Feng-Aoliu - an RJW battle using BlitzKrieg Commander 2

This is a fictitious battle set in the Russo-Japanese War (RJW) fought using BlitzKrieg Commander 2 (BKC2). BKC2 is a set of rules for WW2 based on the Warmaster game engine. In the past I have fought RJW battles using Future War Commander, which is from the same author, but I didn't want to have saving rolls as this would slow the game down.

Each base represents a platoon of infantry, a machine gun section, a battery of artillery or a Cossack sotnia

The scenario was a Japanese Divisional assault against an entrenched Russian brigade. The Japanese has to capture the Old Fort, the Hill and the Temple. The Japanese could recycle their destroyed battalions

The Russian stats are...

Quantity	Troops	Arm	Move	Attack	Assault	Hits
1	CO (CV8)	cmd	60	2/30		6
6	HQ (CV8)	cmd	40	3/30		6
64	Infantry Unit (Regulars)	inf	10	3/30	4	6
8	Cavalry Unit (Conscripts)	inf	10/25	2/30	3	6
6	Support Unit (MG, Maxim)	inf	10	3/60	2	6
4	Support Unit (IG, 76mm)	inf	5/15	3/80	2	6

These were split into 5 infantry battalions each comprising 1 HQ, 1 MG section and 12 platoons of Infantry. Brigade assets were 1 CO, 1HQ, 4 batteries of Artillery, 1 MG Section, 4 Platoons of  Infantry and 8 Sotnia of Cossacks

The Russians have a Rigid Tactical Doctrine which reduces their Command & Initiative Range to 15cm but if all units are given the same order then it is  +1 to the CV. They are also classed as Stubborn which means that they drop a Suppression dice and won't retreat.

The Japanese stats are ...

Quantity	Troops	Arm	Move	Attack	Assault	Hits
1	CO (CV9)	cmd	60	2/30		6
6	HQ (CV9)	cmd	40	2/30		6
65	Infantry Unit (Regulars)	inf	10	3/30	4	6
5	Support Unit (MG, Hotchkiss)	inf	10	3/60	2	6
4	Support Unit (IG, 70mm)	inf	5/15	3/80	2	6

These were split into 5 infantry battalions each comprising 1 HQ, 1 MG section and 12 platoons of Infantry. Brigade assets were 1 CO, 4 batteries of Artillery and 5 Platoons of  Infantry

The Japanese have Normal Tactical Doctrine which gives them a Command & Initiative Range of 20cm. The Infantry are classed as Elite which means there is no command penalty for assaulting and they drop a Suppression dice

The Japanese were allowed to recycle battalions as they broke or got destroyed

Mike and Rodge played the Russians and Shaun and myself played the Japanese

Russian Cossacks doing what Russian Cossacks do - not a lot during the RJW

The Russians entrenched at the foot of the Hill with the Old Fort in the distance

Two Japanese battalions form up for a frontal assault

Their target patiently waits - the hill is starting to look a bit tatty

The Japanese begin their assault

The Russian Brigadier's view of the assault - the blue dice indicate that the unit has opportunity fired

After wiping out the assault the Russians move forward

The Japanese command and artillery - are those French Franco-Prussian war limbers?

The Japanese right flank sneaks up on the the Temple

The Russians roll a Blunder and leave the Temple

Another Japanese battalion gets thrown into the grinder

A recycled battalion poses for the camera before retiring from the field

Cossacks decide to ransack a village rather than pursue the enemy

With hindsight the scenario was rubbish as the Japanese never had enough troops on the table to make an impact but that's life and it's nice to get the toys on the table.

All of the figures were from Pendraken Miniatures mostly from their RJW range but also from their WW1, South American Pacific War and Russo-Turkish ranges. The 6mm buildings are by Mura Minatures

BKC2 worked well for the command and control, movement and weapon ranges but with 120 bases on the table firing was quite slow even without the saving rolls. The Blunder mechanism had a 75% approval rating - the other 25% didn't see the funny side when his troops vacated the Temple.