AAR - "1914: Call to Arms" (Central Powers) - Battle of the Newbies!

[AshesFall]

Turn 11

Russian Artillery in the Caucasus… not good. Not good at all. I wonder if this will soon turn up in Austria instead.

The west front

Still quiet as the grave. Though it is sure to be the quiet before the storm. The western entente seems to be moving up to strike! We were reinforced by heavy artillery that was promptly upgraded, and a fighter wing. Otherwise, almost every single unit on the western front is up to full strength and in good order. The Prussians start rebuilding one of their shattered corps.

I should probably have counter attacked the weaker french units immediately upon arrival in the north, as they had yet to dig in. But I didnt think of it when it happened. Oh well.

The Serbian and Austro-Russian fronts

Again, this was the site of most of the action. Von-Bohm-Ermolli seized the moment and snuck VII’th corps around the Serbian flank. They have almost reached Uskub. With any luck, the fact that the rail lines are cut by the advancing corps means no reinforcements will make it there in time. Ermolli himself moved up in support, and ordered artillery and the nearby IV’th and VIII’th corps to attack the enemy and try to pin it in place.

The Rus took the bait, hook, line and sinker. I wonder if my opponent saw it and chose to advance into it, or if he has a nasty counter trap waiting. Hopefully, I managed to keep the army out of sight and make the serbian front a very tempting target with its' "open back".In any case, the greedily advancing Russian X’th corps that had just taken Arad was promptly destroyed, and other troops moved up to close the noose. XVII’th corps and XXII’nd corps moved to block any relieving moves towards the cut supply lines. The cavalry squadron moved swiftly to take Klausenberg, preventing any supplytrains from passing through the city. If all goes well, these four (now three) corps and their commander should soon be marching to Austrian prison camps.

A savage Russian attack by six corps on the detachment defending Jaroslav left it slightly understrength. Shuffling around to use II’nd corps as a shield, it received immediate reinforcements.

Will the Rus escape the trap? Will the serbs reach Uskub in time to prevent it’s capture? Will the Austrians manage to weather the Russian storm in the north long enough for Dankl and Von Bohm to finish their work?

The Prussian-Russian front

This front continues to be a hotbed of action. The Russians retreated from Von Bulows’ fury to strengthen the encirclement of Koenigsberg. Von Bulow wisely paused, awaiting reinforcements before pressing on. Hindenburg shuffled his army towards Bromberg, where a Russian Corps has almost entered the city. It was destroyed by continuous attacks from the Prussians. Two corps were moved by rail from the western front to strengthen Von Mackensen and Hindenburg, the goal is to be able to go on the offensive here during the summer.

A concerted effort by the Prussian navy sanl the Russian Gangut battleship in retaliation for the lost Rhineland, the rus stayed to fight, and if he continues to do so his entire Baltic navy will soon decorate the ocean floor.

War of the Atlantic

Still silent, though the packs of new submarines will move out next turn. Soon, if all goes as planned, we will hit the unrestricted warfare zones with many submarines at once.

The war in the middle east

Nothing much happening here, the corps and cavalry continue to move closer to the Basra area. The ottomans have started recruiting and outfitting a second new Corps, and are gathering resources to create a staff for a new HQ, gathering these resources will probably take a month.

General Staff

The Austrians invest another chit into infantry warfare. Eager for new discoveries! The Prussians develop airship technology. Italian nationalists continue to warmonger, Uprisings occur in Yen and Koenigsberg is still under siege. It is very doubtful that they will last another two weeks.

[Strategiclayabout]

- For drawing arrows I use the base "Paint" software (I think I have the 5.1 one), can make curved ones, color them and add text with in some clicks but everyone has its preferences:

*

- Congratulations for your first army encirclement . Nice plan well executed under pressure. I don't think Russians can escape and if that HQ is the one I believe it is... Add to that a near collapse of Serbia a very possible Bulgaria entry and the Baltic Sea battle, it's the spring of disasters for the Tsar !

- Infantry level tech 1 for Austria that early is a big hit ! Actually it means they stole some equipment from the Germans but who cares , their corps will soon be as effective as german ones, at least for a time. If the eastern hordes arn't cautious they will be decimated ! It also seems Russians are spreading their effort all over instead of concentrating on 1 or 2 objectives, good for you !

- Truly, the West seems sleepy, Nivelle or some other great military genius must be planning a decisive frontal assault somewhere... on the front !

[Bill101]

@ Bill and Strategiclayabout

Thank you for the tips and comments, having people follow the AAR and commenting is really the most fun about writing it!

Is the quality of the maps and arrows bearable?

It sure is!

[Hyazinth von Strachwitz]

My impression after playing many matches of "Call to Arms" versus the AI and human players: this will be very difficult for the CP!!!

[AshesFall]

My impression after playing many matches of "Call to Arms" versus the AI and human players: this will be very difficult for the CP!!!

Yep, I've had some nasty setbacks, and I'm not quite sure how to proceed. But, we'll give it all we've got!

Nice to have you following the AAR!

[AshesFall]

Turn 12

I’ve been seeing “kitchener’s new army” on these events a bit, and I wonder what is going on. I cant find the event in the strategu guide, but whatever it is it doesn’t sound good. The fall of Koenigsberg hits the already battered Prussian Morale further. Ugh… this is really not going well. On the plus side, the yanks seem to dislike the chokehold on our trade. Something at least. More units, frenchies, and more Italian cries for war. They will soon join the entente I think.

The west front

West front is still quiet. I tried to prepare for A future assault on Metz, I really need to take that back. Some attacks and shuffling to try and get rid of one enemy unit, it just reatreated though. And a move forward with two corps into unprotected positions in front of French trenches. Well, it will be educational to see what happens I guess. I tried to keep the artillery in support for defensive fire, that way they just might survive. I upgraded our airships, might be helpful to bomb Metz a little.

The Serbian and Austro-Russian fronts (and a note on Italy)

The Serbs. Gah. Desperate attacks from weak Serbian units saw the corps that was poised to pluck Uskub retreat into the mountains where they have no chance of taking the city before the serbs reinforce it. Von Bohm-Ermolli was livid, and the corps commander was executed on the spot as an example to all on cowardice when just in reach of the goal. This little mishap just might prolong the fight for Serbia for another half a year or a year. Very depressing. Retaliation attacks saw one Serbian corps retreat.

The Russians, sensing the trap about to snap shut, retreated in haste. They wisely left a rearguard to dig in and protect the fleeing columns. Our forces chose not to rush heedlessly into the machine guns and instead paused, awaiting the nearby Austrian artillery. A strike at Brusilow himself was fended off, we took losses. Dankls’ noose closed, barring major reinforcements and a big rescue operation it is now only a matter of time. The cavalry dug in to try and weather the onslaught of desperate Russians to come. Chasing stubborn Russians in mountains might take too long though, nothing seems to be fast and easy in the east.

It really seems Italy will join at any moment now. Their enthusiasm is high. I entrenched the garrisoned corps near the border and operated a german corps and cavalry squadron to plug the gaps. I am stretched so very thin…

The Prussian-Russian front

Naval bombardment (reconnaissance) revealed a weak Russian corps near the coast. Von Bulow struck quickly, wiping it out for nearly no losses. Sensing an opportunity to balance the scales (the rus now seems to have four corps here and one detachment) von Hindenburg sent a third corps north to support Von Bulow. Cavalry scouts cautiously at the very edge of the forest near Allenstein, hoping to sneak into the Russian rear. In his haste to apply pressure, the rus might have left his back unguarded. Recon planes were rebased to Von Mackensen, I want to take a look at the area up to Lodz next turn. A Strong Prussian corps joined his forces by train, we will strike if the opportunity presents itself, now that the Russians have withdrawn from Breslau.

War of the Atlantic

Soon. Very soon, the wolves will be unleashed.

The war in the middle east

Nothing much here, some entrenchments.

General Staff

My enthusiasm for research has left me low on troops, we are now outnumbered on all fronts. The Prussians hastened to start the rebuilding of two shattered corps and the Austrians one shattered detachment. Austria is saving resources to build a brand new corps, and the ottomans are gathering materiel for another HQ to lead our mission to retake Basra.

That very focus on research paid dividends this turn, as we had a research breakthrough! (thank god for intelligence!) the germans have advanced their doctrine and weaponry in infantry warfare!

Here I feel I must ask for some clarification. Is there some sort of progression “over time” bonus to research? It seems I am getting very lucky with these research hits. In either case, this might, just might, give us a chance to stay in this fight despite the horrible losses so far!

[Bill101]

Turn 12

I’ve been seeing “kitchener’s new army” on these events a bit, and I wonder what is going on. I cant find the event in the strategu guide, but whatever it is it doesn’t sound good.

Hi

It's this Decision Event, and no, it's not good news for the Central Powers!

It boosts British forces for less than cost price, representing all the thousands of volunteers who came forward in 1914.

Bill

DE 123 - UK: Form A New Army?

· Event fires: On the 21st August 1914 when London is in Entente hands and the UK is aligned with the Entente and fully mobilized.

· Cost of accepting: 600 MPPs (at 50 MPPs a turn for 12 turns).

· Yes: Four strength 10 Corps will deploy at Portsmouth on the 20th May 1915, 20th June 1915, 20th August 1915 and 20th December 1915 respectively

· No: Nothing.

[AshesFall]

Hi

It's this Decision Event, and no, it's not good news for the Central Powers!

It boosts British forces for less than cost price, representing all the thousands of volunteers who came forward in 1914.

Bill

DE 123 - UK: Form A New Army?

· Event fires: On the 21st August 1914 when London is in Entente hands and the UK is aligned with the Entente and fully mobilized.

· Cost of accepting: 600 MPPs (at 50 MPPs a turn for 12 turns).

· Yes: Four strength 10 Corps will deploy at Portsmouth on the 20th May 1915, 20th June 1915, 20th August 1915 and 20th December 1915 respectively

· No: Nothing.

Thank you! Looks like I will soon be knee deep in brits everywhere. Ugh!

[AshesFall]

Turn 13

This will be a small update with few pictures, as very little is really going on right now. Soon the updates will be longer again I think!

The west front

One corps was destroyed near the coast, I moved in an elite reinforced one to cover it’s position a bit behind the line. Otherwise, the two corps moving up to metz were unharmed (I was surprised at this) and dug in. If I want to assault Metz I need seven shells for my arty to reduce its’ entrenchment completely. I need a strong corps to move in and occupy it before I can take it. Four more turns!

The Serbian front

This front. Bah. The Austrians are tired and listless. One fleeing montenegran detachment was destroyed, several attacks on a single Serbian corps yielded little result, and I tried to shuffle troops and HQ’s so that I can reinforce them fully next turn.

The Austro-Russian front

I kept closing the noose, units moved into position, a detachment blocks the pass for Russians coming to try and relieve their comrades. The entrenched “rear guard” corps was destroyed under combined attacks and artillery fire.

The Prussian-Russian front

The Prussians stood still and upgraded. Every single corps on the east front now has infantry weapons 1 ready to go.

The Italian front

Italy entered the war after secret conferences in Britain. The Prussians dug in, and our meager forces here await the storm.

General Staff

As we are outnumbered and beset on all fronts the Austrian and Prussian high commands held a joint conference with the usual prerequisite lovely view and locale for such bigwig events. Among much talking about how to handle the situation, the Austrian shovel was much waved around and admired. Consequently, both countries invest heavily in trench research (both now have five chits invested). The Prussians also invest one chit in gas/shell production, as I now begin to understand the importance of being able to supply the artillery. The Prussians start rebuilding another shattered corps, only three shattered ones left to rebuild!

We chose to attempt a dangerous operation with frogmen and bombs in the italian ports. I would not want to be those frogmen...

The Austrians rejoice at the war with Italy. Our propaganda machine seems to be doing its' job very well, as they clearly have no idea how bad it is that the italians have declared war.

A ship carrying the arms we were to supply the indian rebels with was siezed by the US navy. Curses.

As that tense time of every turn rolled around, when any tech advances are revealed, the focus on trench warfare was rewarded! Both Austria and Prussia got a hit! (with around 20-30% chance respectively). This is good news, as it might allow us to stand against the enemy on all fronts long enough to put the infantry weapons into effect and deal with Serbia once and for all.

[Strategiclayabout]

- With infantry tech lvl 1 Prussians can begin to breath. Entente won't be able to go far against your superior technology. The question is: do CP use this advantage while it lasts to launch a surprise offensive or will it be used to block any enemy gain and reorganize armies and industry ?

- Those pesky Italians bark loud but arn't very dangerous though they come with more ships for Entente (as if they needed them) and add several hundred kilometers of front.

- Serbian front CP units seem to waver a bit after fighting so much but having those treacherous pasta-eaters trying to stab them in the back should motivate you troops to finish the job quickly .

[AshesFall]

Turn 14

It seems the Entente is a lot more active diplomatically than we are. They have achieved some success in Romania and Portugal so far, and this turn they managed to persuade the Bulgarians from our side. That is not good, but with some luck the Bulgarians will see out way once we bring the serbs, montenegrans and other Balkans to heel.

The west front

No picture here as literally nothing is happening. I am gathering strength for an attack on Metz, but need two more turns worth of shells at the least.

The Serbian and Austro-Russian fronts

Serbia was quiet as Von Bohm-Ermolli gathers strength and reorganizes his army. Localized attacks drive a Serbian corps deeper into the hills. Another of our headquarters move to support the troops Von Dankl left behind in the south, to reorganize them and put a swifter end to Brusilov and the remains of his army.

The encirclement continues, Though the army is weak and disorganized. The Russians have no hope of escape with the detachment now entrenched in the valley to block any relief, but every month that passes that we cannot destroy these isolated troops is a month wasted for other endeavors. So many fronts call for our attention.

The Prussian-Russian front

This where the only significant action of early July took place. Having reorganized and received new training and weapons throughout the first half of 1915, the east armies surged forward as the Russians advanced. The Rus, no doubt used to passive Prussians letting them do pretty much what they pleased, were dealt a serious blow as they staggered under the unexpected assault. Recon flights in the south revealed a corps and a Detachment, and the corps was crushed despite entrenchments by Von macksensens army. He will defeat the small enemy elements at kattowits and then advance on Lodz. Von Hindenburg and Von bulow coordinated to defeat one more Russian corps, a catching a recon flight squadron on the ground and overrunning it, and dealing significant damage to two other Russian corps. Our scouting cavalry met with an expectedly strong reaction (pretty much five Russian corps rushed it and the entire front moved northwards) and was nearly destroyed. As they cannot extricate themselves they dig in and prepare to sell their lived dearly.

Our ultimate goal this season is to retake Koenigsberg and pressure Warsaw if at all possible, we shall see how far I get.

The Italian front

The Italian front is quickly becoming another quagmire, four corps have moved against Trento and it is doubtful that the detachment here will hold despite entrenchments. If it should hold, we have deployed fresh troops with german weapons to replace them inside the city. We must hold here long enough to clean up the Serbian front and make reinforcements available.

The italian Navy sails the bay in force. I cannot hide all of the badly damaged and aging Austrian ships in ports, so I sallied out with whatever forces had even slight chances of damaging the enemy, while hiding the weakest elements in the rear. Limited success was had, but next turn promises to be grim for the Austrian navy.

The War in the middle east

The ottomans have finally gathered enough resources to set up an effective and modern headquarters. As I had saved for this for numerous turns, and am unlikely to ever build another HQ with the ottomans, why settle for less than the best? Kemal Pascha, a veteran of the tripolis wars of 1911-1912, has agreed to take the field in person to lead our forces in retaking Basra.

General Staff

The Prussians have invested heavily in research once again and started rebuilding another shattered corps. We now have three chits in shell production and one chit in heavy artillery. Austrians have too few resources to do more than reorganize their armies.

Edit; Oh yes. The ottomans invested leftover resources into trench warfare, they now have two chits.

[AshesFall]

Turn 15

Well. If things have been sleepy the past couple of months, these two past weeks made up for it! The French took Strasbourg, and Prussian morale suffered further. Things are now fairly desperate.

The West front

On the west front we threw everything and kitchen sink at Strasbourg to take it back. Ultimately, through a mass of combined attacks, we took it. It does not seem that the Prussian people recognizes this feat, as they were nowhere near as happy to retake it as they were sad at loosing it. Bah. Ungrateful plebs… The modern corps we have stationed in Strasbourg should, god willing, hold the city if the French counter attack.

A French cavalry squadron also snuck behind my lines, I operated detachments from the eastern front to plug the holes. Hopefully, the Rus is set in his defensive mindset there at the moment and wont notice the lack.

The Serbian and Austro-Russian fronts

These fronts continue to be as exciting as watching a snail race a turtle. The bastard serb and rus are both digging in, laughing at us, while brusilow fends off all attacks. Hopefully, once the southern corps are reorganized and can strike the trapped Russians from behind, there will be no more of that.

The Prussian-Russian front

Prussian enthusiasm continued to mark the general mood of the front, we fear it might have turned a bit too trigger happy. A damaged corps was destroyed along with the Russian detachment guarding kattowitz. Krakow lies open. Our forces advanced to put pressure on the north before the rus can dig in, leaving one corps exposed and with low strength. Reinforcements came in, making sure we have full strength corps to strike with again when needed.

The Italian front

This front is misery, both on sea and on land. Some sneaky shuffling of detachments using the “switch” maneuvers allowed a full strength detachment with german weapons to relieve the beser detachment in Trento. It then switched again with a german cavalry squadron that dug in, hopefully this will put it out of reach. The ententes massive naval advantage is telling in the bay of Italy. The Austrian navy will soon be no more.

The war in the Middle East

I stupidly forgot to retreat a destroyer and my upgraded cruiser last turn, despite seeing a massive French fleet coming. The destroyed was duly sunk, and the cruiser damaged. It retreated.

Continued in the next post!

[AshesFall]

War of the Atlantic

The war in the atlantic deserves special mention, and a longer section all of its’ own. Those of you that have followed me from the beginning may remember that I mentioned a plan for the Prussian navy. I would strike north with a large force to disrupt the blockade for a couple of turns and make the English focus their naval forces there. Then I would rebuild, wait for submarines, and strike through the channel. The time has finally arrived! Operation “Seewolf” has been launched in all secrecy after half a year of preparation. I have long seen british ships sailing arrogantly around their channel, shelling our infantry. The time has come to teach them the cost of Hubris. Inspired by Dutch escapades in the past, a fleet consisting of every combat worthy ship in the Prussian navy snuck in darkness along the coast of the Netherlands.

This plan has the potential to go wrong in so many ways. Too many ships blocking the entrance to the channel, plain bad luck, or an enemy intelligence hit on any of my ships in the bays and nooks near the Netherlands. These were the positions at the end of last turn, and after scouting with recon planes and aggressive seaplane carrier this turn.

The navy struck, going deep into the channel. The operation has been a huge success, sinking no less than two battleships, one carrier, and trapping another carrier that will likely be sunk next turn.

There is still much that can go wrong. I have no idea where the rest of the british fleet is. Hopefully it is further in the north, giving the fleet arm of the operation time to withdraw with nearly no losses. The submarines will continue through the channel to strike the unrestricted naval warfare zones, and then disperse along the convoy routes. SeeWolf is the pride of the Prussians this spring, a daring plan! Will it prove to be a disaster with the combined entente response? We shall see.

General Staff

The Prussians invest again in intelligence, three chits now. Since I have been playing the tech war aggressively I figure I need to try and keep the advantages I may get from that for as long as possible! It paid off, as I did get intelligence lvl 2, now I can redeem the last two chits and invest in other research. Hopefully this will keep the rus from our weapons for a while longer.

The ottomans invested into a chit of infantry warfare.

[AshesFall]

Turn 16

The game is certainly afoot! Cat and mouse in in the channel. This turn featured some successes, and one major disappointment. very few arrows this turn on the pictures since nothing very complex really happened.

The West front

On the west front the roving French cavalry squadron retreated, seeing Prussian cities well held. The ruse worked then, as high command had put skeleton crews and straw men in fortifications around the towns, hoping to scare the cavalry away before moving most of the men back to the east front. A devastating seven shells bombardment saw the Metz fortifications to rubble. Combined attacks shattered the French corps holding it and drove the remnants from the area. We have regained metz! Again though, this did nothing for our morale. Bah…

The Serbian and Austro-Russian fronts

These fronts have finally started moving again, as retrained and upgraded forces moved into position supported by plenty of heavy artillery. Perhaps I will now manage something against the serbs. Brusilow has finally started to buckle under combined attacks from two corps, more to come.

The Prussian-Russian front

This front saw a major disappointment. I have spotted Russians sporting advanced weaponry of distinctly German character. Despite all of my investments I have lost this window of opportunity, with Koenigsberg still firmly in Russian hands. I am actually at a loss for what to do. I have to make something happen, Prussian morale is dropping dangerously, but the Russians are dug in and starting to close the tech gap. I set up a line of troops opposite, at least the ones on the front line cannot upgrade. Once Serbia falls (if it ever does… ) I might be able to bring both artillery pieces here and break the line. Perhaps even take Warzaw. We’ll see. No attacks, just positioning and some reinforcements.

The Italian front

This one is turning just as nasty as predicted. Our detachment will fall shortly, and the Austrian navy is all but gone. The montenegrans stuck their noses out to destroy one of our battleships in port. Ach. The slow collapse of the Italian front seems inevitable barring reinforcements that I do not have at the moment.

War of the Atlantic

The fleet arm of the operation quickly retreated back towards safe harbours. All depends on if the Brits find them or not. The submarines struck west, and stumbled across a Canadian corps being transported. They sank the transport fleet to a man. It is said that most of the captains were drunk, deadening any sense of compassion as the enemy drowned. War is terrible.

General Staff

Prussia now has their maximum of 1000MP invested in technological research, even after redeeming the two "left over" chits in intelligence. Ottomans invest a chit in heavy artillery, better to have the tech and build the artillery than the other way around.

The Norweigans are protesting the Entente raids on their convoys. Well, protests wont do much. Why don’t you take up arms and help out? Neutrality? Bah… weaklings…

[AshesFall]

Turn 17

This turn saw some surprises! And if everything works out (it usually does, right?) it might go some ways towards getting me back in the game! The entente is still very active on the diplomatic front, I may have to react here soon. Portugal is coming closer to joining the entente.

The West front

The western front was mostly quiet. The entente destroyed one of our corps, but made no other advances. I tried to dig in and reinforce where I could.

The Serbian and Austro-Russian fronts

At long last, progress! Our massed artillery opened up on the serbs that were entrenched in the hills and combined attacks destroyed them. Otherwise damaged units were rebuilt after furious Serbian counter attacks last turn.

Brusilow and his army is almost done, the reorganized corps striking their rear is tipping the balance. Hopefully, the loss of this HQ and these corps (permanently, they cannot be rebuilt) will be worth all the time this has taken.

The Prussian-Russian front

This was the scene of major action! This was very exciting, and might swing one way or the other. Perhaps our pessimistic assessment of the situation was not entirely correct. This is an excerpt on my thought process here during this turn, and my goals.

I have been keeping a close eye on this front and on the corps moving around each turn. From my count, the Prussian and Russian forces are roughly equal now, before the two corps I got last turn, with all the losses the Russians have taken the past few turns. As far as I could see at the start of the turn, I could see ten Russian corps and I had seen more moving away to the north. For some reason, the Russians abandoned their entrenched position at Lodz. It stands to reason that the Russian must be weak somewhere. The entire point of the southern thrust was, as I have written before, to reach Lodz and from there Warzawa. Well, if the Russians leave the door open, we must at least have a peek! I moved up, and Warzawa is empty!? And I cannot reach it this turn with anything! Gah! Everything moved up and I tried to make sure to stay in supply for next turn and cover my rear. The Russians attacked last turn, and nearly destroyed one corps near Thorn. That left two corps weak in the centre, and I attacked one of them. It was hit twice, and retreated. I moved a corps from Allenstein and destroyed it, spotting a corps behind the river. One corps moves to intercept. My goal is to stop the Russians from moving into Warzawa at all. Another of the newly arrived corps move to strike Evert himself. We entrench opposite the Russians in the north. Will the Russians be able to reinforce Warzaw? If so, will they be able to hold it?

The Italian front

Entrenching, reinforcing, hoping to last until help can arrive. Though the Austrian navy is effectively destroyed, their submarines work together with a Prussian submarine and prove that they are not entirely toothless yet! One italian cruiser sunk.

War of the Atlantic

We open up unrestricted warfare across the coast of Britain! Wow, I really did not expect the US alignment to rise that quickly, nor did I see any particular change in my own national morale. Hm. Odd. We’ll try our best to stay until the ports are disabled at least! A bit of a letdown all in all, with enormous swings in US stance, no visible gain in NM, and little effect on the ports. Hrm, well, this was the entire point of operation “seewolf” for which I’ve lost a cruiser and two battleships, so I’ll stay the course.

Unfortunately the british found our retreating fleet, most of it will not make it back. That is… not good, and pretty much the end of Prussian naval actions save for submarines barring a major investment.

General Staff

A smashing turn research wise, with the ottomans getting advice on shovel handling from the Austrians (trench lvl 1), the Prussians gaining production technology lvl 1 and the Austrians getting one of the prussians old telegraph code machines (intelligence lvl 1).

[AshesFall]

Turn 18

Entente diplomatic activities continue to be a problem. Not only have they pulled off some sort of coup to have Greece join them, Bulgaria has moved away from us even more! It is definetly time to put our diplomats to use, why cant they fight us on their own like men? Do they have to bring in everyone else to support them?

The US are livid about some ship we sank, when we asked why it was sailing those waters after having been warned, thrice, about not entering them in the first place, their ambassador near spat in our faces! We’ll remember this slight…

The West front

West front is as west front often is. Nothing new. We reinforced, upgraded a little, and operated our artillery to help put even more pressure on the Rus in the coming weeks.

The Serbian and Austro-Russian fronts

Ah, the sweet, sweet taste of success! Brusilow has fallen, he was found in his command bunker holding his service pistol and missing most of his brain. A Russian corps has been destroyed, and the Serbs continue to buckle under the weight of our artillery. The picture speaks for itself, only three Serbian units remain. And the Greek of course.

The Prussian-Russian front

This front was supremely chaotic these past two weeks. The Russians had the idea to cut us off with a move around the west of our forces, little knowing just how committed we were to this move. The devastating effects on Von Mackensens supply situation was immediate, but expert husbanding of meager resources allowed the two corps near Warzawa, supported by two corps from the north, to overcome the understrength corps holding it and occupy the city. We strengthen our hold around the Russian salient, it is they who will be hungry, without supply or aid, and who will meet their end this fall. Evert has made a critical mistake, and another corps fell as we cut him off from the rest of his army. Other corps were moved to block the advancing Russians from the east, there will be no rescue!

The Italian front

An Austrian corps was deployed, some detachments strengthened. The german submarine is completely surrounded and cannot escape, the Austrian submarines retire to port.

War of the Atlantic

The british are hunting our naval forces relentlessly, blockading our ports and shelling them constantly. The Rus has somehow found new fleets, and a battleship, and is roving the Baltic sinking our weak fleets there who cannot find shelter in already full harbors. Truly, this is the end for our navies.

The blockade of Britain is also suffering, two submarines have been almost destroyed by masses of cruiser and destroyer fleets swarming everywhere. Our brave submariners are holding on for as long as they can, we must at least try to deliver a harsh blow this once, as the rest of our navy has sacrificed itself for this opportunity.

The war in the Middle East

The Russians have attacked the ottomans in Eleskirt. In return, we advance into Olru and move a to threaten their headquarters in the area.

General Staff

The Sinussi tribes have risen in revolt against their Italian masters! Surely we must support this fight for freedom. Norway continues to protest the disruption of their convoys, but most other nations have long since ceased listening. We send assurances, and try to fan the fires of their dislike. Welshmen go on strike everywhere, and Nicholas the second has personally taken over the management of the Russian war effort after the disasters this year.

Our researchers continue to do excellent work. The Austrians have once again adapted superior Prussian arms (they gain infantry weapons lvl 2) as well as learning to dig ever more intricate burrows. As they have little else to occupy their time in the north, their ingenuity is impressive. They say there are cities and wonders in the depths below the Austrian trenches (lvl 4). Prussians, inspired, are not late to follow (Trenches lvl 3).

[Strategiclayabout]

- I agree Evert should have retreated to make a stand further east. Now Russians will soon have lost 3 HQs and that is a huge blow to them (by the way units destroyed in Carpathia can be rebuilt but only at full cost ). Strange move in Turkey, not sure what they're trying to do down there.

- Seems Austrians managed to survive the worst (minus their now skeleton navy) and will be able to slowly reinforce italian and polish fronts. With the fall of Warsaw, pressure on fortresses should decrease. Getting infantry tech lvl 2 before the end of 1915 will certainly help a lot.

- I see your subs are doing their jobs sinking 45 MPPs worth of convoys, that should hurt UK a bit but you were unlucky to send the Lusiatania to the bottom that quickly (for NM effect there are some tricks to maximize the unrestricted naval warfare explained in another thread, don't remember where at the moment).

[AshesFall]

- I agree Evert should have retreated to make a stand further east. Now Russians will soon have lost 3 HQs and that is a huge blow to them (by the way units destroyed in Carpathia can be rebuilt but only at full cost ). Strange move in Turkey, not sure what they're trying to do down there.

- Seems Austrians managed to survive the worst (minus their now skeleton navy) and will be able to slowly reinforce italian and polish fronts. With the fall of Warsaw, pressure on fortresses should decrease. Getting infantry tech lvl 2 before the end of 1915 will certainly help a lot.

- I see your subs are doing their jobs sinking 45 MPPs worth of convoys, that should hurt UK a bit but you were unlucky to send the Lusiatania to the bottom that quickly (for NM effect there are some tricks to maximize the unrestricted naval warfare explained in another thread, don't remember where at the moment).

Yep, I just may have a chance yet. Though Prussias morale is... abysmal. I have a few plans that might remedy this in 1916, but we'll see.

[AshesFall]

Turn 19

The entente continues to focus on diplomacy. They have moved norweigan sentiment away from us, no doubt with assurances and compensations for their wanton raiding. We will probably have to get involved in the diplomatic arena, though I question whether this is a wise move considering the lead the entente has.

The West front

Western front is still quiet, though the brits and the French are pushing in the south near the border of Switzerland. We have started a bombing campaign by airship against nancy. We’ll see what that leads to.

The Serbian and Austro-Russian fronts

The last remnants of Brusilows’ ill fated army was destroyed, and I am now readying troops for operation to gorlice. From here they should be able to cut off the Russians advancing towards Warzawa, and with any luck a well timed counter attack from the Prussians when the Austrians are behind the Russians should see the end of them. We’ll see how this develops.

I made a mistake on the Serbian front that will cost me a turn or two, spreading out attacks is not a good idea. I need to focus attacks and destroy units entirely. Next turn I will reorganize and then hit him again, the end is near here now. One corps moved back to retake Sarajevo, I plan to move the austrian artillery and this corps to Dubrovnik, and take the montenegran capital.

The Prussian-Russian front

This front was messy this turn as well, so I wont put arrows in here. In general, I had two choices. I could either go full tilt and try to eradicate the trapped Russians or consolidate my positions around warzaw. As the rus has moved significant forces from the Austrian east front and nearly destroyed a corps (it retreated to safety behind von mackensen) I chose the latter. My opponent intelligently identified the only route of escape for the trapped Russians, around lodz to the west, and I could only destroy one of the corps and damage Evert. On the Koenigsberg line my artillery softened a Russian corps that was then destroyed for nearly no losses. This will happen every turn now until the rus breaks from this line. These advancing Russian forces are the ones I hope to catch in the rear with the Austrians I am operating.

The Italian front

The Austrians deployed a corps here in defense of Bruneck. That should be a little harder for the Italians to break, especially with a detachment covering the flank of the corps. We shall see if they hold. The bay of Italy continued to be a graveyard for the central powers naval forces.

War of the Atlantic

We kept up the unrestricted warfare in two areas (I hadn’t yet read the excellent tips on how to maximize NM effects, and I think it’s too late now to get the most out of it). Two submarines are trapped and nearly sunk, there are some fifteen or so fleets chasing around the area. It’s incredible that the entente still has this amount of naval power to spare considering how much they have sent to attack all our ports. We cant hide all our fleets, I am pondering whether to bother with rebuilding the fleets we have in hiding at all, it’s a costly project.

The war in the Middle East

The first corps of Kemals’ new army has deployed. I get something of a shock when I realize that I can only deploy them inside the small bit that is the central ottoman empire, the whole point of building them was to place them directly near Baghdad. Crap… the ottoman empire is huge, and I’ll need to move forces around quickly. To this end, I invest two chits in motorization.

General Staff

The Prussian have advanced to lvl 2 in Gas/shell production! That is great news, as the bombardment on the Koenigsberg line will now be more or less continuous.

[AshesFall]

Turn 20

Forgot to take screenies this turn, sorry about that. But, the action hasn’t been very intense.

The West front

French and british forces continue to push in the south, we’re very thin here, but have deployed a line of detachments dug in to block an advance deeper into Prussia. We have significant reinforcements coming (two or three corps) during the coming turns, and they will go here.

The Serbian and Austro-Russian fronts

Reinforced the Austrians and operated them into position for that backstabbing strike. Next turn one corps should go down in Serbia.

The Prussian-Russian front

Everts and his last corps were destroyed, as was another corps on the Koenigsberg line. The Russians pushed allenstein hard with two corps, reducing our detachment. We operated a corps from the west to just behind allenstein. If the Rus wants to attack, he must do so on the move.

The Italian front

The Italians seem to have pulled back from the city, probably to try their luck somewhere they can fight better and on a broader front. This will buy me much needed time!

War of the Atlantic

One last turn of unrestricted raiding, I don’t want to put the US over 45 in alignment. I spread out in all zones. One sub was sunk here, another in the bay of Italy. Our ships are being bombarded and torpedoed by enemy subs in harbor. We will soon have no navy at all.

The war in the Middle East

Sent some detachments to block diverse national morale objectives. Kemals’ army is deployed. I realized none of them can upgrade motorization (damnit) and promptly took back the chits. Started building two more detachments.

General Staff

Prussia invests in Diplomacy, two chits in Norway, one in Bulgaria and one in Romania. Austria and ottomans will follow with one each on Romania and Bulgaria eventually.

The Austrians developed their industrial technology to lvl 2, very good!

[AshesFall]

Turn 21 – November 6th 1915

More entente diplomacy, Bulgaria moves even further away from us. I am very lucky that the ottomans are not in trouble, or this would be extremely bad. Now it is just annoying, and costly, loosing their income. Well, I will start taking up the fight here!

Eritreans are formed at tobruk and the writer Joe Hill is executed in the US.

The West front

On the west front, nothing new.

The Serbian and Austro-Russian fronts

Destroyed the next to last Serbian corps. Dankls’ army around Gorlice now stands ready, having been refitted and instructed in the latest infantry doctrines. They will help break the Russians.

A couple of corps have started moving northwest, towards Italy. These will be the first part of the army that will deal with the spaghetti eaters, the rest of the army to follow once Serbia is good and truly broken!

The Prussian-Russian front

This front is slowing down a little. The Russians broke and retreated to the northeast, legging it as fast as they possibly could. Prussians surged out of their entrenchments, catching one corps and destroying it, and badly mauling another. We began the slow task of braking down novo-georgievsk, repeated attacks saw the fortifications start to crumble and the detachment inside begin to suffer losses. This should fall during the coming two weeks. Otherwise, Mackensens army reorganized and received replacements for the fighting to come.

The Italian front

Nothing new here. Still no sign of the Italians.

War of the Atlantic

I broke off the unrestricted warfare. The US stands at 43%, below my 45% goal. All of the british convoy routes are down. Now we just have to find our way home without being sunk.

The war in the Middle East

I moved forward on the Egyptian border to try and entrench at the mouth of the strait crossings, making it harder to attack in force. This is risky, as we could take significant losses when the brit strikes back, before we can dig in again. Still, blocking any entry completely could be worthwhile.

The long slog towards Basra continues, and the sinussi uprising has surprising successes, taking several small villages along the coast of africa.

General Staff

The Austrians and Ottomans follow up by sending a diplomat each to Bulgaria, now the central powers have three diplomats working here.

Prussia has reorganized its’ industry! We will build more than ever before… (industrial tech lvl 2)

[AshesFall]

Turn 22 – December 4th, 1915

The Arabs have risen against the ottomans! The ancient empire is shocked to it’s very core. I have neglected to mention the blockade of our trade in my comments lately, but it is permanent it seems, and nothing will change it. No need to mention it really, it’s only a little blockade…

The West front

The standoff is total. Both sides now sport more advanced weaponry than in1914 across the line. I have begun a buildup of forces around Mannheim, in preparation for 1916. More about that when I do the years end summary!

The Serbian and Austro-Russian fronts

For some reason, the Serb sallied forth. Why I do not know, but Von Bohm-Ermolli now prays daily to whatever god made it so, for if it had not been, I fear Uskub would have been out of our reach for months yet. Instead, we could unleash a devastating artillery bombardment and with the combined forces of every single man in the area the city was cleared and taken.

In the northeast, Von Dankls’ modern army moved closer to the Russian front, ready to advance towards Lublin. Hopefully, my opponent is unaware of the size and strength of this army, and does not retreat or dig to deep.

The Prussian-Russian front

The first truly quiet weeks for months, the only fighting was around Radom, where several of our corps failed to destroy a Russian corps holding that city. Reinforcements and reorganizations were otherwise the norm, and near Koenigsberg Prussian forces simply advanced and halted around the city and a in a line behind a river. No sense throwing them away against deeply dug in Russians.

The Italian front

Italy sees no new developments. The sea is still misery for us, the mountains still misery for them.

War of the Atlantic

Our submarines moved away as quickly as they could, seeking the shelter of ports. Two, sneaking through the English channel, almost got caught.

The war in the Middle East

Success! Our forward move was punished by the brit as much as they were able. The sand storm at the time made targeting hard, no doubt our commanders chose to advance in cover of the storm. Very wise, a medal to that man! A furious artillery barrage from the Brits and attacks across the channel strait damaged the advancing corps, but switching places, digging in at the front and reinforcing to the rear solved the issue.

We are operating forces from the central empire to garrison all cities near medina. We must not allow this revolt to gain a foothold.

General Staff

More investments into diplomacy and some building. The most important development was advances in trench warfare across the board, Prussia at lvl 4, Austria at lvl 5 and the Ottomans at lvl 2. I imagine some large conference being held in a wintery castle atop a mountain, where Hapsburgers and Hohenzollerns twiddled moustaches and laughed behind their hands at their technologically retarded allies from the middle east.

Serbia surrenders, and 272 MPP's of loot was had! Praise the gods!

[AshesFall]

Turn 23 – January 1st 1916

Hm, it seems aquaba is important. It will let someone called Lawrence command the uprising. We suspect british hands behind this betrayal then! The ottomans are furious with the brits! Romania debates entering the war, something must be done about this.

The West front

The west front continues to be quiet, though the brits move close to our lines in the north and the French are sitting pretty around Strasbourg.

The Serbian and Austro-Russian fronts

Nothing much going on here, moved into position to take Montenegro and Albania out of the war.

The Prussian-Russian front

This was, again, the scene of the action. The Russian moved to oppose the Prussians in a line from Syedlets to Radom. I’m not sure why, but I can only assume that I was successful in hiding the strength of Dankls’ army and that the Rus did not expect an attack from that direction. Three Russian corps were destroyed. In the northeast Koenigsberg fell after a thundering full bombardment (10 shells). We hold the fortress city again!

The Italian front

This front shows signs of life around Gorz. Potiorek has travelled to Klagenfurt by train to begin setting up a headquarters and prepare for the army to assemble.

War of the Atlantic

We tried to break through the northern blockade to return to port with our submarines, not entirely successfully. Another sub has been sunk, making two total for the operation.

The war in the Middle East

The Sinussi tribes are making real neusances of themselves in northern Africa, taking a lot of small towns. We’ll see how this develops!

General Staff

We have continued to ramp up our diplomatic efforts. The central powers now sport two chits in the US, three in Bulgaria, three in Norway, four in Romania (as we really do not want another front to deal with at the moment) and one in Switzerland.

As the Prussians reorganize their industry, they also discover more efficient production methods (production lvl 2).

[AshesFall]

1915 Summary

Losses and units

On the right side picture we can see detailed losses of all the major nations. Notably, Russia alone has suffered more losses than the entire Central powers block put together, including three headquarters! Prussia is unfortunately the close runner up, most of their losses are fleets and not land units. Naval losses are 24 for the CP to 16 for the entente, a big difference unfortunately. Total losses 75 versus 46, not quite the two for one ratio we are hoping for, but still not bad.

In the units department things are looking interesting. Prussia is the nation with the largest land army by far, 55 units to Russias 32. Brits 29, French 27, Italians 17. The Austrians have 32 and the ottomans 29. That’s 116 total for the CP versus the entente 105. Only a slight advantage.

I have 22 Prussian land units on the eastern front and 16 Austrians. That’s 38, a slight advantage to the Russians total army strength.

That means 33 prussian units on the western front, facing most of France (say 23 units or so) and much of the brittish, who nonetheless have quite a few forces in Egypt from what I can see. So say 19. The entente, then, has roughly 42 units in the west, they outnumber us.

Research and diplomacy

Britain: 1075 RE, 150 Dipl

France: 1250 RE, 400 Dipl

Italy: 350 RE, 250 Dipl

Russia: 1200 RE, 500 Dipl

Entente total: 3875 Re, 1300 Dipl

Prussia: 2125 RE, 500 Dipl

Austria: 1100 RE, 350 Dipl

Ottomans: 400 RE, 100 Dipl

Central Powers total: 3525 RE, 950 Dipl

We can see that the entente has overtaken our investments in technology, now being in the lead by 300 or so. I can only surmise that the concentration of most of these points in two powers rather than three on the entente side is what has given me a slight tech advantage so far. Notably, the british and the French seem to have trouble upgrading their artillery, as no attacks have happened for a good long while. Perhaps this is due to my aggressive investment in intelligence tech?

On the diplomatic side things really are bad. I realized way too late how important this side of the war is. Our investments are still not close to the ententes, but we’re getting there.

MPP’s (Collected, spent on units, lost in units)

Britain: 5010, 1030, 7612

France: 5137, 2227, 6593

Italy: 1649, 596, 1440

Russia: 6550, 3015, 15736

Entente total: 18346, 6868, 31381

Prussia: 9881, 5079, 17853

Austria: 4231, 2175, 6543

Ottomans: 2572, 1717, 1047

Central Powers total: 16684, 8971, 25443

Well. Prussia has a very nice income, despite the loss of Bulgaria and Norweigan convoys. All in all, we are neatly keeping pace with the entente economy, more investments in industry technology and production techniques are in order. We must keep pace here if we are to have a chance at winning this war. The Central powers have still spent more on units and lost less on units than the entente, always something.

Plans for 1916

Looking back, Prussia began 1915 with 90 NM, and now stands at 68. This is really the deciding factor of the entire war, the rest is just dressing. Austria has fallen from 94 to 84, and the ottomans from 89 to 76. By comparison, the entente powers have fallen by about 10 points each.

This is nothing short of disastrous. Despite our victories in late 1915, the retaking of nearly all the land lost previously and the conquest of Serbia, Warzaw, Belgium and a good portion of coastal france near Britain, we are clearly loosing this war. Part of this is due to the wholesale loss of the fleet, I took some chances and was punished for it when my opponent found the retreating fleets, and due to the extreme advantage in navies the entente enjoys he has then been able to simply sit around sinking my ships in port.

1916 then, will be all about trying to correct the course of Prussias national morale. How?

The western front

The Prussian army is now stronger than it was at the start of the war, every single corps has been rebuilt and more has been added. However, we are still weaker than the enemy in the west. The offensive of the year will be focused on southern france, with the goal to take Belfort, Nancy and Verdun. By early summer, we should have three artillery pieces in this region (rail artillery and two “normal” pieces), that added to our advances in shell technology should allow us a grinding advance forward by about two corps per turn. The rest of the front must hold. If the French and british continue to lack artillery technology, that will prove no problem. If they do gain those advances (late I hope) then lacking shell technology will hopefully deny them sustained offensives, being limited by our deep trenches to offensives about once per four turns or so per artillery piece they have. If they have both artillery tech and shell tech at good levels, then we are lost. With an eye to the parity of forces, Prussia will immediately start investing in building more corps. We must grow stronger in the west.

The eastern front

While we have only a slight numerical superiority on this front, the quality of our troops is better across the board. We will continue to push hard, trying to drive the Russian backwards. In the northeast we will try to crack the Russian defensive lines with artillery, and advance on the larger cities. This is an area where I hope to gain valuable NM for both the Austrians the Prussians.

Italian front

We will gather fully upgraded Austrian corps at Klagenfurt, including their artillery piece. Three corps will be there soon, with four more to follow, including von Bohm himself. With this force I hope to gain local superiority through use of superios infantry technology, and artillery, and push the Italians back and into central Italy. Italian trenches are not too deep as far as I have seen, and they seem to lack infantry tech of their own.

Falkenhayn has visited Austrian high command and spoken to Emperor Francis Joseph I. Though the Austrians were supremely reluctant to agree to his scheme, as the Prussian commander in chief listed debts owed they grudgingly agreed. After all, without Prussian arms and telegraph techniques, and their sacrifice in drawing the might of the Rus from the Austrians to allow them to finish Serbia and avenge Archduke Franz Ferdinand the Austrians would be quite lost. Prussia is desperate, her people is starting to lose faith in the war. To this end, a Prussian cavalry squadron will be outfitted in full parade regalia on the Italian front. Though there will be no other Prussian forces, in every city the Austrians take, photographs of the cavalry proudly parading down the main streets will be taken and used to create the fiction of Prussian successes in Italy. A skeleton crew of Prussian military men will travel with the Austrians and give authentic sounding interviews to newspapers. In this way, Falkenhayn hopes, the Prussian people will be enthused about the war once more.

In game terms I aim to destroy the Italian army with the Austrians and use the german cav to occupy the cities. In this way, Prussia should get the NM bonus. Gamey? Perhaps, but I am desperate.

The middle east

I am amazed that the ottomans have held up so well. I will try to gather resources to build an artillery unit, and with luck get a hit off the tech. Then we can perhaps be offensive in Egypt, once Kemal takes Basra. I never really realized how important diplomacy is in this game, had the brits made headway in the middle east, I could not have helped them since Bulgaria has effectively been taken out of the war. All attempts are now made at bringing them back into the fold, but I fear it is too late. Hopefully, the ottmans will continue to simply hold. It is probably the best I can hope for.

Summary

All in all 1916 will probably determine whether I throw in the towel or not. Prussian nm is awful at the moment. Let’s get to it!

By the way, are these statistics posts interesting at all or just dry reading? I'd like to hear from you on this, and whether to do them in the future.

[Bill101]

By the way, are these statistics posts interesting at all or just dry reading? I'd like to hear from you on this, and whether to do them in the future.

Both useful and interesting for me, and an annual summary like that is very handy to show how the war is going, and to see where your ideas are coming from.