ground and the others hesitated,
the last thing he remembered as pain seared through his body was calls of ‘to
the barricade’…he slumped unconscious to the ground.
Darling’s Sharpshooters now continued
to snipe at the Cossacks as they ran to help their comrades at the barricade.
Fraser and Kerr’s sections in the
meantime had got the better of the Russians at the barricade the key had been
turning the southern end of it. The Siberians morale finally broke and the
survivors fled back toward the beachhead at exactly the same time as the
Cossacks now leaderless and with many casualties panicked and bolted to the west
too!
The South Australians cheered with
delight at their victory and disdainful taunts were hurled after the routing
invaders!
Captain Darling hastily brought the
men into order and addressed them. He praised their actions but warned them their
work was far from done, “there are plenty more Ruskies where these ones came
from’ he said and he continued “great feats of endurance are expected from you
all in the coming days!”. The men roared! Darling then issued orders; Frasers
section were to pursue the Russians, Kerr’s men were told to hold the barricade
and the Sharpshooter were to take the wounded including their fallen foes back
to the aid station, Darling himself grasped the hand of a wounded Cossack NCO hauled
him from the ground and assisted him to the rear...
This particular game was a fun as the
South Australian’s hero was in the fore and there were options for the
attacking units to manoeuvre. The Russians can win and one very interesting
tactic was used twice by them and gave them their two victories! Saying that to balance this game more you could make the Siberians trained with a veteran officer, or change the
single group of thirteen Cossacks into two sections of ten a piece that’ll make the
Colonials job that little hit harder!
In
the early turns the Colonials centre advanced and the Russian fire dice rolling
was pretty bad in this game inflicting only a few casualties on Kerr’s section as
they rushed down the road but with the Hero Morale bonus they never failed a
morale check.
Kerr's men are centre here with Fraser’s section to their left and rear:
This is turn four and Kerr’s men are duelling with Ourumov’s Siberians the
fact they rushed ahead of the other units saved them from any Russian fire not
a bad thing as those units were unhurt for later in the game.
Kerr and Ourumov's men and the Cossacks can
just be seen in the Russian rear:
A
melee began around the barricade on turn six and seesaws for three turns, Kerr’s
section roll badly and fail a morale check falling back for one turn the
Russian pass all their morale checks both sides start taking casualties. Fraser’s
men can be seen slowly working their way around the fortifications while Kerr’s
men keep firing. The Russian player sends his reserves to the left flank at this point it turns out to be a serious error!
The melee around the barricade, Vargas’s Cossacks can be seen on the right of
picture moving to engage Darling’s Sharpshooter section:
A
close up of the barricade melee around turn five Darlings Sharpshooters and the
Cossacks are in the background due to the initiative rolls they are about to get
four action phases in a row to fire at the Cossack in the open:
After the smoke clears and four rounds of firing the
Cossacks are badly hurt their morale roll results in a hold for an Action Phase
which mean they are stuck in the open a bit longer!
Captain Darling in his usual blue tunic stands out amongst the Sharpshooters:
Kerr's section suffered a fall back morale result when they failed to injure any Russians and had several of their men wounded in the barricade melee, one particular Siberian figure was deadly and his die rolls were nothing but 7's or 8's, he gets a mention I the battle history plus he survived the action...so maybe he'll have to appear again later in the campaign?
Once
their hold morale result is finished the Cossacks rush to the barricade and
start filling it from the northern end allowing Ourumov to feed his
infantry into the action against Fraser’s men:
Turn seven and the Siberians failed their morale at
this point but luckily it was only a fall back result meaning one reward Action
Phase move after which they promptly turned around and ran back to the
barricade in the second Action Phase of their turn.
This picture shows the situation
after the above moves noticeable is the wounded men who only get one Action
Phase a turn are still to the rear only the fit men were able to get back:
Ourumov’s men continue to fight against the odds
in turn eight their morale holds again on this turn meanwhile Captain Darling’s
Sharpshooters keep picking off Cossacks their dice rolling proficiency is not
up to their earlier efforts though.
The positions turn eight:
Turn nine sees both Russian
units fail their morale rolls by significant margins resulting in rout with no
rally results the game is effectively over!
This was how the battlefield
looked just before they failed their morale tests:
Scenario Four sees the Russian’s
back on the offensive, the skirmishing phase of the campaign was over and the
time all-out attack has arrived!
