Oct 2, 2020

Historical personalities in Spectre of Communism | Part 3

Panzer Strategy - KateMels

Whoever can lift a rifle, should have one. (c) Kliment Voroshilov

Kliment Yefremovich Voroshilov, popularly known as Klim Voroshilov (4 February 1881 – 2 December 1969), was a prominent Soviet military officer and politician during the Stalin era. He was one of the original five Marshals of the Soviet Union (the highest military rank of the Soviet Union).

In the game: During the operation in Poland, Zhukov suggests remaining the captured “Smialy” Polish Armored train into “First Marshal” to appease Voroshilov if you complete one of the secondary objectives) First Marshal (Первый маршал) was a honorific name for the original five Marshals of the Soviet Union, used in songs, etc.

In 1925-1940 Voroshilov was People’s Commissar for Defense (in modern terms: Minister of Defense). So, over 15 years he was responsible for expanding, modernizing and training the Red Army.

In the game: Voroshilov starts out as your superior. Historically, he lost his People’s Commissar position after the Winter War, afterward he still held various prominent positions in the Government. But in the game, he manages to cling to it for longer, due to the player (acting as Zhukov) being a bit more successful than it was historically.

Many types of military vehicles were named after Voroshilov. The most renowned ones being KV-1 and KV-2, where KV stands for Klim Voroshilov. Additionally, his hometown was also named after him - Voroshilovgrad. Nowadays, it is a city of Luhansk in Ukraine.

In the game: The KV-1 and KV-2 tanks are present.

If we enjoy the benefits of peace, it is only because we have an excellent armed force and a fine socialist economy. Let us exert all efforts so that our further development may be strong and mighty, so that our numerous enemies may think well and long before they decide to attack our fatherland, and so that if they attack, they will quickly regret it. (c) Kliment Voroshilov

Oct 1, 2020

New units in Strategic Mind: Spectre of Communism | Part 3

Panzer Strategy - KateMels

The idea behind this heavy self-propelled gun was to create a self-propelled and armored version of the B-4 203-mm artillery pieces. Not only would this monstrosity have a larger caliber than any mass-produced artillery of the time, but also be self-propelled and have decent armor planting. In 1937 its development was reaching the final stages before entering mass production when the Chief Designer P. N. Siachyntov was arrested. He was soon sentenced to death and executed. The project was halted seemingly forever.

Yet, the project was restarted after the outbreak of the Winter War.

The idea was to put the armor planting on the existing prototypes and use them in battles against Finland. However, by the time they were combat-ready, the war was over, and the SU-14 forgotten again.
It was brought up again in 1941 after the German invasion of the USSR and the 2 existing prototypes participated in the Battle of Moscow. They were not used afterward.

In the Strategic Mind: Spectre of Communism the player will be able to obtain 1 core unit of SU-14 if he completes one of the secondary objectives, during the Battle of Moscow. It is a really powerful and mobile unit. The Red Army is renowned for its large-caliber artillery pieces, but having one of these as an armored vehicle is even more imposing.

We will keep posting new units that will appear for the first time in the Strategic Mind series, so stay tuned!

With best regards
Starni Games team

Sep 24, 2020

New units in Strategic Mind: Spectre of Communism | Part 2

Panzer Strategy - KateMels

The Soviet Air Force modernization was just a bit behind the schedule. While there were plenty of advanced technologies and “know-how”s developed, a solid portion of which were bought in Germany, the mass production of the latest models was lagging behind the German rearmament.

The new quite decent Yak-1 fighters were not available in mass in the frontline units on the fateful day of 22 June, while the LaGG 3 fighters had rather serious shortcomings and were inferior to their German counterparts. Because of its varnished wooden hull, the LaGG abbreviation (officially Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Gudkov — designers’ family names) was read by some pilots with dark irony as Guaranteed Varnished Coffin (has the same capitalization in Russian).

One of the reasons behind the Soviet engineers’ failings was the infighting and political struggle between the KB’s (Engineering bureaus). The easiest way to get “your” aircraft mass-produced was to make the competing bureaus fail. Various tactics were employed: political lobbying, diversions during the test flights of new models, that in some cases led to ace pilots deaths, and so on, and so forth. Additionally, some talented engineers, who fell out of favor, were subject to forced labor in the special labor camps for scientists. That certainly cannot be called an inspiring working atmosphere…

Despite all hurdles, by 1943 the Soviet aircraft technology had caught up with the German one. At the same time, USSR was churning many more aircraft in terms of raw numbers throughout the war. Thus, in 1943 Germany found itself heavily outmatched. The Soviet air force was much more numerous and featured comparable models, giving the Luftwaffe a very hard time.

The later La-5 and La-7 models were big improvements on the promising albeit faulty LaGG-3 model. By correcting the existing issues, the engineers finally caught up with the German counterparts.

We will keep posting new units that will appear for the first time in the Strategic Mind series, so stay tuned!

With best regards
Starni Games team

Sep 23, 2020

Historical personalities in Spectre of Communism | P.2

Panzer Strategy - KateMels

The enemies of the Soviet state calculate that the heavy loss we have borne will lead to disorder and confusion in our ranks. But their expectations are in vain: bitter disillusionment awaits them. He who is not blind sees that our party, during its difficult days, is closing its ranks still more closely, that it is united and unshakable.(c) Lavrentiy Beria

Disclaimer: This time we had to use the wiki text, as in this case it was both very informative and well-written. Additionally, it touches on very sensitive matters, so we decided to leave it as is. All in-game characters are written in bold.

Lavrentiy Pavlovich Beria (/ˈbɛriə/; Russian: Лавре́нтий Па́влович Бе́рия, 17 March 1899 – 23 December 1953) was a Georgian Bolshevik and Soviet politician, Marshal of the Soviet Union and state security administrator, chief of the Soviet security, and chief of the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (NKVD) under Joseph Stalin during World War II, and promoted to deputy premier under Stalin from 1941.

Beria was the longest-lived and most influential of Stalin's secret police chiefs, wielding his most substantial influence during and after World War II. Following the Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939, he was responsible for organizing the Katyn massacre. He simultaneously administered vast sections of the Soviet state and acted as the de facto Marshal of the Soviet Union in command of NKVD field units responsible for barrier troops and Soviet partisan intelligence and sabotage operations on the Eastern Front during World War II. Beria administered the vast expansion of the Gulag labour camps, and was primarily responsible for overseeing the secret detention facilities for scientists and engineers known as sharashkas.

Beria attended the Yalta Conference with Stalin, who introduced him to U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt as "our Himmler". After the war, he organized the communist takeover of the state institutions in central and eastern Europe and political repressions in these countries. Beria's uncompromising ruthlessness in his duties and skill at producing results culminated in his success in overseeing the Soviet atomic bomb project. Stalin gave it absolute priority, and the project was completed in under five years.

After Stalin's death in March 1953, Beria became the First Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers and head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. In this dual capacity, he formed a troika, alongside Georgy Malenkov and Vyacheslav Molotov, that briefly led the country in Stalin's place. A coup d'état by Nikita Khrushchev, with help from Marshal of the Soviet Union Georgy Zhukov in June 1953, removed Beria from power. He was arrested on charges of 357 counts of rape and treason. He was sentenced to death and was executed on 23 December 1953.

"Now it's not a bouquet, it's a wreath! May it rot on your grave!" (c) Lavrentiy Beria

At Beria's trial in 1953, it became known that he had committed numerous rapes during the years he was NKVD chief. Simon Sebag-Montefiore, a biographer of Stalin, concluded the information "reveals a sexual predator who used his power to indulge himself in obsessive depravity". After his death, charges of sexual abuse and rape were disputed by people close to him including his wife Nina and his son Sergo.

According to official testimony, in Soviet archives, of Colonel Rafael Semyonovich Sarkisov and Colonel Sardion Nikolaevich Nadaraia – two of Beria's bodyguards – on warm nights during the war Beria was often driven around Moscow in his limousine. He would point out young women to be taken to his mansion, where wine and a feast awaited them. After dining, Beria would take the women into his soundproofed office and rape them. Beria's bodyguards reported that their duties included handing each victim a flower bouquet as she left the house. Accepting it implied that the sex had been consensual; refusal would mean arrest. Sarkisov reported that after one woman rejected Beria's advances and ran out of his office, Sarkisov mistakenly handed her the flowers anyway. The enraged Beria declared, "Now it's not a bouquet, it's a wreath! May it rot on your grave!" The NKVD arrested the woman the next day.

"Scream or not, it doesn't matter." (c) Lavrentiy Beria

Women also submitted to Beria's sexual advances in exchange for the promise of freedom for imprisoned relatives. In one case, Beria picked up Tatiana Okunevskaya, a well-known Soviet actress, under the pretence of bringing her to perform for the Politburo. Instead he took her to his dacha, where he offered to free her father and grandmother from prison if she submitted. He then raped her, telling her: "Scream or not, it doesn't matter." In fact Beria knew that Okunevskaya's relatives had been executed months earlier. Okunevskaya was arrested shortly afterwards and sentenced to solitary confinement in the Gulag, which she survived.

Stalin expressed distrust of Beria. In one instance, when Stalin learned his daughter Svetlana was alone with Beria at his house, he telephoned her and told her to leave immediately. When Beria complimented Alexander Poskrebyshev's daughter on her beauty, Poskrebyshev quickly pulled her aside and instructed her, "Don't ever accept a lift from Beria." After taking an interest in Marshal of the Soviet Union Kliment Voroshilov's daughter-in-law during a party at their summer dacha, Beria shadowed their car closely all the way back to the Kremlin, terrifying Voroshilov's wife.

Before and during the war, Beria directed Sarkisov to keep a list of the names and phone numbers of his sexual encounters. Eventually, he ordered Sarkisov to destroy the list as a security risk, but Sarkisov retained a secret copy. When Beria's fall from power began, Sarkisov passed the list to Viktor Abakumov, the former wartime head of SMERSH and now chief of the MGB – the successor to the NKVD. Abakumov was already aggressively building a case against Beria. Stalin, who was also seeking to undermine Beria, was thrilled by the detailed records kept by Sarkisov, demanding: "Send me everything this asshole writes down!" Sarkisov reported that Beria had contracted syphilis during the war, for which he was secretly treated (a fact Beria later admitted during his interrogation). The Russian government acknowledged Sarkisov's handwritten list of Beria's victims in 2003; the victims' names will be released in 2028.

Evidence suggests that Beria murdered some of these women. In the mid 1990s, the skeletal remains of several young women were discovered in the garden of his Moscow villa (now the Tunisian Embassy). According to Martin Sixsmith, in a BBC documentary, "Beria spent his nights having teenagers abducted from the streets and brought here for him to rape. Those who resisted were strangled and buried in his wife's rose garden."

The testimony of Sarkisov and Nadaraia has been partially corroborated by Edward Ellis Smith, an American who served in the U.S. embassy in Moscow after the war. According to historian Amy Knight, "Smith noted that Beria's escapades were common knowledge among embassy personnel because his house was on the same street as a residence for Americans, and those who lived there saw girls brought to Beria's house late at night in a limousine."

Sep 16, 2020

Historical personalities in Spectre of Communism p.1

Panzer Strategy - KateMels

There are things in Russia which are not as they seem. (c) Georgy Zhukov

Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov (Russian: Гео́ргий Константи́нович Жу́ков; 1 December 1896 – 18 June 1974) was a Soviet general and Marshal of the Soviet Union. Zhukov was considered the USSR’s “Best Commander” or “Marshall of Victory”. He has shown himself as an effective and competent military commander at all stages of WW2, and even before it, in the Battles of Khalkhin Gol.

If we come to a minefield, our infantry attacks exactly as it were not there. (c) Georgy Zhukov to General Eisenhower

Zhukov was later criticized for taking “unnecessary” or “excessive” losses, caused by poor tactics of just attacking German forces ceaselessly without any intricate maneuvers. However, it must be said that such criticism must be taken with a grain of salt. First, there were politics going on after the war, and he often was out of favor, so that could be one source of criticism. Secondly, virtually all Soviet Generals had high losses, so that could be said of the Red Army in general, not personally Zhukov. At least he won his battles. Thirdly, one has to be competent in military headquarters inner work and be aware of the exact situation to judge the soundness of Zhukov’s tactical moves. Nonetheless, Zhukov himself added fuel to the fire by his supposed bravado before Eisenhower, with all this minefields talk.

If you feel that the Chief of the General Staff talks only rubbish, my place is not here. Better to give me a command at the front where I can be of better use! (c) Georgy Zhukov to Stalin

Zhukov was stubborn, direct and even blunt. Although that caused troubles from him throughout the career, that was also the reason why Stalin respected him a lot. Oftentimes he would speak his mind to the Great Stalin himself directly and without hesitation. He was also very bossy and even rude with his inferiors, but that was probably understandable and did not go far from the Army standards of the time.

The mere existence of atomic weapons implies the possibility of their use. (c) Georgy Zhukov

After the war, Zhukov has quickly fallen out of favor. Most likely, Stalin feared his popularity and decided to move him to a totally insignificant posting in Odessa military district. That was a hard blow for Zhukov’s ego and morale. The official pretense was the “Trophy case”, the Zhukov indeed was too eager to get his hands on numerous wartime trophies.

After Stalin’s death, Zhukov helped Khrushchev to get to power and prevented a coup attempt by arresting long-time NKVD head Beria, who is rumored to be behind Stalin’s death. Later on, he prevented another coup and help Khrushchev once again to remain in power, only to be repaid in a similar manner to what the Stalin did: he was ostracized and sentenced to live his retirement in oblivion and under the torrent of unfavorable articles aimed at ruining his prestige. Yet, Zhukov endured and wrote quite extensive and truthful memoirs for heavily censored Soviet literature standards.

After Khrushchev lost his power, Zhukov got his prestige back and his memoirs played a key role and his redemption. They became a best-seller and brought him great fame.

Overall, he was a very dedicated and talented man and his reputation is well-deserved.

Sep 14, 2020

Weekly intelligence report #8

Panzer Strategy - KateMels

General!

Our ever-vigilant intelligence service summarized all the most important information for you in the weekly report. This top-secret data will allow you to gain a tactical edge.

Starni Games games were spotted among the Digital Dragons Indie Showcase Finalists

Digital Dragons is an annual game development conference that was first postponed and then moved on-line due to the pandemic. Both Strategic Mind: Blitzkrieg and Strategic Mind: Spectre of Communism will participate and compete for the Best Indie Game and Community Vote nominations. We will provide a more detailed report, as soon as the event starts.

Panzer Strategy at an 80% discount

If you are curious to see how everything started and would like to get the predecessor of the Strategic Mind series at a bargain, now would be the perfect moment.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/769950/Panzer_Strategy/

Strategic Mind: Spectre of Communists Free Demo available

We remind you that last week we released a free Demo for the upcoming Strategic Mind: Spectre of Communism. This time you can have a look at the upcoming game before the Press.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1341170/Strategic_Mind_Spectre_of_Communism/

Strategic Mind: Blitzkrieg Free Demo available

Not only Spectre of Communism gets its Demo, but also Strategic Mind: Blitzkrieg. If you or your friends were unsure about getting the game, now you can play the free Demo and make up your mind.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1200330/Strategic_Mind_Blitzkrieg/

Strategic Mind: Blitzkrieg cinematic series continues

The third episode of our Strategic Mind: Blitzkrieg Cinematic Series is now available:

This is it for this week’s report.

We will keep delivering fresh reports every Monday.

Starni Games intelligence service