Looks like I'm the outsider here. I've never played
against any of these guys before. I have been wargaming
since 1974 although from 1988 to 1996 I strayed from
board gaming and was playing miniature games exclusively.
Email and Diplomacy got me back into board gaming and now
I'm enjoying a renaissance of old classic games like Panzerblitz,
The Russian Campaign, and Panzergruppe Guderian. Russian Civil
War meets my definition of 'classic.' It's a shame it went out
of print. Its biggest flaw in my opinion: the factions are designated
by letters! I like commanding royal houses, countries, empires - 
not Alphabets!

I bought my first copy of the game back in the late '70s.
I've played it a lot of times, but never against such an all-star cast,
so this ought to be interesting. BTW since Melnick is Russian for
"Miller" I have a fondness for a certain White leader starting in Archangel.