Tango01  | 22 Oct 2018 1:09 p.m. PST |
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| Pan Marek | 22 Oct 2018 1:27 p.m. PST |
Those are the tactics the Whites used?
Stand up in line, and walk slow? With a band?
No wonder the Bolsheviks won! |
| Cuprum | 22 Oct 2018 7:15 p.m. PST |
Doesn't it seem strange to you to judge tactics by fragments in feature films?
The filmmakers have a completely different task. Although during the Civil War, due to the weak training of the troops and the acute shortage of weapons and ammunition, there was some revival of the tactics of the Napoleonic period.. I have seen in the memoirs repeated mention of the use of an infantry square to repel cavalry attacks. Here is an excerpt from the movie "The First Cavalry Army", where there is such an episode. White infantry reflects the attack of the red cavalry. YouTube link |
| Pan Marek | 23 Oct 2018 7:42 a.m. PST |
Cuprum- The image seemed so anachronistic that I was surprised by it. You seem to confirm that such things did indeed occur.
Time for me to do some reading. |
| Pan Marek | 23 Oct 2018 7:54 a.m. PST |
Watched the clip. Makes me think of Shako II and "forming hasty square". Clearly, the Whites rolled well. |
| Tango01 | 23 Oct 2018 11:15 a.m. PST |
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| Mark Plant | 23 Oct 2018 1:22 p.m. PST |
Those are the tactics the Whites used?
Stand up in line, and walk slow? With a band?
No wonder the Bolsheviks won! The Bolsheviks meanwhile have posted their artillery within rifle range, and allowed their trench line to be easily flanked by cavalry. The infantry of both sides did advance in lines quite often though. Not like the film, because they were more spaced, moved quicker and went to ground if required. But lines nonetheless. As well as the poor training, there were as often as not issues of the conscripts not being hugely enthusiastic. Lines enabled the shirkers to be quickly identified. |
| Cuprum | 23 Oct 2018 6:55 p.m. PST |
By the way, there was such a phenomenon during the period of the Russian Civil War, as "psychic attack". The troops went on the attack in steps, in tight rows, with an orchestra (the red ones – to the chorus of the "Internationale") and under the banners. Most often this happened when the troops had a big problem with ammunition. At the same time, losses for the attackers were by no means catastrophic, and the defenders often abandoned their positions and simply fled.
Here is the corresponding article on my forum (in Russian – use Google translator for reading):
link Two episodes with such attacks from Soviet films. Such attacks have taken place in reality! YouTube link YouTube link |
| Cuprum | 23 Oct 2018 7:09 p.m. PST |
Colorful uniforms (sometimes), attack dense formation, infantry squares to repel cavalry attacks, large-scale only cavalry battles, partisan armies, one-third armed only with peaks … Combination tactics of the 18-19 century and quite modern weapons – tanks, airplanes, armored trains.
I think this is a very interesting topic for games. |
| Pan Marek | 24 Oct 2018 9:12 a.m. PST |
Good info! Cuprum- Can you recommend a good military history of the RCW (in English, my college Russian won't help)? |
| Cuprum | 24 Oct 2018 8:03 p.m. PST |
Alas, I am not familiar with English-language literature on this subject. I think you can be helped with such advice by Mark Plant (he is present in this topic). To begin, I recommend that you familiarize yourself with its site:
pygmywars.com/home.html |
