Red Actions! Interventionist Scenario, Setup and Turns 1-3
Last night we converged on La Casa Markley to setup a new RED ACTIONS! scenario, a rather speculative one based upon Red Russians and Poles versus Interventionist French and Americans. It made no sense historically, but it certainly was fun to play. Alas, with all the setup (and emergency mounting of my new Chekha units), we were late getting started, and could only play until 10PM. We made some progress. This is not a proper battle report, as we didn't get more than somewhere into turn 3 or so. On the other hand, we did test extensively the new revisions to RED ACTIONS! that (mostly) the Markley brothers have been working on. We managed to implment Leaders, Mob Rules, and refined elements of the combat sequence. When we finish up in two weeks or so, I will post a proper battle report.
Initial Setup:
Looking South towards the Alliance (Reds and Poles)
(Americans, left. French right and in Trench lines. Militia in farmhouses up forward, left and right)
The Red Russians (my command). 2 units, conscripts. 1 unit, Regulars. 1 unit, Chekhists, 1 Gun, 1 MG, 2 units Cav (one Cossack, one Konarmiya). I gave the Konarmiya to John to balance out the turn better.
The Poles arrive. A mix of Conscripts, 1 Cav to start, 1 Gun, 1 MG, 1 Haller unit.
The French await the Poles and Russians in their trenches, beyond barbed wire. The conscripts in the farm houses are merely speed bumps to break up the attack of the Reds and Poles.
We didn't get far enough to report on much. We shelled the conscripts in the forward positions, somewhat ineffectively, thought we did manage to put on a few TERROR markers. They shot long range with an Infantry gun and Artillery pieces. My Chekists retired back into the woods, then streamed out and let out a devastating stream of gunfire on the conscripts in the farm houses. That extra firepower modifier comes in handy when you have six stands at start (one of the few times I've rolled on the 25+ table!). The conscripts lost a platoon. Then a cavalry close in infantry attack caused the to fall back, then fall back again. On the right, I was a bit crowded with the Reds so I advanced the Regulars up the right to try to flank the Conscripts in the blue jackets. They took such a hit from cannon fire and long ranged potshots that they retired away from me pretty onstantly. I moved my conscripts up, using the new MOB movement rules. They shot at stuff, not very well. The Chekists hardly had to do much but form a large fire group in the woods and blaze away (that's the closest thing to elite I have!). The Cossacks positioned themselves for a charge on the blue-coated conscripts (on the right) and caused them to retire in the face of fire. And that's about where it was by turn 3, where we had to put it on hold for the night. More on this battle when it gets completed, but for now I will leave you with this slideshow.
By the end of the evening... the conscripts had been pushed back dramatically without grevious losses, and were falling back on the American position on the Russian right, while the other conscript back was hanging out in the air after being charged by cavalary and shot up.
A most satisfying evening, I look forward to completing this one.