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PUBLISHED: 2002
DESIGNER: Ted Raicer
DEVELOPER: Andy Lewis and Volko Ruhnke
ART DIRECTOR: Rodger B. MacGowan
MAP ART: Mark Simonitch
COUNTER ART: Mark Simonitch |
In the spring of 1917,
the Tsarist autocracy of Nicholas II collapsed under the strains
of the Great War (World War I). In the fall of that year, Lenin's
Bolsheviks toppled the shaky Russian Provisional Government.
White anti-Bolshevik forces were quickly routed, and Lenin soon
declared resistance to the regime at an end. He was mistaken.
With western support,
White forces began to gather in the Caucasus, in Siberia, and
in the far north to oppose the Reds. The new Russian government
also faced opposition from ethnic minorities who wished to break
loose from the Empire and from other left-wing parties (not least,
groups of well-armed Anarchists).
By August, 1918, the
Reds, controlling the heartland of Russia, were threatened by
enemies to the east, north, and south. Not until late 1919 would
the tide turn decisively in their favor. But, in 1920, the Reds
would face a new threat - an invasion by the armies of the newly
independent Poland.
Reds! is a two-player
wargame covering these dramatic events from August 1918 to the
start of 1921, when the last organized opposition to Red rule
outside the far east was destroyed.
The single large-hex
map stretches from Warsaw in the west to Omsk in the east and
from Murmansk in the north to Tashkent in the south. Across this
vast expanse, players maneuver a colorful array of combat units
representing various White factions, Anarchists, Nationalists,
Alied Intervention Forces, the two divisions of the Czech Legion,
and six Polish armies.
Units range from armies
to brigades. The Red Order of Battle is built around 16 Red Armies
organized by Leon Trotsky. There are also two powerful Red cavalry
armies and the elite Latvian Rifle division. The White Order
of Battle includes everything from Cossack cavalry corps to Moslem
partisans and a German Free Corps. Each side also has support
units: naval and river flotillas, air units, and, of course,
the famous armored trains. Key leaders are also included: Frunze,
Denikin, Wrangel, and Trotsky and his famous Red Train.
To model the chaos of
this many-sided multi-front war, the sequence of play is based
upon random chit pull which determines the order of activation
of each White faction or six Red Army Front commands. The key
Logistics phase, in which disrupted units are rallied and unsupplied
units attritted, is also randomly determined. The game also includes
TWO random event tables: one for each side.
From sweeping cavalry
advances to slogging matches over major cities (such as Tsaritsyn
- the future Stalingrad - know as the Red Verdun), Reds! is a
true player's game. It is also a realistic depiction of some
of the most titanic and unusual campaigns of modern history.
Game Components
COUNTERS 224 full-color 5/8-inch die-cut counters.
MAP One 22"x34" full-color mapsheet
OTHER Two 6-sided dice
24-page Rulebook
2 Player Aid cards |
Game Features
TIME SCALE 1-2 months per turn
MAP SCALE 65 miles per hex
UNIT SCALE Brigades, Divisions, Corps, and Armies
NUMBER OF PLAYERS One or two |
Retail Price: 41,00 € |
Max. Discount Price: 30,75 € (P500) |
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Preis inkl. MwSt, zzgl. Porto in Abhängigkeit von Bestellmenge und Versandadresse. (This sentence must be here for reasons of german bureaucracy.)
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