Tag Archives: Arras

games, megagames, WW1

Megagame: Iron Dice – Turn 7

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29 Sept to 4th October 1914.

Iron Dice Umpire map at 14:04 (Turn 7)
Iron Dice Umpire map at 14:04 (Turn 7)

BEF Report to the War Office

Some more confusion, Germans frontline is from the Marsh area (Dixmuiden) to the South, direction Arras (which the Germans appear to have abandoned?) which means that the British advanced somehow without orders to do so. It seems that a change in warfare is taking place, the first trench lines are appearing.

Team Control Gloss

The Germans went firm and started to entrench in front of the British, with more active operations in South East Belgium where the French made a counter-attack and cut off the Western Belgium-France area from railway communications with Germany. This meant that the Germans were unable to advance this turn.

In tandem the British set their cavalry to screen the flank, and being cavalry they found the German front lines and conformed to them. The rest of the BEF remained in their defensive positions (as ordered). ARRAS was still held by the Germans, but the RFC suffered from bad weather and could see the depth entrenchments behind ARRAS so made an erroneous report that it had been abandoned. Had the Germans been able to attack the cavalry screen wouldn’t have slowed them down much at all.

 

Turn Six  –  Iron Dice  –  Turn Eight

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games, megagames, WW1

Megagame: Iron Dice – Turn 6

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The last full week in September 1914.

Turn 6 Umpire Map

BEF Report to the War Office 30th September 2014

While taking the new positions, the BEF was attacked by the Germans, Arras was lost but the German casualties were high.

British right flank doesn’t have contact with the French. On the political point, the Belgiums requested to the Royal navy to move their toops by sea to Ostend. However, this would bring the BEF in a difficult position again, due to the fact that this would create a gap between BEF’s left flank and the sea.

BEF ‘s base is at Rouen, BEF HQ at Neufchatel en Bray, BEF Railhead at Grandvillers.

We have a gap between Doullens and the North Sea due to the Belgians reluctancy to fill this gap. We request the British Goverment to put some political pressure on the Belgians.

Confusion all around, BEF’s left flank isn’t at Hesdin, but at St. Omer  Indian cav. reconnaissance is making probes towards Dunkirk. Situation is very confusing because BEF command still thought that the BEF was situated from Hesdin to Arras but actually it was from St. Omer to Arras. (With now a Cav. unit probe at Dunkirk. The Belgians (still there!) are helping the Cav. between Calais and St. Omer. Belgiums will probably request supply from the Britsh. French 6th has contact with the BEF’s right flank.

Team Control Gloss

The Indians arrived at ABBEVILLE (having landed a week earlier at MARSEILLES and then moving by rail all the way across France). Despite efforts to rectify the situation the BEF still have two hanging flanks. On the plus side they have a very good logistics supply and munitions are arriving faster than they are using them. Also the first Territorial Force battalions have started to arrive which is allowing them to replace the losses in the regular Corps from the attack on the Scheldt.

At this stage it looked very much like the German Second Army was going to punch through the hole and push towards PARIS while the German 1st Army screened the BEF from intervening. There seemed a realistic prospect that the British would get back on their ship and leave France. The War Cabinet refused the request to move the logistics base from ROUEN to BOLOUGNE on the ground that it was in danger of being over-run. Similarly the BEF moved both its HQ and railhead to be off the route between the Germans and PARIS.

 

Turn Five  –  Iron Dice  –  Turn Seven

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