Last Dreams of the Old World - A RUS PBEM

[Alikchi]

LAST DREAMS OF THE OLD WORLD

Hello again! After the premature end of my previous Revolution Under Siege AAR, Michael (lycortas), John (digital_pariah) and yours truly are giving it another shot. This time, I'll be playing as the Southern Whites, John as the Siberians, and Michael as the bloody red Bolsheviks.

For those of you with little familiarity with the AGEOD system, read the RoP AAR on this forum - it's fantastic stuff. For those of you with little familiarity with the Russian Civil War, I recommend "A People's Tragedy" or Wikipedia - or at least my previous AAR

It's 1918, and a civil war has erupted in Russia! The Reds control the majority of the country, but insurrections are breaking out everywhere, and two major counterrevolutionary centers are developing. In the East, the revolt of the Czech Legion has sparked a total overthrow of Soviet power beyond the Volga. In the South, along the Don, the Cossacks and Denikin's Volunteer Army move to face Sorokin's Bolshevik army.

I play as the Southern Whites, managing the forces of Denikin and his Cossack friends. I will also be in control of the Northern and Northwestern White forces, operating out of Murmansk, Arkhangelsk and Pskov.

[Alikchi]

Well, here we go.

Turn 1: Early June 1918

As mentioned, I am playing the Southern Whites. At this very early stage of the game, they are divided into two forces - the Don Cossacks, under Krasnov, and the Volunteer Army, under Denikin. The Volunteers, my true Russian force, are by far the better fighters and will be most important for the duration, but the Cossacks are also vitally useful, as the Volunteers aren't very numerous.

Here's a map of what I can see this very first turn.



Not much, obviouslly, but you can see the Southern Whites clustered around what will be their main base for the whole game - the cities near the mouth of the Don River. The Don, Kuban and Caucasus areas will be my strongest holdings, but first I must take them. Standing in the way is I.L. Sorokin's Red Army of the Northern Caucasus.



Here's the plan. Denikin - leading the Volunteer Army, with the elite Kornilov, Drozdovsky and Markov divisions - will smash into Sorokin head-first and push him back. Meanwhile, cavalry and Cossack forces will sweep aroudn the northeastern flank and start capturing towns in the direction of Tzaritsyn (which you might know as Volgograd, or Stalingrad).

Further south, Bisherakov will attempt to capture Grozny, and north of the Don bend, Fitzskhelaurov will send his Cossacks against a small Red force, but these are isolated fights. I can't wait to see how the big battle with Sorokin goes!

[loki100]

great ... glad you've found the energy to put up another go so soon after the last one .... interesting to see a very different view on the world too

[LeCare]

Yes, this is back

Crush those reds, save the Tsar!

Btw: isnt Petrograd St.Petersburg? I thought that Tsaritzin was Volgograd

[Alikchi]

Yes, this is back

Crush those reds, save the Tsar!

Btw: isnt Petrograd St.Petersburg? I thought that Tsaritzin was Volgograd

Oops, yes, sorry! Corrected

[ashandresash]

Another RUS AAR... yum! I'll be following (I bought the game but still haven't tried a 'real' game, so looking forward learning a little more before coming into it)

[General_Hoth]

I will follow!

[germanpeon]

I'm glad you started another one! Definitely gonna be following this.

[Narwhal]

You have some courage to carry on. I will follow it Thanks for the free advertisement, also !

[TheExecuter]

Good luck and GodSpeed!

[General_Hoth]

I shall hope that you loose the war my friend

But i still have a mission for you: KILL STALIN!

[Stuyvesant]

Excellent! And now we get your insight from the other side of the fence, if you will. I'm particularly interested in finding out what you'll do in the Caucasus - from my (extremely) limited experience, it feels like the few White forces there get bogged down really quickly, without a chance to achieve much. But that's probably just my inability to play the game.

On a side note, what's the script on that poster at the beginning of your post? It looks almost like the made-up stuff Bethesda used in Morrowind...

[CatKnight]

Nice! I greatly enjoyed your last AAR as the Reds. It'll be interesting to see how you do on the other side of the fence.

Question: Obviously you and the Siberians are trying to destroy the Bolsheviks. Are you in competition with each other at all?

[Alikchi]

Thanks for the comments and encouragement, gentlemen.

CatKnight: Not really. The game is hard enough as it is, really. I suppose I could race him to Moscow...

Stuyvesant: I think it's actually Cyrillic, just very stylized! It's a Denikin poster that reads "Why aren't you in the Army?"

Turn 2: Late June 1918

Well, Denikin met Sorokin, but not in the way I'd expected.



Not in a BAD way, either; just.. underwhelming. Only 820 casualties? Not even a retreat? You can do better than this, Denny my man. We'll try another assault next turn. I really need Sorokin's army destroyed ASAP or I'll have no shot at Tzaritsyn before winter.

Anyways, the other movements went as planned and without combat:



I feel confident enough to attempt some flanking manuevers with the Cossacks and Erdeli's cavalry force. While Sorokin is pinned down by Denikin, and Kalnin (the southern Red force) is pinned down by Poliakov, Mamontov will advance below and Erdeli above and behind the Red armies. Maybe we can force a retreat or capture important towns like Ekaterinodar or Novorossisyk before they are properly defended. Meanwhile, more White cavalry (Udovenko) will venture across the steppes and attempt to take Stavropol, while the staff and various troops of the Don Cossack Army take their place at Elista.

Farther south, in the Caucasus, we captured Grozny. Fitskhelaurov scared away the Red force sent after him and will attempt to cut the Moscow->Tzaritsyn railroad line. Oh, one last thing:



Our first Northern force! This is a small, division-sized bunch that just captured Arkhangelsk, under a mediocre Colonel named Shaplin. Mediocre he may be, but there are no Red forces to oppose us, so over the next few months we'll take as much territory in the Arkhangelsk area as we can before winter.

[Stuyvesant]

That 'Denikin met Sorokin' read uncomfortably like 'When Harry met Sally'. Though I'm reasonably sure the latter did not involve 800 dead communists.

Bold moves in the south that appear to be paying off. I guess the Whites have the early advantage of actually having some troops all over the place.

[Alikchi]

That 'Denikin met Sorokin' read uncomfortably like 'When Harry met Sally'. Though I'm reasonably sure the latter did not involve 800 dead communists.

Bold moves in the south that appear to be paying off. I guess the Whites have the early advantage of actually having some troops all over the place.

Not so much all over the place as in the exact proper place. I have elite troops, concentrated and secure, facing off against a Red army with crap leaders (or no leaders). My objective is not to win this stage of the war - it's almost impossible not to - but to win quickly and decisively, so I can make further gains with the Volunteers before winter comes. I'd like to have troops freed up by the end of the Great War (November, obviously) - when the Germans and Austro-Hungarians retreat from the Ukraine it'll be easy pickings for my boys.

This is almost relaxing, compared to the terrible start the Red player has to face. If you read my old AAR, it was defeat and panic from the beginning - and yet, I knew I was probably, eventually going to win. Here it's success and scheming - but I probably won't win.

[Alikchi]

Turn 3: Early July 1918

A short update, as I only have one real front!



As you can see, Sorokin slipped away once again. I think he must be set to evade enemy. In fact, no combat at all occurred in the area of this screenshot since last turn, but the Reds and I moved a lot.

All Bolshevik forces are now concentrated in Ekaterinodar. That's Sorokin, Kalnin and another leaderless force. I can only assume that they're furiously digging in, trying to turn the place into a fortress. I have to hit it ASAP before they hit high fortification levels. Denikin's going straight in, but it'll take 16 days (just a little more than one more turn). Meanwhile, the flanking maneuver continues apace. Erdeli and Mamontov are now in position to sweep around and capture Novorossisyk. Poliakov will grab Armavir and Udovenko will continue his siege of Stavropol (coup de main didn't work).


Oh, just for kicks, here's a screenshot of Fitskhelaurov's antics north of Tzaritsyn:



He's cut the Moscow-Tzaritsyn railroad at Balashov and now we're going to attempt Kamyshin. No real strategic value to the place, but if I keep taking towns, he'll have to send someone out of Tzaritsyn to engage me, and that will weaken the place for later, I hope.

[LeCare]

Nice, although winning as the whites seems really hard (I am judging from the fact that I always play Red against the AI and despite blundering heavily every three turns I still often manage to win )
So, hope you manage it, but it will need a lot of skill against a human player I guess

[Stuyvesant]

Yes, very different feel to it compared to your 'Red' start. You're firmly in control - for the time being.

I wonder when the backlash comes and I wonder how different things will be from the last time you played.

[Alikchi]

Turn 4: Late July 1918

A quiet turn, so I'll keep it short.



Things continue to go according to plan. Mamontov and Erdeli have captured Novorossisyk, isolating Sorokin's forces at Ekaterinodar. Denikin, meanwhile, is only one day away from attacking said place and hopefully scoring a great victory.

This is where things get dicey. My opponent, Michael, has executed what I would consider the best possible moves for the outnumbered and outgunned Red forces he starts with in this theatre. He's concentrated them all in one place and allowed them to entrench. This ensures the most difficult possible battle for me, with potentially high casualties.

That's why I need to attack now, and hard. Denikin will hopefully inflict great damage, maybe even force Sorokin out of Ekaterinodar to fight in the wilderness.

Meanwhile, Mamontov is going to slip out of Novo and have a go at the Red Taman Front, to keep them from hooking up with Sorokin or slipping away by ship.

Other news:
The Brits are about to arrive in Karelia. General Miller takes command in the North.
Colonel Shaplin has resolved his command issues and is moving out of Arkhangelsk.
The Imperial Family has been executed.
Fitskhelaurov continues his movements. Going to rip up some rail lines next turn.
The far south is almost completely ours.