I just finished playing (solo) the first 5 turns of Kharkov The Soviet Spring Offensive from SPI. It is a game out of the magazine Strategy & Tactics May-June 1978 issue. After playing out the first two turn I fired up the YouTube channel and started a live stream. Played turns 3, 4, and 5 online.
The Russian 28th army broke out easily in the north, and 6th army began enveloping the German units south-southeast of Kharkov. The high mark of the Spring Offensive includes taking (but not keeping) one of the Kharkov city hexes, scoring 2 victory points each turn for breaking the German front line, cutting supply to those German units in the pocket formed by the surrounding 6th, and running several units far out west threatening to take Poltava!
As the look of turn 6 shapes up it is apparent it is a race against time to take Poltava before these Russian units are cut off and out of supply. Operation Fredricus was unleashed on turn 5 and the Russian southern front line evaporated and Panzer spearheads cut straight to the Donets River. The German's historical result of bagging the whole Russian offensive and annihilating it is clearly evident on the game board!
You can see the video here. The live stream scheduled for tomorrow morning where I finish the rest of the game (turns 6-10) is found here.
I love almost everything about the TSR monster wargame Wellington's Victory. Except the ability to stack 9 skirmish units together and bulldoze through formed infantry. I, for some time, did not believe this issue actually existed and were just so much grognard grumblings. But then I found it, the rule in the book which allows this. I had missed this rule all these years. Probably because it isn't how I envision skirmish units being used in a Napoleon-era battle.
The discussions and variants are legion on solving this niggling stone in the shoe of an otherwise great game. Last I had the game on the table was this time last year. Well, Vassal actually (it is a 'monster' game) because it is the only reasonable way for me to keep a game set up over a long period of time. And I couldn't move very far into the game with this issue weighing on my mind.
Another year, as I have pointed out, has passed by as fast as summer in the Rockies, and I have a set of "house" rules I am going to try out and see how it modifies the game. The rules are as such:
House rule #1: skirmish units may never voluntarily move more than three hexes from formed infantry.
House rule #2: melee odds top out at what is available on the shock attack table itself.
House rule #3: a single skirmish unit may not fire on cavalry.
House rule #4: cavalry may never lose more SPs from any combat results involving SK than the number of skirmish units present. For example, if cavalry units receive combat results of 2 or more SP loss when involved in combat with (melee or direct fire) a single skirmish strength point (unit) then the cavalry unit would only take 1 SP loss.
House rule #5: Skirmish units only earn a SK target designation if they are by themselves. Otherwise, they are the next target class "up" for 2 SK units, and are even easier to hit at 3+ SK units in a hex, their target class moving in a negative direction two steps.
Not fire on Cavalry??? NE Simulations owner came up with a stacking rule 1-3 skirmisher target type, 4-6 line, 7-9 massed target. Also skirmishers were more adapt to working on their own so the 3 hex limit may also be a historical.
What do you mean by "working on their own"? I'm guessing this falls short of moving around the battlefield willy-nilly.. I believe this is more relevant as far their fire discipline and choice of targets, but I doubt this meant they had operational freedom across the battlefield. Not fire on cavalry only when they are a single sk unit. two or more go for it. Why, so a single sk unit cannot shoot up a full strength cavalry unit. Their fire is too effective against cavalry and causes disorder much too easy.
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