An historical match up, Stephen (his first ancients game in a long while) taking my Byzantines to try his luck against my Arabs. He was lucky for a while...
Richard and I finished our game.
Things started to look pretty grim for the Russians as the Germans launched an offensive towards Riga.
However, in a bold move the Russians were able to cut off the German armies.
While the Germans fought to reestablish supply, the Serbs and Italians launched a series of offensives that broke the Austro-Hungarian positions, threatening to surround their armies and capture Budapest and Vienna.
The Central Powers were able to get Bulgaria to enter the war and this caused the Serbs to about face. The Greeks also came to the aid of the Allied Powers.
While the Central Powers were busy stabilising the Russian, Italian and Balkan Fronts the French and British started a rolling wave of offensives on the Western Front. By this time the Germans were exhausted and losses quickly mounted, even as they hurriedly strategically brought troops back from the Russian Front. Western Germany was overrun and British troops entered Berlin where they were warmly welcomed by their cousins, in-laws, and business partners, although a fight broke out about what they had been fighting about and whatever it had been, each side knew the other side had started it!
Continuing the Great War theme, Richard and I played this, game, bringing in Jeff to make up a threesome.
Jeff won as the French. I muddled through as the British while Richard came last as the USA. An interesting game, although I think it lacked the player recognition or alignment with the country they were playing, that other card based games have, when you hold a set of cards in your hand that you can study, cherish and hold.
At the club's December games day, Simon and I tried out another of the Hexes and Miniatures Rommel Scenarios. This one was a Soviet offensive to recapture Smolensk. Simon took command of the 215th and 274th Rifle Divisions and the 42nd Guards Tank Brigade while I had the German 113th Infantry Division and a small Kampfgruppe.
I redid the map to use hexes:
Elsewhere the Austro-Hungarians take out their frustrations on the Serbs (and everyone else as they keep rolling the Mandated Offensives) who cannot hold Belgrade in the face of the Austro-Hungarian assault. The Russian front is initially quiet with some minor manoeuvring by both sides as both the CP and AP slog it out in Belgium and France. With a short lull in proceedings on that front, the Russians launch a major offensive into Galicia capturing that province and its VP locations. In the mean time, the Germans have commenced offensive operations against Russia and Lodz and Warsaw fall in quick succession and the Russians suffer a lot of casualties in the face of the advancing Germans. Further German attacks along the Prussian border see the Russians evacuate Kovno and the frontier fortress city with it's fortress now in ruins after heavy fighting is primed for the taking. Further south a German incursion through Brest Litovsk threatens the flank of the considerable Russian forces massed in Galicia. After a long siege, the fortress of Przemysl falls to the Russians. In the meantime, Italy entered the war and was unable to resist an advance into Trent to besiege that fortress. Their joviality did not last long as a full German army arrived to break the siege just before the siege resolution phase. The weak AH forces can only look on as their pitifully weak frontier forces can only manage an equal exchange of losses after being forced to do yet another mandated offensive. Still the Italians look like they could be brushed aside without too much effort. If only there was a spare army. (There are none).
In possibly the most controversial move of the day, Marechal du Haughey, henceforth known as "le toxique" not contented with Offensive au Outrance unleashed a phosgene gas attack on some, (suspecting as it turned out) Germans, who quickly donned their gas masks and blunted the attack.
In a further affront to accepted WW1 tactics, other than the initial play of the "Entrench" card which the Germans played to give themselves are fighting chance and save themselves from a 3 pronged flank attack, has been the one and only trench dug in the game so far. The Germans seem to have dropped most of their shovels in the fall back through Belgium, and the aggressive British and French attackers have so far spurned digging, preferring a campaign of manoeuvre.
The French army's successes in blunting the Germans has come at a very high price with the corps reserves being run down to a bare minimum. Any more than a couple of big losses in the next few turns could see significant changes in the front line. The Germans are in a slightly more advantageous position, but having to fight so many simultaneous brush fires are also stretched. The Russian steamroller is gearing up, which way will it turn -to the North to save the VP locations or east to fight another day or emulate the French and try to break the AH Carpathian mountain defensive line.
Meanwhile in sunny Egypt the Turks and British glare at each other across the Sinai peninsula in a mostly forgotten near east. The Turks thought better of a mandated offensive and the British have their MEF unit poised for something in the Aegean just off the Gallipoli peninsula. A wait and see and wait some more approach by both sides.
Horrendous losses on both sides, teetering near the collapse point and its only just coming up to 1916. Which side has more blood to give?
Almost a thousand years between these two armies. Can chariots and elephants best fanatics and camels?
The trickle out, or more correctly strollout (to use the Macquarie Dictionary's word of 2021), of my Soviet forces continues.
