Meanwhile on the other side of the table, not to be outdone, Der Baron proceeded to launch a series of frontal assaults across a defended river and defended fortifications. He made your average WWI general look like Napoleon by comparison. The result was a river full of dead Whites and Mongols, and a bill from the Chinese governor for the amount of bullets he had to use!
The main Chinese armoury stored some fearsome looking heavy weapons....whilst the sounds of The Church of Scotland church organ wheezed out in the background from the already damaged mission kirk.
Red pressure eventually began to tell on the stretched Chinese defenders, and eventually the Red flag was hoisted atop the ramparts of the Chinese Temple. The remaining Chinese defenders had fled down the maze of secret underground tunnels, but not before they had basically shattered Red Teds army.
The western end of the Chinese defence fell back to the ancient hillfort in the centre of the city, and set up the heavy mortar position, which, along with the numerous Chinese spotters around the city, proceeded to maintain a murderous fire on enemy forces.
Meantimes, the the Italians seaplane starts its final taxiing on the river, loaded with the Keys. And not before time as V.I.Blackwoods forces, spearheaded by his armoured train, dash to capture the vital rail bridge.
Another view of the approaching Reds as the Italians throw an unwilling party of Chinese coolies to defend against the Bolshevik horde....
With the Keys safely off the table, and 2000 victory points in the bag, the remaining Italian troops make a dash for the river barges. They have to cross against desultory fire from the Chinese garrison, as well as exploding oil barrels, before eventually being turned back at the bend in the river by heavy machine gun fire from Der Baron's Asiatic hordes....
Meanwhile Der Baron's luck takes a turn for the better. His 'Flea' bi-plane manages to catch the Chinese Lloyd on the ground...however what nobody knows is that the pilot was taken out by a Italian mafia 'hit' seconds before it was destroyed. The Italian player planned to allow Slan Ties to control the plane until such time as he did something he didnt want him to do, when he would then take direct control. As it was, the evidence went up in a ball of two-stroke engine oil!
And things are looking up for Der Baron on the river front carnage - he at last gets his heavy weaponry up to support his 'human wave' tactics. Pity that by this time the waves have been reduced to a trickle!
Der Baron throws conscript White Russian units on a daring right flank manouevre, supported by fresh Tibetan cavalry (just off screen)...
A telling arial recon shot of the centre of the action. On the left, the Guinness workers have manned the brewery ramparts, whilst the Italians on the dig site on the right prepares to dig in as the abortive river escape is rapidly re-considered....
Chinese resistance, so spirited and inventive throughout the game, suddenly collapses as they run out of men and material. The Reds in the foreground have burst into the city - only sporadic groups of Chinese fighters still remain, whilst in the background, Der Baron's armoured column extinguishes resistance first from the Guinness Brewery workers and then from the poor benighted Church of Scotland missionaries. The 'great' man himself is freed from the Chines warlord fort, with only a few embarrasing bruises (and a walk like John Wayne's) to show for his time in Chinese custody. The Italians have managed to get back to their encampment and try and run the clock down (the 2000pts from the Keys mean that they are still miles ahead of everyone else). A Red Mk IV tank assaults the ancient hillfort at an apparently impossible angle........
Der Baron's mongol hordes unleash hell on the poor townsfolk of Zhwingwee.....
Roundup:
The Italians were the runaway winners, not only due to their good fortune in picking of the lost Keys early on in the game, but also because of their deft handling of the politics. They had by far the weakest force, but they managed to do so many side deals to stop other forces attacking them that they were deserved winners.
The Chinese defenders of Zhwingwee came a creditable second. Their dogged defence was materful in the use of terrain and tactics, and their blood spattered corpses can hold their (barely attached) heads held high.
The Bolsheviks came (joint) third. Poor tactics at the outset by Red Ted were eventually countered by sheer weight of numbers. Not impressive though.
And a (very) distant last came the invincible Mongol hordes of Der Baron. Having obtained the Italian tactical handbook from Caparetto, he then built on it and ended up with a human bridge of corpses with which to ford the river. Numbers helped him in the end, but not enough to save him from an (even more) tarnished reputation.....
Next stop 'Holy War' on the 7th November........watch this space!!!
(To be continued...)
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