"Very Pretty, Herr Waldeck...But Can they Fight??"
Last month, got together with my favorite most available retired gamer dude, Reg, and put his 25mm WWI Far East Germans and Japanese on the table. This conflict largely revolved around the Japanese helping the Allied war effort by reducing the German far east possession of Tsingtao [not without some self-interest being involved, of course]. Don't believe that the Germans and Japanese fought each other? The story is here: CLICK!
German commander, suitably dashing and properly attired -just needs a cigarette hold [a loooong cigarette holder] and perhaps a Luger?
First German troop unit - 12 riflemen w' NCO and officer
Ten sailors with officer and NCO
12 more rifles with officer and NCO
Mounted infantry - 6 Mounted / Dismounted, 6 on foot.
Two maxims, and some sort of pom-pom gun on loan from the navy.
German officers hold a brief staff huddle as they regard the advancing Japanese column. Col Fritz Lieber boldly announced "We will hold the village and interdict the road - failure is not an option or Tsingtao falls!"
Meanwhile, advancing down the road is Col. Kurasawa, who has vowed not to sheath his sword until it has drawn blood, and his ray-bans have seen the heels of the round-eyed imperialists!
"You are surprise I speak you language - but I was educated at your UCRA!"Honorable mounted Samurai?
The cavalry is on the center right, with rifle squad closely supporting. Beyond is a gun, a rifle squad with Maxim, another squad, and a large reserve of two rifle squads and another maxim.
Lovely figs and characterful paint jobs make for a pleasurable table display!
Mat is Russian, the trees are Chinese doller-store stuff so it should all fit together well visually!The Japanese reserve will enter next turn, supporting the main effort. Two squads of rifles are durable and have some punch shooting or in close combat.
The Hold Cards are drawn, and significantly favor the attacking Japanese - clearly, they did their scouting well and have informers in the village!
But, at least the doughty Germans have one Face Card up their sleeve...Japanese make a strong forward attack against the village. It is held my Naval squads with support. They hold strong so the Japanese close the range to turn up the heat, with a gun and a maxim firing at point blank range - that will ventilate those stifling huts nicely!
Honorable Regitori wisely dismounts his cavalry after being ambushed by a wily German Maxim from the woods.
Overwhelming force is brought to bear against the scattered Germans. Being separated in the houses proved a big disadvantage, as the Germans had to wait for cards to fire, but the united Japanese advance was firing altogether, and cycling faster.
The Germans react by moving up the cavalry, and a maxim on their right flank.Under heavy pressure, German squad and maxim "advance to the rear" to regroup!
Japanese firepower clears the near houses entirely. Dead sailors litter the streets!
The German pom-pom advances in support, only to be met by a hail of lead and lose two crew.
With several units on their last couple of figs, and fleeing, the Germans will not be able to resist the Japanese drive down the road. The flanks were a bit too strong and the center a bit too weak.
This battle reminded me that it is VERY important to organize a brigade firing line around The General - this way he can organize concentrated firepower of 4 units, which shortens the cycle and allows them to fire more often. As the Germans took losses, they eventually fled and the scattered units also bog down the card cycle, slowing German reactions.
Another fun and characterful fight!
As previously stated, the card sequence is the most ingenious part of the game. It is easy to use, rewards skillful play, and yet gives a very realistic feel without a lot of complicated rules that in other sets fill several pages.
Only thing we thought should be changed is that the weapons should be selected to be a bit more lethal, which would speed the game up without changing any of the important aspects of tactical play. Perhaps adding some more range as well...
Still, there was a price to pay, and all this violence was for a product easily obtainable today...
I will look forward to getting AGW out for my Mexican Civil War units. I wonder how they would do with Spanish Civil War? Hmmmm.....
