GNW Semyonovsky Guard Regiment

This is my final (for now!) Great Northern War Russian infantry regiment.

The Semyonovsky Lifeguard Regiment (Russian: Семёновский лейб-гвардии полк, Semyonovsky leyb-gvardii polk) was one of the two oldest guard regiments of the Imperial Russian Army. The other one was the Preobrazhensky Regiment.

History

Peter's Toy Army

The history of the regiment dates back to 1683 when it was formed as a company of the toy army of Peter the Great. It took its name from a village called Semyonovskoe (eastern Moscow) (part of the present-day Sokolniki District), where it was initially stationed. In 1700, the troops became the Semyonovsky Lifeguard Regiment. From 1723, the regiment was quartered in St. Petersburg.

The Great Northern War

During the Great Northern War, the regiment fought in the Battle of Narva on 30 November 1700. The Russian guard (Semyonovsky and Preobrazhensky regiments) firmly defended themselves from the Swedes and avoided a defeat. For their bravery, the Swedish king Charles XII agreed to allow them to keep their weapons; the Russian guard regiments marched with standards unfurled, drums rolling and in possession of their weapons. For their prowess, all soldiers of the Semyonovsky regiment wore red stockings from 1700 to 1740, as "in that battle, they stood knee-deep in blood". In the battle, the regiment lost 17 officers (including the commander, podpolkovnik Cunningham) and 454 enlisted personnel. Major Yakov Lobanov-Rostovsky was judged and condemned to death for his flight from the battlefield, but subsequently pardoned.

In 1702, a squad of the regiment took part in the 13-hour storming of the fortress of Nöteborg. For that, all of its members received a silver medal. The commander of the squad, podpolkovnik Mikhail Golitsyn, was for his actions promoted to the rank of guards' colonel.

In 1703, the regiment excelled in the siege of Nyenschantz and the capture of the Swedish fleet at the mouth of the Neva River. On 9 October 1708, the regiment took part in the Battle of Lesnaya as a part of the infantry contingent of the Corps Volant. On 27 September 1709, it fought in the Battle of Poltava. It also took part in the Prut campaign of 1711.

OK so I have only just read the bit about red stockings from 1700 onwards - so, its lucky I didn't do them white, as I was going to do! Also, based on the Tacticus blog uniform data, I gave the private solders yellow lace rather than white on their tricorns. 

Based on the information supplied by my Russian reader Valentin in an earlier post, I have painted all these troops as blond haired.

Also tonight, here is the first trio of Blitzkrieg WWII Wehrmacht infantry.

These are hard plastic Warlord figures.

My mate Rick has based his collection in twos and threes on 50mm round bases, so I will follow suit.

I have a stack of these to paint and base, so that is likely to be the predominant output of the painting desk over the next few months!

I have also, in a burst of megalomaniac purchasing, added 3 x early version PzKfw III and a Flak 36 88mm gun to the collection - well, they were only $NZ30 each on a local auction website - how could I resist such a bargain?! 

Next up, though, will be two GNW Russian artillery crews - the very last of the Ebor figures that arrived on 21 June! They are already half done, so likely to be completed at the weekend.

Mini Solo WWII Eastern Front Game

After a throw away comment on one of my replies to a recent post, today I set up a small game using a few of my rather large 15mm WWII Russian collection. Not a great deal of thought or preparation went into the scenario, but in the end, it played out quite well.

The only change I made to the rules was to substitute cm for inches in the movement and firing ranges, which worked fine for the smaller scale figures and table.

Overview on turn one (Germans have initiative!) as three Russian infantry units advance on a ruined village in East Prussia.

With the first three initiatives, the Germans opened up with two HMG's, causing a disappointing total of two hits. The Russians were out of rifle range so could not respond.

There followed three initiatives in a row for the Russians, at the end of which, three IS heavy tanks had arrived and one of the infantry units had assaulted an HMG but to no effect.

The German HMG's fell back and the Russian advance into the ruined village continued.

German Nebelwerfers opened fire on the advancing Russian infantry, causing immediate damage to both the left- and right-wing units.

The Russian command coordinating the attack.

On both flanks, the Russian infantry pressed forward and assaulted the German HMG's but again with no result. 

The HMG's again fell back, and a new ambush was sprung, as two PAK 38 50mm AT guns opened fire on the advancing Soviet armour. Simultaneously, the Nebelwerfers fired again and the right-most Russian infantry unit, now on four hits, was forced to retire.

One PAK scored a direct hit on the leading Soviet tank, and it burst into flames, whilst the second shell bounced off the other IS. Return fire destroyed one PAK and put a hit on the second! In the following phase, the remaining Russian tanks combined to take out the second PAK.

A German "event" card was turned, and on roll of 2, on came a King Tiger! The very next card was a Russian event, and they received reinforcements of an additional two infantry units.

The infantry continued to advance through the shattered village and one unit managed to assault an HMG and wipe it out in close combat.

In addition to the King Tiger, the Germans sprung another hasty surprise in the form of an 88mm FLAK, which put a hit on the second IS with no damage from the return fire.

The very next turn, the 88 took out a second Russian tank, as the King Tiger inched forward cautiously.

I tested "move and fire" in this game by simply not adding any bonus if the firer has moved - so the King Tiger needed an unmodified 9 to hit the IS and failed to do so. The 88 had no target and the Nebelwerfer fire took one of the units on the left wing to four hits, forcing it to retire!

In the next couple of initiatives, both retiring Russian infantry units passed a rally test and were able to move forwards again. The two tanks exchanged fire, and each scored a non-lethal hit. The IS then moved off as the infantry moved in on the isolated German tank.

The Russian tank was now in a position to be engaged by the 88 - shots were exchanged but both missed! Meanwhile, the Nebelwerfers had again caused one of the Russian infantry units to reach four hit markers, and they were forced to retire once more!

General view at about the three quarters stage, the Russians are well advanced on the left flank but are making slower progress on the right, where they face the might of the King Tiger.

The final Russian tank dies as it destroys the 88mm FLAK! 

Elsewhere, the Russian infantry again manage to rally and move forwards towards the fray once again.

On the Russian right, two units of infantry charge forwards to assault the wounded King Tiger

The bravery of the Russian infantry is rewarded as they suffer no loss but score a knockout blow on the German behemoth.

With one Nebelwerfer already forced to retire by the advancing Russian infantry, the remaining Germans decide now is the time to fall back to the next defensive position. The village is in Russian hands and the advance towards Berlin can continue.

The Russian command team reports their success up the chain of command.

Final view of the table - in the end, the Russians had the infantry to do the job in a built-up area, whereas the Germans were relying on fire power - which certainly took out all the Soviet tanks but was ultimately unable to prevent the PBI from taking the position.

I enjoyed that and the system worked pretty well for a solo game, which took about 90 minutes to play through. Next time, I might try Normandy with the British moving through bocage-lined lanes, waiting for the Germans to open fire......!

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