What is the best set of rules for this period?

[Mark of the West]

Hello all,

I am a long time tourist of this site and have decided to jump in as participant.

I love this wargaming this period. My grandfather was in the Russian army (Polish, but conscripted and junior officer in heavy battery of 3rd Infantry Division) and fought in the Polish-Bolshevik war. I am also happily friends whose families fought on the Polish side in that conflict (General Raszewski, Captain Krzeczunowicz, etc.). As a result, I closely follow the excellent work of Mark Plant, and find this site instructive, fun and inspiring re: ideas for wargaming.

I have hundreds and hundreds of 15mm figs bases, mostly from Peter Pig (who else?), for Reds, Whites, Poles, Baltic groups, and Ukrainians. For example, I have  66 bases (11 regiments) of Polish cavalry, 60 bases of Red cavalry, and 30 bases for White cavalry alone.  I think I am done collecting as my painter - Graham Birkley - has kindly told me that he is 'done' with painting 15mm (too small).  Probably for the better - it helps me manage my obsessive tendencies.

I share this as background to confirm that I am picky about rules! Given my collection, I am biased towards bigger games (I don't like skirimish). I also want to avoid medieval or Napoleonic formats (e.g., Reds line up on the left, Whites on the right, and they meet in the middle, punching away). I like (and need in my gaming) fog of war, idiosyncratic unit performance & command-and-control, non-linear conflicts, asymetric forces. 

I and my friend started with Red Actions, specifically Mark Plant's adaptation of the original rules, and they are indeed vey good. I would play them any time given how elegantly simple they are and tailored to the period.

However, our favourite is clearly 'It Rolls for Ivan', which came out a few years ago.  They perfectly match up to my preferences described above. While they are a bit clunky in sections, they have so many nice elements that the imperfections of the rule set barely register for us. Some of these include card-driven initiative is (as it should be) not guaranteed or predictable, your troops might say Nyet rather than Da in response to orders, the effects of bombardment not immediately known (which throws a wrench into plans), the colourful narrative arc of specialist equipment (e.g., armored cars, trains, etc.) enriched thanks to granular tables and rules for those units.

We continually putz around with modifications (e.g., giving regimental commanders or brigadiers an influence on some orders), but have ceased searching for another set. They are endlessly entertaining and transports us back to that unique time and space.

Thanks to Graham and his friends at the Wargaming for Adults club for making this available ~ its given us alot of pleasure!