Who needs the Light Brigade? Kurudere, 1854, Bloody Big Battles

We played the 1854 battle of Kurudere on Saturday. Jay was Mustafa Zarif Pasha, an administrator commanding under protest a large, trashy army. Andrew and I had the Russians under Prince Bebutov, a smaller force of trained troops, some veteran. All of the infantry and the dragoons were rated aggressive. Up against fragile units, many of them raw, cold steel looked like a good bet. We have played the battle in the past, long before covid, without the proper figures. I made mistakes then with the terrain and deployment that gave the Turks a fine artillery platform from the start. I figured this would be corrected this time. Also, I now had a Crimean Russian army and an Ottoman force. It turned out I had miscalculated so a couple Napoleonic cavalry units were drafted to help the Russians. Otherwise, we had figures that looked right. 

The Ottomans moved first. Then Andrew, an aggressive player, struck with a cavalry charge. And away we went. I had the Russian right flank and slowly put together a two-stand battery on the extreme right flank. This dissuaded Jay from bringing on his left flank on the north table edge when they arrived (on turn 4, the dice decided), using the west edge instead, weighted towards the center.

 

Jay had to leave after turn 6 and I was selected to take over the Ottomans, who I had just been beating up. A brief brain transplant, a fez and I was a pasha. I noted that the Ottoman left wasn’t anywhere near the 3 objectives that started in Russian hands. There were very aggressive Russian troops between my lads and them. I was doing well enough to hold them off. The only option was to fight for a tie by denying complete Russian control of the hilltop. As long as one of my units was still on it by the end of turn 8 the game would be a tie. Jay had put together a 4 base artillery grand battery that took the northern part of the hilltop under fire.   

The game took 4 hours. It would have gone faster with 4 players but Real Life had intervened; Fencible Carl was unable to attend. As the game ended my wife informed me that England had just scored a goal 3 minutes into that 3rd place game I thought would be a dud. After Andrew saddled up I watched that game, as much of a furball as the one on the Ottoman left/Russian right. That was entertainment, 10 goals and all. Nobody cried at the end. They’d got that out of their systems during the semi-finals, when Spain and Argentina closed the door to the final.

 

And now, the butcher’s bill. The Russian army had 27 bases of infantry, 14 cavalry and 5 artillery. They lost 7 infantry bases and 4 of cavalry. Another 3 cavalry bases fled.

 

The Ottomans had 47 infantry bases, 14 cavalry and 6 artillery. Losses were 12 infantry, 5 cavalry and 1 artillery. 3 infantry and 3 cavalry bases fled.

 

The local undertakers were pleased. Business was good.

 

Having played this game several times as the Russian, I had been focused on how they could win. The advantage in assaults is mighty tempting. Jay thought the proper Russian plan was to go on the defensive. If they follow that, they are fighting for a tie. To win they need to storm the rugged hilltop and keep the three objectives they start with. Now that I’ve played the Ottomans, I have notions of how to run a big crappy army. For starters, I need to avoid masking my artillery like I did this time. Only two turns in charge and I managed that.

 

The game was a hoot, thanks to all who played. I hope to get another game going in August. That one will be of the American Revolution, since we have the 250^th anniversary. No taxation without Representation. Which is what is on the Washington DC license plates since those worthies don’t get any representatives in Congress. The smoke from the Canadian fires has drifted elsewhere and the sky is almost blue, instead of grey or orange. Perhaps I shall go for a walk.