A kick in the Urals

In the summer of 1919, somewhere in the foothills of the Ural mountains, the Reds and Whites clash over a small farmstead.  

This was a quick game to refresh ourselves with the Fistful of Lead: Bigger Battles rules.  We kept things very simple to re-learn the rules and try to get the game finished in the evening despite our rusty remembrances.

The scenario was an engagement battle to seize a farm before nightfall. The game would last 8+ turns using the mechanism from scenario 4 in the Bigger Battles rulebook. 

The Reds advanced from the West.  They had a commander on foot, 5 companies of ten regular riflemen, and a machine gun team.  Three companies had a Lewis gun, which we counted as an Assault Rifle.

The Whites met them from the East.  They had a mounted commander, four companies of ten regular riflemen, a machine gun team, and a light field gun.  All their rifle companies had a Lewis gun.  No units on either side had any other traits.

 

I won't do a blow by blow account but essentially the Red Army rushed the farm and the White Guards advanced more cautiously under covering fire.  

There was a furious and bloody firefight followed by some fierce close combat around the farm.  Commissar Trevsky and several of the Bolo companies  ran away regrouped to the rear.  While the Whites were generally left battered but still in the fight.  

We played the rules, to the best of our understanding, as written.  Commanders are very useful, providing a bonus to rallies and allowing re-rolls when attached to a charging unit.  There is a risk to them but with three wounds it is not a massive one, unless the whole unit is destroyed.  Both commanders were hit in the game but did not die. 

The game ended after 9 turns with the Whites' enveloping attack having winkled the Reds out of the large barn but the courtyard and house were still held by the Bolsheviks.

 

The rules certainly give a lot of drama and action.  The cards add plenty of chaos and some difficult game choices.  The fighting is very bloody but we did have all regular units.  Probably we should be using far more Green units and other negative traits.  Green troops use a d8 instead of d10, stripping them of the 9+ double wound results, which would tone things down a fair bit.  Elite units can conversely use a d12, which would potentially allow small numbers of White Officers to see off hordes of Red Conscripts.

I think the only house-rule we used was to increase the MG teams from 3 dice to 6 when shooting.  3 dice for the three figures of an MG team is no better than riflemen would get and seemed anemic, especially given they must spend a turn breaking down and a turn setting up if they move.  The Reds brought their MG up to the house, from where they got in one good round of shooting that inflicted 5 wounds and several shock on a White company advancing in the open.  The White MG was set up on the edge of a wooded ridge and dominated the fields north of the farm preventing a red company from attacking across the open ground.  They also pinned some reds in the courtyard and saw off a fleeing Bolo company late in the game.  They would certainly have been a prime target if the Reds had any artillery or air support.  None of that seemed unreasonable. 

I think we'll play these again soon.