Another day another set of Dominion rules, this time Red and White covering the RCW and Russo-Polish War. This one has lots of period specific tweaks and apart from its overall structure and basic combat resolution mechanism, it is quite different to the earlier sets with specific characteristics for certain troop types rather than broad categories (missile/melee etc).
I've bought a lot of Dominion rules recently, but my WW1 Russians (apart from the cavalry) haven't been out of their box since early 2020 so I was keen to get them on the table. They are a mixed bunch of figures mainly from various eBay purchases, a mixture of Minifigs and Peter Pig WW1 and RCW figures in the main.
The first two scenarios cover Denikins Cossacks in the Russian south, and they seemed a good place to start. I'll do the first battle fairly blow by blow and the others rather faster.
So, this is Novocherkassk down on the river Don, east of Rostov. The actual campaign took three months and covered a large area, so imagine each turn is a month and the ground scale is about 6 inches = 100 miles! It was fought over the winter of 1917/18, hence my snow cloth. The Don is the river at the bottom and Novocherkassk the small town on the river bank.
The defenders are Denikins Cossack Army. They have two elite cavalry units (Cossacks) and an infantry unit in the front line. In these rules Elite units attack earlier than other unit types but get no other combat advantage, I've indicated their elite status by putting a command base in the middle. Cavalry on the flanks get a +1 though (like the Ancient set), presumably as they can range wide out over the steppe. The cavalry are PP Cossacks and have featured in a number of games as WW2 Russian cavalry.
In reserve they have an elite infantry unit (indicated by the MG stand) and an unreliable artillery unit. I'm indicating unreliable units with a casualty marker on the base. The infantry are classic Imperial Russian infantry types, Minifigs I think. Big hats, fixed bayonets etc.
The treatment of artillery is very different to other Dominion sets. Artillery in reserve gets to fire every turn as well as normal unit activations AND infantry with a friendly artillery in reserve also get a combat bonus. The artillery barrage is modified by quality so UR artillery only hit on a 6, but they are still very useful for the support combat bonus. In the front line they fight like a normal unit, firing before anything else.
I've put Denikins HQ on for the looks too.
The attackers are the wicked Red Army. They had a lot more troops so I've made their units bigger (they are listed in the scenario as 'massed infantry' ).
They have five infantry units, one of which is elite (the one in the centre front with the MG) and also have an unreliable artillery in support. The infantry figures are mainly PP RCW Russian infantry in various garb, floppy caps, big greatcoats, the odd Buvinovka etc. I use them as regular infantry in WW1 games.
Their HQ is a bloke on a horse with a big red flag, all very Dr Zhivago and it has appeared in a number of games already.
Unusually on each turn the combat sectors are randomised, either a forced attack in one sector or one advantageous to attacker or defender. Even more unusually, defenders artillery fires in the attackers turn and vice versa and a final wrinkle is that reserves don't move up until the end of both turns, so gaps can appear in the line quickly. This represents the poor C3 of both armies and the role of artillery in WW1. Very clever and the random activation makes it excellent for solo play,
The Reds attack on the right and come under artillery fire (which misses).
The Cossacks attack first (elite) and miss, then the waves of Red infantry surge forward with their artillery support....
And rout the cavalry.
In the White turn, they are forced to attack the left. The Red artillery fires and misses, so the Cossacks charge....
And ride down the Red infantry.
Niether side has been defeated so reserves now move up to fill the gaps. The White elite infantry on the right and more Red hordes on the left. Neither side wants to put their guns on the front line as a) they are unreliable and b) you'd lose the free barrages.
I already really like this set of rules.
The Reds manage to break the White centre.
While the Whites defeat the Red right.
The Reds bring up another infantry unit from reserve (how many more are there?) and the rather nervous White gunners find themselves firing over open sights!
Inevitably the Reds attack the centre supported by their artillery.
And the gunners turn tail and flee, leaving the White centre open.
Sadly the Whites are forced to fight in the centre by the command roll, so the victorious Red infantry outflank the White right.
And unsurprisingly defeat them. Outflanking infantry hit on 4+ and they've still got artillery support, so only needed a 3 or more.
With that Denikin is reduced to one unit and is defeated. That was three turns, so say each turn represented about a month of operational combat.
I thought that was great, very enjoyable and a very convincing narrative. Although it was only three turns, quite a lot more happens in each one than some of the other Dominion rules, so it felt much finer grained. The random C3 system is just brilliant for solo, although probably not a good idea for f2f play!
I just had to do it again. I enjoyed it so much I got some supply wagons out of the box to add to each sides rear are. Observant readers will note I'm using the pine trees to indicate a grid (in fact there are unsightly black crosses marking a 6" grid on this snow cloth, which I've covered up).
The first tirn was a complete wipeout as the Reds destroyed the White centre and left.
In went the White reserves, guns on the left this time.
In went a Red attack on the left. Amazingly the gunners stood and repelled the assault. Medals all around! The guns lost their unreliable marker.
Then in the White turn, the left sector was activated again. The Red artillery rolled a 6 for its barrage and scored a hit - that makes a reliable unit unreliable (what a clever idea).
And the gunners promptly ran away, leaving the White left wide open. There isn't any rallying in this set of rules.
And on the next turn, the rest of the White army was completely destroyed. Another Red victory.
One last try. The White centre collapsed almost immediately.
Next turn the victorious Red elite infantry attacked in the centre again. This time the White artillery scored a hit, and they dropped from Elite to normal. If hit again they would become unreliable.
That didn't seem to cause them any great issues as the Reds went on to defeat the elite White infantry in front of them.
There was heavy fighting on the left which saw some Red infantry routed, but once again the White gunners ran away when attacked directly and the victorious Red centre outflanked and destroyed the White left to once more take victory.
That is three Red wins in a row, and historically the Red Army did capture the city in February 1918. I don't think the scenario is necessarily unbalanced, but the randomised C3 makes the outcome of the game more luck dependant than ones where each side chooses the engagement sector. For solo play it works very well and produces a very engaging narrative, but for an opposed playing, you might want to use one of the other activation systems.
After three games of that, time for another scenario. After losing Novocherkassk, Denikins army retreated southeast and tried to establish a new base at Ekaterinodar (Krasnodar) in the Kuban, attacking the town in April 1918.
Here is Denikins army approaching Krasnodar from the north. Pretty mcuh the same as before, with two elite cavalry but this time they have two elite infantry and no artillery. The 5000 strong Coassacks were joined by the 3000 strong Kuban Army, who wanted to liberate the Kuban from Red control. None of these 'armies' were particularly big.
The terrain around Kransondar is typical steppe, but the city is on a large river to the south which I left off, and there is a river which has its watershed to the northwest, which I've represented here.
The Red hordes defending Krasnodar! (the town at the bottom). The Red forces in this area were pretty shaky so the front three infantry units are all unreliable. The defenders of Kransodar itself were made of sterner stuff, so the reserves include two fortified infantry (the ones with barbed wire) and and elite artillery unit, which was to prove quite devastating. Elite artillery hit on a 4+ when firing barrages....
The action opens in the centre and the Red artillery immediately scores a hit, reducing the White infantry from elite to regular.
The attack is indecisive however.
On the left the Reds rout the White cavalry however, and the Red artillery hits the Cossacks on the right, also reducing them to regular. That doesn't stop the Red infantry from running away though.
The White reserves move up on the left, while the exploiting Cossacks on the right run into the entrenched Red infantry. It is a bit wierd moving bits of terrain forward, but just sort of imagine the cavalry advancing and encountering the trenches...
And with that the White centre and right collapse and Denikin is routed again.
That is a historical result as after a week of fighting the Whites had to retire. The lack of White artillery makes a BIG difference, as even though their units are individually superior to the appalling Reds, that artillery support bonus is worth a lot.
OK lets try that again.
The White right goes down in a hail of bullets but they manage to break the Red centre, despite the attackers being hit by the defending artillery.
The White reserves move up on the right, and the Reds hastily fortify the centre. I guess the Reds have moved up and dug in rather than carrying their trenches with them!
The White assault on the Red centre fails.
And then the Cossacks on the left at routed too and it is all over for Denikin.
Although the Whites didn't win a single one of the those games, I really enjoyed them and thought they were excellent. It was nice to play some Dominion games with larger figures too after the 2mm stuff and my Russians were very pleased to see the light of day again. I'm very much looking forward to playing some more games in this series.
