Catacol Highlander

(Whistles tunefully while taking a winter stroll...) And that was pretty much my turn. A lot behind the scenes that could not be seen went on, while Europe was locked into ice and snow in the midst of a slightly early winter. However dont be lulled into thinking that the winter months are boring ones with nothing to do. They are CRUCIAL! Why? 1. Purchase. Always get your maths right on this one. A corps takes several months to build. Do that in the summer and a corps built in May wont arrive until the campaign season is nearly over. Rarely much point buying corps in the summer... but do it in the winter! A corps bought in December will arrive in spring - and in game turns this is only 2 - 3 turns to wait. It's a no brainer. 2. Movement. Movement in SCww1 Breakthrough is as tough as in vanilla SCww1. Forced march saps morale and readiness, so big strategic changes are nigh on impossible without wasting the key campaigning turns when weather is good. So - do your big movements in the winter where possible. But be sure to get them right! By the time a corps has been moved by rail, then reinforced and then possibly upgraded 3 turns have gone. That is almost all of winter in game terms. So timing is key, and efficiency is key. I am basically hoping that spring might come early, and I intend to have all my pieces in the right place for that first turn of good weather. Got a bit more jockeying and purchasing to do before then. Therefore Marc will have noticed very little indeed. But he knows what is coming... My Germans are massing in the West. Austrians are massing in the Alps. Austrians are also poised next to Kiev, and Germans not far from Minsk. Russian NM dropped to 59 that turn - it is falling about 2 points per turn without me doing a thing, and I am quite happy to let it dribble downwards at this pace. German NM stabilised at the moment on 97 which is fine - even taking into account the loss of 1 corps and damage to another last turn, with Austria still on 102. As a final sidenote maths is a key part of this game - if you dont grasp numbers then the game gets tough. Marc has correctly pointed out that my foolish loss of Dutch support is costing me NM... but actually not that much. If you purchase the game it is important to get to grips with the scripts and maths angles. Hunger is costing me 50NM per turn, but the capture of a single city wins me back 25 and a fortress 30. Hunger is not going to strip my German NM without parallel loss of towns and cities - and the Russian retreat in the east has handed me a constant supply of NM points while Russian points ebb away. Get to grips with numbers and the number balance and the game is yours to master!

You are correct - a German attack on Minsk will be more costly than I would like now. Kiev ought to be easier because I am already at the gates of the city with a lot of Austrian units in that sector. I may decide not to hit Minsk at all. The key is that my attack on France must succeed. In general I still maintain that Russia is virtually out of the war. The loss of so many towns is eating into her NM every turn that passes without me needing to fire a shot, and if she moves forward and engages my Germans in summer 1916 or indeed the Austrians in the south she will suffer horrendous casualties as a result, and her NM will dive. The key now is in France because Marc's attack on Turkey isnt going to conquer Palestine before I have unleashed on the French. If France survives intact into 1917 then I will be in trouble potentially.

Morning all First turn for a long time from me without a graphic, becaure really nothing happened from my perspective worth showing. Autumn mud is a killer for attacks, and with the exception of some skirmishing around Kiev which did damage to both sides I held off. 2 more Russian towns fell unopposed. I also decided to stick a unit in the shattered fortress of Verdun. My turn was spent buying, reinforcing and moving units. Kiev and Minsk are still in my sights in the East, but as stated before my main goal now is to strike at France and to that end the German war machine is gearing up to be ready in late spring. Forced marching units takes time; operating others by rail is expensive. All this has to be done - and therefore there may not be much to show you all for a few more turns, but prior to jump off I will certainly give you a window into my plan. Turkey is under pressure: the loss of Jerusalem hit hard, and every Turkish unit that falls takes away a decent slice of NM. I destroyed the French marines blocking the rail link and operated in more Bulgarians to slow Marc down. I can afford to lose German/Bulgarian units at a pretty high rate now that so many Russian towns have fallen and my plan here is just to delay Marc as he advances and hopefully leaving him regretting the decision to send so much British force to the area. We will see. If Turkish morale drops to below 30 I will need to change my stance and get aggressive in the region: that must be Marc's tactic, and if it gets to that then he will have succeeded in drawing my strength away from mainland Europe. Interesting times ahead...

Marc's tactic is an interesting one, preventing any real on the ground victory in 1915 by withdrawing into Russia. However it has still led Entente NM to slip away, leaving German and Austria at around 100 throughout the game so far. The loss of Holland is a blow, but I'm not sure how the Entente can close that NM gap now. If Turkey were to fall it would do it... or if the Germans lost on the battlefield at a ratio of about 2:1, but I cant see that either. The key for me is to make my attack in the West powerful enough to overcome a probable inferiority in the number of artillery pieces. It looks as though very little of the British Army is in France: that begs the question whether a massive hit in Palestine is incoming, or whether the Brits plan a hit through Greece or maybe Italy. I need to be on my toes regarding that, but still the basic fact remains that if France caves in when I attack in 1916 it is probably game over.

The Entente strikes back! But the Empire is not for turning... :-) First the Palestinian Front. Jerusalem fell this turn - no surprise... it was coming. Final graphic below: French marines tried to "Anzio" me... but I saw that coming too and was prepared. They will now perish. I will be fast moving more units in over the next few turns, and will simply play a waiting game down here now, forcing Marc to grind me down one unit after another to try and get to the next NM objective. No counter offensive here from me - but glad to get another Turkish trench hit at the end of the turn. In Russia the Tsar had to stand and fight eventually - but Vilna fell nonetheless. German forces will now try to push on to Minsk, my final German objective in Russia though winter is very close and it looks like a spring task now. That leaves me with a slight problem in that spring 1916 is when I want to throw my entire army against the French. Do I give up on Minsk? Not yet - but it is a possibility in the medium term. Impressive graphic below showing 2 vast armies on the verge of slugging it out. In the west the French unit that retook Verdun was destroyed though I was unable to move back into the fortress. It stands empty... will anyone want to occupy the shattered bunkers there now?? Finally to Holland. I had noticed Marc's diplomatic work there but left my counter diplomacy too late. That is galling. I value the lost mpp trade more than the NM hit at this stage with my overall gameplan, and it leaves me with a choice to make: do I attack and occupy Holland now and recoup the mpps or leave it as it is? No easy answer there. Either way 65mpps per turn lost is a high price to pay for a few hundred diplo points to counter his investment and it is my first major error of the game. It reignites the possibility of early German naval action in 1916 as Marc alluded to in his last post. I will mull that over in the next few turns. However the balance sheet is still favouring the CP. Russian NM down to 64 and falling - more towns fell that turn too to roving Austrian and German units out in open country - and the French sit on 84 (from memory.) Germany is now on 98 after the losses of last turn. That is a big lead going into a big offensive in a few turns time.

Fascinating to see two different interpretations on an ongoing war. From my angle the Entente are in big trouble now... but 1916 will be decisive. We will see what we will see. From an action perspective not much to show you all: Austrian forces closed on Kiev and now sit adjacent to the city, waiting for the order to assault. German forces got good weather and tried an assault on Vilna from a bit too far away - and failed. Defending corps hung on strength 1, a bit annoying as 10 artillery shots only did 1 damage and on a "normal" day it would have been taken out, but such are the fortunes of war. As you saw from my last post my army around Vilna is large, and there is a good to decent chance that Vilna will fall next turn leaving Minsk as my last target in the East before allowing Communism to do the rest of the Russian job for me. In the West I popped a French corps near Verdun - easily done such is the strength of my German army in that area. One graphic worth showing you here to explain my overall confidence: From this you can see how far the Entente forces have fallen behind the CP, and with Germany now earning easily in excess of 500mpps per turn and climbing she is in the box seat to boss any offensive she wishes. I will attack in the West in 1916 - no secret there - and I will take casualties, but as summer turns to autumn in 1916 the German factories will be able to sustain the reinforcements much more easily than France, and indeed looking at the French army on this graph it is hard to see how it will hold. British conscripts will arrive - but they come under strength, under tech and on the wrong side of the channel and take time to get into the battle. By the time Haig is ready to do something dastardly I intend to have broken the French. Austria strong too... plenty strong enough to maintain an attack on Russia and nullify the Italians. Turkey? Still waiting for the British to attack. NM? Germany on 100 and AH on 102. Both still have an upward trend subject to casualties.

September 1915. My reorganisation for 1916 has begun. It can take a long time to get all the bits of the jigsaw in the right place, especially when some units now are at low supply levels in the East, so I have decided to give myself as long as possible. Over the next few turns I will take you through the process, revealing my plan for the next stage as I go. First: a reorganisation of the Eastern Front. I have decided to condense my operations into an Army Group North under German control and an Army Group South under Austrian control, each with a couple of HQ units. First a graphic of the north: I still have a couple of cities to take here, hopefully before winter, so you can see 3 HQs currently and more units than I intend to keep here in 1916. Once Minsk and Vilna are taken I will scale back and go into defensive mode, allowing Lenin to do the rest... Here is Army Group South: I intend a more aggressive stance throughout 1916 here with my eyes on the resources of southern Russia. I hope to take Kiev by spring. Elsewhere? I have resolved to send the Bulgarian Army to Palestine to help the Turks, and have also sent more force to the Alps to face the Italians. However the greatest priority is to prepare for the massive impending battles in the West. Several corps are already on their way; I am purchasing yet more and will send several more again from the East. No graphic really to see here yet... if you can all be patient until spring 1916 I will reveal then what I am amassing for my knock out blow. The battle in Russia has been won. The war will now be completed via the destruction of the French Republic!

OK - photobucket working now. :-) Must have been having a half day off... \-[ Well - it is all steady as she goes. Russia is really up against it now: graphic of German assault force in the north here, as Russians turn tail and run: And in the South more fleeing Russians, more NM acquisitions for Austria and oodles of space to run into. Romania also surrendered allowing more mpp growth and a widening of the front. In the West my unexpected attack on Verdun took the fortress. 13 artillery shots and 2 attacks by veteran Germans on the level 1 defenders destroyed them easily. Good NM boost for me, and a blow for France: Any bad news? No - not really - but Marc will be attacking and probably taking Jerusalem shortly. Here is the situation in Palestine: My defence is not bad: level 1 infantry and the corps in Jerusalem is entrenched at 5, but I suspect Marc must have artillery level 1 and will get rid of me. His tactic to try and cut off the rail link was expected, and I did not leave it unguarded, but it will take me a couple of turns to shift the marines now sat on the tracks on supply 0. What then? Well to be honest I havent decided yet. My plan for 1915 has exceeded expectations in so many ways that I have massive choice available. I will probably send the Bulgarians down there - especially as Turkish HQs can command Bulgarians (unless that has been changed in Breakthrough!) but we will see. A fall in Turkish NM is going to happen, but I am going to make Marc pay for weakening his British line in Belgium and France... Albania was also taken freeing up more Austrians.

Marker. Photobucket has decided to stop working so just wrestling with it. Check back soon for next update! Update: Photobucket wont do it today - no idea why. Will add a text only update in a few hours if it still wont smile at me...

Forum wouldnt let me include 6 graphics in one post, so here is the belated image of Romania carved up:

OK - long post coming! So... The Plan? Like clockwork. In the north of Russia German forces now poised to assault Kovno, a good mpps earner and a decent NM centre too. Further south German troops and artillery will take Brest Litovsk next turn, another big NM centre. These 2 cities alone will add 55 NM points to the German total every turn. Further south again the Austrians are having fun in the sun. In Galicia upgraded units are pursuing the Russians towards Kiev. The problem for Marc here is that he cannot stop to upgrade his infantry and entrench them at the same time, and I dont intend to give him space to do it. Eventually supply will slow me down... but not yet. Graphic here: And in the Balkans the hammer fell on Romania, with Austrian, German and Bulgarian troops assaulting from all borders. Bucharest fell, so did the alternate capital and I would expect Romania to surrender next turn. A nice mpps earner for Germany, though no NM comes with it unfortunately. So the plan is roaring ahead. Additional interest though is now building as we near the autumn of 1915 and a new schedule needs to be developed. This pop up window interested me greatly and makes sense of Marc's tactics: Marc is investing in US diplomacy. In order to get the USA in he will have to expend a vast number of mpps and hope that I "help" him by undertaking sub warfare on his convoy routes. This presents me with an interesting dilemma for 1916/17. I had intended to send the German fleet to war at some point, but if it is going to help bring the USA in then I may reevaluate. Marc could end up spending 1500mpps or more on the investment and be left twiddling his thumbs for a long time waiting for them to come in. Why help speed that up? Hmmmm - food for thought. The second point of interest, though one I was already aware of, is here: Russian subs, built and deployed in the Black Sea. Marc is definitely gathering for a knock out blow on Turkey in 1916 as a warm up for US entry... I presume he hopes this will happen as soon as possible and he intends to keep the Russian army intact to assist in a demolition of Germany in 1918. When I post my plans for 1916 you will see that I dont intend to allow him that platform. :-) The rail link to Palestine will open next turn - do I send the German army down there? Finally look at this graphic: I had absolutely no intention of doing anything in the west in 1915, but Marc's troops going to Palestine and the passive nature of the Russian army has opened the window. This assault position has opened up just in time: Marc has French infantry level 2 now, but if he swaps the two French units over he will lose entrenchment. He can probably take out the German unit in open ground that has moved forward... but that will weaken the defender of Verdun. Basically Verdun is in trouble here... and she carries a hefty negative NM impact on France if she falls. All fun stuff, and the Kaiser is considering a gentle skiing holiday in the Swiss Alps...!

That doesnt happen. In my experience the blockade keeps German NM flat, but as soon as she captures half a dozen towns/cities then it creeps up, subject to casualties on the battlefield. "My experience" of course is mainly with vanilla SCWW1 and not Breakthrough, but currently the figures in this AAR are suggesting the same will happen here. The fact that Germany has gone from 98 to 100 in the last 2 or 3 turns is proof of that, and more Russian towns are going to fall soon.

Well - the Central Powers juggernaut rolls on. German NM is now climbing because of territory captured, back up to 100... and Austria likewise. Russia is down to 82 and is going to start falling further and faster soon. The Russians keep running and while this means few units are dying it will hit their NM. I am scratching my head a bit as to Marc's tactics here as currently all that is going to happen is that my German and Austrian NM is going to end up impregnable - in my opinion at least - but we will see. I guess it is giving him time to buy and upgrade artillery, and maybe if the Russian army remains effectively undefeated in 1915 I may need to conduct a different type of war in the East in 1916. That in itself adds interest to this game as I have never seen a Russian army evacuate the western sectors as fast as has happened here. In the centre Warsaw fell easily and I pushed my central front on to the fortress at Brest Litovsk. Graphic here: In the north not much... chose to reinforce some of the slightly battered units that Marc had attacked earlier and will advance with them next turn. In the south the Austrians drove out into open country, seizing more NM objectives. Graphic here: And finally my invasion of Romania is nearly ready to go. Not all units are at 100% strength or up teched, but it is enough and unless it rains next turn they will attack. Build up evident here: Elsewhere? Well I was annoyed with myself for letting a town in the Alps fall simply because I carelessly overlooked the unit and forgot to reinforce it. That kind of thing happens sometimes - think of it like a real time general having a bit too much to drink sometimes! :-0 Turkey is sitting waiting for the British offensive in Palestine, and other Turkish units are advancing towards Basra. In the West I hit the unit close to Verdun again destroying it, and nudged one German corps nearer to the fortress. Nothing ventured nothing gained - we'll see what happens there. All very rosy.

Well - a slightly difficult decision for me this turn, one I sat and mulled over for a while. 2 turns ago I got tech 2 infantry for AH; last turn I got the same for Germany. The quandary was whether to take one turn out of my offensive dynamic to do the upgrade, or to push on regardless. I decided to take the time and upgrade. This might be a mistake. The retreating Russians have no trenches, and to pursue and attack would have brought me success. But I was lured by the future vision of level 2 Germans and Austrians chasing level 1 Russians without trenches later in the summer. We will wait and see whether it was the correct decision or not. Anyway - there was still some action in the turn. In Galicia I had already upgraded some Austrian units and Marc pulled back last turn, so grateful for easy conquest I pushed forward. Graphic here of my now solely Austrian attack in the south, so different from the dog fight I had expected the German army to be fighting here in 1915: Elsewhere Serbia fell which releases units, the plan to invade Romania was brought a stage closer and I decided to have a pop at a French corps near Verdun using newly arrived artillery. Effect? 5 damage for the French defender, 2 in total for my attackers. French level 1 tech and yet to be built up trench tech suggests that some attritional hits in the west through the summer and autumn of 1915 might be worth the effort. Image here for you of the limited attack. Notice the veteran up-teched German units nearby. I do not want to be caught out by a French counter attack in the West so also spent a good deal of mpps on strengthening my western line... but I must admit I did not expect to be thinking of even limited offensives in the west at all in July 1915. All good news. The Kaiser sleeps well. Finally - I promised a tech update. Tech for me is always a big priority. So - taking one nation at a time here is my German tech profile: What do you see? Priorities in infantry and artillery ammo. Both have done well already - I can fire many shells and my infantry are strong. Trenches are always a good one too and to upgrade industry brings in more mpps. But take a look at the the subs/air/ground air slots. I rarely worry too much about air in SCww1, but decided in this game to take a long term perspective. These techs are yet to fire bar one hit in ground attack - sometimes you have to wait!! - but I will try and rule the skies in the west by the time the major fights happen. German Zeppelins will also play a role with one tech hit already. Conversely average luck with air has been countered by good luck with subs. No effort at all from the German Navy yet.... but that doesnt mean they arent scheming! I will keep this one quiet from you all for now, but for now all I WILL say is that the German Navy will not sit the war out drinking Schnapps in Kiel harbour. :-)

No - Italy not in the war yet. I have Austrian detachments at level 2 in key towns that will stop any Italian advance in the short term. By the time I need to worry about Italian artillery I hope to have taken Russia effectively out the war, and this will allow the Austrians to bottle up the Alps.

Summer 1915... and the entente position is eroding very fast now. In Prussia I counter attacked straight away - no point in holding back for readiness, as the key now is to suck these Russian units into a dogfight out of trench lines that will cost them far more in casualties and NM effects than it will cost me. I destroyed a corps and badly damaged some cavalry. Final image is here: And while Marc's forces are banging against a brick wall in the north the central front is passive and I can pick it off at leisure. Fort north of Warsaw fell easily after artillery bombardment, and to the SE of Warsaw 2 other towns were seized with another Russian corps down. Final graphic here: I forgot to take a screenshot of the Galician Front even further to the SE, but the Austrians rolled into the Galician Oil once again with ease after an artillery bombardment, and the door down in the SE that I described as "open" is about to be nudged a good bit more. With things moving even faster in my favour than I had planned or expected, I am going to get ambitious and invade Romania. This will kick the door wide open in the South of Russia and give Marc an impossible position to defend with so much of his army in the north. How quickly can I do it? Well - see this graphic from the Serbian Front: Serbia has a single strength 5 corps left - she will fall next turn. Austrians are pouring into Albania and the Bulgarians are in too. This is plenty of force to throw at Romania, and as we are only in June 1915 I have plenty of time to do it. I wont be hanging about though! 1 or 2 turns only... then invasion. Does this put me at risk anywhere else? Well - I will need 4 more turns to open up the rail links to Palestine and the clear target of a British offensive. I am feeling a bit better about the Turks now, as tech has come my way and I am wondering whether they can hold on their own after all... I had wondered whether Greece would be worth a look after the fall of Serbia, but the Russian house of cards is so open to substantial collapse that I will turn my attention in force to Romania and ignore Greece for now. And what therefore of "The Plan"?? Acceleration... I expect to be in a position now to mount my own offensives in the West in 1916 rather playing second fiddle to an an aggressive entente position. I expect to have Russia on the ropes soon, and will allow Austria the spoils while I reform in the west with my Germans. So Plan 1914-1915 has gone so well that Plan 1916 can afford to be ambitious already. Details to follow... I promised a tech analysis - I will do that in a post on my next turn. Tech is vital in this game... and my tech position in June 1915 is very strong now.

Aha! - the game is really afoot now. :-) I had wondered whether Prussia was the target for a while now... and there we are. SC is all about initiative. Force the other to respond to what YOU are doing and the game is under your control. This is an attempt to do just that: to grab the game and force me onto the back foot. But I am a bit long in the tooth now in SC terms and this worm is not for turning! So - working north to south. What about Prussia? I made a decision early in the turn to fast move in an HQ to Danzig, force march 5 corps north from the Warsaw front and "parachute" 2 corps into the Konigsberg line via rail move. My 3 corps around Gumbinnen now become little more than a screen: they will probably all fall in the next 2 turns, but they will take a good number of Russians with them and I will counter attack in force within 2 turns. Russian corps caught in the open by Germans units are lambs to the slaughter... and by my reckoning he has 5 units there without effective supply on turn 1 of an offensive, a dangerous position to create. Final graphic here: Further south around Warsaw the decision to wait one more turn to up tech my artillery was therefore made for me, and the fort will now fall next turn with Warsaw 1 - 2 turns after that. No change to my plan there, and I will gain substantial NM from the attack and Marc will take a dent to NM when Warsaw falls. What about NM? Currently Germany sits on 101, down a bit from the early 103 due to casualties in the West and in Serbia, but still very healthy. Russia has now dropped already to 90, and when Warsaw falls she will drop further. The gap will widen between the 2 nations, and in battle the Russians will melt away like the arctic ice this year. No graphic of Warsaw needed - you saw it last turn. And south again? Well here is the only minor change to my thinking. I had intended to hold in Prussia and drive the German army through Galicia and south of the Pripet Marshes. Marc's move has now altered my thinking. There are so few Russians in the south that the Austrians will be able to deal with them and blitz forward with relative ease themselves. This will be assisted in the short term by level 2 infantry tech which has come my way, and arty units that are now rolling off the production lines. My Germans now can swing north after the elimination of Warsaw and look to take Minsk and all cities north. The Austrians may prove the real reapers in this, because every town and city that falls in the south will send the Russian NM falling further. Marc's decision to hit Prussia with virtually everything he has had better bring Konigsberg his way, otherwise it may simply accelerate the ultimate defeat of the Russian Army. Final graphic showing the first conquest for the Austrians and the wide open back door in the south here: Further south again it was the end of Montenegro and the near end of Serbia. Bulgaria joined this turn too so I have some spare units to play with. Final graphic here of Serbia in her death throes. And Palestine? Well right now there is not much I can do - I need the rail route open which will take a little longer. But I am going to have to move some units down there, and it may be that any attack on Greece that I might have contemplated after Serbia will have to wait while the Turkish lines are shored up. Very interesting game... and as ever 1915 is the key year. Many a game is effectively decided in 1915 and I intend to try and do just that in this one.

Spring and Summer of 1915 is underway... and so is my piledriver. Serbia: Another Serb corps goes down, artillery moves to within hitting distance of Nish and to the SW a full scale assault of the Montenegran capital just failed to produce a conquest. Still - quite happy with all this, and before long these forces will be redeployed when Serbia surrenders and Bulgaria joins the party. Final graphic here: Further north the German swarm engulfed the Warsaw front - perhaps soon to become a pocket - and artillery brought up. Austrian forces to the south also upteched and moved forward. I may wait one more turn before igniting the gunpowder here as I need to uptech the artillery - we shall see. Final graphic is worrying if you are a Russian intelligence officer: Elsewhere? Well - a bit of headscratching. The Russian army is almost inert. I sent some cavalry units forward in the southern sector around Galicia and spotted very little (remember that cavalry spot to 3 hexes where infantry only spot 2) so, potentially smelling a Russian counter attack in the far northern Prussian sector I reinforced the troops there and prepared myself mentally for the possible need to fast move more troops up there soon. Forces currently in Serbia would seem top of that option list, and this would mean no weakening of my drive in the centre around Warsaw. In the West the British decided to poke their noses forward on the coast - so I bit off the nose. Final graphic here shows the 3 damaged German units that conducted the successful counter attack. It was a juicy target, the elite British 1st corps upstrengthed to 12 with a tech upgrade too... so I was very happy to bag it. I also spent a fair bit upstrengthening units in the West as I dont want to be caught with my trousers down if the French get nasty. However going back to the previous graphic I have interpreted quite a lot from it. Note that the French almost control the entire line. By now there should be 3 or 4 British units in the area... but they dont appear to be present. So where are they? I am now convinced that Marc is putting his main British effort into the destruction of Turkish forces in Palestine and maybe also Iraq. My reaction? Not sure at this stage. The Turks probably cannot hold on their own; can I spare German troops down there? Or maybe Austrian? Or perhaps the Bulgarians? I'll wait and see. For now I cannot fast move anything down there anyway, but I will need to make sure the rail line stays open and get Serbia out the way fast. It may just be after all that his Russians are massing for a parallel attack on the Turks in the Caucasus too. This would be a first for me as a CP player: I have never had to deal with an offensive against Turkey from multiple directions all at once. Fascinating... and symbolic of just how many ways there are to try and win this wonderful game of SC! Another German trench tech was the perfect way to finish a pleasing turn - if Marc DOES get aggressive in the West or in Prussia it is going to be very costly at this stage.

March 1915... and the Gods of war who so far have favoured The Kaiser favour him again. Clear weather in the East in late winter is good news indeed. My boys were roused from their winter slumber and thrown onto the offensive. Firstly in Serbia. Shelling from German artillery and a combined attack by 4 corps blew the front of the Serb line away and opened the road to Nish. Further West Austrian artillery was deployed in Montenegran sector of operations, ready to support an attempt to seize the capital. Telling final graphic here: Serbia will not hold long now under the weight of this assault. Near Warsaw the German armies were also launched into battle. No artillery support quite yet... but Russian trenches are not yet deep, and I have some veteran troops and infantry tech 1. Lodz was captured, and the screen in front of Warsaw blown away. German artillery can also be seen in the following graphic - in 2 or 3 turns it will be ready to support the destruction of the Warsaw defence if I decide to wait that long of course. I can afford casualties at this stage if I am racking up NM conquests such as Lodz (Cities provide 25 NM points per turn and towns 12 NM per turn once copnquered), and if the weather stays fair I will probably take the casualties for early progress on the ground. There is considerable force here: this will be very hard for Marc to stop, and when Bulgaria wakes up and joins the party too I will have further force to deploy. Where is the Russian Army? I can only assume it has deployed further to the rear and is allowing me to come on to it. Either that or it is massing for a Prussian offensive as I cant seriously imagine that Marc will attempt to blast his way through the Turkish mountains while his western frontier dissolves. Time will tell. An excellent start for the Central Powers so far. Low casualties, high tech gain and progress on the ground as fast as could be realistically expected.

Afternoon all If there is ever a good reason not to post a graphic then this was the turn. I did next to nothing that was visible in the ice and snow blanketing Europe in February 1915, instead choosing to spend lots and creep German troops a little bit nearer to Warsaw. Marc has expanded his Basra beach head further and I have responded with forces on their way to Iraq. I got 3 more techs and when Spring arrives, and my forces launch the 2 offensives I am preparing for, I will give you all a tech update. I have been pretty fortunate to be honest and am going to cause all sorts of trouble for the Entente in 1915 I think.

Evening all... P42 - I am not sure how Germans going to attack Serbia is gamey? If you mean it didnt happen in history then yes - agreed it didnt. But this game is about options and trying things that werent done historically. There is certainly no way that the Habsburg Empire would have denied German troops passage or said "no" to assistance in the area. They might have got annoyed had Germany tried to annex Serbia herself, but the game partly covers that by giving no NM bonuses for Serb conquest, so it lessens the attractiveness of German occupation a bit. I would agree with you that an early defeat of Serbia is a massive boost to the CP - that is why I am attempting it. But not sure how that should be barred. It is not impossible to counter as the entente - but that is a conversation for another day. Back on topic and very little to report in the main operations' areas as the weather finally closed in and made everything grim. However I dont want anyone to get bored too easily... so some thoughts about the Med. Here is a graphic of the Basra area: Now this is interesting. Marc is advancing quickly... and leaving Basra empty. It suggests to me that he is sending more troops to the area. A fair bet? Take a look at this graphic of Palestine too: That certainly looks like a swift offensive. You can see that I have got units in place on the crucial defensive line hinged on Jerusalem, but altogether this is my first window into Marc's thinking. Looks to me as though he will try to relieve pressure on Russia by dragging German troops into the Middle East to stop a British advance. Not a bad idea... but it does mean pulling British resources away from the Western Front. Wise? Time will tell, but it makes the early destruction of Serbia even more desireable to open up the rail link and leads me to an interesting decision to make on naval strategy. Marc is likely to send naval assets to the Eastern Med to support this strategy... so what do I do? I'll keep that under my hat for now and come back to it in a future post. Dont want to take ALL the fun out of the surprise elements of the game! If the Gods are really smiling on me they will now fast track my Turkish techs too. We will see...

OK... so The Gods have answered my call again. The weather in the East cleared in late October allowing at least one more turn of offense. I took advantage of it. Firstly in Serbia: One step closer to Nish, and the Serbian main defensive line breached. I have now reached the point I had hoped for in 1914 prior to the arrival of any ice and snow: any more good weather allowing a further advance really would be fortunate and catastrophic for the Serb defence. Serbia will be out the game for sure before the summer is too far gone in 1915. Note the infantry tech that Austria-Hungary has also scored... handy for any potential winter operations that might become possible... Secondly in Russia. I was not quite ready to be honest - units still gathering readiness and tech following transfer and forced march so my casualties were a bit higher than they needed to be, but I couldnt ignore the opportunity to get a supply base near Warsaw and the Fort. So the attack went ahead, one Russian corps was destroyed and a detachment wounded. Image here: Warsaw is the next target for sure. 2 points of discussion at this early stage: 1. Where is the Russian Army? Is Marc going for defence in depth? Or has he done something underhand and massed for an attack in East Prussia, or the Caucasus or maybe even naval landings across the Black Sea? I must admit it is puzzling me. Russia has more units than any other player in the game at this stage, but she is being very passive, and the defence in front of Warsaw is not particularly strong either. 2. The reason it is puzzling me is the second point of note. The ease of the beginning for Germany in this game has put her NM up to 103 already. France and Russia both sit at 96. This 7 point gap might not seem a lot, but it is significant. The game will not be won by territory... but instead by a war based on NM. As my Germans advance into Russia (and I will be giving the conquests to Germany and not to AH in order to boost that NM) her NM may creep upwards, or at least flatline. Russia's will freefall. So what is Marc doing to counter that? I am scratching my head a bit to be sure. Finally I noted through pop ups that the ANZACs have landed in Egypt. This may suggest Entente offensive operations against Turkey, or it may simply suggest that Marc wants to make sure I cant launch a thrust into Egypt. Still... all intel is good intel and as I suggested before my Turkish play is going to be a little based on a "suck it and see" approach until I get a feel for what Marc wants to try and do with the Western Powers in 1915 and particularly 1916. Bagged 3 techs too that turn. All going well I reckon.

(Apologies for my absence over the last few days: was in The Borders in Scotland with a group of young rugby players, and had no internet. Back on the wagon now all the way to Christmas!) OK - November. Rain and some mud. I chose to regather a bit of strength in Serbia before trying to push on again: looking to get some luck with the weather in late autumn. Here is the Serbian Front: 2 things of note here. Firstly the German unit that has upgraded to infantry weapons level 1 - I intend to try and make Marc's life hard with that up my sleeve if I can get some good weather turns soon - but also a continued assault in the left hand corner in Montenegro. Take out Montenegro and Serbia tends to fall faster, but as of yet I am unable to wear down the defending corps and force it to retreat. However... I have seen units under pressure retreat before when hit over and over, so I remain hopeful. Elsewhere Brussels fell in a muddy attack, and the German Army gathered greater strength for its Russian offensive which is stage 2 of my plan. The Ottomans also joined this turn. How to play Turkey is an interesting one - I haver elected not to stick them into the "plan" at this stage as I want to see first how Marc intends to play Russians in the Caucasus and the Brits in Egypt. It is possible for the Entente to put Turkey under a big squeeze if they choose... so my first priority is to get some entrenchment and wait and see what happens. Pop up windows also told me that Germans in Africa and at sea around Coronel were victorious too... to be honest I have yet to work out quite that this means in terms of the game overall, but reports of victorious Germans can only be good news!

Still the plan... but weather was an obstruction this turn. My only offensive action was against Serbia, but again I sustained higher casualties than the defender. However my pressure here will tell before long - one turn of good weather before winter should see me to the gates of Nish. Here is the end of turn graphic: Elsewhere? Well - Belgium survives one more turn. I moved units up adjacent to Ypres ready to hammer it next turn. Final graphic here as I have given you very little to look at in the west so far! From a strategic perspective Ypres now has mpps attached, but it has no NM factor. NM is the key to this game, so plans elsewhere to hit NM take precedence. Now... to the East. My major theatre in the planning. Here is an odd graphic - Where has the Russian army gone? Have I scared it off? Is Marc planning action against Turkey or a sudden leap into East Prussia? Cant be sure. What I do know is that I am getting a window of quiet opportunity to build up a very potent force which will soon be flung straight into action. Once Serbia is gone I intend to break the back of the Russian Army in double quick time, and be ready to face the expected counter attack in the West in 1916. I wonder whether Marc will try anything in the West in 1915? It is possible... and to that end my research on trenches continues. It is hard for the western powers to get much artillery into the field before 1916, so I have about a year's grace before entente artillery will make my life there difficult. More about my plans for 1916 later. Stage one though for 1915 is well underway - lots of action in the East to come.

OK - my Serb attack is ongoing, but not able to do much this turn as I had to reposition and bring my artillery forward. I did get rather carried away and attacked with 3 AH corps against a Serb corps in the hills. I lost 8 strength, the Serb corps lost 3. Sometimes it is difficult not to get carried away, especially when the combat indicators suggest (as they did this time around) that the results of battle should be even at worst. Dont always believe them!! In the West 2 Belgian detachments were taken down and antwerp occupied. One Belgian corps is left now in Ypres. It wont last long next turn assuming the weather holds. Interest for this turn lies in Marc's movements in the East. Rarely does Russia not get up to some mischief in the East, such is her power in the early part of the game, and it would appear that, having taken the Galician Oil already, Marc has his sights set on Lemberg. Here is the graphic: I destroyed the lead Russian corps that had edged up to my lines, and then retired the mauled corps on strength 4 to the rear for R and R, but Marc's massed forces are plain to see. What can I do? Well - pray to the Gods... and the Gods answer. :-) A bit of luck - I got a trench tech for both Germany and Austria at the end of the turn. This is big in the East, as it means that Marc's casualties will be significantly higher whatever he tries to do. It will also make it tricky in the West should Marc decide to try anything early with the British or French armies. However remember my plan at the start - and my tech priorities. 3 trench chits were invested by both nations as early as possible, and the fact that they have clicked already is fortunate but not purely down to luck. The pace and direction of the tech war is a huge part of SC. Now... a few more prayer beads and a sacrificial lamb or two and maybe I can get to trench tech 2 by Xmas and really put a spanner in the Russian works!