Russian Civil War - January 1919 From: gil@gatech.edu (Gil Neiger) Date: Thu, 25 May 1989 13:43:38 +0000 January 1919 COUP RUMORS IN PETROGRAD AND MOSCOW --- REDS CONSOLIDATE WHITES PREPARE ANOTHER ASSAULT FROM THE UKRAINE NICHOLAS CONTINUES TO ELUDE KOLCHAK TRANSCAUCASIA DECLARES INDEPENDENCE Rumors of coups abound in both Petrograd and Moscow this winter, as the Red armies struggle to bring themselves together after last year's terrible epidemics. Lenin recalled Budyenny's forces from Orel, where they were squared off against Denikin, and Trotsky recalled Voroshilov from Kursk, where he and Stalin had beaten off an ill-coordinated White assault from the Ukraine. Huge troop concentrations have been reported in both cities, and many suspect that major purges are likely. Three members of Bela Kun's faction in the Politburo have turned up in Moscow, demanding that Trotsky and Tukhachevsky justify their actions in the city's defense. In the meantime, all White forces have withdrawn from greater Russia, hoping to reorganize in the Ukraine. Denikin has taken command of the Volunteer Army (formerly led by the late May-Maevsky), and he and Krasnov are stationed in Kharkov, ready for a renewed drive on Kursk and Orel. Yudenich, commanding the remainder of the White's Baltic squadrons, slipped by Bela Kun in Pskov, and stands beside Denikin in the Ukraine. Baron Wrangel has also gone south, and he and his troops are now outside of Kherson, hoping to link up with the French interventionist forces there. Other large White concentrations have been reported in the Kuban. Romanovsky remains the renegade White commander. He spent most of the last three months riding the rails, trying (unsuccessfully) to attract White troops to his harebrained schemes to emigrate to Paris and become a movie star. In the mountains of western Siberia, Admiral Kolchak has led another valiant effort to liberate Czar Nicholas. Once again, however, the Imperial family was spirited out at the last minute, this time through the Urals and back to Ekaterinburg. But Kolchak was not completely unsuccessful. His agents sought out Blucher in Perm and terminated him (recall that Blucher and his troops had control of the Czar until recently). Kolchak and Dutov have the Ekaterinburg garrison surrounded in the mountains, and it is thought (by the ignorant few) that the Red troops in Siberia are close to surrender. The hopes of these troops are pinned on the subversion of Czech forces still guarding the rail lines in Omsk and Chelyabinsk. The recent evacuation of greater Russia by the Whites is thought the make the Czech's subversion much more likely. A surprise development of the late fall was the independence of the Transcaucasian Republic. General Sivers, the leading Red commissar in the area, led his troops out and into the Ukraine, and in doing so granted the troubled region its liberty. When asked why he was willing to let the Armenians, Georgians, and Azerbaijanis leave the Red fold, he replied, "Let 'em fight it out now! Why wait 70 years?" Sivers, who commands the grateful loyalty of the Transcaucasian militias, has brought his armies into Yekaterinoslav, hoping to subvert the interventionists in the Ukraine before they can drive on Mother Russia. However, his troops are now caught in a ring of White armies; his only hope of escape may be the forces of Markin and Kalnin, who recently marched south into the Cossack areas around the Don river. GAME STATUS: Note the following correction to last turn's announcements: the random events roll 1/2 resulted in an epidemic in Kiev, eliminating the (neutral) GU4 KIEV/UK. Also, the Green unit in Kherson is GU2 KHER/UK, not GU2 KIEV/UK. Players were informed. Finally, the Blue Czech units in Chelyabinsk and Omsk are BU3's, not BU2's. Mike Collier is away until late June. Until further notice, his position will be played by John Schmidt, "jschmidt@antares.tymnet.com". Mike has informed John of his overall strategy, so John should be able to proceed without any loss of continuity. The moves for this turn were made by Mike Collier. MOVES: Player A (John Schmidt - jschmidt@antares.tymnet.com): PETR: RL3 Lenin hold NOVG: RL1 Gaii hold TVER: RL1 Sytin => NOVG (stack under Gaii) KURS: RL2 Budyenny (RU3 OREL), RL1 Sorokin (RU4 TULA) => CHER => SMOL => PSKO => PETR (stack under Lenin) PENZ: WL3 Wrangel (WU4 ASTR, WU2 KIRG, WU2 URLK) => SARA => DCOS => YEKA => KHER ASTR: WL1 Sidorin (WU3 STAV) hold KRAS: RL1 Bogomoletz (RU2 KRAS) hold Player B (Rick Heli - elric@sun.com): OLON: RL1 Bonch-Bruevich (RU3 OLON), RL1 Berzin, RL2 Frunze => PETR => PSKO => TVER TVER: RL3 Trotsky (attach RU8 TVER) hold RL2 Tukhachevsky (RU8 NOVG) hold (stack under Trotsky) OREL: RL2 Voroshilov (RU6 KURS), RL1 Stalin, RL1 Slavin, RL1 Sablin => SMOL => TVER CHIT: RL1 Kikvidze => IRKU => KRAS => NOVO Player C (Eric Lindberg - lindberg@topo.genrad.com OR topo!lindberg@sun.com): KHAR: WL1 Romanovsky (RAIL) => YEKA => DCOS => ASTR => STAV => ASTR => DCOS => KUBA => KUTA => TIFL => KUTA => KUBA => DCOS => YEKA => TAUR => YEKA => DCOS => ASTR => STAV PERM: RL1 Blucher (RU2 EKAT) ASSASSINATED RL2 Vatzetis (CZAR, RU3 YARO) => OREN (attach RU4 VITE) => URLS => EKAT OREN: RL1 Antonov (RU4 VITE) (detach RU4 VITE) hold RL2 Zinoviev (RU6 SMOL) hold (stack under Antonov) DAGH: RL1 Sivers (RU2 YELI) => TERE => STAV => DCOS => YEKA Player D (Rand Hoven - rand@apollo.com): LIVO: WL1 Yudenich (WU2 LIVO) => PSKO => SMOL => CHER => POLT SAMA: WL1 Abramov (WU3 YEKA), WL1 Chatilov (WU2 SAMA) => UFA => PERM (stack under Kolchak) EKAT: WL1 Dutov (GOLD, WU3 OMSK, WU2 OREN) => PERM WL2 Kolchak => PERM WL1 Kappel => CHEL (attach WU3 CHEL) TIFL: WL1 Ulagi (attach WU2 TIFL) => TERE => ASTR => SAMA => UFA => PERM (stack under Dutov) Player E (Chris Christensen - cnc@hpdtc.dtc.hp.com): VITE: RL1 Bela Kun (RU3 GROD), RL1 Muraviev (RU4 PSKO) => PSKO YARO: RL1 Peterson, RL1 Kamenev, RL1 Smirnov => TVER SIMB: RL1 Markin (RU2 KAZA), RL1 Kalnin (RU3 KALU), RL1 Yesorov => SARA => DCOS Player F (John Delaney - delaney@xn.ll.mit.edu): MINS: GU2 MINS/BY => MOHI VITE: GU2 VITE/BY => MOHI (stack under GU2 VITE/BY) OREL: WL3 Denikin (WU4 KUBA, WU2 SARA) (detach WU2 SARA) => VORO => KHAR (attach WU6 KHAR) WL1 Krasnov (WU8 DCOS) => VORO => KHAR (stack under Denikin) RYAZ: WL1 Miller (WU2 ARCH) => VORO => DCOS => KUBA WL1 Khanzin => VORO => DCOS => YEKA => TAUR (attach WU4 TAUR) => KUBA (stack under Miller) KIRG: WL1 Markov (WU2 TERE) => ASTR => DCOS (detach WU2 TERE) => KUBA (stack under Khanzin) CHIT: WL1 Dieterichs => IRKU ASSASSINATION: Player D targeted RL1 Blucher with one AM (Vera F.). Blucher's path included Perm, where many of Player D's leaders ended their turn. The die roll was 10 - 1 (Blucher) = 9 and the assassination was successful. Blucher was assassinated in Perm, and his combat unit (RU2 EKAT) is left leaderless there. PURGES: No purges were ordered this turn. The Central Committee consists of Players A and E. RANDOM EVENTS: First Roll: 5 Draw from Randomizer. Player C receives the TC control marker. Second Roll: 4/2 Epidemic in Finland; GU6 FINL/FN is lost. Third Roll: 6 Subversive attacks doubled (no effect; they are already doubled). CURRENT POSITIONS: Note that Player B has three stacks in Tver and Player D has two stacks in Perm. Player A (Schmidt): KHER: WL3 Wrangel (WU4 ASTR, WU2 KIRG, WU2 URLK) PETR: RL3 Lenin, RL2 Budyenny (RU3 OREL), RL1 Sorokin (RU4 TULA) 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 (Heli): TVER: RL3 Trotsky (RU8 TVER), RL2 Tukhachevsky (RU8 NOVG) RL1 Bonch-Bruevich (RU3 OLON), RL1 Berzin, RL2 Frunze RL2 Voroshilov (RU6 KURS), RL1 Stalin, RL1 Slavin, RL1 Sablin NOVO: RL1 Kikvidze V. BOX: 3 PM BU2 404/GE Player C (Lindberg): YEKA: RL1 Sivers (RU2 YELI) STAV: WL1 Romanovsky OREN: RL1 Antonov, RL2 Zinoviev (RU6 SMOL) BAKU: GU2 BAKU/TC DAGH: GU2 DAGH/TC EKAT: RL2 Vatzetis (CZAR, RU4 VITE, RU3 YARO) V. BOX: 2 PM 1 AM (Georgi E.) TC control WL1 May-Maevsky, WL1 Lukomsky BU3 424/CZ Player D (Hoven): 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 (Christensen): 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 (Delaney): 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 UNCONTROLLED UNITS: FINL: GU6 FINL/FN, GU6 FINL/FN ESTO: GU2 ESTO/BA LIVO: GU2 LIVO/BA COUR: GU2 COUR/BA KOVN: GU2 KOVN/BA POLA: GU6 POLA/PO, GU6 POLA/PO, GU6 POLA/PO KHER: GU2 KHER/UK BU2 407/FR, BU2 408/FR, BU2 409/FR BU1 410/GR BU1 411/HU BU1 412/RM KHAR: GU2 KHAR/UK ARCH: BU2 415/BR BU2 418/US OREL: WU2 SARA PERM: RU2 EKAT DCOS: WU2 TERE BAKU: BU2 413/BR ERIV: BU2 414/BR OMSK: BU3 422/CZ CHEL: BU3 423/CZ VLDV: GU2 VLDV/SB BU2 416/US, BU2 417/US V. BOX: GU6 FINL/FN, GU4 KIEV/UK, RU8 PETR, RU4 VLDM, RU3 BAKU, GU2 IRKU/SB, GU2 CHIT/SB, RU2 VLDV, WU2 VLDV 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: 32 15 Player B: 48 0 Player C: 30 6 Player D: 5 32 Player E: 30 0 Player F: 0 32 Turn 2 attacks (March 1919 orders) are due by 12 NOON EDT, TUESDAY MAY 30 1989. These should include: 1. Trades. Only Assassin and Politburo Markers may be traded. 2. Election of the Central Committee. Players with Politburo Markers may choose to change the composition of the Central Committee. 3. Attacks. Players should specify which of their stacks are attacking which opposing stacks in the same province. Red units may alternatively attack Blue units (subversively) in an adjacent province. Attackers anticipating the possibility of an exchange should specify which units are to be lost in that event. Subversive attacks are doubled in this turn. 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