From: Rolf Hedges (rolfscw@aol.com) I see the P.O.W rules system has a RCW supplement. Has any one played these - if so how about a quick review? I have used the Principles of War rules for RCW games and found that they work very well. The Rule changes for the Late 19th and early 20th century European wars are published in the Continental Army Lists 1870 - 1915 and Russian Civil War book Armoured trains were already covered in the main rule book and the extensions to the rules introduce aircraft, tanks and armoured cars and off table artillery. The basic unit is the battalion and battery, with a division size force of about 20 to 30 units in a standard army. The armies in the lists are intended for equal force competitions. The rules can be used with historical orders of battle, and can also be modified to a company level scale for smaller battles. The rules use an alternate move sequence; fire, combat, move. Command and control is represented by officer quality rating determining the dice used to roll for initiative points. These points are used to rally, move, and change the formation of units in that officers command. The same strength value of a unit is used for both for morale and fire power. The strength of a unit can either be a fixed values at the start or can be determined when first needed by adding a dice roll to a base value. For example elite, steadfast infantry would start at 8 and roll 2 D average for strength, whereas a militia unit would start at 4 and roll a D10. In addition to the strength calculations there are various plus and minus effects that can be added, such as marksmen, poor shots and badly trained. This allows the characteristics of different armies to be modeled. There is a points system to calculate the relative strength of units and armies. There is a provision for partly hidden movement by the use of movement bases, some of which can be dummies. The troops they represent need only be revealed when spotted by the opposition. The fog of war is also enhanced by there being no figure removal, strength being tracked on a roster. The tanks and armoured cars are tough in terms of the protection they provide but have brittle morale, the tanks having to pass a morale test in order to move without becoming disordered. This allows them to be effective without unbalancing the game as a whole. Firing and combat is base on a points system. The strength of a unit is multiplied by a factor ( by 4 for magazine rifles at point blank range, ouch!!). This gives a base column on the combat table, which is shifted left and right for factors such as target formation, cover or firing unit shaken. A D6 determines the casualties inflicted. The game is greatly speeded up by allowing all the points firing at a group on target units to be factored into one combat calculation. The casualties are the distributed as evenly as possible. Morale tests are taken if contacted, when casualties are caused and after any close combat. The procedure is quick to do with only ten modifiers in the table. A D20 is thrown and if more than the modified strength, the unit is shaken, more than double the strength is a retired shaken, and more that treble a rout. I cannot say if the rules are an accurate representation of the warfare in the RCW. There are sufficient factors and flexibility in the rules to allow most things to be modeled. For the RCW this includes factoring of machine guns into battalion strengths, good weapons in the hands of poorly trained soldiers. Cavalry, in the right circumstances, has been effective despite the fire power of modern weapons, and the quality of the troops still tends to be more important that weaponry, which I think is important. All the games we have had, have been interesting and full of incidents, and have reached a conclusion within an evenings gaming. As a bonus the rules can be used with a wide range of periods and wars. The Staines club has used them for, Napoleonic, Franco-Prussian, Maxamilian in Mexico, Crimean, Italian wars of Liberation, Great Paraguayan War, Seven Weeks War, Boer War, Zulu War, Anglo-Egyptian war of 1882, The war against the Mahdists, as well as the RCW. Regards, Tony Cane Well, no need for me to write a review now as Tony has done such an excellent job. For the 19th C., early 20th C. and the more mobile portions of WWI they are a really good set of rules. The only thing I would like to add is that whilst the rules are written for use with the basic unit representing a battalion, you can actually change this up or down and the rules will still work. For RCW games in Transcaspia (my article about this, originally published in Miniature Wargames, is available on our website - see below) I used the company as the basic unit, and also used the troop grading system introduced in the article 'Modifications for the Indian Sub-Continent 1740-1840' in Principles of War magazine no.6. This system is also given in the new 18th C. amendments book. The grading system basically allow you to represent vast differences in troop quality and ability, and therefore allows a company of Anglo-Indian Sepoys to take on whole battalions of Bolsheviks and win, just as they did in reality - well worth a look in my opinion. While looking for books on the The Lost Legion: A Czechoslovakian Epic keep your eyes open for "The March of the Seventy-Thousand" by Henry Baerlein. Another excellent book, published in 1926 by Leonard Parsons. Unfortunately both books are hard to find now and would probably be fairly expensive. Richard Tyson The Lost Legion: A Czechoslovakian Epic Book Review From Joseph Seliga: A book report. The Lost Legion: A Czechoslovakian Epic is a book about the Czechoslovak Legion, written by one of its members. It was published by Stanley Paul & Co., Ltd in 1939. It describes the wanderings of the Legion after the Russian Revolution until it was shipped back to Czechoslovakia via Irkutsk, China, India, the Suez Canal and Trieste on the President Grant, an American ship. It contains descriptions of many skirmishes and battles with Bolshevik units. There are several descriptions of the relations between the Legion and the Bolsheviks and the uniforms or rather clothing worn by the Bolshevik forces. One such starts on page 63 and continues onto page 64. "Kiev, the capital city of Ukraina, was the first objective of the Bolshevik Army. Steadily they approached. It was decided to send a delegation to meet them, and to remind them, of our neutral attitude. It was useless to send an officer on this mission. He would not have been heard. So representatives of our Regimental Committee were dispatched on this dangerous mission. Fortunate it was for us that we were well armed and disciplined. The Bolsheviks bore no love towards us, and probably coveted our possessions, but the upshot was that they decided that they had enough troubles on their hands in subduing the country without tackling so well organized a force as the Legion. They received our committee withy some show of courtesy, and it was agreed that we should be left alone in return for our neutrality. Hostages were exchanged in security of this agreement. But even so we did not trust the Red Army, and remained watchfully on our guard. Eventually their trains poured into Piriatin station, and, our company being on duty nearby, I had an opportunity to observe them closely. A more motley, disreputable army it would be difficult to imagine. They wore any oddments of uniform they happened to have found or to have been able to steal. They were armed to the teeth, rather after the fashion of the pirates of old times, some men equipped with a sword, revolver, dagger and one or two rifles. As the trains stopped they would leap from the coaches, brandishing their weapons, and then run about shouting loudly. Their demeanor was ugly, ands we were anxious lest they should break the agreement and attack us suddenly. Even the field guns standing on the platform coaches were trained upon the town. Suddenly a panic broke out amongst them. They stumbled back into the coaches and their wild shouting ceased. They had noticed our lines surrounding the station, the men, with rifle in hand, moving gradually towards them. They understood that we meant to maintain the agreement and that we were not disposed to tolerate any nonsense in Piriatin. After this everything went smoothly. The Bolshevik trains stopped in the station for a short time only, and then passed on without disturbance. The men eyed us in none too friendly fashion. They envied our discipline, while affecting to despise it, for they alone knew its value in battle. But they left us alone as had been agreed, and so for a little longer we remained peacefully minding our own business in the midst of Bolshevik hate. Unhappily, this state of affairs was not to last." On page 73, there is a description of a Bolshevik Headquarters in Balasov. "The Bolshevik headquarters were accommodated in a fine house in the central square. Formerly the place had belonged to one of the wealthiest citizens of the town. An amazing clumsiness characterized the guards outside the headquarters building. It was apparent that the Bolshevik troops consisted almost entirely of workmen and peasants who had been drilled for a day or two only. The soldiers on duty smoked as they pleased, and there was practically no military discipline as we understood the word. In a large room on the first floor were the commanders whom we had come to interview. There was no uniformity whatsoever in the dress of these men. Those who had military costume were resplendent in the smart uniforms of former Tsarist officers, but in every case the `pogony', or epaulettes, bearing the distinguishing marks of rank, had been torn away. There were no visible distinctions, or marks of superiority, on any of the uniforms. Thus was the world shown that all members of the Bolshevik Army were equal `comrades.' The most amazing aspect of this room was the manner in which it had been turned into a carelessly kept armory. There were revolvers on every table, revolvers and daggers had been laid down negligently on every window sill and upon the mantelpiece. In a corner rifles were stacked. From the belts of every man hung more revolvers. Three sabres hung on a peg, and the seats of many of the chairs were covered with a miscellaneous selection of arms." Page 163 identifies the commissar uniforms as: "Only a few Commissars, in face of the fact that their followers would not back them, fought to the end which was now inevitable. They were marked out from the other soldiers by their black uniforms." Help from the allies was described on pages 186-187: "Nevertheless, despite our hardships, we were in happy mood that night, for we had learned that a detachment of British troops was to arrive at the front the next day. Perhaps we thought, the Allies had changed their purpose, and after all proposed to help us.... It was a bitterly cold but sunny morning when the British train arrived. In order to avoid provoking the Bolsheviks into strafing our lines at the time of this arrival, the armored train had refrained from shelling the enemy for the previous twenty-four hours. Our patrols had also been instructed to abstain from unnecessarily irritating the Bolsheviks. When the train drew in and the troops detrained, we found that the complete detachment consisted of only about thirty men. They were fine fellows and wonderfully equipped. I noticed many Legionnaires casting envious glances at the smart winter uniforms of the new-comers, uniforms which really gave adequate protection from the frost. When the formalities of the official welcome were concluded, the men of the Middlesex Regiment marched off along the snowed up railway towards the Front Line. They had brought a band with them, and after still more welcoming ceremonies the detachment lined up behind our armored train and the British National Anthem was struck up. Hardly had the final strains of `God Save the King' died away than the enemy started vigorously to shell that part of the line from which the music had come. Maybe, he considered that we were becoming far too jovial, and wished to cool our ardor. The explosions thundered inn the forest. Smartly, the British detachment marched back to the station, smartly they entrained, and as smartly the engine whistled and drew them out of the danger zone on their return journey to Omsk, leaving the Bolsheviks in a thoroughly nasty frame of mind which they proceeded to vent upon us." The book has quite a few phonographs; officers and men in uniform, armored trains, improved trenches in the snow, and the American ship which carried the Czechoslovak Legion out of Siberia. Back to The Gauntlet No. 20 Table of Contents Back to The Gauntlet List of Issues Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 2000 by Craig Martelle Publications This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com