The Bleeding Motherland - the Russian Civil War interactive history
Map:
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
As you may have guessed, the Reds are in red, the Southern Whites are in yellow, the Eastern Whites are in gray and the Northern Whites are the blue lines in Estonia and Latvia. The N. Whites do not actually control any territory, but are being hosted on Baltic territory.
Prologue:
It is 1918. After three years of disasters and many, many years wasted under incompetent governments, the Russian people have had enough. They have risen up against the old order, overthrowing first the Tsar, and just a few months ago the democratic government of Aleksandr Kerensky. The Bolsheviks - or, as some call them now, the 'Reds' - of Vladimir Lenin, the godless Communists feared and despised by all good and God-fearing men, have taken power in Moscow and Petrograd, and have secured most of central Russia and organized an army. Standing against them is a loose coalition of Tsarists, liberals, moderates and anti-Bolshevik socialists and Mensheviks - also known as the 'Whites' - led by many aged and battle-tested officers of the old Imperial Army. As expected, both sides have come to blows and the Motherland is now burning in the flames of civil war as brother and brother, father and son and lord and peasant have taken up arms against each other.
Which side will prevail and decide the future of Russia?
Rules: Each player will assume the role of a commander instead of a country; as commander, each player will need to make decisions on a tactical and strategic level, with the exception of their overall 'faction leader' (Lenin, Alexeev, Komuch) who will be making political decisions as well. The overall leaders will be responsible for distributing the available troops to their commanders and hosting secret meetings (say, on MSN or PM) to decide this turn's course of action. Each commander will need to closely cooperate with their superior and comrades to fight effectively.
Special events, both beneficial and detrimental to either one of or even both sides, will happen every now and then, ex. the emergence of the 'Black Army' in the Ukraine or Allied intervention in the war.
Each turn is 1/2 a year.
Date: June 30th 1918
Combatants:
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
Red Army:
Commanders:
Vladimir Lenin - overall leader - Fredrick II Leon Trotsky - Commander-in-chief - Master Magic Mage Mikhail Tukhachevsky - [IMP]AntiWarmanCake88 Semyon Budyonny - King Jan III Mikhail Frunze
Kliment Voroshilov
NOTE: The Greens are peasants who have taken up arms to protect themselves, their families and their property from the rampaging Red and White armies. They can be convinced to join one side or the other; however, as they are peasant militiamen with no real organization, no official leaders and no actual combat experience, do not expect them to function as quality troops.
The Greens are not organized into field armies, but rather scattered all over the place and largely restricted to the towns they came from, where they function as small garrisons. More and more Greens will gradually appear over time.
Turn 3:
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
End date: June 1st 1919
The second half of the year 1919 saw the Russian Civil War continue to grow as the foreigners increase their presence.
In the south, the Red Army has moved in to crush Andrei Shkuro's Don Cossack host from two sides, abandoning their siege of the Caucasus Mountains. At that instant, the White forces burst forth like a flood breaking through a dam, pinning Trotsky's army between the Cossacks and themselves. Trotsky eventually fought his way out of the Caucasus, but not before his army was mauled by the Whites. However, the White Don Cossacks have suffered grievous casualties, and while the Reds were eventually stopped outside of the Kuban, the Whites had to pay a steep price in blood for their victory.
In the east, the Red Far Eastern Army marched westwards to try and link up with the army in Orenburg, but was turned back by General Von Sternberg's Whites and the Japanese - who, it should be noted, are dumping an obscene number of soldiers into Siberia, far more than any of the other interventionist powers. Both Reds and Whites are beginning to seriously suspect the Japanese of having designs on all of Siberia...
On an unrelated note, the Bloody Baron's forces have gone on a bloody rampage to bully the people of Siberia into accepting the Tsar as their rightful leader. The White officers have done nothing about this, and while many communities have agreed to comply and serve the Tsar, others have joined the Bolsheviks.
In the north, the Reds have fallen back to lick their wounds and are now on the defensive. No progress was made here as the Whites and their allies did nothing. Lord Ironside and the British government, discouraged by the Whites' lack of progress and unsure if they could reach their target without White support, canceled plans for an offensive towards Kargopol in April.
In other news, the Ukrainian National Republic continues to struggle to contain the Black Anarchists of Nestor Makhno, and some officers are agitating for a Red invasion of the troubled country. The Whites are still neutral, and the French army of Louis Franchet d'Esperey abandoned Odessa for Novorossiysk, linking up with the other Whites.
Cossacks, ex-aristocrats, Tsarist officers and disaffected peasants are joining the various White factions in large numbers, but are counterbalanced by peasants and workers joining the Red ranks. In addition, both sides have been able to win some Greens over to their side.
Battles:
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
Northern Front:
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
Captured White soldier awaits execution, February 2nd 1918
Nothing happened here.
Eastern Front:
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
The Bloody Baron's soldiers on the march, February 16th 1918
Battle of Chita: Date: April 13th-16th, 1919 Location: Chita, Siberia Combatants: Eastern Whites + Japan VS Reds Commanders: Roman Ungern Von Sternberg + Yui Mitsue Strength: 18,000 infantry + 9,000 cavalry + 30,000 Japanese infantry + 5,000 Japanese cavalry + 60 Japanese heavy guns & 80 light guns (2,000 men) VS 40,000 infantry + 5,000 cavalry + 25 heavy & 50 light guns (1,000 men) + 4,000 militia Casualties: 5,000 infantry + 4,000 cavalry + 6,000 Japanese infantry + 2,000 Japanese cavalry + 6 heavy & 8 light guns (200 men) VS 12,000 infantry + 3,000 cavalry + 5 heavy & 10 light guns (200 men) + 2,000 militia Outcome: White/Japanese victory Desc.: The Reds set out on a 'Great Ice March' to the west to try and link up with their comrades in Orenburg, but were surprised at Chita after three long months. Freezing, low on supplies and utterly exhausted, the Reds were driven back to Magadan by a combined White-Japanese force.
Ural Mountains Campaign: Date: January 13th-February 11th, 1919 Location: Ural Mountains Combatants: Eastern Whites VS Reds Commanders: Aleksandr Kolchak + Vladimir Kappel + Radola Gajda VS General Kazakov Strength: 80,000 infantry + 30,000 cavalry + 10,000 militia + 40 heavy & 80 light guns (1,600 men) VS 28,000 infantry + 4,200 cavalry + 23 heavy guns (460 men) Casualties: 2,000 infantry + 1,000 militia VS 4,000 infantry + 1,000 cavalry Outcome: White victory Desc.: The Red Army in Orenburg tried to break past the Ural Mountains and link up with the Far Eastern army, but - pitted against a numerically superior enemy entrenched in the Ural Mountains - were unable to break through anywhere. The campaign quickly turned out to be a humiliating disaster and was called off after a few weeks.
Southern Front:
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
The defenders of Baku in a trench, June 25th 1918 Southern Campaign: Date: June 9th, 1918-ongoing Location: Caucasus Mountains Combatants: Southern Whites VS Reds Commanders: Mikhail Alexeev + Lavr Kornilov + Alexei Kaledin + Petr Wrangel + Anton Denikin + Petr Krasnov + Giorgi Mazniashvili + Andrei Shkuro VS Leon Trotsky Strength: 65,000 infantry + 90,000 cavalry + 40,000 militia + 70 heavy guns & 180 light guns (3,200 artillerymen) + 4,000 Georgian infantry + 2,000 Georgian cavalry + 8,000 Georgian militia + 10 Georgian heavy guns & 20 light guns (400 artillerymen) VS 60,000 infantry + 9,000 cavalry + 25 heavy & 72 light guns (1,320 artillerymen) Casualties: 15,000 infantry + 40,000 cavalry + 15,000 militia + 8 heavy & 20 light guns (360 men) VS 23,000 infantry + 3,000 cavalry + 6 heavy & 14 light guns (360 men) Outcome: Ongoing Desc.: The Whites have finally broken the 'Siege of the Caucasus', attacking Leon Trotsky's Red Army from behind just as they headed north to crush the advancing Cossack host of Andrei Shkuro. Many of the Cossacks lost their lives when they were pinned between Trotsky's forces and another Red army coming in from the north, but elements of the host managed to break through to the rest of the Southern Whites and eventually drive the Reds from the Kuban - though not without paying a hefty price in blood.
With the addition of new troops, the Reds & various Whites now have the following troops:
Reds: 1,300,000 total
750,000 infantry
250,000 cavalry
280,000 militia (160,000 in training)
20,000 artillerymen
600 heavy guns
800 light guns
Southern Whites:
500,000 total
300,000 infantry
150,000 cavalry
40,000 militia
10,000 artillerymen
300 heavy guns
400 light guns
Eastern Whites: 600,000 total
350,000 infantry
200,000 cavalry
40,000 militia
10,000 artillerymen
200 heavy guns
600 light guns
Northern Whites: 120,000 total
70,000 infantry
30,000 cavalry
15,000 militia
5,000 artillerymen
100 heavy guns
400 light guns
Black Army (Ukrainian anarchists):
Commander: Nestor Makhno
15,000 total
5,000 infantry
9,000 cavalry
1,000 artillery
5 heavy guns
90 light guns
Entente intervention - north (Arkhangelsk):
Commander: Edmund Ironside
4,900 American infantry
5,920 British infantry
1,950 French infantry
500 Canadian artillerymen
15 heavy guns
20 light guns
Entente intervention - south (Novorossiysk):
Commander: Louis Franchet d'Esperey - France, Konstantinos Nider - Greece
8,000 French infantry
2,000 French cavalry
7,000 Greek infantry
3,000 Greek cavalry
2,000 French artillerymen
20 heavy guns
60 light guns
Entente intervention - east (Vladivostok):
Commander: Yui Mitsue - Japan, William Graves - USA
55,000 Japanese infantry
35,000 Japanese cavalry
4,000 American infantry
3,000 American cavalry
3,000 Japanese artillerymen
40 heavy guns
220 light guns
Last edited by Barry Goldwater; June 08, 2010 at 07:58 PM.
Could you perhaps post a little information about the different "Whites"? I'm utterly unfamiliar with the Russian Civil War, and I'm wondering how the different Whites will vary in geography, ethnic breakdown, motivations, equipment, etc. etc.
Vladimir Lenin The Red Army
How many troops do I get....
when the union's inspiration through the worker's blood shall run,
there can be no power greater anywhere beneath the sun,
yet what force on earth is weaker than the feeble strength of one?
but the union makes us strong.
Could you perhaps post a little information about the different "Whites"? I'm utterly unfamiliar with the Russian Civil War, and I'm wondering how the different Whites will vary in geography, ethnic breakdown, motivations, equipment, etc. etc.
Not a problem The 'Southern Whites' consist of the 'Volunteer Army', Cossack hosts and various other anti-Communists in the South. The 'Eastern Whites' are located in Siberia, nominally led by the 'Committee of Members of the Constituent Assembly' and Provisional Siberian government and have the backing of the trapped Czechoslovak Legion, which is presently trying to get back home. The 'Northern Whites' are based in Estonia and northern Russia.
A map of the present situation:
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
The yellow lines mark the furthest extent of Bolshevik control. Ignore all the other lines for now.
The Whites don't really have a unified ideology - they're got hardcore Tsarists, constitutional monarchists, liberals, socialists and even anti-Bolshevik Communists, such as the Mensheviks, among their ranks. Most of their officers are solid monarchists (absolutists and constitutionalists) however.
Originally Posted by Frederick II
Vladimir Lenin The Red Army
How many troops do I get....
As Lenin, you will be the overall leader of the Reds, making you responsible for dividing your 250k men up among your commanders and giving them orders. You'll need to carefully plan and cooperate with them (your commanders) in private between each turn.
Last edited by Barry Goldwater; April 27, 2010 at 03:56 PM.
Leon Trostky for me, He's one of the better members of the Communist party, alot more liberal than his counterparts.
"Only Connect!...Only connect the prose and the passion, and both will be exalted, and human love will be seen at its height. Live in fragments no longer."
There won't be a real player limit here, the more positions filled the better. Expect updates every two to three weeks, that gives you plenty of time to plan with the other players on your side.
1. Which force is the Bolsheviks?
2. Why are the Brits and Germans involved?
3. What troop types are there?
when the union's inspiration through the worker's blood shall run,
there can be no power greater anywhere beneath the sun,
yet what force on earth is weaker than the feeble strength of one?
but the union makes us strong.
1. Which force is the Bolsheviks?
2. Why are the Brits and Germans involved?
3. What troop types are there?
1. The Red Army.
2. They'll get involved soon enough, to put down the Communists - which they did historically.
3. Infantry, cavalry, artillery, political troops etc. You decide how to set up your men and which commander gets how many, though artillery and the like was rather scarce outside of elite units.
I'm just wondering but can we play as say the blacks of the Ukraine?
according to exarch I am like
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
Originally Posted by Exarch
sure, the way fred phelps finds christianity too optimistic?
Simple truths
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
Did you know being born into wealth or marrying into wealth really shows you never did anything to earn it?
btw having a sig telling people not to report you is hilarious.
sure, the way fred phelps finds christianity too optimistic?
Simple truths
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
Did you know being born into wealth or marrying into wealth really shows you never did anything to earn it?
btw having a sig telling people not to report you is hilarious.
Welcome gents Also, Kaitsar has told me that he will play as Mikhail Alexeev.
While all faction leaders have been taken, there is still a large number of spots left open, and as I said there is no real limit to the # of players (except, of course, the number of positions).
So do I just tell the people under my command what they have and what to do?
I'm sorry this is my first IH game
when the union's inspiration through the worker's blood shall run,
there can be no power greater anywhere beneath the sun,
yet what force on earth is weaker than the feeble strength of one?
but the union makes us strong.
Russian Civil War IH
Originally Posted by KippyK
) with them.
