Catacol Highlander

Better make up for some lost time with 2 turns tonight - skiing certainly set this AAR back! With the German Army on the wane I chose mostly to reinforce and prepare for a continuation of the offensive next turn. More progress was made in the centre for sure - a gimme given the amount of force I have there now. However 2 points of interest for you here. Firstly to the British pocket where a relief operation is now underway. As you can see here I had been gently trying to gather some kind of force to push up from the south and try and break the encirclement. Belgian and Italian troops are not my best, but enough British army artillery was able to strike to break through - and you can see again here how Michael is stripping his lines to try and cover weaknesses elsewhere. This is hardly a very strong force and not a major breakthrough, but novice players need to realise the importance of initiative in SC: this means specifically ensuring that your opponent spends most of his time reacting to what you choose to do rather than you react mostly to him. The initiative in this game has moved now... and I hope I have the skills to turn this into a game winning situation. Further to the east the ring around Strasbourg was tightened and there is a very good chance that this NM objective will fall next turn. Hopefully this will be the first of several. So a quieter turn, but plenty in the offing and the German High Command will not be given any respite from here...

OK - back from the snow, though illness prevented me from having too much fun. :-( Will need to recoup the well of happiness while playing SC instead. :-) Well - the German Army is cracking. Michael is desperately trying still to eliminate the British enclave, but it is costing him so much in terms of manpower that 4 areas of operations are now ongoing and in all 4 the Germans look likely to fall apart. This game could quickly go from one where I could see no way back for the Entente to one where Entente units begin to cut their way through open country. What a turn around - I wonder whether the Germans would have been better sitting tight? Anyway - let's look at the battlefield. First to the hard pressed British... not so hard pressed now. 4 German corps were destroyed here along with an artillery battery. These are heavy casualties, and more and more British units continue to pour into this area. It is turning into the graveyard of the German army - so many units left out in the open that are just picked off by the Tommy defenders: Further to the east the US main thrust, with French units in support, has now shattered the central German line and I doubt it can be rebuilt now as German lines are thin all over the map: The question here now is whether I swing this attack force NE or NW... and I am still undecided. On the eastern flank Michael has stripped everything away in an attempt to shore up his defences elsewhere. This now leaves both Strasbourg and Mulhouse in serious danger of capture, and I have decided to make these 2 cities key objectives once again, having thought that my attack in this area back in June had failed. First to Strasbourg where a German line of sorts is reformed, but will soon be under severe pressure from massed French artillery and the bulk of the French air force: ... and then to Mulhouse/Colmar where the two sides are more closely matched. However I suspect that Michael cannot afford to send reinforcements to this sector now... whereas I already know that French corps are going to appear here in the next turn or two to ensure a successful mop up operation. French armour is also going to be very tough to close down here: So August 3rd 1918 and Entente Command is feeling much better about things. There is a long way to go to be able to take key objectives that will actually win me the game - and I am still far from convinced that this is possible if Michael conducts an effective defensive strategy from here on in... - but as long as he continues to pound away at the British I have a chance because that strategy is literally bleeding his forces white now.

Real life intervenes, and I am away for a week. A pause in the fighting, but I am back on 16th Feb so will resume then.

My turn was taken on July 28. Total number of units for each side I dont know at the end of that turn, but a turn or two back I did a count and I think there were 102 German to about 126 entente.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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 |-[

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Supply is not so bad here as it happens - even that cavalry unit on the eastern railway has decent supply. Movement rate is a bit slow... but I think your point may be correct. I had assumed he would have nothing really to stop my dozen or so units fanning out both north and south, but was wrong. If I did it again in this area I would go straight for Colmar. Or maybe hit further north directly at Strasbourg.

Well - enough of feeling sorry for myself. Time to get on and come up with a plan to turn this around. Michael gave me a breather that turn... that in itself was interesting, and I decided to debrief myself and get some realism into my thinking: 1. How are casualties sitting? Here is an interesting graphic: Fewer British casualties than I thought, and more French than I had sensed. In fact both Britain and Germany have lost 46 units on these bars. Scratching my head a bit perhaps this is not as bad as I had feared. The loss ratio is probably not far off 3 : 2 and this is not dreadful. 2. Belgium is about to be annihilated, but sitting and thinking for a minute the Belgians, on level 1 infantry and very low income, are probably about as much use as a chocolate teapot. Wish I had evacuated the artillery now... but never mind - not a disaster either. 3. NM. Germany in the mid 90s. Bad news... but Britain and France are in the 70s and this isnt total catastrophe either. I can eek this back if I can get on the front foot. 4. Artillery. I said artillery is the key to this game earlier. Well - I now have 16 artillery units. I have all the ammo tech I can get, and just got level 2 artillery in terms of quality for the French and will soon have it for the British. This should mean I can get some parity now in exchanges of attrition. 5. mpps. I am reaping somewhere in the region of 1100 per turn. I didnt do a careful count last turn, but it is about that. I know from my reverse experimental pbem game I have at the moment also that Germany sits on around 900 or a bit more than. So I suspect I have a production advantage (why didnt I check the graphs??? doh...) 6. Objectives. Well - not so good. Michael holds many of them, and is going to be very hard to shift, but Paris is safe and last turn I got a pop up saying the German morale is falling because Paris was not got close to. An earlier window said they needed to get within 8 hexes and they did not - that is good news. I wonder if that pop up will reappear and gradually erode Germany morale further? Will need to wait and see. 7. Force deployment. The French are under pressure a bit near Verdun, but it is not overwhelming pressure. The rest of the main line now seems strong, and the rest that Michael gave me has allowed me to turn my final British pocket into a fortress. Here it is: Mostly entrenched, 3 artillery units in support plus a tank, and lot of max strength infantry. I also have more being shipped in every turn - Michael's reinforcements have to come from a fair way back now. 8. Offensive. Well - not a great success. I broke the line in the East, but did it too far north of Colmar in hindsight and will now struggle to take the city. HOWEVER I note that Michael has had to move quite a lot of stuff to the area to hold my advance, and that at least has served a purpose. Perhaps Colmar will hold for him, but meantime so might my British army! Current situation here: So where to go from here?? I will sleep on it tonight and see what havoc Michael causes in his next turn, but as I see it I have 3 alternatives: a. Battle is enjoined at Verdun. I have the ability to throw a lot of artillery and reserve units into this pocket, retake the forts that carry a big NM total each and try and drive straight back through the heart of the German line. b. Send more units to the east; reinforce the defensive northern perimeter, drive hard at Colmar and destroy the German forces in the very SE corner... as was the plan in the first place. c. Drive hard with new units into the relatively open zone to the NW of Amiens where currently Michael has left a gap. This gap is likely to be because he does not have enough units to fill it. Advantage of this option is that I can bring my British and French and US units to the front straight away off the production lines; Michael must deploy further back and then use precious mpps to rail them in, or force march over 2 - 3 turns and reduce readiness. This attack would bring the British back into play in a big way. All 3 options have their attractive elements. The clock now says June 1. I will decide in the next turn or two probably, once I get a feel for the German situation. Is it possible they have started to feel the pinch? Is it going to get very nasty again next turn as thousands more fresh German troops leap forward? Really I dont know... but one thing is for sure: I dont lose many games of SC and even with a lack of scenario knowledge in this one I dont intend to go down without a fight!

Playing this scenario once here, and starting it once as Germany, I tend to agree with you already. German artillery holds the key - Michael is right that much of it needs upgrading, but that gets done after the first huge mpp load out of 900 points, and from then on it is a steamroller. In hindsight the only way to combat this is to fall back away from the trench lines, and try and force the Germans into open ground where the artillery advantage is negated comparatively. However if German production sits at 900 throughout the scenario then I wonder quite how Germany can be put under enough pressure early enough in the game to begin to stretch her. The ability to buy back 5 divisions per turn fairly comfortably when starting on entrenched values of 5 and still have money to burn on reinforcements and tech upgrade is a big starting boost! If Germany targets everything at one national opponent - in this AAR Britain - then the mpp situation effectively means that a 900mpp Germany is fighting a 450mpp Britain with better trenches, more experience in several strength 12 units, more guns, and better gun tech for a good while. Unless French artillery, growing at 1 shell per turn, can somehow make a dent in the German line elsewhere then this is a very unequal fight until at least the ammo tech clicks. By the time I was able to try and do this in the East, Britain was on her knees, and US troops are not numerous enough, especially coming in at level 1, to make a difference.

A plan is a plan, and I must keep going despite odds that look hopeless now. In the East I have resolved to strike South and attempt to seize Colmar, thereby encircling the Germans in the south. To do this I need to cut the rail again, and also create a decent defensive line on the northern edge of my attack. I succeeded relatively well - the line is cut, the defence is formed, and 2 German corps fell in my attack. Final image here: The centre line in the game is fairly stable now, though I suspect Verdun has not seen the last of Germany's attacks. However the western edge is a shambles, with the fall of Abbeville cutting the British from their allies. I am circling the wagons here, and my line is stronger again than it was last turn in this defensive circle, but I am not optimistic I can hold it. Germans are pushing out SW from Abbeville - I may be able to shut the door in them if I can scramble enough units to this sector, but still US forces are thin. From here I dont think the Germans should lose. Even accounting for an mpp advantage that might start to become obvious (though in a parallel game I have going now with me as Germans I have mpps a plenty to spend, around 900 each turn, and unless the military production bonus stops at some point there is no way Germany is going to run out of economic steam) I will struggle to buy back the force required now to attack an entrenched German line from 2 hexes away backed up by level 2 elite artillery and good air support. If I fight this again as Entente I have some ideas to improve overall tactical performance, but the best I suspect I can hope for now is to hold the line and prevent the fall of Paris. Much of this scenario I suspect hinges on fortune, or lack of, in terms of Entente ammo production: I got mine very late... but if the tech fires early enough then it gives the Entente greater counter attack potential.

Attack in the SE continues, though lead units withdraw a little to prevent obvious German counter attack. Michael has been able to deploy and fast move in far more units than I thought would be possible, and it leaves me feeling rather hollow. I suspect he has a numerical advantage here, never mind me having to decide now whether to strike north or south having broken the line. Further north the French defensive line has been reformed as you can see here, and this takes a little pressure of the central zone. However to the north it is utter chaos. My French artillery now has faster ammo, but my Brit ammo production tech was on 97 this turn... and it still didnt fire at the end of it despite a 2 chit investment. What this means is that I have never have enough ammo to strike back at the advancing Germans. I am regretting not having the 3 British corps in place that I would have had if I had understood the spawning zones better, but that is water under the bridge now. My position here is so desperate that I have had to resort to using air units in the line to protect precious artillery and mauled infantry assets. This graphic shows a reasonably strong British pocket... but the German tide seems irresistible. I destroyed 5 maybe 6 corps that turn but it does not seem to be enough. My guess is that the British will be squeezed out of Belgium in the next few turns, and the Belgians themselves destroyed. This surely leaves the Germans in charge of the scenario. Could I have done this game better up until now? Certainly I could have defended in a bit more depth had I known the weight of force coming for me, and I could certainly have had more luck with artillery tech. However I'm left scratching my head a bit becuase there was no way the entente were able to launch an attack against entrenched units on 5 with artillery gaining only 1 shell per turn, and often losing that through counter battery fire. Maybe I should have pulled back straight away from the entrenched starting line and forced the Germans out of their trenches completely. Other than that I cannot see how else this tide could be stopped. I have been looking for more US troops to arrive, but so far I think 4 corps and 1 brigade is all the help that has come. :-( That in itself is a lesson for future games of this scenario as I had certainly expected more units inbound than this (and I did not check out the editor beforehand to "see" what would be coming my way as that would have spoiled the fun!!) Certainly a tough scenario for the entente... at least as far as this point in late May. Maybe there is time yet for a turn around.

This is becoming a race against time... in the SE my attack succeeds in virtually shattering the German front line as predicted on turn 3. Units can now flood through, and my next priority is to establish a supply base and start taking NM objectives. Such is my power here that both are likely: HOWEVER in the north my forces are really struggling. I managed to destroy a few German units while retreating, but there seems no end to the German tide and my British army is now almost cut in two. You can see from this graphic that I am maintaining a line - just - but it is very thin now. Thankfully I have units coming in from the south, but even here Michael is maintaining such pressure that so far I cannot build for an attack. In the centre the French are forced to give ground a little, and Verdun is also under attack, but French reserves remain reasonable. Tough fight!

Hah - Michael is not for turning! - and from the sound of it the Germans have plenty in reserve in their queue. This is not good news for me - I am blundering around in the dark a bit because I dont know the shape of mpps or reinforcements in this scenario and I had hoped that the German queue might be thin. However - my attack in the SE continued, destroying 2 more corps and leaving the ground ready for the final breakthrough next turn into open country. Graphic here: Elsewhere I think Michael's graphics tell the story very well. The British are in all kinds of trouble, and I regret now not shortening my lines much earlier and making better use of my artillery. As it is I am patching up holes, but as fast as I patch them they are opening up. I destroyed a couple of corps on the retreat, but it appears to be much too little to stop the German tide. Any good news? Some. I have resolved to counter Michael's thrust against the British from the South where I an gathering some force now, but it wont be ready for a few turns yet. I have more US troops inbound and also - at last - got the French ammo tech having had to wait until it hit 95% last turn to click... and this should allow me more attrition of Michael's lines in coming turns. Close match. I have no idea still whether my position is good, bad or average right now - and I guess that makes it a realistically fun situation... Haig cant have had any idea either in 1918!!

OK - tired of being the punch bag in this scenario so far, so having spent a couple of turns gathering units on the eastern edge of the map I decided to let rip because the weather finally turned good. My thinking here is that Michael has committed a great deal of force in attacking my British Army, the strongest part of my force at the start of the scenario, so if I am to knock him off balance I need to attack hard in a different sector. The French thus far have suffered very few casualties, have a lot of artillery in production, and can afford to take the hit. Therefore while my US troops filter to the NW to try and relieve the hard pressed British it is the spirit of Napoleon that will be used to try and turn this game around. My target is to try and isolate the German army in the far SE pocket of the map (you cannot see them on the image below, but there is a decent size German army further to the south) and seize 3 major cities in this sector. My initial attack was supposed to break the German front line, seize the rail link behind to make it impossible to fast move reinforcements into the area, and prepare the ground for a second wave of attacks next turn. I was successful on all counts as you can see here: With lots of shells gathered (though the tech gods have been very cruel to me and I am still without any ammo supply tech in the game making my artillery very slow) I can continue this attack at full stretch for a further 2 turns by which time I intend to have knocked the German army out of this sector. This will force Michael to do one of two things: either divert forces to this area - and thereby allow my Brits to start to breathe again, or ignore it and continue to go hell for leather at the channel ports in the British sector. Can I regain the strategic initiative in the game in the next 2 turns? To try and help my cause a bit I had also been harvesting my slow artillery supplies in the area around Verdun and hit a couple of corps, destroying them, creating more gaps that will need filling. More pressure on Michael I hope - graphic here showing the ongoing attrition in this area: Finally here are my poor hard pressed Brits... but having got over my enormous error in not understanding the reinforcement hexes in France you can see 3 fresh British corps arriving, the first of many. With an Italian Army also moving north from Paris, and a strengthening US presence, I hope to have better news for Lloyd George soon...

Hmmm - tough for the British still. Reading Michael's post has annoyed me a bit as I didnt even know I had a production square for British units in France - I have been building them back in the UK. :-( Shows you how important it is to know your scenario, and I would have had at least 4 more British units in the area by now had I known of this... but hey ho - live and learn. First time playing a scenario always reveals errors! On the battlefield the British continue to withdraw. I stengthened the flanks of the German breakthrough further, ready to launch my counter when I am ready, and am happy for now to invite michael to advance further into the breach. In the meantime the French destroyed another corps near Verdun and will continue to try and keep German units under the cosh across the battlefront so as to prevent there from being too many "spare" German units to pour through this hole. I have a plan at last of my own... and next post I will reveal it all to you... assuming the weather is fairly ok that is. Graphic of the Arras breakthrough here... British units flooding into the area to plug the breach noticeable by their absence.

OK - Britain in trouble. The line around Arras has been so badly broken that I stared at the map for a long time and made the decision to withdraw. I do not know how this will affect the scenario but tactically to stand fast or force marcb units into the area would have led to a very high casualty count next turn. So here is the image after my retreat. I am trying to keep the flanks of the this German penetration strong. Further South Germany had seized Reims, probably not before time. I took it back despite yet more mud hampering my operations. I also moved more French forces into the area in anticipation of more fighting here. Overall how am I doing? No idea.... my Brtish line will take some repairing, but I am yet to commit the bulk of my French forces and I was lucky enough to get a US infantry tech that turn which should help bulk them up a bit when I hope to be able to counter.

Hmmm - the weather turned bad again which forced me to pull back from all but the most obvious of counter attacks. 2 main areas of conflict are ongoing - first of all around Arras. I decided against trying to retake Arras at this point. In the mud it would likely have cost me a great deal of power, and the German unit defending it is an elite one. Instead I destroyed an easier target to the north and busied myself preparing for the next wave of German attacks. My line here is not strong... but it is holding - just. Further south American forces made their presence felt, helping in the destruction of a German corps and helping the British in trying to shore up their lines. Graphic here: Elsewhere? My French commanders are beginning to notice that the German line is not so strong in the centre. Holes are being plugged with units other than full strength, full tech corps... and I think whatever plan I hatch to turn this around may well hinge on the French. For those not familiar with this scenario US corps are the best in the game: they have upstrengthed corps in both attack and defence values. As a historian I find that an interesting decision: my own knowledge and research would suggest that by 1918 the British Army was pre eminent in the world both in terms of its ability to deploy effective artillery and the beginning of combined arms offensives. Why the US have been given a boost here I am not sure... but that is the game so get on with it! By deciding to deploy my Americans to the north to support the British I am hoping to blunt the German attack with my best forces... and must therefore use the weaker French to launch my own knock out attempt when it comes. Question is - where? Is this wise? Time will tell.... :-) Turn ended with the weather turning fine for the German next phase. :-(