Steve Rupar - Mar 8, 2009 9:46 pm (#44171 Total: 44248) Soviet Dawn I'd like to give a big thumbs up to Victory Point Games (and designer Darin Leviloff) for Soviet Dawn, which arrived here on Friday. This is a solitaire card based game of the Russian Civil Water. The player is the Bolsheviks, trying to hold off a slew of foreign and white armies from taking Moscow. A mere 8 pages of rules including a complete game run through (2 pages!) had me playing in about 15 minutes, including set up time. The rules appear to be errata free, also a plus. Cost was about $26 from the VPG website, including shipping by US mail. The game includes an 11 x 17 map of Russia with almost all of the charts and rules needed for play displayed where needed. 28 counters and 48 cards complete the package. The game states that no die is provided, but my game included the tiniest six side die I've ever seen (I didn't use it). Components are a step above desk top - the counters are mounted and punched out smoothly; rules and map are full color. The cards are fairly sturdy. Game play is simple and addictive. Each "turn" consists of flipping the next event card - which are historical - advancing one or more (usually more) White Armies - then taking actions (usually 1 to 3, as listed on the card) to confront the Whites. Actions can be offensives against White Armies, rolls on the political table, or rolls to reorganize the Red Army. The latter is usually tough (you need to roll a six) but some cards provide positive modifiers. The White Armies follow tracks similar to Phalanx's First World War - starting at a 4 box at their base, all converging on Moscow (the 0 box). Combat is simple - roll higher than the White army strength to force it back a box. However there are never enough Red actions available to attack all armies, and often you will need to shore up the political front, or be tempted to roll for Red Army reorganization. Some events will activate new White Army fronts or allow the player to attempt to remove a White Front with a successful enough offensive. Victory can be political or military. The game ends when either the Whites occupy Moscow (instant player loss), or when the player can ratchet up his political level to 9. I "won" my first game (after about 20 minutes of play) with a political victory - but - I recognized mid way I had not set up the Southern White army as "active", so not a real victory. I lost the second game badly when the western Allies advanced into Moscow along the Murmansk rail line with the Southern and Baltic Whites next door as well. The second game took a little longer, maybe about 30 minutes. I found the game suprisingly sophisticated and tense. The variance in card order will assure a different game every time, and the strategic choices are varied enough to provide a real challenge. This will be a must to bring along for travel.