It Rolls For Ivan

The weekly Tuesday remote game saw a return to the Russian Civil War after having fought a RCW battle a few weeks earlier using One Hour Wargames.  The action this week saw the initial trial of an adaptation to Graham's For Whom The Dice Rolls transported back in time to the Russian Civil War.  Graham's scenario pitted three brigades against three brigades.  The Reds had an advantage in infantry.  The Whites held an advantage in cavalry.  The Reds had their cavalry on the left while the Whites had cavalry on both flanks. 

Commissar Graham
 issuing directives to the commanders 

Let's see how this initial test played out.

Reds win initiative and advance across the front
 with rail station as an objective.
Whites counter with cavalry moving on left flank.

Reds continue moving to the rail line and deploy.
One battalion of White infantry secure
 the woods opposite rail station.

Reds secure both rail station and farm.

White cavalry charge into the Red right
with supporting MG fire from the woods.
On the Red far right (!), the line holds.

Graham wants a photo of the action
 as the Red infantry falls back.

Attacked a second time, the Red infantry rout.
Seeing this breakthrough,
 the Reds shift one cavalry regiment to the center.

White cavalry pursue and then about face.
White cavalry on the right advances into
 the center to threaten Red movements. 

White cavalry on the right takes heavy casualties
from the farm and from infantry holding the center.

Red cavalry charge into over-extended cavalry
recovering behind the station.
  The White's are trapped.

White cavalry is pushed to the edge while the
 White cavalry falls back from withering fire near the farm.

Seeing an opportunity, White infantry attack
 skirmishers between the farm and station.

Skirmishers are driven back with heavy casualties.
Red cavalry charge White cavalry at the far end of the table.

Caught in march column, the White cavalry is destroyed.
Meanwhile, the successful White infantry in the center
turns to flank the Reds that had recently mutinied.

The mutineers are destroyed!

Flush with success, the White infantry turn to finish off
 the battered skirmishers which they do.

With about three hours of play in the books, Graham called the game.  While a proof of concept game, the result looked like a White victory to me.  Of course it would, I was in command of the White army!

An interesting game that holds good promise in transporting FWTDR back to an earlier war.  Actually, the mechanisms worked well for the period and I envisioned watching the vast cavalry charges of Dr. Zhivago.  Chrome tacked on to the base rules provided a distinctive flavor of the RCW. Looking forward to returning to the Russian Motherland again.