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1870 Franco-Prussian War AAR


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A heated discussion took place in the French HQ located temporarily in Verdun. The Germans crossed Moselle and this new development needs to be addressed immediately! Our generals agreed to adopt an unorthodox approach. Rather than attacking enemy spearhead directly, our forces on both sides of the Pont-A-Mousson bulge will move against the weak German flanks. Admittedly this is a risky strategy, but we believe that continuing further march westwards, with both flanks threatened, would mean even greater risk for the evil Prussians...

Accordingly a strong attack has been directed against the enemy division in Mariulles. We have also struck the enemy on the approaches to Metz, destroying one division and forcing another to retreat:

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Even stronger counterattack took place in the vicinity of Nancy. Four infantry and one cavalry divisions have been ordered to move forwards and at the end of the day we managed to reach the HQ of Crown Prince, which is currently under a serious threat!

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MEANWHILE IN METZ...

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Bill, did the French at Metz say, "I fart in your general direction! Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries!"?

PP

They can bluster all they like, but the smell wherever we go in France is pretty much the same, and we can't tell if it's the soldiers' wives or their cooking!

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A French division is destroyed north of Metz, and we were tempted to enter the fortifications themselves, but prudence took hold and suggested we wait a little while longer.

The French counterattack near Nancy is interesting, because look at the changed strategic situation which this has exacerbated the distance between the two French armies:

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And most of Alsace is now ours! :)

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Hi Bill ,

please let me say 1 thing. Creating this campaign and give it to people shows clear for me :

You do this job not only for making money but because your heart belongs to videogaming. And you like it to bring fun to people.

I think thats the reason why battlefront games are so much better than Slitherines.

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Bill really creates great campaigns.

That is what i'm preaching since years.

What you clearly can see is that he is willing to go the extra mile, to create atmosphere, to give each campaign its very own soul.

That is why I still consider SC WW1 as the best strategic war game out there.

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The drama of Moselle continues! Our counterattack near Nancy forced the enemy to withdraw and regroup – a very sound move from the tactical point of view. We decided not to pursue. Attacking solid, defensive positions, backed by the artillery could prove disastrous to our limited forces… Further north we managed to recapture the vital crossing at Pont-A-Mousson! We are aware that there is a German cavalry division already in St Mihiel but currently this unit is totally cut off and out off supply. We have also managed to destroy the cavalry division that was spearheading the army of Crown Prince near the fortress of Toul.

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At the end of the day it looks like the enemy had been driven back behind the Moselle. Right now there are no coherent German units on the west bank of the river ( except for the forlorn cavalry division in St Mihiel ). No doubt the French success is only temporary but each day that the German march is delayed can be seen as a great success of our armies.

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The French fortress of Sélestat on the Rhine falls to us after a stiff resistance. Ouch!

We'll bring up our artillery first in future, rather than relying solely on our infantry assault.

Meanwhile the Moselle campaign continues, and our cavalry division rides from St Mihiel at top speed for safety within our lines.

We make our first move into Metz, seizing Fort St. Julien. Artillery are in close support in case the French try to counterattack. Our Krupps will soon see them off!

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There has been not much action on 29th of August. We again counterattacked enemy the spearheads north of Nancy and two German divisions have been forced to conduct a hasty retreat. It looks like Metz may soon come under the attack, so we have strengthened our forces there accordingly. A full strength Marine Division has finished it’s deployment in Le Havre. We decided not to organize the invasion of Schleswig-Holstein, as we had a feeling that the Germans were expecting our small expedition there ;)

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Could we, perhaps, have a sense of how much time remains in the scenario, and the casualty/remaining forces count?

There is a interesting punch/counterpunch going on--with an interesting, floating, incomplete front line. But I am losing the overall context of how the battle is going.

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Hi Rankorian

It's now the 30th August 1870 and we're about six weeks into the war.

Potentially, the campaign can last until the end of January 1871, though it can end earlier if one side's National Morale collapses or Paris falls, or alternatively should we choose to negotiate with the enemy and accept the terms they offer us.

France has a number of possibilities to negotiate at various stages of the campaign, just as they did in real life, but facing Otto von Bismarck, they weren't likely to get decent terms.

We might at some point see if Ivanov would make a more generous politician. :)

In terms of units, the French have so far lost 18 and the Prussians 19.

Our reports suggest that the French currently have 41 units while we have 47, though we have another 10 due for deployment soon and we are able to better replace our losses due to our higher income.

In this campaign I've pressed harder in Alsace than the Prussians did in real life, and it's interesting to see just how much harder that has made my campaign around Metz and Nancy.

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A Garde Mobile unit is destroyed at Metz, equalizing our unit losses at 19 each, and Fort Queleu is occupied.

But our main advance is towards Nancy this turn, which comes under bombardment for the first time. Prussian divisions are now massing on the hills just outside the city, awaiting the order to advance to the attack.

In Alsace, Neuf-Brisach is bombarded and von Werder's forces are massing to storm the fortress. This is the last enemy outpost before Belfort!

1870-08-30_zps39b087df.gif

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Could we, perhaps, have a sense of how much time remains in the scenario, and the casualty/remaining forces count?

Take a look at the MPP charts:

FRENCH

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GERMAN

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The Germans took higher loses but if you compare the loses/MPP spent on units ratio, it turns out that it’s nearly the same for both sides ( 2.7 : 1 ). It is 31st of August now my French are doing better than in reality ( obviously ) but there are still five, long months left until the end of this campaign, at the end of January 1871. I doubt that it will be possible to hold the German avalanche for that long, but at least I’m happy that my French are showing much more valour than it was the case historically :)

On the front we managed to destroy two German divisions near Metz and we are also preparing our troops for the possible battle for Nancy!

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It's time to make a move on the city of Nancy, as capturing it will not only be good for our income (and bad for the French) but also it will help improve our supply levels, and secure our position south of Metz.

To assist in the battle for Nancy, massed infantry divisions have marched south of the city, outflanking its defences and threatening the enemy's rear. How will the French react?

In Alsace, Neuf-Brisach falls, our Siege Artillery deploys, so now we will march on Belfort!

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Something strange is happening around Metz. Actually the strangest thing is, that there is nothing happening at all! Our cavalry is unable to spot any enemy units, even as far as three tiles from the fortress! This has to be either some dirty trick or the Germans are relocating their Schwerpunkt and will mass all their available forces further south. Either way, we have to be vigilant and ready to react accordingly!

There is no doubt however that the next German objective will be the city of Nancy. We have spotted already three artillery units in the vicinity of the city and some enemy units are trying to outflank our positions from the south. Unfortunately our divisions are ready and their morale, readiness and supply are excellent! As soon as the Prussian invaders approached our positions, our troops opened fire from their Chassepot, decimating two German divisions and forcing some to conduct a hasty retreat:

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The upcoming battle for Nancy will be a tough one but we are determined to stand there and fight. When honour of France is at stake there can be no retreat!

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The battle for Nancy is underway, as one French division defending the city is obliterated, and more Prussian reinforcements arrive in the area!

Major relocations are going on, so it will be interesting to see how the French respond.

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French HQ fully appreciates the fact that the enemy units have departed from the vicinity of Nancy. It seems now that the main German effort is directed against Nancy. This fact allowed us to redirect south few divisions of the 1st Corps, led by Gen. Chanzy. While the battered and tired army of Crown Prince is attempting to conduct a frontal attack against Nancy, our 1st Corps managed to recapture Frouard, the last enemy held town on the Moselle. The Prussians suffered extremely heavy loses because even one heavy artillery units has been destroyed during the battle.

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It seems that so far our elastic defence allowed us to keep the enemy off balance. Taking advantage of the interior lines, we managed to anticipate and to preempt the German moves. The most important component of this strategy, is to hit hard before the Prussians fully concentrate their superior numbers at the schwerpunkt of their choosing. Once again the correct timing and force economy prove to be the most important factors of a successful strategy.

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The attritional battle around Nancy seems to go well for us. Few more enemy divisions have been destroyed there and some were forced again to conducs retreats. We have also managed to recapture the southern outskirts of the city. In general our forces are in a better shape than the enemy ( better morale and readiness ), and due to that, the performance of our divisions in combat is far superior.

After the recent loses, both sides field currently 41 combat units:

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Because we have left the Alsace practically undefended, it means that on the main front near Nancy, we have achieved a slight numerical superiority or at least we face the enemy on the equal terms. This is certainly a good news and we are yet to see if we can count on even more success in the near future...

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  • 1 month later...

Hi everyone

As I ended up being away from work for somewhat longer than planned due to my hip operation, and am still recovering and not yet able to spend a full day at the computer, Ivanov and I have discussed this game and agreed that it is clear that my Prussians have failed to break the French and will therefore concede.

My biggest mistake was in using too great a portion of my forces in Alsace, enabling the French to achieve a greater equality with my forces around Metz than was really desirable.

The game has been a lot of fun, and has inspired some changes that I am going to spend the next week incorporating and testing ready for a patch.

I'd definitely like to thank Ivanov for being a great opponent! :)

It's also shown that the historic result isn't guaranteed, though Ivanov and I are continuing with another game we're playing, where the Prussians are now commencing the siege of Paris:

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Gambetta has been busy organizing forces at Orleans to come to the city's relief. Further east, Garibaldi's International Volunteers are playing a leading role in attempting to liberate Belfort.

1870-09-28png1_zpsc59fb2b5.gif

Bill

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I am playing this scenario in a PBEM match and I am enjying it very much, I think it makes for a good game, with lots of strategic options and historically sound. I would like to make a couple of suggestions.

1) Graphics for the towns and supply.

Supply is an all importan t thing in the game, as it should be, but it would be easier, especially for the Prussian player, if the towns providing supply have a different greaphic than the rest, . That way the Prussian player can plan better for march invasion routes keeping his supply lines in good shape.

2) Events

I would like some historical events in which the change from monarchy to republic in France is an issue, giving for instance the option that if the French player is very succesful Napoleon could remain in office.

In all a great scenario, and I think it proves that the engine is up to represent some 19th century scenarios, I would like to see some, like the 1813 campaign of the Napoleonic Wars, for instance, or maybe even some campaigns of the ACW

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Thank you Bill for the game - it was really intense! I gambled stripping the Alsace off all the regular divisions and sending them to the Moselle front, up North. This allowed me to achieve an acceptable force ratio there, but in result the Germans led by Bill were able to chew the French Alsace bit by bit... I was hoping that the new troops rallied by Prime Minister Gambetta would save the southern front and Dijon...

All in all "The Franco Prussian War" is in my oppinion one of the best and most enjoyable campaigns ever made for the SC2! I recommend it even for those who usually stick to the WW2 or WW1. Please check it out - you won't be disappointed!

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I am playing this scenario in a PBEM match and I am enjying it very much, I think it makes for a good game, with lots of strategic options and historically sound. I would like to make a couple of suggestions.

1) Graphics for the towns and supply.

Supply is an all importan t thing in the game, as it should be, but it would be easier, especially for the Prussian player, if the towns providing supply have a different greaphic than the rest, . That way the Prussian player can plan better for march invasion routes keeping his supply lines in good shape.

Hi Aryaman

I'm glad you're enjoying playing this! :)

The villages don't provide supply, and the updated campaign guide saying that will be included in the patch.

2) Events

I would like some historical events in which the change from monarchy to republic in France is an issue, giving for instance the option that if the French player is very succesful Napoleon could remain in office.

This is a tricky one, as while I see what you're saying, Napoleon III had virtually given up rule before any shots were fired. He was ill and just wasn't really up to leading a country into war. Effectively he was the wrong Napoleon.

But is there is a mechanism that could allow him to remain ruler that remains historical? This will certainly require some thought as I'm inclined to think that battlefield successes would have merely delayed the inevitable, unless their victories had been overwhelmingly easy, and that wasn't at all likely.

If the Prince Imperial had been even just five years older then maybe he could have taken over as Regent or even Emperor had Napoleon abdicated in his favour, but that wasn't the case.

Suggestions are of course welcome, and I'll think about this some more.

Bill

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