Gumbinnen 1914 (yet again!) with Op14

 

Last Friday, and clearly still on a Great War roll, Lloyd and Jerry joined me for a game.  As it was arranged at fairly short notice I dug out a battle I'd fought previously.  Several times. So where are we?

Fly low enough and you can read the road signs.  The game used 6mm toys on Hexon terrain, with 2mm BUAs.  And yes, I know that the aircraft are from later in the war.

The horrors of war!  Russian and German commanders study their briefings.

German air recce.  It only appeared twice in two days. Which was a sortie rate 100% higher than the Russians managed...

The Russian attack north of Gumbinnen running out of puff.

German cavalry division marauding about on their left flank.

German aviators chasing away Russian cavalry while the uhlans prepare to skewer some Russian infantry.

Close up of the uhlans and their cyclist jäger battalion.

As day two drew to a close, so too did the Russian offensive, one corps having left the field and a second soon to follow. The Germans had some nasty moments though, spending most of day one with only a single corps against three!  An very enjoyable game which interestingly produced a result very similar to the Funny Little Wars game played in 2023 - link.

I have several more Op14 scenarios worked out for Belgium and the east so expect to see more of this sort of thing in the coming months.

SA-10 ‘Grumble’ (s300)

Models of big missile launchers are always good for a laugh, so it was easy to persuade myself to get this lot painted. They are 1/285 scale models made by In Service Miniatures (or ISM) which was a slightly odd range available (for it seemed only a couple of years) in the early 1990s.  The SA-10 pack would have contained one control vehicle and three TEL (transporter, erector, launcher) vehicles.  Mine came off eBay a few years ago and two of the TELs are actually resin recasts.  Still, with paint they all look the same.  

With a range of 35-40km this lot can dominate the airspace over several wargame tables!

The castings didn’t look up to much but they took paint nicely. 

Ageing Hips

While tarting up the batch of helicopters I got to thinking about the history of some of the toys. This Mi-8 ‘Hip’ (one of a trio) is a genuine Cold War veteran - bought ‘pre-loved’ in 1984, it has seen plenty of action. In games set everywhere from Norway to Lebanon, played in Dundee, Sheffield, Cambridge and Northamptonshire.

As PHW commented, “We are lucky we have these friends who have been with us in so many of our incarnations.”  Wise words indeed. 

The Battle of Krasnik, August 1914

One of the early engagements in the east, we'd had a go at a cut down version of Krasnik during lockdown.  That game hadn't been a great success, so I was very keen to run the 'full-fat' version of the battle.  We used Richard Brooks's OP14 rules with my (mostly Irregular) 6mm toys and Hexon terrain. Six players were assembled - Martin, Tom and Russell as the Emperor's representatives, while John, Pete and Lloyd upheld the Tsar's interests.  Photos by me, Russell, Pete, Martin & Russell.

The field of battle.  Each hex is c2km across.

Early positions.  The A-H forces are on the right, while the Russians are coming from the left.  But you knew that from the flags, right?

One of the A-H corps still in it's boxes.  Four stands represent a brigade, two brigades a division.

Austrian and.....

...Russian air recce flights.  They successfully managed to not find anything.

Most of the players.  Scary, eh?

The Russian 'steamroller' trundles forward

The Austrian left flank

Russian cavalry skulking in a wood.  Quite a lot of that went on.

The Austrians in control of the ridge line.

Views from the Russian side.

No game is complete without some pointing.

More Russian views...

On overview of the battle late in the game.

An Austrian combat roll.  Low scores are good.....

The crumbling Austrian left - even a cavalry division has been thrown into the line.

Over the course of a couple of days' fighting, both sides essentially wore themselves out, with the Austrians under pressure to withdraw and the Russians in no shape to pursue them.  A most enjoyable game to run which has inspired me to look at other battles suitable for the OP14 treatment.

Carrying on

I’m a big fan of the old diecast Lone Star Bren Carriers.  Some time ago I picked up a few with an assortment of crew figures and recently I decided to sort a couple out as a present (lucky them!) for my 54mm WW2 Sovs.  I gave them a rough coat of green paint - just enough to cover all the bare metal areas. The running gear can be much improved by painting it all black and then picking out the wheels and suspension units in the same green.  A bit of gunmetal on the tracks completed the painting.  The crew figures are hard plastic and look more USA than USSR, but as usual a bit of paint makes all the difference.  DP machine guns were added, along with Soviet markings - a combination of decals and paint.  A coat of gloss varnish finished them off.  

Anatra DS

The need of a Russian aeroplane for a possible appearance in a game set in 1914 sent me rummaging in boxes yesterday. The search yielded this Anatra DS, an Heroics & Ros model. Some rapid paintwork later and here it is. And yes, I know it didn’t enter service until 1917, but it’s a Great War biplane and that’s close enough for me. 

Petrograd Nights - the toys

Following a torrent* of requests for more information on the toys used in the Petrograd Nights game, here it is. 

First up - the Tsarists. I used my Charbens recast Russian guards. Their eccentric poses are always a joy to behold!

Two regiments of sailors were potentially available - all Armies in Plastic WW1 Russians. 

The Mensheviks. Marx(?) ACW figures painted for the mid-19th century Italian wars. No wonder they look confused. 

The Bolsheviks (boo, hiss). More ACW types fresh previously used in Italy, with a Replicants officer. 

The conservatives were clearly a wealthy faction as they had the only metal toys in the game. I picked these guys up already painted on eBay last year - I think they may have originally been Boers. Their previous outing was the rather less classy business of fighting for the Commune in 1871 Paris last year. 

The Liberals. More AIP WW1 Russians, this time in dark green.  They don’t look all that liberal to me. 

The last photos are all of the Social Democrats. These were all from my Spanish Civil War militia box and were a real mixed bag, from several manufacturers. This pair are AIP WW1 figures. That on the left is a German with a head swap. 

Replicants ACW and Marx WW2 Japanese. 

And finally - none other then the legend that is known to my regular players as ‘Sophia Loren’.  As seen last year in 1871 Paris and 1936 Madrid. She’s a scratchbuild (not by me) largely made of filler. 

  * at least two