Tim forward these comments.  I give him full marks for having the psychological health to even remember the traumatic experience………….You can read his comments on our earlier game, here.

Man, what a weird game…You could probably tell, but I was mentally off balance after my atrocious dice rolling…I think what frustrated me is that I knew that you would be getting many, many replacements and reinforcements and that I needed to hit you hard when I had the chance, so the poor results from my opening attacks blew up my strategy.  Then, I didn’t fall back far enough…

I think the Poles after the opening attacks should fall back quite a ways, at least far enough where it takes a while for Russian replacements/reinforcements to get to the front.  That also helps to shorten the line and free up troops for counterattacks.  I wonder if it would be the Poles’ while to knock out the Lithuanians during the period when they can’t attack in the North.  I’m not sure, but it would be good to be actually doing something in the North….

Tim came over for part of the Fourth of July weekend . Our game of choice was not really in the spirit of the holiday.   While we have played Red Star/White Eagles Eagle before, this weekend was an entirely new experience . Once again, Tim took the Poles.

 Here’s a summary of the important rules/characteristics of the game.

•  Bloody Combat Results Table (more on this later).
• Extended Movement After Combat (both advance and retreat).
• Strong Zones of Control for many Polish units (these can limit advances after combat and attrit defeated units retreating through the ZOC).
• Soviet Fronts cannot cooperate.
• Lack of traditional strong defensive positions (only forest and river lines that have exploitable gaps).River defensive positions lose their modifier if one attacking unit is not attacking across the river.
• Fronts separated by Pripet Marshes
• High reinforcement and replacements, especially for the Soviets.
• Four turns per month.
• Victory points awarded for capture of specific cities, only.

 Tim arrived Friday afternoon having fought early holiday traffic and drivers of marginal capabilities . After sucking down three Henrys (each….I had to show solidarity), we set up and played three turns .

Play resumed the next morning. Right after we sat down Tim muttered , “You are going to hate me.” The initial set up was all wrong . Some might say alcohol had been involved , but the real culprit was the horrifically flawed set up diagram . Yes, it’s covered in the errata………

***Important Disclaimer***  I have absolutely no idea why all the photographs are canted.  I am unaware of any body/head/eye bias that might have caused this.  Also, the level of drinking was reasonable.  May need tests.

After we reset, things went from bad to worse for Tim. His southern front offensive staggered due to a series of D6 rolls of one. In this game a D6 role of one is not simply an exchange based on the defenders strength, it is an exchange where the attacker loses one half of its attacking force. At odds of 5:1 to 8:1 this is a staggering loss . In the past we assumed that the CRT was the same as that for Europa – after all the game’s mechanics are very similar to that system.  The result was high levels of anxiety when rolling for an attack.

Tim’s rolls were so bad I gave him three Mulligans . While this might seem overly generous, I realized that this results table could cut both ways .

Despite this bad luck the Poles took Kiev . 

Early in the game almost all of the action occurs in the south . Both players are limited in their options in the north due to a mandated Red Army stand down . 

The other defining aspect of the campaign game is the arrival in the south of the Konarmiya Cavalry Army on the May IV turn. This is a powerful force made even more dangerous due to a charge bonus which increases the value of its cavalry’s by fifty percent .  A combination of the early stand down and appearance of the Konarmiya puts the Soviet player in the position to launch very strong offensives on both fronts beginning with the June I turn.

Anticipating this, the Poles began a series delay/defend actions covering the withdrawal of both fronts to more favorable defensive positions. He skillfully took advantage of the ZOC control of of withdrawals, using some units for the delay/defense.

Favorable is a subjective term in this game as there is very little rough or mountainous terrain on either side of the Pripet marshes . The river lines while affording some defensive bonuses have significant gaps which can be flanked . 

The Poles were subjected to a number of aggressive attacks, with the Soviets focused on flanking Polish units. The Soviet player can afford to be aggressive due to a very high rate of both reinforcements and replacements. And, yes, I had use those Mulligans.

We called it quits after the July II turn. The Poles’ only hope was to hold on for another ten turns, when the Konarmiya must withdraw. Any destroyed Konarmiya units have to be replaced by other units, which could significantly attrit the Soviet forces. At that point, the Poles have only one turn to advance and grab as many cities as possible.

The terms Tim and used most often when playing were “weird” and “crazy”.  The CRT is a little different, the die rolling was crazy, but it was an interesting game.

As always, interesting perspectives.

• That CRT is interesting, with the attackers possibly taking losses even on an 8:1!
• It seems that a defender would be well advised to defend with at least two factors in each hex.  That way the attacker doesn’t get the +1 modifier for a single defending point and runs the risk (in the absence of other modifiers) of taking losses.
• Is supply checked at the instant of combat?  If that is the case (and I can’t check since my copy of the rules got put back into the box and is now back in Bend…) surrounding defenders becomes even more important.  I would think, given the CRT, it wouldn’t be hard to surround defenders….
• That game does not reward defending!  The infantry units defend much worse than they attack…I wonder if it would be worthwhile for the Poles to continue to attack in the North.  I had thought about making a couple of spoiling attacks against weak units, but I didn’t want to trigger Russian reaction and extra reinforcements.
• You did a good job with the Konarmiya.  I’m not sure how that would have played out…I was hoping that you would suffer some attrition that would prevent them from rolling up my southern flank and I was directing all of my reinforcements and replacements there, but who knows if that would have been enough to stop them…
• I had thought about moving a unit next to the units in the Konarmiya to deprive them of the charge bonus, but that felt too gamy…

Over to Portland for Tim’s birthday and some wargaming at Guardian Games.

Fun place.  You can game, drink beer, and when it’s your opponent’s turn, look at the inventory.  It’s not a wargame store, but they do have some games, along with Flames of War miniatures.

Lots of diverse Portlandians playing a wide variety of games.  However, the fellow next to us playing D&D using different voices for each character was a bit difficult to handle.

Played Red Star/White Eagle, an old GDW Russo-Polish War game.  Mechanics similar to Europa, but with period chrome. An earlier session attained legendary status due to a rules gaffe changing it from a fluid, fast and fun game to a static, boring slogging match.  We misinterpreted the CRT.  I’ll leave it at that.

That CRT is bloody.  Most casualty results also require retreats of several hexes, with opponent able to pursue.  There are no outright ZOC kills, but many units have a intrinsic “delay” factor, forcing a retreating unit that pass by them to roll for casualties on a separate table.  Literally double jeopardy.

Tim played the Poles (blue counters).

It’s a big map with relatively low counter density.  The Soviets have two armies, which cannot cooperate, located in the north and south, respectively.   The map’s center is dominated by marshy terrain, significantly reducing movement, with rivers creating east-west compartments.  As you can see, the mandated initial set-up for the campaign game places both side’s units facing each other in the East.  Victory is determined by city occupation.

Both Soviet and Polish armies are mobile, with most units having much higher attack than defense factors.  Mobility is assisted by rail networks.

Each side receives significant replacements. These factors are represented by special counters which must be in the same hex as an active counter during the reinforcement and replacement phase of a game turn.  So, some planning and management is required to reinforce reduced strength units.

The northern Polish and Soviet units have limited movement and attack options for the first three turns, so early action occurs in the south.  Also, the  Polish player must capture Kiev early, or lose his Ukrainian troops.  Tim attained this objective and gained 6 victory points.

By Turn 4, both sides are free of movement restrictions and by Turn 6, the Soviets have received the Konarmiya reinforcements.  This is a corps of cavalry and mechanized units, with extremely high attack factors and a charge bonus.  To gain this bonus, the unit(s) must begin their movement outside a Polish ZOC.

I pushed my Konarmiya south of Kiev, maintaining sufficient distance from Tim’s Poles.  I was afraid that Tim would “ZOC up” the Konarmiya with low strength units to reduce my combat effectiveness.

The attack was successful, but it was time for a big Italian dinner.  Just when it was getting interesting.

In summary, this is a fun and challenging game.  We will play it again when we meet this summer.  No food until game finished!