All Out for the Fight! 3-Player Game: Reds

[Alikchi2]

Turn 14: Late December 1918

Merry Christmas from Russia! This is why there are so many Russians - Russian winters. Nothing to do but stay inside and drink and.. Sorry.


The cold has led to a quiet Siberian front, but elsewhere, the Whites continue their advance. This turn, all my screenshots will have numbers in the top-left corner, which will correspond to the numbers on this map:




(Apologies, they're all jumbled and out of order.) I hope this will help show the context of the war, and explain why I feel a little hemmed in. It's war on every front!

Well, the most intriguing move so far on the part of the Whites is that their Northwestern Army, currently under Rodzianko, has left Pskov and is venturing north in the direction of Petrograd - aka St Petersburg. Observe:



The arrow is, of course, a guess. I wouldn't be surprised if he detoured towards Novgorod - but at the same time, I expect him to go straight for the jugular. If I lose Petrograd, my national morale goes to the toilet and a Bolshevik victory becomes much less likely. He (correctly) presumes that the majority of my forces in the area are dedicated to holding back Miller. I'm going to have to bring in the new armies forming in the Moscow area to counter NW Army.

Speaking of Miller..



Pariah sent him south against my force at Petrozavodsk! The man's been repulsed, and fairly decently, too. I'm pleased - but he hasn't been destroyed, and Antonov-Ovseenko is too incompetent to lead a proper advance. So these forces are still locked down. Still, good to know that I've essentially 'dealt' with the White Northern Army.

Let's move south. Kharkov wasn't quite so easy as I expected:



Shame, but it looks like I haven't lost MUCH time. The Whites are slow to advance as well (although they've already got the Crimea and they're moving northwards.. hmm). Meanwhile, my partisans are advancing around the flanks to chop up railroads, and S.S. Kamenev has arrived to command the newly-formed Ukraine Front. I have high hopes to take big chunks of northern Ukraine once everyone's nice and organized, but I might not have time. The Volunteer Army will soon be free to head north - Sorokin and his Don Front are not long for this world. Witness:



Denikin's drinking buddy, Mai-Mai, walloped Sorokin but good. The man has less than 10,000 troops remaining against some cold and bloodthirsty Whites. Bisherakov is blocking my escape. Novorossisyk is the Alamo.

I'm still pretty pleased with Sorokin - I hadn't expected the troops to last til winter, and they're still here.. what's left of them.

Just a little northeast, along the Tzaritsyn-Novorossisyk railroad, I've had Stalin inching forward with a load of armoured trains, menacing the Cossacks. Well, that backfired.



I hope I can get him out of there! Kind of. Stalin's a bit of a crap commander - jumped up beyond his station if you ask me - and part of me likes to take risks with him. Maybe if I get him killed or disgraced, I can avert future genocides, eh?

Anyways, Voroshilov is sitting in Tzaritsyn with the 10th Army - recently reinforced by sailor's detachments from the Caspian and Black Seas - so I feel secure, on the whole.

Things are also looking good in Siberia.



The line is stable, with a full 100,000 troops manning the front from Kazan to Saratov. Kazan is a bit of a salient - but with only 2 crossings of the Volga under enemy control, I feel I can risk it. Flanking Kazan will be hard to do, and I can always pull out. Holding it is a bit of a bonus.

So, 1918 is over. I feel pretty good about it! I managed to delay in the South and hold in the East, after a few scary months. In the long run, though, this is just a preamble. New challenges are coming - foreign interventions, Yudenich on the march, and Denikin free to advance north towards Moscow. 1919 will be the year of the Whites.

To win, I'll need to make use of the interior lines and efficient railway network of central Russia - Sovdepia - to shuttle troops from one front to the next, countering crises as they arise. To this end, I've sunk a decent amount of cash into expanding my rail pool and infrastructure.



Fingers crossed for the new year!

[Terminus]

Good luck!

[Alikchi2]

Thanks Terminus. [8D]

Turn 15: Early January 1919

New year, new opportunities and new threats. At the very least, greatly magnified older threats. Take a look.. Pariah's doing something clever with the Northwestern Army.. and I'm worried.



Moscow may be the capital, but only recently. Petrograd is the true First City of the Soviet Republic. And fast-moving, dangerous White armies are on the march straight at it with nary a Bolshevik in sight.

Of course, I have the town's garrison - about 16,000 men all told, distributed throughout the area and in the Peter and Paul Fortress. They can't hold on their own against Yudenich's boys.

The force closest to Petrograd - the man at Luga with the merry hat - is a brigade of cavalry led by Bulak-Balakovich, an interesting fellow with a rather large Wikipedia page. The other forces are the heavy hitters - Rodzianko with a bunch of infantry and armoured trains, then I'm guessing Yudenich in the south (the portrait there is a generic one) with the army headquarters.

I've underestimated Pariah, this is going to be very hard to deal with. I can't knock out all three of his forces in one battle. Reinforcements are necessary, and they're incoming. North, Antonov-Ovseenko (1) is leaving just one division to man the lines (I hope Miller is still licking his wounds) and will rush down the railroad with 10,000 men to defend Petrograd itself. From Moscow, Bonch-Bruevich (2) will ride special trains fully loaded with his 15,000 men to try to pin down and destroy Rodzianko's mobile force. I need to gut it before it shoves A-O aside and threatens the grand city.

As I stated in the previous post, if I lose Petrograd, I lose the war. The Northwestern Army is a dagger aimed straight at the heart of Soviet power. This makes the capture of Kharkov this turn (hooray!) seem not so important. Ah well! I took Kharkov, take note!

Moving on to Siberia. I changed my mind about settling in.. while I have all this power concentrated here, I might as well at least give a winter attack a shot. Just one town, maybe. Watch me snowball this into a general offensive..



It's a simple plan. Take Trotsky and 40,000 men and throw them at the relatively thin White line at Simbirsk. They've had a while to dig in, so it might not work, but I expect to inflict nearly-equal losses, and that's fine by my side.

A few other loose ends from this turn. The French and Greeks are coming:



I'm not too worried about these fellows themselves, but I am worried about the top-notch Volunteer Army soldiers they'll free up from garrison duty.

I'm getting my own foreign soldiers, though:



International Volunteer Regiments, come to help further the world socialist revolution! I hope they're okay with being sent to snow-filled trenches to fight Ukrainian nationalists.

[Terminus]

I finally got around to reinstalling and starting up a game. You can always count on the AGEOD AI to give a good game. For the Revolution![;)]

[Alikchi2]

Woohoo, good luck man!

Turn 16: Late January 1919

I'm going to rely heavily on the screenshots this turn. First, the Petrograd front:



A-O and B-B have reached their assigned positions (Tsarskoye Selo and Novgorod, respectively). With two large forces in the field, I feel like I can hold back Yudenich - or at least keep him busy. Now I have to worry about Miller breaking through the one infantry division I've left behind, though.

Next slide, please.



Ah yes, Trotsky and friends succeeded in their little push eastwards. Simbirsk is ours now, after a spirited defence by the Siberians and KOMUCH boys. I'm following the attack up with a strike at Syzran:



If all goes well, I'll have pressed the Siberians right up to the Volga all across the front.

[Alikchi2]

Turn 17: Early February 1919

This will be a quick update as I have a new turn sitting in my inbox that I will have a longer post for! Here's the sitch:



My attempt on Syzran was not a success, as you can see. I can't match those numbers yet without depleting the garrisons of Kazan and Simbirsk. I'll have to round up some more troops from elsewhere.. It'll have to wait for a while, though.



This is the Ukraine. I'd like to hold everything in the dotted-red-area: Kharkov, Kiev, and everything north of the Dnieper and west of Kharkov. Unfortunately, I am beginning to doubt if I'll have time to establish this perimeter before the Whites pierce it. Mai-Mai has left the job of harassing the remnants of the Don Front to a single division under Drozdovsky, which means he'll probably come north with a big army shortly.. reinforcements, including those internationalist regiments, are on their way to the Ukraine front under Timoshenko, but we'll see if they arrive in time. (They're intended to take Kiev.)

While Mai-Mai digs into the Ukraine, his master Denikin is on his way to Tzaritsyn:



This is a battle that will depend entirely on the number of troops Denikin has brought along. 10th Army, under Voroshilov and Stalin, is well dug-in, with naval support and good fortifications. We'll just have to see if that's enough.

Right, running the next turn now!

[Alikchi2]

Turn 18: Late Feburary 1919

Things are going decently well, at least in the east.



Tukhachevsky has done quite well holding Kazan against superior numbers. He's even managed to take out several enemy elements! This is better than I had expected. The man deserves a promotion - and the game agrees:



My boy Tukhy will be a corps commander next turn. This is great, as the Reds have very few talented corps commanders, and Kazan will need more troops later anyways.

Anyways, that's the good news. Now to the less good:



I was wrong about Mai-Mai going to Ukraine. That's Denikin, Mai-Mai and some jerk Cossack closing in on Tzaritsyn. Pariah is going all out for the prize. A wise move, I think, but bad for me. I have no reinforcements to give. What troops I do have available are at the other end of a very long and winding rail network.

I've decided to move the Iron Division south (it had been garrisoning Saratov - this move will leave it exposed, but what can you do). It's only one division, but perhaps it can at least keep the rail line north open. Losing Tzaritsyn is one thing, but having 10th Army - Stalin, Voroshilov and 17,000 troops - encircled and destroyed with it? Disastrous.

Other news: The Petrograd front is static. I've ordered the construction of a weapons factory in Moscow to beef up my war supply production. The Ukraine is going well with Mai-Mai and Denikin distracted by Tzaritsyn. Oh, one last thing:



Remember the Don Front? Once 40,000 men, the Whites have reduced them to 4200. I'm being sneaky again and attempting to evacuate the remnants under Drozdovsky's nose. Fingers crossed it works.. there's a big French fleet sitting in Novorossisyk right now.

[Alikchi2]

Turn 19: Early March 1919

A very short update.



Here's a nice big map for you. Check out the recent green uprisings in central Russia - a nasty rash on the Soviet Republic's pretty face. I'm going to have to divert reinforcements from other fronts to clean them out.

Also note the mess around Tzaritsyn. Let's zoom in on that, shall we..



I'm rushing further reinforcements to the area - Blucher and Chapaev, with about 10,000 men each. God knows if it'll be enough. Pariah really is throwing everything at Tzaritsyn - my main hope is that I'll be able to keep 10th Army intact at this point...



Other notes: The Azov flotilla was intercepted by a bunch of French ships (including two dreadnoughts) and forced to retreat before picking up any troops. Consequently, the Don Front was finally and completely destroyed. Also bad news: The single division I left to hold the line against Miller was sieged and caved in this turn, surrendering en masse. I don't want Miller to break out from Karelia, so I've sent Antonov-Ovseenko and two divisions to hold him off again. Dunno how long we can manage, though...

[Alikchi2]

Turn 20: Late March 1919

Disaster!



Stalin has utterly botched the defence of Tzaritsyn! 17,000 men lost in a day, the 10th army completely destroyed!

This is a big, hard blow. I lost 7 national morale because of that battle! 7!



Okay, enough hysterics from me. There are some bright edges to the dark cloud. Stalin, at least, won't go on to commit any mass murders - he's been completely discredited in the eyes of SOVNARKOM, not to mention nearly killed.



As well, those reinforcements I sent did arrive. Ghai-Khan led the Iron Division into battle at Ilovlya and died for his trouble, but he cleared the northern route out of (and into) Tzaritsyn. If there was any army left, it could retreat this way.

Instead, I'll be sending all the reinforcements that got through - the remnants of the Iron Division and the 25th Fusiliers, all under Chapaev - powering straight into Tzaritsyn from the north. The city itself is still ours, though just barely - a thin line of Red Air Force personnel hold it. I expect the battle-worn Volunteer Army to stumble into the city and get hit head-on by Chapaev's screaming 17,000 men. Or it could be another disaster. Going to be fun either way!

One last thing. The enemy is advancing in the east as well:



That's a big force - including British-made tanks - heading straight for my smallest eastern group, Makhin's at Penza. I have reinforcements - Trotsky and Berezin - rushing from the north on trains, but it will take them 6 days to get into position. Will they make it? Tune in next time, on... To Hell on an Armoured Train!

[Terminus]

Oh dear... That's not good...

[Alikchi2]

Turn 21: Early April 1919

The Siberians have struck hard..



.. but not hard enough! Penza holds! Trotsky and Berezin's boys arrived literally the day the battle begun, so I've just barely averted a breach in the Siberian front here. A day later, and the entire line would have been unstrung. I would have had to withdraw from Kazan and Simbirsk just to maintain a coherent front.

So, whew. We both bled, but as Michael says, I can afford it more. Or can I? I'm taking casualties at quite a rate lately. See this?



That's the result of my ballyhooed counterattack at Tzaritsyn - a brutal repulse. Chapaev will have to pull back to Saratov and try to hold the city - Denikin's 30,000 will require at least twice that number of Reds to defeat decisively if they stay concentrated like this. Blucher will hold the railroad to the northwest, at Tambov. If he can.

So. Repulse and defeat in the south, barely hanging on in the east. No real action in the far north. Anything I'm missing? Ah, yes, Ukraine:



It's chaos, and worse than that: FRAGILE chaos. Whites advancing from the south, yours truly from the north, and Ukrainian nationalists trying to hold what is in between. This is a difficult front. Kharkov is mine, but weakly held. Kiev may soon be mine - I'm hitting them with Budyenny's cavalry and about 10,000 infantry. If I can hold it, it'll provide a much-needed boost to my morale. Other towns in the northwest have fallen, and I'm now fanning partisans out south of the Dniepr. Still, my positions are all very weak. I've been advancing into a vacuum, more or less, and even now I need to call forces away from the northwest to deal with the Greens.

Ah, yes. GREENS ARE EVERYWHERE!



For those of you who don't know, Greens represent peasant uprisings, general banditry, and more organized forces not allied with either the Whites or the Reds. And right now, a huge series of uprisings has hit central Russia, paralyzing my railroad networks around Moscow. The newly built force I had earmarked to reinforce Ukraine is going to have to run around suppressing these forces and repairing railroads for a few months.

This damn game gets harder every turn.. Fingers so very, very crossed...

[Terminus]

Interesting predicament you find yourself in there... In the ancient Chinese way...

[nicwb]

Great read - just what I love about the Russian civil war - borderline chaos !

[Alikchi2]

Thanks guys!

Turn 22: Late April 1919

I'll make this update short, as I have a new turn sitting in the inbox. First, the Ukraine:



The two most important cities in Ukraine are Kharkov and Kiev. As you can see, my attempt on Kiev failed (stupid Budyenny) and I lost Kharkov to Shkuro's White Wolves. Just a bad turn.

The White Wolves are tough, but they're a small cavalry force nonetheless. I'm combining all my boys who just attempted Kiev into one force under S.S. Kamenev. He'll ride the captured Ukrainian railroads east to Kharkov and try to take the place back. Due north from Kharkov is the Moscow railroad.. can't let them get an early toehold there, can we?

Oh, here's something interesting:



Tambov is on the rail line north of Tzaritsyn (which is now firmly in White hands, sadly enough). Right now it's the sight of a three-sided battle between Blucher's infantry-heavy army, Egorov's cossacks, and a Green peasant militia. So far it's a bloody stalemate.





Here's one bit of good news. Remember the White Northwestern Army that I was so concerned about? Threatening Petrograd? Well, Bonch-Bruevich tracked them down near their base at Pskov and inflicted a nice little defeat in a series of small battles. I do feel content with this front.

The problem is, well, everywhere else. I'm building units as fast as I can and sending them out as emergency detachments. I've got plenty of men, but no cash - I'm broke! To raise more money, I've had to compromise on national morale, which makes my armies weaker in the field...

[Alikchi2]

Turn 23: Early May 1919

Things are getting rougher every turn. I'm starting to see why my history books call 1919 the "YEAR OF THE WHITES".

Anywho. I didn't post a screenshot of the Eastern front last turn because nothing had changed since the enemy was repulsed at Penza. I figured that the stalemate would persist.



I was wrong!



The result: my line is totally unhinged. Trotsky is falling back, he'll meet Blucher (who has cleared Tambov) and try to recapitulate his force. Tukhachevsky and Vatsetis will pull back as well and try to form a new line west of the Volga. This is not good!

This is not good, either:



Miller hit Antonov-Ovseenko with British support this time and outnumbered him quite thoroughly. A-O fell in battle, British and White aeroplanes strafed and bombed, and the routed troops are now dispersed in the forest. Another disaster.



This is a zoomed out view of the whole Western theatre. As you can see, Bonch-Baruevich suffered a repulse himself, although at least he's still alive. The boys are retreating north towards the Estonian border. Meanwhile, with both of my main forces here in trouble, a new force - 3 divisions under Stalin and Voroshilov, both recently disgraced - is heading west from Moscow to cover Petrograd.

Oh yes, and Kamenev's attempt on Kharkov failed. Argh!


I have to say, it's pretty gloomy here at SOVNARKOM. We have taken counsel of our fears. The Whites are advancing on every front and new Green revolts pop up every day. The Soviet State may not survive this test.

I'm just trading space for time. Or rather, I'm having space taken from me, and I hope I'll have enough time!

[Alikchi2]

The Soviet Republic continues to resist the last dreams of the old world.

Turns 24 + 25: Late May - Early June 1919



The Whites are closer to Petrograd than they've ever been, and right now, only Stalin stands in their way. Shudder.



Those five innocuous green pips represent a dagger pointed straight my heart. Once again, it's down to the wire. Can Stalin hold? His record seems to say no. If he can last one turn, Bonch-Baruevich and the remnants of Antonov-Ovseenko's force can join him. We'll just have to see.

I do have some good news this turn, however. Kharkov is ours once again!



I've learned my lesson. Instead of dispersing and trying to hold a line all across the Dniepr, I'm sending the partisans out to raise havoc across the breadth of the Ukraine and holding Kamenev and the main force here in Kharkov to fortify this most important position. Ukraine will remain a battleground for a while yet - although the Whites are moving up my eastern flank, into Voronezh.



This is a shot of the evacuation of Astrakhan. As you can see, Denikin's coming at us with a large force. The division under Kirov holding the city would be annihilated or forced to retreat into what is essentially a desert. I've therefore picked them up with the southern Volga flotilla and run them into the Caspian. I have plans for these guys..

Oh, one last thing. The most important thing!



I've planned a three-sided counterstroke to the enemy at Penza. As you can see, Trotsky and his men never retreated. They've fought a bloody street battle for weeks now. I'm hoping that the Siberians in Penza are tired enough that the sight of 3 convering Red forces all arriving within a 2 day timeframe of each other causes them.. well, extreme discomfort.

[Alikchi2]

Turns 26 + 27: Late June - Early July 1919

All Out for the Fight Against Denikin!


Comrades,

This is one of the most critical, probably even the most critical moment for the socialist revolution. Those who defend the exploiters, the landowners and capitalists, in Russia and abroad (primarily in Britain and France) are making a desperate effort to restore the power of those who seize the results of the people’s labour, the landowners and exploiters of Russia, in order to bolster up their power, which is waning all over the world.

The foreign capitalists are now making a desperate effort to restore the yoke of capital by means of an onslaught by Denikin, whom they have supplied with officers, shells, tanks, etc., etc.

All the forces of the workers and peasants, all the forces of the Soviet Republic, must be harnessed to repulse Denikin’s onslaught and to defeat him.

SOVNARKOM

This is another two-turn update. Let's have a look at the results of the Penza battle.



The first battle, from 6-8 June, was a rather bloody defeat for our boys, but they held fast and failed to retreat, keeping the enemy pinned in at Penza. Trotsky rushed in from the north with further reinforcements in an attempt to hold the enemy at the town.



Unfortunately, even with reinforcements and the inspiring leadership of Trotsky, the second battle - on the 18th - was a disaster. The Whites are taking half or less of the Red casualties - that ratio cannot stand.




Cursing the blood-soaked town, sight of so many Red defeats, Trotsky orders a retrograde maneuever.

I'm not sure what to do in this theatre, now. The Siberians are firmly over the Volga (except in the far north, where the Latvians still hold Kazan).I have a large force, but it has just been soundly defeated. I can only hope that my enemy gives me a chance to pause for breath. Timoshenko is on his way with 20,000 fresh troops, but he needs time to repair railroads and clean Green peasant-militias out of his path. In the meantime, defend and delay.

So, that's the east. The Ukraine was quiet - Kirov, Budyenny and Kamenev seem to have it under control. What about the North?



Stalin and Voroshilov have granted us a victory! Miller's merry men came down from Karelia and tried to push Stalin and his blocking force back into Petrograd. Stalin pushed back - hard. That's a lot of units eliminated.



With one of the two White forces badly mauled, and the other force cut off from its base of supply (through careful maneuvering of Bonch-Bruevich's force), we are presented with a splendid opportunity to destroy the Northern and Northwestern White Armies in detail. Stalin will move out of his blocking position at Tsarskoye Selo and try to finish off Miller. This runs the risk of exposing Petrograd, but the garrison of the city can defend it against the NW Army operating independently. Bonch will keep the lines of retreat for said army firmly blocked while Stalin deals with Miller.

If I can clean up this front and eliminate the threat to Petrograd once and for all, I'll have lots of reinforcements for other fronts! And I NEED those reinforcements...

[Terminus]

Interesting how Trotskij keeps losing to supposedly inferior generals, whilst Stalin just beat one who should be better than him.

[Alikchi2]

Yeah, a lot of it comes down to unit quality and details that don't appear in the basic battle report screenshots. It's nice that the battle sim is complex enough to make every fight a little risky. [:)]

[Terminus]

Going by the combat report you posted, Miller should have won that one. I don't remember his traits, but has he got "Snatch Defeat From The Jaws Of Victory"?