Russian Civil War Playtest

After a good session in the garden I managed to fit in a playtest I've had set
up in my wargaming room for a while. It was to try out my RCW amendments to the
WW2 Rules.

Lined up were nine units each of my Red and White army lists. Both were
beneficiaries of an armoured car. The Whites had marginally better cavalry and
were in a more favourable position, however, the Red general was better rated
which helped considerably with some of the tactical options and unit
activations. I was using my solo command and control rules to the full with some
additional enhancements I'd factored in over the past couple of playtests.

After a short time the Whites were retreating on several sectors and the Reds
followed up with a convincing win. The Whites were able to withdraw in
reasonable order but they had failed to reach any of their objectives while the
Reds were well placed to achieve complete success in the next couple of moves.

The rules like all my previous ventures into alternative periods using these
core WW2 Rules, worked very well and I was pleased with all the unit
interactions, the look of the armies and the impact of some one of my specials -
the commissar rules for example.

The rifle units were 12 figures which gave a punishing volley at short range.
The casualties were nicely balanced by the additional tactical options I
introduced with my prone and crawling rules and the greater emphasis I now have
built in for visibility, detection and cover. As this was more an open game of
movement the speed of advance and co-ordinated firepower were important
influences. The Reds had this well synochronised with good support weapon
deployment and flanking moves which constricted the Whites position.

Overall a good game.

I've spent a while away from the table to concentrate on a rush of rule, new
period and army list developments.

I've looked at:
- some alternative theatres in WWI - Eastern Front, Balkans and Italian Front.
- The Balkans War 1912-13
- The Russo-Japanese War 1904-05
- The Spanish Civil War - can't wait to try out these early war Soviet and
German tanks
- Operation Barbarosa Army lists - again some interesting early Russian tanks -
bit obsolete but fun to roll out and play with
- Korean War 1950-53
- Vietnam 1965-72 - developed some helicopter rules I'm looking forward to try
out
- Falklands War - again a pet interest - I was 16 or so when this broke out and
it left a deep impression.
- I've also done a stack of lists for the Ancient & Medieval Rules -
particularly focusing on the Medieval Eastern Europe: Teutonics etc., the early
Italian period of the Etruscan League, Carolingian Europe and some early Feudal
armies - English, French, Scottish and Welsh.

Now to find the time to get around to gaming these!