Fans of Blood & Valor are starting off the year with two welcome releases on the game’s Russian front. In what seems like a suspiciously well-timed release, Firelock Games has released two free Army Lists for Blood & Valor, introducing players to the Russo-Japanese War. At the same time, Wargames Atlantic has finally posted their plastic Great War Russians for preorder!
New Plastics
Wargames Atlantic new plastic kit promises to be a popular release for Valor players looking to play Russians in the Great War era. A multipart kit, there are options for officers wielding their saber-and-revolver (the Nagant M.1985), and for regular troops carrying their 1891 Mosin-Nagants with fixed bayonets. The kit also includes several options for headgear.
There are multiple options for headgear included. The troops can be outfitted in the soft caps, but also in the early and ineffective cloth gasmasks, as well as the Zelinsky-Kummant charcoal-filtered gas mask with boxy Petrogratsky filters. Some of the gasmasks and unmasked heads are wearing French Adrian helmets, which the French supplied to the Tsar after 1915. The Adrian pattern continued to be used in the Inter-War period, officially, by the Red Army.
For players wanting to represent “Red Russians” during the period of Blood & Valor, the iconic Budenovka pointed cap would not be formally adopted until 1919. The low-peaked version included in the kit is more fitting to 1927.
(there is a pervasive myth that the Budenovka was designed during WW1 for the Imperial Army, but this is untrue)
I think that WGA made the correct call by having each man wearing his bedroll over his shoulder in the fashion of 19th century wars. This is seen in photos and propaganda art, so it’s not not historical. It does however cover the identifying pockets and buttons for the detail-obsessed critic. Rather than being strictly the 1907 pattern tunics that Russia entered this war with, these minis could convincingly be used for pre-and-post-war uniforms or even foreign equipment. Which segues nicely into
The Russo-Japanese War
Fellow Firelock blogger Dan Carlson has spent the last year+ writing and playtesting material for the Russo-Japanese War, and the first of his efforts have been released as official game material! The free PDF download lets players build either an Imperial Russian or Japanese list for the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05. As playtested, balanced lists, these forces are playable in tournaments and your regular 1914-18 games of Valor.
The lists themselves do not vary greatly from the Imperial Russian and Japanese Imperial Army lists. Heavy Machineguns are limited to 1 per list, while the Japanese pick up Core Cavalry. National rules switch to Defensive Specialists for the Russians, and the Japanese pick up the potent Die Hard in addition to their usual Banzai. The characters – Aleksey Kuropatkin for the Russians, and Oku Yasukata for the Japanese – focus the action on the Battle of Mukden; a battle of attrition on the frozen Manchurian frontier.
Background: Prelude to a Century
The Russo-Japanese War is frequently left out of history lessons, at least here in the US. However, the causes and after-effects of this brief, 1 year conflict would shape the politics in Asia for the rest of the century. It’s difficult to cover the complex politics in a blog post – it might be easier to explain the motivations of each nation.
Meiji Japan
Japan entered the 20th century as a fully-modernized, but unrealized superpower in the East. However, the bill for industrialization was steep, and Japanese Nationalists demanded something to show for it: colonies abroad. In 1899, Japan committed to the ‘Eight Nation Alliance’ quelling the Boxer Rebellion in China. Japan sent more troops, more ships – and suffered proportionally more casualties – than any of the allied nations. It was a bid to be recognized as the preeminent power in Asia, with the particular aim of expanding into Korea. In the aftermath of the rebellion, Britain, France, and the United States all supported Japan’s claim, leaving Russia as their sole rival.
Imperial Russia
In truth, Russian Tsar Nicholas II was manipulated into the Russo-Japanese war by his cousin, German Kaiser Wilhelm II. Russia had designs for Manchuria, and after the Boxer Rebellion they kept several thousand troops stationed in the region.
Wilhelm’s manipulation serves the broader German “Welt-Politik” scheme, aimed at changing the political landscape of Europe. It seeks to drive a wedge between the powerful Franco-Russian alliance, distract Russia from German ally Austria-Hungary’s designs on the Caucasus, and to curtail the burgeoning alliance between Britain and Japan. At the outset of the war, Russia earnestly believed that Germany would support them militarily – an ominous portent of the entangled web of political alliances which would lead to the Great War 10 years later.
The First Modern War
Both the Russians and the Japanese were confident of outside support in the war, from their respective allies. Both approach negotiations with increasingly strong-armed tactics, until negotiations collapsed entirely, on February 4, 1904. Four days later, Japan launched a surprise attack on the Russian warships at Port Arthur, hoping to cripple the Russian Pacific Fleet.
The action at Port Arthur dragged on from a blockade, to a land-based siege. As the longest and costliest battle of the war, it became emblematic of the entire conflict. This battle was also the first in the world to feature barbed wire, rapid-firing howitzers, 280mm heavy artillery, tactical radios, machine guns, and bolt-action rifles on both sides. The casualties were unprecedented, with both sides losing more than 50,000 troops in 5 months of grueling trench warfare.
Russian commander Anatoly Stessel was court-martialed and sentenced to death for losing the city, the entire Pacific Fleet, and so many troops. He was pardoned before the sentence could be carried out. Public opinion against the costly ongoing war was one of the catalysts for the 1905 Russian Revolution, a prelude to the 1917 October Revolution which would eventually lead to the execution of Tsar Nicholas II and the end of the Romanov dynasty.
The Japanese commander, Count Nogi Maresuke, traveled north to join Count Oku Yasukata at the battle of Mukden. After the war, Nogi openly wept during his report to Emperor Meiji, and asked that he be allowed to commit seppuku for his responsibility in the deaths of 56,000 of the Emperor’s loyal subjects in the battle at Port Arthur, including both of his own sons. Meiji declined his request, saying that Nogi was only following orders, and that he could not end his life while Meiji lived.
The Emperor’s Army, a million strong, set out to punish the powerful savages of the North.
On the battlefield, in the midst of the sieges, the bodies piled up like mountains.
‘Triumphant Return’ – Nogi Maresuke
I am ashamed to show my face to the fathers who remain back home,
Though we few return today in Triumph
Nogi spent the remainder of his life building Veteran’s Hospitals, memorials to the soldiers of the Russo-Japanese War (including a Russian-style memorial for the defenders of Port Arthur), and mentoring the young future emperor Hirohito. Eight years after his victory at Port Arthur, Count Nogi and his wife committed seppuku on the day of Emperor Meiji’s funeral. One year, 10 months, and 15 days before the outbreak of the Great War.
A Preview of Valor
Much like the Russo-Japanese War was a preview for WW1, these two lists are a preview for Valor’s next project; a book covering conflicts before and after the Great War. Details are scant, but expect more coverage of the Russo-Japanese conflict (including a few narrative scenarios co-authored by yours truly). There is also some talk that the expansion might cover the Pancho-Villa Expedition, the end of the Russian Revolution and the Polish-Soviet War, as well as the Spanish Civil War. There is no slated release date for this book, so let me make it clear that we are talking about very early work being done here.
As usual, DMC will be sure to pass any news from the front back to you. In meantime, check out the rest of the Blood & Valor lineup from Firelock Games!
