This was the largest cavalry battle of WWI, and the very last massed cavalry charges occurred in this fight. Historically, the Austrians were shot to pieces by the Russian artillery and they could not break through. This battle occurred in the first week of the war when everyone was still fresh and no tactical lessons had been learned. So, how does the game hold up?

Well, both sides have lots of Cavalry, 24 Russian Squadrons, 24 Austrian. Both sides have field guns; the Russians 3, the Austrians 2. The Russians have 3 MGs, the Austrians 2. So, very evenly matched forces. Should be straight forward. Well, it isn’t.

The game is played on 6 map panels, with Russians setting up first having to defend 2 north south-roads that the Austrians are going to come up on. The Austrians have to clear one road the entire length and put the Russians on initiative level 1 (they start at 4). The Russians loose one initiative level for every 8 steps lost and Austrians loose 1 for every 9 steps lost. To win, the Austrians have to put the Russians on level 1 and clear an entire north south road. The Russians win by preventing this.

While it was a fun exercise, I think this battle would have been better played on a single board, maybe 2. With 6 boards the Austrians can easily mass on either road, and fend off the remaining Russians with their artillery and MGs. I didn’t find that the write up matched the battle as it played out. Sure, there was lots of swirling actions, but it was all over the place and disjointed. Once committed to a particular route the Austrians were not going to be able to just swing about, and try for the other road. And you really didn’t see “massed” charges either. Just charges by a few squadrons here and there. If the Russians were centered on a single road, and the Austrians had to clear that road, then I think it would play out more historically. I’ll have to try that one day!

In the end, both sides bled each other about the same, and no road was secured by the Austrians. Did it feel like WWI? Maybe. I always feel that WWI games should feature infantry battles, not just cavalry. In Fall of Empires you have lots of both, so, on to the next scenario.