deguerra wrote:Just a quick post to say I haven't been commenting but have been reading your posts with great pleasure. Pictures and stories, especially from later in the game are very interesting.
Was it a challenge or did you gain momentum quite early? What were the major conflict areas?
Thanks and keep us posted!
-deguerra
Thank you for your kind feedback. Yes, late AARs are rare, as everyone starts, not everyone finishes. They are weird, as readers are thrown into a mix, and it's not often clear how did it get to that point. I just knew that I had to get through the hurdle of crashes of early 1920; I did.
This game was actually a challenge as I had lost Kuban early on, and by 1919 I was down to only 8 EPs a turn. That's with Mensheviks in play, a risky option that can cripple a red player with good morale. The loss was due to the initial strategy: no militia meat bags at every corner, which meant that Whites had advanced further in and faster. The entire country is still full of roving warbands (which are kept in supply due to the highest AI ratings and extra time). What helped me somehow was that Anarchists did not ally with me, but they did become hostile to the Whites. This allowed me to turn Makhno into a shock troop unit at no cost. Grigoriev, on the other hand, was totally useless.
As for areas of conflict: the whole country has been quite rough, although Riga deserves a separate mention. I built a fortress there and lost it, which had in turn paralyzed several major stacks.