Russian Civil War - March 1919 From: gil@gatech.edu (Gil Neiger) Date: Wed, 31 May 1989 13:36:16 +0000 March 1919 THE CZAR IS DEAD! LONG LIVE THE PEOPLE! INTERVENTIONIST FORCES LEAVE EN MASSE! STRUGGLE IN POLITBURO ENDS IN TROTSKY'S FAVOR The early part of this winter witnessed a continuation of the long pursuit Admiral Kolchak of the Red forces holding Czar Nicholas and the Imperial family. In December General Blucher was assassinated, and the forces of Vatzetis escaped from Kolchak to Ekaterinburg at the last minute. By the end of January (1919), news of these events reached Petrograd. Realizing that the capture of the Czar by White forces would be a great blow to the Bolsheviks, Lenin hastily called a meeting of the Politburo. After very little debate, over 85% of the Politburo members voted to authorize the execution of the Czar. By the middle of March, word of the order reached Vatzetis in Siberia. Without hesitation, Vatzetis himself shot each member of the Imperial, with the exception of the Countess Anastasia, whom he took as concubine. The loss of the Czar significantly decreased the perceived legitimacy of the White efforts to rally international support to their cause. Even before the execution, the remaining Czech forces in Siberia had been persuaded to disband and repatriate to Czechoslovakia through Moscow. Greek forces in the Ukraine mutinied and are returning to Athens. Following the execution, the French and American governments each elected to withdraw their forces, although neither has recognized the Bolshevik government. Although the Politburo showed great unity when it came to deciding the Czar's fate, it was anything but unified in other matters. Lenin and Bela Kun, leaders of the Central Committee, continued to bring charges against Trotsky, again criticizing his conduct in the defense of Moscow. Trotsky and his supporters pointed out the Lenin was behind the times, and unaware that not only had Trotsky brought three huge armies into the province of Tver, but that all White forces, with the exception of a leaderless Cossack regiment in Orel, had left central Russia. After much squabbling, Trotsky's toadies won the debate. General Sorokin had his troops from Tula elected to leave Lenin's camp and join Trotsky. It is expected that debate over dominance in the Politburo will continue throughout the year. GAME STATUS: Note that John Schmidt continues to act as Player A. Player B's stacks in Tver were incorrectly reported in last turn. They are correct reported below; players were informed. COMBAT: Subversive Attacks (doubled): KHER: C - RL1 Sivers (RU2 YELI) in YEKA against BU1 410/GR (N) 6:1 - 6 - DE - BU1 410/GR OMSK: C - RL2 Vatzetis (RU4 VITE, RU3 YARO) in EKAT against BU3 422/CZ (N) 6:1 - 2 - DE - BU3 422/CZ CHEL: C - RL1 Antonov, RL2 Zinoviev (RU6 SMOL) in OREN against BU3 423/CZ (N) 6:1 - 1 - DE - BU3 423/CZ Normal Attacks: KHAR: E - WL3 Denikin (WU4 KUBA, WU6 KHAR), WL1 Krasnov (WU8 DCOS) against GU2 KHAR/UK (N) 6:1 - 3 - DE - GU2 KHAR/UK PERM: D - WL2 Kolchak, WL1 Abramov (WU3 YEKA), WL1 Chatilov (WU2 SAMA); WL1 Dutov (WU3 OMSK, WU2 OREN), WL1 Ulagi (WU2 TIFL) against RU2 EKAT (N) 6:1 - 2 - DE - RU2 EKAT PURGES: Players A and E chose to purge Player E, with 27 purge points (17 leader points plus 10 PM's). The die roll was 9, yielding a counterpurge. Player B counterpurged Player A with 21 purge points (15 leader points plus 2 PM's doubled). The die roll was 9, yielding another counterpurge. Player A counterpurged Player B with 19 purge points (9 leader points plus 5 PM's doubled). The die roll was 12, yielding another counterpurge. Player B again counterpurged with 21 purge points. The die roll was 8, yielding one point. RL1 Sorokin (with RU4 TULA), in Petrograd, was transferred from Player A to Player B. EXECUTION: Players A, C, and E voted to execute the Czar. Their combined 13 PM's is sufficient to make this order legal. Player C agreed to execute the Czar. The Czar is dead! RANDOMIZER: Player A: AM Player B: AM Player C: AM Player D: US OUT - all U.S. forces withdraw Player E: AM Player F: AM REPLACEMENTS: The following combat units are replaced in their home provinces: RU2 EKAT, GU6 FINL/FN, GU4 KIEV/UK, RU8 PETR, RU4 VLDM, GU2 CHIT/SB RANDOM EVENTS: First Roll: 2/5 Epidemic in Courland; GU2 COUR/BA is lost Epidemic in Kovno; GU2 KOVN/BA is lost Second Roll: 4/6 FR OUT chosen from randomizer - all French forces withdraw Third Roll: 2/2 Epidemic in Daghestan; GU2 DAGH/TC is lost CURRENT POSITIONS: Player A (John Schmidt - jschmidt@antares.tymnet.com): KHER: WL3 Wrangel (WU4 ASTR, WU2 KIRG, WU2 URLK) PETR: RL3 Lenin, RL2 Budyenny (RU3 OREL) NOVG: RL1 Gaii, RL1 Sytin ASTR: WL1 Sidorin (WU3 STAV) KRAS: RL1 Bogomoletz (RU2 KRAS) V. BOX: 5 PM 1 AM (Boris D.) WL1 Rodzyanko, WL1 Kutepov WU2 ESTO Player B (Rick Heli - elric@sun.com): PETR: RL1 Sorokin (RU4 TULA) TVER: RL3 Trotsky (RU8 TVER), RL2 Tukhachevsky RL2 Frunze (RU6 KURS, RU3 OLON), RL1 Berzin, RL1 Bonch-Bruevich RL2 Voroshilov (RU8 NOVG), RL1 Stalin, RL1 Slavin, RL1 Sablin NOVO: RL1 Kikvidze V. BOX: 3 PM BU2 404/GE Player C (Eric Lindberg - lindberg@topo.genrad.com or topo!lindberg@sun.com): YEKA: RL1 Sivers (RU2 YELI) STAV: WL1 Romanovsky OREN: RL1 Antonov, RL2 Zinoviev (RU6 SMOL) BAKU: GU2 BAKU/TC EKAT: RL2 Vatzetis (RU4 VITE, RU3 YARO) V. BOX: 2 PM 1 AM (Georgi E.) TC control CZAR WL1 May-Maevsky, WL1 Lukomsky BU1 410/GR, BU3 422/CZ, BU3 423/CZ, BU3 424/CZ Player D (Rand Hoven - rand@apollo.com): POLT: WL1 Yudenich (WU2 LIVO) PERM: WL2 Kolchak, WL1 Abramov (WU3 YEKA), WL1 Chatilov (WU2 SAMA) WL1 Dutov (GOLD, WU3 OMSK, WU2 OREN), WL1 Ulagi (WU2 TIFL) CHEL: WL1 Kappel (WU3 CHEL) V. BOX: RL1 Rykov, RL1 Blucher Player E (Chris Christensen - cnc@hpdtc.dtc.hp.com): PSKO: RL1 Bela Kun (RU3 GROD), RL1 Muraviev (RU4 PSKO) TVER: RL1 Peterson, RL1 Kamenev, RL1 Smirnov DCOS: RL1 Markin (RU2 KAZA), RL1 Kalnin (RU3 KALU), RL1 Yesorov V. BOX: 5 PM Player F (John Delaney - delaney@xn.ll.mit.edu): MOHI: GU2 MINS/BY, GU2 VITE/BY KHAR: WL3 Denikin (WU4 KUBA, WU6 KHAR), WL1 Krasnov (WU8 DCOS) KUBA: WL1 Miller (WU2 ARCH), WL1 Khanzin (WU4 TAUR), WL1 Markov IRKU: WL1 Dieterichs V. BOX: BY control GU2 KHAR/UK UNCONTROLLED UNITS: FINL: GU6 FINL/FN, GU6 FINL/FN, GU6 FINL/FN ESTO: GU2 ESTO/BA LIVO: GU2 LIVO/BA POLA: GU6 POLA/PO, GU6 POLA/PO, GU6 POLA/PO KIEV: GU4 KIEV/UK KHER: GU2 KHER/UK BU1 411/HU BU1 412/RM PETR: RU8 PETR VLDM: RU4 VLDM ARCH: BU2 415/BR OREL: WU2 SARA DCOS: WU2 TERE BAKU: BU2 413/BR ERIV: BU2 414/BR EKAT: RU2 EKAT CHIT: GU2 CHIT/SB VLDV: GU2 VLDV/SB V. BOX: RU3 BAKU, GU2 IRKU/SB, RU2 VLDV, WU2 VLDV, GU2 COUR/BA, GU2 KOVN/BA, GU2 DAGH/TC VICTORY STATUS: The following gives two numbers for each player. The first is the number of victory points the player would get if there were a Red victory (right now). The second is the number of points the player would get if there were a White victory: Player A: 27 15 Player B: 53 0 Player C: 42 1 Player D: 5 32 Player E: 30 0 Player F: 2 34 Turn 3 moves (June 1919 orders) are due by 3PM EDT, WEDNESDAY JUNE 14, 1989. These should include: 1. Trades. Only Assassin and Politburo Markers may be traded. 2. Change of the Central Committee. Players with Politburo Markers may choose to change the composition of the Central Committee. No orders are necessary to retain the current composition of the Central Committee. 3. Movement & Assassination. Players can specify the movement of their leader and attached combat and imperial units. Be sure to specify which units are attached to which leaders, and what units constitute the stacks, and in what order. Assassination orders will be carried out during the movement phase as indicated in the rules. 4. Purges. Players on the Central Committee may submit purge orders. See rules Section 11.0 (including notes in my house rules). Players can be as specific as they like regarding the selection and division of spoils. If no selection of spoils is provided, then I will choose spoils randomly (i.e., tell me what leader you want if you get one, or else I'll give you one randomly). Up