Monday 31 October 2016

Annual Gaming Event - Day Two - The Crimean War

This was the second game of our wargames week. Since I organised this game I have included more detail of the scenario here. It was set immediately after the Battle of the Alma and takes a bit of a liberty with history by allowing the Sardinian Brigade to arrive in the Crimea a full eighteen months before they did in reality (well I had painted them so it seemed a shame to not have them there).
 
Background.
 
After the Alma the Russians had retreated south towards Sevastopol while the Allies had regrouped and rested just south of the battlefield.
 
Relieved that the Allies did not immediately pursue the Russian Commander, Prince Menshikov, left a small garrison at Sevastopol and retired on the town of Simferopol in the centre of the Crimean Peninsula with the larger part of his army. From this new base Menshikov hoped to operate more effectively against the Allied armies. With a level of efficiency rarely seen in the Russian Army of the day, the army was fed, re-equiped and reorganised in just four days.
 
In the meantime the Allies began to move south to isolate Sevastopol. Allied command soon realised their error in letting the Russians retreat unpursued and a portion of the army was organised into a field force that turned east to defend the flank and rear of the army. This force consisted of three British and one French infantry divisions, supported by two brigades of cavalry and a recently arrived Sardinian brigade. Typical of the Allied effort in this war there was no unity of command and no senior commander was appointed.
 
Advancing east, the Allied troops encountered Cossacks near the village of Bakahchysarai in the evening 26 September. The divisions went into camp and awoke on the morning of the 27th to the news that a significant Russian force was reported as approaching Bakahchysarai. The army was called to arms and a conference amongst the divisional commanders was hurriedly called.
 
From the Russian side the Cossacks reported the advance on Simferopol of an Allied force. Determined to recover his reputation after the disaster at the Alma, Menshikov ordered the 7th and 8th Infantry Divisions, supported by the 2nd Cavalry Division to face the advancing allies. But, in an abdication of responsibility that would typify his command in the peninsula, he remained in Simferopol and left the direction of the fight entirely up the divisional commanders on the field, none of which knew whether they should attack or defend. The divisions approached Bakahchysarai around midnight and went into bivouac. The Engineers constructed a redoubt across the Simferopol/Sevastopol Road while the senior generals gathered for a conference.
 
Technical Details

Rules

The rules were my own homegrown set. Developed over a number of years by borrowing a mix of ideas from many different sources, at the centre of the rules is the belief that as long as your units are in control, are in good order (not shaken or distrupted) or have not suffered heavy losses, that they will pretty much do as you the player wants. But if units are not well managed or are heavily stressed, things can go very badly wrong very quickly.

The Map and Deployment
 
The Russians arrival zone is indicated by the green bar.
 
The Allied arrival zone is indicated by the blue bar, but their arrival had a few restrictions:

  - At least one infantry division had to arrive to the left of the river
  - the Sardinians arrive at the point indicated by the red bar and can be called on at any time, but will attract a penalty if they are called. That penalty is greater if called early in the game as opposed to later in the game.
 
The table before any deployment with the Russians coming from the right and the Allied troops from the left

Terrain Restrictions
 
The only restrictive terrain was the river and its tributary. Both are shallow with low banks.
   - Infantry and cavalry treat either water courses as minor obstacles and can cross at any point except at where the light woods are on the banks.
   - Artillery can only cross the river at the bridge and the stream at where the road crosses.
 
Russian Order of Battle

7th Infantry Division, Lieutenant General Count Alexi Onatop
  1st Brigade: Major General Sergei Pestov
    Smolensk Infantry Regiment (4 battalions)
    Mohilev Infantry Regiment (4 battalions)
  2nd Brigade: Major General Demetri Lacksavich
    Vitebsk Jager Regiment (4 battalions)
    Polotsk Jager Regiment (4 battalions)
  7th Artillery Brigade:
     9th Position Battery (2)
    10th Position Battery (2)
    17th Light Battery (2)

8th Infantry Division Lieutenant General Boris Knockeroff
  1st Brigade: Major General Pyotr Dropoff
    Azov Infantry Regiment (4 battalions)
    Dnieper Infantry Regiment (4 battalions)
  2nd Brigade: Major General Igor Phallov
    Ukraine Jager Regiment (4 battalions)
    Odessa Jager Regiment (4 battalions)
  12th Artillery Brigade:
    16th Position Battery (2)
    30th Light Battery (2)
    31st Light Battery (2)
2nd Cavalry Division Major General Vladimir Chargenoff
  1st (Dragoon) Brigade: Major General Anatoly Smirnoff
    Kazan Dragoon Regiment
    Riga Dragoon Regiment
  2nd (Hussar) Brigade: Major General Ivan Stroganoff
    Kiev Hussar Regiment
    Ingermannland Hussar Regiment
   Cossack Brigade General Yuri Schpinatop
    4 Regiments
    Cossack Battery (2)
 
Allied Order of Battle

The British
  1st Infantry Division, HRH the Duke of Cambridge
    Guards Brigade Brigadier General Bentinck
      3/Grenadier Guards
      1/Coldstream Guards
      1/Scots Fusiliers
    Highland Brigade: Brigadier General Sir C. Campbell
      42nd (Black Watch) Foot Regiment
      79th (Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders) Foot Regiment
      93rd (Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders) Foot Regiment
    Artillery:
      Battery A RA
      Battery H RA
  4th Infantry Division Sir George Cathcart
    First Brigade: BRigadier General Horn
      20th Foot Regiment
      21st Foot Regiment
      63rd Foot Regiment
    Second Brigade: Brigadier General Torrens
      46th Foot Regiment
      l/Rifle Brigade
    Artillery:
      Battery E RA
      Battery P RA
  Light Division Sir George Brown
      2/Rifle Brigade.
    First Brigade: Major-General Codrington
      7th Royal Fusiliers
      23rd Royal Welch Fusiliers
      33rd Regiment
    Second Brigade: Major-General Buller
      19th Regiment
      77th Regiment
      88th Regiment
    Light Cavalry Brigade - Lord Cardigan:
      4th Light Dragoon Regiment
      13th Light Dragoon Regiment
      8th Hussar Regiment
      11th Hussar Regiment
      17th Lancer Regiment
      Battery A RHA

The French
  1st Infantry Division
    1st Brigade: Général de brigade Espinasse
      1st Chasseur à Pied Battalion
      1st Zouave Regiment (3 battalions)
      6th Line Regiment (3 battalions)
    2nd Brigade: Général de brigade Vinoy
      20th Line Regiment (3 battalions)
      27th Line Regiment (3 battalions)
    Artillery: Chef d’escadron Huguenet
      3/8th Artillery Regiment
      1/9th Artillery Regiment
    Cavalry Brigade: d’Allonville
      1st Chasseurs d’Afrique
      4th Chasseurs d’Afrique
      4/5th Horse Artillery Regiment

The Sardinians
  4th Provisional Brigade: Colonel Vino di Rossi
    4th Provisional Regiment
      Provisional Battalions of 9th, 10th, 15th, & 16th Infantry regiments
    4th Provisional Battalion of Bersaglieri 
    13th Field Artillery Battery
  Attached
      2nd Provisional Battalion of Bersaglieri 

All infantry battalions and cavalry regiments consisted of three stands. Allied artillery batteries were one stand and Russian batteries two stands.

Total figure count
  • 1414 Foot figures
  • 135 mounted figures
  • 23 guns

Victory Conditions
 
Each side scores victory points as follows:

Loss of units:
-1 for each unit permanently shaken at the end of the game
-1 for each enemy unit destroyed or quits the field
-1 for each leader killed (i.e. does not return)
Control of objectives
+5 to the side that has uncontested control of the Kacha Bridge
+5 to the side that has uncontested control of Bakahchysarai
+5 to the side that has uncontested control of the church yard

Special Conditions

Allied:
-10 victory points if they decide to activate the Sardinian Brigade before the lunch break, or -5 points if after the lunch break
-10 victory points if three or more regiments of the Light Brigade are shaken or have quit the field at the end of the game
Russian:
+ One bonus victory point for every complete five allied units that have quit the field at the end of the game
 
And the Game...

The Allied forces chose to deploy the French division on the right, near the farm. Next in the line, to their left, was the Light Division with the Light Brigade to their front, then the First Division and the 4th Division. They also elected to bring the Sardinians on the table from the start. Their intention was to take all of the terrain objectives.

The deployment of the Light Brigade, the Light Division and the First Division

The deployment of the Fourth Division and Sardinians

The French Deployment

The Russians chose to avoid the village and the bridge and simply take the battle to the allied army, deploying one division either side of the church, while the cavalry occupied the ground between the  stream and the village. The cossacks would occupy the hill on the extreme right, intending simply to occupy the attention of the Allies in front of the village.

The Russian 7th Division deploys

The Russian Cavalry Division 

The Russian 8th Division deploys

The action started with the Light Brigade swinging left to face the Russian cavalry, pressing forward to the banks of the stream, near where the road crossed it. The Russian dragoons moved forward in an attempt to draw the Light Brigade forward. The ploy worked well and the British cavalry charged forward, across the stream and the Russian dragoons counterattacked, driving off the 8th Hussars and holding back the 13th Light Dragoons. A protracted melee continued between the Russian and British Dragoons, in which the Russians eventually came off the worse. One regiment pursued the broken hussars and slammed into the 11th Hussars, driving them off too before being driven off themselves by the 4th Light Dragoons. But the Russian troopers had done their job and no further British troops pushed across the stream.

The Light Brigade advance to the stream

The Russian Dragoons attack...


...break through onto the 11th Hussars (seen routing away to the left)...

...and then reform after driving off the Light Brigade

Meanwhile on the Allied left flank 4th Division and the Sardinians formed up opposite the mill and the village while the cossacks observed them from the hill on the opposite bank of the river. On the opposite flank the French deployed ready to take control of the church and the heights.

The Fourth Division cross the river

The Sardinians cross the bridge by the mill (astute readers will note that this was the mil that was the subject of a project in January)

In the centre the infantry action began in earnest. The Light Division was thinly strung between the First Division and the French. The Russian 7th Division deployed against them and moved rapidly forward.  Sharp conflict ensued, but the seven battalions of the Light Division found themselves fighting sixteen Russian battalions, supported by three batteries. In a short space of time the Light Division was driven off.

The Light Division face the onslaught of the Russian 7th Division

With their right flank exposed the Guards and Highlanders of the First Division changed face to meet the Russian threat and two battalions of French Zouaves turned to protect the  French left, driving off a Russian battalion, but suffering huge losses in the process.

The Guards and Highland Brigades turn to face the threat from the Russian 7th Division

On the French front the French troops had no difficulty taking the church, but the Russian 8th Division came up in full strength and the French struggled to get the upper hand.

The French approach the church...

...then capture the church (again astute readers will pick this model as a project from earlier in the year)...

...repulse one Russian infantry attack...

...and face up against the Russian 8th Division

At the lunch break - this is a very civilised battle you know - the affair was finely balanced. The Russians had had the better of it so far, but the French were in a position to do some damage to them around the church and the Guards were threatening the right flank of the Russian 7th Division, that was now fighting in two directions. The Sardinians and the Forth Divisions were across the river and occupied the village, but were some time away from getting into the action. 

After lunch the Russians renewed their attack with a vengeance. The 7th Division turned to face the Guards and initiated a sharp fight in which the Russians at first came off the worse. The Guards tried to drive the Russians off, but with still some ten battalions in the field against three guards and three highland battalions once again numbers began to tell and the First Division was compelled to retire. Only the arrival of the Light Brigade and the flank elements of the Fourth Division prevented the Guards from being destroyed.

The Guards and Highlanders attempt to drive the Russians back

Near the church the French failed to exploit some disorder in the Russian lines. Here The odds were more even with sixteen Russian battalions facing thirteen French. But the Russian artillery was devastating and the French, unable to deploy out of their three battalion deep formations were knocked back. When the Russians extended further to the left, far beyond the French line, the French were compelled to give ground. What had looked like a promising position before lunch had turned completly around. Even the French position in the church yard was in the balance.

Looking along the line of 8th Division

The Russian 8th Division extend to the left...

...beyond the French right flank

The Cossacks had withdrawn from in front of the Fourth Division and the Sardinians who were now free to move. 

Fourth Division finally emerge from the village.

It was now around 4:30 and drinks on the deck were calling so the game was called. The victory points were only marginally in the Russian favour, largely because the Allies had hald onto all of the terrain objectives. But the church yard was probably going to fall and the Allies had lost two British and one French divisions. Victory was given to the Russians.

The 8th Division advancing

Would the victory have changed the result of the Crimean campaign? Probably not. The Russian 7th and 8th Divisions were pretty much fought out and it seemed unlikely that the Russians would have been able to push any further. The Allies still had eleven fresh battalions and five batteries close to the Russian line of retreat.  Menshikov, on the other hand, had very few reserves and none on the field.

The victory would have certainly helped to recover the Prince's reputation and would have tarnished Raglan's.

It was particulRly pleasing for me to see these great armies, that have been the focus of my painting efforts for twenty-seven months, on the table and being used. 

A general shot of the game at its height (around 2:30 PM). The 8th Division is fighting the French in the foreground, with the Zouaves facing some of the 7th Division to the left of the church. In the left middle-ground the Guards are fighting the 7th Division. In the right middle-ground the Cossacks can be seen moving to fill a gap, while in the distance on the right the Russian cavalry is leaving the field, having been roughly handled by the British guns. In the distance the Sardinians and Fourth Division can be seen exiting the village.

16 comments:

  1. This battle looks awesome and spectacular...and the battlafield around the church is bloody and epic!

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    1. Thank you Phil. Indeed the fight was intense around tr church - which was very pleasing since I spent a lot of time working on that church!

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  2. Hats off to you, those armies look magnificent. Great battle, looks like it was a blast to play. Your friends are lucky.

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    1. Thanks Joseph. It was a great game play in a great environment.

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  3. Marvelous report! Outstanding collection of figures. Just beautiful!

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  4. Mark! This is such a visual treat! In the deployment photo, I immediately spotted your grand Russian Orthodox church and the mill. Stunning pieces on the game table. Your troops? They are fantastic and photography excellent. This BatRep would make a suitable centerfold for a Wargame glossy mag.

    Splendid work and a fitting tribute to all of your hard work over the last year.

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    1. Thank you Jonathan. It was good to see it all come together on the day.

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  5. By the way, what did you use in creating the game map? Looks good.

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    1. This map was created using a number of tools. FIrst the basic grid was created in Illustrator and the the file was opened in Photoshop. Then I photographed the buildings from above, cut out the backgrounds in Photoshop, scaled them, and layed them over the top of the grid - I did this because I wanted to get an accurate layout of the buildings on the table. The green background was painted in Photoshop to which I applied various blurs to get the mottled look. The hills were cut out of a copy of the background layer and then a smooth bevel effect applied to get that raised look. The river and stream were created first by erasing them from the background, applying a shadow, then putting a blue layer in behind. Finally the fields and roads were just shapes applied to a top layer. The whole image was then flattened an cropped.

      Sounds complex I know, but if you are familiar with Photoshop its about half an hour's work.

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  6. Great AAR. I found this particularly fascinating due to how many of the generals names were instantly recognisable - Vino Rossi and Anatoly Smirnoff most especially.

    Beautiful figures Mark, and twenty-seven months well spent. This is one project I would have loved to have had the time to consider.

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    1. But what many people do not know is that Anatoly's grandson, the renowned pool player Inoff, later joined the Bolsheviks as the dastardly Inoff the Red...but that is a different story.

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  7. Great report Mark, I have just added my own biased version to my blog BYDAND if any of your readers here want to see even more photos - although mine are not quite up to your standard....follow Marks link in his Blogs I Follow

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    1. Personally I would blame the commander of the Light Brigade for hareing off to the left and leaving you exposed!

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  8. Superb report: most inspiring. Great table and figures: very impressive.

    As a rules-writer and tinkerer myself, I was very taken with the following passage about your rules:

    ..."at the centre of the rules is the belief that as long as your units are in control, are in good order (not shaken or distrupted) or have not suffered heavy losses, that they will pretty much do as you the player wants. But if units are not well managed or are heavily stressed, things can go very badly wrong very quickly."

    I share this philosophy completely, but have yet to have articulated it so deftly. I'll probably be quoting you at some point on the topic, I'm sure (if you don't mind--with proper attribution, of course) in the explanatory notes of my own rules systems (if and when I flesh them out beyond the reference sheet stage).


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    1. Thank you and you are welcome to use that text if you find it useful.

      At the centre of my rules is an activation test, that I originally took from Fire and Fury - although in its current form it has deviated so far away from the original that it is unrecognisable. Key to this test are four questions:
      1 - Is the unit raw?
      2 - Is the unit under control of a leader?
      3 - Is the unit in good order?
      4 - Is the unit attempting to enter a close combat?

      If the answer to these is "no" for 1 and 4 and "yes" for 2 and 3 the player is free to move the unit as he wishes. Any other result forces the unit to do the full activation test that introduces a series of other factors that can affect a unit's ability to do ad the player wants - the unit may be a little tardy , or in worst case quit the field.

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