Under an Iron Sky – Forward Comrades Pre Game play

DATELINE: June 8th 1985

The great Glasnost reformer and General secretary of the Soviet Communist Party Mikhail Gorbachev is deposed by military coup led by Andrei Gromyko.

Local security services in Russian & Polish cities brutally suppress pro Gorbachev protests. Poland suffers under the rough hand of martial law imposed by General Jaruzelski going so far as to declare Solidarnosc the independent trade union a CIA funded subversive entity.

June 12th

President Reagan and British Prime Minister Thatcher denounce these and other actions. An emergency session of NATO occurs and the Bundestag votes in favor of the installation additional Pershing and Cruise Missiles sites in West Germany.

June 28th

With control and power within the Warsaw Pact slipping, the State Emergency Committee meets in secret resolving to reassert the Brezhnev Doctrine and save the Communist cause, by delivering a rapid decisive final blow against the military power of West Germany & the USA.

 

Pre War game turns.

The Kremlin decisions:
In a single module game the idea is to build your forces up while delaying the NATO side as much as possible. A few bad rolls here will put them behind the 8 ball.

WP can come out guns blazing with a ‘from the barracks attempt’ or do a slow roll build up or some where in between.

Regardless, while forces are already on the map, having such things as the Baltic Fleet online and ready to do invasions, having your aircraft all ‘organized’, as well as Flak and other supporting arms ‘organized’ means you can get off to a slightly faster start. But units and elements will still have to ‘ be brought online’ or Military districts activated.

 

  1. The start of turn Pre War Turn One for OPERATION LADOGA has been decided and is kept secret.
  2. Warsaw Pact plays 4 cards.
  3. A roll of 13 on the Tension Intelligence Table means that 2/3 of the cards are discovered, rounded down, meaning 2 cards discovered
  4. NATO discovers the following cards:
    1. E17 – 106thGuards Airborne
    2. E19 – West. TVD Air Force Readiness
  5. The Tension Cost rises to 10 (E17 has TC 2,  E19 has TC 8)
  6. The WP Victory Cost rises to 2 (Card E17 has a victory cost of 2)

A summary:

  1. After the WP cards are revealed, the Tension Cost running total is 10.
  2. NATO rolls an 8 on the Tension Table, column 1 – 10. That means: No Tension Level increase, NATO Tension Points running total goes to 5.
  3. NATO may now choose which cards to play, but NO CARDS can be played at Tension Level 0 (the lowest is card E01 – Warning Signs, which can be played at Tension Level 1 or higher).
  4. NATO keeps the 5 Tension Points gained but cannot play cards.
  5. WP reveals the cards still unrevealed: they are E01 – West TVD Army Readiness and E03 – Transport Assets Requisition
  6. The effect of every card is now applied

The WP cards allow an expansion over the next few turns of heavy lift, and logistics. As well as prepping the 106th Airborne for action.