For Community Activity: Crisis in the Kremlin: The Cold War

For our community playthrough of Crisis in the Kremlin, we can choose whether Chernenko does not die in March 10 1985 and continues on for… however long he does, or we can choose another possible General Secretary.

Information on the candidates:

Konstantin Chernenko (age 73) (Incumbent) - Faction: Conservatives.
Incumbent General Secretary and a lifelong party apparatchik who rose through the regional and central apparatuses, he represents the stability-oriented wing of the leadership. His outlook prioritizes continuity of the Brezhnev-era consensus and cautious changes in administration, he is known for halting Andropov’s corruption purges, and Chernenko had a plan to restore Volgograd’s name to Stalingrad.

read his wiki article here

https://www.reddit.com/r/ussr/s/1gsil5ASOb

Chernenko can make Major Doctrine Changes on Day 1 due to incumbency.

ALL OTHER GENSECS HAVE 1 YEAR (12 irl days) WAIT PERIOD FOR MAJOR DOCTRINE REFORMS SUCH AS ECONOMY, STATE, NEW APPOINTMENTS, ETC DUE TO CHANGE IN ADMINISTRATION

Mikhail Gorbachev (age 54) Faction: Reformists
A fast-rising Stavropol party secretary and Central Committee agriculture specialist, he is the youngest full Politburo member and is known for his reformist tendencies. He advocates for accelerating scientific-technical progress to achieve growth and a supposed restructuring of economic management. One of Andropov’s protégés. Presently serving as Second Secretary of the CPSU since Feb 9 1984.

Grigory Romanov (age 62), Faction: Conservatives
Andropov’s rival protégé to Gorbachev, former Leningrad party boss and current Central Committee secretary overseeing the military-industrial complex, he is a hardline conservative. His experience is rooted in defense production and regional administration. He is hated by the intelligentsia and known as a “Red Stoic”, and seen as a foil to Gorbachev.

Andrei Gromyko (age 75) Faction: Moderates
Long-serving Foreign Minister and a Politburo member since 1973, he is the chief architect of Soviet diplomacy and a master of international affairs. His outlook is cautious and state-centric, with a focus on preserving the USSR’s global position through negotiation and firmness. He voted yes on the 1947 partition of Palestine, calling a binational state for Jews and Arabs “infeasible”.
Nicknamed “Mr. No” by the western press for his heavy usage of the Soviet’s veto at the UN.

Viktor Grishin (age 70) Faction: Conservatives
A career party organizer who spent decades in the Moscow city apparatus, he rose from the Komsomol and trade union ranks to become First Secretary of the Moscow City Party Committee in 1967, a post he held for 18 years. A full Politburo member since 1971 and a candidate member since 1961, he built his power base as the unchallenged boss of the capital's party organization and was a close associate of Brezhnev's conservative inner circle, and known for bringing the ill Chernenko out in public for voting in 1985.

Vladimir Shcherbytsky (age 67) Faction: Conservatives
First Secretary of the Communist Party of Ukraine since 1972 and a full Politburo member since 1971, he was a protégé of Brezhnev's from their shared Dnipropetrovsk years and earned a reputation as an enforcer of Moscow's line in Ukraine in suppressing nationalist dissent.

After a GenSec is chosen we will draft a 5 Year Plan and Ideological Platform.

It's Time to Save the Union.

Greetings, comrades. Let's play a game together!

I've had this idea for awhile of a community activity where we participate in some kind of game together.

I'm a big fan of a little game called Crisis in the Kremlin: The Cold War. It's essentially a political sim where you take control of the USSR on March 11, 1985, assuming the role of General Secretary as either Gorbachev or alternate history starts or even a custom character.

The game is full of choice and sandbox elements, and the end goal date is Jan 1 2000. The game can continue after, but 01/01/2000 is victory.

The game progresses in days, with stats/trade updating monthly and events popping up on the historical days they occur. Here are some screenshots of the menus, events.

The World Map on March 11, 1985.

Doctrine Overview. Here is where we can make all the reforms we want in USSR.

Economy Doctrine page example

Statistics screen, theres also a GDP graph in here.

Congress Screen. Here you can view ideology descriptions, support or ban factions. if elections are legalized, it transforms into Political Parties.

The State Budget. We will spend every month in here.

Research tab

Politics. Here you can support and scheme your way around the Party and manage your Politburo.

Events Example. In Events like this one, anything thats grey can always be taken, but the Colored Badge indicates an option with pre-requisites to take it.

There's also military operations and you can covertly aid or directly intervene in a number of conflicts.

The game features a political compass that will always tell you where you're at right now.

So, I, BreadDaddyLenin, will be in the chair playing the General Secretary of the community's choosing and taking choices that you guys decide on. Let me know what you guys think about playing along, and feel free to brainstorm ways for the subreddit to contribute.

For now, i am settled on the following format:

-Public subreddit Poll to choose the General Secretary (i think we should say no custom character, stick to the candidates presented, unless you guys feel strongly)

-The subreddit Drafts the 5 Year Plan Goals, which is what we want to achieve by 1990, in a designated post where people comment suggestions to add to the 5 Year Plan, and most upvoted will be added, which we will do again in 1990. ^{If we don't die}

-The community then engages in the game on the subreddit through Daily Reports, I will provide Daily Reports of how each in-game month went, with detailed stats, screenshots, and asking for input on the plans for the coming month.

-Events will be posted on the subreddit before the Daily Report with a Poll Choice. Events are political events such as trouble in the Party, Afghanistan civil war, other problems and suggestions. Repeatable generic events i will handle as aligned with our community-driven policy and ideology. Vote in these Polls to make the choice you think is appropriate.

Let me know if you guys have any suggestions!

Also, if you want to play this game yourself, it's only $8 USD on Steam.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1922740/Crisis_in_the_Kremlin_The_Cold_War/

If you don't have $8, DM me on Steam.

https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198069026555/