Characters / TNO Siberian Black Army

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Siberian Black Army

^{Flag of the Russian Free Territory (Siberian Soviet)}

^{Flag of the Russian Free Territory (Siberian Security Council)}

Official Name: Siberian Black Army, Siberian Free Territory (Regional unification), Russian Free Territory (National unification)

Ruling Party: Sibirsky Anarkhichesky Sovet^note Siberian Anarchist Council

Ideology: Anarcho-Communism^note Socialism

A militarized anarchist territory headed by the Siberian Anarchist Soviet and protected by the Siberian Black Army. Officially the Siberian Free Territory, the polity was formed during the Siberian War, when anarchist ideologues seized popular anti-war sentiments to convince local governing councils to form an anarchist Soviet and declare independence. The Free Territory organized itself around militarized anarchism for both self-protection and revolutionary expansion, with the Black Army holding a key role in its power structure.

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General Tropes

• Anarchy Is Chaos:
  • Averted, if not straight-up Inverted into Anarchy is Order. The anarchist territory of the Siberian Black Army is actually pretty well ordered (unlike the similarly-anarchist Orenburg), with anarchist communes organized under the self-governing Siberian Anarchist Soviet.
  • Fully Inverted by the Vanguard Anarchist path for the SBA; the Free Territory remains de jure anarchist, but the military's authority is so strong that the country is de facto directly ruled by the military.
• Apathetic Citizens: Even though several cities are integrated in the Free Territory by the regional stage, the people living there are often apathetic to the anarchist rhetoric of their new government and even to each other, a stark contrast to the friendlier atmosphere of the smaller communes. One anarchist street speaker in Novosibirsk can't grab anyone's attention, until he starts directly pestering a passerby, and another in Kemerovo has to invite himself into the house of its closed-off owner.
• Apocalyptic Logistics: Subverted.
  • Much of Kansk's industry was destroyed during the Central Siberian War and it will take a great effort for them to repair it before they can think of reunification.
  • Upon reunifying Central Siberia, a Provisional Resource Council is established to carefully coordinate the extraction and distribution of resources, which is essential for the communes to function at all.
• Artistic License – History: The Siberian Black Army claims and champions the ideals of Nestor Makhno, but the country will be christened into a "Free Territory" after the regional stage, a term that was never used by Makhnovists and originated from the 21st century.
• Balkanize Me: The Siberian Workers' Federation will never rebel against the Black Army after it unifies Central Siberia; instead, it can collapse in a different way. If the SBA either mismanages the Siberian Plan or strays too far into authoritarianism in their regional political tree, the remnants of the other Central Siberian warlords will re-establish their governments and other warlords form their own socialist groups separate from Kansk, fragmenting the Free Territory into nine warlord states that cannot reunify Russia.
• Ballroom Blitz: A lighthearted example when the marriage ceremony of two women is interrupted by a drunken fight in the audience, eventually escalating into a full-on, casual brawl amongst everyone.
  A strange wedding indeed.
• Became Their Own Antithesis: If the Black Army successfully sidelines the Siberian Soviet and deposes Pyotr Siuda, the Free Territory becomes little more than a glorified silovik oligarchy.
• Berserk Button: Statists. Many residents of the Free Territory hold nothing but utter contempt for centralized governments of any shape, and react violently to any forms of creeping statism within the Free Territory itself.
• Beware the Nice Ones: The average citizen in the Free Territory are tolerant and respectful to their neighbors, but they also have a lax gun culture so they are ready to defend themselves, if needed.
• Bilingual Bonus:
  • The text written in the bottom of their flag, "ДА ЗДРАВСТВУЕТ АНАРХИЯ", is Russian for "Long Live Anarchy".
  • The flag for the Russian Free Territory also has Russian inscriptions, which translate to "Russian Free Territory" and "Long Live Anarchy", a symbol that the legitimately anarchist Siberian Soviet is still in charge.
• Boring, but Practical:
  • During the preparation phase for regional unification, the Black Army will organize a "People's Survey" to the communities so they can plot their state's borders. It's a mundane method, but extremely helpful in determining what areas would be strategically advantageous in war.
  • Instead of instituting a mandatory tax to fund a military, the Free Territory can establish a grain bank so that more prosperous communes can donate their surpluses in exchange for raw materials of equal value. Despite sounding less immediately helpful, especially in the coming unification wars, it would be beneficial in fostering camaraderie and unity among the communes.
• Break Out the Museum Piece: Due to the chaotic period of the Russian Anarchy, the people of the Free Territory have relied on decades-old machinery to perform their work. By the regional stage, they will be capable of acquiring better technology through the implementation of the Siberian Plan and improved education.
• "Cavemen vs. Astronauts" Debate: The General Assembly can debate at great length over the most minor of subjects. At one point, they have a four hour discussion about whether their official seal should be red or blue.
• Child Soldier: In the superregional stage where Stepanov seizes power, he may increase conscription by forcing "volunteers" to join, which can potentially include children who are ripped from their parents' arms.
• Chummy Commies: In true socialist fashion, the Siberian Anarchist Soviet was organised by the people in the Angara's basin as a self-governing ruling body with equal representation for all major towns and industrial unions.
• Commune: Most people in the Free Territory live in communes where they have their material rights guaranteed and can enjoy relative freedom from the main government body.
• Crazy Enough to Work: Many believed that the Siberian Soviet would be a short-lived, interesting experiment on anarchism, yet it is possible for them to not only survive longer than expected, but reunify Russia.
• Crippling Overspecialization: Thanks to urbanization, the cities struggle to produce their own food and rely on the sole production of guns to keep themselves afloat. However, this is nullified when town centers are able to produce their own arms in the regional stage, forcing the cities to specialize in other trades to make up the lost revenue.
• Dark Is Not Evil: The Black Army is a group of well-organised, democratic anarchist communities with an ominous name and macabre imagery. However, if Ivan Stepanov successfully deposes Pyotr Siuda, this imagery will be completely appropriate for the Black Army's new dictator.
• Death from Above:
  • An early military reform they undergo is developing new designs for aircraft, some of which use jet engines instead of propellers and are based on the designs of crashed German bombers.
  • Their air force is further expanded in the regional stage, where the Black Army inherits Novosibirsk's large air fleets, begins production of airplanes, and draws up experimental helicopter designs.
• Defeat Means Friendship:
  • If Tomsk conquers the Black Army, the Republican Army treats the surviving communes well, bringing them food in exchange for their loyalty to the new power in charge.
  • On the other end, the Black Army may open recruitment to the Central Siberian militaries they conquered by the regional stage, needing extra manpower to fill in the gaps.
  • Zig-Zagged with the communes. Some are opposed to the idea of welcoming the urban populations that the Black Army conquers, considering their past participation in capitalist systems worthy of punishment. However, there are also communes who will accept these new populations, if they are willing to integrate.
  • The conquered populations of the Far East will be welcomed by Siuda, who provides them their basic necessities and a commune to live in so that they can integrate smoothly into their society.
• Defeat Means Menial Labor: If Siuda wins the power struggle with Stepanov, he can punish his remaining supporters and other criminals in the organization by sentencing them to unpaid labor.
• Delegation Relay: Downplayed. Optionally, the economy of the Free Territory may not be directed by the central government. Instead, these responsibilities are passed onto an industrial council of several communes, who will create a list of possible industrial improvements, and then pass them off to local communes to fulfill. However, it's not because it's an undesirable task, but rather because they fear government oversight and the industrial council is willing to shell out capital for underprivileged communes to meet their tasks.
• Democracy Is Flawed: Downplayed, as the democratic systems of the country are relatively healthy, but Stepanov can exploit these systems to legitimize his new code of laws by dragging his feet to the congressional sessions so that most leave out of impatience and give Stepanov the opportunity to bend the system in his favor.
• Disaster Democracy:
  • After the fall of the Soviet Union, the people in the Angara's basin formed a self-governing democratic committee that represents all settlements and unions in their Free Territory. They have a unique mechanic about hosting votes for motions in the General Assembly, such as expanding infrastructure or improving Black Army training.
  • The Security Council's members are all elected by their soldiers and every commander in the Black Army must be democratically elected by the people in the Soldiers' Assemblies.
  • If Siuda survives Stepanov's attempted coup, the Free Territory can become even more democratic, having the General Council run directly by popular vote and giving more representation to the smaller communes. Even if they pick the alternative of creating a small bureaucracy to manage the communes, a lot of authority is still concentrated to the power.
• Divided We Fall: Part of the reason why Stepanov can build the influence to overthrow Siuda is because the communes are too independent and distracted with their own problems to recognize the common threat. If Siuda survives the attempted deposition, he can give the General Assembly the power to remove or reassign troublesome commanders in the Black Army to ensure that they are always monitored and not able to take advantage of the people's division.
• Dramatic Irony: If Stepanov makes a move in Chita during the power struggle, a naïve Black Army soldier is shown executing a captured aristocrat, mocking him in his last moments that he is "on the side of tyranny". The soldier doesn't realize that the same could be said of him as an inadvertent supporter of Stepanov's coming dictatorship.
• Elite Army: A special, heavily armored Black Guard brigade is created to fulfill the role of the legendary Tachankas from the Russian Civil War, only admitting the best into its ranks and capable of being deployed anywhere in the country.
• Everyone Has Standards: Though many in the communes despise Bukharin and the policies he implemented, most wouldn't punish anyone for liking his ideas because it'd be hypocritical of them to do so. In one event, a mentally disordered man asks his village to kill him for becoming enamored with Bukharin's ideas, but the audience comforts and assures him that they can't take away his freedom of thought.
• Face Death with Dignity: A band of twenty Russian soldiers drink and celebrate one last time before they are sent to fight another Central Siberian warlord on the road to regional unification. Many of them know that not all of them will survive by the end, if any, but they're proud to die for a cause they believe in and that their sacrifice will liberate more innocent civilians.
• False Reassurance: If the education system is placed under the responsibility of the Black Army, soldiers are authorized to monitor the classroom, justifying their presence by claiming to protect the students from "bad thoughts". Even a student recognizes how ominous that statement sounds.
• A Father to His Men: This attitude is Invoked by the Black Army through officer elections. As a result, popular commanders who care for their men are more likely to rank up higher in the military and, in turn, the soldiers are more willing to fight for them.
• Foil: To Orenburg.
  • Both Orenburg and the Siberian Black Army are anarcho-communist societies led by a council created to unite numerous settlements to help them work together. Both of their councils suffer from difficulties related to the implementation of the anarchist system in their current situation. However, while Orenburg's issues lie on the council being heavily decentralized and many seeing the best solution being to abandon it for a centralized government, the Black Army's issues lie on the council being too centralized, with many preferring the council to de-centralize itself lest it fall into a dictatorship.
  • Both Orenburg and the Siberian Black Army are disdainful of those who don't follow the anarchist system, and view them as different flavours of reactionaries^note Orenburg calls them fascists, while the SBA calls them statists, to the point they act hostile even to neighbors who aren't reactionaries and genuinely want to help them^note Orenburg is cold to the Ural League and calls them fascists who want to annex them, to the frustration of the League who actually just wants to protect Orenburg from the Dirlewanger Brigade; the Black Army is hostile to a victorious Valery Sablin's libertarian Communist Soviet Union on the pure basis that they're statist, even though Sablin is sympathetic to their cause and is more than willing to extend an olive branch to them if he defeats the Black Army. However, while Orenburg is completely unable to stand up for itself and only survives because the League tolerates their shenanigans and continues protecting them, SBA is more than capable of protecting itself and only clashes with Sablin's Soviet Union until after they've united the entirety of Central Siberia all by themselves.
• Gender Is No Object: All companions have full rights under the free territory regardless of their gender, and although it's still common for most women to remain housewives due to cultural values, female soldiers and scientists can still be found throughout the free territories and are treated normally and with respect.
• Gondor Calls for Aid: Optionally, the Free Territory can call Kostinsty to assist in their implementation of the Siberian Plan, despite their differing politics.
• Got Volunteered: In Stepanov's route, he can increase conscription through lotteries so that random "volunteers" can be forced to the frontlines and more money can be saved from funding higher education.
• Hero with Bad Publicity: Since anarchism is an unpopular ideology in Russia, the people they conquer in Central Siberia are not welcoming to their presence. The Free Territory must address this by encouraging a mass recruitment into the military and later writing a book to clearly define what anarchism is.
• Hypocritical Humor: In Stepanov's path, one citizen loudly complains to the Black Army about the shoddy handouts they are giving out and insults them by throwing one of his charity cigarettes to the ground. After the soldier shoots him an amused look and leaves, the complainer goes back to smoking one of his donated cigarettes, yet paradoxically thinks "They'll never get to use!"
• Hypocrisy Nod: They openly acknowledge the fallacy in anarchist ideology and needing a centralized military and council to direct the smaller communes, in which they encourage political discussions on how far they can stray from their ideals before they end up becoming exactly what they tried fighting against.
• Irony: Despite their historic enmity between their ideologies, the anarchists define their communes' borders on an outdated map from the time of the Tsars, something that offends one of them, but have to accept because there's no other alternative.
• Kangaroo Court: Subverted. They set up martial tribunals to prosecute accused criminals, but they do not resort to mob justice and will fairly judge if they deserve prison or execution.
• Know When to Fold 'Em:
  • If Novosibirsk reunifies Central Siberia, some former members of the SBA will submit to the new power in charge, becoming yet another emotionless cog in the capitalist machine.
  • As Stepanov tries building his influence to overthrow Siuda in the superregional stage, he can send a detachment of his men to quell a potential uprising in Kemerovo, headed by the deposed Yuriy. When they arrive, they find themselves outnumbered by Yuriy's forces and given a chance to peacefully walk away empty handed, which they can accept.
• Necessarily Evil:
  • The Free Territory is overseen by the Security Council, which is composed of senior Black Army members and General Assembly ideologues. Though less desirable and democratic than the Assembly, it is still kept around as a needed defense against foreign enemies.
  • Some in the Security Council argue for the implementation of a collective defense tax, which will be unpopular, but needed to fund a proper military.
  • The Security Council also advises against assisting local village schools and instead bringing the educational system under the military administration. Even if it would be another violation of their anarchist ideals, they argue that a central schooling system would be more efficient and allow more coordination between the universities. In the regional stage, the Free Territory can double down on this strategy, now under the basis of speeding up their development of new technology.
  • Recruitment into the army means that families will lose their loved ones when they are sent to war, but it is also a necessity for the Free Territory to reunify Russia, especially since they have few neighbors they can peacefully reunify with. However, some measures can be taken to mitigate the problem, such as making fewer calls to the Black Army.
  • Under Stepanov's suggestion, the Free Territory can ignore Kostin's request to cease the Siberian Plan's militarization under the justification that regional rivals still stand in their way of Russian reunification and continued vigilance is needed.
  • After reunifying Central Siberia, the question of organizing the new lands into communes can be given to the Black Army to answer. Though more contrary to their ideology than having faith in the people to organize themselves, the Siberian Soviet can reason that it's necessary to acclimate people towards anarchism, an unpopular ideology.
• Never Learned to Read: Some villagers in the Free Territory are illiterate, since they lacked a formal education. Fortunately, they get their chance to learn when the Black Army invests in a curriculum.
• Never Recycle a Building: Averted. In the superregional stage, Siuda can renovate the Tsar's palace in Chita into a more humble meeting place, garnering more support in the power struggle against Stepanov.
• New Meat: As the Black Army overhauls its military in the regional stage, one recruit is left lost and homesick as he's being aggressively ordered around by everyone. Fortunately, his spirits are raised when one soldier reaches out to him and offers to show him the ropes.
• Non-Standard Character Design: Befitting a state that aspires to be an anarchist territory, the Free Territory's in-game leaders (if it does not collapse) are simply represented as the Siberian Soviet and Siberian Security Council, whose portraits depict multiple individuals each, while the closest thing to a head of state (Siuda or Stepanov) is the in-game head of government.
• Nostalgia Filter: Aside from the military's intertwined nature with the government, the Black Army may be left relatively unchanged in the regional stage because of their historic role in establishing the Free Territory and the need to stay close to their "roots".
• The One Thing I Don't Hate About You: One of the few positive achievements they will credit the Tsars for is the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railroad, in which they will repair it to improve their infrastructure and unite the communes together.
• Open Secret: Siuda can be open to the details of his secret nuclear project, in spite of potential sabotage from statist elements, because he deems it a "people's project".
• Paper Tiger: In Stepanov's open secret path, a crowd of drunken students will gather to protest his open tyranny, but when a soldier shoots three shots in the air with his revolver, they scramble for their lives.
• Pet the Dog:
  • Dubious as the military is, they do give generous funding to the arts and craft department for hundreds to enjoy.
  • They spare Vasily Shukshin and pardon Prince Yuriy since both of them are popular with the people.
• People's Republic of Tyranny: A downplayed example, but many examples are present and easily noticeable right from the beginning. Despite being a democratically-elected organization, the Black Army is rife with cronyism and corruption, with nepotism ensuring relatives of successful generals can get easily promoted to high positions despite having done nothing to merit it, while actually hard-working and upstanding soldiers get shafted and arrested on sham trials if their superiors feel they may be a threat to their own power. And, of course, many of them are power-hungry and seeking to wrestle control of the communes to themselves. If nothing is done, the Black Army will coup the Siberian Soviet and establish a military junta that actively extorts its citizens for tributes to sate the generals' greed, playing the trope straight. Of course, it can be subverted and thoroughly defied if Stepanov's coup fails, which results in The Purge.
• Politically Incorrect Villain: Zig-Zagged with the military. Some units are tolerant of homosexuals, but others are unwilling to help them whenever they get jumped by a mob of homophobes, a problem shown if Stepanov becomes the Free Territory's dictator and has no interest in pretending he's still an anarchist.
• Poor Communication Kills:
  • One of the biggest problems plaguing the military at the start was a lack of communication that broke down supply chains and created logistical nightmares. The issue gets fixed by installing more phone lines.
  • This problem crops up again in the regional stage, where it can take days, if not weeks, to send a message out to the more rural parts of their recently integrated territories, requiring further improvements like the expansion of telegraph lines and construction of a modern phone system.
• The Power of Love: One regional event is about this trope, emphasizing love as a powerful emotion that can both empower or destroy people.
• Preserve Your Gays: Far from the norm of 1962, the Free Territory starts out with Legal Protections for LGBTQ+ people^note The majority of countries start with LGBTQ+ Rights Outlawed, while the few that don't have it there are simply at Decriminalized and the Black Army is very protective of their homosexual companions. The Siberian Soviet can impose stricter protections for non-heteronormative companions, empowering the Black Army but ensuring the Free Territory reaches complete acceptance of LGBTQ people faster.
• Private Military Contractors: Stepanov can hire the mercenaries of Magadan in the superregional stage to build more support in the power struggle against Siuda and strengthen his own military.
• The Promised Land: Recognized as the Siberian Free Territory, the anarchists present their statelet as an oasis of freedom from the warlordism and tyranny of their neighbors.
• The Purge: If Stepanov's planned coup against the Siberian Soviet to instate a Black Army dictatorship fails, Siuda and the Siberian Soviet will completely purge the Black Army and dissolve it as an institution to protect the anarchist system and prevent anything like that from happening again, with the conspiring officers either being executed or sent to face re-education through hard labor, leaving the Free Territory heavily crippled and defenseless until they can reorganize themselves and resolve the power vacuum.
• Quality over Quantity: In the regional stage, the Black Army updates their tank doctrine to prioritize mobility and quality over quantity, copying the same mindset as the Germans and Japanese.
• Rag Tag Bunch Of Misfits: The Black Army is led by a diverse band of revolutionaries, writers, and soldiers who all desire, or pay lip service to, the idea of an anarchist, egalitarian Russia.
• Realpolitik: If a protectionist foreign policy is chosen, the Black Army will refrain from supporting socialist and anarchist movements in other countries because they don't want to risk aggravating a superpower too early or get stuck fighting in a long, drawn-out proxy war.
• Red Scare: A downplayed, unique example where anarchists, a left-wing group, promote wariness to communist symbols. Though they are not opposed to the ideology itself, the education system warns its students of leaders, like Yagoda, who will exploit its hammer and sickle symbolism to indoctrinate the people and justify their tyranny.
• Religion Is Wrong: The anarchists view organized religion as a statist tool to control the populace and thus must be leashed. Though they will not outright ban the church, they will try to encourage secularism and independence from church doctrine.
• Repressive, but Efficient: The Security Council affords fewer liberties and more restrictions on the state, but their economic policies prove effective in the regional stage, increasing industrial productivity by over 200% and producing energy by over 330 million kilowatt-hours.
• The Revolution Will Not Be Civilized: Downplayed. Their path to reunification, at least under the Siberian Soviet, is a relatively benign one that builds an egalitarian Russia. However, they do engage in some unpretty matters along the way, such as the execution of Lydia in front of her father.
• Rousing Speech: Subverted with a former Tomsk resident, who interrupts a class observing a breakdown of an AK-47 so that he can sermonize the destructive potential of such a weapon and urge his fellow classmates to reject it. Nobody is impressed by his speech and they just give him puzzled stares.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: At least one doctor isn't happy with the success of anarchism in the Free Territory and decides to pack his bags by the superregional stage. It doesn't make it any less heartbreaking for him when he has to bid farewell to his daughter, a supporter of Siuda's dream.
• Serial Killer: The town of Rodzaevsk, if the Black Army reunifies with the Far East, has to deal with one of these, an Ax-Crazy fascist known as the Ghost of Rodzaevsky who believes himself to be the true Vozhd of Russia. Word of God confirms that this is in fact Alexander Bolotov, Amur's former Sadistic and brutal Chief of Internal Security.
• Skeleton Motif: The Black Army's flag features a prominent skull and crossbones pattern.
• Start My Own: With Kostinsty deemed too friendly to Bolshevism and the other trade unions too small for their country, the Black Army can settle with creating their own council to unite these unions and establish an overarching body to protect worker rights.
• Success Through Insanity: Siberian Anarchist Communes, or Siberian Black Army, can crowdfund nuclear weapons, per their anarchist-libertarian ethic with references to Kerbal Space Program. The program has foci implying that the SBA literally goes door to door and takes everyone's opinions about how to build a nuke. Including peasants. Named EMANTSIPATSIYA (Emancipation), it has a roughly two-in-three chance of producing a working weapon, doing so far faster than any other Russian warlord, which has to go through a long slog of research and development that will never produce a functioning warhead before its content runs out. There is still a one-in-three chance of it predictably blowing up in their faces (in the middle of their territory), but still.
• Taking Up the Mantle: The Black Army follows in the footsteps of the famous Ukrainian anarchist revolutionary Nestor Makhno, viewing him as the forefather of their Free Territory.
• Tank Goodness: The Black Army reverse-engineers the design of German, Japanese, and American tanks and takes in data from the T-34 and T-44 tanks to build their own original MBT, complete with new technologies, like electric starters and night vision. The end result won't compare to the tanks of developed nations, but it will suffice in the Russian Anarchy.
• Technical Pacifist: If a defensive doctrine is adopted in the regional stage, the Black Army will be specifically reserved for only defensive wars, refusing to stoop to the lows of Yagoda and only using violence when necessary.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork:
  • Despite ostensibly being on the same side, some abusive communes will bully their weaker neighbors into giving up their land. Eventually, the government will need to intervene and conduct a land reform program so that land is more equitably distributed and the local coercion will cease.
  • Mishurenko doesn't respect Valenteev as a lower-ranking hotshot who thinks he's better than he really is. When the two have to come up with a military doctrine, they don't synergize well with each other, until Valenteev suggests writing down their theories on separate paper and handing them to each other to cross off the other's points.
• Unfit for Greatness: Allowing officer elections in the military has given the people more power, but also made it more likely that an incompetent person could earn a position they don't rightfully deserve and only received due to their popularity. The government is not blind to this problem and will have to address it by testing its officers before regional reunification begins.
• Warhawk: If an offensive doctrine is picked in the regional stage, the Black Army will drum up support for aggressive wars by convincing the people that they are the champions of anarchism and must invade others to spread their ideals.
• Wham Episode: As the Black Army unifies Central Siberia and the Far East, a series of events fires in which Stepanov attempts to stage a Military Coup of the Free Territory. Regardless of the outcome, the situation in the Free Territory changes suddenly, dramatically, and permanently.
• Where's the Kaboom?: It's possible for the anarchists' nuke to not detonate when they test it, forcing them back to the drawing board.
• Won the War, Lost the Peace: If the Black Army unifies Central Siberia, they will be left with the daunting task of dividing the large swathes of territory they own into communes and do everything they can to maintain the peace. At least one commune leader is left overwhelmed by the duties he's given and the endless arguments that are brought up to him on a daily basis.
• Zero-Approval Gambit: The Black Army can adopt an internationalist foreign policy of backing socialist or anarchist revolutions throughout the world, daring to liberate people globally at the risk of turning themselves into a pariah on the world stage.

Leaders

Pyotr Siuda

^{Portrait of the Siberian Soviet}

Role: Head of State, Director of State Administration^note Head of Government (Siberian Soviet cabinet)

Party: Sibirsky Anarkhichesky Sovet^note Siberian Anarchist Council

Ideology: Anarcho-Communism^note Socialism

In-Game Description of the Siberian Soviet ^{Click to Show}In the wake of the Union's collapse, the people of the Angara's basin founds themselves free from the authority of Moscow. The first thing they did, in a true socialist fashion, was to assemble a committee. Many of the regional institutions were functioning without Moscow's oversight, and with some rationing and belt-tightening, many of the goods that it imported from elsewhere in the union could be forgone or replaced with local substitutes. Contact with the remnants of the Soviet government in western Russia had been lost, and they were hesitant to acknowledge the "democratic" provisional government of the Central Siberian Republic and the tyrannical regime of Genrikh Yagoda alike, forming self-defense militia squads fighting for their freedoms with blood. And thus, influenced by the influx of once ostracized anarchist thinkers from the farthest parts of the Soviet Union, they proclaimed their independence as the Siberian Anarchist Soviet, a self-governing ruling body with equal representation for all major towns and industrial unions. As their position became secure from the foreign threats, the Siberian Black Army, the military force of the free communes of the shores of Iya, became one the leading voices in the Soviet and declared the militarized anarchism as its main platform. The militia service became an essential part of every man and woman of the Free Territory, and the armed formations of free communes are assembled not merely as a means of self-defense for the free communities, but also as a means of spreading the liberating ideology abroad.The spreading militarization of the anarchist society, seemingly contradictory to anarchist ideals, caused surprisingly little tensions between the Army and the Soviet, but many of commoners fear that the ambitions of the Black Army, the protector of the independence of Siberian communes, will eventually become the undoing of their own freedoms.

Pyotr Petrovich Siuda is a key organizer of the Kansk Revolution that created the Free Territory, and currently serves as a key member of the Siberian Anarchist Council. Once just another working-class Soviet citizen, Siuda embraced Anarchism after seeing the Union decay from communist idealism into self-serving autocracy. Though his revolution liberated many from the dogmatic Soviets and the elitist Republic, his path to liberate all of Russia is far from complete yet.

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• Action Politician: Siuda personally hunts down a serial killer who terrorizes the people of Rodzaevsk not just by going there and directing the investigation - he does the dirty work himself, down to following the "Ghost of Rodzaevsky" into a tunnel network along with Taratuta and the local sheriff Abakumov.
• All-Loving Hero: Siuda demands justice and equality for everyone, regardless of their identity. He dismisses any claim otherwise as an excuse for the elite to continue oppressing the population.
• Animal Lover: During Rodzaevsk's lockdown, Siuda seemingly hears a cat buried in the snow and frantically rushes to save it. More importantly, this is how Siuda discovers a wooden door to a cellar, where the "Ghost of Rodzaevsky" and self-proclaimed Vozhd has been hiding all along.
• Assassin Outclassin':
  • Siuda has survived many assassination attempts against him, never intimidated by them to compromise on his vision.
  • In the superregional stage, Stepanov can order an assassination on Siuda while he's traveling to Amur, but the attempt will always fail when Siuda's assassins ambush the vehicle in front of him.
• Bait-and-Switch Comment: If Siuda decides to increase his support in Irkutsk against Stepanov, he makes a dramatic speech about liberating the city from Yagoda, who he describes as a "Mussolini painted red" and how Irkutsk's future is brighter than ever. However, upon seeing the anger of the crowd and realizing that Yagoda is still well-liked by them, Siuda switches his tune so that his last comment of a brighter future is actually because he's going to build more town halls.
• Beneath the Mask:
  • In private, Siuda has had many nightmares and sleepless nights over accidentally destroying Russia with his actions, breaking down into uncomfortable laughing and sobbing upon one particularly bad nightmare.
  • Whenever he doesn't know how to resolve a problem, Siuda becomes internally afraid of what to do and he privately confesses the fear to Taratuta.
• Berserk Button: He really dislikes statists - be they reactionaries, fascists, monarchists, liberals, or other socialists.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Siuda is generally friendly and well-principled, but when it comes to punishing Black Army soldiers who have been oppressing innocent civilians or inciting violence, he can mercilessly sentence them to death by firing squad.
• Brains and Brawn: Siuda handles the revolutionary zeal, as well as foreign and domestic social issues of Free Territory's anarchist society, while Stepanov and his allies handles the military. While one may think that handling the military would be the "brawn", Stepanov is actually the brains of the duo, as he and his team deal with a lot of logistics and number-crunching, which often leaves Siuda deeply out of his field. It doesn't help that Siuda's not exactly a man of books and reading. It's part of why Siuda is taken by surprise during Stepanov's coup.
• Can't Kill You, Still Need You: After he eliminates the corruptive influence of Stepanov, Siuda is left with the issue of what to do with the Security Council after their attempted coup. Though Siuda would personally want to dissolve them, he has the option to place them under the stricter watch of the General Assembly and take away some of their privileges instead because they can still provide important organizational benefits to the army.
• Capitalism Is Bad: Siuda is a firm believer in this, arguing that it is a system used by statists to oppress the majority and that the human cost outweighs its economic benefits.
• The Charmer: His ideology is unpopular, but Siuda's charisma is undeniable. He's exceptionally good at commanding respect from other people, due to his humanitarianism, principles, and idealistic aura. In the power struggle, Mishurenko admits to Stepanov that he can never match Siuda's popularity and must remove him through more underhanded means.
• Defiant to the End: If the Black Army is defeated by Tomsk, Siuda will be offered amnesty by the Republican Army if he comes quietly. However, the ideologue refuses and makes a final stand in an isolated safe house, perishing for his own ideology.
• Et Tu, Brute?: Is deeply taken aback when Stepanov attempts to coup him, especially if the coup succeeds.
• Foil: He represents a contrast to the Father, Alexander Men in the far east of Siberia, his fellow young, idealistic anarchist revolutionary and believer in human equality and dignity. They are both also allied to former Russian army officers who supply a large part of their military muscle and who eventually both attempt to coup them and seize power, albiet for diametrically-opposed reasons. But, while his opposite number is a well-read and trained religious leader who couches his revolution in faith-based terminology, Siuda is Book Dumb and fiercely opposed to any "statist" pretentions and insists on presenting his revolution exactly as it is. While Alexander Men will always at least try to present a chance for forgiveness and redemption to his enemies, Siuda's revolution often finds it necessary to try and execute or imprison its rivals. Also, while the Divine Mandate's government is still, despite its social and political freedoms, driven more by Men's charismatic leadership than anything else, Siuda refuses to take a more controlling leadership role and betray the principles of anarchism: he is not even first-among-equals, but a truly equal member of his society.
• A God I Am Not: Siuda does not like it when people revere him as a deity.
• Gondor Calls for Aid: In his power struggle with Stepanov, Siuda can call upon the aid of Kilchachakov and the Communal Economic Directive Board, Taratuta, or Valenteev.
• Good Is Not Nice: Of course, the above doesn't mean Siuda is soft and forgiving; he holds nothing but utter contempt for many of the other Central Siberian unifiers and has no qualms with utilizing violence to unite Central Siberia. Downplayed in later patches; his event upon defeating Rurik II, for instance, makes clear that he has a certain amount of sympathy for the Mad King who, in his anguish, cares nothing for his loss of power and everything for his family, one of whom, Yuriy, they have pardoned upon the request of his people, and the other of whom, Lydia, went down fighting, rending Rurik's heart with grief.
• The Heart: Out of all members of the revolution and the Black Army, Siuda is the most passionate and dedicated to the ideals of Anarchism, and genuinely dreams of a truly equal world where nobody suffers under the oppression of the state.
• Historical In-Joke: Siuda in real life a rather obscure Soviet left-wing dissident, who was notable because he historically drifted towards anarchism later in his life.
• Hollywood Atheist: Subverted. Though irritated by the admiration of the Father and his Christian doctrine in Yakutsk, Siuda lets it slide because he's happy to see the people content with what they believe in.
• Humble Hero: Siuda doesn't consider himself superior to the people he rules over and feels awkward about receiving a massive applause and cheers of his name.
• I Should Write a Book About This: After finally reunifying all of Russia, Siuda decides to write a book about the history of the anarchist movement so that it can inspire similar movements worldwide. After some brainstorming, he gives it the relatively humble title of Comradeship.
• Just Like Robin Hood: If Siuda focuses on winning support from Magadan in his power struggle with Stepanov, he will steal the cargo of a wealthy American merchant to distribute it to the poor fairly.
• Language Barrier: Subverted. Siuda has basic fluency in English and can communicate relatively well with an American sailor who arrives in Magadan, long enough to lure him into his trap and loot his ship.
• Lethally Stupid: Siuda can attempt to crowdsource nuclear weapons development rather than "centralizing" it with scientists, whereby he aims to create nukes from the collective knowledge of the people at less monetary cost than if it was left to professionals. Unlike some of the other REALLY GOOD IDEAS featured in the mod, this can actually pay off against all odds, even if the explosion isn't very powerful and there's still room for improvement. Additionally, there's a non-negligible chance it will result in catastrophe while the weapon is being transported.
• The McCoy: All Siuda wants is to help all Russians equally and let them live a life without fear of government repression. Further, Siuda prioritizes human emotion as a good thing, as he feels reassured upon seeing the town of Biysk show a great deal of compassion and humor with each other.
• Misplaced Retribution: In the superregional stage, Siuda initiates the Return Home project so that the thousands of Jews and other refugees that Rodzaevsky deported can return to their homes in Rodzaevsk. Despite initially winning good publicity and more support against Stepanov in the power struggle, these sentiments disappear when a mysterious fascist terrorist kills 30 people, in which the citizens blame Siuda for leading them there to be slaughtered.
• Mood Whiplash: If Stepanov wins the power struggle, Siuda's cheerful mood about rebuilding the Far East is suddenly interrupted when an assassin strikes and strangles him to death, ending the anarchist dream for good.
• Nice Guy: So long as you aren't harming another person or threatening to overturn his anarchist experiment, Siuda is a friendly man who enjoys small talk with the average citizen and wants everyone to be treated fairly. Even when he commits some morally dubious action, Siuda feels a little guilty about what needs to be done.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: After surviving Stepanov's attempted coup, Siuda tries to avoid future abuses of power by encouraging the people to beware of statism rather than concentrate more power in the General Assembly by allowing it to monitor the Black Army. However, Taratuta and Valenteev warn that weakening the General Assembly will actually make it harder for them to stop attempted coups or assist the people they're trying to help.
• Non-Answer: Siuda doesn't like Sablin because he was an authority figure, but he doesn't want to say that openly to the population of Buryatia, since he's so popular there and Siuda needs them to counter the growing influence of Stepanov. As such, Siuda avoids speaking on the legacy of Sablin by dancing around the issue during a press conference and he outright abstains when someone directly asks what he thinks of Sablin.
• Old Shame: After Stepanov is exposed as a traitor, Siuda regrets ever listening to the advice of his old friend and the Security Council, begging Taratuta for her advice on what to do with the organization.
• The One Thing I Don't Hate About You: Siuda is opposed to statist elements, but he does acknowledge their usefulness in keeping important records, which comes in handy when looking for potential material for the Free Territory's education curriculum.
• Pragmatic Hero:
  • There are moments where Siuda can compromise on his principles and give in to statism by empowering the Security Council to get better results.
  • While punishing corrupt Black Army members, Siuda can pull some strings for an early release of two soldiers in exchange for their notes on nuclear energy, which would be useful to his project in building a nuke.
• Pyrrhic Victory: If Siuda focuses on calming the situation in Irkutsk, a massive protest congregates in front of the Presidium, in which he can break up the crowd by calling for armed support. However, by the time the Black Army arrives, most of the protestors have gone home and, though the situation could be considered contained, Siuda feels hollow from having nearly resorted to military means to solve his problems.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Siuda is the Red to Stepanov's Blue. While Stepanov is recollected and pragmatic, choosing whichever option is more efficient in the long-run, Siuda is fiery and energetic, being extremely dedicated to his vision of an anarchist society even if it means putting the Free Territory at a disadvantage.
• Rule of Symbolism: Invoked in the superregional stage, where Siuda will de-Nazify Amur by recording the destruction of the neon swastika in Harbin and garner support against Stepanov.
• Socially Awkward Hero: Downplayed. Though he is cheerful with his friends and has good charisma, he tends to be flustered when caught off guard in a social situation. When visiting Biysk for an appraisal, Siuda has an awkward demeanor when the barkeep strikes a conversation with him out of nowhere.
• Stating the Simple Solution: Siuda dislikes the complicated affairs of the Economic Ministry and its meticulous focus on determining which communes should receive more funding. He believes that the better solution is to just fund every commune evenly and even thinks that prioritizing larger, urban communes will harm the growth of smaller ones.
• Stealth Insult: In the first convention of the General Assembly, Siuda opens his speech with very brief remarks, commenting that Stepanov wanted them so and that it's "wise to avoid irritating him". Siuda shoots a knowing glance to an unamused Stepanov behind him and gives a sarcastic thumbs up.
• The Teetotaler: Since his father was killed due to his alcoholism, Siuda is apprehensive towards drinking, only doing so on rare, celebratory moments, like reunifying Central Siberia.
• Token Good Teammate: While most of the higher-ranking members of the Black Army are in it mostly for power and control one way or another, Siuda is genuinely dedicated to helping create a society where everyone is equal.
• Victory Through Intimidation: Siuda concludes that statists are most afraid of what the oppressed will do and acquiring a nuclear bomb is the best way to strike fear in their hearts, allowing anarchism to rise up and liberate the people.
• Video Game Cruelty Punishment: If Siuda decides to stabilize the chaotic situation of Irkutsk in the superregional stage, he can resolve the mass protests by either calling on the Black Army or negotiating with the protestors. Picking the former option ends up backfiring on Siuda because the protest already dissipates by the time they arrive and he becomes disdained as a hypocrite. The correct option is the second one and coming to an agreement with the representatives that they can control the economic policies of their city.
• What's Up, King Dude?: Ever humble, Siuda is a personable leader who is very open with his friends and even organizes a tour around the Free Territory in the superregional stage so he can personally hear what the people think of his work.
• Won the War, Lost the Peace: Contrary to his expectations, Siuda's struggles don't get any easier in the superregional stage. By this time, Stepanov reveals his true colors as a traitor and begins actively working against Siuda, as the two race to garner support in their newly acquired territories. Meanwhile, Siuda goes to Rodzaevsk to undo the damage left by the late Rodzaevsky, in which the five day project gets extended when the "Ghost of Rodzaevsky" reveals himself in a terrorist attack and the whole situation gets even worse when unrest breaks out in Irkutsk.
• Worthy Opponent: Even his worst enemies can give him credit for being a stubborn man who always sticks to his principles.
• Young and in Charge: Siuda, the ideological leader of an anarchist revolution in Central Siberia, is just 25 at the start of the game. Since the Siberian Free Territory formed a few years ago, he was even younger when he first became an anarchist revolutionary leader.

Ivan Stepanov

^{Portrait of the Siberian Security Council}

Role: Head of State (Security Council coup), Director of State Administration^note Head of Government (Security Council cabinet)

Party: Sibirskaya Chernaya Armiya^note Siberian Black Army

Ideology: Vanguard Anarchism^note Despotism

The founder of the Siberian Black Army with Siuda, general Ivan Georgievich Stepanov formerly served with the Central Siberian Republic, and swore allegiance to anarchism after growing sick of the brutal Siberian War; his military experience proved crucial to the revolution's success. Though a loyal anarchist, Stepanov has regular ideological disagreements with Siuda, as he emphasizes on territorial security over revolutionary zeal. Regardless, Stepanov remains an important and distinguished member of the Free Territory, who plays a key role in the Black Army's daily management.

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• Accidental Misnaming: He rarely gets the name of his prostitutes correctly. Even when one of them corrects his misnaming, he doesn't listen.
• Book Dumb: He admits to not being good at math and often delegates his economic responsibilities as leader to Kilchichakov.
• Brains and Brawn: Stepanov is the Brains, handling the training and logistics of the Black Army and optimizing it to its highest efficiency, as well as carefully plotting its slow takeover of the free territories so he and the Black Army can stage a coup against Siuda.
• Beneath the Mask: Stepanov presents himself as a cool, calculating man who could figure his way out of any situation. His secret greatest fear is being indecisive and, in private, that part of him still comes out every so often, such as when he is internally conflicted over the right time to assassinate Siuda.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: In public, after deposing Siuda, Stepanov presents himself as a strongman dictator who nonetheless wants to protect and help his people. In private, Stepanov quietly mocks them as impoverished idiots and specifically smuggles luxuries from other countries because he doesn't trust his people to produce the same good of similar quality.
• "Blackmail" Is Such an Ugly Word: To ensure Kilchichakov's loyalty to his new regime, Stepanov threatens to expose his corruption if he steps out of line. When Kilchachakov rhetorically inquires if it's blackmail, Stepanov responds that it isn't; it's "business".
• Blatant Lies: After he overthrows Siuda, Stepanov sends out a pamphlet to every citizen, denouncing Siuda as a tyrant and traitor who pillaged the land and raped women and children. There are few other lies in the mod that are as absurd or obviously untrue as these.
• The Chessmaster: Stepanov has, for presumably quite a while, been covertly undermining Siuda's goals by secretly arranging it so the Black Army slowly, but steadily, worms its way into controlling more and more parts of the Siberian Soviet's administration, so that the Black Army's influence grows large enough to pave way for him to coup the council and seize power for himself and his army, putting an end to Siberian anarchism for good.
• Crazy Enough to Work: If Stepanov tries to build his influence in Yakutsk in the power struggle, he'll denounce Siuda as an extreme atheist and exaggerate his hatred for God, which is something he doesn't expect to work at all. Surprisingly, it does, since the people are gullible enough to listen to him.
• Dirty Old Man: As the new dictator of the country, Stepanov uses his wealth to hire a harem of prostitutes and makes perverted requests for them to wear skimpy attire.
• Enemy Mine: Stepanov allies himself with Rodzaevsky's surviving blackshirts in the Far East to overthrow their mutual enemy, Siuda, in exchange for making them governors of Amur.
• Et Tu, Brute?: Stepanov is more than willing to betray Siuda, and thinks nothing of it. Needless to say, Siuda does not take it very well.
• Even Evil Has Standards:
  • He's a bit apprehensive about Mishuernko's rabidly hawkish attitude, describing him as a "madman".
  • In the power struggle against Siuda, Stepanov allies himself with one of Rodzaevsky's old supporters, but becomes reluctant to do so when he's revealed to be an eccentric hermit who rambles and acts disturbingly friendly to his guest.
• Face Death with Dignity: After breaking down into an undignified mess after his attempted deposition of Siuda fails, Stepanov recomposes himself the best he can when sees an angry mob congregate around his residence, realizing that there's no escape and opening the door to hasten his inevitable demise.
• Fat Bastard: Stepanov is overweight and a treacherous friend to Siuda.
• Frame-Up: When his potential assassination attempt against Valenteev fails, Stepanov has to salvage the situation by killing a random ideologue from Buryatia and framing a suicide note that they were responsible for the close murder.
• A God Am I: Though he doesn't outright say it in his deceptive path, Stepanov does imply to the people that they should view him as such. At the end of one of his speeches, he speaks about the dangers of godless anarchy, urges the people to have faith in a strongman like him, and calls his Russia "the new bastion of civilization in Siberia."
  A new deity takes hold.
• Glory Hound: As revealed in the superregional stage, Stepanov wants to rule Russia solely because he wants the glory and recognition of such. If he overthrows Siuda, Stepanov is prideful enough to force the community leaders to publicly recognize him, at gunpoint, as a kind leader leading a free Russia.
• Historical Villain Upgrade: The real Stepanov was an extremely minor Russian general who earned a Hero of the Soviet Union award but otherwise had nothing special to his name (the only reason he's chosen to be made into a notable character is likely because he is from Central Siberia). In TNO he can coup an idealistic anarchist Soviet and institute an oppressive military dictatorship.
• Implied Death Threat: If Stepanov becomes an open dictator, he dissolves the General Assembly under the pretense of it being too incompetent to properly run the country and tells its members that resistance would be "inadvisable".
• It's All About Me: Forget any outward declaration of loyalty to anarchism or the people from him. At the end of the day, Stepanov really cares for power and he wants to hijack Siuda's anarchist movement just so that he can rule Russia alone.
• Join or Die: While garnering support to overthrow Siuda in the superregional stage, Stepanov gives an offer to Yagoda's surviving NKVD officers to join his side or be executed.
• Long Game: After taking over the Free Territory, Stepanov can temporarily hold off on proclaiming a dictatorship in the immediate aftermath and work through more subtle, careful means to cement his power, sidelining the communes and setting up systems to lay the groundwork for his regime when the time is right.
• Loophole Abuse: To keep up the facade of democracy, Stepanov can continue organizing congressional meetings with the leaders of the Free Territory, but he takes so long to actually start them that most get up and leave, so that he can pass his laws with little interference.
• Meet the New Boss: When an observant individual examines a propaganda poster of Semyon Budyonny being killed by Siuda and a Black Army charge, he realizes that the poster is not glorifying Siuda, but the Black Army, and recognizes Stepanov as little different than Bukharin and his attempts to propagandize to the masses in a similar manner.
• Military Coup: When the Free Territory achieves superregional unification (Central Siberia plus the Far East), Stepanov will stage a coup. If the Black Army has grown too powerful, the coup will succeed, putting an end to anarchism and turning the Free Territory into an oppressive military dictatorship that extorts its own people's wealth to funnel it into the Black Army generals', leading to widespread poverty and a blatant betrayal of anarchist values. If the Black Army hasn't grown too powerful, the coup will fail and Stepanov will be killed by an angry mob as he silently begs the soldiers for help that never comes.
• Necessarily Evil: Though he doesn't believe in Siuda's anarchist dream, his manpower and military experience was needed to carve out a statelet for the Free Territory, especially when the Central Siberian Republic sent an army to crush them.
• Nepotism: In an early event, Ivan recommends his son for promotion despite a completely unremarkable service record. This is more important than it seems at first blush; it indicated Stepanov is staffing the Black Army with those who're personally loyal to him first and competent second.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: If his and the Black Army's planned coup fails, Stepanov only manages to ensure that Pyotr Siuda remains a committed anarchist revolutionary. Siuda is not only further entrenched in his position, but radicalizes even more into opposing centralized authority, to which his uncertainties lie no longer on whether to centralize or de-centralize, but on how much he should de-centralize. Additionally, it leads to Siuda completely purging the Black Army to ensure they'll never have the chance to do such a thing again.
• No Sympathy: When the people protest their political freedoms being stripped by the Black Army, Stepanov just thinks that they need to toughen up and contribute more to the supposed common good.
• Not in This for Your Revolution: Stepanov already makes it obvious from the beginning that he doesn't particularly understand very much about revolutionary anarchism and is a bit bemused at Siuda's firebrand antics, but ultimately still sticks with him to help guide and protect his fellow friend and the society he helped build. Then he reveals he didn't care about Siuda either, as he is more than happy to coup him and the Siberian Soviet and, if successful, establish a despotic dictatorship centered around himself, eroding any and all genuine anarchistic values from the Free Territory.
• Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: When he takes over Russia following Siuda's assassination, Stepanov claims that he and the Black Army are centralizing more power to themselves so that they can better protect the people, even when it's obvious from the get-go that he's just doing it because he craves power.
• Old Soldier: A skilled veteran from the old Central Siberian Republic.
• Open Secret: This trope is said verbatim in one of his focuses, where Stepanov drops any pretext of him being an anarchist and turning the country into a blatant dictatorship.
• Opportunistic Bastard: Stepanov rose up the ranks of the Central Siberian Republic precisely because of his opportunism. He doesn't care much for ideology and will side with anyone, including Siuda, so long as it opens a door to more power.
• Order Is Not Good: Stepanov, as the new ruler of Russia, can send the army to forcibly mandate human rights in all communes and require every communal council to have a Black Army liaison for the sake of order. However, this is portrayed as a sign of the country falling steeper into dictatorship rather than a good thing.
• People's Republic of Tyranny: The Siberian Free Territory keeps its name even after Stepanov's coup turns it into a military dictatorship.
• Pet the Dog:
  • When a homosexual man claims that he and his partner were harassed by a homophobic grocer, Stepanov is disgusted and wants to intervene to prevent further acts of such discrimination.
  • Stepanov is greatly pleased by Mishurenko and Valenteev's document on new military strategies, being one of the few times he ever smiles and congratulates the two.
• Pragmatic Hero: Whereas Siuda tends to strive for options that help Free Territory get closer to a true anarchist society even if it means suffering from disadvantages, Stepanov prefers those that will be of greatest help to the communes and the Black Army in the long run, even if it means deviating from orthodox anarchism and having to resort to some mild authoritarianism. That's because Stepanov never actually believed in anarchism, and his "pragmatism" was simply an excuse to empower the Black Army and have them seize control. That said, even afterwards he keeps up many socially-progressive policies because he likes being popular and respected, and it doesn't cost him anything to, say, keep up LGBTQ protections.
• Pragmatic Villainy:
  • To build support for a coup against Siuda, Stepanov calls for a lockdown in Tomsk to hold the city down while he works on building support in the Far East. When the lockdown proves unpopular, Stepanov can begrudgingly call it off to avoid further trouble.
  • Despite having multiple opportunities to kill Siuda, Stepanov refrained each time, not out of affection, but out of fear that matters would backfire on him, if people discovered that he murdered their beloved leader. He may finally work up the nerve in the early superregional stage, sending an assassin after Siuda in the Far East, while he stays in Central Siberia to use as an alibi.
  • When protests flare up against the Black Army's abuses, Stepanov refrains from unleashing the military on them and decides to wait them out because opening fire would make his junta even more unpopular.
  • While extracting uranium in the Far East, Stepanov can offer the POWs a chance of release if they pitch in for his plan, giving them more motivation to work harder in the mines.
• Propaganda Machine: In his deceptive path, Stepanov will raise national pride for the Black Army by producing a series of films glorifying their exploits and printing propaganda leaflets in his favor.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The calm, recollected, calculating Blue to Siuda's energetic, fiery and impulsive Red.
• Rousing Speech: Subverted in his attempts to get support from Buryatia and overthrow Siuda. Despite his best efforts in delivering a passionate speech, the audience acts extremely cold to the speaker and doesn't give a single clap when he finishes, which embarasses Stepanov. The only reason it even raises his influence in the region is because Stepanov reached and got to speak in Buryatia before Siuda could.
• Rule of Symbolism: If the industrial Security Council is set up, the Congress of Kansk becomes designed in a way that the six seats of the Council look down on the General Assembly, representing their growing influence. The symbolism wasn't even intentional on Stepanov's part, but he rolls with it.
• Shame If Something Happened: When Kilchichakov is unmoved by his argument for an anti-poverty bill, Stepanov casually comments how badly the whole scenario would reflect on him, if news broke out of him rejecting the resolution, potentially swaying Kilchichakov to accept it.
• Simple Score of Sadness: When Stepanov's Siberian Black Army unifies Russia, the accompanying superevent's music starts with Mother Anarchy Loves Her Sons but switches mid-way to Gloomy Sunday, accompanied with sounds of people eating in a restaurant. This is a metaphor for how Stepanov kills the anarchist dream and turns the Free Territory into a junta of self-serving generals who live the upper class life.
• Taking Up the Mantle: Subverted in Stepanov's superregional path. He can claim to be the new champion of the anarchist movement after Siuda's death, but it's only a propaganda move to disguise his degradation of the country into a dictatorship. Alternatively, Stepanov can drop the pretense entirely and advertise that he's reviving the state in the wake of Siuda's death.
• Tautological Templar: In his moves against Siuda and after taking over the Black Army, Stepanov begins handing out medals and congratulations to soldiers who show excellent service and loyalty to his orders, even if it means harming or killing innocent people.
• Tyrant Takes the Helm: If Stepanov wins the power struggle against Siuda, he will begin corrupting the country into an oppressive military junta that becomes the exact antithesis to what Siuda fought against. It especially rings true in his "open secret" path, where he resorts to even more anti-democratic moves, like dissolving the General Assembly.
• The Unfettered: Stepanov doesn't think much of the fact that his policy proposals tend to run somewhat against anarchist principles, pointing out that they tend to be easier to implement and more beneficial to the Free Territories in the long run than sticking to the more anarchist policies. He also thinks very little of it if he successfully overthrows his old friend Pyotr Siuda and the Siberian Anarchist Council, and continues to not think much of it as he destroys the anarchist system and turns it into an oppressive dictatorship. If Stepanov's coup succeeds, he can either pretend that his dictatorship is "true" anarchism and claim that Siuda was a counterrevolutionary and revisionist traitor, or just flat-out drop the act and openly admit he's the dictator of Siberia now and that the Black Army's word is the law.
• Unwanted Assistance:
  • Stepanov can give handouts to the people as a small push to enforce their happiness, but the food is half-rotten, the milk is tasteless, and the cigarettes are awful. As a result, everyone just feels more miserable.
  • In the supposed interest of everyone, Stepanov can mandate every community council to have at least one Black Army representative to ensure every parties' interests are satisfied, but the presence of these liaisons is not only pointless, but downright detrimental when they steal random goods from the people without fear of repercussion.
• Villain Has a Point: When Steve arrives to the SBA's territory, it's actually Stepanov who's the more reasonable one, attempting to ease Siuda's paranoia that the visitor is just some random college student traveling for adventure's sake and not a CIA operative trying to sabotage their movement.
• Villainous Breakdown: If he loses the power struggle to Siuda, Stepanov will be at a loss for words, breaking down into a blubbering mess and shaking in fear of what will happen next.
• Walking Spoiler: Stepanov is very closely tied to the Siberian Black Army's Wham Episode. As such, it's near impossible to talk about him in detail without spoiling the twist.
• We Have Reserves: In his dictatorship, Stepanov can cut most funding to the education system and recruit as many people as he can to the military, adopting a strategy of throwing as many men as possible at the enemy until they're overwhelmed.
• Wicked Cultured: Stepanov enjoys his newfound power by hosting dinner parties where he can enjoy smuggled wine and listen to music on his record player.
• Written by the Winners: If he overthrows Siuda and takes a subtle approach to cementing his power, Stepanov will alter the education system to portray Siuda as a dangerous radical and himself as a heroic leader.
• You Cannot Kill An Idea: Even if Stepanov's coup fails and results in his death, his ideology and closet supporters will still survive in the Black Army and the General Assembly must reform the organization to ensure they aren't threatened by them again.

Cabinet Members

Mikhail Kilchichakov

Role: Director of State Development^note Economy Minister (Siberian Soviet and Security Council cabinet)

Party: Sibirsky Anarkhichesky Sovet^note Siberian Anarchist Council

Ideology: Anarcho-Communism^note Socialism

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• Achilles' Heel: He's good at working with numbers, but terrible at predictions and often caught flatfooted whenever matters don't go the way he planned.
• Armor-Piercing Question: While having dinner with his wife, they fondly reminisce over Bukharin's visit to Novosibirsk and recall the scrutiny he's gotten from the average worker for his disastrous economic policies. The moment is interrupted when Kilchichakov asks his wife if the same legacy will befall him when he dies, which she's unable to answer and they spend the rest of their meal in silence.
• Brutal Honesty: During a debate with Stepanov about redistributing wealth, Kilchichakov bluntly states that he's not going to be swayed by his talk of "the people's struggle" and calls his initiative a load of Unwanted Assistance to the people.
• Can't Kill You, Still Need You: Stepanov is aware of Kilchichakov's corruption in his military regime, but avoids purging him for the time being because he's still a competent general who's not too disloyal.
• Corrupt Politician: Kilchichakov's corruption gets even worse in Stepanov's route, where he's resorted to skimming the budgets so that he can keep it for himself.
• Demoted to Extra: In an After Midnight scenario, Kilchichakov sides with Taratuta after the Holy Russian Empire collapses and the Siberian Anarchists reemerge from its ruins, although he's reduced to just being a General in her army.
• Good Is Not Nice: Though he's on Siuda's side, he's not too concerned with helping people, instead focusing on maximizing profit for the state.
• Layman's Terms: Since most of the Black Army has no interest in economics, Kilchichakov often has to oversimplify his findings into simple, easy-to-follow charts.
• Not in This for Your Revolution: Kilchichakov has no interest in the rhetoric of either Siuda or Stepanov. From his perspective, money is what keeps the world moving.
• Only in It for the Money: Kilchichakov is content to work under Stepanov's military junta, but only because he can enrich himself by cutting a piece of the country's budget for himself.
• Pet the Dog:
  • After a woman, hysterical over seemingly losing her son in a skirmish, begs him to stop recruitment in the Black Army and spare more people the pain of losing a loved one, Kilchichakov may be moved enough to listen to her and send out recruitment for factory workers instead.
  • Inviting Kilchichakov for dinner, Siuda subtly hints that he should make the right decision by supporting him over the corrupt Stepanov. After being reminded of the time he showed empathy to a mother who lost her son, Kilchichakov is convinced, even if he wouldn't openly admit it.
• The Spock: Kilchichakov doesn't care much for passionate rhetoric or bombastic weapons, instead believing in the power of the economy and numbers.

Yevgeniya Taratuta

Role: Director of Foreign Affairs^note Foreign Minister (Siberian Soviet cabinet), Director of State Administration^note Head of Government (Siberian Soviet cabinet, Stepanov purged), Head of State (After Midnight)

Party: Sibirsky Anarkhichesky Sovet^note Siberian Anarchist Council

Ideology: Anarcho-Communism^note Socialism

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• Action Girl: She's pretty handy with a gun and helps Siuda hunt down the "Ghost of Rodzaevsky" (Alexander Bolotov) terrorizing Amur, when the region is conquered by the Black Army.
• Conveniently Timed Distraction: When Taratuta and Siuda are hunting down the "Ghost of Rodzaevsky" and the local sheriff is taken hostage, the Ghost's cat appears and rubs up against his leg; as the Ghost tries to shoo it away, the sheriff slips out of his grasp, and Taratuta manages to retrieve her gun and kill Bolotov in that split second.
• Friend to All Children: Despite not being a mother, Taratuta is friendly to all children, being inspired by their optimism and curious nature. At the Tomsk Public Library, she accepts an invitation to read a book to a group of children, both to deny Stepanov more support and out of genuine enjoyment.
• Historical Badass Upgrade: Goes from a literary critic under the Soviet Union to one of Siuda's top advisors and the leader of an anarchist faction in a warlord setting of apocalyptic proportions.
• Iron Lady: She's the new figure motivating the Siberian Anarchist movement in a post-Taboritsky Russia.
• Mouth of Sauron: A heroic example,where she serves as Siuda's representative on the Emergency Anti-Fascist Committee, designed to hunt down the "Ghost of Rodzaevsky" running amok in Amur.
• Number Two: Taratuta has been Siuda's mentor for years, making her his closest confidant and arguably his most important ally in the power struggle with Stepanov.
• Passing the Torch: Taratuta's father was an Anarchist revolutionary, just like her.
• The Remnant: If Stepanov deposes Siuda, Taratuta leads Siuda's remaining loyalists to resist the Black Army, launching a terrorist attack in Kansk that manages to scare even Stepanov. She also leads the remains of the Black Army once the Holy Russian Empire falls apart After Midnight.
• Smoking Is Cool: She would normally say otherwise, but in the face of the HRE and its prohibition on tobacco, she takes the opportunity to smoke after getting rid of the Empire's remnants in the area.
• The Smurfette Principle: The only female leader of a post-Midnight state.
• Speak Ill of the Dead: After she, Siuda, and the sheriff Abakumov dispatch the "Ghost of Rodzaevsky", they find his office stuffed with memorials dedicated to the original Vozhd. Disgusted, Taratuta unloads her gun on one of Rodzaevsky's portraits.
• Tranquil Fury: When Stepanov rejects her proposal to create an international agency to fund foreign anarchist movements, Taratuta is furious, especially when he condescends to her. However, her years of diplomatic experience allow her to conceal most of her rage.

Stepan Valenteev

Role: Military Commander, Director of Internal Security^note Security Minister (Siberian Soviet cabinet), Head of State (Federation dissolution)

Party: Sibirsky Anarkhichesky Sovet^note Siberian Anarchist Council, Bol'shevistkiye Sovety^note Bolshevik Council (Federation dissolution)

Ideology: Anarcho-Communism^note Socialism, Maoism^note Communism (Federation dissolution)

In-Game Biography (Federation dissolution) ^{Click to Show (Warning: Unmarked Spoilers)}The fascinating experiment of the Siberian Black Army has left a long-lasting impact on Central Siberia, and this is made clear by the existence of the Free Workers' Republic of Siberia. Headed by the most senior member of the Black Army, Stepan Yeliseyevich Valenteyev, it has taken much inspiration from the former Army whose territory the Republic now occupies.

After the recent events, the remnants of the Black Army reformed their theory of militarized anarchy, and now claim to practice the doctrine of the People's Fight, the protracted armed struggle of a rural population against its enemies for the maintenance of the "free territory".

Valenteev is left as an unwilling leader of this movement, as it diverges further and further away from the anarchist vision he had fought for. Yet with or without his support, the ideas have definitely embedded themselves in the hearts and minds of the local population.

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• Assassin Outclassin':
  • One of Stepanov's options to build domestic support for his power struggle against Siuda is to order an assassination on Valenteev, one of his allies. However, the attempt will always fail, as Valenteev fights off their attacker with little more than a few scrapes.
  • He nearly falls for another assassination by an RFP infiltrator in the Black Army, but his would-be assassin, despite having the perfect opportunity to stab him, bails out of the plan out of a guilty conscience.
• The Bus Came Back: Valenteev is a supporting character in the Siberian Black Army, but he can return after they're defeated, if the Worker's Federation defeats the Central Siberian unifier.
• The Last Dj: Even when Stepanov assassinates Siuda, Valenteev does not give up his loyalty to the late ideologue and refuses to cow to the new dictator. Stepanov will need to have him eliminated in a "friendly fire incident" to cement his newfound power.
• No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: After Stepanov overthrows Siuda, Valenteev hears a woman's cry for help while he's driving to Russia's border with China. He rushes to the Gorno-Altaysk church, where he hears the scream, only for the building to suddenly explode and take him with it. It turns out to have been trap by Stepanov to eliminate him and the "woman" crying for help was just a recording, meaning Valenteev died for nothing.
• Not So Stoic: Valenteev is a typically stoic man, but when he's drinking with Siuda to discuss joining forces against Stepanov, he laughs out loud when his leader tells an absurd story of seeing an ugly doll created in his likeness.
• Reluctant Ruler: Valenteev recognizes how far the Black Army movement has shifted from anarchism during the Federation's collapse and become disillusioned by it, but he doesn't really have a choice to leave it.
• You Wouldn't Shoot Me: Seeing a Black Army recruit trying to flirt with a secretary by bragging about his accomplishments, Valenteev interjects and hands the recruit a pistol, daring him to shoot him if he's so tough. When the recruit is unable to, Valenteev verbally berates him for thinking war is a chance for him to pick up girls and that he needs to be absolutely committed to the Black Army's cause.

Androniy Mishurenko

Role: Military Commander, Director of Internal Security^note Security Minister (Security Council cabinet), Head of State (After Midnight)

Party: Sibirskaya Chernaya Armiya^note Siberian Black Army

Ideology: Vanguard Anarchism^note Despotism

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• Alas, Poor Villain: Mishurenko is disrespectful, pessimistic, a potential ally in Stepanov's power struggle with Siuda, and a greedy warlord in a post-Taboritsky environment. However, he used to be an honorable soldier whose optimism was torn apart after seeing the Soviet Union humiliated by the Germans. He spends a moment solemnly reminiscing how far he's fallen from his younger days and his fading memory with age, now only concerned with liberating Moscow so that his life's work will not go to waste.
• Bad Boss: He is feared by his subordinates for his unforgiving personality, willing to fire anyone without hesitation as soon as he finds someone more useful than them.
• Bigger Is Better: In a discussion on how to rebuild the Trans-Siberian Railroad, Mishurenko mentions that he only supports its restoration if it can be used to build massive railguns as large as the Germans mobilized during World War II.
• Crazy Enough to Work: Mishurenko's proposed plan to build a nuke is to crowdsource it from the people rather than leave it to the experts, as Valenteev suggests. Shockingly, there is a slim chance of his plan actually working.
• Dragon with an Agenda: Like Stepanov, Mishurenko doesn't genuinely believe in anarchism, which makes them allies. However, while Stepanov is courting anarchist rhetoric to one day overthrow Siuda, Mishurenko is more concerned with preparing the Black Army to eventually retake Moscow in their inevitable war with Germany.
• Drill Sergeant Nasty: Mishurenko is an infamously strict drill sergeant, putting his recruits through hellish tests and verbally tormenting those who ever slow down in their exercises.
• For the Evulz: He enjoys killing and fighting for the sake of it, believing that anarchy is just an excuse to act on these wishes.
• Frontline General: In the After Midnight scenario, he personally leads the Black Army to battle against the Siberian Free Army.
• The Generalissimo: Ruling the remnant Black Army after Taboritsky's death, Mishurenko is in practice a military dictator, and all of his anarchist rhetoric is just for show.
• The Hedonist: In a post-Taboritsky Russia, he wants to eat, drink, and party for as long as he wishes, where his rhetoric of anarchy is just a means to achieve that goal.
• Motive Decay: Before the establishment of the Holy Russian Empire, Mishurenko was a harsh disciplinarian known for his brutal training methods and iron-fisted control of the units under his command. It seems that Taboritsky turning Russia into a wasteland unable to even take back Moscow demoralized him to such an extent, that he became a nihilistic hedonist whose army is little more than a bandit gang.
• No Sympathy: When he sees a protest on the lack of worker protections while building a nuke, Mishurenko rolls his eyes and considers them a bunch of ingrates who have forgotten about all the good the Black Army has done for them. Though Siuda tries to defend their right to protest, Mishurenko sarcastically remarks that he wishes they exercised their right to silence.
• Not Helping Your Case: When Siuda reads Mishurenko and Valenteev's latest document "An Objective Analysis of the Military State of Novosibirsk", he is disgusted by their open praise of Pokryshkin, a man who has been denounced as an enemy to anarchism. Mishurenko retorts that Siuda just doesn't know the first thing about war, eliciting a facepalm by Valenteev and an enraged look by Siuda.
• Not in This for Your Revolution:
  • Mishurenko, like Ivan Stepanov, is not an anarchist and only sides with the Siberian Black Army because he happens to be from Kansk. In the aftermath of the Holy Russian Empire's collapse, after being forced to flee by Yevgeniya Taratuta, he drops the anarchist façade entirely and runs the Bratsk Communal Vanguard as little more than a bandit state.
  • He's not even loyal to Stepanov when he joins his side against Siuda, noting that he's only helping because Stepanov is the best chance he's got at unifying Russia and invading Moscow to get back at the Germans.
• Pet the Dog:
  • While he's reflecting on his past, a new recruit interrupts Mishurenko to break up a fight between two other recruits over politics. Mishurenko genuinely thanks him for the information and ignores the recruit's improper way of grabbing his superior's attention.
  • Mishurenko compliments Stepanov as someone who stands a better chance against the Germans than Siuda.
• Sadist: Mishurenko takes pleasure in personally executing Taboritsky's followers.
• Sir Swears-a-Lot: In his declaration of war on Siberian Free Territory, his letter is peppered with numerous curses, typically directed at Taratuta.
• Small Name, Big Ego: He claims to be the personal protector of anarchist ideals of his own warlord state in a post-HRE Russia, but most see through these claims as outright lies or delusions of grandeur.
• Stealing the Credit: When he and Valenteev send their authored military theories to Stepanov, their excited boss asks who wrote them. Mishurenko jumps in to claim all the credit, claiming that all Valenteev did was give a seal of approval, something that his colleague calls him out on.
• Token Evil Teammate: After Stepanov gets purged, Mishurenko definitely becomes the least committed member to Siuda's anarchist dream. He's not necessarily disloyal, but he's only working with them so that he can exact revenge on the Germans.
• Visionary Villain: From the ruins of the Holy Russian Empire, he hopes to one day see all of Russia "liberated" by his cruel vanguard party.
• Warhawk: He is the most hawkish member of Stepanov's clique, advocating more conscription and requesting more equipment for the military.
• War Hero: Mishurenko is an old soldier who has fought in World War II and the Winter War, earning praise for his service.
• Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: Witnessing the destruction of the Soviet Union broke Mishurenko down and turned him into the cynical opportunist he is now.
• Villain with Good Publicity: Despite his unenthusiastic loyalty to anarchist doctrine, Mishurenko is popular among the people for his past military record. He's even more popular in the Black Army as the ideal soldier, which serves as good PR for Stepanov when the two ally with each other.

Free Territory Collapse (Spoilers)

Barnaul

Official Name: Federation of Barnaul

Ruling Party: Rossiyskaya Agrarno-Promyshlennaya Partiya^note Russian Agrarian-Industrial Party

Ideology: Agrarianism^note Conservatism

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• The Remnant: With Novosibirsk itself taken by Kostin, Shukshin and his supporters seize control of Barnaul, still yearning for the dream of a Russian federation.

Vasily Shukshin

Role: Head of State (SBA collapse)

Party: Rossiyskaya Agrarno-Promyshlennaya Partiya^note Russian Agrarian-Industrial Party

Ideology: Agrarianism^note Conservatism

In-Game Biography (SBA collapse) ^{Click to Show}What place does a conservative businessman have in Russia? In the days of the empire, he would find his virgining enterprise quashed by the backwardness of the Tsar. In the days of the Union, he would find his owings confiscated at best and his life too at worst. Now, in the days of the Russian anarchy, more than ever, what place is there for a conservative businessman?

Despite his grievances with Pokryshkin and the unapologetic kleptocrats of the federation, the fall of Novosibirsk and, more importantly to him, Barnaul, left Shukshin in a severe state of depression. The chaos and confusion of the days and weeks following the capitulation of the federation scattered many of Russia's best and brightest into the wind. Pokryshkin; missing and presumed dead. The chief officers of the mega corporations; executed or imprisoned. Vasily Makarovich Shukshin was all that remained of the capitalist establishment. Forced into a life of reclusion after his popularity with the citizenry spared him from punishment, Shukshin spent his days drinking in the solitude of his home. Truly, people reach their lowest points when excluded from the majority and under the tyranny of the General Assembly, the majority was never so powerful and Shukshin was never so weak..That was, until one day, Shukshin received a letter.

A former high ranking member of the Barnaul city council expressed the raising discontent in the city. The letter was clear in goal, even if the language hid the fact, the cracks in the anarchist foundation had begun to show and the people yearned for the promise of the federation. Shukshin became a man rejuvenated, his optimism and sense of purpose restored. The schism in the anarchist movement proves only one thing, anarchism doesn't work. Unlike the splintered anarchist movement, Shukshin has a job to do, and he'll be damned if the anarchists get the better of him twice.

See his entry in the Novosibirsk folder.

Altai-Tuvan Republic

Official Name: Altai-Tuvan Republic

Ruling Party: Tangnu Tuva-yin Arad-un Qubisgal-tu Nam^note Tuvan People's Revolutionary Party

Ideology: Agrarian Socialism^note Socialism

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• Commune: The people of Tuva are content to live in their own isolated communes and fight to preserve their way of life against Stepanov's forces.
• The Remnant: Former politicians and soldiers from the former Tuvan People's Republic are called to fight for their homeland again when the Siberian Black Army collapses and Stepanov threatens to invade them.

Mongush Buyan-Badyrgy

Role: Head of State

Party: Tangnu Tuva-yin Arad-un Qubisgal-tu Nam^note Tuvan People's Revolutionary Party

Ideology: Agrarian Socialism^note Socialism

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}The former Chairman of the Council of Ministers and presumed successor to Donduk Kuular in the old Tuvan People's Republic, Mongush Buyan-Badyrgy leads a people that have long been neglected and forgotten. Enduring through the collapse of the Soviet Union, Tuva emerged as an independent state, sending what little aid they could to the Mongolian People's Republic to hold off the imperialist Japanese forces. Yet in spite of the efforts of the Tuvan and Mongolian people, Ulaanbaatar fell to the invaders, and many in Kuular's government feared Kyzyl would be next.

So, when Red Army forces arrived in Tuva, this was received as nothing short of a blessing. The request that the Tuvan People's Republic would become subordinate to the Red Army command was an insignificant price to pay in return for a chance to stave off Japan.

After Kuular's death, Buyan-Badyrgy became the new head of the Tuvan government under the People's Revolutionary Council. And when Red Army forces capitulated to the Black Army invading from the north, he was allowed to walk free due to his popularity with the Tuvan people. For a time Buyan-Badyrgy remained content with this; little had changed other than the banner of the army protecting them. Yet once again chaos erupted in the war-torn region as various communes in the north of the Free Territory declared their secession, and had led to the arrival of Ivan Stepanov's forces.

Now a new army had arrived in Tuva, for much the same reasons as the last. This army, however, they had no desire for cooperation with the Tuvan people; they organized conscription, diverted production and set up defences, dragging Tuva into more needless conflict. Buyan-Badyrgy could not stand idly by through this, and so, rallying former members of the Tuvan army and government, alongside Altaic partisans, he led a revolt against the Black Army's rule. Once more Tuva must fight against overwhelming forces, yet having overcome such odds before, Buyan-Badyrgy knows Tuva will prevail again.

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• Chummy Commies: He's an agrarian socialist who leads a Tuvan resistance against Ivan Stepanov's Black Army.
• The Determinator: In the event of the Siberian Black Army's collapse in Central Siberia, Buyan-Badyrgy recognizes that he's outmatched by Stepanov's nearby forces, but he's still determined to fight them and ensure Tuva's independence from them.
• Occupiers Out of Our Country: When the Siberian Free Territory collapses, Buyan-Badyrgy rallies what remains of the Tuvan army and government and Altai partisans, leads a revolt against the Black Army, and establishes the Altai-Tuvan Republic.

North Siberia

Official Name: Northern Siberian Soviets

Ruling Party: Severo-Sibirskiye Sovety^note Northern Siberian Soviets

Ideology: Anarcho-Communism^note Socialism

In-Game Description ^{Click to Show}Anarchy - the ideal that had liberated Central Siberia from the shackles of authoritarianism, warlordism and elitism, has fallen. When the communes of Krasnoyarsk declared their independence and returned to the darkness that had consumed the region months prior, the communes of northern Siberia found themselves cut off from the General Assembly's guidance. Panic rose as the loss of an agreed-upon inter-communal body left them divided and undirected.

Yet days passed, which became weeks and then months, and the communes of north Siberia remained. The fear of invasion from the new warlords to the south did not come to fruition, the prospect of a famine arising from a lack of coordination between communes, too, never came to pass. Although undoubtedly facing hardships, the decentralised communes of the North Siberian Soviets have survived, now separate from all authority.

While this extreme decentralisation makes the fielding of an army, coordination in development and any form of decisive action near impossible, the communes of Norilsk, Kolpashevo and their many rural comrades persist. The General Assembly, previously seen as vital to the coordination of the Free Territory, is now seen as an obsolete organization, one which impeded the people of Siberia from realising true anarchism.

Though in the harsh lands of Russia, with warlords to the south and centralized states forming to the east and west, can such a system truly survive?

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• Anarchy Is Chaos: Downplayed. While the communes get along well with each other and thus are able to avoid a famine coming from lack of coordination, their decentralized state makes any form of decisive action impossible, including the fielding of an army.
• Commune: The population is divided into local communes that are largely independent from each other and only united because of their distance from any other centralized authority.
• Crapsack Only by Comparison: Life is hard on the edges of human tolerances in Siberia and potentially short due to wildlife and the risk of Nazi bombers, but the disorganized communal life is free and reasonably prosperous, just incapable of doin anything more significant.
• Disaster Democracy: When Krasnoyarsk secedes from the Free Territory, cutting the far north from the General Assembly in Kansk, the communes there survive, now separate from all authority and free to practice true anarchism.
• Non-Standard Character Design: They do not have a flag, showing that the communes cannot even agree on what their flag should be.

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