James Lowry
United States
Sunnyvale
California
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Had the gang over yesterday for a six-player game of Russian Civil War. We've played it twice before, but today was the first six-player day, and I think we were all agreed that it should do well with the extra chaos of the last player.
We were right. The game played very well with six players. Unusually, the initial random allotment was pretty even for everyone. Everyone had about 3-4 White leaders and 6-7 Red, and two or three Politburo markers. The main exception was that Zjonni got Lenin and Trotsky, the two main Red leaders, and a total of four Politburo markers (including the two bonus ones he got for the leaders).
Dave also had the best two White leaders, and initiated the only trades before play began, to trade away all his Red leaders and one of his Politburo markers for more White leaders. I was the first to trade (all but one of my White leaders), and I think Zjonni picked up the remainder.
The first player randomization draw was odd: FFFCFB Patch got to go first four times in six turns.
The game started oddly enough, with the dice rolling high on the CRT for quite a while. (All 5s and 6s for the first couple player turns.) Also, I quickly drew three of the 'Out' markers, sending the Japanese, British and... one other Interventionist force out of the game before much could happen to them (and long before the control markers for them could be drawn). Patch ended up with control of a number of Nationalist factions. Dave got lucky and consolidated his hold in the south (where the White army is strong to begin with) by drawing the Trans-Caucasus control marker on turn 2.
By turn 3, the unified nature of the White Army was making itself felt. Things had begun well for the Revolution, but attrition had taken its toll, and Dave had some very powerful armies put together. Zjonni lost Lenin on turn 2 in an Exchange with White forces in the upper Cossack region. Dave also got control of the Finnish Nationalists, whose 18-point force occupied Petrograd (which puts Red replacements in jeopardy). On turn 3, I occupied Petrograd with a strong force. I couldn't defeat the Finns, but it would allow Red replacements unless he defeated me at low odds. On turn 5, the Finns attacked, and got an Exchange, wiping us both out. Jason sent a force into Finland to ensure they did not come back. Without the Red units that put back in play, it would have to have been a White victory.
In the south, things came apart for Dave as the game moved into it's later stages and lots of assassin markers were available. Concerted, repeated attacks with assassins wiped out much of the White leadership, and left the White forces much more vulnerable. Assassination went thick and furious. Patch spent some time with his sixth turn, trying to see if he could be the only one with any leaders left at the end of the turn. He couldn't do it, but there wasn't much left at the end of turn 6. Dave had been completely wiped out, and I had been wiped out by the end of turn 4.
Mark made the final move, and managed to grab the Gold and the Czar for himself. There was plenty of White troops available, but no White leaders. Considering the lack of all leaders, the Politburo easily passed a resolution to end the game.
The scoring came as a real surprise:
Player Red White
Jason 27 7
Dave 2 19
Mark 36 10
Rindis 29 18
Zjonni 18 0
Patch 36 25
In three games, this is our first Red Victory (relax, Stalin died on turn 1). Mark and Patch shared a victory at 36 Red points. Patch had the points for a White win as well; he'd been very effective in killing off Red leaders at the end of the game. I had a decent showing only because I still had credit for killing 18 points of Finns (on defense). Zonni had had a strong start (I was more worried about him than anyone else), but he faded in the midgame.
School is about to start up, so we aren't expecting to see Zjonni next time. We're not sure what to do for a 5-player game yet (though Blackbeard is likely).
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Ollie Blacklock
United Kingdom
Lymington
Hants
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Thanks for the report - I haven't played this yet. How long did your 6-player game take?
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James Lowry
United States
Sunnyvale
California
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The usual for us. Session start at 10 AM, close at 5 PM. Actual start (due to setting up pieces) closer to 10:30; actual finish about 4:30; hour lunch in the middle. So a bit more than 5 hours.
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L Gravel
United States
Colorado
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What's the complexity of this game? For example, how many pages of rules are there? How does it compare to, say, Twilight Struggle?
I'm kicking around the idea of getting the new Decision Games/ Joseph Miranda edition.
Jim
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Robert Wesley
Nepal
Aberdeen
Washington
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 What about trying out this version some? For Bloody Honor 
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James Lowry
United States
Sunnyvale
California
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loosegravel wrote: What's the complexity of this game? For example, how many pages of rules are there? How does it compare to, say, Twilight Struggle?
I'm kicking around the idea of getting the new Decision Games/ Joseph Miranda edition.
Jim
I'm counting 10 pages of dense SPI rules (trimming a few things out, like the postal rules). I haven't played Twilight Struggle, so I can't compare there. You don't have any ratings, or ownership marked other than Maneuver (which I'm also unfamiliar with), so it's hard to say what to draw parallels with. In general, once you get into it, its not that bad, but there is going to be head-scratching at first. The politburo and assassinations are probably the worst to get down.
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L Gravel
United States
Colorado
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Thanks, guys. Much appreciated.
Jim
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