The Red Diaries

A ToC Replay
23 May 12 5 Sep 12
Reds: PAVE Whites: Rob C At long last an opportunity to play this game! Neither of us have any time on the platform --- so it should be an interesting learning curve. Ive solod the opening few turns a couple of times but not with the CP in play. Well try to keep the pressure on White and not allow him to gain momentum. Summer 1 1918:

1 pick for Red Kill the Whole Lot

1 pick for White Churchill

2 picks for Red Estonia Toilers Commune Litbel Proclaimed

Whacking the Czar I considered a no brainer. Litbel I picked for the free replacement steps, ETC to balance out the loss of support in the Baltic republics. As it turns out we gain Belarus (CP Restricted) & Turkistan, White grabs Britain/USA, Czech Legion & Khiva.

Summer 1 1918 Rounds: Here is our initial hand:

In-Fighting is a must play event. Well try to hold Teutonic Expansion in hopes von der Goltz comes out. Red Army Reorganizes will likely be played for more RPs. White Round 1: White leads with CL Commits. Denikin whacks the blocking corps at Gashun, isolation our two armies to the south. Additional White forces move north in support. Krasnov moves up against Trotsky. Mannerheim moves to threaten Helsinki. Red Round 1: This latter move requires a reaction. Well Posture with Republics and use the one activation to reinforce Helsinki with Red Finn 2. Rob: A standard opening I think. Pretty sure I broke the rules with two activations in two different regions. White Round 2: Finland to White control via #4 Poles, Finns or Cossacks. Krasnov takes Millerovo. Rob: I had a theory that the entire internet was wrong about needing to play this card for Poland. Well see how that plays out Red Round 2: Play #12 White In-Fighting as event. Send Red Army 4 to reinforce Tsaritsyn. White Round 3: #11 Support for Yudenich appears as event. White takes both actions for joint attack vs Helsinki. Tanks fail to gain surprise and the ensuing combat works out 4 -3 to our advantage. Red Round 3: We need to put some pressure on White this round I think. Well duff #4 Switch Sides and move to threaten Samara and Kazan. White Round 4: #8 Infiltration comes out for ops. White launches another attack on Helsinki and the Legion moves to support the Train. Denikin is reinforced opposite Tsaritsyn. Finn tanks try again and fail, but our comrades are not up to the challenge losing 3/2 and retreating to Lahti. This ties us for VCs. Well need to remedy this. Rob: Finland campaign progressing nicely.

Red Round 4: #13 Fear of Teutonic Expansion allows us 5 ops. Attacks threaten isolation of 2nd Siberian in north, vs Samara in the center and reinforce Tsaritsyn and Migu in the south. Our attacks are successful. White Round 5: #4 Switch Sides Siberian 2 eliminates corps defenders in Balezino, cutting Bruevich off. 2nd Legion eliminates our army in Mozhga (5 vs 3), remnants retreat to Vyatika. Rob: Another standard play I think, but it took me a while to get to it. Red Round 5: No saving Bruevich. Reinforce Stalin in Saratov with #2 To the Barricades. Forgot there were only 5 rounds on turn 1. Loss of Bru is offset by our two VC lead at the moment so no VP awards. We pump two RPs into the East and replace the (Finn army). Summer 2 1918:

We play Blustering into our PC check, Faction Reps into Other. Initiative goes to White PC. Going into PC resolution things dont look so good. Didnt expect to see a 5 in the White block. We shall see how it shakes out shortly.

We draw Aid to Baltic Bolsheviks and Cossack Indpendence for our two Red draws and Russian Roulette for our Other Draw. Hoping we can pick up Lithuania and prevent Ukraine from tipping this turn. Wanted two more replacement steps, but slowing down the White Cossacks is never a bad thing either. Hopefully his replacement for Mannerheim really sucks. Rob: As I recall, it did. He draws Caspian Oil Interests and couples it with previous draw of Legend of the Ice March. Net FCT gains are France to White Control (CP restricted) and Astrakhan to neutral. White Round 1: Siberians continue to move west. Mannerheim reinforces Helsinki.

Rob: I had another theory about pushing west with the Siberians, but in retrospect the distances involved are prohibitive. I would have been better off working with the Czechs in the south. Red Round 1: I really wanted to be able to grab Ukraine politically, but given its position on FCT and precarious situation in the North, were going to have to play it for the reinforcements. Reorganizes will probably have to be held for another turn. As an added incentive, putting the Cheka Corps with Stalin and the Peoples Armies will stiffen them for the coming fight. Armies go to Moskva and Voro, Cheka to Saratov. White Round 2: #2 Concentration for ops. Siberians continue to press. Legion attacks south. Mannerheim whacks the Finns 4 vs 2, survivors retreat to Vilpuri. 1st Army successfully defends Syzrran 4/4 against Syrovys 1st Legion.

Red Round 2: #15 Whites One Russia Policy as event. This gives us 3 bonus activations. Stalin moves against the Legion and we try to shore up our northern defenses with 6th Army out of Vologda. Our roll to remove Whites #15 successful (removed from his hand). This should give the counter-revolutionaries something to think about Rob: My mistake in waiting to play AC 15. Lesson learned. White Round 3: #3 Don Caucasus or Influence Ukraine comes out as ops. Syrovy abandons the river crossings at Simbirsk retreating to Buguruslan. Krasnov attacks Trotsky (does Cossack Independence negate leader capabilities for multi-hex as well? ed. NO) and Mannerheim finishes off our Red Finns. Trotsky retreats. Red Round 3: #3 To the Barricades as opns. Trying to save Passivity for Reps. White hasnt relinquished tempo yet. Push against Orenburg and kick back on Don South (both flip an army). White Round 4: White finally plays an event, #1 Kolchaks Coup, but he still gets 3 activations Reinforcements rush south. Rob: I think the coup was a terrible idea, especially since we eventually figured out that Id put one of my Siberian armies OOS. The negative aspects of losing the Czech Legion early outweighed any Major Power assistance later on in the game. Red Round 4: Loathe to spend our 5 card for opns. So well burn the initiative card now to grab Orenburg and threaten Orsk. Put our Orenburg IP on Ukraine (and a free RP!) Now if he can fail his Road2 rolls perhaps we can grab Orsk too. Rob: Id totally missed the threat here, and still missed the threat to Orsk. Not an impressive move by me.

White Round 5: White plays #10 Red In-fighting as event and moves the English force out of Archangel forward. Rob: An attempt to regain the initiative and distract him from his push in the East. Red Round 5: Ok, want to keep the pressure on, well play #9 Faction Passivity as an SR. 16th Army out of Leningrad reinforces the English front. Mur F corps moves to Orenburg to threaten Orsk from either direction. White Round 6: #5 Faction Reps comes out as a two ops. The West moves out of Murmansk and Kolchak retreats to Kartaly. Id planned earlier that if Orsk was uncovered we would do a One Ops (and save #11 for play end of 1918) but have talked myself out of it. Red Round 6: Play #11 Red Army Reorganizes as REP. Well take a chance on not getting it in next turns draw. CP does not withdraw this turn. Red gains +4 VPs due to 11-7 VC count. We flip our four reduced Armies and build Tukhachevsky out of the force pool (L3 leader) into Voronezh. White uses their two RPs to flip (Don South) and (White Finn). White missed their infighting restriction, VPs to +6 Red. We draw DEFEATISM of all things (ed. note: we missed CL going neutral effects --- Sib2 isolated). Fall 1918: Our opening hand.

#11 will definitely be hit for event. Id like to duff #4 Switch Sides just to get the 2 value out of deck. The additional Peoples Armies can keep Tuka company in Voro as well. That leaves #7 Concentration and #5 Faction Reps for use in PC segment. I expect White will make a major play for Ukraine and/or CL. Concentration will go against White, Freps into Other and Initiative into Red (ed. note: I just stumbled upon 16.27 Reserve Army provisions. As this is a learning game, well pass on placement for now).

Party Congress Red Terror In Republics

Petliura and Pilsudski Polish Expansion Potatoes and Guns ANARCHY IN RUSSIA Central Power Dip. Initiative Red Ultimatum to Kyiv Wilsons Mess of Pottage

REDRAW: Red-Black Negotiations The Ghost of Kerensky Congress of Far East Peoples Whites One Russia Policy

Ukraine to Neutral. CP to White Influence. Astrakhan to Red Influence. All in all, anarchy has been very good for us. White Round 1: #4 Switch Sides is played on Orenburg. Fails with a 5 Rob: Would have been huge, but I stupidly played the card on an Elite army. I realized it after I sent the turn and lost sleep over it (ed. note: Shoot me a following email and we can adjust!) Red Round 1: #6 Green Uprising as event. Two Green Corps appear in Perm and Kungur. Siberian 1 is cutoff. I should have gone after Orsk instead, but first time seeing Green on the map. White Round 2: Sticking with ops they are. #7 Concentration. Siberian 1 starts limping eastward. Don North and assorted corps move to threaten Tsaritsyn. Murmansk forces test Kern, we hold 1/1 for now.

Red Round 2: I need to transfer the Cheka down south to have any chance of holding Tsaritsyn next round. #3 To the Barricades used for SR. Reinforce the Archangel front with two corps as well. White Round 3: #8 Infiltration as 3 ops. Siberian 1 continues their trek eastward. Predicted attack on Tsaritsyn is launched. Debating using Cheka to scratch it. Yes. No. Missed nuance in 11.21 about infighting restricting it (pity thats not on the card itself). The city holds 4/4. (both rolled ones but I had the +1 on 9 col). Red Round 3: Time for the counteroffensive! #9 Faction Passivity as 5 ops. Omsk falls to Mur F corps (IP to Ukraine). Rob: I really need to pay more attention. The Northern Group takes on the British in Isakogorka. The battle is a tie at 3/3. Disappointing that, but well hit him with only the army going forward as 5 corps can only hurt us on a 6. Rob: Probably not the best use of the Brits, but I figured the Corps are free cannon fodder. No VP loss for getting them killed, and it costs him OPs. Krasnov makes his leadership roll but stays put. He is routed 6/4. A great victory for the Proletariat! Rob: Watch carefully. I get crushed every time I decide to stand and fight. Do we advance thru to Velikohniazh? Well risk a (corps). It is tempting to push Trotsky out so I can try to propagandize somebody next round, but too risky. Perhaps theyll move up to me in any case. If not, we can put Denikins crew OOS next round.

White Round 4: #12 Appeal for Foreign Intervention goes out for 5 ops. White is trying to make sure of Tsaritsyn right now. If we can somehow hold it for one more round; however, it will cost them dearly. He is cleverly sacrificing a (corps) against Trotsky to prevent him from reinforcing Veli, curse him. Battle is joined --7/4. Were on the losing end (we didnt account for 11.9). We preserve the Cheka to try and negate the retreat. They failed. White takes their IP (also) on Ukraine. Rob: I was very pleased with how that went. Hubris incarnate. Red Round 4: With the fall of Tsaritsyn, we need to shore up the defenses around Saratov. Position a blocking corps in Pallasovka to buy time for Stalins rabble to move south. Trotsky tries a repair (fails ed. note: illegal, can only be done during a special action) and we reinforce our position before Rostov in hopes of taking it on the fly. (Play #8 Cheka Treachery for 3 ops). Sure hope some of Konarmiias troops show up next turn White Round 5: No shortage of high value cards for White this turn apparently #3 Don Caucasus or Influence Ukraine comes out for reinforcements in the south. Red Round 5: This was unexpected. Im very tempted to throw a NO ACT on Krasnov. This has an added advantage of shielding Trotskys position which is weak right now. Alternatively I could withdraw the Greens blocking Siberian 1. Decisions, decisions. I like the idea of weakening the Northern front. Greens it is. A frackin 6. Oh well, it is called ToC after all One Green eliminated attacking 1st Siberian, the other moves out of the way. Rob: Also pleased with the suicidal Greens White Round 6: #2 Faction Reps, finally a low ops card, White contents himself with shuffling units on the Don front (reinforces positions opposite Trotsky). Red Round 6: Really no choice, #11 Red Army Reorganizes for event. Lets hope a reinforcement card shows up or we could be in trouble in the south. CP continues to hold their positions. No attrition. VCs 11 7 in favor of red. +4 vps for total +10. Rob goes on two week hiatus tonite, so weve plenty of time to contemplate 1919. The White infighting chit was > VC FCMs. A break for us. Shift Ukraine and CL to Red Influence. Poland down to Neutral. All White Reps go into Volunteer Armies in the South. Winter 1919:

This is a nice hand. #39 End of In-Fighting is a mandatory event, ditto #17 Tartar Blitzkrieg 2 to reinforce Saratov or Voro. #26 Faction Reinforcements and #44 Lord Curzon & Mr. Lansing I think well duff into PCs. #44 Influence in Poland would be awesome for event as well as #13 Fear of Teutonic Expansion. Well try to hold both as a hedge against untoward developments in the FCT area during the turn. Okay, looking over PCs now. Key factions remain Ukraine and CL. Next turn will be the critical PC moment but want to ensure CL doesnt have another opportunity to make mischief in the east. #26 & #44 into Red and White. Initiative (+3 mod) into Other. Targeting #6, #22, #2 / #32, #27, #26 / #59 respectively. This couldnt have gone better for us. Two picks out of both Red and Other and 3 Random from White.

Reds Self-Determination Policy Land Reform

Gajdas Anti-Kolchak Efforts Versailles Recognizes White White Support for Astrakhan War Fatigue Potatoes and Guns

Net FCT moves: Astrahkan to NEUTRAL and CL to RED CONTROL. No other changes (had 7 IPs in Ukraine but unable to grab her in political phase). White Round 1: White comes out swinging with #33 Grand Offensive. Kolchak gathers forces to surround Mur F in Orsk. Denikin attacks out of Tsaritsyn and the Cheka remnants retreat to Goly K (thank goodness for the winter shift). Trotsky manages to pull back to NovoK (334) but this uncovers Millerovo and Krasnov hits it in the flank (two successful pursuit rolls), destroying (13th Army). Rob: I really thought Id won the game here. I did just what Herr Dockter ordered: I waited for the right time and flooded the zone. Surely he cant recover from this! Red Round 1: The best thing that can be said about last round is that I wont be seeing Grand Offensive again. Trotsky leaflets K in Migu... success, NO ACT placed. Rob: Bummer, but we can press on White Round 2: #39 Makhnos Treachery appears for 3 ops. The 2nd Battle of Millerovo is another victory for the Proletariat (4/3). Kolchak recaptures Orsk. Don Central moves up to Mikhaylova (making it a prime target for our Switch Sides card). Rob: Now were talking! Success in the East and the South! Go boys! Go!

Red Round 2: Ive wanted to get rid of #4 Switch Sides for a while, now looks to be a good opportunitysuccess. Welcome Comrades! Rob: Wait, what?!? Change sides? In our moment of triumph? White Round 3: A bit of good fortune here, #34 Slip of the Tongue is played for 3 ops. Denikin turns his guns on his erstwhile compatriots west of Tsaritsyn (we lose 5/3) and the counter-revolutionaries try their luck against Millerovo for a 3rd and final time (defended only by 1.5 corps--whacked). The US moves to cover Ekaterinburg (?). Rob: That should teach those no good lily-livered turncoats Red Round 3: The road to Voro now being open, its time for the Konarmiia to make its appearance (play #11 Red Army Reorganizes). Army with tank and air joins Tukhachvesky in Voronezh. Elite Infantry corps stiffens the resolve in Saratov. Artillery goes to Smolensk to prepare for the Baltic Campaigns. Our dead pile is becoming more than just a statistic. We need to pop an RP before end of turn. Rob: Oh @$%#! Who are those guys?! White Round 4: Orenburg army appears with Kolchak in Orsk via #19 Cossacks from Orenburg. Gajda not yet on board (no putsch). Rob: I think that in future games, even if I play Czech Legion Commits, I will probably remove Gajda. It was so nice to bring on armies and not worry about the putsch. Red Round 4: Need to play #39 End of InFighting? For our 3 activations lets put pressure on Millerovo by moving a corps into Valuyki whilst moving Tucs forces forward from Voro. Tempted to try and pressure the Siberians more with 5th Army in the center; however, well move Stalins rabble south to Pallasovka to enhance defense of Saratov (tho Stalin himself will abscond into the city proper to personally see to the defenses). White Round 5: #5 Faction Reps is played to whack (corps) NW of Migu and evacuate Millerovo. Red Round 5: Well replace that corps with additional armies! #13 Fear of Teutonic Expansion played for reps. Logistics Phase Interlude: CP finally retires. White reinforces the Finns. We reinforce Petrograd with 10th Army (elite), Voro with 13th and Saratov with (4th). Trotskys 9th is brought up to full strength and we buy two more corps (giving us 5 in reserve --- hopefully enough). In-Fighting is ended successfully. Red gains +1 VP for total +11.

Spring 1 1919:

#44 Influence in Poland is an event play as is #19 Turkistan Recruitment. The remainder will need to await developments on the FCT. Much as it pains me, #33 Grand Offensive and #10 Blustering in Baltics are headed to Red and White PC boxes respectively. I think I may have peaked too early on the PCs last turn as well (recall those 7 wasted IPs?) . Mulling over our possible political card picks. #17 Support for Ukraine Peoples Republic gives us points in both Ukraine and Poland (2/1). #5 Osvag or #19 Cossack Independence would be second choices. White will undoubtedly go for #30 Petliura and Pilsudski for its 2 points in both Ukraine and Poland. Lets hope our influence card is sufficient to allow us to buy out #63 Russian Roulette from the Other deck to cancel it. Argh, we got skunked but good. White did a masterful job of negating my picks. Cost him 3 dear cards though

Another Party Congress Reds Attention to Borderlands Red Support for Transcaucasia

Support For Lativias Schiemann Allied Fear of German Expansion Volunteer Army Political Center A Girl and a Gun Central Power Diplomatic Initiative

Net FCT Moves: Ukraine & Makhno to Neutral, Poland to White Influence (!), Transcaucasia to Red Influence, USA to White Influence (forces exit). Our failure here will have a price in blood on the main map later. In hindsight, an investment in IPs rather than more troops would have paid higher dividends. White Round 1: #37 Recruits in Siberia is played for a 3 ops. Wrangel moves to the west to shore up the Rostov defenses. French move up to Rostov. Denikin moves behind Migu (to setup removal of NO ACT on Krasnov).

Red Round 1: The question now is do I burn the initiative card to setup a 50% chance to grab Poland this turn? Reexamining the faction sheet, I can never move Polish forces, so Im thinking well hold the initiative for another go at Ukraine next turn. Play #30 Faction Reps for a 4 ops. Hit the British outside Archangel (4/0). Well setup the big attack on Migu and move 5th Army against 1st Siberian thru the Czechs. White Round 2: Denikin removes the NO ACT from Krasnov in Migu. Not sure I would have bothered, given whats about to be dished out by Trotsky. Red Round 2: Play #23 Red Insurrection as 4 ops to dislodge Krasnov from Migu. The remaining ops put us against 1st Siberian. Our armored forces achieve complete surprise and inflict 7 steps on the dogs, destroying Don South and flipping 3rd Volunteer. We flip 13th Army and liberate the town. IP to Ukraine. White Round 3: #26 Northern Lights is played for event. Army and accompanying tank appear in Murmansk. Peasant army appears in Kavlaskaya. Red Round 3: These new threats will take quite a while to develop. We do a Single Act moving Trotsky opposite Wrangel in Kamensk-Shak (329). Weve a 1-4 chance to place another NO ACT but Im hoping hell bug out without a fight. White Round 4: That draws a response. #30 Faction Reps as a 4 ops. Wrangel retreats all the way to Rostov. The erstwhile French reinforce Krasnov in Velikokniazh (322). The North army advances towards Onega and 1st Siberian retreats to Krasnoufimsk (521). Rob: I was stunned by the total reverse in the South. I was maneuvered out of my hard won VCs. I was demoralized. It was very well done. Red Round 4: Im determined to hold the initiative card for next turns repeat try for Ukraine. So its either a 3 or 5 for reps. I think the former will be enough. So #44 Influence in Poland goes for a 5 ops. Move the 7th Army out of Petrograd to Karelia to make room for better troops. Consolidate the northern forces in Kungur to begin the slog to Ekaterinburg. Trotsky moves into Belaya K (326). If we can push Krasnov out of Velio we can put Whites Tsaritsyn forces OOS. White Round 5: #43 White-Finnish Cooperation played for 4 ops. Denikin abandons Tsaritsyn, falls back into the Kuban behind Krasnov. 1st Siberian falls back towards Ekaterinburg. North Army brushes out (corps) aside and continues its slow plod towards Onega. Rob: First failure of the Finnish strategy. I got the necessary cards in the wrong order. Bummer.

Red Round 5: To play RPs or take our 5/6ths chance to NO ACT Krasnov again? Or, just attack him directly now and unhinge the White right flank?? Laudace, laudace, toujours laudace! #19 Turkistan Recruitment for 3 ops. Continue pursuit of 1st Siberian, Stalin pushes forces against rear guard (corps) at Tsaritsyn. Trotsky tries his hand against old Krasnov again. We have his number, tanks roll over his position inflicting five hits. We take 3 (flip 9th Army). The right is unhinged Logistics Phase Interlude: The Legion withdraws. Red gains another +5 VPs for total +16. towards IPs, but we only net another one for Ukraine for total +2 Spring 2 1919: Our 2 reps go

Not a helpful hand. Not a five to be seen. #40 Faction Inaction will be great for neutralizing Finland. #37 Ukraines Violation looks to be another way to pickup Ukraine; however, the cost is a hot war with Poland. Not sure I want that right now, but we do have two Ukraine reinforcement cards ( #24 & #25). Ok, White has already discarded Finnish Cooperation, so #21 Change of Doctrine and #37 Ukraines Violation will got for PCs Red and Other). Bluff into White. May fortune favor the foolishAn all out blitz by White on the political front. Nothing I could have done to prevent this given draws. Oops, no log file for this one. Heres how the FCT shook out. Not looking too good for us. A lot of slippage to White. He garnered Lithuania --- balanced by Astrakhan. We still hold #24 Sovietization of Ukraine which might give us two FCM shifts. Failing that, we have a sure shift with an initiative card play. Situation is dicey at best. And taking a sneak peek at Whites first card play (Yudenich appears in freakin Talinin) we have serious issues in the west. Fortunately, #40 Faction Inaction also rests in our hand (ed. note: not much help as Yudenich brings a Russian corps with him). Rob: We eventually figured out that Yudenich is a WHITE camp, not a faction, so not subject to inaction.

White Round 1: #25 Hero of the Caucasus Moves North. Two more armies pop up in Estonia. Margins are getting tighter. Red Round 1: Looking at the card text, it appears a mixed stack is not affected by Inaction, leaving only the Finns vulnerable to its play. Well save it for later in that case. #24 Sovietization of Ukraine is played for FCM moves Success with two boxes! Rob: Major ouch. Ukraine is key bringing two VCs, two RPs, and two Ukrainian RPs each turn. White Round 2: #20 Of what might have been played for 3 ops. French move up from Sebastopol (guess he wants to maximize the damage they inflict before departing game tho hes down one army already). Wrangel moves up to Skakhty (325). Yudenich combines with Estonian army in Narva (thank you General Mud). Red Round 2: Lets set some wheels in motion and shore up some fronts. #29 Partisans as 3 ops. Reinforce Onega. Get Stalins Rabble moving towards Tsaritsyn. White Round 3: #16 Dutov Arrives in Ekaterinburg. Red Round 3: Lets make hay while the Peasant Army is busy in Kuban (ed note: Didnt realize there are TWO peasant armies in faction pool). #23 Sovietization of Ukraine 2 as event. With our three free activations, whack the French (we lose 1 vs 2), move up against Rostov. Great. Poland intervenes. Hopefully West Ukraine will act as a buffer and they wont be able to get at me right away.

White Round 4: White seeks to shore up positions around Festung Rostov. #7 Concentration is played for 4 ops. Red Round 4: I fear I may be mucking about way to much in eastern Ukraine. Hopefully the Poles are a ways away yet. But the mass on the border has the midnight oil burning in the Kremlin again. Burn #40 Faction Inaction to SR the elite 5th Army from Siberian front to Petrograd. Stalin joins his Ukrainian comrades in Lugansk (225). We may use our initiative to stave off a possible spoiling attack by Wrangel, allowing Stalin time to move into position north of city. White Round 5: Blast, White plays #41 End of In-Fighting?; his sole action the aforementioned attack on the Ukrainians outside Rostov. Im gonna let it go. We lose 5/4. Rob: ToC reinvented the importance of the spoiling attack! I love it! Red Round 5: Keep the pressure on. #6 Green Uprising as two ops. Stalin gathers for the attack

White Round 6: Denikin attacks the peasant army in Kuban with single activation. They are eliminated, but flip Don North. Red Round 6: Damn, no cards left for attack on Rostov. Must hold surprise attack for next turn. Single activation, lets take on the Northern Army. We lose 3/2. Logistics Phase Interlude: France withdraws (+1 VP for Red). Gain an additional +6 for VC differential to +22. AND an additional two for Whites failure to gain a VC this turn (in -fighting) to +24. White ends in-fighting. We field the Red Belarus army (+3 mod means no Polish Response). Rob: Clearly I did not use the major powers to my advantage, but the French are not very good to begin with . Summer 1 1919:

A fair hand. Budyenny arrives thankfully. No experience with subjugation yet. But I dont have to make that decision until next logistics phase anyway. We just gotta have the Cheka Army on the map as well! Leaves slim pickings for the political phase, but weve wrote it off anyways. White hasnt played #12 yet so Nationalism is a non event. Influence into Red, Nationalism into White, Bluff into Other. We get 2H from Red and White, Ron gets 1H from Other.

Support for Ukraines Peoples Republic Osvag

Denikins Russian Nationalism Petliura and Pilsudski

Litbel Proclaimed

FCT moves: Latvia to White Influence, Makhno to Red Influence, Transcaucasia to neutral. Additionally, we pickup 5 reps from the Republics and another 2 for Ukraine. White Round 1: #9 CL Commits leads off for 5 ops. (North Army) tries their luck on Onega. Stout hearts, even though surprised we hold 3/3 and the enemy heads off to Valhalla. Yudenich is at the gates of Petrograd! Denikin retreats to the Black Sea coast (?) Krasnov begins barricading Yekaterinodar. Dutov masses for counterstroke in the east. This is worrisome. No reserves in the area. Rob: I really enjoyed having Krasnov, Denikin, and Wrangel on one front, but Dutov is the man!

Red Round 1: Much as I hate to do it, we must delay the Rostov attack to shore up the East. Pull corps from Onega and setup blocks at Mozhga (637) and Balezino (742). Play #5 Faction Reps 2 as SR. White Round 2: #27 Mr. Churchills War for another 5 ops. Dutov launches expected attack in east, we lose 4/2. More shuffling on the Rostov front. Remnants of northern force fall back towards Murmansk (?) Red Round 2: Its time to unleash Stalin with #41 Caseyovichs Second Chance as ops. Combine with #38 for surprise attack. White counters with their own initiative card, scrubbing the force out of Taganrog (326). Stalin goes in alone, hoping to take out the white (tank) force. He succeeds; however, Wrangel launches a counter attack eliminating the Ukrainians outright at the cost of another Russian army. White Round 3: #17 Sleeves from their Vests is played for 3 ops. Dutov clears our blocking positions in the east. Denikin reinforces Rostov and pulls into Sevastapol. Rob: Huh. I dont remember doing that. I did need to take some action, but I really needed those Finnish troops! Red Round 3: Damn, White has wrested the initiative from us. Two priorities; stave off disaster in the east and finish with Rostov. Since I dont quite understand subjugation yet, well burn #36 Subjugation Armies and setup another combined arms attack (tank/air) on Rostov. Well just have to recover the east late r. Errd on this setup, should have split the elite armies up. White Round 4: #21 Diplomatic Initiative played for 4 ops. Action continues in the east. Kolchak sets up for attack on Orenburg. Dutov sits before Kazan. Krasnov moves up to Ekaterinov (323). Red Round 4: Its time to put an end to this fellow Wrangel once and for all. Play #31 Concentration as 4 ops. Latvian corps moves up from Moskva to screen Volgoda (and our northern supply lines). Stalins rabble (as they are affectionately known) moves towards Samara. Whats this?! Hes given up Rostov without a fight!! What madness this?? Now I see why Krasnov moved up. Hes trying to setup a counterattack over the river. Well, lets see if Trotsky can throw a wrench into this plan---pursue and attack Krasnov. He is completely eliminated (VPs +27) at the cost of our tanks. We remember the reserve army rule as well, timely placed into Kazan. Rob: Krasnov stood. Krasnov was crushed. And he wonders why I didnt fight against two stacks in Rostov

White Round 5: #42 Diplomatic Posturing in SE for 3 ops. Dutov and Kolchak assault their respective objectives. Kazan falls 4/3. Orenburg falls 6/4. Argh, the East is White +2 IPs to Lativa. Red Round 5: Time for more reinforcements, but which ones and where? The east definitely needs help, but I cant continue to neglect Yudenich The latter wins, Budyenny to Belarus.

White Round 6: For 4 ops, White expends #22 Wolves on the Loose. Yudenich tries his hand at Petrograd, poorly --- we win 6/3. Kolchak continues advance on Samara which is grabbed in a coup-de-main by a corps (2/4). He is now pushing for Saratov. Rob: I really needed those Finnish troops Red Round 6: Much as I wanted to see the Cheka army in the field, smarter I think to redress the situation in the East and take advantage of Yudenichs weakness in the west. #32 Terror of the Cheka as 4 ops. Budyenny moves on Yudenich, Stalin on Wrangel. The Rabble threatens Samara. The Latvians threaten to encircle Kazan from the northeast. White Round 7: #6 Green Uprising for 2 ops. White shores up his lines of communication in the east. Kolchak abandons drive on Saratov and digs in around Samara. Red Round 7: Well, if I cant have the Cheka, give me Makhno! #8 Initiative for FCM move gaining control of Makhno. Logistics Phase Interlude: USA officially departs the scene. White deploys 3 RPs to our 9 Red RPs and 4 Ukrainian. Summer 2 1919:

Nice --- two discarders. We can open up the Turkistan front too, and more reinforcements for the west. Comrade Lenin is two generous. Horses, Guns (to Other) and Last Defense (to White) look to be good candidates for PCs, though the FCT is pretty played out at this point. Influence to Red. 1H 1H2R 2H1R

Cossack Independence

Support for Baltischen Vetra Ukrainian Galician Army White Support for Transcaucasia

Estonia Toilers Commune Clemenceau Urges Action Lenin Calls for a Reign of Terror

No FCT changes.

White Round 1: #23 Buntarstvo 1 comes out with an accompanying 5 roll (place both armies). Our Army in Karelia loses combat and back pedals two hexes. Red Round 1: Lets take a look at Whites cards firstTheres trouble here, a surprise attack and the Finnish front opening card (#43). I had wanted to have Stalin clear the blocking corps before Yekaterinodar, but Petrograd is in danger. Budyenny takes on Yudenich! Pity cavalry surprise not an option (marsh). Unfortunately, he slips away. White Round 2: #14 Diplomatic Posturing appears as a 4 ops. Kolchaks Siberians move westward. Red Round 2: Lets play #7 Concentration for 4 SRs. Tanks and Air reinforce Latvians vs the IA army in the north, Latvian 2nd Corps joins defenses before Kazan, KonB joins Stalin in Kuban. White Round 3: Ahso. White adds partisans to his arsenal, cutting our supply in the north. Red Round 3: We counter with #9 Faction Passivity for 5 ops. Attempt to reopen supply in north (successful 2/1). Setup attacks on Orenburg. Try again to pin Yudenich in the west. We lose 3 to 4, but we replace losses much easier than he. Rob: Yudenich, unaware of my failure in hand management, curses the Mannerheim for not helping him! White Round 4: #18 Cossacks from Orenburg-1 as event to reinforce Orenburg. Drats. Red Round 4: #34 A slip of the Tongue goes out as event. Stalin moves on Yekaterinodar. Free IP on Latvia. (Loses #31 Concentration). White Round 5: #38 Surprise Attack is used to grab Latvia. Red Round 5: Now looks like a good time to unleash #32 Offensive. Budyenny vs Yudenich round 3 is a victory 5/3, but marsh limits our advance to only 1 hex. Belarus vs Latvia, we win 4/2. Red Latvian Corps (+) vs IA in north, a tie 3/3. Trotsky vs Wrangel (round 1) is a tie 5/5 and Stalin vs White forces in Yekaterinodar is a loss (3/5). White Round 6: A single activation. Wrangel retreats from before Rostov to Yeka (310). Red Round 6: #42 Diplomatic Posturing for 3 ops (who cares about the southeast anyway?). Move Budyenny up to Tallinin. The Belarus try their luck on Riga, win 3/2. Trotsky moves up to Yeka.

White Round 7: A NO ACT on Stalin! Whats this!! Say it isnt so Uncle Joe!!! Rob: I really should have used the propaganda option more to stabilize troubled fronts. Red Round 7: Not making the progress wed hoped to in Kuban. But events in the west have reached a climax. Play #20 The Baltic Front as event and use activations to finish with Yudenich and push Latvians into Lithuania. Logistics Phase Interlude: Red adds +3 vps for Yudenichs demise and another +6 for the VC differential taking us to +39. Use our two Reps to repair the corps in the north and one of Stalins armies in Kuban. Estonia and Latvia see the red light. Fall 1919:

Last political phase coming up. I see no point in tossing good cards into this, so well duff Influence and Bluff cards and #9 To the Barricades into Red, White and Other respectively. The only condition missing from our auto-victory win is Urals Central. I reckon thats where our focus should be this turn. White has 5 armies in the region, going to be tough going. Am unsure how much I should be worrying about the Poles. Well burn at least one card putting the western defenses in order just in case. Two Red Picks Two White Picks Two Red Picks

German-Bolshevik Trade Agreement Party Congress Transcaucasia to Red.

Churchill Support for Finlands Mannerheim

Allies have Second Thoughts Ukrainian Rada Declares

White Round 1: #17 Sleeves from their Vests reappears as event. Well, this certainly dictates our next play Rob: So close Red Round 1: #26 Lord Curzon & Mr. Lansing attempt to nullify the Finns and Poles. With the -1 mod for USA withdrawal, ALL are successfully prevented.

Rob: And yet so far. White Round 2: Payback. #40 A Lack of Men comes out as event. Damn. No cheka army again Red Round 2: #9 Faction Passivity as an SR. Push Tukhachevsky and Latvian Corps to Saratov. (4 th Army) to Kotelnich. White Round 3: An attempt to propagandize Chebokesary (629) outside Kazan fails. Red Round 3: We play #22 Terror of the Cheka for 4 ops. Eliminate White partisans in the north (successful), Petrograd deals with Karelian Insurrectionists (6/3), Tukhachevsky moves up against Samara and the Reserve army supported by the Latvian Corps tries their hand vs Kazan (victory 3/2). White Round 4: #32 Offensive as event. Siberians retreat before our red hordes, save those in Orenburg who launch a spoiling attack (we lose 5/4). Trotsky takes a hammering from Wrangel in Kuban, losing 3/6. Red Round 4: Try to keep the pressure on in the east. #44 Influence in Poland as 5 ops. Tukhachevsky tries his luck vs Kolchak (victory 6/4). (1st Army) regains Ilek (610) and the Cheka Peoples Horde recaptures Samara. Trotsky moves to stiffen Stalins resolve in Kuban while our battered forces return to their positions south of Rostov. Our combined arms force continues to chase the Siberian IA in the north. White Round 5: #30 Faction Reps-3 for 4 ops. Continues slow retreat in the east. Red Round 5: We havent adjusted the western defenses yet, nor played any RPs. #23 Red Insurrection for 4 REPs. White Round 6: #43 White-Finnish Cooperation comes out as 4 ops. Kuban and Orenburg erupt again. I have underestimated Whites willingness to trade shots with us. We fight to a draw in the former (4/4) but lose our (army) in the latter (3/4). Red Round 6: #29 Partisans played for 3 ops. Continue pressure in East vs Kolchak (victory 5/2, K est morte, VPs +2 to 31) and Siberians. Makhno attempts clearing operations in Crimea but the dreaded 6 pops up; so he contents himself with some random executions amongst his own troops instead Rob: Look at Dutov there, marching to the sound of the guns. What a guy! White Round 7: #21 Diplomatic Initiative as event. Volunteer Cav reinforces Sevastapol.

Red Round 7: #30 Faction Replacements as 4 ops. Hit IA army in Balezino (724), victory 4/0. Move Reserve Army east out of Kazan. Logistics Phase Interlude: White flips two Siberian armies. We repair/place two armies each in North, East and Kuban. Focus remains East. Our draws Winter 1920

A middling hand I think. #36 Subjugation Armies well likely play next turn, so thats a save. The Initiative card we may use to pop Stalins INACT, but more likely assist with Makhnos anticipated assault on Sevastapol. #51 Mutiny may see use against the Orenburg defenders. The remainder are straight ops plays, save for one of the Concentration(s). Well continue to press the Siberians. White Round 1: White takes the 1920 Option and plays #46 White Eagle Fights 2 for the event. So the Polish hordes are unleashed at last. (ed note: Forgot Russian Nationalism Levy). Red Round 1: Weve neglected the Western defenses too long I fear. At least we did get Budyenny into Belarus. For now well try to secure the auto win in the East and do crisis management as needed in the West. Lead with #51 Mutiny against the reduced Siberian armies in Orenburg. White Round 2: #40 Concentration is used to push additional forces into West Ukraine and to start reinforcements towards Orenburg. Red Round 2: Some unlooked for reinforcements arrive, the Polish Red Corps pops into Chelm (107) cutting off the aforementioned forces moving on Lviv. It pays to read the cards closely, #40 Faction Inaction will effectively neuter the Poles this turn. To add insult to injury, well use the single activation provided to position Zhukov for assault on Vilnius. This should clear the way for Budyennys cavalry to make a deep raid into the Polish rear.

White Round 3: #47 Buntarstvo-2 pops as event, placing Ant 1 insurrection army in Tambov (826). Rob: These guys were my reason for being as the end of the game approached. It was fun just running around behind his lines causing trouble. Red Round 3: Thats annoying. Dump #7 Concentration for 4 ops. Move a covering corps into Voronezh. (9th Army) moves south from Kazan. Budyennys forces move west into Baranovichi (242) to further thre aten the Lithuanians (now that the Poles are emasculated). Makhno tries his luck against (Don North) in Sadove (304) (a tie 2/2).

White Round 4: After some online discussion on CSW, weve ruled that the Poles are not restricted by Faction Inaction. White plays #53 Hallers Army as 5 ops. Combines #45 Surprise Attack to crush the Western Ukrainians (7/5). Red Round 4: White still has some bite left in him. Play #27 Last Defense of the Revolution as 4 ops. Push Konovalets back to the west. (9th Army) rushes to defense of Saratov. Budyenny and Zhukov combine vs Vilnius but only manage a 4/2. We advance Zhukov hoping to flank the Polish armies before Budyenny. White Round 5: #51 Mutiny appears as 3 ops, predictably, all in the west vs Zhukov. He comes up short 4/5 and retreats back to Vilnius. Red Round 5: Would dearly love to be able to play an RP, but it would come at some pain. I must really hold Subjugation and Surprise Attack for next turn. Bleeding White looks to be the way to go, given our RP advantage with Ukraine and Turkistan. That having been said, play #31 Concentration for event, moving Budyenny against Lublin and having Makhno clear out the remaining (Cossacks) in the neck of the Crimea. White Round 6: #48 Tachanka is played for 4 ops. The Poles reinforce Lublin and continue to shuffle forces eastward in Siberia. Red Round 6: Budyenny is looking rather exposed. He needs to land his punch first or I should think about pulling him back. But we really need to play RPs to take advantage of the early Concentration play. Damn. #5 Faction Reps-2 as event. We can use two full strength West Ukrainians next turn. White Round 7: A welcome respite as White plays #50 Round up Some Rabble for 4 RPs. Not sure Ill be quite so pleased next turn with a reinvigorated Polish Army to face Red Round 7: Well Im kinda stuck here. Ive got to hold Subjugation Armies and Infiltration for next turns anticipated assault on Sevastopol. We need to get off the stick. Orenburg is the key. If we can take that town we can end it. Were holding our cards. Try to remove the NO ACT on Stalinfail. Logistics Phase Interlude: No attrits, subjugating, Belarus, Turkistan, Transcaucasia and Astrakhan. I think weve totally lost track of VP adjusts. Currently the track shows 35 0. Well, I dont know how this escaped my notice earlier, but the loss of Lviv causes the W. Ukrainians to depart the fight, unsure where my 2 faction RPs will go now. Maybe resurrect a Baltic army or two? We rebuild Budyennys Cavalry Corps to full strength, push two more corps into reserve and bring the Latvian Army back from the dead at full strength. Im thinking the best way to curb a Polish drive into Ukraine is to make my own drive into Poland! Spring 1 1920

Not a very high ops value hand. Subjugation will likely play early as event garnering us 4 additional armies (most of these will go to the west/Ukraine I expect). Two discarders again. Its a shame we didnt play #42 earlier. We could certainly use them to unhinge Central Urals right now. White Round 1: #43 White-Finnish Coop appears again as 4 ops. The Insurrection Army whacks the (Galacian corps) in Balashov (822). Budyenny fails his withdrawal roll and is crushed 3/7. Fortunately, mud limits the Polish advance. Rob: Now the cards are just mocking my Finland theory Red Round 1: Im thinking it best to get these new armies on the map and ready to respond to whatever more devilry White may unleash. Play #36 Subjugation Armies as event. So the Astrakhan and Transcausian armies will pop into Central Region at Smolensk (807). The Belarus army pops into Brest (235) and the Turkistan Army to Saratov (823). We can use #28 Faction Reinforcements to place further armies in the South East should #42 be fortunate enough to be played or reappear in our hand later. We take a single activation in Central to move the IA blocking corps. White Round 2: #42 Diplomatic Posturing rolls out 3 ops. Zhukov evacuates Vilnius. The Insurrection Army continues to make trouble outside Saratov. The Polish Red Corps is whacked. Red Round 2: If Im reading the VCs correctly, I still need to clear the Kuban and grab Orenburg whilst not losing anything anywhere else. Lets start feeding some reinforcements south. #43 Russian Nationalism for 3 ops. Saratov forces move to Tsaritsyn (601) (paralleling the IA Army). Makhno moves his cavalry into Simferopol (302). Budyenny moves to backstop the 1st Subjugation Army in Brest. White Round 3: White plays #30 Faction Reps 3 as event. Red Round 3: #34 A Slip of the Tongue for event. Our single activation is used to push Ukrainian Cavalry Corps to Makhno before Sevastapol. The other infantry joins our positions against Wrangel. White Round 4: Another NO ACT on the Wrangel front. This position is a tough nut to crack and it just got tougher Red Round 4: We counter with our own SA, activating Makhno & his Ukrainian allies vs Sevastapol. Toss #45 Infiltration to make it a 9 col +1 vs 6 col, victory goes to the anarchist 6/3. Rob: Denikin stands (in a fortress no less). Denikin is crushed. White Round 5: #36 Preparations for Hallers Army is played for 5 reps. I really must capture Omsk and put an end to this nonsense too Rob: I forgot about Omsk and RPs. Bad move.

Red Round 5: Im torn between playing #28 for the Turkistan armies now and thus maximizing my chances to draw #42 next turn, or trying to remove a NO ACT before Wrangel. We choose the former. Logistics Phase Interlude: White received 7 RPs this turn if you include the 2 for the Poles. We really should try to shut those off by grabbing Omsk. The Siberians appear to be virtually at full strength, fielding 5 armies now. This may prove very difficult. We place a CAV army in Saratov and another 4-3-3 into Kazan. Spring 2 1920:

No #42 this time around. #46 Peace with Poland would be a killer if I can grab a VC. Ah, #41 Caseyovichs Second Chance allows us to grab a card from discard for next turn! Well hold #19 Turkistan Recruitment for next turn as well once those forces are on the march. Im surprised he hasnt marched into Ukraine yet. Hold off the Poles in the west, crush Wrangel in Kuban and begin march on Omsk this turn. White Round 1: This bodes ill, White leads with #12 Appeal for Foreign Intervention as a 5 ops. Tukhachevsky is on the losing end of a 5/4 result in Sorocinsk (522). The Insurrection Army occupies Voronezh (819) and threatening Moskva. Poles move forces into Vilnius (113). Red Round 1: Next time Ill remember to post a nice garrison on the insurrection spawn location (Tambov-826). Lets generate multiple threats. #21 A Change in Doctrine as 4 ops. Move Latvian and Red Belarus to Siauliai (115) to threaten Vilnius. Subjugation armies from Smolensk (807) to Moskva. (9th Army) and 4th Subjugation to Novo (334) chasing IA. Combined Arms force into Perm (523).

White Round 2: Damn, another 5. #28 Faction Reinforcements adds tanks and planes to the Poles Red Round 2: Let us make hay with what White has left for us. #49 Concentration for 4 ops. Hit Vilnius, tie (4/4). Eliminate the Cossack Corps at Kungar (820), costing us a mech step. Move (9th Army) group to Liski (331) to threaten IA army. White Round 3: Sure seems like White has more 5 ops hanging around than I do at this point of the game. #44 White Eagle Fights 1 pops out. The Poles reinforce Vilnius. The IA skedaddles towards Tsaritsyn. Rob: Poor deck management means lots of 5s left at the end. Red Round 3: Let us continue to develop the threats in the East. #46 Peace with Poland as 4 ops (I know, but if I can wrest Orenburg from White we can auto-win on points anyways).

White Round 4: #50 Round up some Rabble pops for another 4 ops. Pilsudski wipes out our subjugation army (Budyenny fails reinforce roll) and the Siberians continue to shuffle their chairs near Orenburg. Red Round 4: The west remains the sideshow (at least for now). Play #47 Special Tools for 3 ops. We try our first shot at Ekaterinburg, surprise is complete (Orenburg 2) is eliminated. Subjugation Armies return west from Moskva. 1st Army whacks the (Siberian corps) at Ufa. White Round 5: A rare respite. #5 Faction Reps 2 as event. Perhaps he sees the fall of Omsk in his future? Rob: Nope. Still didnt. Dumb, dumb, dumb. Red Round 5: Tough decision here, but if we are true to maintaining our focus in the East, we must play #48 Red Mech as a 3 ops. Let us hope Budyenny and the Ukrainians can stave off the Poles just long enough Subjugation Armies into Minsk. (Air corps) begins trek to Omsk. 4th Army with (mech) push south to Kartaly (509). With that last activation, take (9th Army) and 4th Subjugation to Kursk (814) (I think Budyenny may need a little more help). I am an idiot. I just realized Caseyovich only allows a draw from the DISCARD PILE. Our glorious pincer plan has gone acropper again. We MUST capture Omsk in our last impulse so our only option is another Ops play. At least Casey will allow me to pull the Turkistan Recruitment card back. White Round 6: #35 Intelligence Coup is played for 2 ops. Orsk (504) is reinforced with two Siberian corps. Red Round 6: #19 Turkistan Recruitment is played for 3 ops. Well use Casey to draw it back should we be lucky enough to draw #42 next turn. (Air Corps) captures Omsk. (Latvians) and Reserve Army move up to Ekaterinburg (516). (9th Army) and 4th Subjugation continue westward march to Chernigov (219). Rob: NOW I understand the importance of holding Omsk. Logistics Phase Interlude: Poles are reinforced with 2 RPs and the traitor West Ukrainians resurrect an Army in Lviv (201). We whack the Green Corps in Birsk (519) at a cost of 1 RS (ed. note: This is a special action during rounds not something performed in Repl phase, Doh!). I think next turn is going to be bloody. The remaining RS replenish SR with Latvian & Regular corps. Weve also remembered to mark the IA Army as OOS (doh!) Summer 1 1920:

Ive always said, better to be lucky than good. #42 Diplomatic Posturing in Southeast is drawn. Bonus points, #33 Grand Offensive. With #18 Horses, Guns and Shock we have an option with #41 Caseyovich to redraw Turkistan Reinforcements or Change in Doctrine. This decision depends on how poorly the Western Front acquits itself this turn. I may not have been able to get the Cheka Army into play, but I may be able to spread a little typhoid cheer. The stage is set for the climatic battle in the East White Round 1: White leads with #6 Green Uprising targeting Urals North and rolls a 6. I guess this makes us even. We stick them in Lysva (524) and Nizhny Tagil (525). Red Round 1: Lets not show our hand just yet. #37 Ukraines Violation as a 4 ops. Trotsky has spent enough time staring at Wrangels positions, shift him west towards Kyiev to Yekater (232). Reserve Army moves south towards Orsk. (9th Army) and 4th Subjugation take up defensive positions NW of Kyiev at Korosten (209). Koniarm 2 moves against IA Army at Tsaritsyn. White Round 2: Egads! Another 5 ops, #24 Vanguard of Nazism. The Poles push east, Pilsudkis forces moving towards Minsk and an attack launched against Zhukovs positions at Ulena (114) (we successfully evade). More surprising, Wrangel takes both Volunteer Armies and races to Sevastapol! Red Round 2: It is fortunate that there is still a lot of game left, for I fear White would be able to hold out for the win otherwise. Much as I would like to see the Siberians crushed this turn, the threat from the Poles has become too large to continue to ignore. If I calculate correctly Sevastapol should be able to withstand one assault from Wrangels hordes. Some oddly marked boxes in a French warehouse in Sevastapol may an opportunity to spread a little joy amongst the bunched up Poles before Minsk. Play #52 Germ Warfare: Typhoid on Pilsudski in Baranovichi (242). Unfortunately, a 6 is rolled resulting in a complete whiff. White Round 3: RC follows with another 5 ops #40 A Lack of Men. Polish 3rd Army steamrolls over Siauliai (115) (5/3) and ends in Riga (118). Pilsudski uses tanks for advantage and forces Minsk also at 5/3. The only bright note for us was Makhno inflicting 6 hits on Wrangel whilst taking 3 himself (we shed no tears here, the Makhnovists must all die eventually). Dutov takes up a central position in Saraktash (506) with 1 st Siberian. Red Round 3: That was very ugly. Minsk must be retaken. Well use #33 Grand Offensive now as Pilsudski has his neck stuck out. Out of the Pripyat marsh, Budyenny launches a surprise cavalry assault; however, he is at the wrong end of a 4/5 result Koniarm 2 will try to eject the IA from Tsaritsyn (601) (success 3/1). Zhukov retreats to Polatsk (344) to support (Red Belarus) attack on Riga (a tie 5/5) and await the movement of 5th and 10th Armies from St. Petersburg (rumored to be entraining soon). White Round 4: Ayekarumba, they wont go quietly onto the ash-heap of history? #9 Czech Legion Commits as yet another 5 ops. Riga is reinforced with (2nd Army). Makhno continues to hold out 4/3. (IA) captures Astrakhan.

Red Round 4: Wrangel looks to have one more assault left in him. I see an excellent use for some rabble Play #50 Round up some Rabble as event. Reinforce Sevastapol with a Peasant Army. Send the other to Sadove (304) to threaten a 9 column cavalry raid next round. Flip Sevastapol forces (Ukr Cav & Makhno corps) and Orsha (239) Subjugation Armies to full strength. Rabble, rabble, rabble.

White Round 5: #20 Of what might have been is played as 3 ops. Wrangel sucks up the last White army in the Kuban for the Crimean Meat Grinder. The Poles move their Air Corps to Minsk as a defense against another cavalry raid. Northern Tank Corps retreats towards Murmansk. Red Round 5: Play #13 Fear of Teutonic Expansion as a 5ops. Orsk assault force moves into Mednogorsk (505) with (Latvian corps) in support. Koniarm 2 advances to assault Astrakhan. Subjugation 2 & 3 move up to Minsk. 5 th and 10th Armies finally move from St. Petersburg reinforcing Zhukov at Polatsk (244). I expect White on his next round to play at least a 4 ops to push us away from Orsk and Minsk and to take his obligatory attack on Fortress Sevastapol. If he doesnt defend Orsk, we may be able to take the place and then use our remaining activations to cut his supply from Khiva. A long shot at best, but he may not see it coming. Otherwise, well try to inflict more damage to the Poles while most of them are flipped and save Casey for our last play. We have 3 options as I see it for him; Turkistan Reinforcement, Peace with Poland, or Infiltration (to remove the NO ACTS before Yekaterinodar). White Round 6: #14 Diplomatic Posturing as a 4 ops. Attacks more or less as predicted. Only he targeted Budyenny and moved the IA army towards Khiva (and will be trapped by the border if I hold #42 a tad longer --- is he holding a 42 himself?). Dutov does poorly, inflicting only 3 hits for 5 irreplaceable hits to himself. Wrangel inflicts 4 hits taking 5 himself. The Poles are left in Minsk Rob: The Charge of the Light Brigade has nothing on Wrangel in front of Sevastopol.

Red Round 6: I think Makhno has taken the full measure of Wrangel. Well play #18 Horses, Guns and Shock as a 5 ops to punish Pilsudski and advance Zhukov against Vilnius. Konairm2 will pursue (IA) to the border and finish them there shortly. The Orsk Force will try their luck against the reduced defenders, they achieve surprise and inflict 3 hits, taking 2 in return. We advance (4th Army) into Orsk itself. If we can hold all three of our positions, the Turkistanis can put paid to the Siberians next round. (ed note: I realized after the game that until AC42 is played, these spaces are considered green to both players --- no supply trace possible). Budyenny does extremely well (7/5) vs Pilsudski. This should take the fight out of White

White Round 7: #31 Concentration for 4 ops. Only the direct assault vs Orsk is tried but it falls short (2/3) (White was holding #48 Tachanka but left unplayed). Likewise, Wrangels last assault on Sevastapol results in a (4/5) loss. The Poles retreat from Vilnius setting up blocking positions before Warsaw. RC mistakenly moved the (IA) into Southeast. Ive given him the activation back, and hes deferred to me to make another try in the east for him. Im not terribly good at odds calculation but there are only two choices. First is Dutov and (1st Siberian) vs (Reserve Army) and (mech) in Mednogorsk (505). This works out to a 2 column vs 4 column (DRMs cancel). I think thats about a 1 in 6 chance. The better attack I believe pits the Siberian Corps in Magnitogorsk (508) vs the (Latvian Corps) in Kartaly (509). Regardless of how the (Latvians) roll, the Siberians can advance on a 4+, a 50% chance. Throw in #48 Tachanka and its better than that. And the roll is2; HOWEVER, the (Latvians) roll a 5 +1 for two hits, both sides eliminated. Rob: I just really wanted the IA to survive the game. AC 42 be darned. They earned it! Red Round 7: This makes our last play a no brainer. #42 Diplomatic Posturing as event. The east collapses. The counter-revolutionaries have been crushed. The Proletarian Paradise will be realized (as soon as the Cheka completes their revolutionary work) Red End Game: What a fantastic game experience. I first experienced this system via PoG way back when, but inevitably made a fatal error resulting in being placed OOS. In this game, there is SO MUCH going on (truly a Triumph of Chaos) that such errors may be undetected or remediated by outside events. Plus the game is a graphic tour de force (I still bemoan not being able to place the Cheka Army though). Red is clearly easier to play. The importance of Ukraine (and Turkistan) with their free RS cant be overstated. Once the Red Hordes are on the board, its hard to make progress. I still havent noodled all the political machinations for White. Being able to emasculate the Finns in Fall 1919 was also key to closing down that front. Despite the lopsided VP count if White can manage to hold either Minsk, Sevastapol or Orenburg at the end, Red still loses. Rob made a great run at it in the end, particularly surprising me in the Crimea. Fortunately, supported fortresses are nigh on impossible to take without a special combat card to nullify their effects and Wrangels (as well as Whites) dice definitely ran cold at the finish. I hope to be able to play again very soon, taking my shot as the counter-revolutionaries. Perhaps we can save the Tsar. ;) Rob: Pave is too kind. I think he played brilliantly with Red, and I made my share of silly mistakes. I echo his comments on the game. It is incredible! Throw in Dockters apparently round the clock support on Consimworld, and you have everything you could ask for in a game! I cant wait to play again!

A quick gander at the respective dead & SR piles for both sides, lest we forget the price of victory and defeat: