The Siege of Port Arthur, 2016

This week's post is a shout out to fellow blogger Colonel Scipio, who runs the blog Palladian Guard (here).  Of particular note are the "Supercampaigns" he runs which integrate RPG like elements into a war-game campaign structure.  Very cool and naturally I was intrigued so we ended up chatting via email.

Last year I was invited to participate in the latest Supercampaign "Doomed but Defiant" set in the the siege of Port Arthur during the Russo-Japanese War of 1905-06.  As the Colonel his merry men are in UK, I as the overall Japanese Commander submitted my orders weekly, and subordinates would execute them as they interpreted them, and I was subsequently advised of the outcomes.  As you can imagine, this generated all sorts of realistic friction as orders were misinterpreted and subordinates took 'unauthorised initiative'.

The culminating engagement of the campaign, as depicted in the very cool narrative book

It was a great deal of fun and I must admit that I quite looked forward to my Monday lunchtimes with my office door shut - reading the weekly dispatches and crafting my orders.  I also recorded weekly war diary entries.  The lads at the other end did likewise.  The Colonel has now crafted them into this great book in an Osprey narrative style with great maps and graphics, inserting excerpts from the war diaries as appropriate.  I am thrilled with it as a wonderful relic of the game which lasted from May until September 2016. But the Colonel didn't stop there.

Just arrived with my book is this great little momento - a Imperial Japanese Army Command Stand featuring General Nogi, Commander of the Third Army and my alter ego during the campaign.

Thanks indeed for including me in the campaign Colonel - it was a great experience.  Thanks indeed for the great momentos too: they will have place of honour in the Man Cave!

You can read about our RJW Supercampaign at the Colonel's Blog here:
http://palladian-guard.blogspot.com.au/2017/03/russo-japanese-war-supercampaign.html