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August 14, 1985 – Every Party Has Its Price

A new chapter in the story of KGB Colonel Vianello, introducing Gosphaza Barbara – his loyal, virtuous wife.
With war in Central Europe not going as expected, everybody has to review their own survival plans…..

Brought to you by Grognard Emeritus Thomas Gaul!

Time: The day after the party, officially proclaimed as “Celebration in Anticipation of the Party’s Elimination of Revisionist Swine”

Place: Summer dacha of KGB Colonel Fabrizio Vianello, bedroom of Gosphaza Barbara Vianello, wife and partner to KGB Colonel Vianello

Gosphaza Vianello sat wrapped in her Italian sheets, seemingly asleep, but actually wide awake. She had learned many times the value of “pretend” during her time as the Colonel’s wife. As she lay in her Paris bought lingerie, she thought intensely about her next course of action. Her life, perhaps, and certainly her life of ease and luxury, would depend on this decision and, it was difficult to know which way to go.

Her husband, the Gullible One, had passed out at the party, the vodka making a fool of him, as it did most men. She had allowed and even encouraged this, as she knew something he did not. For all that he prided himself on his “secret” smile (which she had deciphered 3 days after first dating him), she knew he would babble like an Italian when drunk enough and he thought himself safe in bed. Like his mistresses who he thought she knew nothing about, his secrets lasted no longer than she wanted them to. Mostly, the mistresses were a useful distraction for him and her when she wanted to take a “treatment” in Spain. Ah, those Spanish “treatments” the massages, the hands, the feet, the back, and then, slowly, the…

Firmly she brought herself under control. Fun was fun, but a critical decision must be made. The war, and the Colonel’s “Plan”, was in full fury. Difficult for her to know who was winning, even with her access to the Colonel’s secrets. She did not truly care who won the war but rather whether the Colonel would survive and with him her life of luxury. He had survived many times, due mostly to her subtle guidance and certain “arrangements” she had made with KGB Generals, and he might or might not survive again. The most important question was, “Should she stay or should she denounce him and move on”?

She had known he had been worried about the investigations into “war shortages” and with good reason. His dealings had brought in much capital (unlike her husband, she did not even pretend to be a Socialist) for both and, for her, furs, jewels, special shopping sprees and “treatments” in Europe. She obviously made no complaints about the activities that kept her in the style to which she was accustomed. And, of course, she had gathered enough evidence against him that at any time she could denounce him and PERHAPS not be eliminated.

But it was that PERHAPS that worried her. If he fell, could she truly survive? And not just survive, but continue her life of comfort? If he fell, and she survived, and she could move on to the next foolish but high-ranking male, all was well and good. He would be shot, of course, but such was life in the Soviet Union. She would look good in black, and there would, of course, be a State funeral, with many connected and handsome KGB, Party or Kremlin officials needing to comfort a grieving widow.

However… he was not dead yet and might survive, with her help of course. He did have some abilities and his latest endeavor with this “computer” of his might be enough. Though she little understood the paper she had found when rifling through his “secret” boot compartment, it did seem to have promise. And, if he DID succeed in deflecting the investigations…..

She made up her mind. Better the Devil you knew. She would play the dutiful wife. He would believe she was still loyal and, in her own way, she was. He would believe her to be what she wanted him to believe her to be. For now, she would stick by him. For now……

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August, 6th 1985 – In the Middle of the Storm

From Thomas Gaul, Grognard Emeritus, another chapter in the world of deception and subterfuge of KGB’s Colonel Fabrizio Leonidovich Vianello!

Time: A couple weeks after the beginning of the war against NATO Neo-Fascist Capitalist exploiters
Place: KGB Colonel Vianello private office, secret KGB location deep within the Kremlin

KGB Colonel Vianello sat deep in contemplation. His keenly honed sense of danger, which had served him so well in the arcane and deeply complicated, interwoven, maneuvers of Party, KGB, and Kremlin politics, was going into overdrive. The meeting of the Committee for Review of Analysation and Planning, headed by General Beriaski, had just been completed and all was in flux.

The war itself was fluid, as all military situations were in the beginning. Some successes, some less than that. The launching of the preemptive strike to deter NATO aggression had struck the Capitalist Swine hard and viciously. The beauty of “The Plan”, his Plan, or at least the parts that had gone well, had been acknowledged by all. Normally, this would be the time when he would be basking in the glow of the accolades, taking credit for the goals reached, pinning the failures on the less talented or less well connected.

And yet, and yet….. There had been an admittedly major shortcoming. The amount of ammo, supplies, oil, replacements, spare parts, etc…. had been vastly underestimated. Reports of glorious Soviet advances had been soured by major and (in KGB Colonel Vianello’s mind) strident and shrieking complaints from the front lines about “running out of essential materials”. Demands had been made for war materials that were simply not available.

Questions were being asked. Worse, investigations were being launched. Talk was that “heads would roll”. Such talk was treasonous but there it was. But, far, far more dangerous was what would actually be found. And, most important of all, who would be blamed.

KGB Colonel Vianello knew, that, of course, he was not to be blamed. After all, if the troops on the line were wasteful, was that his fault? Who could have known what the demand would be for war materials? And, alright, perhaps some of his “side deals” with black market weapons dealers had contributed to the shortage, but, truly, could a few SAMs, tanks, AKs, have made that much of a difference? No, such things were not to be foreseen.

But, there were those (secret Fascists in the Colonel’s mind), who would demand answers. And inquiries. And, in extreme cases, shootings. In dealing with fanatics like the generals, who bayed like hyennas when they did not have enough material, who failed to understand complicated logistical matters, anyone, even someone as dedicated and true as KGB Colonel Vianello, could fall victim to revisionists. He had made enemies, and, killed most of them. But some may have survived.

Abruptly, KGB Colonel Vianello came to a decision. Slowly, he reached into his boot, into the secret compartment where “the paper” was concealed. He reached over to his desk, complete with the new, glorious Soviet computer, stolen from the decadent Capitalists (such a decision like this could not be trusted to the typing pool) and began to enter the “numbers”.

His plan within a plan would begin now.

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June 01, 1985 – a few weeks before the storm

This is a contribution to the “1985: Under an Iron Sky” background by Thomas Gaul, old Grognard and reader of my “The Next War – Operation Attila” AAR. 

Time: June 01, 1985
Place: Deep in the secret bowels of the Krelim, KGB section

Comrade KGB Colonel Vianello signed with the contentment of a well stuff pig. The meal, wine (vodka also, of course), and cigars of the late night repast were the justifiable reward for all the hard work he and his team had put into the war plans for the coming destruction of the Capitalist-Neo-Fascist NATO powers. As such, his team and especially himself had earned this splendid feast. Yes, the workers might have to worry about a poor harvest but, after all, some of the masses were more equal than the other masses and as such should not have to worry about such mundane matters as the price of bread. When victory came, as it must, there would be plenty for all. Just plenty more for him.

All was in readiness. The plans, down to the most minute detail of mis-information given to the corrupt Western media had been prepared. Logistical, propaganda, rail movement plans, strike sights, airdrop zones, training, reserve call-ups, and all the thousand and one details that constituted the greatest military operation in history were all completed. Victory to the Glorious Socialist State was assured!

And, to himself only, Comrade KGB Colonel Vianello allowed himself his secret smile, the one he let no one, not the party elders, not his children, his wife or even his many mistresses see. For, though anything other than complete victory was inconceivable, it was the nature of the KGB to conceive even the inconceivable.
The “plan”, which, of course, would become “his” plan when it overran Europe, with the inevitable errors easily able to be fobbed off on incompetent underlings (some of whom might have to be shot as “wreckers” if it was an especially bad error) was never complete without the secret “out” clause he built into all his plans.

Not for nothing had he been nicknamed “The Survivor”* by his KGB colleagues. Just as his father had survived the Stalinist purges, his grandfather the Cheka before the Revolution, and some distant ancestor Napoleon’s invasion, so he too knew how to ensure his continued existence. Even if the inconceivable happened and somehow, no doubt through the failings of others, the “plan” failed and the Capitalist swine rolled into Moscow, he had a plan. With a grin he believed his British mistress might call “the Chesire Cat grin”, invisible to all, he patted the paper hidden inside his boot. Such an “insurance policy” was worth its weight in decadent capitalist gold.

  • *Those associates who had instead referred to him as “The Weasel” had long since been identified and sent to the Gulag or developed a severe and fatal case of lead poisoning.
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Inventory and US 2nd Echelon

Hello everyone,
first of all thank you for the unbelievable success. Really. The first hours after shop opening at April, 9 have been surreal 🙂

Now, some info about the latest developments!

SITREP at 20180419 0914 ZT:

  • As most of you already knows, US Inventory vaporized in 7 days
  • We have a strategic reserve of 17 copies in US, to be used only on SHAPE direct order
  • We have 60 copies left at POMCUS sites in Europe, to be used for other orders

New Rules Of Engagement

We’ll have 2 different procedures for acquiring “1985: Under an Iron Sky” combat equipment:

1. Reserved Copy Owners from US / Canada

Contact me directly at FVianello@TRLGames.com.

2. All other combat units

Proceed to order normally from our Shop.
US / Canada orders will be shipped from Europe (Sorry for the extra costs!)

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DEFCON 1

THIS IS NOT A DRILL

DEFCON Level has been raised to 1. Move to combat position.

Latest developments of the situation in USSR and West Germany can be found here:

THIS IS NOT A DRILL