Brian Train - 09:14am Aug 29, 2000 PST (#126 of 127) "He was wont so to speak plain and to the purpose, as an honest man and a soldier." Here is my review of Tatchanka, from Simulacrum #1. The electronic file had been deleted, so I had to retype this in from the hard copy last night (might still be some stupid typos in there). I have therefore deleted the background, which was just the historical notes that came with the game, and the detailed counter manifest, which is only of interest if you have a copy and want to check if it's complete. The entire review is available for view on Magweb if you want these pieces. Anyway, here it is: TATCHANKA - UKRAINE, 1919-21 - by Brian R. Train (1998, 2000) Tatchanka - Ukraine, 1919-21 is a strategic simulation of one of the last parts of the Russian Civil War, the three-year struggle in the Ukraine after World War I. It was designed in 1977 by Jim Bumpas. Background (deleted as it was the historical notes from the game) Components - one 22x34" black and white map, covering the area from Kharkov in the north, Taganrog in the east, Perekop in the south to Kiev/Odessa in the west; - one 8-page brown and white rules booklet; - one 11x17" black and white play accessory sheet; - 199 die-cut 1/2" counters. The inside of the play accessory chart contains nine charts and tables and the outside forms the cover the artwork of which is reproduced at the start of this article on the previous page (hand-drawn illustration of two Makhnovists firing a machine gun from a horse-drawn tatchanka). Counter Manifest Although material which came with the game indicates there are 199 counters, the copy of the game I have comes with 201 counters, as follows: 89 Reds (black on red) 14 Makhnovists (red on black) 32 Ukrainian Nationalists (black on white) 51 Whites (blue on white) 6 French (black on blue) 5 Greek (black on light blue) 4 blanks (red) [detailed counter manifest deleted] Collector's Value (spring 1998) Two years ago on the Internet, Tatchanka sold at auction for an average of $33 (low $27, high $44) and was offered for sale at an average price of $90. A very recent auction on the Internet saw a punched but otherwise complete copy go for $40. Tatchanka is an underrated and eminently collectible game, for all of the right reasons. Not many copies were published (Rich Erwin feels that no more than 500 copies of any Jim Bumpas game were ever published) and, with Jim Bumpas' death, there will likely not be another edition. The topic is interesting and not over-represented, and the simulation itself is simple, well done effective. The game components, while not up to the level of the major companies of the time, are substantial and quite acceptable nevertheless. Other Games of this Type There are no other games which simulate this particular period of the Russian Civil War. However, the Russian Civil War 1918-22 (SPI 1976) and Rossiya 1917 (AWE, 1997) both simulate the entire period, including that covered by Tatchanka. Other games of related interest include: - Patrol (SPI 1976) contains 3 scenarios relating to the Russian Civil War. - Over The Top (GDW 1990), part of the Command Decision series, which contains one scenario relating to the RCW; - Pilsudski (Panzerfaust 1969), Red Star/White Eagle (GDW 1979) and White Eagle Eastward (Decision Games 1993) are about the Russo-Polish War of 1920 - also see F&M 78 (Jan-Feb 1992) for an anthology of games on this period. - Freikorps (Microgame Co-op 1999), an alternative-history game that postulates a Soviet victory in the Battle of Warsaw in August 1920 followed by a Communist invasion of Germany. (Designed by the author of this review! Isn't that special....) Other Games by Jim Bumpas Bay of Pigs, an operational-tactical simulations the three-day invasion attempt on Cuba in April 1961 by CIA-equipped units. Published 1976. Mission Aloft, a tactical-operational air combat game depicting historical and hypothetical encounters between aircraft of many different countries in the period 1962-77. Published 1977; some references suggest that this game was designed by William Streiffer and only published by Bumpas. Schutztruppe, a simulation of guerrilla action in East Africa during World War I. Published 1975. The rights to reprint this game were purchased by Flying Buffalo, presumably between 1975 and 1977, and allegedly published a second edition. Tatchanka - The Game The game is for two players. There are five factions or force groups in the game. The White player commands: The Ukrainian Nationalists - these units have a 50% chance of defection the highest of any faction, and none of their combat units has a combat factor of more than two. However, they do have two armored trains, a useful resource. They set up near Kiev and are not reinforced during the game. The Whites - most of the White forces set up in the Crimea, with a separate and strong force of Cossack cavalry and infantry to the east. White units have a 33% chance of defecting. They start with some of the strongest units in the game, including three armored trains and a decent amount of artillery, but the also field some of the weakest. They receive some reinforcements during the game. The Foreign Interventionist (French and Greek) forces - I am not sure why these are here except for historical verisimilitude: they set up in Odessa and Kherson, far beyond the reach of the Red player, and are withdrawn at the beginning of the second turn, never to reappear. And the Red player commands: the Reds - a small force of Reds that includes both of their armoured trains sets up in the north near Kharkov. The Reds receive decent reinforcements throughout the game, and field some of the strongest units, especially artillery. Reds have a 33% chance of defecting all else being equal, except it isn't because early on in the game they receive five Cheka (secret police battalions that act as a considerable stiffener for the Bolsheviks. Reds and Makhnovists may conduct joint attacks: no other factions may do this. the Makhnovists - this is the smallest force in the game: five infantry and five cavalry (actually, the symbol used is machine-gun cavalry, referring to the tatchankas they used) brigades, set up in the centre of the map. They have only a 16% chance of defecting and a number of other advantages that are built into the game. Also, although this faction starts the game allied with the Reds, at the end of the game any Victory Points the Makhnovists have earned are counted for the White player. This does not mean that they are against the revolution, just that any breathing space they win for their brand of regional anarchism constitutes one in the eye for Bolshevik centralism. So, at some point the Red player will feel himself force to break this partnership in order to get a decisive victory. The Play of the Game The game has six pages of rules. There is no index, numbering or heading scheme, as had become industry practice by 1977, and concepts are presented in no clear sequence. There are no optional or extra rules. The rules therefore need to be read complete before playing the game, and you need to pay attention because there are some unfamiliar concepts and unclear sections (unfortunately, these tend to coincide). I will write about the sub-systems of the game as they are employed in the Sequence of Play: Pre-Turn Phase A. Meeting Determination B. Propaganda Point (PP) Accumulation and Allocation C. Recruitment Point (RP) Accumulation and Allocation White Player Turn 1. Supply Determination 2. Movement 3. Combat 4. Bonus Move 5. Bonus Combat (Red Player Turn is identical) A. Meeting Determination One player rolls 1d6 and if he gets a "1", there is a meeting between two randomly selected opposing factions. Meetings, described in the rules as "free-wheeling festivals of eating, drinking, speech-making assassinations, and defections", these are opportunities for large-scale defections from one faction to another. They are resolved after all movement and combat have been completed for both players that turn. The faction that both allocated more PP to the meeting and gained more PP due to successfully occupying towns and winning battle "wins" the meeting, and all units of the losing factions that are in the zone of control of a unit of the winning faction must test to see whether they defect. Nothing succeeds like success. B. PP Accumulation and Allocation PP represent physical propaganda such as newspapers, leaflets and poster as well as the relative ability and dominance of the political leadership of each faction. PP are gains and lost each turn for a number of reasons. In the Accumulation Phase there is an initial allotment of 20 for the Red player, eight each for the Ukrainian Nationalists and Makhnovists, and only four for the Whites. This alone gives the Red player the best chances and options, and though historical probably goes the longest way to making this an unbalanced game. Players also get 1 PP for capturing towns and eliminating more of the enemy than they lose in battle and lose PP for losing towns. PP are used for: affecting combats - whoever allocated more PP to a given battle gets a one-column favourable shift on the CRT, and DRM in his favor when it is time to judge defections, affecting he availability of Replacement Points (RP, of which more later), winning "meetings", and taking control of ungarrisoned enemy towns (an intriguing concept, but one not further explained in the rules). During the pre-turn Allocation Phase, each player writes down how many PP he will allocate in each Region of the map (there are five, enclosing five towns each) and to the meeting, if there is one. Players must allocate enough PP to regions they control physically in order to be sure of receiving the RP due them in the following phase. (next message) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Brian Train - 09:18am Aug 29, 2000 PST (#127 of 127) "He was wont so to speak plain and to the purpose, as an honest man and a soldier." (part 2 of Tatchanka review) C. Recruitment Point (RP) Accumulation and Allocation I suspect that Bumpas actually meant "Replacement" here because that's how he refers to it in the rest of the rules. These points are gained by controlling cities - two for most towns, four or six for larger cities like Odessa and Kharkov, and a varying bonus amount if you control all five towns in a Region. However, to get these RP, you need to have allocated enough PP. You get all the RP due you if you have allocated more PP to the region than all other players combined, half if you have allocated more than anyone else, and no one gets any RP from that Region is any faction has allocated more than the player who physically controls it. RP are used "recuperate" units that have been eliminated, or to buy reinforcements that appear during the game. Once again, the Red players;s higher initial allocation of PP means he gets more RP (or alternatively, being able to deny RP to other factions), which translates into more strength on the ground. White Player Turn 1. Supply Determination The supply rules are pretty straightforward and forgiving: 25 hexes through clear terrain back to a supply source, or a clear rail line that leads back to a supply source (which varies by faction). Makhnovists are cheap and easy to feed: 25 hexes through any terrain to any town they control. Being out of supply halves movement and combat, and prevents recuperation. 2. Movement Again, quite basic. Up to three non-defected, none-recuperating infantry or cavalry units and any amount of anything else, may stack in a hex. Only infantry and cavalry units have Zones of Control. ZOC inhibits enemy movement, retreat, and supply. Movement allowances are fairly generous, allowing for wide flanking moves: 5-7 for infantry, 12-15 for cavalry, armored cars and tanks, and 30 for armored trains. These picturesque locomotives also serve to carry units to the front, and are probably the greatest combat asset. In the game, as it did historically, the action tends to shuttle up and down railway lines. 3(a). Combat Combat is voluntary. The CRT is basic column-odds with a spread of AE, EX, DR, DE type results. Combat tends to be quite bloody: in all columns there is at least a 50% chance that one force will be half-eliminated or completely wiped out. However, in this game, being eliminated is not permanent. There is a chance that the eliminated unit will instead defect to the enemy player. This defection rule sets TATCHANKA apart from other games, and assumes far greater importance in the system than analogous rules in other games I recall seeing, where they were optional chromy bits to underline the designer's feelings about how unreliable straps were. Eliminated units test individually by rolling on a 1d6. The final odds of defecting depend on the faction, who applied more PP to the battle, whether there are Cheka units present (Red faction only), and whether the unit is a special unit (i.e. anything other than infantry or cavalry: I'm not sure this is supposed to mean that tankers and gunners are less politically reliable, or what). Units that defect are inverted (to denote 1/2 combat factors) with the victorious units and stay under their control for as long as they remain stacked with at least one unit of that faction. Units that are eliminated and don't defect are inverted in the nearest friendly-controlled town that is in supply, to be recuperated. Recuperating units have 1/2 combat factors, may not move or attack, and are removed from play if eliminated again while in this state. Players need to spend RP on units to recuperate them (one RP per combat factor of infantry, two for cavalry, and three for anything else), to a set limit per turn depending on the factions (usually one per turn: the Red faction can use his Cheka battalions to recuperate units stacked with them, and the Makhnovists can recuperate two units per turn). 3. (b) Counterattack Phase This is another unusual touch: immediately after the phasing player's combat phase, the other player has a chance to attack with his adjacent units. 4. Bonus Move Analogous to an exploitation phase, units that participated in battles where the defender was complete eliminated may move up to their movement allowance, and... 5. Bonus Combat ... attack again. The Red player then repeats the same sequence, to complete one Game-Turn. At the end of the Red Bonus Combat phase, the player would judge who won the meeting, if there was one. Winning the Game There are twelve quarterly turns in the game, from Spring 1919 to Winter 1921. Victory is judged at the end of the last Game-turn. Players score Victory Points based on the RP value for controlled towns, plus the bonuses for controlling whole Regions. Again, the Makhnovist VP count towards the White player's total, and that faction starts the game sitting on top of some very valuable real estate, so the Red player will feel the need to stab the Anarchists in the back at some point. To score the 112 points needed for a decisive victory, the Red player has to pretty well sweep the entire map, and needs 103 points for even a marginal victory. Perhaps Bumpas thought that this offset the large advantages the Red player enjoys throughout the game. By contrast, the White player scores a decisive victory with 27 points and a marginal victory with only 10.