Narva

As it turns out, my "line" of troops never manage to get into the fight. The Swedes on the left flank instead jump the second line of siegeworks, and go after the lonely Russians manning the innerworks (bottom left). The Swedes control the center and left portions of the battlefield, with the Russians retreating over the bridges on the right flank, and my tiny command stranded on the far left with no means of escape.

This is where the fighting ends. Victory is awarded to the Swedes, although the referee chides them for making a major error the historical Swedes did not - the failure to capture the river bridges early in the fight. It was this failure which allowed the Russian wagon train to escape the field.

It was an odd game for me, as by chance I just happened to have units in the places where fighting wasn't happening, and I spend most of the game desperately trying to activate my men and march them to where the action was. The initiative in this scenario definitely lies with the Swedes.

Was the scenario a good one for convention play? I suppose that depends on what you're looking for. This is definitely not a balanced confrontation (Rich says the Russians have only won once out of 9 tries), and the activation rolls add a large element of randomness for the Russians. On the other hand, it's a colorful setting, with armies seldom seen at a convention. So I was glad I played, but as a Russian player I didn't feel like I had a lot of meaningful options on the tabletop...

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