It's been a very long time (a year I think) but finally I've been able to organise a Great War Spearhead game. I chose a small 1914 scenario from the scenario book 'Summer Harvest' because we are rusty with the rules, and so I knew that game play would be a lot slower than normal. The battle sees forces of roughly a division per side, not too bad for a smaller evening game (we thought).
The battle saw Russians and Austrians battling it out for some high ground and the village of
A random die roll determined that Jon commanded the Russians while I commanded the Austrians. We sued my 20mm forces, mostly HaT miniatures, the Austrians supplemented with some Irregular Miniatures Austrian HMG stands.
The battle began with an Austrian regiment in light entrenchments holding the main ridge line.
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| The Austrian regiment in position in the centre, with the Russian advance beginning |
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| The forward Austrian positions were supported by two Austrian artillery batteries |
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| The Russian advanced regiment moves forward |
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| The Austrians rush two companies forward to hold Polichna |
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| The Austrian off table artillery regiment comes into action early (turn 2) and brings down fire on the Russians |
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| More Russian reinforcements sweep onto the battlefield with the arrival of most of the remainder of the division |
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| The Russian division is supported by on table batteries |
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| Opening fire is exchanged between the forward forces |
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| Austrian reinforcements arrive on table - the remainder of the division |
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| Action heats up in Polichna. The advancing Russians take casualties |
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| One Austrian company in Polychna is eliminated, but the other holds out |
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| Reinforcing elements of the Austrian division advance, artillery in support |
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| Austrian divisional cavalry rush to support forward elements of 1 regiment holding Dobrowa on the Austrian left |
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| Russian reinforcements on their left |
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| Direct artillery fire from the supporting Russian batteries eliminates the Austrian artillery detachment holding Dobrowa |
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| Action continues in Polichna, the remaining Austrian company fighting off the attacking Russians |
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| Russian reinforcements push forward |
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| Heated firefights develop all along the front, the Russians seeming unable to make headway |
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| The Russians rush forward (having ceased the initiative at a vital moment) and take Dobrowa |
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| Fierce fighting takes place in Polichna |
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| And the firefights in the centre continue |
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| The Russian fire begins to tell on the Austrians, with reinforcements just beginning to arrive to support 1 regiment in the forward positons |
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| Finally after an incredible volume of fire the second Austrian company in Polichna is eliminated, ceding Polichna to the Russians |
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| The Russian advance against the Austrian left applies pressure, with the supporting artillery suppressed |
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| The Austrian 3 Regiment advancing to support the Austrian right |
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| And 2 Regiment in the centre |
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| The Austrian commander attempts to feed reinforcements into the front line on the left. That's Dobrowa on the left |
It is only at this stage in the game (Turn 9) that Jon finally makes a successful roll to get the support of his off table artillery regiment.
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| Finally the Russian persistence is rewarded and in an incredibly intense period of fire the Austrian 1 regiment holding the centre breaks and abandons its positions |
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| The flanking 3 regiment arrives just as 1 Regiment breaks, ensuring that there will be no easy breakthrough for the Russians |
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| Heavy fire falls on the Russian now holding Polichna |
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| The Austrian forward positions empty |
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| And still empty |
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| Still heavy fire falls on Polichna |
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| The Austrian right pushes towards the flank of the advancing Russians |
At this point night is falling and the action is abandoned. We were only able to run the game to 9 of the proscribed 12 turn.
The relatively indecisive nature of the end result was more a result of how much we'd forgotten since we last played GWSH as it was of anything else. It was easy to see how we might have each produced different outcomes with slightly different command choices. Perhaps the biggest issue for each of us was the relatively poor use of our supporting on-table artillery batteries. The bonus +1 fire factor for the on-table Russian batteries in these early months would have made a significant difference.
The scenario warrants at least another play - there are (as always) subtleties that are not apparent at first reading. this is one of the many things we love about Great War Spearhead and the historical scenarios that Shawn Taylor and Robert Dunlop continue to generate.
