Russian advance into East Prussia 1914

It's August 1914. Rennenkampf's offensive into East Prussia with the Russian First Army has begun. The German army is scrabbling to shift forces to hold the offensive at bay.  Russian cavalry have pushed ahead looking to capture river crossings as the infantry march more slowly behind.

This fictional scenario seeks to capture some of the flavour of such manoeuvres in those earliest days of August 1914. Two regiments of veteran Russian cavalry have pushed ahead towards a river crossing that is held by a battalion of Jager and a small detachment of divisional cavalry. 

The Russian field guns have been given an enhanced AI=6 per the scenario book 'All Fine Men' representing the reported superior performance of Russian artillery in the first few months of the war. The battle sees an escalation as units from German and Russian infantry divisions arrive at the river crossing at differing (predetermined) times in the game. To reflect the comparative command flexibility, the Russian player had to draw all command arrows for arriving units before play started. The German player had to draw arrows at the start of the game for the first two regiments arriving, but only indicate arrival points for the remaining two regiments. He was free to draw the arrows at the time of arrival as if the 3rd and 4th regiments were reserves.

The Russian objective was to seize the central (road/rail) bridge and one other river crossing (there were two). The Germans had to prevent the Russians from crossing the river by denying them the central road/rail bridges and one other crossing. Can the German Jager and cavalry hold the main bridges until their reinforcing infantry arrive? The game had an eight turn limit, and was played with my 20mm armies.

The battlefield, Germans arriving form the left, Russians from the right.

The battlefield before the action begins ...

The Russian commander's battle plan

The German commander's plan

German cavalry (dismounted) part of the force holding the central town and bridge

The initial German holding force was supported by a single battery of 77mm field guns

Two companies of Jager were holding the river crossing on their right flank

The Russian cavalry rode rapidly up the main road looking to seize the bridge by 'coup de main'

The Russian cavalry quickly came under fire, with artillery fire from a battery of German 77mm field guns deployed in support of the Jager and the div cav

The single battery of German 77mm guns fires direct on the Russian cavalry

The view of the advancing Russian cavalry from behind the German defenders

The situation early on in the centre

The Russian cavalry now look to try and deploy, but come under intense fire and take casualties. Their commander has finally dismouted them

Reinforcements arrive for both sides, Germans nearest the camera, Russians at the top of the picture

Gaps are appearing amongst the Russians. Their artillery have yet to deploy

The weight of the Russian attack against the German right is apparent at the top of this photo, but the German 3rd and 4th regiments are beginning to arrive too (at the bottom of the photo)

German reinforcements swarming forward. This is significant too because their arrival signals the readiness of the corps 150mm howitzers (two regiments worth)

Russian artillery fire is now falling on the German Jager and cavalry in the centre

The view from behind the German left flank looking across to the right

The Russian cavalry that were attempting to shift towards the left of the German defenders in the centre has been eliminated as a result of fire from the German 150s

The Russian attack against the right flank river crossing is closing on the defenders and exchanges of fire have begun

Lots of fire, and suppressed Russian infantry companies

The Russian cavalry has been eliminated. Their four batteries of 75mm field artillery remain. The unit has tested morale (it was veteran) and passes .. whew

The space where the Russian cavalry had been before another devastating 150mm howitzer salvo

German infantry have support the field gun battery set up defending the main river crossing

German infantry flooding forward to ensure that the bridge on their right flank isn't crossed

There's quite a wee stoush going on around that German right flank

Russian infantry reinforcements are now manoeuvring towards the German left (top of the photo)

 

Finally some Russian artillery support starts to come down

However German artillery fire starts to fall on several of the Russian gun batteries

The Russian attack against the German right is now taking very heavy fire

Each side tries to shift forces towards the German right to outflank the other

At this stage darkness has fallen and the fighting dies away. The Germans have prevented the Russians from forcing a crossing. What will the 'morrow hold?

A panoramic view of the battlefield as darkness fell.

Arguably the eight turn limit was too short. However the Russians perhaps didn't make the best use of their cavalry and supporting artillery in the early game turns. The higher direct fire factor for the Russian field artillery offered a significant advantage in the early game turns. The German corps artillery wasn't available until their 3rd and 4th regiments arrived on turn 4.

However that said, the game was still a lot of fun. It set some really interesting challenges, and was quite different to our previous 1918 game (as you'd expect).