Will95

I think counter-attack is making it sound more planned than it actually was! I'm not really planning to try and get a momentum going in the north there because I can just feel his reserves swelling behind the first line of unstrength and low morale corps. The south though....ooooh yes! Damn right about the vengeance for the loss of the HQ though. I think I'm going to be making big gains in that area, even if it takes until 1915 to crack Danzig and Breslau. As for the encirclement I've got two potential plans: - Cut off supply to the Austrian pocket and try to choke them out (I'm not sure if the HQ's alone will keep them in enough supply though) - Send the 4 corps + HQ down south in an audacious Serbian relief operation ...still not decided, but time and/or weather may force my hand either way! Hope you're enjoying reading out AARs, so far it's turning into a very interesting war

Turn 6 Choo choo goes the war machine train as it chugs through Europe. A good summary of my opponent's last turn and mine would be land war = good, sea war = bad. First, to the big ol' stalemate on the Russian-AH front. The front lines still refuse to budge. As we both have entrenchment level 2 now, not to mention the fortresses dotted down the line, an attack would seem foolish without artillery. However, in an attempt to break the deadlock I have taken a HQ and 4 fresh corps to swing around the south. Together with the two cavalry from last turn, a total encirclement of the Austrian pocket will soon be in effect. My opponent has neither the manpower to spare in a hail mary attack on my front line, nor the reserves to deal with my behind-the-lines shenanigans, and I hope to simply starve him out of morale. Further south, we have the Serbian front, which, despite my earlier musings that it would fall in a matter of weeks, is still standing strong in the defence of Nish as we reach mid-November. As the Austrians appear to have neither the willingness nor the resources to mount a strong attack on my heavily entrenched Montenegrin attachment, the corps have been redirected, along with the Albanian detachment, to aid the defense of Serbia. The front line has been worryingly static from Austria which leads me to think this might be a clever bait into making me go on the offensive, but for now I'm content to sit in my level 2 trenches (courtesy of the Russians). I even sent a sneaky detachment to steal Sarajevo and cause a bit of frustration to my opponent. Further north on the Russian front, things are going swimmingly. I have let off the pressure on Breslau because the enemy has entrenched so heavily and the rivers there are making it a nightmare to launch an attack without overstretching myself. Instead, I am letting the Russian troops fall like a tidal wave over the German lines. My opponent has been forced into an all out retreat and his battered troops are being whipped as they run for the hills. The only anchovy on this otherwise delicious pizza is that I'm having to supply all my advancing troops with a single HQ due to the careless loss of one last turn. The western front is where the truly big fighting is about to happen. The Germans overstretched themselves- readiness and morale plummeted, and I was only too happy for my French corps to take advantage. The German defense at Rouen was wiped out and the city recaptured. Finally, we can advance the lines in the north once again. The south is rather more frustrating. Having prophesied the fall of Strasbourg some two turns ago, for it to be still standing is more than a little annoying. Fresh corps keep appearing to defend the city and it may not be possible to capture it this side of Christmas. However, such desperation to defend the city has left gaps in other parts of the line. The pressure piles on, and the lines advance; things are looking swell! In other news, the Ottomans finally entered the war. I have responded by deploying a British HQ to Cairo, who will soon be reinforced by more corps. I had the option to send ANZAC troops either to Europe or Egypt; as things are going so well in Europe, and Kitchener's New Army only months away, I felt it safer to deploy them to an as yet unknown front. Hopefully some big gains can be made in the Middle East. Also, the North Sea navies battle on, although I was unable to sink a strength 1 cruiser. Most of my battleships have taken quite a beating and have been retired to port until they can be refitted with the latest in wooden sail technology. No resources to spend on technology this turn- it seems Russia is the only country getting a decent MPP income, and most of that is going on operating its reserves to the front.

Hopefully this is a nice bit of research for you vet's to see how a couple of newbies play SC Turn 5 Phew, what a turn. There wasn't much blood spilled but a lot of crucial maneuvering happened this turn. The most interesting moves happened on the border between the bulk of Austria-Hungary's forces and Russia on the eastern front. I had some tough choices to make this turn- my opponent is well dug in, but I could have chosen to hit one of the end units hard with up to 5 separate attacks. However, I decided the cost wasn't worth it- yet. Notice how my two cavalry units have cut off all supply to the troops in this pocket. He will now be forced to send front line troops to deal with them, or sit in his trenches while I encircle him with my corps. Further up the line, enemy cavalry had similarly cut supply from my beseiging troops at Breslau. The unit was destroyed and fresh troops were bussed to the front to reinforce. The loss of the Breslau HQ was regrettable and this line will have to make do with a single HQ for now. Given the losses the German forces at Hindenburg have taken thus far, it may be prudent to turn my attention from Breslau to a more direct strike at Danzig. The North Sea has seen it's first major naval warfare in the last two turns. Two friendly ships were sunk, but I have hit back at the expense of maintaining the blockade. More ships in the south are being reinforced for deployment to the sea. A big win here for either side will have a dramatic impact on the war. The Western front is looking very promising at the end of this turn. Strasbourg mounted a hasty defense but it was just enough to prevent its capture. I have surrounded it now and all troops are being kept in good supply with no chance of a cut-off move from my opponent, so I expect to be hoisting the French flag from the Cathedral in no time at all. The middle line remains relatively unmoved, although I spotted the opportunity to make a free strike against a weakly supplied unit closer to the north. A British regiment from India has arrived to push the advantage in the South and the Corps from England have been reinforced and mobilized in the defense of Caen and the northern ports. The German troops here are extremely low on both supply and morale, and coastal bombardments were effective in excacerbating this. A counter-attack will soon be in order. A bit more investment into trench and infantry research across the board completed my turn, although during the winter I intend to divert some resources to diplomacy. German morale is suffering due to heavy losses and key captures on the Eastern Front, and soon will take a tumble with the loss of Strasbourg. British, French and Russian morale remains high. Pretty soon the bad weather will no doubt set in across the continent and make any big attacks redundant so now is the time to make the big gains before bunkering down. We shall see how things go, I am told that 1915 is the year in which many a war has been won or lost!

Turn 4 The last Central Powers turn brought the first round of major bloodshed to the War. On the Russo-German front, CP troops sallied out of Hindenburg in a deep attack. This has forced me to draw back some troops I might have liked to continue the assault on Breslau, where my scouts have spotted some reinforcements a few miles behind. The Hindenburg troops are the primary concern, although I cannot see them doing any major damage while so far from supply. Next turn I will also have the ability to operate several full strength corps from central Russia to the front which will allow my to severely overpower the German forces in this area and facilitate an assualt on Danzig. In the East, the first line of Serbian defense was finally broken and Belgrade was lost. I have fallen back to the river at Nish, but not before doing some serious damage to the advancing Austrian corps. Nish may only be a matter of time but I should be able to make the final assault a costly one. On the main Austrian-Russian front I am mobilizing the forces for a big flanking attack from the south. I don't want to do a frontal assault, particularly in the heavily entrenched fortresses. I intend to cut off their supply with my cavalry and gradually choke their morale before simply mopping up the pieces. The Western front has seen various skirmishes in the north but no serious losses. The German advance has slowed and has allowed me to prepare a more serious defence at the coast. I believe the situation to be potentially dangerous but secure, at least for now, and declined the opportunity to bring in reserves from the Royal Navy. I have, however, embarked a strong corps from London to be transported across the Channel to lend a hand in the northern defence. Further south, the corps that probed the line a little deeply last turn was regrettably destroyed- by my calculations I reckoned they should have survived with a single strength in the worst case scenario but it looks like things rolled against me. It is not a major problem, however, as I have punched another hole in the weak single line. The road to Strasbourg is open with one defending corps destroyed and another seriously weakened. Strasbourg will almost certainly be captured next turn and my opponent will have to face relinquishing progress in the north to aid in the southern defense, or face a devastating attack that I plan to come more or less from behind, and roll up the flank. It will be a calculated risk- if he has sizeable reinforcements coming from central Prussia then I could be in trouble. However judging by the huge show of force in the north, I believe he has all his main attack reserves committed there. There were some regrettable naval losses in the North Sea- a scouting cruiser stumbled upon several battleships which led to its prompt sinking. In other news, entrenchment tech 1 has been reached for the Brits. When Kitchener's army arrives, it will no doubt prove invaluable!

Hehe, thanks, hope it makes for entertaining reading! Turn 3 Things are beginning to get interesting! The most surprising developments happened on the Western Front. My forward cavarly were brutalised - although survived- by a sizeable advancing German army in the north- a sensible move by my opponent given my ready and dug-in troops further south. However, over eager German corps ran straight into my 11 strength British detachment + HQ and recieved a swift hiding for their hubris; hopefully this lesson will teach my adversary to slow down his approach towards the French coast and allow me to dig in another line of French troops. The Royal Navy has also been dispatched, with some success, to take the wind out of the sails of the German advance. Numerous bombardments have left several corps feeling more than a little sorry for themselves, and while they are so far away from familiar territory and undersupplied, should be forced to fall back for a few turns. It's all I can do to try and slow down the great brown turd which has swept away Belgium with a single fart in its general direction. Recon bombers found little in the way of sizeable German resistance near the border at Belfort, however, and a weak spot opened up: a low morale reserve corps, recently moved without even the time to dig in. I damaged it down to a single strength, and deciding that fortune favours the brave sent a corps to pursue and finished it off. There was no waiting ambush and I believe this could be the beginning of a larger crack developing in the understrength south. Down at the Austria-Serb front, things are going better than expected. A single detachment was able to hold the city against 3 separate attacks, and was sent back for some R&R. A full strength corps has taken its place. I'm still worried about Serbia though, it feels weak and a hail mary attack would probably wipe out most of what is left- but fortunately I don't think my opponent knows that yet. More generally in the east, it looks like the Russians and AH forces are squaring off. However a chink in the armour has developed in the south of the line where I am trying to break through to roll up the flank. It's a bit of a narrow corridor with a lot of mountains behind, which should prevent reinforcements arriving too quickly. Up in the north, some surprising developments. The far northern armies which appeared to be preparing for a good old fashioned camping holiday has packed up and left, presumably because they couldn't hack the old country hospitality. Russian forces have moved in to occupy, taking Memel, Tilsit and Gumbinnen without any sign of a real German force. Something odd is up. Further south there's quite a larger German force and a long line of entrenchments by the river leading down from Danzig. If I'm going to crack it, I'm going to need to come from behind or suffer considerable losses. In more general news, I was surprised to run into our friend the German u-boat once again in the North sea. The bastard dived and hasn't been seen since. Lord Kitchener's army is under preparation and I have ordered some further Indian detachments to be dispached to France immediately. While I'm aware that war in the Middle East and Africa will break out fairly shortly due to mounting tensions with the Ottomans, I'm not sure I can face the German flag flying from the Eiffel Tower and I'm going to do everything to prevent it.

Turn 2 It appears the Germans have launched a rather sizeable offensive on the Western Front towards Belgium. The corps at Brussels stood heroically taking many enemy with them, but regrettably the city was lost and captured by a cavalry division. I have pulled back the remaining corps to behind the river, where I hope to mount a more effective defense, forcing the Germans to either attack on the move at their expense across a river, or wait an extra turn by which time I hope to be entrenched. Elsewhere down the line, French forces continue to muster excellently, and a weak spot has been spotted near Epinal, which may allow for a strike at Strasbourg. The first British army has arrived, and bolstered with a HQ and elite reinforcements, should be a sturdy stumbling block for any CP forces trying anything funny in the far north. A German u-boat has also been spotted in the Atlantic after a bungled attempt one one of my raiding cruisers. It was damaged by nearby destroyers, but not eliminated. No doubt it will go hiding and return to bother me in the future. The Eastern Front is mixed. Recon bombers spotted a significant military detachment in the north, meaning some forces destined for the central thrust have been rerouted for defensive duties. However, said forces may not be required anyway as it appears Breslau is indeed guarded by a single detachment. Cavalry have been sent to scout ahead but encountered no resistance. Down at the AH-Serb front, the Central Powers forces are amassing for what will likely be a large a brutal offensive next turn. An additional HQ has been dispatched to assist the Montenegrin further south (not shown). Research, where affordable, has been invested into trench warfare, although next turn I hope to bring the Russian infantry up to par with some investment into infantry warfare too. Overall, the first two weeks have been fairly bloodless with just some minor nation losses. However, I believe the heavy blows will come shortly in the form of a push on the Serbian capital, and an equally large push from me towards Breslau, and who knows- maybe even Berlin.

So as you can see from the opposing thread (as per title but Central Powers in parenthesis) my friend AshFall and I have decided to wage war with the full blown Call to Arms campaign! We have decided to do a dual AAR, and you can find the backstory to our time with StratCom so far in his thread (I assume anyway, as we have a gentleman's agreement not to read the other's AAR, but it should make for entertaining reading when the war is over! ). So feel free to find that one in the forum and read through it as we go along, we're doing PbE (because A] this game is way too much fun and we'd just sit here for hours and B] it's a bit more efficient). Without much further ado, let's get started! Feel free to leave general critique and comments but for the sake of competetiveness please don't give us too much help or the war may start to turn due to outside factors! Turn 1 (I'll apologise in advance; we started this scenario originally as a Network game but after a couple of turns reconsidered and decided to go with PbE, and these pictures are from the first game. However, the first moves haven't really changed from what we did originally, but again please go over and check out AshFall's AAR for a more up-to-date graphic of the situation after his turn 1.) The most pressing concern is the defence of France. With quite a few troops and strong fortress positions the Germans should have a pretty hard time cracking this entrenched line. Currently I have no real plans to go on the offensive; I'm going to let the German corps bloody their nose a bit trying to fight across the many rivers and trench lines before I go on the counter. Meanwhile, an aggressive advance on Belgium is leaving me a little shaken- I don't see it being held for long enough for French or eventual British support to arrive in time. On the positive side, a full blockade across the North Sea is now in effect; a National Morale hit is most certainly welcome. Over on the eastern front, things are looking very positive. Early cavalry scouting has shown just a single detachment in defense of Breslau, which will be the first target for the huge Russian offensive I am planning. The current plan is to take significant cities along the front without probing too hard, before rolling up the flank to isolate and destroy the more sizable corps staring off in the north. A little further down, I am mustering the Russian divisions for a hefty strike at Austria-Hungary, in particular the mines and oil fields I've spotted there. It won't be easy though, as although I have quite a few units, the AH presence is not slight. Further down, Serbia is in for a very rough ride. Wildly outnumbered by AH corps, I don't expect it to last long. Fortunately the terrain ought to make for slow progress, but that will be little consolation if the capital is taken. No pictures for this one I'm afraid. Overall, the first counter-turn has been interesting. While some of the minor nations look suitably perilous, both France and particularly Russia seem well suited for effective strikes to the German core. We shall see what the future brings.