Not god, nor tsar, nor hero...

[Ripster8]

THE FRONTS, Early October 1918


RMC, Moscow:

NFGHQ, Petrograd: Nothing significant to report.


SFGHQ, Tzaritsyn:

NCFGHQ, Armavir:

EFGHQ, Kazan:

[Random]

Comrade Narrator, you are certainly producing a most gripping account of the Struggle of the Workers and Peasants against the Dark Forces of Reaction. Despite seeming imminent success recovering the Tsarist gold, stolen from the People by evil counter-Revolutionary organs I still fear for Petrograd but it is good that Comrade Lenin is well.

Slipping out of character for the moment, sorry about the Tetris thing, the tune can get stuck in your head and even large doses of Foghat at a high volume will not necessarily drive it out more than temporarily. Actually not really That sorry though, you know how it is, I'm sure...

-C

[Nikel]

Hey, this is advancing very fast! Currently on the move on holidays and only have an ipad to type Some comments:


Stalin messed while in Tzaritsyn and entered in conflict with Trotsky who would eventually win the battle. Stalin would not forget it.


This roleplaying you have between Trotsky and Lenin is amazing!


The assassination of "citizen Romanov", family and servants was effectively ordered by Lenin while czech troops were approaching (and would arrive one week late), I do not think the outcome of the war would have changed anyway, but who knows. Interesting you consider Trotsky was not aware.


I hope the AI is able to unite the whites. Always wanted to have this possibility when the first game was released and remember, in the old times, to have commented it with Clovis who tried to add it in his mod, Tzaritsyn was the key IIRC. Very nice that is so well explained in the Gold version documentation, thanks andatiep! As already said to you just hope you can develop more games in the future! Is the burning gone?


Muraviev training more red troops!? In defense on the White cause I must say he should be dead from july! What is happening?

[Ripster8]

Comrades, thank you for reading and taking the time to comment.

Master Random, I have surrendered to the power of the Tetris song. It was useless to resist. And I have pledged to defend Petrograd, birthplace of our beloved Revolution, to the death! The sacred ground upon which fell the blood of our first Bolshevik martyrs will never fall into the hands of the enemies of the people! Never!

Nikel, I am still praying to the Spirit of the Revolution to provide a game option to remove the incompetent and black-hearted Stalin. Think of the millions who would be saved, not to mention preserving the purity of our beloved revolution! On a slightly more serious note, I am largely unacquainted with the ins and outs of the Russian Civil War (relationships, who knew what when, vendettas, etc.). I am just following the flow of the game as it unfolds and listening carefully to the Spirit of the Revolution for guidance and inspiration. Hopefully the quirks of serendipity and whatever creativity I can bring to this effort will provide entertainment and enjoyment to those who take to the time to read these pages. I myself am enjoying this effort immensely! Thanks for your continued patronage!

Oh, and, KOMCOR Muraviev is sustained by his dedication to serve the proletariat. Reports of his demise are greatly exaggerated!

Onwards, brothers! Destiny waits for no man and the fate of the revolution hangs in the balance!

[Nikel]

I myself am enjoying this effort immensely!

Oh, and, KOMCOR Muraviev is sustained by his dedication to serve the proletariat. Reports of his demise are greatly exaggerated!

Onwards, brothers! Destiny waits for no man and the fate of the revolution hangs in the balance!

You are not alone in your enjoyment


Exagerated? Muraviev should be just a corpse and training only hordes of zombies! Perhaps andatiep may clarify.


Another question to him, a pity the AI could not capture the gold, is she scripted for it?

[Ripster8]

I played the Reds once and went with 'Bolshevik Dictatorship' instead of 'Left SR Alliance'. The Czech forces suddenly massed and made a beeline for Kazan, capturing the Gold Train. Disaster! I don't know if it was scripted or not but it was the only time that happened to me.

And zombie or no, Muraviev is a valuable man!

[Baris]

Great AAR, I've been reading. For the Gold train it is very difficult to capture also in PBEM. Instead Eastern White player could concentrate in Penza to trigger event Red 1st,2nd Red army to deploy in Moscow instead of Kiev.

[Ripster8]

Greetings, Comrade Baris! You are indeed correct about the importance of recapturing Penza when playing as the Reds. One of the many things I learned during my five previous defeats at the hands of the devious White AI! But this time - victory or death!

[Ripster8]

MOSCOW, Late October 1918


RMC to SNK

SNK to RMC

[Ripster8]

THE FRONTS, Late October 1918


NFGHQ, Petrograd: Nothing significant to report (from now on abbreviated as NSTR).


EFGHQ, Kazan: NSTR


SFGHQ:

Comrade Trotsky reviews some of the new recruits at Moscow.

[tilly]

Another wonderful AAR, congrats!

Have to say though, that your decision to play as the godless Bolsheviks is disappointing, specially after your valiant defence of the Holy Mother Curch in the previous game (TYW). Nevertheless, RUS is a great game, hope you will continue.

[Ripster8]

Good Count Tilly, greetings! I must beg your indulgence for the fact that I have taken the side of the godless, murdering Bolsheviks in this current conflict. This distasteful decision was made purely with a view to providing a good game upon which to base an AAR. I have tried to play as the Whites in RUS and failed miserably several times, probably due to my incompetence. Once this is all over I intend to find a kindly priest who will absolve me of my guilt for temporarily walking on the path of the godless heathen communists! At least such is my hope... Deus miserere mei animam!

[Ripster8]

Early November 1918


A relatively quiet fortnight. The Gold Train arrives in Moscow, RMC raises new infantry brigades in MOSCOW and PETROGRAD, and the front lines are calm as both sides dig in for the winter.

Lenin making an impromptu speech from the door of the Gold Train upon its arrival in Moscow. The crowd is not sure what it means to them but Comrade Lenin assures them it means good things.

And good things happen! The economy sees improvement as the Bolsheviks are now able to purchase foreign goods using the Tsarist gold reserves as hard currency.

But that happy news fails to inspire the drafted peasants and laborers in the Red Army who desert in large numbers as winter approaches. Even the VOKhR detachments cannot stem the flood entirely. Additional security measures may have to be implemented!

[Random]

The decision to play as the Bolsheviks makes perfect sense. If you examine the pictures from both of his AARs, you can see that the Catholic leaders in the Thirty-Year's War and the Party faithful in the Russian Civil War share a fondness for funny hats. Clearly Comrade Ripster8 empathizes and there are worse reasons to select the Reds.

Slipping out of character, I get a feeling that all is going a bit too well right now...

-C

[andatiep]

Exagerated? Muraviev should be just a corpse and training only hordes of zombies! Perhaps andatiep may clarify.

Like it is said in his biography unit tooltip and in the relative event log if there is a Bolshevik dictatorship option activated, Muraviev was SR and did rebel with the SR coup and was shot for this. In this AAR, Ripster8 did chose the Option "Reds stay united, No SR Coup", so Muraviev could not be a zombie since he never gave a reason to the Bolsheviks to shot him (at least at this stage of the revolution :neener .

Another question to him, a pity the AI could not capture the gold, is she scripted for it?

Yes, Kazan is a big AI attracked objective for 1918. So sometimes it aim to take it, sometimes not. Anyway the AI don't need that money to win :evilgrin .

Like said Baris, the capture of Kazan is difficult, because it was a very audacious and well done operation by the Czech and Kappel. It is designed to be possible even with a good Human opponent but you should manage it well with fleet support, like IRL.
Also the AI got some big help it needed after (if the train is captured with the fall of Kazan, the train is "teleported" directly to Omsk (or Moscow if it is Red), when Human players have still to find a free way on river or railroad to do it by themselves).

[andatiep]

Slipping out of character, I get a feeling that all is going a bit too well right now...
-C

Yes. I wonder if maybe we should replace few turns the Whites' AI by a Human player to stress a bit more our comrade Ripster8

[Ripster8]

Gentlemen and other welcome readers: The Reds are doing quite well at this point but please remember that I have played the grand campaign scenario five times previously. The opening months are fairly easy for the Reds, particularly since I have learned from my past mistakes (many, many mistakes!). And keep in mind that I have yet to win the campaign as the Reds. As the years go by the challenge will also grow and unless I remain focused, disciplined and aggressive I will fail once again. The AI is far from defeated, I can assure you, and the field of battle is vast. And above all I hope to provide an interesting and enjoyable AAR for you, dear reader. Thanks to one and all for taking the time to read and comment!

'No revolution is worth anything unless it can defend itself.' V.I.Lenin

[Ripster8]

Late November 1918


The Great War is finally over...

In response, an SNK Memo...

But RMC has questions...

And the Motherland reclines into winter and waits, above all, for peace...

Too bad in December the excrement hits the fan...

[Nikel]

[CENTER][ATTACH]40133[/ATTACH][/CENTER]
But a weary Lenin needs a break...a quiet walk as the autumn leaves begin to fall...

And if it was winter he looked like Santa Claus coming to town.

Another pic, the good Captain Jean Luc Picard as Lenin in the classic tv series The Fall of the Eagles.

The attachment Fall-of-Eagles-14263_3.jpg is no longer available

[Nikel]

Another wonderful AAR, congrats!

Have to say though, that your decision to play as the godless Bolsheviks is disappointing, specially after your valiant defence of the Holy Mother Curch in the previous game (TYW). Nevertheless, RUS is a great game, hope you will continue.

Agree though he explained it, and after all the Orthodox Church is as heretic as the Protestant

[Nikel]

Like it is said in his biography unit tooltip and in the relative event log if there is a Bolshevik dictatorship option activated, Muraviev was SR and did rebel with the SR coup and was shot for this. In this AAR, Ripster8 did chose the Option "Reds stay united, No SR Coup", so Muraviev could not be a zombie since he never gave a reason to the Bolsheviks to shot him (at least at this stage of the revolution

Thanks for the answers, I see the alternate history is perfectly crafted, congrats

[andatiep]

Gentlemen and other welcome readers: The Reds are doing quite well at this point but please remember that I have played the grand campaign scenario five times previously. The opening months are fairly easy for the Reds, particularly since I have learned from my past mistakes (many, many mistakes!). And keep in mind that I have yet to win the campaign as the Reds. As the years go by the challenge will also grow and unless I remain focused, disciplined and aggressive I will fail once again. The AI is far from defeated, I can assure you, and the field of battle is vast. And above all I hope to provide an interesting and enjoyable AAR for you, dear reader. Thanks to one and all for taking the time to read and comment!

You're right. Nothing is done. Let's watch the film in the calm and discipline required to a young Red pioneer sitting in the People's highschool .


I like the idea to let to the Whites for good the Baltic States and Finland in order to save troops from the north-West and northern fronts and to focus them on a strong invasion of Ukraine.
But be aware that the Peace in the North-West Option can be activated only in late 1919 (check the tooltip, i don't remember exactly). But it's a good idea, it should anyway need less troops to hold the Baltic states borders till late 1919 than to try to invade it completely in the same time the Ukraine front is open.

[Ripster8]

Thank you for reading and commenting, Comrade andatiep. As the war expands the opportunities for disaster only increase! And that is reinforced by my natural preference for the defence at the expense of the offense. To succeed as the Reds requires the correct balance of both. It all comes down to tailoring your forces in line with the missions they will be given. A 2000 combat power stack is indeed an awesome instrument of war, but Mother Russia is vast and perhaps four stacks of CP500 would be better suited to cover this vastness? Decisions, decisions, and my first decisions for the 1919 campaign are coming due...

Unfortunately, I will laboring in the fields of exploitative capitalism for the next four days so posting will be at a slower pace. And I still have to create the Joint Planning Committee campaign plan for 1919 - oh the labors of the staff officer are never finished!

New conscripts to the Glorious Red Army preparing for war! Now all we need is a plan...

[Ripster8]

Late December 1918

The Motherland may be seeking rest but the War is still hungry and still spreading...

SNK and RMC are reeling from these titanic developments...

[Ripster8]

Late December 1918


The situation on the ground:


Area PSKOV

Area SMOLENSK

Area KIEV

Area ROSTOV

[Ripster8]

Late December 1918


Lenin recovers quickly and issues the following guidance:

The lights in the Kremlin will burning far into the night for the next few days. Fire up the tea pot and bring in another case of vodka, comrade!

[Ripster8]

18 December 1918

It was exactly 47 hours and 16 minutes later when a scared-looking military courier delivered a sealed envelope marked 'MOST SECRET - COMRADE COMMISSAR TROTSKY'S EYES ONLY - HAND DELIVER'. Trotsky sighed, looked at the courier and then looked back down at the envelope.

"Rypsterakov didn't have the balls to deliver it himself, eh? This can't be good news then..." He waved the courier off, opened the envelope and read the following:

After he picked himself off the floor, Trotsky called the JPC.

"Hello? Rypsterakov? Trotsky here. May I ask you a question, Comrade Secretary? Excellent. ARE YOU INSANE, MAN? No, no, not at all, there is no problem with your plan! It is a fine plan, a plan of genius and daring! But WHERE THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO FIND NINE NEW ARMY CORPS TO IMPLEMENT THIS FINE PLAN! If we are lucky I may scape together four or five corps by spring, but not NINE CORPS, and not including TWENTY Logistics depots and garrisons, too! We would have to double the size of the Red Army in five months and that just can't be done, not with our resource limitations and industrial base. No, no, it's insane, a pipe dream, a beautiful fantasy! I know you had your orders and now your orders will lead to my death by firing squad! So much for revolutionary solidarity and the brotherhood of the proletariat! Right, right, I've heard it all before - 'You'll find a way, Trotsky, you'll find a way! You always do!' Well you better hope I find a way, Rypsterakov, or I will ensure you are reassigned to the CHEKA detachments! That may help give a better idea grasp of reality, Comrade!" Trotsky slammed down the phone, rubbed his eyes and sighed again. No sleep tonight, yet again...

[Nikel]

No doubt that if you learn one thing while playing wargames, this is geography


I miss the Turkestan steppes front, no news there?

What a mess is Ukraine, there are a lot of possibilities there, however the Whites have few friends and the international intervention troops are locked.

Thinking again on the tsar assassination, perhaps the alternate history of White troops saving his life with the effects of rallying White factions and after the end of the great war facilitating a stronger international intervention in exchange of Democracy is not a bad idea.

The JPC is historical, or is it just you, comrade secretary?

[Ripster8]

Comrade Nikel, thank you for your continued patronage of my efforts. And it is true about geography - these Russian towns are difficult to spell sometimes!

I have seen the AI moving the international troops around in the Ukraine, but I don't think I have ever fought them.

That would be an interesting alternate-history scenario, the Tzar and family escape, the Whites unite into a single faction, Western military assistance is increased... very troublesome for the Reds!

I will give you an update on Turkestan soon. I have pretty much abandoned the area east of the Volga, but there is that one Red force that appears in Aralsk. In my current campaign they are trying to save Tashkent from Green forces, led by a fellow with very strange hair! I will post a screen shot.

All of the documents in the AAR, including the JPC plans, are of my own creation. 20 years in the Army has left its mark, I'm afraid! I hope to provide additional flavor to the AAR and the JPC documents are actually helping me plan for my campaign. I am hoping for better results then I have had in the past!

Thanks again for reading and commenting!

[Ripster8]

Comrade Nikel,
Here is the desperate situation in Turkestan:

Safanov and his revolutionary patriots are defending Tashkent valiantly but they are surrounded by insurrectionist Green devils! And as I recall a White force appears from the south and captures the city, but who knows what will happen this time?

I guess Igrash Bey is wearing a hat but he still looks like a very wild fellow! Not to be trusted!