The Tide at Sunrise: The Russo-Japanese War, 1904-1905

(from Multi-Man Publishing web site:)

Tide at Sunrise continues the philosophy that began with A Victory Lost. Using tried and true mechanics but with some major twists, Tide at Sunrise will be a major test of player skill that is rarely seen in the wargaming hobby. Here, the base system is little more than the tried and true game from SPI called Napoleon at Waterloo. But not all is at it seems.

Here is the sequence of play:

Japanese Player Turn

* Naval Phase

* Transport Allocation

* Movement Phase

* Combat Phase

* Replacement and Recovery

Russian Player Turn

* Colonel Akashi Secret Operations Phase

* Transport Allocation Phase

* Movement Phase

* Combat Phase

* Supply and Recovery Phase

After the completion of both Player Turns, victory points are determined and, if the Japanese have not won a sudden death win, play continues to the next turn.

The game focuses on two aspects of the actual event. Players have to manage their armies using an abstract logistical system called “Transport Points” in the game. The Japanese Transport Points are an abstraction of the merchant marine force that the Japanese had available in 1904 and 1905. This can be disrupted from Russian naval activity. The Russian Transport Points are an abstraction of the rail capacity of the newly built Trans-Siberian Railroad. Weather can affect this total if there are heavy snows in Siberia. Colonel Akashi can also stir up trouble and reduce the available Russian Transport totals with sudden strikes and riots in the Russian heartland. Both players use these points to bring on new forces and to replace battlefield losses. Finding the right balance of the two uses is key to being successful in the game.