3rd October - Fall of Port Arthur

No matter how much you rub your chin, we won't win this...

The siege is all but over!  After sucessfully storming the New Town, General Nogi has recieved the surrender of the garrison now commanded by General Maximov.  The defenders have lain down their arms.  The bloody siege is done, and Port Arthur is in the hands of the victorious Japanese Imperial Army.

We fought a 2mm game to determine how long the Russians could hold on for - not long, as it turned out.  After three turns the defences collapsed and most of the defenders fell back towards the town.  However, with a cunning but risky flank march, the Japanese managed to seize the town with a bloodless coup de main.  We then fought a quick 28mm Trench Raiders game to decide what happened to the dramatis personae when the Russian HQ was overrun!

14th September - Attack on 203-Metre Hill

Hello everyone!  First off, apologies for the delay in getting this up.  Due to the scale of this week's battles, coupled with real life for all the participants, have meant that this game turn has taken the best part of three weeks.  Given the momentity of the events, I think we'll need that long to digest and plan!  The full write up, and your usual end-of-turn reports will follow early next week.

The campaign has taken a decisive turn in favour of the Japanese now.  In reality, once 203-Metre Hill fell, the Russians were on the road to surrender.  Interestingly, the first real effort to take the hill in reality fell on 20th September, and the Japanese suffered 6,000 casualties.  In our game, the assault happened just six days earlier and suffered only 500 more casualties.

General Nogi orders an assault on the hill.  Fushimi's Division detonates two mines and launches a full divisional frontal assault on the heavily-fortified Russian positions.  A counterattack by the Tamirsky regiment leads to it being all but annihilated, although it successfully disrupts the Japanese second wave.  A dawn banzai charge is repulsed - with General Fushimi shot down at the head of his men - but the Russians begin to withdraw anyway shortly after, since heavy siege artillery makes their position untenable.  The bloodied Japanese cautiously follow up into the ruins of the position.

13th August 1904 - Raid on the Shi-Shihung Gap

Afternoon all!  This is the battle report for our first tabletop engagement, the Guards Brigade's raid on the Shi-Shihung Gap.  You should shortly have a full email update for Week 2 with additional details and the week's slides.  Enjoy!

The level of work required for the updates is a bit overwhelming, so I've streamlined some things as you'll see.  I hope this is okay!

The Russians try to break through to the Japanese rear - skirting round the fortified town of Shi-Shihung.  They are stopped by timely Japanese reenforcements pouring in from the surrounding areas, but manage to inflict heavy casualties.  Of note was the courage of Colonel von Hartmann, who personally led the assault on a machine-gun bunker!

Artillery and machine gun fire was actually not very effective.  The battle took place at night, and so most of the casualties came from close combat.  The Russians were very good at assaulting defended positions, helped by the dispersed Japanese defenders.  The Japanese struggled to bring their strength to bear at first but within five turns had enough men on the field to force a hasty retreat.