Kaliningrad 2024

 Another game brought to us courtesy of Ian R and the British Army Fight Club. This one is an extension of the Peoples Army of Voronoi system, using a Voronoi map of the Baltic States to examine various scenarios around a Soviet Russian incursion and NATO responses.

It is an area movement map, much like the previous game, although it now includes sea areas, capital cities and ports (cities facing sea areas). Units, movement and combat are still heavily abstracted to let players focus on the strategic situation, but there is plenty of operational decision making to be made.

A rather scary inclusion in this one is tactical nuclear weapons, whose use is fairly devastating, but carry an ever increasing risk of starting an all out nuclear exchange.

There are four scenarios, covering various levels of NATO readiness and involvement (or not) of Belarus. We started with scenario 1, which has a supine NATO, riven by internal divisions, but a neutral Belarus. The big victory points are if the Russians can make an uncontested land bridge to Kaliningrad by game end, but there are also points for destroying units, occupying capital cities etc. Only the Russians have tac nukes in this one, but if WW3 breaks out, both sides lose. More on that later.

Jim and I were the plucky Baltic States, Tim and Pete the wicked Russians. John ran the game and Ian observed and chipped in to answer questions. The active NATO countries (Finland, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia) each start with a couple of units, and we have to take reinforcements from Sweden and Poland before the rest of NATO rocks up.

The Russians have a fair amount more stuff, particularly four units rammed into Kaliningrad. Fortunately all the Belarus units are neutral, although the Russians can pass through them. Our reinforcement rolls are penalised for the first two turns in this scenario. 

The Russian opening attack is devastating. The Polish border forces are wiped out, as are half the Baltic States forces. Russian reinforcements appear on the Russian border. Our guys mainly retire to their respective capital cities (you get a defensive bonus defending your capital). The Russians have been fighting, not moving this turn.

By game turn 6, things aren't looking too great. We have at least held off the Russian attack against Helsinki, and the Swedes arrived to help out. Talinn has fallen, but Vilnius and Riga are holding out. The Russians have pushed across the map and have their land bridge however.

The Baltic Fleet is floating off Kaliningrad, while the Swedes are afloat in the Gulf of Finland, threating St Petersburg with amphibious attack. The Polish reinforcements have now arrived in eastern Poland.

The game ends when the sum of 4D6 equal the current turn (a ceasefire is declared), so we have a way to go yet. So far we've lost 8 NATO SP and killed 5 Russian.

Sadly Vilnius finally falls to a mass Russian assault on Turn 8, and Poles disappear in a can of Instant Sunshine as the Russians fire a barrage of nukes. This wipes out the Poles, and produces a single nuke marker. On a roll of 1, WW3 breaks out.... it doesn't.

Two NATO naval units arrive and lay siege to Kaliningrad.

Sadly this produces another nuclear response, and the fleet goes to the bottom. WW3 on a 2 or less.... phew, we survive another turn.

NATO doesn't give up, more ships and troops pile into Eastern Poland and lay siege to Kaliningrad. The Swedes are just outside the port of Riga, where the Latvians are still holding out. We broke for the night at that point. 

On turn 10, the Latvian defenders finally give up, just as the Swedes debark into Riga and continue to hold the city.

The force ratios are just too much in the Russians favour now. The Swedes are kicked out of Riga again, and our ground troops in Kaliningrad are wiped out. The Russians set about widening their land bridge and occupy Eastern Poland.

NATO (finally) gets some good reinforcement rolls and massed troops pile into Eastern Poland and Southern Lithuania to contest the land bridge. By this time we are deliberately stacking troops up and encouraging the Russians to nuke them, as if WW3 starts both sides lose ie it is a draw. I think that needs thinking about in terms of victory conditions.

The Russians wisely don't rise to the bait and instead our attack into Lithuania is beaten back. All the Baltic States have been overrun now with no possibility of liberating them, and as the game clock runs out, it is a massive Russian win. The geographic locations are largely irrelevant in terms of VPs as the Russians get 22 points just for destroyed NATO units, whereas the land bridge is worth a measly 5 VP.

Well, that was a total wipeout, but a very compelling game with lots of serious decisions to be made. It certainly doesn't bode well for the Baltic States in future - which idiot thought NATO expansion was a good idea? Although the game was thought provoking and fun to play, I do think some of the victory conditions need looking at. The relative VPs for geographic locations vs losses for one - the Russians really don't care (much) about losses. Secondly, the nuclear aspects. The optimum strategy for the player losing is to start WW3, as then they salvage a draw. This really doesn't seem right, as the end of civilisation probably isn't a price to casually pay over whether the Russians have a land route to Kaliningrad or not. My suggestions was that if all out nuclear war breaks out, the player who fired the most tactical nukes to start it automatically loses.  

Anyway, thanks to Ian for the game design and John for putting it on.