Past 1920: An AAR midway - on

[Lynxyonok]

The biggest threat Reds face - at least under my rule - is overextension; front and forward armies pack a punch, yet once they pass and enemy potentially takes over a few areas, rearguard may be helpless.

[Lynxyonok]

Anarchists eventually just outlive their usefulness. But why attack them?

[Lynxyonok]

Reds make the first incursion into the easternmost region of former Russian empire.

[Lynxyonok]

French Fleet - the last remaining major White naval stack - is zapped off Crimea, and 4 armored cruisers go down.

[Lynxyonok]

Red forces finally storm Erevan; there is a possibility of retaking Bucuresti as well. Vladivostok offensive has slowed down upon coming across a particularly strong Eastern White stack.

P.S. Over 2M dead in this game already...

[Lynxyonok]

Once again, the famous pattern emerges: my front troops break through and forth, and White flank and wipe out rearguard garrisons. Therefore, the strategy is to knock out all the cities in an area to prevent unit and supply creation for the enemy.

[Lynxyonok]

For an unknown reason, a massive White stack protecting North Vladivostok approaches disappears or leaves, and Reds finally have the chance to advance towards Khabarovsk. 12 turns to go, shall we try for Vladivostok?

[Lynxyonok]

Reds retake Bucuresti in an epic battle - the first army sent there in 1921 was nearly annihilated - and thus the only White objective on the map is Vladivostok.

This battle also yields the first Red general with all 9 experience stars: Kork.

[Lynxyonok]

To support massive Red armies advancing on every front, supply infrastructure is essential, especially as White raiders keep cutting rail links. Here you see a string of 5 level 4 depots attempting to support invasion of Far East (Vladivostok); it's not enough.

[ERISS]

Anarchists eventually just outlive their usefulness. But why attack them?

Andatiep, to please players, White fans and leftists Left-SR and Makhno fans, had added to the game the "cool", quite anti-historical versions of White and Red: 'Democratic' White and 'Democratic' Red, possibly White allied, and anarchists let nicely alone.
About anarchists, it's really wrong, as the few times (2 months?) bolcheviks and left-SR were both in power, they then attacked the anarchists (starting April 1918, IIRC). So if bolcheviks were nice, sharing the power with SR instead of banning them, it should change nothing for the makhnovist fate in the end... Being banned, the Left-SR cried and joined the green and the anarchist, despite when in power they had made like the bolsheviks...
Bolsheviks (and SR) can't let the anarchists alone, as people prefer to rule themselves than being told what to do by the comissars and tcheka of the party. So, Red had to destroy the ANA organisations so people don't join them. Only the few waged workers, used to be paid by the bourgeoisy, may prefer to continue being enslaved by the red governement, bolsheviks which went being the new bourgeoisiy as their party had took their lion-share place (that's marxism, a paradoxal capitalism).

French Fleet - the last remaining major White naval stack - is zapped off Crimea, and 4 armored cruisers go down.

I guess in french newpapers, it is told in back pages with few lines, telling "Red had traiterously attacked the french navy as she was nicely coming back to France".

forces. Over 2M dead in this game already...

Once again, the famous pattern emerges: my front troops break through and forth, and White flank and wipe out rearguard garrisons.

The fronts in this war are huge, compared to the armies size. None can well controle the zones.

[Lynxyonok]

Central Asia remains a hotbed even 11 turns before the end of the game. 2 white stack near Khiva. A massive Green stack that has been hiding all the way by Caspian Sea and is only now joining the fray.

My recon force suddenly feels like hobbits when they had awakened goblins in Lord of the Rings' Morea.

[Lynxyonok]

Andatiep, to please players, White fans and leftists Left-SR and Makhno fans, had added to the game the "cool", quite anti-historical versions of White and Red: 'Democratic' White and 'Democratic' Red, possibly White allied, and anarchists let nicely alone.
About anarchists, it's really wrong, as the few times (2 months?) bolcheviks and left-SR were both in power, they then attacked the anarchists (starting April 1918, IIRC). So if bolcheviks were nice, sharing the power with SR instead of banning them, it should change nothing for the makhnovist fate in the end... Being banned, the Left-SR cried and joined the green and the anarchist, despite when in power they had made like the bolsheviks...
Bolsheviks (and SR) can't let the anarchists alone, as people prefer to rule themselves than being told what to do by the comissars and tcheka of the party. So, Red had to destroy the ANA organisations so people don't join them. Only the few waged workers, used to be paid by the bourgeoisy, may prefer to continue being enslaved by the red governement, bolsheviks which went being the new bourgeoisiy as their party had took their lion-share place (that's marxism, a paradoxal capitalism).

Essentially I do realize I have to do the right thing "ally" anarchists and then attack them the next turn to keep the spirit of the game going. However, I simply don't have the resources to pull that off successfully. I may try anyway, just for the sake of history.

I guess in french newpapers, it is told in back pages with few lines, telling "Red had traiterously attacked the french navy as she was nicely coming back to France".

In fairness, these could have been White ships, and they only turned blue due to admiral in charge. There are still 2 BBs sneaking about, one of them General Kornilov...

priest-solodkov-the-ships-doctor-and-the-ships-cat-on-the-deck-of-kagul-renamed-ochakov-later-general-kornilov-bizerta-1921.jpg (810.26 KiB) Viewed 5490 times

The fronts in this war are huge, compared to the armies size. None can well controle the zones.

Agreed, and I've constantly had to weigh in having stronger reserves versus having actually capable forward armies. Since the game is objective-based, the latter stance prevailed. So I would hold Warsaw and Omsk while Moscow is being besieged. SMH.

[Lynxyonok]

Ural region remains firmly in White hands. Orenburg has been taken, long enough to slide a couple of corps to Central Asia, but that link is severed again. Red Navy has become instrumental in keeping Eastern Whites at bay. I have attempted to venture in the area, but without all-cavalry armies it's not an option due to supply.

[Lynxyonok]

Anarchists do become a sledgehammer by the end of the game. One main stack, a few other ones in West Ukraine - all they need is 1-2 turns to recover in a Ekaterinoslav province, and off to another raid they go.

[Lynxyonok]

End-game Red build strategy is all about supply: bateaux for ports, supply units for cities without a port.

And, of course, at times it makes business sense to build meaningless depots in the rear only to free up a supply unit back to the build pool so that it can be recreated at the frontier.

[ERISS]

I have to do the right thing "ally" anarchists and then attack them the next turn to keep the spirit of the game going. However, I simply don't have the resources to pull that off successfully. I may try anyway, just for the sake of history.

Do as you please. Moreover that you let the makhnovists grow, what had try to prevent the bolsheviks and it was difficult for them in the end to kill this free soviet organisation of east Ukraine. Some say some groups of makhovists had survived until 1930's.
So, in your game it should be almost impossible to do as History, you'll have to wait for Stalin to let the tcheka killing the ukraine economy and prevent the ukrainians from eating (what Lenin/Trotsky had already done a little in 20's).

Anarchists off to another raid they go.

They had raid the GHQ in Taganrog, very end of 1919: Denikin, instead of entering Moscow, had to hide from some makhnovists entering his base far from it. (among many other raids on all south-white logistics)
" (...) General Mai-Mayevsky, the former commander of the Volunteer Army, stated in a speech on the day after Orel was captured that he would be in Moscow with his troops "not later than the end of December, by Christmas 1919."
The Denikinites were so self-confident that already in October Donets capitalists were offering a prize of one million rubles (in tsarist money) to the regiment of the Volunteer Army which first entered Moscow. . . .
But it was the will of fate that this plan, too, should fail. Denikin's troops were hurled back beyond the Poltava-Kupyansk-Chertkovo line. (...)
This time, too, Russia remained safe and sound.
The failure of the counter-revolutionaries this time was so unexpected and sudden that the vanquishers of imperialist Germany, the old wolves of the Entente, were obliged publicly to declare that "Bolshevism cannot be conquered by force of arms." The confusion of the imperialist fakirs was such that they lost the faculty of discerning the real causes of the defeat of the counter-revolution, and began to compare Russia, now with "shifting sands" where even the "very best general" was sure to fail, now with a "boundless desert" where even the "best armies" were sure to perish.
II CAUSES OF THE DEFEAT OF THE COUNTER-REVOLUTION
What are the causes of the defeat of the counterrevolution, and of Denikin in the first place?
A) The instability of the rear of the counter-revolutionary forces. No army in the world can be victorious without a stable rear. Well, Denikin's rear (and Kol-chak's too) is quite unstable. (...)"
It's funny how the marxists do not talk about the important military role "will of fate" of maknovists (not a word) in the defense of russian people (Trotsky just said they were bunch of White cowards able of nothing more than doing pogroms, so the tcheka wrote this saint speeches in archives, rediscorvered after the fall of the Berlin wall in 80's, and then taken as hidden truth by sub-historians writing the Black Book of Communism..).

In fairness, these could have been White ships, and they only turned blue due to admiral in charge.

Or they may even be english ships

[Lynxyonok]

Do as you please. Moreover that you let the makhnovists grow, what had try to prevent the bolsheviks and it was difficult for them in the end to kill this free soviet organisation of east Ukraine. Some say some groups of makhovists had survived until 1930's.
So, in your game it should be almost impossible to do as History, you'll have to wait for Stalin to let the tcheka killing the ukraine economy and prevent the ukrainians from eating (what Lenin/Trotsky had already done a little in 20's).

A great suggestion. This said, I have failed to amass proper resources to deal with Anarchists, and now I'm out of time; I may replay the game, intentionally abandoning 4 objectives (as Reds only need 20 of 24 to win) and thus concentrating more men in Ukraine. I just need to decide which 4 (Vladivostok, Omsk, Bucharest, Helsinki come to mind).

A) The instability of the rear of the counter-revolutionary forces. No army in the world can be victorious without a stable rear. Well, Denikin's rear (and Kol-chak's too) is quite unstable. (...)"[/i]

These are such Golden (capitalization intentional) words. I had failed there. I had given up my near-front rearguard - and as a result my supply situation was quite rough. Keeping rearguard (perhaps, Light INF + MP + Commissar) combinations is essential, as neither of three can train, and thus as expendable?

Or they may even be english ships

Interesting. And quite possible. Just like some Czechs magically stay on the frontlines after the withdrawals, so could some Brits... I gotta play Whites next (successfully, not like I've tried many times already).

[Lynxyonok]

Late in the game, rail becomes the true precious currency. When all the rail boosts of 1919-1920 run out, when armies get saddled with tanks and excess artillery, that's when things slow down to a crawl. An example: I have a 2000+ strong army in Warsaw that can't do anything - all the available rail supply is channeled to Siberia.

[Lynxyonok]

Khabarovsk proves to be an impregnable fortress - fortunately, forward armies have several echelons of reinforcements being sent. Front two corps have to be rebuilt from scratch, reusing divisional commanders to assemble fresh rearguard regiments into a meaningful force. This is the second time Reds are facing against the Japanese.

[Lynxyonok]

Reds may be leading when it comes to objectives (23 of 24) and victory points, but the overall theater is still a major mess. There are plenty of White-held areas all around Petrograd and even Moscow!

[Lynxyonok]

Finland finally falls - every depot is under Red control - but there are stray stacks all over the place, which means, rail capacity permitting, I will need to address them next turn or two.

[Lynxyonok]

Ukraine is still a hot spot even into 1921 - French, Green, Ukrainian, Polish forces are slithering through all over, and Reds just can't keep the route from Kiew to Odessa open for more than a month!

[Lynxyonok]

I have to admit: Cavalry armies (or Konarmiya in Russian) are actually very useful from mid-game on. They can raid, they can intercept, and cause a lot of havoc and twice the speed.

[Lynxyonok]

Khabarovsk finally falls - it took 3 turns of nonstop assaults and >3,600 in combat power - and the road to Vladivostok is open; 7 turns to get there, will I make it? 3 Japanese garrisons are still in the way.

[Lynxyonok]

I allied Makhno 2 turns ago, thinking I could break off the alliance and follow the historical path - the option isn't coming up. Either I'm too late to the stage, or there's a cooldown period between alliance signing and breaking off that I had not counted on. Anyways, so far there have been no penalties for allying him. No real business need to either - no White presence in Ekaterinoslav or Taurida anymore.

[Lynxyonok]

Central Asia is finally starting to turn red as lots of tiny recon regiments are reconnoitering all those pesky desert squares. There's a white stack in Khiva and a green one all the way west by the sea; looks like everything else has been wiped out save for a rare green partisan.

[Lynxyonok]

French forces are surprisingly resilient in this campaign - I may have to take a turn off to recover, then try again. P.S. Just how many times have elite White regiments died this game around? I really thought that Markov regiment had been wiped out before. Yet, here it is, dead once again.

[ERISS]

I allied Makhno 2 turns ago, thinking I could break off the alliance and follow the historical path - the option isn't coming up. No real business need to - no White presence in Ekaterinoslav or Taurida anymore.

If you're in "Allied Reds" option, you can't (but I think it was written, maybe you didn't remember). That's what I wanted to explain: for me it is not historical, among the few points where I disagree with Andatiep: I think reds allied would too make all they can for the anarchists to be removed in the end, or suffer threat of constant political breaches for people are able to claim more freedom (like removing the comissars and the tcheka power) in the "dictatorship of the proletariat". (Anarchists were at first in the tcheka!, but flee it in the other option when SR tried to kill Lenin and then Lenin made paranoïd -before Stalin- gave all power to the tcheka, which became the red mafia. But even in the "kind" option, I think allied Reds would become too power mongers for those anarchists who don't want this power. In France, the "Parti Communiste" had first be created by some french anarchists in 1919! but who flee it when they saw their marxist error (and those who didn't flee were then excluded by invited leninists). And even now this story tend to be removed from the parti story, telling the french party was made by leninists in 1920)

how many times have elite White regiments died this game around?

Elite white tend to have a big turn over as they're compelled by their honor, all killed doing the thougher job, but the whites want to honor the founder of the elite regiment and keep it alive with the best remaining men from other units.
It may be this integered in the game, and I don't know where's the limit of this resurect.

[ERISS]

in beta forum, I've found back some old Andatiep post about (your) big makhnovist army:

" If there is one day any creazy red Bolshevik player to build some
(probably an early candidate for the 30's purges ) :
The first 4 ANA armored trains he will build should now have the very typical names the Black guards gave to their trains in Ukraine in early 1918 :
'The Liberation of the Workers is the Affair of the Workers Themselves' | 'Long Live Anarchy'
|'Power Breeds Parasites' | 'Anarchy is the Mother of Order' ...
All of this names could make fly into a rage any Bolshevik leaders ."

[Lynxyonok]

in beta forum, I've found back some old Andatiep post about (your) big makhnovist army:

" If there is one day any creazy red Bolshevik player to build some
(probably an early candidate for the 30's purges ) :
The first 4 ANA armored trains he will build should now have the very typical names the Black guards gave to their trains in Ukraine in early 1918 :
'The Liberation of the Workers is the Affair of the Workers Themselves' | 'Long Live Anarchy'
|'Power Breeds Parasites' | 'Anarchy is the Mother of Order' ...
All of this names could make fly into a rage any Bolshevik leaders ."

I know! Those were awesome names