1918 Ludendorff Offensive AAR!

[Hyazinth von Strachwitz]

Technological advantage for Germany is gone, American forces arrive in numbers.

[Catacol Highlander]

Well - relative calm. I am as yet undecided on where to direct my efforts across the summer. I was hamstrung by mud - a rarety in France in June I can tell you... so big attacks that turn were not really possible - but there are fractured sections appearing in the German line and my own line is strengthening quite considerably now.

While I tread water 2 obvious aspects to emphasise:

1. The attack in the East must continue for now - no point committing reserves and then pulling back when it is forcing the enemy to divert key resources to the area as well. I'm starting to think like Haig at The Somme perhaps...! Anyway - a couple more German corps destroyed in this area with the end position thus:

2. In the West my British sector was substantially reinforced again, with more artillery and at least 2 corps per turn heading to the area. Soon I will run out of squares to put all my units, and this will surely tie down a lot of German defenders in case of a counter by my boys. Note that I evacuated my Belgians to fight elsewhere another day - I cannot now position Belgians on the map from my production queue, but I can use mpps to support the 4 units that made their escape.

So time for me yet to make a call on when and where to strike. At this point I absolutely have to counter attack if I am to try and win the scenario. I wonder whether Michael will now sit back, or whether he will push on. That too will have a bearing on how I direct my forces over the summer.

[Hyazinth von Strachwitz]

What I read from Al's post confirms what I wrote yesterday about the "Unknown Theater". I expect an offensive, and I have a clear guess where it will occur.

The evacuation of Dünkirchen is nice, another NM target will be conquered without casualties. Al's idea to give the Belgian troops a new home somewhere else is a good idea, but I can live with that. Unless they take back a Belgian city, they cannot buy new units... so any unit that takes part in the fighting will not be replaced if destroyed. In other words: they can hang around somewhere and have no use, or they will face destruction.... any Belgian unit I can attack will never come back, so it will be an obvious target. So in fact Belgium is half way out of the war.

My troops around Dünkirchen will definitely move on to Calais. I do not see any Heavy Artillery up there, and this will be the next place where I will attack.

Technical Analysis of the British Salient:

British/Belgian OOB: 16 divisions, 4 Brigades, 2 Cavalry, 1 Tank, 4 Heavy Artillery, Air support

German OOB: 23 divisions, 1 Tank, 4 Heavy Artillery, Air Support.

Al wrote he will have 2 new divisions per turn, and I will have reinforcements as well. Let's see. It might occur that this is the place where the whole campaign is decided. If I can destroy the bridgehead, I can divert the remaining forces to Amiens and do the Final Attack on Paris. The fights around Etaples and Boulogne will be the bloodiest of the war, because the British troops will not retreat, and my forces can make a big step to victory.

Gott mit uns!!!

(Next turn tonight)

[Hyazinth von Strachwitz]

Here we go.

This will get bloody. Three British units are dead and two Heavy Artillery units damaged. I will loose some units as well, but any unit that attacks my troops will also suffer damage and be vulnerable next turn. I count 14 British divisions versus my 25 German, and for sure Al cannot destroy them as quick as I can destroy his 14. Esp. in the south he will face a problem, 3 British divisions face 11 German. Of course there is a tank down there, but it can strike once per turn. And Al cannot withdraw... there are so many precious units like Heavy Artillery and HQs. And what to do with the damage Artillery? Refresh in front of a German unit? Draw back? Where?

Or will we see a major drawback "Belgian Style"?

Around Verdun, I can take Troyon... Al has evacuated it. The red line shows the line I want to be sooner or later. Next turn 3 Heavy Artillery units will open fire. I am very close to reach my target in this theater.

Two of Al´s units die, and I start to cut off the salient. If I can destroy the Heavy Artillery, Al can no longer attack my entrenched positions.

[Catacol Highlander]

Hah - I had to laugh. It seems that Fate is determined to make this game as tough as possible for the good guys. Having had to wait an age to get the ammo tech I need the last thing I needed when Michael started his attack on my British "fortress" was bad weather: and I got both mud and rain that turn. I should have been able to destroy every adjacent German unit bar the one in the far north east along the coast, but this did not happen and the mud forced me to take higher casualties than I needed or wanted. Final image here:

Elsewhere I did little though I am plotting now: I have my plan... but it is a forlorn one. I dont have the units really to drive a nail into the German heart, and a 200 - 300mpp advantage per turn is not enough to close the gap, never mind the impact of falling NM and German experience.

Out of interest I am playing a reverse game that has also reached June, and I must take my hat off to Michael for carving me up so easily because in that game I have not replicated his success. I have seen first hand that ammo tech is crucial (my opponent in the reverse game got French shells in time to start hitting me back pretty hard) and I have also witnessed the importance of not spreading the initial German attack too thin - I did so in my German game and have ground to a halt short of my objectives.

So - I am still getting my head shoved well and truly up my ar*e (an expression in rugby over here... anyone who has not got themselves interested in the greatest physical contest on earth on a rugby field is missing out big time...!) and I'm not liking it. However bad luck as per last turn has a habit of changing, though predictably Michael has hard ground now for his turn :-( , and this game isnt quite over yet.

[Hyazinth von Strachwitz]

Good Morning!

My attack on the British salient goes better than I thought, 3 more British units are gone. I have 25 divisions up there, and I count 12 British. They will destroy some of my forces, and I will destroy some of them... but sooner or later the salient will be gone. Al cannot repair damaged units and buy all destroyed units back in the same turn, so in 5-7 turns we should have a decision here.

This decision is needed. Al has pulled the American troops out of the comfort zone... and they are his most powerful units. He is preparing something, and I can imagine what it is. I have prepared myself as well with reserve troops behind the frontline. Also, I will start recon flights to find the American troops once the rain is over.

At Verdun, I destroy 2 French division and move closer to the red line you can see in my last post. There are just 2 French units left on my side of the red line, and I have an extra division next turn, so this fight will also end sooner or later.

In the southeast, Al moves back a bit. A smaller "Comfort Zone" is created here, and this takes pressure from both Al and me.

In general I need to say that time will get a crucial factor. Al's attack will come sooner or later, and if I can finish off the British Salient and Verdun in time, I can easily stop it..... but if I'm late, Al might turn the tides.

[Catacol Highlander]

Well - that's for sure. Michael has it absolutely right - time is of the essence. I could potentially evacuate most of my British army and move it south - by sea - but to do so would massively shorten Michael's line and effectively end the war. The British must stand... and time is short to help them.

And so I rolled the dice again this turn. I am not an SC greenhorn - and while cursing and swearing at the screen the last few turns in frustration I am also plotting.

So here is the plan. The British fight to the last man - and the French and US try and ease the pressure.

Sector number 1. There is little point sending so much French force east and then taking it all away again. What I needed was to pivot the attack and look for a weak point. Here it is - a little to the NW of the original attack zone, with a gap in the line and several weaker brigades helping to hold the line. I struck with my French, and widened that gap. Next turn I can push through - if Michael does not close it. The 3 brigades left in front will dissolve quickly under the fire of 3 artillery units. Image here:

So that is the first problem for Michael to deal with. Here is the second. You will have noticed from other images that a gap has developed between the 2 lines, a gap that it is very expensive indeed to advance into. So it was clear to me a few turns ago that I needed to strike where the lines were still in contact, and hopefully at their weakest. The hinge between Verdun and the main defence in front of Paris is the spot - I can drive north towards Sedan and potentially turn the flank of the whole German defensive line. Considerable force is gathered here including a lot of artillery and many more units beyond the edge of this screenshot showing my initial push. The German defence unit left on 1 was mighty lucky...

So Michael must respond in some form or other to these attacks or they will find open ground.

What of the Brits? Better weather allowed me some successful counters... but one lesson learned here is the durablility of armour. I am not sure if this is a change to Call at Arms - I dont remember seeing armour units there impervious to infantry attacks, but after I shelled the German tank unit out in front with a full salvo of 10 shells I got predicted attack scores of 0 for all adjacent units. In other words - watch out for armour in this scenario- it would appear literally to be bullet proof! However at least reducing it to strength 5 ought to blunt its power, and perhaps it might retreat. I also launched a miner cavalry attack as you can see, bagged a weak German corps in the process and bought myself a little time behind. Cavalry are pretty damn poor on the defence...

So we will see what we can see. If 2 attacks are not enough to help my British then it truly is game over as I cannot raise the force to strike anywhere else. I have rolled my final dice - must push through with the plan - and hope that I can force the Germans onto the back foot from here.

[Hyazinth von Strachwitz]

Good Morning!

Al's attack occurs exactly where I expected it. I knew that he does not have enough units to attack through the Comfort Zone, so I expected his attack around Nancy or between Reims and Verdun. Now he comes at both places... okay, I have to deal with that.

So here is a bit of insight in my plans... this is what I think and plan for the different Theaters.

British Salient

I planned to destroy the salient with local forces. In terms of divisions, I have a superiority of approx. 2:1.. this should be enough to clear the salient. With every turn this attack goes on, it will get more and more difficult for Al to defend the his position. I think I do not need any more reinforcements (some divisons are marching up there with normal march to avoid the drops on morale and readiness that come with Forced March). Of course I will be quicker when I shift my reinforcements there, but that is not necessarily needed.

Al says that the British Forces will fight to the Last Man, and I really think this is his plan. But once the infantry units are destroyed, he might consider to pull back the "precious" units like Artillery and HQs... it does not help him if I destroy these with no own losses and get the NM gain. So sooner or later we might see a drwaback here. I will try to push hard, and once the frontline gets shorter, it will get easier for me.

Franco-American Attack in the East of Reims

The Allies have the numerical superiority here, and they have 4 Heavy Artillery units. I have the advantage to be in an entrenched position, and Attacks on entrenched units are expensive. I cannot afford to transfer 10 units to this theater, I have my priorities elsewhere. But there are a couple of fresh divisions around Sedan (the reserves I mentioned previously), and they will help to strengthen the defense there. I will try to win a bit of time here... until the situation at the other theatres has been decided.

French Advance around Nancy

Al has attacked with "local" forces here.. he does not have a three row deep attack forces as he has around Reims. I will try to stop this advance quickly. I have a lot of units in my building queue, and this helps. His attack here is not as massive as around Reims, so it will be easier to stop.

Verdun

There are just two units left on my side of the "red line". I will try to destroy these units as quickly as possible, because once I can advance to the "red line", my frontline will be much shorter, and two divisions will be free to help on other theaters. And they can walk to the next battle which is just a few miles in the west.

Southeast

Al has taken a relatively defensive position there... and I have prepared a small surprise for him.

Next turn tonight.

[Hyazinth von Strachwitz]

Time for decisions.

Three more British units die, and Montreuil might fall next turn. Al is in a bad position in the south: if he moves a unit in, I can destroy it with my Prepared Attack Bonus. The tank will do some damage, but it can just shoot once. There are not many units left in the south, and sending troops down there from the north would mean stripping the positions there. I expect 12 British divisions, and I have 23 plus 2 more approaching. I expect Al will shorten his frontline sooner or later.

My Heavy Artillery has moved in position around Calais, and next turn this city might get German street names as well.

Four French divisions bite the dust, and the first spearhead has been destroyed. Around Verdun, there is just one French unit left... the garrison of Fort Marre. I expect it will fall in two turns, and then I can send another two divisions to avoid a breakthrough around Reims.

The hole in my frontline will be filled sooner or later, I have enough units in the queue.

Al has done a small mistake with major consequences: the facing of the entrenchment of his most eastern unit was to the north, and this allowed me to attack from the south and destroy it. I can also enter the trenches and damage his Heavy Artillery. The tank is very lucky to survive, but at least it is damaged. And I have moved my Heavy Artillery closer to the frontline.. I will start to attack the whole salient now.

[Catacol Highlander]

No change to the entente plan, and progress was made on all 3 sectors of operations that turn. First to my eastern attack. The gap in the line was widened further here - to be honest all I am looking to do at present anyway. The purpose here is to tie down German reserves - the more that Michael sends down here the better, and out of sight of the image below I have a small offensive in the far SE corner underway too that is claiming a German corps each turn.

Around Verdun my attack was pushed forward as vigorously as I can do it, so important to try and gain some ground and take pressure off my British Army. A lot of power in this sector as can be seen here, and German units coming under pressure:

Finally my British salient held out fairly well that turn. German front line units were destroyed or damaged, though there is little I can do really to save Calais. However fresh corps are arriving every turn, and the German casualty figures to destroy this backs to the wall army will be hideous.

To be honest strategy has stopped now, and it is all about fighting on the ground. I have nothing more to throw into the game, and the only way I can win is to break the Germans around Verdun (with the help of my diversion in the east) sufficiently to take the pressure off my British Army and allow a counter attack in Belgium. If I can get some momentum going this is still possible, particularly as I know very well from my ongoing reverse game that it is not easy to get German units up the Belgian sector quickly without spending a lot of mpps and sacrificing readiness. If the Brits can start to advance, and the Germans fail to hold my US/French assault near Verdun then it is just possible that German lines might crumble fast. We will see.

[Hyazinth von Strachwitz]

Al is right - less talking about strategy, more fighting!

The defender of Montreuil and Calais have been destroyed, as well as some British Air. The red circles indicate fresh troops. I wll start an all-out attack next turn, with the help of my repaired tank unit. No more special targets, just destroy anything in sight.

Around Verdun, two more French units bite the dust, and I prepare an attack on the last French fort. German troops retake Montblanc, which will be important for the next turns, because I was able to enter intact trenches that face in the right direction.

In the southeast, I push hard to drive Al back. Al lot of casulaties down here.

Al has destroyed 10 German units last turn, and I did 8 or 9 this turn. I have 6 units in the queue for next turn, and this will bring the decision most likely.. 6 fresh units will finish off one theater, and this will hopefully bring a domino effect.

[Catacol Highlander]

Good grief - a schoolboy error. I clicked end turn before taking any screen shots. Sorry everyone.

Text description then...

1. SE corner saw French continue their attacks, destroy a couple more corps and make a clean breakthrough with one adventurous corps charging through the gap and seizing an ungarrisoned town due west of Strasbourg. I have very nearly turned Michael's flank here now, and Strasbourg is under serious threat.

2. Around Verdun fresh US troops and French allies pushed forward, destroying more German units and getting close enough to an artillery unit to maul it. My breakthrough here is nearly complete too: the last Verdun fort itself may well fall, but in the meantime the flank of the German force just to the west of this is now turned, and fresh units are gathering to pour through. The amount of artillery I have here is ridiculous - in future games I am going to need to be much more clever in how I distribute firepower.

3. British salient is holding well. Calais reoccupied with a sacrificial brigade, and 3 more German corps destroyed that ventured too close. I am actually getting stronger here now, and I am wondering whether Michael will have the power to seriously threaten this enclave.

I am feeling much better overall about the game but have totally lost sight of victory objectives and the shape of my attack is pretty poor all things considered. I now know that a lot of future planning is needed in this scenario while accepting that hte German attack will be, to some extent, unstoppable. Timing and location of the entente counter attack I suspect is everything. I hope to get a chance to try this out soon... maybe against Michael in a rematch!

... assuming he wins this of course. A way to go yet, my mpps are higher than his, his casualties are now exceeding mine and I have more units in my reinforcement queue than he has. Maybe I can pull a rabbit out of the hat if I can get my British Army onto the front foot again.

[Hyazinth von Strachwitz]

Losses are horrible.... on both sides.

Montreuil is captured by German troops. I hate the dice this turn... killing the division in the red circel would have meant a hole Al would not be able to fill. However: Al cannot replace 3 units per turn. The salient started with 16 divisions, now I count 11... some severely damaged. He can refresh or buy new units... but not both.

Around Reims, I can destroy 3 more allied divisions and take the last fort. My defense line the is solid around Verdun, and I can move units to the west. Just in case I cannot hold the front there, I can draw back behind the rivers. The loss of a French village does not hurt me. Time is crucial here, and until now I did not loose too much ground. Fortunately, I can deploy units in Sedan.

In the southeast, German troops deal with the attackers. I plan to attack St. Die sooner or later, and this is the second time an important division is not destroyed... did I mention the dice already? Anyway: Al has 4 divisions and a brigade down there... I have 11 divisions.. that will work sooner or later.

[Catacol Highlander]

Hmmm - Michael is talking a good game here, but I am beginning to sense that the Germans are stretched. Here is the British salient - 2 more corps take their places alongside the defenders, and more Germans are eliminated. The British line continues to hold.

Can the Entente begin to put the squeeze on? Around Verdun US troops increase the pressure, with some unfortunate dice rolls of my own leaving 2 very lucky German units on strength 1. I think a breakthrough here is imminent as my sense of it is that Michael is sending every unit he has available to try and eliminate the British. As long as that holds, my breakout looks likely. More artillery moves forward - trenches will be no good to the Germans here!

And out in the East it is a dogfight, but the French continue to advance and the German line looks ragged. French armour also up to speed and up to strength now and ready to go. Having realised late in the day how powerful armour is in this game I intend to make good use of it. On the other hand I have no idea what is wrong with my Air Force: Michael's planes do damage to me every turn: my 3 bomber units in this sector have attacked the German artillery formation 9 times in the last 3 turns and damaged it once. Clearly my French aircrew need some serious retraining.

So the match is bloody, and I am happy enough with the last few turns. Next time I play this scenario I will be a very nasty opponent |-[

[Hyazinth von Strachwitz]

Let me give you readers a bit of insight in my strategic thinking. A few turns ago as Al started his attack in the north or Reims, he said this is his last shot, and this shot has to hit the target. Al is an honorable man, and I think what he says is the truth. Nevertheless I had to wait a bit until I waste my last bullet. Without any changes, the destruction of the British salient will take too long, and Al will advance in the direction of Sedan. No good, so I decided to order my strategic reserves to the northwest. Five fresh divisions have been moved up there, giving me 20 divisons for the final attack.

Al has done a great job in defending the salient, but now his lines breach, and 6 units bite the dust. Next turn might be even bloodier when the new division enter the fight.

Around Calais, most units have been refreshed, and my Artillery is well equipped with ammo. Al thought my line is stretched (I can understand that view), but it is not. At the start of the attack, we had 16 : 24 divisions (2 : 3), now we have 11 : 20, so the balance of power has shifted a bit. British and French NM is in the high 50ies, no good for them... Germany is at 87%.

In the Center, 3 more allied units are destroyed. I establish a first defensive line that might hold for a few turns. No quick advance here for sure, and I have reinforcements approaching. If Al would create a bigger whole, I can still throw units in from the north.

In the southeast, my troops make a big step ahead. The area around St. Die looks critical for the French, and my Heavy Artillery at Colmar will have 8 shots next turn, so I can attack the units that guard the French Heavy Artillery. Al faces complete destruction down there if the does not reinforce.

During my turn 13 allied units were destroyed, way more than the 6 German units that died in the previous turn. I might be able to achieve the same figure next turn, in the north 4 of my units are in front of Al's Artillery. If he attacks me, he will be vulnerable for counterattacks next turn, and I would appreciate this. The salient has to disappear... sooner or later Al will evacuate the "soft" units like Artillery, and then victory is close.

[Catacol Highlander]

Well - this worm aint for turning and the increasing pace of Entente attacks is evident. Michael is talking a good game about his lines not being stretched - I see holes all over the place. :-)

Lets take a look... first to the British Enclave. Not too pretty. More destroyed German units and some units I saw pull back badly damaged too (though another turn of unlucky muddy weather hit me hard here), but I was forced to take a couple of steps back this turn as casualties exceed reinforcements.

However elsewhere the German line is thinning as units are scrambled to the NW in a desperate attempt to destroy my British Army. If and when this happens it is game over for me. However I have been harvesting a small amount of strength to the south of the enclave and it advanced this turn. Belgian and Italian units, along with a British spearhead have closed the gap, and artillery is in support. Note the gaps in the German line. Can I force the issue here? We will see:

My main thrust west of Verdun continued. In essence the German line here is broken - there is no consistency and no entrenchment that will stop my US forces, growing stronger by the turn. It is too little too late of course, but I am still confident of rolling the German flank here over the next few turns and making life distinctly uncomfortable for the German commanders. One artillery unit badly mauled here in the process, and in the endgame these are going to be very valuable I think.

To the east very bloody indeed. I went all out for the German arty unit you can see, but it survived on strength 1, a real kick in the teeth. However that's 2 german arty units beaten up that turn, and they are expensive to rebuild. Elsewhere German units are weak here and my armour moves forward. Michael is going to have no mpps left to buy fresh German units soon - he will be spending everything he has on reinforcing.... and I am still pumping out US troops and sending more young French men into battle too.

I wish to retract one statement I made earlier in the game, about the US. I can now see how they are important, coming in at about 1 or 2 corps per turn with regular purchasing. I was critical early on in this match, really because I had no knowledge of the scenario design. Hats off to Bill - it is perfect I think. Arguably the ammo rate thing early game is a bit of a major luck factor one way or the other for the entente, but now that I have a feel for the scenario here in June maybe its not so bad.

Really enjoying a great scenario - if you havent played this one you must.

[Hyazinth von Strachwitz]

I think we have reached the crucial state of the match. Whoever thought Germany is already a winner: no. I know the campaign exactly, and I know about the strength and income of the American forces. I never expected to get this far, and even now I feel insecure about the outcome. Al has an advantage around Reims, I press on in the Northwest. The Allied forces have more income, and my NM is better. So from now on it can go in any direction.

Al is shortening his lines in the Northwest... wise choice. He moves one step back, I move one step forward... so not many casualties this turn. While last turn my attack concentrated on the southern part, I focus on the north now. My stormtroopers conquered the tile in the southeast of Calais, and this is the most difficult tile to conquer on the whole map: one needs to attack out of swamp, and I am really satisfied it worked. My Artillery in the west of St. Omer is full of Ammo, and I can decide which units in its range (two tiles) will be destroyed next turn.

The English tank just survived because I did a wrong click with the division in the south.. but this happens occasionally. Most British divisions are damaged, and I will push forward. Al can attack me with his damaged units, and then I can push on... or he needs to refresh, and this gives me time as well.

Around Reims, my troops fall back on the previously mentioned defense line (see a couple of posts above). It is easy for me to sacrifice space for time there... and I feel happy I have a second line, because this is what the English did not have around Arras.

One small episode I need to mention: you can all see the heavily damaged German Artillery... it just made its way out because it is equipped with Mobility Level 1. Most of Al's units are not equipped with that... MPPs I invested earlier, and they pay back now. Maybe it gets destroyed sooner or later, but for the moment I was able to save it. One tile less would have meant the American troops can reach it.

"Bloody Hills" Sector: More allied units are destroyed or heavily damaged. This sector is a bit "wild", no clear frontlines or advantages for anyone.

[Catacol Highlander]

Busy weekend over, and a bit of thought carried out. The game is advancing not as I expected: Britain is holding out better in the NW than expected, and the German line in the middle is creaking. I dont think I fully appreciated how much effort Michael threw at my Brits: their enclave is shrinking and I still doubt they can maintain their position, but it has opened up opportunities elsewhere and for the first time since about turn 1 I bothered to look at victory objectives in this.

To win - I need to have dominance in either NW or the East. Currently I have neither. German NM is too high for me to gain a victory by reducing it to 0.

So... what to do. My advantage is certainly in the centre, and so very soon I need to decide whether I wheel my energy north to help a British enclave that might possible hang on long enough, or wheel it east where - to be honest - the fight is level and the Germans are certainly stretched. I am undecided at present - I had not expected to have this luxury of choice a few turns ago.

Let's examine the 3 sectors:

First to the NW and the Brits. Struggling manfully. Destroyed 2 more German corps and brought in 2 more corps as reinforcement but running out of space here:

This is a backs to the wall fight that I must simply try as hard as I can to keep going. It is sucking up German reserves and keeping the German line long overall at a time when I think Michael is starting to run out of units.

Here is my breakthrough zone - in the middle. Michael drew back last turn - I pushed up as far as my mobility would let me and prepared for the old see saw attack on a line that is swaying backwards. I will hit Michael at the hinge of his new line with French troops and crack it there. Without significantly more units to throw into this sector Michael is only going to go one way - and that's backwards. All I need do is maintain momentum, and my US troops are all in this sector and growing in number all the time.

I must just be sure to maintain the integrity of my own Verdun flank here, but with so many units inbound (10 in the production queue for the near future) I am fairly confident I can do that.

And in the East? I had to spend time and mpps reinforcing this sector, so not too much action, but I have enough power as you can see to maintain the momentum and drive towards Strasbourg.

As an aside I had mentioned small attacks in the far SE - here is an image at last for you where you can see the last 4 remaining German corps with some screening detachments trying to hold on against a superior French force. From this small seed significance will grow - another area stretching German reserves, and a decent force of Frenchies that soon I hope to be able to bring to the main point of attack - where ever that may be:

So I must continue to try and swing the initiative my way and wait and see just how badly stretched the Germans are. NW or East?

[Hyazinth von Strachwitz]

Did anyone expect the British Salient to survive that long? So the German Forces fight their way through the British trenches...

Four British divisions are destroyed, and Al has started the evacuation. The red circle shows an empty tile, and one Heavy Artillery has left the salient. Promising sign for the German troops!!!

Apart from that, the city of Calais is surrounded. Once our Artillery if filled up with shells, the final attack will begin.

My troops around in the Central section have entrenched and await the Allied attack. The river will help for sure, and reinforcements are approaching.

The southeast is quiet, my troops are regfreshing and entrenching. One smaller operation might be executed next turn.

And there is more good news! Additional troops are most welcome!!!

[Catacol Highlander]

Well - my strategy has not changed. The British pocket is under a lot of pressure, but it is holding - just. More German casualties, more British troops brought in:

Meanwhile I sense weakness across the whole German Front, but I am still undecided as to which sector I should try to attack to bring any possibility of victory - NW or E. Anyway in the centre the hinge of the German line is broken as predicted, and another German corps just to the NW was very lucky to survive. From here I will destroy this German line very quickly, such is the power of my artillery in support. Whatever decision I have to make with this very large force of US and French troops I must make soon:

And in the East I creep forward towards Strasbourg and bring my 4 artillery units up closer to strength:

It is a tight fight now. On the stats list I have about 20 units advantage over Michael now, but he holds the map position. I am beginning to wonder whether he will continue to lose so much strength hammering at my British pocket in the west, and whether he might actually go onto the defensive soon and try to win the game by holding what he's got. Time will tell on that, but certainly German casualties are running about level with the entente in this middle stage of the game, and that is to my advantage.

[Hyazinth von Strachwitz]

The Austrian Forces have arrived.... a HQ and a couple of divisons, and their timing is brilliant.

The salient in the northwest gets smaller and smaller. Calais is German now, and the British NM takes another hit. With their next casualties, they might drop below 50%. France is at 55%, while Germany is at 82%. Another HQ has left the salient, and I expect it to move to Dieppe.

Crossing rivers under enemy fire is bloody.

[Catacol Highlander]

There is a definite wind of change in the air. We continue to have 3 areas of serious action, and in all 3 - yes... all 3 including the British enclave, I am now on the attack. Last turn I sensed a weakening of German strength and the key in SC is knowing when to try and drive the nail into the enemy and when to wait. The time is now.

To the British enclave first and some local counter attacks forced some German units back and opened a path for British armour to damage a vital artillery battery. I am a bit hacked off that my understanding of the power of armour in this scenario came so late so that I tried to get the level 2 upgrade rather late. I have it now, but dont have time to apply it. :-( Still - Michael will have to be careful here now as I have more and more British troops coming into the area and if I begin to drive him back properly he is in big trouble.

So what of armour elsewhere? In the east I am now driving hard for Strasbourg, and the German army is suddenly running scared from the combined power of french artillery (lots of it), and combined armour and infantry. Note the problems here for the German commanders - too much front and not enough units!

And finally to my area of main attack. It took 2 turns to break the hinge of Michael's river defence here - it was never going to hold for long - and my US and supporting French units are now pouring through. I have so many units here that my only issue in the next few turns will be to make sure I dont get careless and get any of them cut off.

From here we will see what happens. With Strasbourg within reach I am leaning towards forcing my main attack to get victory objectives into that area, but for now I am going to content myself with destroying as many German units as I possibly can. Once the army is shattered perhaps the rest will fall easily into place...? Not sure - not seen the end game of this scenario but overall my hopes are rising.

[Peter Palchinsky]

Al,

What turn is it now that you've launched your major counter offensive? Also, how many divisions does each nation have to

[Peter Palchinsky]

Al,

What turn is it now that you've launched your major counter offensive? Also, how many divisions does each nation have to

...include Germany?

Thanks, Frank

[Ivanov]

I think that it's time for the Germans to rethink their strategy, because the current one may be no longer attainable. Of course we don't know exactly what's the current balance of power, but it seems that a continuation of the attacks against the British pocket becomes now counterproductive, especially when the Allies are on the offensive elsewhere. This situation reminds me a little the Battle of Pusan Perimeter during the Korean War, which eventually allowed the Americans to stall the North Korean advance and then to counterattack at Inchon. So maybe the Germans would be better off trying to consolidate their gains with an objective of exchausting the Entente in a defensive warfare, which the troops of Kaiser have mastered to a perfection