Dr. ZHIVAGO!

Loads of 20mm RUSSIAN REVOLUTION minis got moved last night.

Great chance to visit with a Trumpeter gamer and Jack Hutchings award winner, Dennis Chin!

We blasted away with some very simple rules that Dennis has worked up and managed to repeat the victory of the Reds over the Whites (the best part was that no matter who won lots of Russians were being dropped!) {must be something about all those Cold War years I spent hunting Soviets that makes this sort of game satisfying}.

On to a few pics:

The train was stopped by a barricade that the Reds had put on the tracks.

The Whites had to clear the barricade (needing 2 turns with 9 men working on it unmolested).



This was a skirmish level game so each mini was 1-1, with a chance to shoot. So there were loads of dice being thrown at certain times!

Something that my (soon to be) 8 year old son found very satisfying was to be able to throw lots of dice and to be able to game on the same team as dad! I know that in less than 2 years this will be passe and the aim will be to beat dad, but I will take this for now.



The Whites had a stone wall to provide some cover and a hill with a small wood on the top to try and give that wall company some flank cover. On the other side of the train was a hill, Jeff was busy with Alex (my son) once the Whites had jumped off the train the battle was on! We had only nine turns to come to a conclusion, and as I had an armored car and a cavalry formation I was not going to waste any time in 'getting at' the foe, as a fair amount of ground was still to be crossed.



Jeff did manage to get to the barricade, but not in numbers and not until turn 6. Along the way he and Alex had exchanged a number of lethal shots at one another, though Jeff's elite unit had suffered more than Alex's by the time the barricade was reached.

My cavalry had braved mortar and rifle fire before delivering a knockout-punch to one of the Whites infantry companies under Dennis' command.



Tipping point.

The Whites had the barricade, but only one turn to spare if they were to have the blockage removed by turn 9.

The Reds had broken through the woods and now were poised to fall on the White company at the stone wall.

I decided to go for broke and launched the forward company at the barricades crews and flung the rear company at the gap between the stone wall company and the remnants at the wood. The gamble paid off in spades as the barricade crew was stale mated and the stone wall company was overwhelmed being caught in the flank!

This allowed my fast-moving cavalry to rush to the train and sabotage the gunners on the mortar!



At the end the Reds held the train and the barricades could not be torn down before turn 9, a victory for the Red Army over the Whites!

Oh and lots of 'dead' Russians...