The Imperial German Army has been on the match for a month. They are at the. point of exhaustion, but are convinced that this one last Push will get them into Paris 30 miles awav and the war will be over, just as it was in 1870-71. They have pushed back the French and their Belgian and British allies. The fighting was hard in Belgium around Mons. The British fired their Enfields so fast it seemed they had hundreds of Vickers machine guns. But here on the Marne River on a hot September day, the German Army would destroy the French and then occupy Paris while the British Expeditionary Force ran for the Channel and home. So the stage was set by Rich De Rose of the Fair Valle~ Wargarners for the First Battle of the Marne, a two day fight at Fair Valley High School where Rich teaches history through wargaming. Among the twenty or so players were John Harris. William and Michael McKinley, Jennifer Nethers (of the deadly dice), Eric Wren, Allen Hughes. Kevan Thomas. Kirk Norris, Rob and Robert Boyens, Chris Osborn, Jason Perez, Barry Ambrose, Greg Kildare, John Gaffney. Eric Harvey. and Mike Creek and myself of Panzer Leader Wargamers in Fountain Valley. Also present were 11,858 15mm troops of the French, British, and German Armies. On the first day. Germans were involved all along the line. A major battle began Ont.. He German far right flank around the town of Meaux. The German far left flank was to conduct a feint and tie down major French forces facing them, preventing reinforcement of the French 5th Army in the center. This feint would permit the Germans to reinforce their armies in the center opposite the French 5th Army. This became the major battle. In the right center on the first day, the BEF tried to force the thinly held six mile gap between the German 1st Army of von Kluck and the German 2nd Army of von Bulow, driving a wedge between them. With help from Eric Harvey's Corps, the German Cavalry Corps was holding rail and road bridges over the Marne, while Jason Perez's corps kept the French center south of the river. The Cavalry Corps held their bridges at La Ferte and St Jean to the west. The battle ground down the German troopers. who were at a disadvantage against the rifle-armed, dismounted British cavalry. The arrival of German infantry stabilized the situation south of the Marne in the center. Unfortunately, hordes of blue-clad French infantry pushed the German infantry around at Meaux. Pontoon bridges across the river made possible German reinforcement of the center and right flank. On the far left flank, the Germans performed their feint and the French initially seemed content to do the same. Both sides started reinforcing the major battle via some narrow mountain roads. The main battle around Mont Moraine began on the first day and continued throughout the second day. Both sides drew reinforcements from the flanks. The German feint of the first day finally drew the desired response on the second day: the French advanced to the attack across marshy ground against heavy rifle, machine gun, and artillery fire that destroyed three French regiments. The second and third German lines were busily entrenching themselves against this eventuality. The center continued to draw in troops. The Germans were forcing the French back. At about 3pm Sunday, Rich De Rosa called a halt. We had shut down the right flank board at the beginning of the fighting on Sunday morning because many players had other commitments and could not return for the second day of battle. By 3pm Sunday. we had fought sixteen turns. going from 0600 to 1000, 5 September, 1914. Movement took a long time due to the numbers of troops involved, but, mechanically, the game was very playable, even for Mike Creek and myself who are not that familiar with Rich's rule system. Aesthetically, the terrain and troops made an impressive sight, especially as there were no "mechanicals", game-playing aids, Ont.. He table cluttering the surface. The table was essentially U-shaped with the outside edge all the way around representing north. The terrain was mainly rolling farmland with tree-lined roads except on the eastern flank. Due to a one foot height differential between the last two sections, a down slope and waterfall created a large marshy area at the extreme east end of the table. This is where I fought on the second day. The infantry fighting was slower than the cavalry corps action at St Jean on the first day, but the foot were also more heavily engaged. The weekend's game was very enjoyable and pleasant, the main reason I play wargames. Back to MWAN #96 Table of Contents Back to MWAN List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 1997 Hal Thinglum 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