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What I (Wonderdoctor) copied from the now empty post above into this post so that Urica is able to edit it as he pleases:

Possible campaign path

1. The Congo - Arab war. Taking of Nyangwe, February 26, 1893 - Luis - map 1278 - Done
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congo%E2%80%93Arab_War
https://kar.kent.ac.uk/75365/1/The%20Fo ... blique.pdf
https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k ... texteImage page 94

On 4 March 1893, Francis Dhanis' Congo Free State forces took control of Nyangwe, a key river city, after a 6-week standoff that devastated the city. Of the city's thousand original buildings, only one remained standing.

2. The Madhist War. Securing the Lado Enclave, December 14, 1896 - Jurgen - new map 1568 - Done
http://www.kaiserscross.com/188001/226822.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis-Nap ... on_Chaltin
https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k ... texteImage

Liege: early August 1914 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Li%C3%A8ge

3. Halen - Battle of the Silver Helmets: August 12 - Luis - map379
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Halen
https://www.chakoten.dk/ryttertraefning ... gust-1914/
https://bibliotheek.hasselt.be/Pub/books?b=LA-E-17983#1
http://forumeerstewereldoorlog.nl/viewt ... ght=haelen
+ I have a CD with the book "Inval en Oorlog in België - van Luik tot Yzer" that I bought from VZW Geschiedkundige Heruitgeverij. It has info on how much of 4BM reached the battlefield (4 riffle Btns + 1 riffle Komp + 3 batteries of aty) etc. I can summarize and translate (in case the other sources aren't complete enough).

Het belang van Halen is dat dit een eerste Belgisch succesje na 8 dagen oorlog was. Vandaar dat de slag in de na-oorlogse belgisch literatuur licht-heroische proporties heeft aangenomen, waarbij duizenden Duitsers zouden omgekomen zijn. In werkelijkheid sneuvelden 140 Duitsers, 600 raakten gewond en meer dan 200 werden gevangengenomen. In de slag sneuvelden 160 Belgen; de Duitse en Belgische cavalerietroepen verloren meer dan 400 paarden.

The importance of Halen is that this was the first Belgian success after 8 days of war. That is why the battle has assumed slightly heroic proportions in post-war Belgian literature, in which thousands of Germans are said to have died. In reality 140 Germans were killed, 600 were wounded and more than 200 were taken prisoner. 160 Belgians were killed in the battle; the German and Belgian cavalry troops lost more than 400 horses.

4. Sint-Margriete Houtem: August 18, 1914 - Jurgen - map385
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combats_d ... Marguerite

or Aarschot: August 19 or Namen: August 22

5. Antwerp: The First Exit: August 24, 1914 - Louis - map 760
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Antwerp_(1914) // https://www.chakoten.dk/?s=antwerpen

6. Antwerp: von Beseler's mistake: september 4 - Jurgen - map760

7. Antwep: The second exit: September 9th: Louis

Antwerpen - 3rd battle: September 27th

8. Albert's stand at the Yzer: October 18th - Jurgen

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Yser

1915
9. Battle at Steenstraat (part of 2nd Ypres) - april 22nd-may5th - https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combats_du_Reigersvliet - Louis

1916
10.The Brusilov offensive - advance in Galicia: June 9th 1916 - Jurgen
11. The Brusilov offensive - swan song Sep 16 - Luis

1917
Armoured cars in the Kerenski offensive ???

1918
A first German attempt in spring 1918 to brake through the Belgian lines
12. Battle at the Reigersvliet - March 6 - Jurgen
https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slag_aan_de_Reigersvliet
https://defensieweb.fandom.com/wiki/Eer ... igersvliet
http://www.wo1.be/nl/geschiedenis/gastb ... igersvliet
http://www.wo1.be/nl/db-items/naamsteen ... -1914-1918
https://inventaris.onroerenderfgoed.be/ ... 46/teksten
https://nvd-anp.com/index.php?option=co ... Itemid=158
https://wikimonde.com/article/Combats_du_Reigersvliet
https://www.blogen.wiki/blog/nl/Slag_aa ... igersvliet

A second attempt
Battle of Merkem a.k.a. Slag bij de Kippe - April - https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bataille_de_Merckem
http://photography-to-remember-ww-one.c ... php?id=621

Flanders offensive; September 28 --> November 11
13. The breakthrough - Houthulst Forest - September 28th, 1918 - Luis
13. Second breakthrough - outflanking the drowned no man's land - October 14th, 1918 - Jurgen

Battle for the ridges (Belgians take Houthulst, ...) September
Battle at Torhout and Tielt (a.k.a. battle of Kortrijk): Oktober 14-20
Battle of the Lys: November 1-11 OR Battle of the Schelde (l'Escaut) and the Terneuzen Canal: November 1-11

1919
Belgian-Dutch conflict - Dutch plans to invade Belgium to stop Belgium from annexing Dutch territory.
https://www.reddit.com/r/thenetherlands ... the_thick/

Also: End 1918, the Dutch government sent a steep 60milion Guilder invoice (plus interest) to the Belgian goverment for the costs it incurred interning the part of the Belgian Army that fled from Antwerp into the Netherlands. The astounded belgian government refused to pay, but the Dutch insisted. It wasn't until 1937 that the invoice was fully paid.

Belgian Army: http://web.archive.org/web/200005251835 ... /cont.html


===============================================================
Original post from Luis:

It looks very promising. Maybe the campaign could start with some battle of the Congo-Arab war in 1892. After all, it was a proxy war between Belgium and Zanzibar.

However, there is a potential problem. I've checked the Nafziger files, and I haven't found anything about the orders of battle of the Belgian army. Wikipedia has an article, but only for 1914. The other years of the war are still a mystery to me.

On the other hand, it seems that most of the maps that we could need for the campaign are already made, doesn't it? That could save a lot of work.

Quite a few links that I used when making the von Schlieffen campaign - a long time ago - are broken. I did add a wayback machine link to a nice Belgian OoB website in the previous post.

I'll add the Congo-Arab war to the list. We can read up on it and determine what battle from that war could work.

I've downloaded "The fall of the Congo Arabs". If there is a playable battle, I'll find it there.

Edit: this is another interesting book. It has many sketches, and could be useful for the 1897 battle, too:

https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k ... texteImage

In the pages 93-95 of the book that I linked the other day (Histoire militaire du Congo) there is a battle that looks promising as starting scenario, by the Lualaba river. I think that the map 1278 (Hoa Moc) could be good enough.

I've looked into the battle of Rejaf, too, but I couldn't find any proper map so far.

In the pages 93-95 of the book that I linked the other day (Histoire militaire du Congo) there is a battle that looks promising as starting scenario, by the Lualaba river. I think that the map 1278 (Hoa Moc) could be good enough.

I've looked into the battle of Rejaf, too, but I couldn't find any proper map so far.

754 might work if we cover the complete mission of Chaltin from Dungu to Rejaf:
- we flip it horizontally (East becomes West and West becomes East).
- The road goes North rather than cross the river on the (then) right of the map.
- The airfield is removed.

The river on the right would be the White Nile. The long road leading up to it goes via mountain passes ("After light skirmishing in the Tendia Pass against natives using poisoned arrows ...")

Edit: I made the changes to the png. I will add terrain etc later.

I've checked the efile, and apart fron some transports, the Belgians only have two units available before 1900: cavalry and the Montigny mitrailleuse. If we want to make two scenarios in the 1890's, some units would have to change their available date from 1-1900 to 1-1890.

But what units should those be? I suggest this list:

E:1872 (infanterie de ligne)
E:1871 (garde civique)
E:1644 (reconaissance)
E:1869 (infanterie de fortresse)
E:1889 (pontonniers)
E:2898 (commandament)
E:1873 (Katanga askari)
E:1622 (75 mm bronze cannon)
E:1627 (75mm TA Mle 77)
E:1653 (Attelage)
E:1870 (askari)
E:3685 (gendarmerie)
E:3686 (gendarmerie a cheval)

For the Congo:

- aty
Indeed:
E:1622 (75 mm bronze cannon)
E:1627 (75mm TA Mle 77)

- Infantry
The infantry units used should not necessarily be available earlier.
That leaves:
E:1870 (askari)
E:1873 (Katanga askari)
and maybe
E:2898 (commandament)

- Support weapons
I would include
E:1640 47mm Nordenfelt (used as mountain aty)
and maybe
E:1641 57mm Nordenfelt (althoug probably not yet available in the early 1890's in the Congo).



The All Countries has the following that could be usefull for our campaign:
E:4164 African Porters
E:2010 Tribal (spearmen)
What I would like to see added to the efile is All Countries Mounted tribal spearsmen and maybe Tribal rifflemen (like Abysissinia has both tribal rifflemen and tribal spearmen)

So, how to proceed? I am afraid of Liege: Massive scale, bad map, how to make a fortress siege interesting? So, try to make something nice of it?, or skip and move to Halen (Battle of the Silver Helmets) - a cavalry battle with lots of potential where on the Belgian side 2 infantry regiments (6 Btns total) participated. The core be one of those regiments (command unit + 3 or so upgraded inf) or even both (4e Linie and 24e Linie of the 4 brigade mixte of the 1Division (LA=Legerafdeling)),

Let's think about it. Apart from the ugly map (which isn't that important, after all) a historical Liege scenario would have some design problems that would need to be solved:

- The AI isn't very good at siege scenarios, so the outcome of the battle could be a total Belgian victory. This shouldn't be a big problem if the Belgian defences have zero experience and/or reduced strength. They could be easily overcome by the Germans.

- It would require lots and lots of units, most of them auxiliaries, which is quite boring. Solution: designing the battle at a regimental scale. However, that would condition the design of the next scenarios, and the future size of the core. Most of the WWI battles are huge, so regimental scale will be OK most of the time, but we'll probably have to take "smaller" battles, like Halen, out of the campaign.

So, what would be better? Starting with a simpler version of Liege, likely losing Halen along the way, or skipping Liege and starting the Great War with Halen? Since we're going to have siege scenarios later (in Antwerp), in this particular case I'd prefer to secure the cavalry battle of Halen. The campaign would be more diverse, after all.

in this particular case I'd prefer to secure the cavalry battle of Halen. The campaign would be more diverse, after all.

I like Sint-Margriete Houtem as 4th battle. I have enough info (in Dutch) on that one. I posted a nice Danish link on the battle of Halen. @Luis, which one would you like to make?

I'll try Halen. There is already a stand alone scenario of that battle, so I can use it as a reference, too.

EDIT: adapting the "Von Schlieffen" Halen scenario to this new campaign is taking a bit longer than I expected. I must decide what to do with the reinforce units on the map, because if we play with the Belgians they tend to appear at strange places and at strange times. I'm trying to follow the Danish article as a reference, but obviously there is a language barrier there. Google translator isn't perfect, after all.

Anyway, I'll try to have it done sometime next week.

In order to try and decided if we should make an Antwerp - First Exit scenario or not, I'll try and provide as much info as possible about that sortie here. Simply reversing the existing scenario is - I think - not an option. Some more work would be required. An offensive scenario now in the campaign would however be nice, so I am tempted to have it included in the campaign. Let me know what you think. If you are willing to make it, no problem. Then I can continue with some more research. If not, also an option.

After August 20th, the Belgian army was inside the ring of fortresses around Antwerp. They had resisted the Germans for 14 days, causing substantial delays to their time table. That allowed the British to bring thier army across and take position at Mons. Also the French were happy with the delay inflicted to the German advance.

From Antwerp, the Belgian army could assure not only the safety of most of the province of Antwerp, but also that of the provinces of East-Flanders and West-Flanders - because if the Germans would haev advanced to the West, their lines of communications would have been threatened. And the German plan was to move South-West form here anyway - executing the Schlieffen plan.

To support the French and British troops, the Belgian army had to remain active and tie up as many German divisions as possible.

When the Belgians received news of the battles at Mons and the Sambre (that tied up many German troops that would not be able to turn North again) + only the III and IX Reserve Korps (of which many troops were still arriving) were guarding Antwerp + only the 13th Reserve Division and Landwher units were at Liege + the 2 German Reserve Korps had to defend a long front line from Wolvertem to Diest - 60km for 4 divisions), they decided to attack before the arriving German units would have time to establish strong defensive positions.

August 24th
Main attack; by the 6th Division on Hofstade and Elewijt.
Right flank: 5th and 1st Division between Willebroekse Vaart (a canal) and the Senne (river slightly West off-map 760).
Left flank: 2nd division in the direction of Boortmeerbeek.
In Reserve: 3rd division and the cavalry division.
Retreating from the fortress city of Namur - after the germans tool that - through France to reach Antwerp later: 4th Division

First action: 5th Division. Leading unit: 3e Jagers te voet (Chasseurs a pied) + some aty (most likely one or both batteries of the Groupe d'Artillerie of the 17 Brigade) moving to Impde where they found the German first line. The Germans had to retreat after a heavy fight. On right flank of the division: 3Regiment Jagers te Paard (Chasseurs a Cheval) + 2 companies of cyclists. On left of the division: 2 Regiment Jagers te Voet which was in constant skirmishes with German units. The Belgians lost multiple officers - amongst them Major Sweerts - I think commander of one of the btns of 3Chasseurs a Pied.
But all of this was nothing more then a diversion to make the Germans fear further attacks on his left flank. The big push would follow the next day.

August 25th
That push was between de vaart van Willebroek and the canal from Mechelen to Leuven (the two waterways going from NW to SE on map 750). 2Jagers te Voet (left flank of the attack described above) would cross the Willebroekse Vaart in Kapelle op den Bos and support the attack. After taking Eppegem (after a fight) they reached as far as Houtem (both South of Zemst-Laar which is on map 750 - these 2 mentioned towns are not - the map maker must have gotten lazy ) where they met heavy resistance. 2 jagers to voet had to halt - also to not lose contact with the troops of 1st Division on their left.

In the mean time. the 1st Division had attacked Zemst and Weerde after heavy fighting.

The 6th division took Hofstade and advanced in the Schiplaken Bos (woods SE of it). The division failed to take Elewijt, which too heavily defended.

August 26th
2 Jagers te Voet who were still at Houtem were attacked and had to retreat to Eppegem where a heavy fight took place. The Germans had considerably aty support. The Germans had taken Verbrande brug (burned bridge), crossed the Willebroekse Vaart en occupied houses on the West side of the canal. III/2Jagers te Voet attacked them from the East and 2 cBelgian companies from the West. Belgians got aty support. Germans lit fire to ask for help and Belgians on West bank had Germans at Eppegem in their backs. Germans got machine gun support and Belgian aty shelled Belgian units that had to retreat,

The Center was still stuck at Elewijt and already on the evening of the 24th army command received the news that the battles of Mons and the Sambre had ended. Continuing the attack had no use, so the Belgian troops started pulling back, chased by the Germans. German aty was guided by observers in balloons.

By 4pm, Belgian units had successfully retreated and by the evening was back inside the ring of fortresses.

If this sounds like an interesting battle to cover, I'll see if I can find as detailed info on the main attack (mainly what units did participate - full 1st and 6th divisions???? or not all their regiments?) as I have on the diversion. And which German units were positioned where.



More info here: https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/nl/2014/08/26 ... 1-2069495/
Combined with book info, that gives:
So 6th division fought in Schiplaken woods with at least:
I/1Gr
II/1Gr
I/2Gr
II/2Gr
III/2Gr
--> so at least 5 of the 6 Grenadiers Btns in 18th Brigade.

I/1K
II/1K
II/3K
--> So probably both Karabinier regiment in the 19th Brigade

II/2K
--> At least some units of the 20th Brigade
If the 2nd Division (see below) had to leave a regiment and artillery group behind, I assume the 6th division had to do the same. That is then most likely the 4th Karabinier regiment of the 20th Brigade and the artillery group of that brigade.

Between the 2 canals, the Germans had the 5th Reserve Infantry Division [III Reserve Korps] with
9ResBrigade
-- 48 Reserve Infantry Regiment - 3 btns
-- 8 Reserve Infantry Regiment - 3 btns
10ResBrigade
-- 31 Reserve Infantry regiment - 1 btn
-- 86 Reserve Infantry Regiment - 2 btns

and maybe
3 Reserve Jaeger Btn
2 Reserve Dragoon Regiment (3 Squadrons)
5 Res Field aty Regiment (6 batteries)


In the West they had units of the 6th Reserve Division [III Reserve Korps] - not yet sure which of these were present or not
Reserve Uhlanen regiment 3 (3 squadrons)
Reserve FeldArt Regiment 6 (6 batteries)
11 Res Inf Brigade
-- Res Infantry Regiment 20
-- Res Infantry Regiment 24
12 Res Inf Brigade
-- Res Infantry Regiment 26
-- Res Infantry Regiment 35

The 43rd Reserve Brigade coming from Brussels, belongs to the 22nd Reserve Division and is made up of the 71Res and 94res infantry regiments. It is part of the IVReserve Korps. That passed by Brussels on the way to France. I think this brigade detrained because of the Belgian attack and stayed in Brussels until Aug 31st (71R) and Sep 5th (94R).

And the 2nd Belgian division (info from http://2de-artillerie.be/de-eerste-uitval-in-antwerpen/)
Left flank 6th brigade
Front 5th Brigade
Behind or right of 5th briagde: 7th Brigade.
Staying behind are 5de LINIEREGIMENT (5Li) of 5th Brigade and the brigade artillery group A/5 ( 19de, 20ste and 21ste Batterij – Maj KESTENS)

This website has also a nice map, confirming the positions of the German 5th Res and 6th Res divisions of IIIRes Korps. 18th Reserve Division of IXRes Korps is off-map.


Edit: Even more info: https://issuu.com/louisdebondt/docs/enk ... s/14546035

The texts and the image for the scenario are ready. But I still don't like the battle. So far, the Belgians seem too powerful. I will make a few adjustments more and then we'll see...

Urica wrote: ↑2022-02-11 16:51, Friday The texts and the image for the scenario are ready. But I still don't like the battle. So far, the Belgians seem too powerful. I will make a few adjustments more and then we'll see...

Take your time to get it right. I am reading up on what could be the scenario after that. It involves an armored train And who does not love armored trains

The Second Sortie battle will have some delay. Things like the texts, the image, or the cap setting are ready, but I still must deploy the units on the map and, of course, play the scenario.

Urica wrote: ↑2022-03-05 12:53, Saturday The Second Sortie battle will have some delay. Things like the texts, the image, or the cap setting are ready, but I still must deploy the units on the map and, of course, play the scenario.

No problem. I am happy that your research resulted in the decision to make the scenario.

One Belgian division was engaged in the second battle of Ypres, so I'll try to make a scenario out of it. It will probably be a small, short battle in a tiny area, so I think I'll have to make a new map. The existing ones cover too much surface.

Urica wrote: ↑2022-04-16 08:01, Saturday One Belgian division was engaged in the second battle of Ypres, so I'll try to make a scenario out of it. It will probably be a small, short battle in a tiny area, so I think I'll have to make a new map. The existing ones cover too much surface.

Good news. Too bad about having to make map. In case it turns out that there is no scenario in it after all, we'll move on to Galicia. I'll start researching that by rereading the Reizigers door de Grote Oorlog book and posting notes here.

The Brusilov offensive scenario (West of Tarnopol) is ready for testing.

To be decided is:
- Include a scenario abouth the actions in the Carpathians near Bucac (where the armoured corps was sent next)? I have somewhat less information on that action against the Germans where the corps supported 2 Siberian Transamoer divisions. The divisions needed to chase the germans of the plateau and advance to the valley of the Naraivka river. All on September 16, 1916 in the pouring rain. Belgians advance over stone bridge through Svistelniki (Svitanok). Germans launch counterattack and 3 days later the Russians are back where they started. The transamoer division supported by the Belgians is down to 2500 troops (from the 15.000 it started with. The Belgians leave the front. End of October they are reasigned to their previous unit and move back to Jezerna (close to Tarnopol). - I can read the pages I have on this more carefully or we could search for other sources.
Include a Carpathian scenario?

- What follows next. A. Februari revolution, B. june combat near Byshki and Konjoechi in the Kerenski offensive with a Tsjech brigade, British armoured cars, ..., German counteroffensive, C. Oktober revolution. / Feb 1918 the corps hands its cars to the Reds in exchange for safe passage and a way home via Siberia and the US. Maybe there is a scenario to be made in Siberia with warlords etc, but without their armoured cars (in real history), any Siberia scenario would probably be very fictional.
Include a Kerenski offensive scenario?

Three scenarios with limited deployment in a row would be too many. Let's use the armoured cars just a second, last time.

Carpathians or Kerenski? I guess that it depends on the available maps. I think that there aren't any maps for those areas, so I'll have to adapt an existing one. I'll try to find some information about the battles, and I think that I'll choose the one with the better map.

EDIT: if you already have some maps or information about the actions of the Belgian Corps, please send them to me. That could save a lot of time.

if you already have some maps or information about the actions of the Belgian Corps, please send them to me. That could save a lot of time.

The only maps in the book I have are:
- a map of the globe showing the travels from Belgium to Russia, Siberia, Us and back home
- a map Ukraine
- a map of the area in Galicia where the ACM was active - could copy that and send it to you, but it has no units on it and is very high level
- a map of Siberia
- a map of the US

What I have on the first possible battle is:
- October 1916: ACM is transfered to 7th Army in the Carpathians in the city of Buchach (Bucac) (Boetsjatsj) (Buczacz) - where Simon Wiesenthal was born in 1908.
- Opposing forces are Germans - most likely the Southern flank of Armee Sud (Bothmer)
- ACM will attack with 2 Siberian Transamur divisions (I read that these were very Bolshevized) on September 16th to break through German lines on a plateau that is reinforced by the Germans. And then push to the valley of the Naraivka river. (These divisions were not part of the Seventh Army in June. Probably transfered from the Ninth Army.
- Lots of rain.
- Russian infantry and ACM units attack and take hundreds of prisoners. Germans bombard Belgians on plateau and counterattack.
- Other ACM units (take other route) have crossed stone bridge over Naraivka and drive through village of Svistelniki (Svitanok). They climb higher, but then Germans appear on the edge of the plateau. Germans artillerie starts shelling Belgians. This is the furthest the Belgians will advance. Germans oposing this unit were from German 46th Reserve Infantry Regiment.
- German counterattacks in the pooring rain push the Belgians and Russians back to their starting positions after 3 days of fighting.
- The strength of one of the Transamur divisions is down from 15000 to 2500 and is ordered to keep on defending positions. Belgians retreat from the front.

https://www.be14-18.be/en/defence/autos ... g-russia--> This has a photo of the troops moving out to Svistelniki. If that is correct, the masses of cavalry must be of the II Cavalry Corps (Cossacks) or the First independent cavalary brigade.
https://books.google.nl/books?id=G2RFaG ... my&f=false
page 71

Not the best information to create a scenario.

I'll look into the Kerenski one asap. Some quick info I found here https://german1914.com/belgian-armored-cars-2/ I'll see if I can detaail that further with info from the book.

On July 1, 1917 the Kerensky Offensive commenced. Next day 4th Battery entered the village of Konyukhy and it turned out that the Russians left it. The Belgians (3 armored cars and cyclists) were in danger, because numerous Austro-Hungarian infantry was nearby. To make matters worse, soon enemy reconnaissance plane started to circle above the village. The Belgians tried, but were unable to shoot it down and Austro-Hungarian artillery started to shell Konyukhy from nearby hills. All three Belgian armored cars were hit – the first one was severely damaged, the second had armor pierced by shrapnel fragments and the third was destroyed as a result of a direct hit and was on fire. From the armored car crews two Belgians were KIA and nine were WIA, so only one soldier wasn’t hit. Two cars were lost.

On July 6, 2nd Battery took part in an attack on Austro-Hungarian positions in a forest north from Konyukhy. Henri Herd wasn’t lucky again. The armor and radiator of his Armstrong-Whitworth-Fiat was pierced by machine gun bullets shot from a close distance. What’s worse, driver Auguste Godefroid was fatally wounded. Herd barely managed to leave the car. It turned out he was wounded in five places. This way Herd lost his second armored car. It was destroyed by Russian artillery to prevent its capture, and became a steel coffin for Godefroid…

The Kerensky Offensive ended in disaster. The Corps was withdrawn to Tarnopol. On July 21 suddenly news came, that the enemy is approaching the town. The Corps left it, but the battery of Lieutenant Van der Donckt was ordered to join Russian forces south-west from Tarnopol. But the Russians were nowhere to be found. Suddenly the Belgians saw numerous German infantry coming from a nearby slope. Three Belgian armored cars opened fire, but in one of them the machine gun quickly jammed. One of the Belgians was KIA. Due to the threat of encirclement, a retreat was necessary.

The French wikipedia confirms that in October 1916 they were staying in Buczacz and Kozowa, west of Tarnopol:

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autos-can ... er%201916.

According to Austrian sources, the units defending Swistelniki were the German 208 and 216 divisions. The Turkish XV Corps covered their left flank, and an Austrian division was on the right:

http://www.comroestudios.com/StanHanna/ ... et021.html

The Austrian map doesn't acknowledge the presence of the Belgians, but the VII Siberian Corps can be seen deployed in the area. That's something.

Now the area of the battle seems more or less clear. I need to find a map with plain terrain, a river flowing north to south, an a few villages. If I can find such a map, we'll have a new scenario:

https://www.google.es/maps/place/Naraiv ... 09!5m1!1e4

I found some info on Belgian involvement in Kamerun in 1915 because of Captain Bridoux. He - and about 100 others - joined the ACM december 1916 when volunteers were recruited from the Western Front. This officer had fought with the 3rd Linie in Steenstraat (one of our earlier scenarios - the one with the gas attacks in april 1915) and after that fough tthe Germans in Africa. Probably not a good idea to have the campaign return to Africa with all these core "European"units. The African theatre could be turned into its own campaign with our 2 starting scenarios of the Belgian campaign, 1915 Kamerum, 1916 Ruanda/Urundi and 1916 East-Africa.

Funny story about Henry George, a cycling champion from Charleroi. He also joined in December 1916 and wanted to be the driver of an armoured car. Instead, they assigned him to the cyclists. He then pretended he did not know how to ride a bicycle. So he had to take cycling lessons. During the cycling lessons where the instructor had to hold him while he was trying to cycle, he kept on falling on purpose. The instructor had never seen such a difficult case. At night he learned who Henry George really was. George kept on insisting that he shared the name with the cycling champion - but it was not him. Until a cycling fan recognized him - no more denial was possible. He though that he would be punished, but wasn't. After the war, he won an olympic gold medal in 1920 (Antwerp). His instructor send him congratulations, mentioning that the cycling lessons in Russia really paid off

For completeness sake: the Kerenski offensive
ACM (again in Jezerna) was part of VI Corps / 11 Army - the "International" (with a British armoured unit, French pilots, Czechs that deserted from the Austrian Army and formed a 7000 men strong Czech Brigade with 3 Regiments)
Brits are in Kozova(West of Tarnopol and bordering the sector of the ACM).
ACM is attached to Russians that need to capture Konjoechi (SW of Jezerna) - starting positions in Vyboedov - secondary post in Tsenjov.
3 days of artillery bombardments.
July 1st, 1917 the attack starts. Czech brigade in the lead.
Two Austrian Czech regiments defect to the Czech Brigade.
Russians plant flag on hights W of Zborov on July 2nd.
With the exception of some machine gunners, Belgians did not participate yet.
Austrians withdrew from Konjoechi and bombarded the town as Russians entered it.
On july 2nd, the Russians withdrew from Konjoechi and left the Belgians there. These were attacked by Russians - aided by a civilian signaling the Austrians (???) - the Belgians shot the civilian.
Then a Russian Bn shows up and counterattcks with Belgians. An enemy plane drops smoke to mark target for the artilery. 3 Belgian armoured cars are hit.
July 6th - Austrian counterattack on Konjoechi supprted by planes and artillery. Austrians have blockhouses with Mgs W of the village. Belgians lost more cars and personel.
--> Konjoechi was a diaster.
A german counterattck pushes the Russians out of JKonjoechi, Jezerna and Zborov. Complete chaos in Russian lines.
Czech brigade is about the only unbits offering stiff resistance - these guys will be executed as traitors if the Germans/Austrians capture them.
Tarnopol evacuated july 21.
Belgian armoured cars clash with Germans SW of TArnopol (directoion of Kozova) and suffer motre losses.
July 21 -
July 25th - armoured cars are ambushed N of the Seret (W if Mikoelintsi). The last losses of the Galicia campaign.
Feb 20, 1918the Belgians hand over their remaining armoured cars to the reds i nreturn for a train that will bring them E through Russia

I think that I've found the map that I was looking for: Lenino (867): Simple, not too big, and similar to the zone where the battle took place. I'll start to work on the scenario.

I remember that in "Heia Safari" there is a scenario (Tabora) in which the Belgian Force Publique appears. That was a long time ago...

EDIT: on second thoughts, I won't use 867. I can't design all the battle between Halicz and Swistelniki. There were 5 Russian, 3 German and 1 Austro- Hungarian divisions fighting in that sector, so the contribution of the Belgians would be minimal. I need to focus on a smaller area.
I'll just try to simulate the operations near Halicz, with elements of both Trans Amur Russian divisions, opposed by the German 119 and 199. But the map 867 isn't good for that. Prut (832) would be much better, but I'm not sure about it yet. It's only 889 x 1050 pixels, so it could be too small. I'll make a try, and we'll see.

Latest scenario planning updates in the second post.

I've been searching the internet for some time, looking for battle maps and OOBs that I could use for 5th Ypern. Sadly, I haven't found anything detailed enough. I guess I'll have to settle for the wikipedia map and improvise quite a lot.

Urica wrote: ↑2022-07-06 19:35, Wednesday I've been searching the internet for some time, looking for battle maps and OOBs that I could use for 5th Ypern. Sadly, I haven't found anything detailed enough. I guess I'll have to settle for the wikipedia map and improvise quite a lot.

This might be usefull: appendix 31 (phases 1 and 2 of the Belgian end-offensive) and appendix 32 (phase 3 of the Belgian end-offensive). https://books.google.nl/books?id=2G96DQ ... re&f=false

I have the book (on my growing stack of books to read), so could sent you photo's of the maps in these appendices. I can also send a summary of the 16 pages dealing with this end-offensive.

On the Reigersvliet scenario - sorry it is taking so long. Map is made and units are finally on the map. But I still need to time the German advances and then playtest.

Wonderdoctor wrote:
I have the book (on my growing stack of books to read), so could sent you photo's of the maps in these appendices. I can also send a summary of the 16 pages dealing with this end-offensive.

Yes, please, that would be most helpful. I'm still quite lost in this battle.

We decided to end the campaign in November 1918 and not to add a possible clash with the Dutch Army as we realized that they are not represented in the Kaiser efile. It should not take too long before the campaign is available.

Tomorrow I'll start to write the final texts. I have a couple of ideas, but I still must think about the proper way to say them in English. Besides, mentioning the Belgian colonial activity can be a little tricky. I'll have to choose the words wisely. Anyway, it shouldn't take me longer than a couple of days.