WWI Breakthrough - 1914 Call to Arms AAR!

[Bill101]

Hi

On the question of Germans in Serbia, in the autumn of 1915, four German Corps of ten Divisions were serving in the Balkans, forming the bulk of von Mackensen's Army Group:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_von_Mackensen

These were the forces that spearheaded the completion of the conquest of Serbia, forcing the Serbs to evacuate to exile in Corfu.

Great AAR so far, I'm enjoying this and looking forward to seeing how it ends up!

Bill

[abukede]

No pictures this turn... probably next turn. There was very little action. I hit an HQ Al opened up to attack and dropped it 4 steps in the East. This should cause him some complications. Al has sidled up to my lines near Warsaw and as soon as the weather turns fair I expect him to attack in stength. In truth there is probably nothing I can do to keep Warsaw from falling even if I met him head on with the Russian army. I have other plans for the Russian army.

In the Middle East the UK mounted a strong attack on Al's forward detachment damaging it.

In the West French and UK forces continue to grow in strength. I deployed my first artillery units this turn.

The UK and France are still heavily investing in research as well.

Italy stands ready to enter the war. The Italian navy will be a big boost to the Allied Navy in the Med.

[Catacol Highlander]

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.

[abukede]

The Gods of war are indeed being kind to Al... but I dont think unkind to me either.

Things have started to heat up in the East. Al has put tremendous pressure on Serbia and Warsaw. The main main attack is heating up. I was very tempted to smack him back but decided against it as attacking would weaken my defending forces. Sometimes it is best to sit tight. Where is the Russian army? I reformed my line in Serbia... he will probably press against it again this turn... it is only a matter of time for Serbia.

In the West we saw the first fighting in many months. The UK ventured from fortifactions and attacked a Cav. There was also a shore bombardment. French Arty also spoke for the first time this game.

In the Middel East I conducted my first coordinated attack. As you can see UK forces are begining to build up. In the coming turns I expect to begin to drive in Turkish territory in a big way. You can see the beggining of my offensive below.

Good news is Italy joined the war this turn.

[Sergei]

I would like to make a quick point about the use of a whole German army in an attack on Serbia. In my opinion i think it is a bit gamey. I'm not saying that it was out of the realms of possibility at the time but was highly unlikely.

German involvement to quickly knock out Serbia can be a major boost to CP's long term chances.

That's nothing, in one game I shipped several French corps with a HQ to support Serbians. My opponent had decided to not invade Belgium and concentrate all on Russia instead. So my courses of action were either to run against his short fortified line with everything I had or to ship excess troops to the east instead while only conducting limited attacks in the west to wear down German MPPs. I chose the latter.

And there wasn't anything ahistorical about that, either. During the war Russians even sent an expeditionary force to France!

[Ivanov]

On the question of Germans in Serbia, in the autumn of 1915, four German Corps of ten Divisions were serving in the Balkans, forming the bulk of von Mackensen's Army Group:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_von_Mackensen

These were the forces that spearheaded the completion of the conquest of Serbia, forcing the Serbs to evacuate to exile in Corfu.

Of course. The Serbs were crushed only, thanks to the presence of a considerable German forces, that sent to that front. Some basic facts regarding the Balkan Campaigns can be found in this book:

http://www.amazon.com/History-World-War-1914-1918-ebook/dp/B0062MXD7M/ref=pd_sim_kstore_3

[xwormwood]

Yes, but they came only after AH failed to achieve a victory.

I guess that is the whole difference, and that was the point in this discussion.

In 1914 AH wasn't aware yet that its own military might turned out to be a toothless tiger. So AH might have been using the infrastructure for its own forces, and watched closely what their ally want into their very own backdoor yard, while the so much more important frontlines in the east and in the west were in flames.

[Catacol Highlander]

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.

[Sergei]

Yes, but they came only after AH failed to achieve a victory.

I guess that is the whole difference, and that was the point in this discussion.

In 1914 AH wasn't aware yet that its own military might turned out to be a toothless tiger. So AH might have been using the infrastructure for its own forces, and watched closely what their ally want into their very own backdoor yard, while the so much more important frontlines in the east and in the west were in flames.

Any strategy centered around punching Russia hard from the onset of the war is similarly historically dubious, because it is based on our after-the-fact knowledge that the Russian army was not the unstoppable juggernaut that everyone expected in 1914. It is also very ahistorical for the player to start researching Trench Warfare during the first turns because the war wasn't supposed to be decided in trenches.

All of this comes down to the basic dilemma with any historical strategy game: since we know that, say, Italy performed poorly in WW2 and we also know that even with German support they were in a losing situation in North Africa, is there any reason to divert resources to the desert campaign? In the end, these are games of strategy. It's just good that the game encourages seeking different solutions to the strategic problems.

[xwormwood]

And my point is (and always will be) that if players chose to act differently than their historical counter parts, it is the game designers mission to calculate, research and find out what these changes might have changed in the campaigns world and timeline setting.

If both the Central Powers attack Serbia in 1914 in a combined attack, than

1) what would have had to be done to allow such an early combined attack and

2) what would have been the consquences of this?

As far as i know combined forces usually are less effective, because of the command struggle of who leads whome, the different comunications, , etc. etc.

Overlapping HQ zones from HQ of different nations could reduce the readiness of all nearby friendly units (just an example).

Low success in the west or the east just to win AHs war against Serbia could lower Germanies National Morale, maybe even AH National Morale when the people realize that their own army wasn't even strong enough to fight a minor army like the serbian army.

The basic dilemma of any historical strategy game is that players want to see on the one side a historical 1:1 copy, while on the other hand they want to have the possibility to interfer in this world, to change historical decisions.

If you want to create a believable world, you have to react (have the game engine react) on those decisions.

You have to have tons of answers for player decisions. Answers on questions which weren't asked during the historical WW1. Who knows, maybe a quick serbian surrender might have united Russia? Could it have an impact on Rumania or Bulgaria? Would AH tried to exit the war after having achieved their most prominent war goal within weeks?

Or would it have slowed AH war industry, as the need for a total war production would have been realized only later, with such a glorious victory gotten so fast?

So yes, let us seek for different solutions, that is why we play the game, you're absolutly right. But let our solutions not happen in a lifeless world, shocked in awe about our brilliance, but in a world, which takes an interest about what is going on.

The game engine has to be freed from the yoke of "follow the historical time line" once we, the players, started to change the timeline.

It is our task to imagine what a players decision would have changed in culture, war production, diplomacy, National Morale goals, etc. etc. The game needs to offer a proper reaction to unhistorical decisions.

And on the other side the game should set high incentives to follow the historical decisions. Not because they were the best decisions, but because they were seen as the best decisions in the world and timeline where the game has been set into.

In your WW2 example that could mean (just an idea) that Italy needs to show up some victories or war declarations in 1940, or else it could either lose National Moral, or start to fall back into neutrality, maybe even join the Allied war camp. Both should have an impact on Germanies NM and industrial income. I hope that i could made my point a bit clearer. There are no isolated decisions. Attacking the UK, or Greece, just because "it did happen" is, well, not the best idea. But if the decison ""i don't attack anything with Italy" would damage your overall war goals (= winning the war, of course), well, than you would instantly think very hard about what might be an easy war fro Italy, or where it could get a fast and easy victory.

At the very same time the game could give the Allied player decisions to weaken North Africe (this is already in SC GC, where you can decide to use the ANZACs in the Pacific campaigns instead in Europe), and bingo, there you go: an italian victory is not as unthinkable at it was seconds before.

[abukede]

It was time. Al has committed himself to the Warsaw offensive completely. He is poised to begin his main attacks this turn so Russia opened her own offensive with 20 ground units including 3 arty into East Prussia. 3 Germand Corps and 1 Detachment were isolated this turn. If they remain in place I will begin reducing them next turn.

This is how it looked after I moved.

I made sure I cut the rail lines so that their supply and readiness would drop accordingly making them much easier to destroy. Al also left a sub in port which I hammered. Al will be able to operate in troops around Konigsburg but their readiness will suffer significantly and it will be a costly operation. Notice how almost everyone of the Russian units are upgraded. Also notice how I used cavalry to cut the rail lines. Many people consider cavalry a waste and useless. They are very valuable for speed of advance and eyes. I used them around Warsaw to carefully observe Al's buildup. Once I was sure he was committed I began my own buildup just out of his view... facing East Prussia.... always careful to keep Cav out in front so I could see what he brought forward and my ground pounders out of view. My goal for this offensive drive is Konigsburg. If it goes well and rapidly I may even loop around south and attack the Warsaw front. If it goes poorly I will fall back and work to come up with something else.

Al has a choice... continue with his offensive on Warsaw or move to counter my offensive drive. If he continues his attack on Warsaw... Konigsburg will likely fall and in taking Warsaw he should sustain casualties that will make it a more even fight for me. If he breaks north things will get ugly fast for both sides. I actually expect him to continue his drive on Warsaw and take his chances with my offensive... betting that he can cobble somthing together to slow and stop me... which is fine from my perspective as it means more dead Germans in the long run.

In the Middle East my offensive drive picked up steam. The first Turkish city (Gaza) fell this turn. You can see my attack as it kicked off.

My Egyptian arty is just out of view. I brought in a lot of early UK units which should help out tremendously in the coming turns. Kirch's army has begun to arrive as well... so shortly I will have an abundance of UK troops. UK arty has already made it to the continent. In the Middle East I expect to build up sufficient momentum that Al will be forced to send German and A-H units to defend Turkey.

The Italian navy deployed last turn and they now give me a critical edge in the Med. I am considering just blocking off the A-H and Turkish Navies as a battle with either could quickly drop morale as those units are expensive. Blocking them in essentially makes the Med an allied lake. I landed marines in lemos a couple turns back so that I have a forward supply base for amphibious and naval operations.

In the West Al got in a good smack with that British unit. I had hoped he would survive. I also began strategic and recon bombing in Belgium. It showed me that Al has no defense in depth... essentially no reserves... which really opens up some strategic options for Kirch's army. If things really heat up in Russia and Turkey Al could quickly find himself spread thin. He has invested very heavily in research but with such a large theater of operations he will get spread thin fast.

Serbia still holds... barely. Al launched a major offensive with arty on Montenegro. He threw everything he had in the attack and Montenegro barely held. I hope she hold out 1 more turn. Every turn she holds out gives the UK more time in the Middle East.

Overall a very interesting turn.

[Catacol Highlander]

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.

[Preusse]

I can't wait to read what will happen next, I find myself hitting f5 frequently anticipating a new post

Excellent read people your work is much appreciated.

[abukede]

Well real interesting turn. I put a stupid amount of effort into killing one of Al's most experienced units... a Corps with 2 experience bars and took the town... I also took Memel. Al operated in a lot of units south of Konigsberg. So I may have to limit my offensive somewhat to just killing German units in the field.

Here is the offensive in mid stride.

My drive this turn ended with the two corps completely surrounded. The Russian army is still in pretty good shape.

Down south... I smacked a German corps that sidled up to an experienced Russian Guards Corps... costing Al 4 steps to 1.

Al has positioned himself to begin the offensive on Warsaw. I have no doubt he will be successful but the question really is... how costly will the offensive be to him? At this point... really it's only Russia fighting Germany and A-H. There is not much action eslewhere.

I probed the Adriatic and bumped into a sub. Will Al come out and play?

In the Middle East I brought in another corps, consolidated my hold on the first city and began to assault another city. Many of my units were packed off and shipped without upgrade or understrength... so when they finally arrive they need a turn or two to get into action.

Serbia is about done and Bulgaria joined this turn which means Al now has a rail route right to the Middle East. This is unfortunate as I had hoped Serbia could have held on longer.

[Catacol Highlander]

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.

[Hyazinth von Strachwitz]

By the way: what is happening in Italy? Not yet in the war?

[Catacol Highlander]

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.

[Hyazinth von Strachwitz]

Makes sense. The MP are so much quicker than playing the AI :-)

[DavidFields]

Great AAR. You almost. Almost, have me buying this--wandering in from CMBN/CMFI. A WW1 playable game! There is, as far as I know, no real competition. So different than WW2--there is not really an evil side (in my opinion). I just am not sure I have the time--barely played CMBN Commonwealth.

And that careful balance between being historical, and being able to change things. Civ is to generic. This feels like EU. Now, not for me, you need to pump up the graphics and make it less hex based--for the 2012 player. But, my guess, Battlefront knows that.

[Sergei]

Great AAR. You almost. Almost, have me buying this--wandering in from CMBN/CMFI. A WW1 playable game! There is, as far as I know, no real competition. So different than WW2--there is not really an evil side (in my opinion). I just am not sure I have the time--barely played CMBN Commonwealth.

Like WW2, WW1 had multiple evil sides - just maybe the excessive list of war crimes of Nazi Germany blinds us from everything else that happened. Heck, even the word 'genocide' was coined in reference to what happened to Armenians in WW1... Among the lesser evils of WW1, Britain and France divided Middle East along arbitrary lines that are still in place and that we can to great extent thank for the conflicts in the region today.

Being a big CM fan, I'm also completely enamoured by SCWW1. You really should give the demo a go. Compared to WW2 the WW1 campaigns seem to offer a far more interesting and, dare I say, balanced strategic setting. Any WW2 campaign starting from the beginning of the war starts with Germany and Japan invading places with unstoppable armies from the get go, while Poland, France and BEF offer no challenge. Then eventually USSR and USA enter the war and the balance tilts 180º for the Allies. WW1 is similar in that some players enter the fray later in the game, but they are not central to the war.

In WW1 USA is more of like the last straw that breaks the camel than the 3000 pound anvil falling from the sky that it is in WW2.

[abukede]

I think you should buy the game... it is terrible fun and the strategic choices make the game very entertaining.

Game wise:

I made a difficult decision this turn and it was to fall back with Russia. I was very tempted to hammer German forces moving into East Prussia, however my scouts showed me that Al has a very powerful force and if I am not careful the Russian army could disintegrate. I fell back away in the North, Center and in the South. I left the Warsaw corps in place and an upgraded detachment to act as a speed bump. There was no way I could defend Warsaw… if I had tried I would have lost more corps than I could afford. It will hurt morale wise… but it needed to be done. I did take advantage of my Prepared Attack Bonus… Al had moved a corps adjacent last turn to 3 Russian corps and attacked a Cav unit north of Warsaw. I hit him with all 3 corps… dropping him to 1 where he retreated. The Cav pursued attacked and he retreated again. I wish I had got him but now Al has to restrength that unit and it’s experience level will drop to near 0. I take my pleasure where I can find it.

Now falling back has advantages for Russia… it gives me the ability to fight at the time and on ground of my choosing. It also will help give Russian forces a slight advantage as I pull back further into Russia. The deeper Al moves into Russia the worse his supply will become which in turn will drop readiness making it easier to attack/ambush him and do more damage. Remember in this game Russia is huge. It is easy to hide and build up forces for a surprise offensive.

To date Russia has lost only 7 corps even though it shows 14 corps lost. The other 7 were Serbian. So I still have a lot of strength to play with and Russia got another industrial tech this turn… added income. Oh and I managed to help Al waste away half the summer… through a game of maneuver and feint. I really thought he would have taken Warsaw in June began. After his turn it should be the end of July… or beginning of August. The question is… how far will Al pursue the Russian army and will it open him up to serious losses. In the fighting of the last 2 turns though I lost a few of units Al’s losses are mounting across many units. I think I’ve managed to kill 2 corps 1 German and 1 A-H… so a ratio of 2-7 for Russia… not bad for getting ganged up on at least for the first year of the war. Also the UK and France continue to build up while the war in Russia drags on.

In the West I have already deployed the entire French army... though free units continue to arrive each turn. The UK has now deployed significant units… and I am considering doing something seriously foolish to annoy Al. I have to think on it further before I committ myself to such insanity. Tech has also arrived in a big way which is nice.

In the Middle East there was a little action. I expect it to heat up significantly in the coming turns.

Good game so far.

[Catacol Highlander]

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. :-)

[abukede]

So... excellent turn for the Entente... but little action to speak of. The Russian armies pulled back slightly as Al pressed forward. Russia is huge. Warsaw is isolated and almost surrounded. She should fall soon. In the Middle East I destroyed a second Turkish detachment. I expect push forward next turn to his main line. Italy destroyed an A-H detachment and took a town in the Italian Alps. I also worked over a German detachment. Al tested the French line this turn... she held. I brought in significant reinforcments to the spot he tested. Overall there is a lot I wish to talk about but right now I am going to say little... and no screen shots yet.

[Catacol Highlander]

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.

[Ivanov]

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

What about the impact of naval blockade then? It should lower the NM of CP regardless their success in Russia ( just like in happened in reality ).