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.

Welcome to Port Arthur!

Welcome to the Port Arthur campaign!  This blog, very helpfully suggested by Paul, will serve as a general admin area and discussion zone until the Port Arthur campaign gets properly under way. 

Once we start, the game will be administered from here.  Paul will post the Japanese moves, then we'll post with the results of the games, and a few pictures as well.

Just to keep everyone in the loop:

• Rules:  The rules are written in draft, and everyone should have seen a copy.  Please reply here with any comments you have, or aspects you want to incorporate.
• 2mm Models:  These are currently in the post from Irregular Miniatures.
• Ship Models:  I don't currently have enough to replicate every last ship at Port Arthur, but if people don't mind a few stand-ins we can get by.

Please post freely and reply on here - it isn't a 'normal' blog, more of a fancy chat room.  Many thanks go to Paul for his enthusiasm in getting involved and very helpful advice in setting up.