Scenario #22 "Making the Best of a Bad Job"

Sunday saw an outing for the RJW project over at Wyvern Wargamers, I picked another scenario from Grant & Asquiths - Scenarios for all ages, an excellent find in a local charity shop.

Outline.

The Russian's are lost, they know they need to head east, they are tired and have become strung out  out over a length of road, which appears to be heading into a wood. They are on the march when the action starts. The Japanese unaware of the Russian forces are not much better off. They are camped on the edge of the wood. Their cavalry have gone off to find provisions and the remainder of their force is unprepared for action.

Both sides have less than ideal circumstances, the Russians need to proceed east through the wood with at least 60% of their forces, the Japanese need to prevent this.

 The Road east with the wood at the far end of the table.

 Russian blinds, stumble into Japanese blinds, the Russians getting the first opportunity to find out what they were up against.

The Japanese camp is revealed.

 Guns and machines guns are rushed into defensive postions but still the Russians remain on blinds and the Japanese have little idea what they are facing.

At the far end of the table the Russians have a similar idea, their artillery and machine gun ocuppy the little wood. Both sides swap fire.

Russian blinds and Japanese blinds stumble into one another, two units of Cossacks face off against 3 units of Japanese infantry, this will be bloody....

Standby for a fistful of dice.

 The bloody encounter is over, one unit of cavalry is forced back, whilst a unit of Japanese infantry head for the tree line, whilst the other 2 units are littered with shock and low ammo markers.

 Finanlly further Russian units arrive, but the Japanese still hold the high ground.

 Yet more Russians are unmasked.

Time was running out for the Russians, they have smashed the Japanese defenders, but had failed to make it beyond the ridge line, as with many a game, if only we had another hour... :-)

Played using Too Fat Lardies Mud and Blood rules, for once the MG's kept firing and the cavalry actually made an impact.....

Bulgarian Artillery - Tiger Miniatures.

The challange with picking periods less popular is that more often than not you need to seek out proxy pieces to fill out the ranks. Although to be honest I rather enjoy this element of any project.

So far in the RJW project, I have managed to incorporate the obvious WW1 Russians to fill out the Russian Infantry ranks, but perhaps more obscurely, British from the Zulu War Range for shock markers and low ammo markers, Belgian Cavalry representing Russians Cossacks and now the latest addition.... Bulgarians from Tiger Miniatures - Balkan Range.

My Russians have been lacking some firepower for a number of months, I was torn between WW1 Russian Artillery from Brigade which are very nice sculpts but are perhaps a little to modern for 1904-05 and the Bulgarian Artillery Crew.

The Tiger website does not give a clear a view of the sculpts which is shame but I had seen them at various shows and once based figured they might just fit the bill, afterall all the crew had a peaked cap and came with a handlebar mustache...... Very Russian.

I am a little unsure of the correct uniform and my resources have drawn a blank, but there is in the Osprey book on the period a HMG crew in the background of the first plate which gave me an idea for the uniform, it certainly makes a difference from the Green's of the line infantry.