Footnotes and Final Thoughts

It really needs some dramatic music to go with it but the sentiment does not - all the best for the new year!

Well the Russo Turkish battle has been and gone and raised as many questions as it has answered! The theatre in which the action was set - the Caucasus - is not one I am readily familiar with but I fully intend looking into this region for some other gaming ideas over the course of the new year. Of course the same area also saw much heavy fighting (often against the weather!) during the Great War so the gaming mileage is certainly there. Who knows? Even our old friends Fezia and Rusland may make an appearance over the terrain in due course - especially as the historical Russians were keen on acquiring a decent harbour which means the naval dimension can receive some serious attention.

Mention of terrain reminded me of the battlefield I set up for the Camel's Neck. I used three raised Hexon 6 hex tiles for the plateau - the simply sat on top of the blue tiles I used underneath - and this worked reasonably well although probably not very clearly in the photographs. I am mindful of the fact that I need to add to my Hexon terrain but until the employment situation resolves itself this will have to wait.

The action was a large one to fight and to be honest is probably bigger than I would normally prefer to use. All of the games I have fought using either the Portable Wargame or Memoir of Battle on a 13 x 9 hexed set up seem to work far better using around a dozen or so units a side.

The rules worked really well and having the Russian infantry use a reduced range felt accurate as the Turks had a noticeable advantage in fire power. The ding-dong battle against the trenches on the plateau came about largely because the Russians had to get in close with the bayonet to avoid being outgunned at long range.

Tactically the Turks did what they had to do in that they fought the Russians to a standstill on either flank. Unfortunately, the undamaged Russian reserve proved to be a formation too far as far as the Exhaustion level was concerned for the Turks. Having said that, the Russians were only a couple of casualties away from hitting their own total so it was a close run thing.

I have managed to fight and report 31 games from the man cave of which I am rather pleased as there are 7 more than I originally intended. The block concept has stood me in good stead and is now very much an established part of my wargames armoury but I really want to tackle some models and figures in the new year. At this stage WW2 will be the first target of opportunity as I have models for land, sea and air to tackle but I also fancy taking on something a little more colourful. As usual, I have a number of ideas around what I can do but there is no hurry as I have more than enough to be going on with.

Operation Seeadler will be the main focus for the early part of next year and so watch this space for future developments - and not forgetting Tim Gow's blog Megablitz and More for the tactical side.

It only remains then for me to wish each and everyone of you a very happy, peaceful, prosperous and healthy new year - see you in 2013!