Battle of Tashihchiao: July, 1904 - A Virtual Gaming Experiment

I will be hosting a tabletop game tonight - re-staging the battle of Tashihchiao from the Russo-Japanese war.  Now before any of you have a fit, I'll be alone in my basement but playing the game over the internet via the zoom conference calling package.

This will be the first outing on the table for my 6mm Russo-Japanese armies.  The battle was a prelude to Liaoyang and was smallish in size with roughly 65K men per side.  The Japanese 2nd Army, which consisted of 4 divisions plus some support units attacked through the hills with the objective of seizing the rail junction located at battles namesake town.  Opposing them are two Siberian Infantry corps.  Historically, the Russians gave a good account of themselves during this battle and withdrew in good order.

 The battle will be played on a 6x4 table.  It could have been bigger but I was worried about the camera being able to "see" the total field.  The Russians are in the upper left half of the board and are defending the ling ridge in the middle.

Units are individual battalions.

A view from the Russian side of the table. The Russians have an advantage in cavalry and the Japanese have advantages in heavier artillery brigades.

The Japanese corner.  The terrain's a bit suspect - I made the railway and villages on powerpoint and then used whatever hills I had to simulate the rough ground.

I'll be using the WW1 ruleset "Great War Spearhead II" - why?  I've played them a few times during Josh's epic Gallipoli games and like them.  The employ an order concept for formations such as  "Attack point X", "Move to Y", Defend Z".  Once an order is set the details of how a unit moves or who it can target are pretty specific.  Both of those concepts should lend themselves to remote play where players can give orders but cant really manipulate the bases in a precise manner.

All of the unit formations are color coded to make them easier for players to see.  Video resolution will be an issue but that's also a form of fog of war - at least that's my current story.

To be honest, I am a little nervous about pulling this off.  On the other hand, I really miss the Monday night game sessions at the club and just don't want to give into the negative side effects of enforced isolation without trying different options.  Don't get me wrong - I fully support the concept of social distancing and know that we all are savings lives by complying.  That said, if I can figure out a way to make them a little less dreary then that's a good thing too.

Lastly, I have checked the odds in 'Vegas and the overwhelming favorite for the outcome of tonight's game is:

Well, tonights game may be a disaster, but at least I know it can't be as bad as the slow US response to this Virus - thanks Donny for being my Mississippi.
!

(here in the US, Mississippi almost always ranks 50th in any measure of a positive aspect, so the other states that also rank lower are very appreciative that Mississippi always prevents them from being last.)