THE SAILORS' MUTINIY

At the start all ships are held by the White forces. At any time during the game, when the game master decides the moment is ripe, the crews of the ships mutiny. Follow the rules below to find out what happens on each ship. The mutiny and attempts to suppress it are a "Mini-Game" and are fought out "between two turns" in the regular game. They are not interwoven into the regular RED AND WHITE rules sequence. (EXAMPLE) If the game master decides that the mutiny will happen after the Red part of turn 4, then all mutiny combat is played out and the fate of all ships decided before the White part of turn 4 begins.

A large merchant ship diagram, showing 5 areas that were fought over: Bridge, Deck, Forward Hold, Engine Room and After Hold.

The large merchant ships had 12 crewmen. In addition to these, a D6 roll was made by the White player to see how many officers were on board, and another D6 roll by the Red player to see how many party members were on board as agitators. Officers and party members were more effective than ordinary sailors.

A small merchant ship diagram, showing the 2 areas that were fought over: Above decks, and below decks.

The small merchant ships had only 6 crewmen. In addition to these, a D4 roll was made by the White player to see how many officers were on board, and another D4 roll by the Red player to see how many party members were on board as agitators. (NOTE: If you do not have a D4 - and you probably do not - roll a D6 but reroll any results of 5 or 6)

There are three kinds of men in the game: Officers, party members, and sailors. Officers are always on the White side. Party members are always on the Red (Bolshevik) side. A D6 is rolled for each sailor as the mini-game begins. On a result of 1,2 or 3 - that sailor is loyal to the Whites. On a result of 4,5 or 6, that sailor is loyal to the Bolsheviks. Each side then places it's loyal sailors, one at a time, each side alternating, till all are placed. Officers started on the bridge (on deck for small ships) while party members begin in the Engine room (anywhere on small ships).

The Reds began the mutiny mini-game with turn one. Any or all of their men may move from one part of the ship to another. After movement, combat takes place in one compartment where both sides have men. Men are matched against an opponent in the same area. A D6 is rolled by each side for each match-up. High die wins - reroll ties. If one side wins with a 5 or 6, the opponent is killed. Losers not killed become prisoners of the winning side.

After that compartment is in control of the reds or the whites, combat begins in the next compartment in which both sides have forces. After all combat is resolved and all compartments have only one side (red or white) in them, then the whites can move any or all of their men...as above.

Eventually, one side or the other will control the ship, all opposing figures being dead or made prisoner. At this point the prisoners are sorted out. If the Reds seized the ship, all officers are shot. The remaining prisoners are added back to the reds and form the crew. if the Whites held the ship, any party members held as prisoners are shot. The remaining prisoners become part of the crew as above.

Die roll modifiers:

• Officers +1 to combat die
• Party members +1 to combat die
• Each additional man fighting against an opponent, +1 to the combat die.
• Reds attacking the bridge, -1 to combat die for first 3 combat rolls.
• Whites attacking the engine room, -1 to combat die for first 3 combat rolls.

A sample game description follows:
The merchant ship "Star of Siberia" lies at anchor. According to the dice 3 officers are on the bridge, and 5 party members are in the engine room. The 7 sailors loyal to the whites are distributed as follows, 2 on the bridge, and 5 on deck. The 5 Bolshevik sailors are all concentrated in the engine room. The Reds always move first. They move an overwhelming force of 4 party members and 4 sailors to the deck.

The figures are lined up, the 5 White sailors in a row, each of them with a party member opposing him and 4 with a second red sailor also attacking. The first party member rolls a D6, the result is "2", +1 for party member and +1 for additional man fighting, final total = "4". The White sailor rolls a "3" and so becomes a prisoner. The second combat is like the first but the party member rolls a "5" modified to a "7" and the White sailor rolls a "4", dying because his opponent won the combat with a "5" or "6". Each match-up is rolled for....

At the end of the round of combat, 4 party members are left, along with 4 red sailors, while only 2 white sailors are left. They are matched up again this time, each poor white sailor has 4 men against him and the Red die roll modifiers are +1 for party member and +3 for additional men fighting, for a total of +4 to each of the two rolls. One white is killed and one is taken prisoner (total 2 prisoners now).

Since there are no other areas with both Red and White men in them, the Red turn is over, and the White turn begans. Unwisely, the White player sorties from the Bridge bringing all 3 officers and 2 men to fight the 4 party members and 4 red sailors on deck. We will mercifully draw a curtain over the details, but after the fight is over, 1 officer and 2 men are prisoners (grand total of 1 officer and 4 white sailors taken prisoner by the Bolsheviks). Since all Whites are dead or imprisoned, the Reds now have the ship! The officer is shot (or tossed overboard, suitably weighted down) and the sailor prisoners join the Bolsheviks. The ship is now theirs with a crew of 5 party members and 9 sailors.

THE BOATS At the start of their turn, either side may decide it will lose the ship and "take to the boats" to escape. There is no combat that turn, but roll a D10 on the "Boats" table.

DOWN THE GANGWAY! Note that if the ship is docked, the men go over the side to the dock instead of to the boats. Roll as above but on the table below.

SPECIAL EFFECTS Procure a deck of 52 standard playing cards. These are shuffled and at the start of the mutiny, each player draws one card for each ship, keeping it a secret. The results are:

• ACE One man has a gun. He is +1 to all combat dice. If he is killed or captured, the gun is out of ammunition.
  
• KING There is a Traitor in the other side's men. The side which draws the card may remove one sailor of the opposing side AFTER all sailors have been placed, and replace him in any compartment as one of his own men. Officers and Party members may not be traitors.
• QUEEN The side which draws the card knows a secret way into the bridge or engine room. Thusly any attack into those spaces by that side will not suffer the "-1 for the first 3 combat rolls" penalty.
• JACK If drawn by the Reds, one sailor is so convicted by the actions of the day, that he becomes a party member and is treated as one for all purposes henceforth. If drawn by the Whites, one petty officer (among the sailors) throws in his lot with the officers and is treated as an officer for the remainder of the game.
• Other cards Have no effect.

EXECUTIONS At the start of any turn, the moving player my decide to execute any prisoners he holds. If he does this, a D6 is rolled for each sailor on his side, and if the result is "6" that man deserts to the other side and may be placed in any compartment by the other player.

NOTES We allowed White military forces to attempt to recapture docked ships. Units of 16 infantry could attack up the gangway with the same -1 as if they were storming the engine room or bridge. All soldiers fought as "officers" but you could dice for them instead. Roll a D6 for each man:

White warships could come along side and sailors could board to recapture the ships. You could make each boarding white sailor roll as above. The Red player could be allowed to roll a D6 when the White player announces his intention to come alongside and if the result was 6 then mutiny breaks out on the warship.

You are limited only by your imagination in the chaos that this can create!

Go to Part 1 of THE EVACUATION

Go to Part 2 of THE EVACUATION

Go to the rules that we used for this game: RED AND WHITE

Additional Russian Civil War rules sections with Aircraft & other items ADDITIONAL RULES

Go to our Russian Civil War Period Page

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