Kavkaz Campaign: Opening Moves...

The campaign begins; the first 6 days.  The Turcowaz 
are late starters!

Of course, the Kavkaz campaign, and the war of which it formed the major part, was not unheralded by the usual to-and-froing of embassies, envoys and plenipotentiaries murmuring sweet nothings by way of promises and threats. The diplomatic traffic between Moscovgorod and Ionople grew to volumes not seen for many a long day, and some was directed to Tbilisi, Abkhasia's capital, as well. The Czar knew a moment's worry when it seemed that the Prince of Abkhasia might be inclined to accept the suzerainty of Moscovgorod, for, you must understand, certain considerations of autonomy. Fortunately - for the Czar - his envoy found a red line that could safely be crossed, and the anxious moments passed. (How to make bad faith seem oh so reasonable!). The Sultan and the Czar between them having successfully sailed the diplomatic ship into the safe harbour of failure, they made their separate preparations for invading Abkhasia. (If readers are finding something contemporaneously satirical in this passage, you are not wrong!)

On 1st May, 1875, hostilities commenced...

May 1st to 6th

The generating circumstances thus sketchily outlined, we turn here to the campaign mechanics. The moves are generated by a slight variation from Bob Cordery's system as presented in his The Portable Colonial Wargame (Eglinton Books, 2020). This is a card system in which one side is designated black, the other red, and cards drawn, without replacement, to generate moves. The progress of the campaign I hope will show how it works.

But two amendments I made:
1.  Move activation:
The Army of Izumrud-Zeleniya were Black; Turcowaz, Red. But as both armies had two widely separated and (for the opening moves at least) independent columns, I allocated the activations by suit:
- Club: Izumrud-Zeleniya Coastal Column
- Spade: Izumrud-Zeleniya Kavkaz Column
- Heart: Turcowaz Trebizond Command
- Diamond: Turcowaz Kars Command.

One special exception concerned the Aces. The moves could be allocated across the whole army of the appropriate side. You will observe later that this brought on the naval elements of both sides. These were to come under the Costal and Trebizond commands respectively. In future, the naval elements count as under the command of the respective coastal columns. 

2. Card draw:
The cards were drawn in sequences, continuing until a non-sequential suit repetition. In the picture above you will see six cards drawn. The seventh was a heart (as you will see below), which stops this sequence, and begins the next. Each card represents one campaign day, but instead of individual days, each sequence of cards should be seen as a period of so many days. So that first draw represents 6 days' campaigning. Only in a very limited sense is the order of cards drawn significant (e.g. upon contact, who carries out a reconnaissance, and/or who attacks).

You will observe that by 6th May, the Turcowaz Kars command has scarcely left that town; the Trebizond command hasn't left the coastal city at all. On the other hand, a Izumrud-Zeleniyan column has pushed well down the coast road towards Zugdidi. The Kavkaz Column has not only crossed the Kavkaz mountain range successfully, but has penetrated far into the Abkhasia valley. 

May 7th to 11th

During the course of the next five days, the progress of the Izumrud-Zeleniyan armies slowed, whilst the Turcowaz seemed eager to make up for lost time. The Kings giving the commands 5 hexes of movement were invaluable, but two draws exhausted the supply! There won't be any further occasion for such alacritous marching until the deck is reshuffled.

May 12th to 17th card draw

By 17 May, the Trebizond command had reached the vital seaport of Poti - nestled between the Amicable Sea, the Paliastomi Lake and the Rioni River. The Kars Command entered Tbilisi - to find the ruler absconded with most of his household. The Zeleniyan Coastal column had yet to reach Zugdidi, but the Kavkaz column, striking the Kutaisi-Tbilisi road, turned eastward, toward the Abkhasia capital. General-leytenant Malakhai Malodorivitch Kutizedhov little knew that ahead of him stood a large army, soon to be coming his way. 

May 12th to 17th moves

Reaching the town of Khashuri, the Zeleniyans were disconcerted to discover during the course of the next four days that a Turcowaz column had arrived, and was close by to the east. For his part, Abdul Abulbul Ameer was not at all displeased with the results of his reconnaissance. The enemy were in the town in no great strength - not compared with his own command. He ordered the battle for the morrow.

A word on reconnaissance. The Cordery system really applies to the two (or more) player campaign. This one is solo. However, there seemed me at least some potential to adapt it to solo campaigning. The results of the recon are determined by a roll of a single D6 die. A '1' score means the attacking army disdains a reconnaissance and carried on into the enemy occupied grid area. OK, we're looking at some kind of ambush, possibly. One might programme some kind of advance or attack, and then lay out the defence to meet it.

A roll of '6' indicates a very good and detailed reconnaissance. There one might lay out a defence formation, then tailor the attack according (e.g by massing on a flank, say, or by prohibiting the defender to move for D6 moves). In effect, we're looking at a surprise attack. Abdul in fact rolled a '5' - pretty decent recon - good enough perhaps, to refuse action did he not like the odds. Otherwise the scores 2-5 indicate a straightforward battle.

May 18th to 21st moves. Note the 
arrival off the coasts naval elements 
of both sides.

The country round about Khashuri was hilly, with several tracts of woodland, and, here and there, areas of cultivation. Some distance east of the town flowed north to south a small stream, really a creek,  bridged upon the Tbilisi road and a minor road northward, and at the farm, across the river from a cultivated field. This battlefield was generated using the Cordery system adapted for a 10x10 square-grid board. Bob uses an 8x8 square grid or 9x8 hex for the system he devised. My adaptation effectively adds 50% (more or less) to the possible numbers of features.  

Example: Hilly terrain. 
The basic system permits D6 + 4 hills - the scores ranging from 5-10, average 7.5.  I simply added an extra die: 2D6 + 4 hills.  The scores then range from 6-16, averaging 11.  On this occasion I scored 13 hills - moderately rugged country.

To begin the layout process, I roll 2 x D6's, counting down the left-hand side grid rows for the starting point, starting at 2 for the top left hand corner, then, reaching 12, coming back to the same corner.

One change I did make: I placed the town, 4 squares, as a 'given' - no dice roll. I rolled for other Features. Settlements - a '1' - which I decided was an outlying farm, having rolled on 2D6s, a '4' and then a '6' for location). 

Battlefield of Khashuri, 21 May 1875.

To be continued - Battle of Khashuri

* Note:  The gimlet eyed reader might have noticed the sudden appearance of a railway in the final campaign map of this posting. Quite right - something I had intended to research before beginning this campaign. It will probably not much feature, except maybe as LOC and logistics artery for the inland Turcowaz command.