{"id":1975,"date":"2016-09-23T08:06:55","date_gmt":"2016-09-23T08:06:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/badwargamers.com\/bad\/?p=1975"},"modified":"2016-09-23T08:06:55","modified_gmt":"2016-09-23T08:06:55","slug":"squarebashing-1914-russians-vs-germans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/badwargamers.com\/bad\/squarebashing-1914-russians-vs-germans\/","title":{"rendered":"Squarebashing 1914 &#8211; Russians vs Germans"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: medium;\">Last night was the debut for the Russians. As part of a horse trade deal a long time ago I didn\u2019t have many options of composition. The 620pt force being<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: medium;\">3 regular<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: medium;\">10 reservists<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: medium;\">1 professional cavalry<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: medium;\">2 regular cavalry,<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: medium;\">\u00a0 <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: medium;\">2 reservist cavalry <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: medium;\"> 4 MG <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: medium;\">4 Artillery<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: medium;\">So a veritable horde\u2026 with more cavalry than I\u2019m used to.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/lurkio.co.uk\/blog\/img_3231\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-2787\" src=\"http:\/\/lurkio.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/IMG_3231-e1474616812398.jpg\" alt=\"img_3231\" width=\"1200\" height=\"590\" \/><br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: medium;\">\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: medium;\">The game was against Rays 1914s Germans, and his army was larger than normal with 3 units of his own cavalry and , no professionals at all.<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: medium;\">\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: medium;\">With our usual lackadaisical start neither of use invested much effort in the countdown to war, just using the normal default values. Through slightly better dice the Russians won and ended up attacking \u2013 reconnaissance in force.<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: medium;\">\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: medium;\">Things to note <\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: medium;\">Ray rolled low twice on the events chart and ended up deducting 6 from his artillery assets<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: medium;\">On the events I scored the opponent cannot deploy in the 2 end columns (on one side) &amp; one turn of no scenery penalty movement.<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: medium;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: medium;\">So, the game. As attacker I tried to move all the terrain to my side of the table and hopefully time it well with the movement event. This worked<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: medium;\">\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: medium;\">reasonably successful.<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: medium;\">\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: medium;\">The master stroke was that having 5 units of cavalry allowed me to utilise the vacant columns in the first turn \u2013 this was a real game winner. Moving first meant big columns of Cossacks racing down the flanks with relative impunity.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: medium;\">\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/lurkio.co.uk\/blog\/img_3232\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-2788\" src=\"http:\/\/lurkio.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/IMG_3232.jpg\" alt=\"img_3232\" width=\"3765\" height=\"2970\" \/><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: medium;\">The mob of Russian <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: medium;\">\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: medium;\">infantry lurched out of all the bad going, and was looking frighteningly powerful as after the depletions of the German left flank left them looking fragile.<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: medium;\">\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: medium;\">A well placed point effect on the German positions meant that they would have a rather painful morale phase.<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: medium;\">\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: medium;\">It might all be over for Christmas!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: medium;\">However, the cruel mistress that SB is had other plans. The German turn saw a suppression barrage placed skilfully over the whole Russians advance. With 13 units of infantry it hard to disperse them to reduce effect. While the suppression barrage is not \u2018a killer\u2019 in as much as the casualties it inflicts are smaller. The Reservist saves usually mean that there is a casualty and therefore cause for a moral test. This is really exasperated by the factors of reservists, under barrage with casualties\u2026 the morale dice just rack up.<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: medium;\">\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: medium;\">The Russian duly failed most of the tests<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: medium;\">\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: medium;\">&#8211; AND<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: medium;\">\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: medium;\">&#8211; then because they are suppressed cannot retire and take another 6 hits \u2026 again with terrible reservists saving throw.<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: medium;\">\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: medium;\">It started brilliantly and turned to **** in one turn. It looked like the entire infantry assault had stalled due to one suppression barrage!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: medium;\">\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/lurkio.co.uk\/blog\/img_3233\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-2789\" src=\"http:\/\/lurkio.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/IMG_3233-e1474616950579.jpg\" alt=\"img_3233\" width=\"1200\" height=\"900\" \/><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: medium;\">The Cossacks were have more freedom running around the German rear. They had already destroyed one unit of German cavalry and were looking for<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: medium;\">\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: medium;\">targets of opportunity.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: medium;\">The Germans were holding on and took some rather risky strategy with their reserves which did not pay off, they ended up with their artillery exposed in the line allowing the stoic Russians to press in those two places. However , the dice dictated against it ,even with a couple of guns they beat of a sizeable Russian infantry assault. The guns had good support and the dice were wacky.<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: medium;\">\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: medium;\">So rather than breaking the German lines in two places, the Russians stalled and ended up standing right in front of the German lines.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: medium;\">The Russian cavalry in the rear delivered a textbook flank charge on the German reserves after a textbook point effect barrage preceded it<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: medium;\">\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: medium;\">&#8211; damaging the MG \u2013 UUUrah! The Germans scattered off table , losing bases left, right and centre. Moving off table was probably best thing for them as while taking a savage beating they were still \u2018at strength\u2019 and now safely in reserve so victory points that could be gained would be limited.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: medium;\">\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/lurkio.co.uk\/blog\/img_3235\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-2790\" src=\"http:\/\/lurkio.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/IMG_3235-e1474616989966.jpg\" alt=\"img_3235\" width=\"1200\" height=\"967\" \/><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: medium;\">As the game concluded the game looked favourable to the Russians, and fate had seen big swings in fortune in this game. The Russians has achieved 2 breakthroughs , captured 2 out of 4 objectives and occupied the max allowed squares in rows 2 &amp; 3.<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: medium;\">\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: medium;\">However, this was countered but a frightful 27 bases of \u2018killed\u2019 troops and Ray having some re-roll events on the objective scored. SO, it ended up with a +7 to the Russians \u2013 Minor Victory. The Russians, while on paper look poor and their army rating of 27 reflecting that, have some good synergies. The cavalry and empty flank zones is a great combination. The sheer mass of reservists gives them great resilience \u2026 but not for the feint hearted as you cannot make an omelette without breaking some of those Russian eggs.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: medium;\">Great game. Squarebashing always delivers a fun evening with lots of twists and turns. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Last night was the debut for the Russians. As part of a horse trade deal a long time ago I didn\u2019t have many options of composition. The 620pt force being 3 regular 10 reservists 1 professional cavalry 2 regular cavalry,\u00a0 2 reservist cavalry 4 MG 4 Artillery So a veritable horde\u2026 with more cavalry than &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/badwargamers.com\/bad\/squarebashing-1914-russians-vs-germans\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Squarebashing 1914 &#8211; Russians vs Germans<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1975","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-squarebashing","category-ww1"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/badwargamers.com\/bad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1975","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/badwargamers.com\/bad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/badwargamers.com\/bad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/badwargamers.com\/bad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/badwargamers.com\/bad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1975"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/badwargamers.com\/bad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1975\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1977,"href":"https:\/\/badwargamers.com\/bad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1975\/revisions\/1977"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/badwargamers.com\/bad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1975"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/badwargamers.com\/bad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1975"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/badwargamers.com\/bad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1975"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}