Another play late the other night ended in a major Soviet military victory . . . until I realized that I had been using my Armored Train for every offense. (The problem with solitaire games is that there’s no opponent to tell you that you’ve messed up the rules.)
But I finally had a victory today while playing via Cyberboard in my office. (It makes a great lunch/coffee-break game.):
In the first turns, the Germans, East, and South advanced, but I concentrated my Actions on raising the Political Level (to prevent a repetition of the above). But this only raised the PL 1 out of four 4 attempts. With the third card, the Soviet luck began to change as the Czar was executed rather than liberated (the card had shown up before the East could advance farther than Omsk). With the 3 Actions, I performed 3 +1 offenses and drove back the hated Counter-Revolutionaries.
Events moved slowly with the PL getting raised a step until the dissolution of the Assembly provided a lucky roll and pushed the PL even higher. Even as the Bolsheviks increased their political standing, the Finns became active and the German Army marched to the gates of Petrograd. But at that very moment, the Latvians came to the rescue and helped drive the Huns all the way back to Riga!
Yet, now the Eastern Whites and the Finns approached the Motherland. But a series of offenses (including Reserve Offenses) combined with some luck, pushed the Whites towards the edges of Russia. Similarly, there was political success with Lenin issuing a couple of political Decrees at this dark hour, strengthening the hand of his Comrades.
And yet, sinister forces still moved against the Soviets. The Germans opened their Hoffman Offensive and the Ottomans threatened the south. Indeed, the Germans threatened to take Petrograd. At that moment, the Treaty with Germany was signed, and the German army retreated . . . . Petrograd was safe.
But on the other Fronts, there was "no peace," and the Finns replaced the Germans as the new danger while the South crept closer and closer. At that moment, bad weather stopped the East and South in their tracks and gave the Red Army a moment to focus its mighty strength upon the Finnish army, driving it backwards.
The terrible winter weather continued as the Ice March forced the Southern Front to retreat, giving the Lenin and Trotsky the chance to further strengthen their political hold on power. The Jassy Conference provided the very opportunity needed -- a step up, and then another with the one Action! The Soviets were close to sealing their control; could they hold off the Whites long enough?
At that moment, Makhno rose up, throwing things momentarily into chaos. (Isn’t that just like an Anarchist?) But the chaos was an opportunity; throwing the one Action into the Political Dissent . . . a die roll of 4 + 1 = 5! It is a Soviet Political Victory on the ashes of the anarchists!
Twenty-odd minutes of historical fun and tension.
Posted Thu Mar 19, 2009 12:22 am
