Back of Beyond Campaign - Summer 1919

War weary from a year and a half of hard campaigning, most armies held their positions, in the summer of 1919, and prepared defences for an attack that never materialized. 

Most armies.... 

The vigorous Kombrig Mahat Mikhan of the Ist Guard Regiment, Ipatiev House, wasn't about to sit around sulking after their defeat at the hands of the heavily armed Chinese. Almost immediately upon returning to Kubassa, he began planning an expedition to relieve Kroptkand that has been besieged by the White Russians since spring. 

The Relief of Kroptkand

With reports of a Bolshevik relief column marching towards Kroptkand, ArchDuke Yevgeny Lytton prepared defences at the river crossings west of the city-under-siege.

Kombrig Mahat Mikhan is a wily character, though, and found a ford much further to the south and, under cover of darkness, snuck half his force across and advanced upon the city though the cover of the woods. The three weakest battalions marched on the White Russians defences, while the other force attacked from the flank 

I thought I'd wear my "lucky budenovka for this battle". I'm not sure how "lucky" it was for the Bolsheviks as the first three attack rolls I made for them were ONES!? 

The weakened infantry Bolshevik infantry battalions vaporized before the White Russians defences, but it bought the flanking force the time they needed! 

The Bolshevik Heavy battalion and artillery hammered the White Russian 1st Battalion, 437th Infantry Regiment (Heavy). When they had been reduced to point of no longer being combat effective, they turned on the White Russian Guns, but not before the 245th Artillery Regiment exacted it's toll on the advancing Bolshevik's.

The opposing Cavalry regiments fought a brief engagement in the middle of the field of battle. The Bolshevik  drove off the White Cossacks, but then were themselves driven off by the 1st Battalion, 231st Infantry Regiment. 

The remaining White Russian infantry battalions left their entrenchment about the city to face the remains of the Bloshevik force. Unfortunately those battalions that had been left in the trenches around the city were a shell of their former selves. 

As each left the safety of their entrenchments, to avoid being outflanked by the Bolshevik infantry, the artillery pummelled them and drove them off. 

The savaged remains of the Gvardiya Belykh Koroley we obliged to retreat to Bakunin! 

The state of things as Autumn approached. Little has changed since winter... 

ORANGE

• Commander of the Field Army: Lieutenant General Sir Percy Arbuthnot-Worcester-Gruntfuttock-Smythe
• Faction: Western Interventionists
• Army: 14th Allied Eastern Expeditionary Army
• Base of Operations: Canadar 
• Other Cities: Canuckand, Molsensk, Stlojia
• Resource Points: 4
• Field Army:
• 3rd Battalion, Winnipeg Grenadiers (10)
• 5th Battalion, Cape Breton Highlanders  (10)
• 2nd Battalion, Regina Rifles - Heavy Infantry Battalion (10)
• 105th Canadian Fusiliers - Heavy Infantry Battalion (12)
• 8th Battalion, Canadian Mounted Rifles - Cavalry (13)
• 37th Field Artillery (13)

YELLOW

• Commander of the Field Army: Hedwig Markus von Eggenberg, Margrave of Grosswardein
• Faction: Tsarist
• Army: East Asia Cavalry Division 
• Base of Operations: Gura
• Other Cities:  Driutsek 
• Resource Points: 0
• Field Army:
• 1st Battalion, 337th Infantry Regiment (Heavy) (8)
• 2nd Battalion, 337th Infantry Regiment (6)
• 1st Battalion, 369th Infantry Regiment (6)
• 2nd Battalion, 369th Infantry Regiment (5)
• Mongolian Cavalry (10)
• 38th Hussars Cavalry (15)

GREEN

• Commander of the Field Army: Altan Baatar Kahn
• Faction: Warlord Chinese
• Army: The Red Horde
• Base of Operations: Lung-Hu
• Other Cities: Wurumchi, Sui-Pei, Bashkent 
• Field Army:
• Heavy Infantry Battalion (15)
• Heavy Infantry Battalion (15)
• Infantry Battalion (15)
• Infantry Battalion (15)
• Cavalry (15)
• Artillery (15)

LIGHT BLUE

• Commander of the Field Army: Win-Cao Lo-Fat, The Most Illustrious Beacon of Celestial Light and Commander of the Arm of Earthly Might
• Faction: Warlord Chinese
• Army: The Illustrious Arm of the Nine Illuminated Terrestrial Immortals 
• Base of Operations: Wei-Li
• Other Cities: Ching-Ho, Ulaan-Goom, Holopchi
• Resource Points: 2
• Field Army:
• 1st Heavy Infantry Battalion (9)
• 2nd Heavy Infantry Battalion (12) 
• 3rd Infantry Battalion (12)
• 4th Infantry Battalion (15)
• Cavalry Regiment (15)
• Artillery Regiment (15)

DARK BLUE

• Commander of the Field Army: Kombrig Mahat Mikhan
• Faction: Bolshevik
• Army: Ist Guard Regiment, Ipatiev House
• Base of Operations: Kubassa
• Other Cities: Kropotkand, Pyrohy, 
• Resource Points: 0
• Field Army:
• 1st Infantry Battalion (Heavy )(13)
• 2nd Infantry Battalion (6)
• 3rd Infantry Battalion (8)
• 4th Infantry Battalion (3)
• 5th Cavalry Regiment (7)
• 6th Artillery Regiment (13)

PURPLE

• Commander of the Field Army: Archduke Yevgeny Lytton
• Faction: Tsarist
• Army: Gvardiya Belykh Koroley (Guard of the White King’s)
• Base of Operations: Bakunin
• Other Cities: Engelsk
• Resource Points: 0
• Field Army:
• 1st Battalion, 437th Infantry Regiment (Heavy) (10)
• 2nd Battalion, 437th Infantry Regiment (2)
• 1st Battalion, 231st Infantry Regiment (5)
• 2nd Battalion, 231st Infantry Regiment (3)
• 32nd Cossack Cavalry Regiment (11)
• 245th Artillery Regiment(7)
• 
  

RED (of course) 

• Commander of the Field Army: Commissar-General Lev (Leon) Davidovitch Runstein
• Faction: Bolshevik
• Army: Первый Бабушка Армейский корпус (Ist Babushka Army Corps)
• Base of Operations: Baboushka
• Other Cities: Borschka, Vlodkask
• Resource Points: 0
• Field Army:
• 1st Transuralian Peoples Infantry Battalion (Heavy)  (10)
• 2nd Transuralian Peoples Battalion (12)
• 3rd Transuralian Peoples Battalion (13)
• 4th Transuralian Peoples Battalion (14)
• 1st Babushka Cavalry Regiment (9)
• 1st Borschka Artillery Regiment (12)