Another Entry in the Card Driven
Series ...
Triumph of Chaos: Russian Civil War 1918 1921
(TOC), from Clash of Arms, is a two-player card driven strategic
board-game. Players assume the side of the REDs (communist forces)
and the WHITEs (anti-communist forces) in the epic conflict of
the Russian Civil War.
Game Description: The game reflects a rich historical
period, which witnessed the emergence of one of the two totalitarian
ideologies of the 20th century: communism, with the other being
fascism. All the characters are here: from American Polar Bear
troops to the Ukrainian anarchist, Makhno, to the White Russian
general Yudenich's Northwest Army that almost took St.Petersburg
to the British AZ Squadron that almost bombed Moscow to the feared
RED Konarmiia (Cavalry Army). Over140 different armies, 40 leaders
and close to 200 corps are represented along with most of the
political events related to the conflict.
The design philosophy of ToC is to provide a game wherein
players struggle with strategic political and military dynamics
that bounded the conflict: This is not a game where military
decisions are independent of political ramifications.
There are three phases to each game turn: Political, Action
and Logistics Phase. During the Political Phase each side utilizes
a shared deck of 66 Political Cards to drive the control of 18
separate factions. Factions include Countries (Estonia, Finland,
Latvia, Lithuania and Poland), Major Powers (Britain, France,
USA, Central Powers, Czech Legion), Republics (Astrakhan, Belarus,
Khiva, Mahkno, Transcaucasus and Turkestan, West Ukraine, and
Ukraine).
During the Action Phase, each player uses their respective
deck of 55 Action Cards (ACs) to activate units for movement
and combat, implement Events (receive reinforcements, cause mutinies,
etc), generate Replacement points or Strategically Redeploy units.
The Logistics Phase addresses attrition, rebuilding units
and other odds and ends.
Tournament Format: This is the first full year for
Triumph of Chaos at WBC. The game was released in the
summer of 2005. Given that, we will use a short, introductory
scenario for the tourney in the initial rounds. Depending upon
the interest of the semi-finalists, we can play the campaign
game at the end. The tournament scenario will be posted at www.triumphofchaos.com
Given
that most players will be new to to it, rules will be explained.
Essentially, the game is very similar to other card driven games
like Paths of Glory, For the People, etc. If you've played
any of the card driven designs, you will have no problem playing
ToC at WBC. The big difference from other card driven games is
the political sub-game. The complexity of that part of the game
is low to moderate. If you have played historical simulations
previously, you will also have little problem learning and playing
ToC.
For more information: There are a number of places
where you can find more information about Triumph of Chaos
including www.consimworld.com (a discussion board in the Boardgaming
> Individual Games > Era: Between the wars 1918-1939 folder)
or the publisher http://www.clashofarms.com/ or the general game
site www.triumphofchaos.com
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