| August 1914:
Scenario Preview, Part Three
By Mike Bennighof, Ph.D.
January 2025
 When I designed our Infantry Attacks game system, I wanted to put infantry combat at its heart, and not just because of the title. Infantry Attacks is derived from Panzer Grenadier, our World War Two tactical combat game series, and I designed that one to put infantry at the center rather than just an adjunct to the exciting stuff (the panzers).
It’s the infantry that takes and holds ground, but in August 1914 (and even more so in its sister game, Fall of Empires), the infantry also maneuvers a great deal. Even though the game system is closely based on Panzer Grenadier’s Fourth Edition, with a similar sequence of play and interactive activation sub-system, the flow of play is really different in a fascinating sort of way. There are no panzers or motor vehicles zipping across the battlefield. You see the infantry on the march, their intent evolving steadily, while your guys move with equal determination. You can still steal a march and turn a flank, but you’re going to need a lot more guile: the situations reward planning, since you’re not going to save the day with a last-minute high-speed dash.
 Both August 1914 and Fall of Empires take place in 1914, before heavy artillery had come to fully dominate the battlefield (which didn’t happen everywhere, just along much of the Western Front and certain segments in the East, like Riga in 1917). The armies are very large, and they’re using their infantry to try to dominate the battlefield - which is a thoroughly achievable goal.
One of the aspects I really like about the series is how it captures the feel of Great War combat in 1914. The flow of maneuver, the interaction of infantry and field guns, the occasional long-range artillery barrage.
 There are two types of “artillery” in Infantry Attacks. Artillery - the big guns that fire to a pre-determined plan from off the edge of the playing area - is unlikely to dominate the battlefield as it will during the war’s later years. There’s just not enough of it at this early stage of the conflict; it’s an area denial weapon for the most part, keeping the enemy from easily entering or passing through places subjected to drumfire.
Field guns (never called “artillery” in the game rules - in good rules writing, a defined term should mean one thing and one thing only) are out there on the map and can move and shoot just like the infantry. They have their limits - you have to hitch up the horses and move the guns, and the horses are smarter than they look and may not be perfectly willing to do this (in game terms, you have to check their morale). And the field guns are vulnerable to enemy fire, and of course they’re going to attract it. So you can’t use them as assault guns (well, you can, just not for very long).
Instead, it’s the infantry that will do that job, just like it does every other unpleasant job on the battlefield. Let’s have a look at the third chapter (the shortest of the nine). You can see the others here:
Chapter Three
Second Army Advances
 While Pavel Rennenkampf’s Russian First Army advanced directly westwards into East Prussia from the province’s eastern border, Alexander Samsonov’s Second Army marched north-west from Warsaw along the right bank of the Vistula River. Samsonov had urged this move on North-West Front’s command in order to turn the right flank of the German Eighth Army facing Rennenkampf. With luck on their side, the Russians might even succeed in cutting off the German retreat behind the Vistula.
The Germans had not left their right flank hanging open; one of the three regular corps stationed in East Prussia (XX) had been detailed to await Second Army on the German side of the border. During the years before the war Russian policy had denuded the border zone of roads and railway stations, forcing Second Army to conduct a long approach march before even reaching the border. After six days, they finally crossed into East Prussia to find immediate opposition.
Scenario Twelve
Murderous Schoolboys
23 August 1914
 On the southern frontier of East Prussia, the regulars of the locally-recruited German XX Corps, reinforced by large contingents of Landwehr and fortress troops, prepared to meet the Russian Second Army. While the corps had the mission of delaying the Russian advance, the troops and junior officers were not interested in yielding any Prussian ground.
Conclusion
Though the Germans deployed for a conventional defense, when the Russians appeared all planning and doctrine instantly disappeared. Like "murderous schoolboys," historian Dennis Showalter wrote, German battalions went forward with flags flying and bands playing, some of them supposedly bellowing the Deutschlandlied (“Deutschland über Alles”). Russian fire cut down many before small but fierce close-quarters fights broke out all along the line. In the village of Lahna, 500 Prussian Jägers engaged the Polish regulars of the Russian 8th Division all day in no-quarters house-to-house fighting; perhaps 30 men limped away when darkness fell.
Notes
The Germans are totally outnumbered, and totally have to attack to meet their victory objectives. This is going to be a tough one for the schoolboys.
Scenario Thirteen
Breaking Contact
24 August 1914
 Lt. Gen. Friedrich Scholtz of XX Corps hoped to launch a dawn attack on the Russians, but his staff soon informed him that 37th Infantry Division was far too disorganized to attack. Worse, Russian infantry had infiltrated so close to his positions that he could not pull the division back to re-order it for the assault. Scholtz ordered 3rd Reserve Division forward to push the Russians back and save the regulars from being overrun.
Conclusion
While the Russians were in better shape than their enemies, they still suffered problems of their own. The Russian pursuit did not press the Germans closely, and when fresh troops came onto the battlefield the Russians were content to let them pull away. Thirty-Seventh Infantry Division had been put out of the fight for some days; it would be up to Second Army command to exploit this advantage.
Notes
The Germans begin this large scenario in close contact with the Russians, who have a serious edge in numbers plus lots of support weapons (field guns and machine guns) while morale’s even. The Germans get to redress the numbers situation when the reservists arrive; they’re less than enthusiastic but all they have to do is help the rest of the German force escape the board.
And that’s Chapter Three.
You can order August 1914 right here.
Infantry Attacks Package
August 1914
Fall of Empires
Franz Josef’s Armies
Winter’s Battle
Black Mountain
Retail Price: $266.95
Package Price: $215
Gold Club Price: $172
Experience the Infantry Attacks Package right here.
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Mike Bennighof is president of Avalanche Press and holds a doctorate in history from Emory University. A Fulbright Scholar and NASA Journalist in Space finalist, he has published a great many books, games and articles on historical subjects; people are saying that some of them are actually good.
He lives in Birmingham, Alabama with his wife and three children. He misses his lizard-hunting Iron Dog, Leopold.
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