PAPER WARS: Issue 98 - First Blood in the Crimea: The Battle of the Alma

1-PWAR098

Contains wargame First Blood in the Crimea: The Battle of the Alma, 20 September 1854 by Ty Bomba. Each large hex on the 34?22-inch map equals 300 yards (275 meters). Each of the 10 game turns represent 30 to 60 minutes of real time. The units of maneuver are battalions and regiments. Artillery is represented abstractly via bombardment markers. There is one full sheet of 228 medium-size (5/8-inch) counters. Complexity is low-intermediate.

The battle was the first clash of the Crimean War, fought only a few days after the French, British and Turks had landed on the peninsula and began marching on Sevastopol. Both sides threw in everything they had, hoping for a quick and decisive victory. That made for a day of fierce back and forth combat, which was characterized by both soldier-level heroism and high-command incompetence. In the end the Russians retreated, but it was a near-run thing that could've gone either way.