Khirdalana II: A Fond Farewell to the Back of Beyond!
Rob hosted the 25th and final Back of Beyond campaign game at the War Room on Sunday 22 March 2026, after three eventful years at the helm. The game saw Patrick’s British take on Philip’s Bolsheviks at Khirdalana near Baku, Azerbaijan. A record 15 participants joined the fray, which took place on Rob’s new battle mat from Deepcut Studios.
The British side consisted of Pete, Richard, Doug, Alex and Patrick. The Bolsheviks (with Philip away) included Trevor as C-in-C, Brian, Scotty, Josh, Paul B., Paul S., and Mark. Rob and Phil were umpiring, with Brian initially assisting with the rules. The battle resulted from Philip’s Bolshevik army travelling from Grozny by rail, aiming at Baku. They were halted at Khirdalana again (the second battle at this town) by Patrick’s British.
Armies
The British had 19 brigades: 12 infantry, 3 cavalry, 2 artillery brigades (5 guns), 1 armoured car brigade, and 1 tank brigade (2 Mark Vs), plus 2 aircraft
The Bolsheviks had 16 brigades: 9 infantry and 7 cavalry, plus 9 guns, 1 armoured car, 1 tank, 1 aircraft, and an armoured train (which had 4 guns, and 4-5 MGs)
Terrain
Deployments and Plans
The British were in field defences, and intended to hold their left (Khirdalana town) and centre and attack with the bulk of their forces massed on the right. The Bolsheviks, deployed in the open, planned to pummel the British with their numerically superior artillery, and anchor their left on the armoured train, while keeping 7 brigades of cavalry off table for an attack on the British right flank.
The Game
T1: British Bombardments
Mark’s Bolshevik brigades on the right facing Alex in Khirdalana town
Red initiative saw the Bolshevik plane appear on their left flank, as Mark began to move his force towards Alex’s British facing him.
The British began strongly, and Alex destroyed a gun attached to the 11th Bolshevik brigade (Paul S.) which also took 5 casualties, while Doug fired on Scotty’s Bolsheviks in the centre, destroying another artillery piece.
The main British attack began in earnest, as Pete advanced on the right with the armoured car brigade and the infantry towards Paul B.
T2: The British Attack the Bolshevik left
The British had the initiative and their advance accelerated: but the thunder of hooves could be heard off table to their right! Pete’s armoured cars routed one of Paul B’s (4th class) Bolshevik infantry units.
Less auspiciously, Richard rolled a ‘1’ twice and one of the few British artillery pieces on the right retired off table!
Pete kept up the advance with the armoured cars, and now unleashed the British cavalry as well. Richard also advanced on the right, and his infantry reached the base of the hill.
Alex’s British left anchored on Khirdalana, a base for his artillery, mortars and machine guns firing on Mark and Paul S. across the table
On the British left, Alex’s guns and mortars fired on Mark’s and Paul’s brigades, suppressing a Bolshevik gun and inflicting infantry losses. Alex soon destroyed one of Mark’s artillery pieces. Nevertheless, Mark began to advance on the Bolshevik right.
Paul B. lost an MG to Pete’s British armoured car fire. The Bolsheviks played a card and Richard’s lead infantry unit was suppressed on top of the wooded hill. Paul B. managed to suppress one British armoured car with infantry fire.
Scotty unleashed the Bolshevik armoured train – causing 6 casualties from artillery and MGs on Richard’s lead infantry unit emerging from the wood on the hill. Paul B. now destroyed an armoured car with field gun fire.
In the Bolshevik centre, more fire from the train by ‘deadly Josh’ pushed back some British infantry and destroyed a mortar…
Trevor’s plane attacked Richard’s lead infantry unit and destroyed its MG. The question was: could the Bolshevik cavalry arrive on the British flank, given that the British cavalry was so close to the table edge?
T3: British losses to Bolshevik Artillery
The turn began with Paul B’s 13th Bolshevik brigade routing off table after a morale test. The Bolshevik left was wide open!
However, Richard’s lead infantry unit also broke – falling back behind the wood.
The Bolsheviks had the initiative and fired their artillery to good effect. Paul S. destroyed a British heavy field gun which had been located in the cut down wood.
Paul B. knocked out a British armoured car with a field gun deployed near the armoured train. In short order, all three cars had been destroyed by Bolshevik artillery and MGs! The Bolshevik ammo truck resupplied the armoured train.
The Bolshevik plane on the left inflicted a casualty on some of the British infantry. Further right, the area between Mark and Paul S’s brigades was taking further losses from Alex. However Mark destroyed one of Alex’s light field guns in field defences.
The British responded on their right with Richard firing mortars on the train, while Pete’s 3 cavalry brigades moved up the British right flank. Pete also occupied the hill with some of his infantry. Doug meanwhile knocked out another Bolshevik gun in the centre.
The area around Khirdalana town was fairly quiet. Alex moved an MG onto the hill there facing Mark’s Bolshevik right, and edged the Mark V tanks closer to the British left (they never arrived).
T4: Bolshevik right and centre Pummelled
Weakened Bolshevik centre in distance, viewed from British lines
As the British won the initiative, the Bolshevik artillery in the centre had been wiped out, and the Reds there were beginning to totter. Paul S.’s 11th Bolshevik brigade in the centre lost an MG to a failed morale test…
But the British centre only had one tank and one gun left. Nevertheless, Alex’s light gun knocked out a gun from Mark’s 17th (elite Naval) brigade on the Bolshevik right. A further hurricane of British fire from resolute Alex was eroding the infantry of Mark’s 18th Bolshevik brigade sheltering in a wood. Paul S.’s 15th Bolshevik brigade had meanwhile taken 6 hits from British fire, and Patrick inflicted another 3…
Given the game rule than arriving forces could not deploy within 12″ of an enemy, would the British cavalry remain on their flank to prevent the Bolshevik cavalry from arriving? Pete repositioned his cavalry brigades to ‘face’ the anticipated Bolshevik cavalry onslaught…
Meanwhile the British plane arrived near Khirdalana.
The Bolsheviks responded this turn by strafing the British infantry on the hill with aircraft fire (2 casualties). The armoured train was dominating this side of the battlefield, and added more hits to the British infantry on the hill, destroying a British MG in the facing fieldworks.
Apart from the main British attack, the game had become an attritional long range duel of MG and artillery counter-battery fire. The Bolsheviks had just one gun left on their right (Mark) and none in the centre (Paul S.). Their infantry there was thus effectively stuck and unable to advance, since only the train on the Bolshevik left could lay down appreciable ranged fire.
Yet the Bolshevik left was also relatively weak in terms of infantry (mostly hidden on board or behind the train)…
Nevertheless, Trevor reinforced Mark’s right with one cavalry brigade.
The Bolshevik plane flew on and added 2 casualties to Pete’s cavalry before flying home. The Bolshevik centre was very weak, and Paul S. elected to pull back his 2 brigades, having lost all his MGs and artillery to devastating British fire.
T5: The Bolshevik Cavalry Arrives on Cue
A gleeful Alex on the British left continued to erode both Mark’s infantry and Paul S’s infantry of the 11th brigade with his artillery and mortars. The 15th Bolshevik brigade lost one unit routed by British fire. Meanwhile the British plane approached Mark’s Bolsheviks…
The British right had now fully repositioned to face the imminent Bolshevik attack. The Bolsheviks would be able to come on, but not charge into combat on the first turn.
In the meantime, Paul B. caused 2 casualties with his artillery on the British infantry in field defences opposite.
The Bolshevik cavalry now came on to the left of the train, as Paul dismounted further cavalry from the train. Trevor deployed one brigade of cavalry with an armoured car on the left by the main table edge, and 2 more cavalry brigades faced the British cavalry on the flank.
Mark however was having some success, and knocked out an MG and heavy mortar in Alex’s position, and sent his cavalry on an advance towards the British left flank.
Back on the British right, Pete intercepted Trevor’s cavalry, killing 3 with MG fire, and destroyed a Bolshevik tachanka.
However, Trevor wiped out 13 of Pete’s cavalry from close range MG fire from another tachanka, firing twice with an HQ order, and other shots. The British flank attack had been stymied.
T6: The Bolshevik Cavalry and Centre Decimated
Bolshevik initiative could not prevent Paul S.’s 11th brigade from breaking; the conscripts had had enough! But Alex was forced to fall back from the hill on the British left too after a failed morale test…
The badly damaged British cavalry on the right also failed morale tests. Trevor had brought on 10 cavalry units and proceeded to destroy 4 of Pete’s cavalry units (dealing 16 casualties) on the flank. Only 1 full and two decimated British cavalry units remained on the table, from two brigades.
Paul B. continued firing on Richard’s infantry, causing a few casualties. Meanwhile, Patrick’s plane flew over Mark’s brigade, which had an AA gun, and shot down the British aircraft! Tally-no!
However, Pete soon retaliated against Trevor’s cavalry – dealing 11 casualties with infantry and mortar fire. The remnants of Pete’s 3 cavalry brigades also managed to pass their morale tests, but only had 16 figures left between them. What a massacre!
T7: Aftermath on the Bolshevik Left
Two Bolshevik cavalry units failed morale tests and routed. The Bolshevik cavalry flank attack had itself been blunted. Paul B. continued to fire on Pete’s infantry near the hill however, preventing a British breakthrough. Brian took over from Mark who went home at 4pm.
The Bolshevik left/British right was in a chaotic state, with neither side advancing – having cancelled one another out. Horses, bodies, and hulks of armoured cars mingled in the carnage…
But Paul B, directing the Bolshevik artillery, continued to do big damage to Richard’s infantry in their field defences. The multiple guns in and around the armoured train had not been silenced by the British…
On the Bolshevik right, Brian tried advancing with the elite Naval Brigade, but Alex killed another 3 of Paul S.’s infantry in the centre…
However, Pete wiped out the Bolshevik lancers on the Red left flank. The Bolsheviks had lost 3 brigades to the British 1 so far.
T8: BOLSHEVIKS DEFEATED
Paul S.’s 14th Bolshevik brigade took several more casualties from Alex’s artillery at the start of the final turn, in the centre. Why hadn’t the British attacked here to capitalise? Brian moved forward on the Bolshevik right but soon took 4 casualties from Alex’s mortar fire. Alex deployed more infantry at the outskirts of the town. Khirdalana had proved to be a fortress…
On the British right, Richard advanced with some infantry onto the hill. More brutal exchanges resulted in the death of the Bolshevik armoured car, and the loss of some British infantry from Paul B.’s tachanka fire!
By now the Bolshevik centre was almost bare, but the British were not attacking it with infantry. Brian inflicted 4 casualties on Alex’s infantry at Khirdalana in an exchange of fire.
Richard made another limited advance on the right with 5 British infantry units, having killed some remnants of Trevor’s cavalry. Both sides had attacked on the same flank, leading to Mutually Assured Destruction owing to the ‘I go, you go’ system of phases in game turns.
The 14th Bolshevik brigade now routed after yet more artillery damage from Alex. At this point we called it a day. The Bolsheviks had lost 5 brigades to 1 British brigade. The Bolshevik army did not rout. However, the British had won!
Conclusion
A very enjoyable and intense game to end the Back of Beyond campaign. Several of us reflected on the past three years while quaffing drinks in the War Room afterwards, and later had pizza and more chat in Rob’s house.
The fact that both sides elected to attack on the same flank almost guaranteed that there would be no decisive victory on the scale of 4th Samtredia. The Bolshevik armoured train was formidable, but Richard and Pete only had one gun to face it, albeit Doug had another closer to the centre, so the train dominated half of the battlefield despite local; British superiority of numbers. The British attack on the right went well initially, but the infantry supporting the armoured cars was unable to advance over the hill due to the train’s weaponry. Pete’s cavalry was effectively wiped out by Trevor’s Bolshevik cavalry coming on, but the latter then succumbed to Pete and Richard’s infantry. Patrick said that there was no need to attack the Bolshevik centre, but that was a statement from hindsight near the end of the game. Still, the British were in field defences and had succeeded in halting the Bolsheviks without taking more risks than necessary.
Gift presentation to Rob with thanks from the club for the BoB campaign at War Room (29.3.2026)
Our 3-year campaign has been phenomenal. Rob and Phil will be publishing a blog on the subject in due course. We all appreciate hugely the efforts of Rob and Phil in umpiring and campaign management, as well as advice and support for players. The campaign was rich in scope and while the battles could sometimes be indecisive, they were always enjoyable and challenging. Rob and Phil’s figures, painted especially for the campaign, were superb, and made every battle a sight to behold: and many of us enjoyed painting our own. Rob’s rules were comprehensive, and more importantly his umpiring and assistance always enabled those of us less inclined or able to study them in detail, to have a go on the tabletop.
Thanks Rob!
It seems to me that the battles evolved and became increasingly large owing to the accumulation of forces raised over time, which could impact tabletop results given time constraints. However, there was also tactical evolution, with haphazard attacks early on in the campaign transitioning into opponents mirroring each other with preparatory targeted artillery fire by the final game, and superior use of cover. There were few successful grand sweeping infantry attacks, owing to the amount of heavy weapons on each side. But there was a lot of tactical discussion, strategic cooperation, nail-biting anticipation, and fun all round. This was much more than a series of 25 battles: and every game turn gave us food for thought on the resource-management, strategic and operational levels. All in all, a great campaign and brilliant club experience. Many thanks to Rob, Phil, and all those who took part!
