A peek at the Russian Civil War Mod

[J P Wagner]

The map is about 80% complete as I need to add resources, more provinces ect...what you see is the General Denikin HQ unit and a UK tank group, stationed near Batum. There will be three "Allied" sides, The Southern Whites under Denikin, the Siberian Whites under Kolchak, and the Northwestern Whites under Yudenich. The other three major powers will be the Bolsheviks, Poland and the Western Intervention Forces who will be based at Murmansk, Archangel and in the Crimea.

Minor nations will include "White" Finland, with Mannerheim based at the recently captured city of Tampere. His main objective will be to retake Helsingfors and perhaps threaten St. Petersburg. The Czech Legion will be based at Tomsk in Siberia, the Ukrainians and the Anarchist Nestor Makhno will be playable as well as various Cossack provinces. I have much to do and hopefully it will be a decent mod.....

http://img97.imageshack.us/img97/4105/image002ua2.th.jpg' alt='image002ua2.th.jpg'>

[ August 17, 2006, 02:38 PM: Message edited by: J P Wagner ]

[Retributar]

J P Wagner ,...im glad that the MOD is being made, and thankful that your creative enough to do what look's like a very decent job of thing's!.

I am looking forward to giving it a go!.

[J P Wagner]

Thanks for the words and though it will not have the polish of Kuniworth's excellent Battle for Russia mod, it should be servicable enough...

Below is the strategic map, keeping in mind that there are areas yet to be completed. One notable feature is the use of depression tiles for the vast desert regions. These are unpassable and so you see narrow tracks of clear tiles which basically simulate where rail lines would be. So the battles in these regions will be for control of these narrow tracks of land. The Bolsheviks will have two bases in the East which will keep the White forces honest as they must protect their rear lines and so cannot steam ahead with all of their forces. One base is already set up at Tashkent and the other will be in the northeast corner facing the Czech Legion...

http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/4990/image002vj2.th.jpg' alt='image002vj2.th.jpg'>

[J P Wagner]

The White Army's General Wrangel moves on Tsaritsyn with Calvary Divisions on the left flank...Trotsky is arriving on the scene with an Armoured Train in tow...

I need to do some more work on the train as it lacks definition....usually bitmap images look terrible magnified bit much better when minimized. In the trains case it looks better magnified then when not.....

[Retributar]

Hello!, check with howller ...i have only seen 1-post from him and that is in the 'Mod Request' discussion!.

He claim's to have some capacity or the where-with-all to work with 'Bit-Maps',...so i was thinking, whynot contact him or send him an E-Mail to see if he can help you out?.

[J P Wagner]

I just need to be more patient when working on these things especially when I have no skill fooling around with these images...I see now that the Red HQ Uniform looks like something out of SPAWN...I'll need to work on that too....

[Edwin P.]

Looking forward to trying it out. Nice choice of major powers.

[Fartknock3r]

Looking Good!

[Retributar]

If either of you two guy's [Edwin P. & Fartknock3r] know of anyone skilled enough at Bit-Map work, please direct them toward's J P Wagner's project to see if they can help him out if he need's it!.

Even if he doesn't need help right now, it would be good for him to know who to contact if he does later!.

UPDATE:

Edwin P.! ... i hate to implore you again,...but... another 'request', i think you are a 'full-fledged-scripting verteran', so if you can, could you or someone you know give a hand to J P Wagner,... as this is where his need is greatest. Giving a name or two for 'J P' to follow up on, could help out too!.

[ August 21, 2006, 05:37 PM: Message edited by: Retributar ]

[J P Wagner]

Thanks for the vote of confidence Ret...

Actually I'm getting the hang it as I'm satisfied with the bi-plane, White tank, and the new Cavalry icon...I do not want to waste too much time on bit maps as I need to finish off the map and most importantly work on the scripts...sometimes noodling around with bitmaps is a good way to procrastinate....

One of the first things you will discover when you start RCW is the wealth of mpps that each side recieves per turn, but, unreliable conscription and an unstable war economy for both sides means that you will find purchasing and replacing strength points very expensive, so what looks like bounty in the beginning is quickly drained....there will be a number of minor neutrals representing various Cossack and Peasant provinces which will have the necessary resources to help in the war effort. I'll use some historical Atamans for the Cossack Hq's but may need to shift them from their natural regions for gameplay reasons... Anyway both the Reds and Whites will need to either use Diplomacy to get these provinces on their side, or invade....

[ August 21, 2006, 05:51 PM: Message edited by: J P Wagner ]

[J P Wagner]

Just thought I would show a few more graphics, as progress steadily, but slowly continues...

The Bolsheviks had few tanks during the civil war, and relied mainly on armoured cars. For the most part, they would slap some sheets of steel on any vehicle that passed by and designated it as an armoured car. However, they did maufacture Austin armoured cars which were similar to a UK design, and also had British armored cars in their arsenal. This armoured car is represented in the game as well as the French Nieuport plane....

The new armoured train that I am using is of WWII vintage but it looks much better than what I was using, so unless I find a decent WWI model pic, I'll use this one, though I may try making it larger. Allied planes are Spads and Sopwiths and the Poles have a few French Renault FT 17 tanks at their disposal...

[ August 26, 2006, 08:52 PM: Message edited by: J P Wagner ]

[Scook]

Your unit graphics look outstanding from what I am seeing.

[Edwin P.]

Looking good, can't wait to see the scripts and the victory conditions!

[Retributar]

I agree with the above message's, your doing commendable work!.

I wish that someone would eventually write a co-herent logically laid out and carefully explained instruction manual as to how to go about creating a MOD, including the Unit Bit-Maps, and all the rest that pertain's to this effort, from beginning to end!.

[J P Wagner]

My job has interfered with my progress on the RCW mod but I have completed the map, except for a few tweeks, and the unit bitmaps. Below is the map with the major and minor players that were involved. I need to do a couple of interface flag changes, but what you see is as follows:

The Allied Intervention force is represented by the USA flag and they occupy 4 areas, Murmansk, Archangel, the Caspian sea region (which I reduced since this pic was taken) and a small foothold in Siberia. (Note: the scale at the far east section of the map has been compressed a bit for gameplay purposes.)

To the south of the WIF are White Finland, the Northwest Whites represented by the red/white/blue flag with cross.

Further south is Poland, the Ukraine and the Black Flag of Makhno's Anarchists.

In the Crimea/Caucusus region there are the Kuban Cossacks, the Southern Whites, and the Don Cossacks, black/red diamond flag

The Volga Cossacks are the blue/yellow flag and the Astrakhan Cossacks are the white/green/red flag (to be changed). The Terek Cossacks are the blue flag with the diagonal stripe

The Siberian Cossacks are the green/white diamond flag.

The Siberian Whites are the white/green flag with the red X. Further east of the White Siberian Territory is the Czech Legion, the Ural Cossacks and the Trans-Baikal Cossacks

I moved a couple of cossack provinces in order to enhance the challenge. Three of the Cossack provinces start the game activated as White Allies, Kuban, Don and Orenburg (located at the southern end of the Urals, flag to be changed)

Two provinces are neutral but pro Bolshevik, the Anarchists and the Trans-Baikal Cossacks.

The remaining provinces are neutral. These provinces hold numerous resources which will be needed by both sides, and some provinces block strategic areas for both sides to effectively advance, so either through Diplomacy or Invasion, most of the cossacks will come into play. One further Cossack province will be added to the east of the WIF Caspian Sea territory.

The Czech Legion is pro White but start off as neutral. I want this to be a Diplomatic game between the Reds and Whites in order to win the prize of a strong Czech army. Hopefully, this will create some replayabilty as they may never enter the game, or could join either side. Of course, either side could simply invade the province to obtain the resources that are housed there, but that might not be a good idea, especially early in the game.

Speaking of resources; the capitals and mines have the max mpp value while everything else is at the minimum. And I have placed all the mines in cossack provinces, so both sides will recognize the value of these territories.

I'm working on the OOB now and then on to scripting.

http://img212.imageshack.us/img212/4808/image002wp0.th.jpg' alt='image002wp0.th.jpg'>

[ September 04, 2006, 07:49 PM: Message edited by: J P Wagner ]

[Edwin P.]

Looking good, I like your use of the Czech Legion.

[japinard]

That is very very cool! Did you hand draw the whole map?

[J P Wagner]

japinard, if you mean by "hand drawn" as selecting the pre-drawn tiles supplied by the editor, one by one, then that's what I did, as you cannot actually draw free hand on the map... Below are the at start forces, subject to change once I start playtesting. Three of the majors, Poland(Red/White marker), Northwest Whites (red/white/blue roundels) and Allied Intervention Force (White stars) are pro White neutral.

The Southern Whites (crowns), supported by the Don and Kuban Cossacks (green/white check) are active in south. The Siberian Whites (red shields/white cross) and the Orenburg Cossacks (green/white check) are active and poised at the Urals. In Finland, Mannerheim to the North, and von der Goltz to the west, are active (green/white checks). And of course, the Bolsheviks hold central Russia.

Purchasing/Upgrading units and research are disabled as there is an extensive reinforcement schedule for the major countries. Many of the at start forces are understrengthed.

Diplomacy is vital in this game as there are numerous neutral cossack provinces, the Czech Legion, and the Anarchists to control. I'll be keeping an eye on what Hubert has up his sleeve for possible diplo changes and how it could affect this mod....

[ September 15, 2006, 04:37 PM: Message edited by: J P Wagner ]

[Retributar]

J P Wagner, ... a tribute to 'you'!,...your effort's and your knowledge of these event's!. Few, if any of us know anything about the historical situation that you are presenting in this MOD. This will be an 'Educational Experience' for us gamer's!.

Thankyou for not giving-up on your task of making this MOD a reality to us all!. More than ever, we are all appreciative of your persistant effort to make this creation come alive!.

[Hubert Cater]

J P Wagner, agreed with Retributar that your efforts are impressive and that I too am looking forward to seeing this MOD in action

[J P Wagner]

Thanks for the kind words...here is the Bolshevik Major Victory conditions. If anyone notices a mistake that I may have made in plotting it out, please let me know, as I'm still in the shallow end of the script pool....

{

#NAME= Bolshevik Major Victory

#POPUP= Bolshevik Major Victory

#FLAG= 1

#TYPE= 1

#TRIGGER= 100

#ALIGNMENT= 1

#DATE= 1918/01/09

; Moscow,Petrograd,Tsaritsyn,Rostov,Sevastopol,Batum,Ekaterindar,Riga,Omsk,Orsk,Ekaterinburg,Groznii,Orenburg,Novorossiisk,Murmansk,Archangel

#MAP_POSITION= 38,52

#MAP_POSITION= 16,45

#MAP_POSITION= 62,70

#MAP_POSITION= 53,77

#MAP_POSITION= 43,89

#MAP_POSITION= 68,90

#MAP_POSITION= 56,85

#MAP_POSITION= 7,58

#MAP_POSITION= 96,17

#MAP_POSITION= 86,42

#MAP_POSITION= 74,25

#MAP_POSITION= 74,81

#MAP_POSITION= 77,46

#MAP_POSITION= 53,86

#MAP_POSITION= 4,15

#MAP_POSITION= 26,25

}

And here is the White Major Victory Conditions. Historically General Denikin of the Southern Whites was obsessed with Moscow and believed that the only way the Bolsheviks could be defeated was if their capital was taken. This might not have necessarily been true, for if the Whites had cooperated with each other, on all fronts, they could have put a stranglehold on the Reds and forced them into submission without occupying the capital. By constantly advancing onto Moscow however, the Whites overextended their lines and left major sections of their front weakly held. They were especially vulnerable in their rear as Anarchists and rival Cossacks continually disrupted supply and caused dissention among the White troops.

To reflect this in the game, Moscow must be taken for the Whites to acheive a major victory. I would like to include Moscow as part of a minor victory as well, so ingrained was this objective to White strategic thinking but this would perhaps make it too difficult for the Whites to achieve any type of victory. I have to remember that this is a game first and is supposed to be fun and win-able for both sides...

The minor victory conditions will include some different objectives than those that are listed in the major victory scripts. This way, if a player feels he is unable to fullfil a major, he can redirect his attention to other areas of the map to gain a minor...at least that's the plan anyway

{

#NAME= White Major Victory

#POPUP= White Major Victory

#FLAG= 1

#TYPE= 1

#TRIGGER= 100

#ALIGNMENT= 2

#DATE= 1918/01/09

;Moscow,Petrograd,Tsaritsyn,Odessa,Sevastopol,Batum,Riga,Murmansk,Warsaw,Omsk,Archangel

#MAP_POSITION= 38,52

#MAP_POSITION= 16,45

#MAP_POSITION= 62,70

#MAP_POSITION= 32,85

#MAP_POSITION= 43,89

#MAP_POSITION= 68,90

#MAP_POSITION= 7,58

#MAP_POSITION= 4,15

#MAP_POSITION= 4,76

#MAP_POSITION= 96,17

#MAP_POSITION= 26,25

}

[ September 16, 2006, 07:14 PM: Message edited by: J P Wagner ]

[J P Wagner]

For the few of you who are interested in this mod, just to let you know that it will be completed in about two weeks.....

[n0kn0k]

Nice to hear

[japinard]

Sweet. Excellent to hear! Beautiful map too!

[Retributar]

That is good new's, will be checking in from time to time to when it comes out!.