August 1914:
Scenario Preview, Part Four
By Mike Bennighof, Ph.D.
September 2020

Under the new Infantry Attacks Second Edition rules, scenarios are very much like those of Panzer Grenadier. All of the same concepts are there: initiative, morale, off-board artillery. Most scenarios use the same conventions to determine victory; probably nine out of ten use either objectives or victory points, a similar ratio to late-model Panzer Grenadier games (it makes the battle games, that link the scenarios, flow much more smoothly).

Even so, it’s still the First World War, 1914 instead of 1941. Artillery is far less responsive, except for the field guns right there on the map, where they can shoot at the enemy but the enemy can shoot back at them. Infantry is the queen of battle, and so maneuvers have to be planned carefully - no tanks or motorized troops are going to swoop in and shore up that weak flank you forgot to support. There’s cavalry, which is much faster than infantry, but there are also machine guns.

Let’s take a look at some more August 1914 scenarios, as the Battle of Tannenberg opens:

Chapter Four
Tannenberg: The First Day
Eighth Army’s new command team of Paul von Hindenburg and his chief of staff Erich Ludendorff arrived in East Prussia during the afternoon of 23 August. By evening Ludendorff had informed General Headquarters of their intention to launch an enveloping attack against the advancing Russian Second Army. Eighth Army’s plan hinged on the well-honed East Prussian railway net to conduct operational re-deployments of German divisions.

On the Russian side of the frontier, Alexander Samsonov of Second Army dealt with a supply system already crumbling before his troops crossed the German frontier, a meddling superior in Yakov Zhilinski at North-West Front, and poor communications (two radio stations and 25 field telephones to control his entire army). All of those would render Samsonov, an undoubtedly brave and well-experienced officer, nearly incapable of reacting should the Germans behave in an unexpected manner.

The German plan would bring I Corps to the south-west to strike Samsonov’s army in its left flank, joining XX Corps already there, while XVII and I Reserve Corps struck the Russian right flank. Samsonov conducted little reconnaissance with cavalry or aircraft. The Russians failed to detect the approaching Germans, or their radio transmissions sent in the clear (without having been coded).

Scenario Fourteen
Force Multiplier
26 August 1914
As the Germans opened what would become the battle of Tannenberg, Lt. Gen. Otto von Below of I Reserve Corps ordered his 36th Reserve Division to unhinge the left flank of the Russian VI Corps, anchored on the southern shore of the Bössauer See. To help take this strong position, he attached the 6th Landwehr Brigade from the garrison of Fort Boyen, telling the division staff to use them as “auxiliary strength” - in modern jargon, a “force multiplier.”

Conclusion
Despite the complicated attack plan advocated by Below, the Landwehr and reservists carried it out pretty much as planned, striking the Russians from three different directions. The Russian pulled back from their strong position on the south end of the lake, forcing the entire corps to pull back with its flank now exposed. That in turn opened the right flank of the Russian XIII Corps to the southwest, causing it to pull its own troops back to refuse its flank and opening a large gap in the Russian lines that would lead directly to the massive defeat of Tannenberg.

Notes
The Germans are on the attack, with numbers on their side but quality against them; the Russians are qualitatively better but spread out. It’s a tall order for the Germans, with their weak morale and lack of artillery support.

Scenario Fifteen
Mid-Life Crisis
26 August 1914
August von Mackensen's XVII Corps began to crumble on the morning of August 26th, with some troops refusing to move forward without rest. On the German side, the middle-aged reservists of I Reserve Corps marched to the sound of the guns to rescue the regulars. On the Russian side, the 4th Division did not send out reconnaissance patrols ahead of its advance because, its chief of staff explained later, it had received no orders to do so.

Conclusion
Confused fighting broke out as the two forces stumbled into one another, and the Russians at first had the better of it. But the Germans stolidly pressed forward, with their artillery - unable to conduct indirect fire due to a lack of training among the Landsturm gunners - fighting with them in the front lines. As dusk fell their officers led them in a final mass bayonet charge that broke the Russians and sent all of VI Corps into a disorganized retreat.

Notes
This time it’s a meeting engagement, and one that’s pretty tough for the Germans with their decidedly second-line troops and lack of heavy weapons support. On the other hand, they don’t need to do nearly as much to win as do the Russians.

Scenario Sixteen
From the Front
26 August 1914
When Eighth Army's command detected a gap in the Russian lines, they ordered 41st Infantry Division to attack between the Russian I and XV Corps. In contrast to their sister 37th Infantry Division, discipline broke down and tactical doctrine went out the window. The Germans rushed forward with far more enthusiasm then sense, and with their officers leading the forward stampede they veered away from the open Russian flank to strike the invaders head-on.

Conclusion
The 41st Division's infantry battalions took massive casualties, particularly among their officers. Prompt intervention by the division's artillery, moving into the front lines and firing brief missions over open sights before changing their location, helped stabilize things. The 150th Infantry Regiment formed its machine gun platoons into a unified fire group and shattered a Russian counter-attack. Despite the serious German losses, the Russian division came out even worse and had been broken by day's end.

Notes
The Germans are attacking a prepared Russian force with just a slight edge in numbers and roughly equal leadership, morale and artillery. This is going to be a tough fight, which in the actual events wrecked both divisions and became a turning point in the Battle of Tannenberg.

Scenario Seventeen
Better Late
26 August 1914
The new German command team - the still little-known Hindenburg and Ludendorff - intended XX Corps to hold its position during the first day of what would be called the Battle of Tannenberg while I Corps moved forward. But at mid-day the German command became aware of what it believed was a gap in the Russian lines, and ordered Gen. Friedrich Scholtz's XX Corps to strike at once.

Conclusion
Finding an open flank, the Germans rolled up the left flank of the 2nd Division's 1st Brigade, and forced it back against the shores of one of the area's many lakes. Despite the late start, for once German offensive operations went the way the textbooks described them: the field guns disordered the enemy and then infantry found their flank and made an attack at that weak point. The next four years would see very few such opportunities.

Notes
The Germans are on the attack, with only a slight edge in numbers. The Russians have to cover a lot of territory, and that’s going to be difficult. This will be another hard fight for both players, and at some point, the Russians will have to take back some lost ground.

And that’s Chapter Four.

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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 eleventy-million books, games and articles on historical subjects. He lives in Birmingham, Alabama with his wife, three children and his dog, Leopold.