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.

Action on the River Gette - August 1914

 This was an Op14 game played in late April, using my 6mm toys and Hexon terrain.  The action involved three German corps advancing and trying to get between the bulk of the Belgian army and Brussels.  The German players  - John A, Russell and Diego had a corps each.  The opposition was Pete (aka King Albert I) and Jerry, who commanded three infantry and one cavalry divisions.

The game provided a broadly historical outcome, with the Belgians being driven off after two days of fighting and the Germans turning their left flank.  My thanks to all the players for making the day so enjoyable - and to Russell, Pete and Diego for sharing their photos.  The images are not in time order but should give a fair impression of the look of the thing.

The field of battle - representing around 600 square km of Belgium!

The Belgian cavalry div - much smaller then infantry divs, this has four cavalry regiments and a cyclist battalion.

The German left, showing IX Korps relentlessly advancing.

Belgian 3rd Div dug in and awaiting the Germans!

Late in the game - with Jerry looking more pleased then a general in full retreat should, me apparently in silent prayer, Diego in despair and John and Russell looking teutonically stolid.

Belgian frantically redeploying to the left as the Germans pile on the pressure.

King Albert's HQ near the village of St. Georges.

German air recce - the rotters!

Two corps looking very dangerous on their right wing.

Dug in Belgians repelling an ill-advised German attack.

Pressure mounts on the Belgian left.

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.

Gaza 1917

This was a WW1 game run by Martin using his 6mm toys and Richard Brooks's Op14 rules.  John led the vast array of Allied forces while Von Gow Pasha commanded the Turks (and provided the aircraft).
A small (brigade-sized) garrison held Gaza, comfortably dug in with artillery while a couple of divisions and some cavalry were due to arrive mid-morning.  The beastly Brits fielded two (big!) infantry divisions with heavy artillery support, three (small) cavalry divisions and a motor column.

Enemy infantry soon closed on Gaza and were brought under Turkish artillery fire.  A futile (but quite heroic) assault was repelled by the defenders.

By the time the rather understrength Turkish 53rd Division appeared the ANZAC cavalry were approaching in considerable strength!

There was a fair bit of air activity - above can be seen German pilots dropping humanitarian supplies to Allied cavalry lost in the desert...

 ...while RFC 'planes were committing war crimes by strafing Turkish infantry.

 Von Gow Pasha maintains a degree of Eastern indolence.  And wins the prize for best hat.

Endgame.  It was a close run thing (and all the closer because of my appalling dice) but several British assaults were repelled and just as my chaps were about to crumble the Brits buggered off.  Phew!