Hex Shambattle (2)

 

First incursion by Bluvian Hussars met by strong
cavalry counter attack. Bluvian Lancers hurry up 
to reinforce the invasion.

Here is the second instalment of the battle for the purple River crossings and Bluvia once more invades Redina territory. The action begins when Bluvian hussars make a quick dash across the Middle Bridge. The reaction is quick, and the Bluvian horse are hard put to maintain any kind of bridgehead. The pictures' captions narrate the story...

Standoff at Blueburg-Vermillion river bridge. After a brief exchange of 
fire, the Bluvian rifle battalions were withdrawn, leaving the 
Gardner guns to cover the crossing.

Wild cavalry melee across the Middle Bridge. Already 
both sides have taken heavy casualties. 

Action at Blueford: the Turco Brigade attacking on a broad front 
across the fords and the river bridge.

Early attempt by 2nd Redina Battalion to cross the 
Vermillion City bridge thwarted with loss

Treachery! Fourth Chasseur Battalion have taken it 
into their heads to defect. But first they have to contact 
the enemy before turning against their comrades...

... Chance made the 4th Chasseurs the farthest 
distance from the front line. They will have a long 
march!

1st Turco Battalion attacks across the Blueford Bridge.
Despite earlier losses, the defenders repel the invaders.
Losing a SP (the '6'), the Chasseurs retreat all the way
back to Blueford (the two '4s'). The '5s' cancel each other out; the 
'2s' count for nothing against foot.

Returning to the action, 1st Chasseurs are this time successful,
and take the bridge. The defenders retire into Redville.

Meanwhile 2nd and 3rd Turco Battalions attempt in the face 
of heavy fire to storm across the fords.  They are supported by 
the Brigade's Gardner guns.

The cavalry fight continues. A hussar regiment has reached 
a Redina gun battery near the Scarletton Woods.

General view: in the distance, Bluvian engineers prepare to
build a pontoon bridge across the river, as the cavalry battle
 rages on the far side

At the south end of the line, all but the machine guns
are being withdrawn from Blueburg. The engineers are
constructing - under artillery fire - a pontoon bridge between 
Blueburg and the Middle bridge.

A comment on the engineers: 
The unit comprises an engineer stand plus a train - a bridging train for the Bluvians. Both elements are rated as 3SP (Strength Points). Although not quite so formalised in this game, I suggest that losses are accrued alternately (not both at once for each 'kill' hit) beginning with the train. A battalion reduced to 1SP, whose train has been brought to 0SP, might yet resupply by withdrawing to a 'hospital' - a recruitment and recovery unit.

As you can see from the above picture, having completed half the bridge crossing (1 turn) the engineers and their train have taken a SP loss each from machinegun fire. That is where the Line Brigade is headed, in order to avoid the costs of street fighting in Vermillion City.

The Bluvian cavalry in trouble at the Middle Bridge.
One of the Hussar units has vanished, and the Lancers
have been driven onto the bridge itself. The Chasseurs are
hurrying up in support

A comment on 'hospitals' and their function:
I have yet to come up with a satisfactory nomenclature for what are really logistic centres for recovery of ammunition, victualling, recruitment and medical services. Perhaps 'Logistics depot' or something similar. Depleted units go there to recover lost SPs. A number of issues raised themselves.

1. Should units reduced to 0 SPs be permitted to recover SPs? I was - and remain - in two minds about this.
  
2. What is the capacity of these units? I think depleted units should recover 1SP per turn, but how many units can be so served in one turn? During the battle the Redina mobile hospitals in particular became overwhelmed - which suggested that I had set too restrictive limits upon their capacity. During the game I allowed each of the hospitals/depots to replenish 1SP only, and that at the end of the turn. The queues on the Redina side were getting quite long... I'll come back to this.

3. How do depleted units make their way back to the 'logistic depots'? During this game, I found it simplest to remove a depleted unit at once all the way back to a depot (the nearest available). Upon recovery, it would still have to march, at standard movement rates, all the way back to the front.

4. Capacity: 
A good deal, I think, rests upon the size and scale of the game. This one was fairly sizeable for a 4'x4' table. Here's an idea that I have yet to test:
(a) Each turn each logistic depot rolls 1D3 (or half D6) which gives it a capacity for the turn to rebuild 1-3SPs on depleted units in or adjacent to the logistic depot's location. Perhaps the 'permanent' depot ought to have a slightly greater capacity - a D4 (1-4SP) or possibly a D6 (1-6SP). 
(b) If the capacity is available, a depleted unit might recover more than 1SP. However, if there is more than one unit awaiting recovery (from that logistic depot), the SPs must be distributed among them.
(c) A depot's capacity is not cumulative. The 'per turn' die roll merely indicates what is available for the moment.


5. Capture:
If attacked, a depot has 0 SPs. Nor does it fight on its own account, though a fighting unit may be placed in the same grid area to defend it. An undefended mobile depot attacked is at once removed. If the  permanent depot is attacked undefended, it is captured, and becomes available to the attacker in subsequent turns.

So far these are merely ideas, to be adopted or discarded as seems convenient. 

I think here is a convenient moment to pause, the battles for the river crossings still in doubt, and to resume the narrative in a separate posting.

To be continued...

The battle for the fords. What happened to 
2nd Turco Battalion...?