For reasons of current events and general mayhem in the world, I have, I think, somewhat shied away from wargaming involving Russia in the last few years. This is probably highly irrational. After all, events of hundreds of years ago cannot really have that much impact today (an arguable statement if ever there were one), and, further, a fictionalised wargame of such events can have even less relevance. Still, who needs to be truly rational?
However, with my megalomanic trends as outlined last week, it is impossible to run a game set in Europe without involving the flank powers, and so Muscovy appears on the easternmost edge of the map. It is, of course, rather small and weak, as indeed was the case in 1600 – it was regarded in England as being exotic. On the other hand, I suppose England was regarded as being rather exotic from the point of view of the Baltic.
Still, Muscovy is in the game, and as I indicated last week, the country, while undertaking a diplomacy drive, collapsed into civil war. The rationale I have put forward for this is a dispute at the Tsar’s court over foreign influence. I am not sure which side is which, but we now have a wargame on our hands between two Muscovite forces. I even managed to dig out some Eastern European buildings.
The field was open and a bit rolling, with a few hills around. The near side edge is the government baseline, and their infantry on the left is deployed on a hill. The rebel Cossacks are also on a hill on the right. There was a fair bit of hesitation on both sides about starting the action (a lack of tempo points for both generals), but the light troops are getting stuck in on the government right, while the cavalry and infantry are slowly advancing.
The way the rules work, like the rest of the Polemarch family, at least as far as I have seen them, it can be important in cavalry battle to get the drop, that is, seize the tempo, and charge first. This was true here, but it did have, as we shall see, a bit of a twist in the tail.
Above, the rebel cavalry has got the drop on the government and routed two bases in the charge and subsequent combat. However, the five rebel cavalry bases have used three to rout two government bases. In the centre, you can see that the government has two shaken bases just about holding out, and two unengaged bases, confronting the rebel infantry. The government infantry, meanwhile, is moving into position against the rebels, and a firefight is breaking out.
A move or two later, and the rebels have routed another base of government cavalry, although the pursuers are becoming quite scattered. One of the pursuing bases was looking like it was going to hit the cossacks, but some accurate fire from the latter gentlemen dissuaded them from that idea, and they swerved past instead. The government Cossack, incidentally, did rather well, outnumbered, against their opponents.
It was that scattering that was the problem for the rebels, along with the infantry assault on their right. The government, having general and some cavalry in hand, firstly rescued one of the bases in trouble with a flank attack. They followed this up by moving two cavalry bases across to the centre and taking on the scattered rebel horse. This was rather successful, as charging bases in the rear tends to be. You can see some of the hitherto successful rebel cavalry routing at the bottom of the photograph, while some others are under pressure from the government general and his base of horse. The rebel general survived all this and is currently wandering around in the middle of the field looking for some troops to command.
The infantry tussle to the top left of the picture is also going the government’s way, with the flanking streltsi and ‘Cossack’ pike taking out a couple of bases themselves. Overall, this was a bit too much for the rebel morale, although with a decent morale dice roll, they went to a withdraw instead of a rout status.
Losses were fairly significant on both sides. The rebels lost 3 cavalry and 3 infantry, the government 3 cavalry bases. In the campaign, the idea is that I keep track of battlefield losses (as in the DBA campaign), so replacements for extant armies only occur in the winter turn, and then at one base a year. On the other hand, countries can raise new forces if they can afford them.
Still, that was a rather good wargame. After a few moves, I was fairly convinced that the rebels would win it, having smashed the government centre. As with Prince Rupert and the Cavaliers, however, that only went so far. The rebel cavalry was used in total, while the government had a couple of bases uninvolved. These were able to pick off the now scattered rebel cavalry, while the infantry, having been set up to have an advantage over their opposite numbers, made good on the promise. The idea of keeping a cavalry reserve is growing in popularity.
In terms of the campaign, the Muscovite GOOS score has, of course, gone up, but the rebellion is not quite over. A bit depends on how the surrounding powers – Sweden and Poland, maybe the Ottomans – react, and, of course, whether the increased Muscovite GOOS score convinces the rebels that God is not with them.
In other news, the Elector Palatine managed to fumble his initiative roll and got an assassination result. He survived the attempt, but the question is now ‘who ordered it?’ Looking across the diplomatic table reveals a number of possible foreign powers who could have sponsored it, with the dice rolling finger pointing at France. It all looks like a decent diplomatic incident, if not a war, is brewing in Western Europe now as well.
So, a decent start to the campaign, with certainly enough to keep the creative juices going, even if most countries are striving to be on good terms with everyone else. I do not suppose that that will last, however, as some of the strategic aims distinctly clash. Which is the point of having them in the first place, of course.