Esempio di esercito e regole aggiuntive dal gruppo The League of Extraordinary Kriegspielers

The Manchurian Candidate Bolshevik Brief

Background

“Long before Siberia’s forests echoed with the ringing swords of Mongols, Tartars, Cossacks, Reds and Whites and the cries of their victims, the land was terrorised by vicious flying serpents, gigantic snarling canines, invisible spirits called shalmos, and multi-headed beasts called mangathais – according to the myths of the Buryat Mongols……
Epic struggle cast its shadow across the Transbaikal plateau again between 1917 and 1921, when Reds and Whites fought ferociously for the souls of humanity. Infernal flying machines hurled fire from the sky, and giant belching locomotives roared like mangathais and pitched projectiles that tore shelters asunder and shredded people into fodder for the wolves and crows. Assassins and spies lurked in the shade, modern shalmos wreaking doom upon mortal enemies. The stench of mass graves and burning flesh, rivers swollen with corpses, screams of the tortured and raucous hilarity of sadists raping, mutilating and tormenting, revelling in quartering, hangings, whippings, brandings, beheading and multitudinous methods of slaughter – the horrors of Buryat mythology had come to pass in Verkhne-Udinsk, Chita and hundreds of satellite villages and settlements hugging the Trans-Baikal plateau, nestled in river valleys, buried in the green taiga, or perched above Lake Baikal” (White Terror, Cossack Warlords of the Trans-Siberian. Jamie Bisher, 2005)

Welcome to the southern shores of Lake Baikal. It is 192?

Here the Trans-Siberian Express wraps itself snake-like round the bowed end of the Lake, piercing a series of tunnels (there were at least 39 of them), and here anyone wishing to conquer Russian east Asia, or indeed head westwards had to be dominant.
The southern shores and valleys of the Lake were also the ancestral heartland of the Mongolian people. In 1206, at a site on the Onon river, a khuriltai, an assembly of Mongol tribal leaders, pronounced the great warrior Temujin as Ghengis Khan, the Lord of the Earth. It is near here also that he was brought to die, and his grave remains a closely guarded secret till this day….
Your brief
Comrade General V.I.Blackwood
Comrade General Red Ted Robinson
Comrade General Dave ‘Wolfy’ Ryanovksi
Comrade General Red Roroski Langanovksi
You are the Divisional Commanders of the Temujin Attack Army, brought here under the leadership of Comrade Lenin to final destroy the suppurating wound that is the few remaining White, Reactionary and Interventionist forces left in Russia.
The biggest problem for the Red Armies at this stage of the war is actually targeting a concentration of rebels – they are often too spread out and can easily slip the net, as has happened at too many encounters in Central Asia to recall over the past few years (remarkably V.I.Blackwoods excuses for his litany of defeats are still being believed in Moscow!).
However this time, Comrade Lenin, with the help of the cunning and cruel aristocrat turned communist spy master, Felix Dzerzhinsky and his creatures in the Cheka, has sprung a trap.
Operation Temujin, has managed to trick the forces of Count Smirnoff, Admiral Doleczech and Baron Ungern Von Sternberg to concentrate at the grave of the Mongol leader, on a promise of gold, ammunition and one last united offensive against the Bolshevik state. Their fate is sealed!
And what they do not know is:
– The strongest Red Army ever assembled awaits just a few miles away to crush them once and for all.
– A special Bolshevik Commando unit, ‘Brigade Revenge Rosa Luxembourg’, has infiltrated the White Camp and is ready to turn on their oppressors on a pre-arranged signal from a red Very light. Once this is fired, nominate one unit in the White Army that immediately becomes Red and starts firing/attacking on its erstwhile ‘comrades’. n.b. does not work on White Officer units, Cossacks, anybody working for Der Baron or non-Russian units. Its factors immediately change to T2 M2 ferocious.
All you need to do is decide who is commanding which Division, and allow the train through that Comrade leader Lenin indicates…….
Your objective are simple:
1. Destroy the White contagion and their counter-revolutionary Interventionist lackeys!
2. Capture the railhead and the coal supplies therein intact
3. Desecrate and loot the tomb of the arch-Imperialist, Temujin!
Forces
Four divisions of Bolsheviks plus various independent units, organised as follows:
Mother Russia Attack Division
10 Siberian rifles. Tactical 2, Morale 2, marksmen with bombs. 1 LMG
2 x 10 Cheka. Tactical 3 Morale 5, stubborn with bombs. 1 LMG
2 x 10 Russian Sailors Tactical 3, Morale 2, stubborn with bombs. 1 LMG
3 x 10 Regular infantry T4 M4, with bombs
1 sniper T2 M2, with bombs
3 x HMG’s Tactical 3 Morale 3
2 x field guns Tactical 3 Morale 4
2 x Red Navy Armoured Cars Tactical 2, Morale 2.
1 x truck mounted AA gun T4 M3
1 x Commissar T2 M2 ferocious
Kronstadt Defenders Division
4 x 10 regular infantry. T4 M4, with bombs. 1 LMG per unit
2 x 10 irregular infantry. Irregular M4’s with bombs
10 Cheka T3 M5, stubborn with bombs. 1 LMG
1 x field gun T4 M4
2 x HMG’s. T4 M4
2 x armoured cars T3 M3
1 x Commissar T2 M2 ferocious
Siberian Liberators Division
10 Siberian Rifles. Tactical 2, Morale 2, marksmen with bombs. 1 LMG
3 x 10 Regular infantry T4 M4, with bombs. 1 LMG per unit
10 Red Guard Virgins. Irregular M3’s Ferocious with bombs. 1 LMG
2 x HMG’s T4 M4
1 X Field Gun T3 M3
1 X Austin Putilov half track T3 M3
1 x Commissar T2 M2 ferocious
Red Avenger Cavalry Division
3 x 9 regular cavalry T4 M4, with bombs. 1 LMG
1 x 9 Cossacks T2 M3, with bombs. 2 LMG’s
2 x 8 Regular cavalry T4 M4 with bombs 2 LMG’s each
2 Tchankas (if they arrive!) T3 M3. 1 LMG.
Independent Iron Trotsky Brigade
1 x Mk IV tank T3 M3
1 x Mk V tank T3 M3
1 x Renault Tank T3 M3
1 x Model T Ford Machine gun carrier T3 M4
Off table artillery: 12 x rounds of HE, able to land upto 2 shots per move.
Ural Air Corps
1 x Fokker DVII T3 M3
1 x Junkers Attack aircraft T2 M2 (Uncle Yuri’s back!)
(Able to return to the game board after a gap of 1D6)
Lake Baikal Fleet
Ice-breaker/destroyer ‘Baikal’, armed with various light pieces, T4 M4. Crew of ten armed with rifles, no bombs. Starts off table. Needs to throw over its tactical rating to appear.
Leningrad Express
Large armoured trained tooled up to the gunnels. T4 M3. Can only enter however after taking the railways station and then throwing over its tactical rating.

Special Rules
1. Divisional Activation Roll: At the start of the game, each Divisional Commander must throw for his Grand Tactical Rating (n.b. this is in addition to his own personal +2 rating). This can range between 0 or +3. Throw 2 x D6: 2-5 = 0; 6-8 = +1; 9-11= +2; 12= +3. He then adds this to his Divisional Activation Roll, which is made the first time one of his unit cards is drawn from the pack each move. If the Divisional Commanders personal card is first out, he adds an additional +1 to his dice throw. Red divisions are activated on a 4-6 on 1D6, plus whatever modifiers the Divisional Commander has; e.g. if Red Ted has a Grand Tactical Rating of +1 and his card is first out that move (another +1). His division therefore ‘activates’ on anything but a one that move. An ‘activated’ Division moves and fires as normal. If however his division fails to activate they may not move, but can fire (though Divisional Commanders can always move). Mounted troops can also counter-charge if attacked. If the Divisional Commander is attached to a unit he and it can move as normal, regardless of the throw for the rest of the division.
2. Divisional and Army Morale: Each Bolshevik Division must check morale when casualties for that Division (measured in units lost) reach 40%. A throw of 4-6 on 1D6 ensures they fight on. On reaching 50%, a throw of 5-6 is required to stay on the field. On reaching 60% a throw of 6 is required, as it is for every 10% lost after that. Note that snipers and commissars do not count towards the divisional total, but all other units do. +1 is added to any throw if the majority of the Division are in cover.
3. Lenin: cannot fight, but adds +2 to the morale of every unit within 12”. If he is killed any unit within 12” must take a morale test at a -2.

Intelligence
1. You start the game attacking along the long side of the table (c.16’), with the southern shores of Lake Baikal on your left.
2. You also have the option of launching a flank attack along the short side of the table (land short side)
3. You start the game with as many units hidden as you want/can. A map will therefore need to be drawn.
4. White forces on the table, at camp, are: Der Baron, Doleczech and Smirnoff.
5. Estimated strength, three understrength divisions, with some air and armour assets.
6. They all think they are in charge. So no change then on the usual White divisions!
7. They have dug some trenches and prepared some defensive positions, but as they have been here only a day or two, nothing too terrifying.
8. Remember you have the significant advantage of surprise.
9. The Whites deploy their first. You may not know their exact positions (the White Cavalry out-scouts you), but you will see from their camps deployment where they broadly are.
10. The Whites do have pickets out
11. The Whites are rumoured to be short of ammunition.
12. Your off-table artillery plan can be written after you see where their camps are. This is a significant advantage
13. There are other interventionist forces are in the region. There are rumours of Czech Legion troops; Basmachi naturalists; Tibetan trade missions and a Red Cross convoy bringing wounded POW’s to Vladivostock in the local. Some of these troops may be sympathetic to your cause. However an early destruction of the White cancer will undoubtedly strengthen your hand in any negotiations.
14. Victory to the Revolution!

S.Langan 30/11/10