More WW1

TimGow put on another game last night using Ricahrd Brooks 'OP-14' operational WW1 rules. A rather larger affair than last time, The Battle of Gumbingen, with three Russian Corps vs one German Corps (rising to three and a half German Corps plus a cavalry division).

I took the Russians, and having actually read the rules had slightly more idea what I was doing this time, in particular using reserves to keep the firing lines up to strength. The Russian steamroller rolled forward, and managed to bludgeon its way into Gumbingen, smashing one German Corps in the process. The Germans were somewhat handicapped by splitting their small force, the detached elements being then crippled by being out of command which allowed the Russians to concentrate the best part of two Corps against one division with predictable results. One Russian brigade in particular distinguished itself by drawing mandatory attack cards, but rather than being shot down in heaps, it drove almost unaided up to and then past the town.

By mid afternoon the Russianshad pretty much shot their bolt however, and although one Corps was strongly dug in around Goldap, the other two were overstretched with one already exhausted and the other well on the way. Fresh Prussian troops were counterattacking strongly and it looked like a withdrawal at nightfall would be in order.

I thought the game looked pretty good and flowed well. It was particularly pleasing how the firing lines solidified into strange angles and re-entrants, looking very much like the unit fronts in battle maps of the period.

Looking forward to the next outing.