![]() ![]() One thing that makes this game different from other games that I have played is that each hex has multiple terrain forms. Units are not allowed to move until mobilization for that unit has been completed. The question becomes, would this open up another opportunity for the Germans to exploit?Įach game turn represent 4 or 5 days, and the game covers the time period that includes Stallupönen, Gambonnin, Tannenberg, and the First Battle of the Masurian Lakes. There are no wireless intercepts, and the Russian player may deliberately keep the two armies closer to each other (if permitted in the rules) to support the advance. The fact that the two Russian armies were so far apart contributed to their defeat, much like the lack of encrypted wireless communications are not much of an advantage for the Germans in this game. While First Army was not destroyed and escaped back to Russia, the Germans rebuffed the Russian East Prussian campaign. One Second Army was destroyed, Hindenburg and Ludendorff turned Eighth Army loose on Rennenkampf’s First Army at the First Battle of the Masurian Lakes. Another theory holds that it was felt that the two armies would simply be too far apart to support each other.Īfter the battle, Second Army was destroyed, causing Samsonov to commit suicide. When Hindenburg and Ludendorff arrived, they consolidated Eighth Army, and, using intercepted wireless communications, decided to attack and destroy Samsonov first, then turn on Rennenkampf. It was also believed that the two Russian generals severely disliked each other, and if one called for help, the other would be slow to respond, if they responded at all. Prittwitz still began to withdraw, leading to his sacking and replacement by Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg and Major General Erich Ludendorff. Although this was initially the plan created by the German High Command, Prittwitz was forbidden from abandoning the eastern frontier. ![]() Prittwitz’s initial reaction was to withdraw Eighth Army west of the Vistula River, abandoning East Prussia. The Russian plan was for First Army to keep the Germans engaged, while Second Army marched north, then engaged the Germans from the rear. ![]() Samsonov’s Second Army, advancing from the south, crossed the frontier at about the same time as the Battle of Gumbinnen was taking place. While the Germans did experience success early in the battle, Russian artillery was devastating, and broke the German lines the next day. Even though they pushed the Russians back and took a few thousand prisoners, German General Maximilian Wilhelm Gustav von Prittwitz und Gaffron called off the attack and pulled his forces back.Ī few days later at Gumbinnen (August 20), the two sides engaged again when Prittwitz, having intercepted intelligence from Russian wireless communications, attacked. The Germans engaged the Russian First Army at Stallupönen on the border between East Prussia and Russia (August 17). Rennenkampf’s First Army advanced from the east, directly towards Konigsberg. The Russians turned out to be more prepared than the Germans anticipated, and two Russian armies, the First under Paul von Rennenkampf and the Second under Aleksandr Vassilievich Samsonov, advance into East Prussia, the goal being to encircle and destroy the German Eighth Army, and capture Königsberg. German High Command expects it will take at least six weeks for the Russians to mobilize their forces, giving them time to defeat France then shift their forces east. He therefore knows the area he describes well, and his book provides a clear account of this famous German victory written with an expert military eye.The First World War breaks out after German forces advance into Belgium. The author of this history, Major-General Sir Edmund Ironside, later became Chief of the Imperial General Staff and commanded anti-Bolshevik forces in Russia after the war. The victories turned the eastern front into a slow slogging match and ruled out a quick end to the war. They put into effect a plan already devised by General Max Hoffmann to deal with the two Russian armies piecemeal, crushing and virtually annihilating them at Tannenberg and the Masurian Lakes. Generals Hindenburg and his brilliant lieutenant Erich Ludendorff were summoned from France with reinforcements to save the situation. But when the Russians invaded with the twin armies of Generals Samsonev and Rennenkampf, beating Germany’s inept General von Prittwitz at Gumbinnen, the German heartland was in extreme peril. East Prussia was therefore left only lightly defended, with the bulk of the German army deployed in France. Germany’s war plans in 1914 were based on the assumption that Russia would only mobilise slowly and that Germany would have time to deal decisively with France via the Schlieffen Plan, before turning east to settle accounts with Russia. The battle of Tannenberg in 1914 is one of history’s great turning points. ![]()
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