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Introduction

Revolution Under Siege (RUS) is a historical strategy simulation that recreates the years of Civil War (1917-1923) that shook Russia after the Bolshevik Revolution. Players assume the role of military and political leaders in command of land and naval forces belonging to either the Communist Faction (RED) or one (or both in 3 players game) of the white factions opposed to them (WHI – Southern White / the Armed Forces of the South of Russia, or WH3 - Siberian White / Admiral Kolchak's dictatorship in Siberia). Using a system of simultaneous turn resolution, the simulation can be played against either the computer’s artificial intelligence (AI) or human opponents, by exchanging files by email (PBEM) (or any other available way to the players).

The RUS game system will be familiar to veteran players of AGEOD’s previous titles: Birth of America I and II , American Civil War, Napoleon's campaign, and Rise of Prussia.

Unique Features and Concepts

Even though Revolution Under Siege shares a common lineage with earlier AGEOD simulations, some new features and concepts have been incorporated into the game play like multi-factions (The Whites were divided and lack cooperation between themselves; various small factions – the Allies' Expeditionary troops, Makhno's anarchists, etc... - come into play depending on events and player's choices in the ledger, sometimes under the control of the player, sometimes not), early XXth century military aviation, or armored trains, which are typical of the conflict.

Game Scale

Revolution Under Siege consists of a number of scenarios that are divided into game turns each representing two weeks (~14 days) of game time. The smallest military unit in the game is the Element. An Element is a company, a squadron or a battery. The map is a 2D representation of Russia —stretching from Poland in the West to Vladivostok in the Far East (via a series of "Out of Map" boxes along the Transiberian railway). It is divided into regions, areas, and theaters.

Updates

SEP REDS makes every effort to fix any problems with its software or documentation as soon as such problems are identified. Owners of Revolution Under Siege are encouraged to visit http://ageod.com [1] for the latest available software updates. Moreover, AGEOD’s forums are a great place to meet other players for discussions of strategy, historical commentary, news, and opinion.

Customer Support

SEP REDS members are present on AGEOD’s Forum to provide answers to all questions you may have, as well as customers support for any issue you may have with the game.

Installation

Downloading & Installing the Game

The game is installed through digital download. Follow the download instructions given by the website where you purchased your game. Once your purchase has been validated, you shall be given a serial number with your invoice. Enter this serial number in the game once the installation process is launched.

System Requirements

Minimum Requirements

Processor: Intel Pentium or AMD, 1500 MHz

RAM: 1024 MB

Graphic Card: 128 MB RAM,DirectX 9.0c compatible

Sound Card: 16-bits, DirectX 9.0c compatible (DirectMusic compliant) CD Rom: x 8

Peripherals: Microsoft compatible keyboard and mouse

Operating System: Windows 2000, XP, Vista

Hard Disk: 2000 MB free disk space

DirectX: Version 9.0c

Recommended Requirements

Processor: Intel Pentium IV or AMD Athlon, 2000 MHz

RAM: 1024 MB (1536 Mb of RAM for Vista)

Graphic Card: 128 Mb RAM, DirectX 9.0c compatible

Sound Card: 16-bits, DirectX 9.0c compatible (DirectMusic compliant) CD Rom: x 8

Peripherals: Microsoft compatible keyboard and mouse

Operating System: Windows 2000, XP, Vista (1536 Mb of RAM for Vista) Hard Disk: 2000 MB free disk space

DirectX: Version 9.0c

The Main Menu

The Main Menu Screen allows players to access basic game functions such as Loading Saved games, starting new games, and setting game options.

Options

Game options are divided into various sub-groups.

Media The Media sub-group contains options pertaining to the way in which game audio is configured and graphics are displayed. Other game settings in the Media sub-group let players set tool-tip delays, pauses after battles, and combat animations.

Game The Game sub-group contains options allowing players to activate/deactivate the Fog of War, set Attrition conditions and intensity, use of randomized Leaders, and more. The default settings are recommended, especially for players that are new to the game system used in RUS.

AI (Artificial Intelligence) The AI sub-group contains options allowing players to set individual parameters of the game’s AI. Players can make the AI very powerful and thus present themselves with greater challenges.

System The System sub-group contains options allowing players to adjust technical settings. These include ‘Texture Init.’ and ‘Region pre-caching’—options that allow for smoother scrolling. The default settings are recommended for most systems; however, discussions on the AGEOD’s forums may help you determine which settings are best for your computer system.

Important Note: Some scenarios require that the Limited Map loading option be turned off in order to scroll the Main Screen.

Campaigns and Scenarios

When starting a new game, players are presented with a list of available scenario. These range from relative short scenarios to full campaign games. Short scenarios are limited in scope and involve less territory on the game map. Full campaign games, like the Campaign 1918-1922, involve entire theaters of play and literally hundreds of individual Leaders and units.

The list of scenarios also includes Tutorial scenarios that are HIGHLY recommended for new players. The game mechanics of Revolution Under Siege are relatively simply to learn but don’t be deceived—the game system is incredibly complex and nuanced behind the scenes. Learning to master the subtleties requires patience and practice.

The tool-tip feature gives brief descriptions of each of the scenarios. Once players have made a scenario selection, starting the game merely requires choosing a side (generally RED or one of the WHI).

Loading, Deleting, and Renaming Games

Instead of starting a new game, players may ‘Resume’ a previously-saved or automatically-saved game. Players also have the option to Rename, Delete, or Restore a previous turn as indicated by the tool-tip. Holding the mouse over the game in the Load Game window, provides players with short-cuts to these file-handling options. (It is not advised to rename a Saved game outside of RUS.)

Saving Games

Games are saved automatically by the game system upon completion of a game turn. Usually, the only time a player needs to manually save a game is when they Quit in the middle of plotting movement for an up-coming game turn and want to resume issuing orders upon restarting the game. Players may save a game at any time by pressing the Esc key and accessing the Main Menu. From here, players can select the Save Game menu.

Players also have the option of restoring the previous 24 turns of any Saved game but note that a Saved game is lost once an ‘older’ turn of that game is restored.

Play By Email (PBEM)

RUS can be played against other human opponents using PBEM or any other valid file transfer protocol, such as Instant Messaging. One of the players (the “Host”) will have to initiate the game. The procedure is detailed as follows:

Step 1: Create a game

The Hosting player chooses a Campaign/Scenario and a side and starts the game as usual. This automatically generates a sub-folder in the C:\Program Files\Revolution Under Siege\RUS\Saves\ directory, named after the Campaign or Scenario selected (1918 Campaign if you play the ‘1918-1923 Campaign’ scenario, for example). Please note that a number helps differentiate between multiple instances of the same Campaign/Scenario. However, the best way to avoid confusion is to rename the in-game Save (e.g. 1918 Campaign John vs. Joe). Do NOT rename any RUS files externally to the game.

In this newly created folder you will find two or three TRN files, each with three letters indicating which side it belongs to (RED, WHI or WH3).

Note: C:\Program Files\Revolution Under Siege\ is the default directory. This directory may be titled something different if the game is installed to another location. It is also different for the different language versions of Windows.

Step 2: Host Sends TRN file to Opponent(s)

The Hosting player sends his opponent(s) the TRN file with the opponent’s designation (i.e. if you play the RED, then send the WHI and/or WH3 file to the appropriate opponent(s) ). The opponent(s) must store this file in the folder named “Revolution Under Siege\RUS\Saves”. It is advisable to use subfolders to keep all PBEM games in progress separate. For example, the opponent could save the TRN file under the “Revolution Under Siege\RUS\Saves\JohnVsJoe” subfolder.

Note: In order to avoid possible data corruption during the file E-mail transfer process, it is strongly advised to E- Mail the file using the Zip file and password options included.

Step 3: Non-Host sends ORD file to Host

Each player now loads the game and gives his orders for the upcoming turn. When ready, each player saves the game. This will generate an ORD file (in the folders mentioned above). Important: Do NOT click on End Turn button at this step. The Non-Hosting player then sends his ORD file to the Hosting player.

Step 4: Host Resolves Turn

The Hosting player saves the ORD file received from his opponent into the appropriate directory and loads the game again. He now clicks on End Turn button to launch the turn resolution, where all orders are then executed. A new turn is now ready to start. Go back to Step # 2 and repeat.

Note: The Non-Hosting players doesn’t get to “play back” his opponent’s turn. However, he can check the game turn’s Message Log to see what has occurred during the turn.

Winning the Game (Overview)

Victory in Revolution Under Siege is determined at the conclusion of each scenario by comparing Victory Point totals. The side (RED, WHI or WH3) with the most Victory Points (VP) is declared the winner. Relative differences between Victory Point totals can be used as a measure of how well a player performed in comparison to his opponent. Scenarios can be brought to an immediate conclusion if conditions for Automatic Victory or Automatic Defeat are met. A scenario can also immediately end if conditions for Sudden Death are met.

Victory Points (VP)

Victory Points are earned and accrued each turn for such things as holding important locations on the map, achieving goals as set forth by individual scenarios, and by destroying enemy units. A running total of a player’s current Victory Points is displayed in the top left corner of the Main Screen.

Once earned, Victory Points are never lost except in cases where a player has decided to promote a Leader outside the normal Seniority hierarchy (i.e. players do not lose VPs if their own units are destroyed or if they lose control of designated Objectives).

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Important Note: In order to gain credit for a captured Objective or Strategic city, a player must garrison the location with a regular unit (i.e. no Irregulars, Militias) if the region has a Loyalty rating less than 51%.

Scenario Objectives

Each scenario in Revolution Under Siege has a specific list of Objectives representing important cities and goals that players attempt to own or achieve throughout the course of play. These Objectives are listed in the introductory summary before the start of each scenario and on the Objectives Screen (F9 key) during play.

Objective Cities Players start scenarios with one or more Objective cities already in their possession; the rest must be taken from the enemy before the scenario’s end. On the Objectives Screen (F9 key), each Objective city is listed along with its value in National Morale points. National Morale Points gained or lost as a result of Objective cities changing hands is only calculated once—at the end of the turn. In other words, gaining NM points for capturing a city is a one-shot deal; you don’t get NM for the city every turn, unlike Victory Points which are earned each turn.

The number of VP awarded each turn for possession of an Objective city depends of its NM value, as summarize in this table:

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Sudden Death Sudden Death refers to winning the scenario by owning or capturing a certain number of Objective Cities. Some scenarios may be ended early if a player reaches the required number of cities. This type of victory should be considered a Major Victory. Not all scenarios have Sudden Death conditions. If a scenario has Sudden Death conditions, these conditions will be listed in the scenario summary along with the number of cities required to trigger Sudden Death.

RUS Manual