1914 Twilight in the East (GMT) ~ 29.5 "The Tannenberg Campaign"

Game: 1914 Twilight in the East
Publisher: GMT Games
Scenario: "The Tannenberg Campaign"
Participants: Bob H, Myself
Time: Sun, Feb 26th ~ 2.00PM - 5.00PM
         Sun, Mar 4th ~ 2.00PM - 5.00PM

At long last, our return to Tannenberg. This game and specifically this scenario has already provided many hours of enjoyment for both Bob and I. We have played this scenario at least three time, and have seen each side win, sometimes in dramatic fashion. This is a game that both of us really like and one that is smack in the middle of our collective wheel house. Bob is attracted to anything that features the Austo-Hungarian Empire. I find the tightly written rules and competitive nature of the game appealing. The artwork is first rate as well. I have read 6-8 books on WWI that I would likely not have read had I not played this game. So it is with these high expectations that we start another playing of Tannenberg. 

For those that are not familiar with Tannenberg (and I was one of these prior to this game) it is an amazing piece of history filled with drama and huge consequences. The campaign opens with the Russian 1st Army set to invade Prussia while the 2nd Army hurriedly tries to get into the action further South. The Russians outnumber the Germans but this is deceiving as your average German Division is quite a lot more potent then it's Russian counterpart. The Russian player is also saddled with the pre-war Strategic Objectives which greatly restrict the movement of the two Russian Armies. However once the Russian 2nd Army gets into the fight the German player will have his hands full if he hasn't dealt a strong blow to the 1st Army. 

This scenario is ideal for learning everything about this system. The Campaign is a very manageable one map affair with a fairly low counter density. The Campaign also puts heavy emphasis, indeed stresses many of the games operation themes (supply in particular). You will become a railroad baron at the same time that you master the art of an early 20th Century quartermaster. Unlike the vast majority of operational scale games I have played, you will open your thought process thinking about repairing RR tracks and what your supply line needs to look like at the end of the turn. Once you have considered these options you are then able to think about committing you Divisions to Battle. The German player is under constant pressure on two fronts, trying to hold off two Russian Armies with too few units. The Russian player has to operate within the restrictions of his Strategic Objectives while at the same time extending his supply lines far enough to support his advancing units. The game is nothing at all what I would have expected in a Division level game covering WWI. This Campaign does an amazing job at capturing this drama in equal amounts for each player. 

At Set up with Army Objective highlighted

As I was the German player the last time we played, I took the reigns of the Russians. Having just played the excellent "Battle of Ivangorod" scenario (replay here) from the recently published Journal (also highly recommended) I was amazed at how rusty I still felt as we sat down and began. This coming after spending a good amount of time re-reading the rules as well. As the rust started to give way, recollections of prior games started to creep back into my consciousness. In our prior game the Russians were dealt a catastrophic defeat very early in the game that they were unable to recover from. This was weighing heavily in the opening turns and as a result we both played a very conservative first three turns. 

Opening (turns 1-3)

1st Army Opening Positions

Before I start on the narrative it is important to talk about supply as it drives everything in the game. In order for a unit (generally Divisions) to be in full supply (and thus able to use its Artillery) is has to be within range of its Corps supply train unit. Each Corps usually contains two and sometimes three Divisions. Each Corps has a supply train counter, the counter represents the Corps supply hub. In order for a Division to use its Artillery in a battle, is HAS to have access to a supplied Corps train. A Division without Artillery is at a severe disadvantage as Artillery drives losses in the combat process. Corps Trains need to be within range of an Army Depot. Each Army usually has two, a major and minor. The major depot allows unlimited AP (artillery ammunition) while a minor only allows 4 APs per turn to flow through it. A Corps fighting a battle in which one or both/all of its Divisions is fighting and using their inherent Artillery will use one AP point. Army Depots are restricted to RR lines, they can only move along RR lines over the course of a turn (at most 12 hexes). In order for a depot to move further then that it has to pack up and move, causing it to be unable to provide supply for two turns after it has relocated. Further complicating the situation are the two sides different RR gauges. Each player has a limited supply of RR engineer points that he can use to convert track over to his sides use. You are forced to pay close attention to this in order to plan a successful campaign. Most of the time I am spending at least as much time if not more thinking about supply and RR lines then I am about moving units and fighting. Don't confuse this long description with dissatisfaction with the mechanics, to me (and Bob) this is one of the best parts of the game.

1st Army, start of turn 2

Start of Turn 2

The 1st Army is best suited in the opening turns to start off being aggressive. I elected to play it safe and make sure that I advanced my supply lines along so that I would be able to concentrate my forces against Bobs. Two of the Russian 1st Army Corps (2 and 4) start further South then the rest of the Army and are tied much closer to the limited rail lines located there. In the North I had two Corps (3 & 26) that start very close to the main rail lines and are very close to the 1st German Corps. In prior games we usually see some fighting here in the opening turns, but Bob and I were having none of it this time. We were both very slow in this area. I focused on marching the 2nd and 4th Corps closer to the main line of advance, leaving the other two Corps basically in place while I moved in the two Corps from the South. The Corps train units are not allowed to force march so its very easy for the Infantry to run far in front of the trains and this can lead to trouble. 

13th and 6th Corps start out across the Swamps

2nd Army Minor Depot redeploys to support the 1st and 15th Corps Advance

The 2nd Army is in worse shape then the 1st Army. First off it doesn't even move on the first turn, then most of its Corps trains have an incomplete-2 marker on them. This limits their range until you spend a turn reducing the marker, in all it takes two entire turns for the trains to loose these markers and be operating at full efficiency. The terrain in the 2nd Army's area is also very restrictive. There is a big gap between your units and the Germans. The terrain is either swampy or mixed (swamp/rough/woods). There is only one rail line that leads towards the Army's objective yet most of the Army starts 8-12 hexes away from this RR line. As I had done in prior games I moved the 2nd Army's minor Depot over to this line as soon as I could. I send two Corps (13 & 6) into the swamps in a direct line to the nearest Strategic Objective. The other two Corps (1 & 15) advanced along this rail line leading towards Tannenberg. 

Opening Salvo, 1st Division attacks a lone Brigade

It wasn't until the third turn that we saw our first Prepared Attack. This happened in the 2nd Army's area as the 13th Corps emerged from crossing the swamp to destroy a German brigade. When I made these attacks I was at the very limit of my supply line. Bob rushed the 20th Corps into the area quickly and launched his own attack against the 13th.  In the 1st Army sector, the 2nd and 4th Corps were starting to close in with the rest of the Army and I started to finally advance across the boarder into Prussia. Bob only had two Corps (1 & 17) in the area and slowly pulled back not wanting to give battle. 


Battle is Joined (turns 4 & 5)



The 2nd Army's 1st Corps is making good time advancing on Osterode. Bob nearest Corps is over facing my 13th and 6th Corps who have emerged from the swamps and engaged them. I am able to run up and attack a couple of Brigades in the rough terrain a couple hexes South of Osterode and push them back. The 6th Corps on the 2nd Army's right takes up the fight after the 13th is badly shaken by its attacks on the German 20th Corps (I failed my EL checks). In the center of 2nd Army's area the 15th (the pink guys) are making good progress to towards Allenstien (an objective of the 2nd Army). Bob trains in a Corps (1R) to this area from the 1st Army's front and suddenly I am uncomfortable about how exposed the 15th is. Its all in at this point and I should be able to make attacks on two of the three 2nd Army objective next turn. 

2nd Army, Combat phase turn 4

1st Army, end of turn 4

In the 1st Army's front Bob is digging in behind a river line a few hexes in front of Intersberg (the 1st Army's Objective). When he shifts the 1R Corps South to face the 2nd Army I am left with a 3-1 advantage in Corps. I have my Cavalry ranging North of the main line of advance pushing Bobs Cavalry back and trying to drive off an approaching Brigade marching down to reinforce his lines. I have a couple more Divisions arriving and marching to the front as well. I will have little choice but to launch frontal attacks on his dug in troops behind the river line, but that's ok as I have more troops and am hopping to grind him down. 

Start of turn 5

Turn 5 is very busy on both fronts. In the South, 2nd Army is attacking two of its three Strategic Objective. I only need to occupy one of these to meet my plan for the 2nd and score some nice VPs. More importantly this will lift the restriction on my movement. While an Army is under Strategic Objectives its combat units are restricted in their movement, if they move they must move AT LEAST ONE HEX closer the an Army objective. Thus once you get close to your objective you are really tied to them and lack any room to maneuver. Bob on the other hand is free to run around as he sees fit. 

2nd Army launches two 3-1 attacks on Objective hexes

1st Army starts to assault the trench line

Bobs reaction movement phase see's him detrain the 1R Corps and make a lunge at the 15th Corps 8th Division. I have left this unit back to cover the Corps train and I am glad I did and its looking like Bob is planning on going after it. My two attacks on the Strategic Objectives (Allenstien and Osterode) are stopped cold despite 3-1 odds. I merely needed to roll a six or less on 2d6 to have taken one of the two hexes. 

Bob quickly gets the 1R Corps into action on the flank of 15th Corps

Bob flanks and routes the 2nd Corps on the 1st Army's left

 On Bobs next turn he unloads a division near Osterode and pushes one of the 1st Corps Divisions back one hex. The 1R Corps attacks my 8th Division (15C) which is only two hexes away from its Corps train. The 8th holds thankfully with neither inflicting much damage.


The 1st Army's front is not without drama either. My attacks on Bobs two dug in Divisions don't do much except cost me men and EL level. Bob counters by sending his 1st Corps around my Southern line and attacking the 2nd Corps. This was a close one as Bob could have force marched after my Crops train but instead chose to attack the two Divisions. I would have gone after the train as that would have really caused me some problems that would likely have forced me to abandon my Strategic plan earlier that I would have wanted to. The attack goes well and I am forced to retreat two hexes taking some heavy losses in the process. My reaction movement allowed me to move the two trains in the area out of immediate danger though. My Calvary gets into some trouble on the right side of 1st Army's line and a couple of brigades have to high tail it out of there in a hurry as Bob's lone Brigade from the North lunges in. 

We stopped here for the day. Each of my Army's are either adjacent to or a couple hexes away from their objectives while at the same time facing threatening flanking movements. The next couple turns should be very exciting for both of us.

End of Turn 5

1914 Twilight in the East (GMT) ~ 29.7 The Battle of Ivangorod

Game: 1914 Twilight in the East
Publisher: GMT Games
Scenario: "The Battle of Ivangorod"
Participants: Bob H, Myself
Time: Sun 2/19, 2.00PM - 4.00PM

1914 Twilight in the East is one of my favorite games. Bob pushed me to play it back in 2008 and it was an easy sell once I got it and looked it over. The game takes a previous WWI game system and improves on it. It's a Division level game covering the entire Eastern Front in the first few months of the Great War. Hexes are five miles and cover the length of the front from Eastern Prussia to Romania. The maps are fantastic, they are highly detailed and very pleasing on the eyes. The counters are equally pleasing and convey a large amount of information. Bob and I have played the Tannenberg scenario many times and the Galicia scenario once.

Recently the designer (Michael Resch) published a Journal which, among other things contained several new scenarios. Bob and I selected the tiny "Battle of Ivangorod" scenario to reacquaint ourselves with the game after more then a year away from it. The Journal can be had here directly from the designer. It's a full color professional product filled with some excellent analysis and history covering the period the game is involved in. This scenario is intended as a starter in that it is very light on some of the rules overhead the game contains, choosing to focus on the fighting around Ivangorod in October of 1914.

Starting positions

The scenario opens with the Austro-Hungarians assaulting the Russian bridgehead across the Vistula River near Ivangorod. The AH player is the attacker and has to push the Russians back. The victory conditions count the number of hexes on the West side of the River for victory subtracting the number of Prepared Attacks made by the AH player, the AH side needs to get the Russians down to six or less to get a win. As I mentioned the special rules eliminate several of the systems found in the normal game making it very easy for new or inexperienced players to get a grip on the basics of movement and combat. The AH have two strong Corps in play supported by one attached German Division. The Russians have components of two Army's on the map (4th and 9th) with a couple three Corps in each of these Armies). The Army boundary is right in the middle of the Russian position somewhat limiting what the Russian player can do as he has to keep units from each army on their side of the boundary. Bob naturally was the AH player, giving me the Russians. The scenario is only 1.5 turns long with the AH player going first, then the Russians and then one more AH half turn.

Bob makes his first turn Moves

The set up has the Russians a bit more spread out with some of the units back across the River. The scenario also takes place in the fall so we'll be using that CRT and associated terrain costs, in the Fall the CRT is harder on the attacker and movement is more costly then scenarios that take place in the Summer. Bob opens the game with two Prepared Attacks. A Prepared Attack costs the attacking player 3 movement points while giving the attacker a one column shirt on the CRT. Additionally units that are subject to a PA are unable to move during the counter movement phase. Perhaps its a good time to give an overview of the games mechanics.

End of AH Movement, 1st turn

End of Russian Counter-Movement phase, 1st turn

A normal half turn (normally the Russian player with go first, but not in thus scenario) will have the phasing player move first. Each unit may use its full allotment of MPs (normally 7) and has the option to force march to gain an additional 3MPs. During movement, the phasing player will place attack and prepared attack markers. Then the non-phasing player will conduct reaction movement. This allows him to move any of his units that he wishes half their movement allotment (usually 3.5MPs), force marching is also allowed for the reacting player. The reacting player can place attack markers also, but in not allowed to place prepared attacks in his reaction movement.

The phasing player then conducts all of his combats followed by the non-phasing player. Combat is a multi-step process. The attacker will determine the odds, there are various column shifts that can apply for both the attacker and defender then the dice are rolled. Once the result is determined you then determine losses with each player rolling on another chart to see have many (if any) steps were lost and to generate a modifier to use on the final step. Artillery weighs in on this step by adding a modifier to the die roll. The column you use to roll on is based on how big the battle is, there are 4 sizes from less than two divisions to massive 6+ division battles. Lastly each side will roll on the Effectiveness chart (or take a moral check if your an ASL player). This tests each one of your forces effectiveness (moral/organization) taking into account retreats and casualties. If you roll badly you might have to retreat suddenly after stopping the attack on the CRT. The game tracks each units effectiveness individually and continuous combat will eventually catch up to you.

Initial AH attacks, turn 1

After the Combat phase, turn 1

Bob opens by launching to Prepared Attacks on two of my lone divisions. He closes in with the rest of his units. During my reaction move I am able (via force marching) to reinforce the 61r division with the 21/3CN unit. I am unable to reinforce the other attack against the 75r. The attack against the 61r & 21/3CN goes very well despite it being a 2-1 when Bob rolls a 2 (2d6), I retreat two hexes, take two steps losses and each units losses a EL level. The battle is costly for Bob and he takes the same losses as I do (2 steps and -1EL). Bobs 2nd attack goes well (3-1 this time) sending the 75th back two hexes. The result of this has my 52'd Division out of supply at the start of my next turn. I should point out that we did not take 5 steps off of the 75th Division like we should have per the scenario instructions.

End of Russian Movement Phase, 2nd turn

End of AH Counter-Movement phase, 2nd turn

My movement phase sees me launch my own set of PA's (despite the advice given in the analysis of the scenario) as well as getting the remaining divisions on this side of the Vistula. Bob counters with an attack of his own while reinforcing (again via force march) one of my PA's. My attack in the South with the 25th Corps does nothing but cost my Corp an EL level and each of us a step lost. I do not push him out of the hex. The attack on the German 3gd is equally inconclusive with neither side causing or taking losses or EL. My last PA against his 1st Corps (12 & 46) again fails to dislodge him but I came out better inflicting two steps lost to my one with each of us loosing an EL. Bob's lone attack is a disaster. He has two divisions (14 & 33) from his 5th Corp attacking my 61 reserve division (2-1). He blows the EL check at the end and looses 2 EL and has to retreat one hex. This is a good example of why I like the combat system so much in this game as it models both the strength of the two sides but also thier effectiveness and you sometimes see some really interesting results come from a fairly normal 2-1 attack. My out of supply unit forces Bob to retreat out of the way, costing one of his units another hex that he'll have to make up in his upcoming turn.

Start of Last turn

Russian EL chart

At the start of Bob's next turn (and the scenario's last) we are sitting at a net of 10VPs. Thus Bob needs to take two hexes while making at least two PA's to get a win. I will have my counter movement phase and any attacks that I can put up to counter him with. For Bob there isn't much to do but send in the troops again, he makes two PA's, one against the OOS (52nd) division in the middle and the other against the shaken 25th Corps. During my counter move I launch two attacks while reinforcing the OOS division with a division from the 16th Corps.

End of AH movement, last turn

End of Russian counter-movement, last turn

Bob starts off with the attack against the 47th and 52nd (oos). This is a big 5-division battle, Bob has three attacking from two hexes (all from the same Corps) against my two. The odds are 1-1 and go to 2-1 for the PA. Bob rolls well on the attack and pushes me out of the hex. Losses are light (1 step ea) but when we roll for effectiveness Bob blows one of the rolls sending two of his divisions retreating back one hex with 2 EL lost. Thankfully his other division keeps its cool and is able to advance in and take the hex.

An Example of the Combat process

His second attack goes much better and pushes the 25th Corps back, forcing them to run back across the Vistula in the process. Thus he's taken his two hexes and launched two PA's, he'll win if he can survive my two (counter) attacks. The Germans again brush aside my assault by the 17th Corps with each side taking one step lost and no EL. My last attack pits the 14th Corps against a lone AH division. I fail to take the hex on the CRT and Bob finishes the game with another 2, this time on the EL check and his division stands giving him the win.

Final Positions, end of scenario

So this is a great little scenario for learning the game or getting used to it after some time away. We are next going to go back to our favorite scenario and play Tannenberg.