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

[xwormwood]

Same here!

Btw: i like the way you're able to laugh about yourself, chosing a title like "battle of the newbies" is prove enough.

[Strategiclayabout]

I'm aboard too, the year summary is a great idea so keep it going !

Your hard work putting all those numbers together is appreciated .

1916 will be great for us readers: who will collapse first ? In the East or the West ?

[AshesFall]

Turn 24 – February 26th 1916

First, thank you for the comments everyone. I'm happy that you are enjoying the AAR and our game so far. We're making tons of mistakes and looking back at the early installments our misconceptions are really amusing. The end of year updates will continue, let's hope that the next one is not the last!

The UK has apparently started conscripting even more men. Hrmf… we must redouble our efforts to keep pace with recruitment! Italy has formed an Albanian legion, it’s a race! More troops arrive in Egypt. There are Prussians organizing in our country who oppose the war… a clear sign of the troubles mention earlier!

The West front

The reinforcement of the southern sector continues, now we await the artillery. The railgun “lange max” was deployed, and the artillery in Serbia will be redeployed to the western front within the month. We have another artillery group due in May.

The Serbian and Austro-Russian fronts

Quiet here, except for the destruction of the Montenegran corps guarding Pec. A full strength corps surged forward, reaching the outskirts of Cetinje and joined by more Austrians from the north. The Austrian artillery was redeployed in support, the city should fall soon.

Our advancing corps in Albania took an undefended Tirana, they too will give up.

The Prussian-Russian front

All quiet, redeployments of our forces to begin overlapping the enemy and reinforcements of our weakened corps to the rear. Our forces near koenigsberg has moved the line up to within sight of the enemy, our artillery here should break their fortifications, and their formations.

The Italian front

I did not expect this. The Italians landed a corps in Pola, and promptly destroyed the battleship at anchor there. The ships are completely boxed in and cannot escape. As a cherry on top the U-Boat the Prussians sent to the Adriatic a long time ago decided to show up now, I the port and locked in. The Italians continue to gather in force around Gorz.

War of the Atlantic

U boats try to get home, with varying success. All our ports, except the Belgian ones, are blockaded. The U-boats find safe harbor in the Belgian ports though, for now.

The war in the Middle East

Nothing much here, uprisings all over the place, putting detachments and corps where they might help fend it off. Sinussi rebels close in on Alexandria.

General Staff

Not much here either, except that Prussia gained the third and last level of Gas/shell tech and built a new corps. The Austrians invested in shell tech themselves. The ottomans are saving resources to build enough concentrated artillery to matter.

[AshesFall]

Turn 25 – April 8th, 1916

What a bastard of a turn. The weather, with its’ usual impeccable sense of timing, was fine and dandy for the entente and a misery for us. Strasbourg fell, more trapped fleets were sunk in port by storming infantry and no less than four corps were destroyed, three of them Prussian. Awesome start to the 1916 campaign season!

The West front

This was the scene of half the carnage, as Strasbourg fell to the hated French and they took another corps with them in the fall. Due to horrid weather and the speed entrenching tools of the French, we could not retaliate. But wait, I had a railgun! Next turn I could fight back! Until I checked and saw that it couldnt upgrade artillery tech, and has exavtly zero impact on entrenchments... what good are these things anyway? We had, then, to simply… watch. How humiliating.

The Serbian and Austro-Russian fronts

A thundering barrage (nine gathered shells) reduced the Montenegran detachment to half strength, and then our corps destroyed it. Montenegro is taken. Nothing else of import, save moving forces to create the armies for the battle of Italy.

The Prussian-Russian front

We managed some small measure of retaliation, moving around the outskirts of the Russian lines and destroying a concentration of artillery there. We moved up into contact with the Russian front near Koenigsberg.

I look at this theatre, and I am not quite sure what to do. The Russian trenches are so very deep. I cannot attack them without artillery, perhaps I can flank them and strike them from a direction where the trenches wont help. I –must- make gains here.

The Italian front

Nothing much here. Positioning.

War of the Atlantic

I will remove this topic until something interesting that isn’t sinking our ships in port or running away happens.

The war in the Middle East

We have boxed in and attacked a rebel squadron, forces are converging everywhere to block other advances. The Sinussi rebellion took Alexandria, it was undefended! It wont last, but it was amusing.

General Staff

Prussia started rebuilding all three shattered corps, redeemed the last unusable chit in shell technology and invested in armored warfare, perhaps this will be the weapon to turn the war in our favour?

Austria spent time moving corps by train to Italy, and invested more in shell technology, now three chits.

The ottomans start building an artillery unit.

Most importantly, Prussia now has infantry tech lvl 2! This should make a big difference.

[AshesFall]

Turn 26 – May 6th, 1916

The british are shocked by irish uprisings, there are protest against this war everywhere and apparently this war is no longer about right and honor, but about class. Hm.

The West front

The cold west front is slowly heating up. The british let loose with a massive artillery barrage and a massed attack destroyed one of our elite corps. We retreated behind the river with haste, we are thinly spread in this region and cannot really hold in the open. With any luck the river will help us hold the line. The buildup continues in southern france, artillery has been brought to the front, new training implemented and new equipment is arriving.

The Serbian and Austro-Russian fronts

The serbian front is now a non issue, there is a single Italian detachment dug into a small town in former Albania, but it will soon be destroyed. Until further notice or any major changes occur this will be left without comment. The developments on the eastern front will be covered in the Prussian section.

The Prussian-Russian front

Upgrades across the line. My recon flight sweeps over the Russian flank on the side and spots an isolated corps, we pounce and destroy it. We will attempt to overlap the Russian flank here, as rushing their entrenchments frontally is suicide. The Austrians have been slated to hold the Prussian flank as they advance, preventing cutoff maneuvers from the Rus.

The Italian front

The army is coming together nicely here. The artillery has arrived and more men debark trains every week. Some retaliation was exacted for the attack on pola.

The war in the Middle East

I’m not sure what is going on here, if my opponent is simply unaware of the raiding to his rear or forgot about it. Nonetheless, I doubt it will continue for much longer.

General Staff

Prussia rebuilt the shattered corps and invested more into heavy artillery. The Austrians, too, invested into heavy artillery with three chits already in gas/shell production.

Prussia developed Artillery lvl 2 and armored warfare lvl 1, we will have to start production of one of these steel behemoths.

[AshesFall]

Turn 27 – June 6th, 1916

I forgot all about pictures this turn, as I got way too much into the thinking and not enough into clicking the f12. It’s allright though, because there were no critical developments. The UK has started with conscription… that little pesky island nation has way too many nice corps raising events for my liking.

The West front

We dug in on the new line behind the river opposite the gleeful brit, hoping that our enemies would pause while we dig deeper. We shall see. In the south the artillery and leadership required, Rupperecht and Kluck, continued to gather. All of our forces down here is now up to modern standards.

The Prussian-Russian front

The line around Warzaw continued to move eastwards, looking to lap around the Russian flank. Von bulow has finally redeemed his name! With the liberation of Tilsit, Gumbinnen and Memel not one Prussian piece of land in the east remains conquered by the Rus who gathered around Kovno where we contacted his lines, supported by artillery.

The Italian front

The Italians launched spoiling attacks at our gathering army across the river, suffering six or so losses in return for our three. Not a bad attempt, but futile, as our artillery is silent to avoid wasting shells on anything but Italian fortifications. In return, we thrust a corps forward to strike at the duke of Aosta, who was heavily damaged. The Italians are now outflanked and outmatched on their line, and must withdraw or suffer in the coming two weeks.

The war in the Middle East

Still no response to the conquest of Alexandria. As the rebel camel cavalry edges closer to cairo, we see no defense there either. Odd. The Arab rebellion seems to be in hand, their forces are surrounded and cannot seem to move about much. It is only a matter of time.

Kemals’ army has finally reached Basra. I wonder what the British detachment there, having enjoyed the sunny shores of Iraq for so long in peace, thought as they were suddenly surrounded by three full corps of troops.

General Staff

Prussia invests in a new corps and a cavalry corps. I figure I will need this either in Italy or in Russia soon. Austria invests in industrial technology, and the ottomans start raising two more detachments for coastal defense.

Bulgaria has moved a little closer towards our way of thinking (8%) the first tangible result of all our diplomatic efforts so far. Kitchener dies as we sink some ship, Prussia manages to extort the final secrets of shovel usage from the Austrians (trench lvl 5) and the Austrians in turn get Gas/shell tech lvl 1. A good turn!

[AshesFall]

Turn 28 – July 1st, 1916

The entente had success in bringing the US closer to war, they are now nearly at 50%.

The West front

The western front. Well. Things were obviously confused at Prussian high command, with reports of immense British pressure in the north coming in and orders for equipment laying around everywhere reinforcements for Von Kluck were forgotten. Both Kluck and rupperecht himself were too busy with fine dining and congratulating themselves on the coming offensive to mind their troops, which probably impacted their readiness and morale quite a bit. (I am a moron, and forgot to attach the units and reinforce the HQ. Heh.) Due to this we were unable to punish the advancing French corps, our odds in attack were quite simply terrible despite our technological advantage. Lange max does his best trying to decimate Nancy (there is some sort of innuendo in there somewhere) but isn’t having much luck. New reinforcements arrived in the form of those three corps shattered earlier this spring and troops were rapidly moved to block the British advance.

The Prussian-Russian front

We moved to destroy one Russian corps on the centre line, but left our forces exposed in the process. Hopefully our technology should prove equal to the task! In the north the Russian lines were contacted and the conquest of undefended territory around them began.

The Italian front

Everything is ready and the attack on Italy has begun. As expected the Italians withdrew, and we followed in good order. Will they continue to withdraw?

The war in the Middle East

It looks like my opponent finally noticed that Alexandria had been taken and Cairo was threatened. I’ve had enough fun around there, so I’m pretty happy nonetheless. The assault on Basra didn’t go very well, but at least the trenches are down and so is the detachments morale.

General Staff

The ottomans gained heavy artillery and infantry advances! Very nice indeed. Otherwise we focused on building more corps and upgrading.

[AshesFall]

Turn 29 – July 15th, 1916

The conscription in England seems to have led to unrest. Good, they exploit citizens who want no part in their dastardly war of aggression! Portugal moved closer to the entente, this has happened quite a lot, and they will be joining the war soon.

The West front

The offensive has been delayed once again. After Falkenhayn personally visited the front and dug both Kluck and Rupperecht out of their hangover nests with a good kicking and some buckets of water (all carefully out of sight of the men of course) final reorganization has been made. Hopefully, we will have sufficient readiness to attack in the coming two weeks. In the north I had a hard decision to make. The Brits in their innumerable conscripted masses of Kitchens and tea will continue to push. I cannot stop them with any less than the wholesale abandonment of the offensive and redeployment of men and artillery. Instead, I diverted Austrians to strengthen the line. It is time for them to help us. The offensive was cautiously started by some of the men who “tested the new guns”, they were like children with new toys. The two French corps flanking Strasbourg were reduced to no entrenchment and their morale heavily impacted. soon, attacks can begin at these flanking elements and then on Strasbourg itself, and beyond?

The Prussian-Russian front

The Rus attacked us, hah, he has not yet realized that he is inferior and cannot do such things with impunity. Like the base scavenging animal, he must find weak stragglers to surround with massive numbers to be successful. That is what happened in the centre…

In the north though, the attacks left the rus weakened. Von Bulow, as is his preference, reacted with a swift offensive. Destroying one corps and heavily damaging another. The city is now in danger. Further north, more Russian holdings were introduced to effective Prussian time table management.

The Italian front

The spaghetti eaters tried to stand! And they were taught a harsh lesson. Their spoiling attacks did nothing, and we destroyed two corps and surrounded a third that will soon fall. Their lines are thin, they must either retreat or be mauled again.

The war in the middle east

Situation is contained, the rebels are almost dealt with and the Basra detachment has been damaged. Soon it will fall. We hope.

General Staff

During the past weeks Prussian high command has realized that while artillery is a lot of fun and makes splendid noise it is preferable on our side and not our enemy’s’. We must devise a way to deal with enemy artillery and further support our infantry attacks. After checking old ideas from crazy Italians called Leonardo, the Prussians have decided that the Air force arm of the military forces might be the way to go. To this end, we have invested two chits into ground attack aircraft, with Aerial warfare to follow. The destroyed corps was rebuilt.

Austria built another corps, and saved resources otherwise. They gained industrial tech lvl 3!

[AshesFall]

Turns 30 to 33, July 29th to September 9th 1916

Due to a hectic day of work and playing this awesome game I’ve fallen a bit behind in my updates. I realize when looking back at my screenshots that I don’t quite remember the details and that I haven’t taken screenshots of everything anyway. Here follows an update more in a "story style" that summarizes the goings on. I’ll try to be more on the ball with the AAR in the future!

The West front

The west front has finally turned into the meatgrinder that we all know and love from the history books. Operation Herbststurm, hastily renamed for the benefit of the men so that it would appear that starting the advance in late summer was the plan all along, kicked off in an odd manner. The French, hearing the awesome thunder of the dual Prussian guns withdrew all across the front. Confused Prussian infantry scratched their heads and joked about French “wine courage”. Prince Rupperecht ordered the advance, and Strasbourg was retaken. Of course, beyond the small stretch of no mans’ land lay the hell of barbed wire, mines and machineguns the French had prepared. Three corps walked straight into that butchers yard, and did not return. No doubt the French expected us to retreat as swiftly as they had, but the Prussian heart is stouter, and we held the line. Fierce counter attacks supported by the awesome guns of autumn brought down two French corps in turn along with the British Cavalry that had occupied strasbourg as the last of our men scattered from the city, it was retaken once again, for the third time. The English have had it easy so far, let us see if he has the stomach for a real war.

The French did not retaliate in force, probably exhausted and shocked by Prussian determination. Instead, a French attack preceded by a hailstorm of shells brought down the walls of Metz in early September. Barely had they been repaired… the corps that occupied the battered fortress was lost among the rubble. Even that rubble was pounded to sand as we counter attacked with guns brought up by train and deployed in support. More corpses were buried under the earth as it came raining back down after the thunder had finally fallen silent. Perhaps they will come again, and this graveyard shall become the scene of another tragedy turned statistics. Far to the south another french corps was punded to dust and brought down by our infantry. It is evident that our guns are superior, and our logisticians more efficient at manufacturing and delivering shells. All across the line trenches are now dug deep on both sides. Strasbourg has been left open for now, a trap for an unwary Frenchman. Falkenhayn was relieved of command, no doubt due to the delays in the great plan for 1916, and was replaced by Hindenburg. The former commander in chief has taken the field and will now be responsible for the emerging air arm of our armed forces. More Austrians join us to bolster the lines, as losses are high. However, for every loss resources have been put in to immediately start rebuilding, and new formations are created as well. Our numbers will swell by six corps this September and October alone.

The British continue to press hard in the far north and has pushed us back from the river. The no mans’ land behind it has turned into a killing ground, as we punished the Brits for the first time since he started this operation, and a corps was shattered. We intend to keep pushing in the south, for as long as the hearts of our men will bear it.

The final positions on the west front as of the 9th of september

The Serbian and Austro-Russian fronts

Worthy of mention is an Italian detachment in Scutari that has so far withstood determined attacks from two Austrian corps for two months since the fall of Albania and Montenegro. We are fortunate that the rest of the Italian army does not have the fighting spirit of this Albanian legion.

The Prussian-Russian front

Ah, the east. As von Bulow continued pushing Kovno, we finally enticed the Rus to come out of his holes. No doubt believing us weak, he ran into our scattered rearguard and was then brutally punished by Von Mackensen and Hindenburg as they fell back from the encirclement to answer. Over these months we estimate that some five corps have fallen on the Radom-Brest Litovsk line to our one or perhaps two. Von Bulow himself broke the Russians at kovno, taking the city and surrounding them as the vanguard had spread to take Minsk and Dvinsk. Cavalry race up the coast and parade through towns and cities empty of opposition. Von Rennenkampf, the Russian commander in the northeast, tried to retreat towards his lines and escape the encirclement with the remaining three corps of his army but was caught and destroyed to a man in a vicious crossfire between Bialystik and Grodno. As no effective opposition seems to remain in the north, Von Bulow spreads out slightly to capture more ground, while aiming to keep a core army of three corps around himself should something more serious appear. The Artillery will now be redeployed to Hindenburg, as we aim to swing back and begin the assault on Brest-Litovsk. Of some worry is the new arms the Russians are now sporting, it seems they have learned from their many mistakes…

The line into Austria remains unchanged since the start of the war, and many Austrians now work closely with Von Mackensen to hold the iron circle around the Rus.

The final positions on the east front as of the 9th of september

The Italian front

While Von Bohm-Ermolli has not managed to reach Venice, the open ground near Padua and the outskirts of that ancient city by the coast is muddy with blood. Constant attacks and artillery barrages overwhelm the Italians, and wherever they try to stand, they die. The terrain causes more difficulty than the enemy, or so Von Bohm was overheard saying to his colleague Potiorek. If nothing serious changes here, such as massive French or British reinforcements, we expect the Italians to break completely quite soon. Only three corps remain visible, and to our count they should be the sum total of the real opposition in Italy, perhaps one more hides behind the lines.

The final positions on the Italian front as of the 9th of september

The war in the Middle East

The Sultan has reclaimed his honor! Basra fell after two months of hellish siege in the heat. After that long, miserable slog through the desert and the following depredations of war the men has taken a well deserved rest near the ocean to retrain and receive reinforcements. They will soon be redeployed to Egypt.

The Sinussi rebellion continues to be a thorn in the side of the Italians, who lost tobruk after leaving it with only a token defense force. The Sinussi rose in force in the city, and took it.

The British trouble stirring has had no such success, as the rebels are mercilessly hunted down and executed. It takes a lot of time as conditions are miserable, but they make no headway whatsoever.

General Staff

These past months have been rife with developments. Prussia invests heavily in the dream of war winning machinery in the sky, maintaining three chits in both Aerial warfare and ground attack aircraft. Both are now at lvl 1. Production technology stands at lvl 3.

There has been a lot of infighting in Greece, and Norweigan displeasure at the Ententes constant merchant raids have seen them start to send convoys in force to us once more, clearly in direct defiance of the entente.

The Austrians have become ever more efficient at concentrating their industry (lvl 3), also increasing their output in Shell production (lvl 2). They also build plenty of new corps, looking to create another full army to put in the field.

Ottomans have deeper trenches (lvl 3), and have managed to trade in Prussian expertise in heavy artillery and shell production (lvl 1 in both). They have also deployed that newly built artillery concentration, and it awaits transport to the front.

[AshesFall]

By the by, what do you guys think about this more "consolidated" style of reporting, with several turns in one? Is it better than the turn by turn updates, or should I stay with those?

[AshesFall]

Turn 34 – September 23rd, 1916

The West front

As we suspected, the French came again at Metz. Both sides feed corpses to this monster, and combined attacks from artillery, airships, recon bombers and several corps shattered the French corps inside. We entered in good order, bringing plenty of plaster to start building new walls and repairing old ones.

Across the line were reinforcements and reorganization. We need to pound the French line before moving into Strasbourg, and are awaiting shells to do so.

The Prussian-Russian front

A quiet two weeks, as the advance elements (two corps and a cavalry squadron) of von Bulow’s army spread out to take ground and the vast majority of artillery on the east front is moved to Hindenburg.

The Italian front

Massed bombardment and attacks from three corps nonetheless failed to defeat an entrenched Italian corps behind the river. Sensing an opportunity in the critically weak Italians, Von Bohm-Ermolli sent a corps forward at fast march, they contacted the staff and supply lines. This presents Italy with a difficult choice to make…

The war in the Middle East

Ottoman artillery arrived and has been upgraded. Kemal’s army is moving westwards, looking to cross the desert between Ramadi and Ar rutbah, and then on to Egypt.

General Staff

Prussia once again rebuilt a corps and invested fully into Aerial warfare and long range aircraft.

Austria started recruiting and outfitting yet another new corps and the ottomans recalled their diplomat from Bulgaria as they will shortly join us. Instead, the diplomat was sent to the US (three chits total from the CP).

Bulgaria joined the Central Powers, we welcome out brothers to this struggle! The Dadist movement is founded.

Unfortunately, our researchers have not met with any results these past weeks, but our diplomats report that Romania has been persuaded to stand down a little (away from the entente by 8%).

[AshesFall]

Turn 35 – October 21st, 1916

(forgot to take screens, but look at the ones from last turn and the ones on the next turn and the text should explain things)

The entente have sent diplomats to Switzerland, obviously worried about their increasing leaning towards us. The Russians have called even the women to serve in their army, apparently their men aren’t strong enough. Disgraceful! (this said from the perspective on gender roles at the time)

The West front

Miserable weather across the west front prevents any serious offensive. The Brits continue to slowly grind through our northern flank, one corps at a time. In the south, a series of attacks and artillery fire weakens French forces near Strasbourg, before that city is occupied. This might give the corps sent there a chance at surviving the task, any massed attacked to take it out will cause problems on the allied line.

The Prussian-Russian front

The Russians moved out from Brest Litovsk in a wide arrow shaped salient. Hindernburg and Mackensen struck immediately, shattering two Russian corps before withdrawing to a line near Bialystok. In the north, conquests continue with Polotsk.

The Italian front

The corps that was hammered last turn received reinforcements, but our forces surrounding it dealt with them easily. Padua and Venice are now surrounded and Trento entirely cut off. The artillery have moved to the line to allow us strikes at either of the two first targets.

The war in the Middle East

The Englishmen tried once more to breach our defenses by El Arish and the Suez canal. However, our trenches and position is excellent and they can only attack with about two corps before we can rotate in reinforcements and maintain the defensive earthen works. They are not getting anywhere here anytime soon.

General Staff

Prussia once more rebuilds shattered corps, and sends a vast quantity of material along with military instructors to the Bulgarians, who are now modernized. Austria yet another corps and the first advancements into fuel conservation and more effective motors for our airplanes have been discovered (Long range air lvl 1 for the Prussians).

[AshesFall]

Turn 36 – November 18th, 1916

President Wilson was reelected. Isnt he an incorrigible warmonger?

The West front

On the west front little changes. We attempted to hit a sidelines corps near metz with both artillery and quantities of men, but they retreated. All of our air efforts could not destroy what remained of the corps. Falkenhayn begins to doubt his role in the war… otherwise we dug in and gathered shells.

Four new corps arrived at this front this turn, ready for service in the coming weeks.

The Prussian-Russian front

The Rus continues to stand forward. One of his corps was destroyed, but that left one of ours badly exposed on the point. We are worried that a concentrated Russian attack here will shatter it and leave the artillery exposed. Further north, partisans rose and took one of our conquests to the rear. It looks like we may need garrisons here. One of the advance corps encountered resistance, two badly demoralized Russian corps, and was slightly damaged. Von Bulow immediately started moving to counter this budding threat.

One new Prussian corps arrived here this turn.

The Italian front

Italy has been broken. What I estimate to be the last of the Italian Corps were destroyed in a surge forward by our forces as they tried to retreat to new positions. Northern Italy lies completely open insofar as we know. Prussian cavalry arrived at Munich, and will go by train to Italy to further the conquests there. A parade skeleton crew of Prussians are photographed in Trento and Padua.

General Staff

The Austrians have started conscripting their last available corps, and will soon need to expand into more esoteric arms of the army. More Artillery, tanks and whatever else seems appropriate.

The Ottomans send more diplomats to establish good relations with Wilson (now four chits total).

Archduke Karl is crowned emperor of Austria and king of Hungary.

The Prussians developed ground attack aircraft lvl 2.

[AshesFall]

Before I continue playing, I need some input on how things work. I have two options available to me. Either I conquer Italy, or I push into the northern "mouth" and set up defensive lines, simply holding the territory in the north.

If I do conquer italy (and manage to do so, nothing is certain) what are the ingame effects? Do the CP gain NM and the Entente loose Nm for the conquered cities? If I keep them in the war and dont conquer them, what is the difference then?

I'm not looking for advice on -what- to do, just information on what happens if I do either of the options.

[Strategiclayabout]

By the by, what do you guys think about this more "consolidated" style of reporting, with several turns in one? Is it better than the turn by turn updates, or should I stay with those?

Hi there ,

- Turn by turn is better when there is a lot happening but I'm perfectly fine with the "consolidated" thing when everyone's just sitting in their trenches.

- Anyway it's some work to keep an AAR going while playing so just do it as you can, nobody will hate you for that .

- About your Italy questions, I don't know. I've never been in a position were I had that choice (game already decided on another front moslty).

- The Metz-Strasbourg line became a giant graveyard indeed, I see you discovered the "no man's land" as a game concept huhu. And there are many other things to find .

- Entente choices in Italy, Egypt and Russia startled me a bit but I suppose that's bound to happen for a first game. I think CP are in a very good position now even if it seems a bit hard in France.

[Sapare]

Turn 8

and which units the Prussians have lost to a cost of 7500 MPP, more than anyone else despite losing fewer units total than the British. Any insights here?

!

My call would be on your fleet. Battleships are really expansive, most of all upgraded(more or less 2x of a normal one) ones. I have not played the game in over half a year but my estimate is at about 600 MPP per ship. 225 per corps. and if the cruiser was upgraded probably 400ish for that one. Which is 2.5 together. Honestly, idk how you reach 7.5k even with that, but I assume a lot of your units in general just took a lot of damage.

My point is, those ships are worth a lot. Use your fleed whisely(but don't let it rot till the end either), most likely you will never find enough money to restock it if it ever takes too much damage.

[AshesFall]

My call would be on your fleet. Battleships are really expansive, most of all upgraded(more or less 2x of a normal one) ones. I have not played the game in over half a year but my estimate is at about 600 MPP per ship. 225 per corps. and if the cruiser was upgraded probably 400ish for that one. Which is 2.5 together. Honestly, idk how you reach 7.5k even with that, but I assume a lot of your units in general just took a lot of damage.

My point is, those ships are worth a lot. Use your fleed whisely(but don't let it rot till the end either), most likely you will never find enough money to restock it if it ever takes too much damage.

Hehe, thanks, though that ship has literaly sunk

[AshesFall]

Hi there ,

- Turn by turn is better when there is a lot happening but I'm perfectly fine with the "consolidated" thing when everyone's just sitting in their trenches.

- Anyway it's some work to keep an AAR going while playing so just do it as you can, nobody will hate you for that .

- About your Italy questions, I don't know. I've never been in a position were I had that choice (game already decided on another front moslty).

- The Metz-Strasbourg line became a giant graveyard indeed, I see you discovered the "no man's land" as a game concept huhu. And there are many other things to find .

- Entente choices in Italy, Egypt and Russia startled me a bit but I suppose that's bound to happen for a first game. I think CP are in a very good position now even if it seems a bit hard in France.

Allright, thank you for the comments as usual!

I'll need to get Hubert Carter or Bill in on the Italy questions. Neither the manual nor the Strategy guide are very clear on how exactly NM for occupation and surrender and so on works.

For example;

- Does only the nation who -first- conquered the town/city/fortress with a unit belonging to them gain the per turn NM bonus, or does the "latest" entering unit count?

- Does only one nation gain the NM bonus for occupied cities, or the entire "side"?

- If a country (in this case italy) surrenders, their cities will still say "occupied". Do they still contribute their national morale per turn value? In that case, who gets the NM boost, the nation who conquered the capital (and therefore the surrendering country) or the nation that first entered the city and conquered it in the first place, before the surrender of the country?

Tricky stuff, and of vital importance for whether to force russia/italy to surrender or just keep them bled out with no cities in their capital until they hit 1%,

[Sapare]

Considering how much I have played the game and how the essance of NM was changed(after a nation surrenders) do to a post I made, I guess it only be fair to answer the question.

Only the nation which conquered a town/city/fortress(I'll just refer to them as resources from now) gains the NM boost per turn.

As such only one side gains the NM boosts(and economic boosts, which means as Entente it is best to capture resources with France because they have the best base economy value.(this is slightly min-max but in competitive games usefull to keep in mind)

If a country surrenders(and Itally will if you capture the capital) then all of their territory will be handed to the nation that walked into their capital, only territory that will not switch is those which have other enemes in them(aka if a French corps was in an itallian city it should stay there, but all surrounding areas will "flip" and as such this mostly means the corps will be in low suply and soon dead. This nation will get all of their economy each turn but NO NM for having occupied cities.

Older versions of the game you used to get the NM boost every single turn, but while I dont think the current system is "perfect" that system meant that any defeats of a nation were too impactful.(Germany could gain 2% moral(or more) every single turn, just because ittaly had been occupied)

Also to note, pretty much all surrenders have script events associated with them.(in case of Ittally I think France loses 10% moral)

I think maybe there should be some consideration into expanding these scrips do to how NM was changed for occupied nations.

While on topic o NM, neutral countries do not have a NM value(which is why Ottoman and Austria often have their NM sink rather quickly)

Also, great job on the AAR, I always love seeing how this game unfolds. Though you still got some things to learn young general.(At least I would argue so, 5 chips in anything sounds super excessive, most of all if it wasnt infantry warefare or production(whichever increased PMM per turn)

[AshesFall]

Turn 37 – December 16th, 1916

@Sapare: Thanks for clarifying the NM situation, there is a lot that has changed or simply does not work like in the manual. Yeah, we're making tons of mistakes. Though I've never invested more then three chits in research (it's the max) I figure keeping the US out of this for as long as possible has en extremely high priority. With Austrias strong economy and the Ottomans in a position where they cannot do much, their most valuable contribution right now just may be to see the US stay our four or five turns longer.

Russia raises volunteers and Norway complains of entente attacks. The ever present blockade continues.

The West front

In the west, the French made attacks on our troops in Strasbourg, they were shattered and the remnants driven out of the city (one corps lost). The ever present British launched fierce attacks at the Austrians helping in holding the northern line, they took great losses, but avoided destruction with a timely retreat.

On our part, attacks on one of the French corps that assaulted Strasbourg shattered it in turn, Strasbourg was reoccupied and a massive reorganization of forces took place. In the main, aiming to create goof supply situations for units across the line, a double line of infantry with air assets further back, and artillery in places where it could support the advance or defense of the sector.

The Prussian-Russian front

The Russians seem to be gaining strength, attacks across our line (as of yet not dug in) destroyed two corps for few losses in return.

Von Bulow continues to move to V’th reserve corps rescue, and in the centre line Hindenburg and Mackensen pull back from the Russian lines to reorganize.

The Italian front

Concentrated artillery and attacks failed to destroy the detachment in Venice, our forces have spotted an Italian command staff moving westwards, and have pursuit.

The war in the Middle East

The Sinussi still hold Tobruk and are making a great nuisance of themselves. We have lost all of the small settlements I northern Egypt to an advancing british detachment though.

General Staff

Austria invests another chit in their US embassy (now 5 total from the CP)

Prussia rebuilds the three lost corps and develops Aerial warfare 2.

Rasputin is assassinated in Russia.

[AshesFall]

1916 Summary

It’s that time of the year again, December passes and we need to assess the past year and decide on a course for the coming one. This is the point where I decide to throw in the towel or not (as stated last year) but I feel that the gains made in the past year are enough to justify fighting on for a victory, or a draw!

Losses and units

Well, the losses. The “totals” above provide a slightly skewed perspective, as it includes the sunk central powers fleet. Counting only losses on land, Russia has lost twice as many units as Prussia, which is interesting, now including no less than four headquarters and 41 corps. I wonder how they can possibly sustain those kinds of losses, but they seem to be dealing with it, while having resources left over to gain tech and new units. The central powers have, all in all, lost 75 units so far and the Entente 116. About the 1.5 ratio of yesteryear.

On the land army side, Prussia has grown stronger despite all the losses, now at 63 units to the Austrian 33 and ottoman 34. Surprisingly both the smaller central powers have more land forces than any one entente nation. Britain sports 29 units in total, France 28 and Russia 30, Italy 9. Total unit count, Central powers 130 and Entente 96, a quite significant advantage, much larger than the year before.

The French doubtless still have most of their units in their nation proper, with the British probably keeping around 20 or so there. The Central powers keep 32 units in the west (not Counting air assets) which puts us at a significant disadvantage in units. Our combined forces in the east tally up to 33, at a slight advantage to the Russian total counting the coming Bulgarian forces and the Austrians holding the line into eastern Austria.

Most of our advantage in land forces seem to come down to the large Austrian army in Italy and a large Ottoman army facing a small British one in the middle east. The terrain makes it extremely impractical to attack however, and we cannot do so with any ease. I might try to find a way to capitalize on this in the coming year.

Research and diplomacy

Britain: 1525 RE, 550 Dipl

France: 1800 RE, 700 Dipl

Italy: 525 RE, 350 Dipl

Russia: 1450 RE, 600 Dipl

Entente total: 5300 Re, 2200 Dipl

Prussia: 3075 RE, 500 Dipl

Austria: 1725 RE, 600 Dipl

Ottomans: 850 RE, 600 Dipl

Central Powers total: 5650 RE, 1700 Dipl

We are again leading the investment in technology race. Prussia in particular has invested heavily into research, but all Central powers nations strive to gain technological advances. I still feel that my technological superiority in many areas will give me the chances I need to make gains during 1917, so I consider these investments well spent even as I often invest more chits than there are “levels” left of the technology to gain a critical advance faster. We are far from caught up on the diplomatic side, but our efforts are focused on the US, the most important area of the coming years.

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

Britain: 8847, 2683, 11599

France: 9205, 5276, 10598

Italy: 3293, 1767, 5401

Russia: 10482, 5617, 20738

USA: 717, 525, 0

Entente total: 32544, 15868, 48336

Prussia: 17971, 10073, 27373

Austria: 9068, 5043, 9969

Ottomans: 4658, 2533, 1820

Central Powers total: 31697, 17649, 39162

We are still keeping pace with the collected entente economy. If opportunity presents itself, investments will be made in industry in the coming year. Prussian production technology at lvl 3 has proven quite useful. The central Powers have spent more on units, and even counting the horrific fleet losses, has lost 20% less. A fairly good situation overall in the economic department.

National Morale

This is the really important bit. Looking at the national morale across the board and comparing it to the 1915 Summary;

British: from 83 to 70

French: from 80 to 65

Italians: from 104 to 87

Russians: From 81 to 59

Prussia: From 68 to 57

Austria: from 84 to 73

Ottomans: Still at 76, has not moved.

Now, while Prussias morale is definitely still awful and has fallen another 11 points, the entente shows signs of taking a battering as well. Brits are down 13, French 15, the Italians by a lot, and most importantly the Russians by 22! I am still fighting to grab territory so that I can stabilize Prussias morale, and have been fairly successful. The victories in Italy have not translated to very much tangible gain here yet, as the Austrians have paused to let the Prussians take their parade photographs (I.e.fairly few Prussian units capture cities, and it holds up the Austrians).

Plans for 1917

In summary, our plans for 1916 worked partly. The Rus is proving a stubborn enemy, and gains have only been made in a relatively limited area in the northeast geographically speaking. Still, it is progress. The west has been disappointing, due to my own fumbling and insecurity in how to proceed with an attack in those massed conditions, and of course massive British and French counter attacks, little gain has been made. The one area that was a complete success was Italy, a theatre that regardless was a win/win situation for me. Either the Brits or French sent significant help, thus weakening their positions in the west, or they ignored the problem and I could gain valuable NM and take an opponent out of the war.

Central powers war map for 1917

The West

We will continue to push towards Verdun and Belfort. With our upgraded and strengthened artillery and the advanced emerging air arm of our finally properly organized forces we might be able to make gains despite numerical inferiority. Positioning, and local strength is key and the French are still lacking in infantry weapons. We will continue to stall the British, sacrificing a corps or two every three turns or so to keep them reasonably static. If opportunity presents itself, a massed redeployment of Air assets might deal with their artillery.

The East

In the east, an interesting situation is definitely developing. The centre is static, with what I believe to be the vast majority of Russian forces facing off against the Prussians. The Austrian east front has been quiet, but that is about to change. I will soon deploy three upgraded Bulgarian corps here and two fully upgraded Austrian ones. Looking at the centre, something has occurred to me. While the Russians might see it as a strong defensive position, it really is a big pocket. If I can push the five corps army from Czernowitz and take Proskurov/Rovno/Vinnitsa, the entire centre Russian army will be cut off from the rest of Russia. No reinforcements will be forthcoming. It is then a matter of whittling them down, corps by corps, and fighting whatever reinforcements the Russians call up elsewhere. Investments in more corps will be necessary then during 1917, we must not lose the gains we have made here. If we can bust open the Russians weak southern flank, Bulgarian and Austrian cavalry should be able to make great inroads and take ground.

Italy

The success story of 1916, the Austrian army mowed through the technologically inferior Italians.

I have built pretty much every corps available to the Austrians and the plan is to occupy as much of Italy as possible without taking its’ capital. We will set up a defensive line across the boot of Italy, contacting Rome, and then make sure that the city is empty of defenders and rife for the taking. Then we’ll wait for their morale to drop to nil, gaining us morale in the process. If things get desperate and we need a quick boost, conquest will follow by a Prussian detachment.

Another army will move west, trying to take the approaches into southern Italy. This will either prove a drain on French resources as they redeploy, or a drain as we start to take the French south. In either case, this will stretch the French thinner as we push the Belfort/Verdun line as well.

The middle east

While the ottoman is numerically superior, he is technologically inferior. Our positions in Egypt are such that a direct assault is unlikely to work, we will attempt it once Kemals’ forces arrive though, and watch the result with interest. If this fails, we might need to try and chase the damaged French fleets away with the ottoman navy (now rebuilt and quite strong) to facilitate a brief window where we can make a naval invasion of Alexandria. With the English threatened to the rear, we might be able to cross the channel. This is all highly unlikely, but we’ll see.

[AshesFall]

Turn 38, January 27th, 1917

Kaiser Karl Ascends, and inspires nationalist tendencies in Austria/Hungary! Italy forms some sort of Volunteer corps, blasted traitorous Czechs… and Greece has a new general.

The West front

The British hammer the northernmost Austrian corps, and bring it close to shattering. The brave Austrians held however, and were relieved by a fresh Prussian corps on the line to receive reinforcements. Seeing an opportunity with two French corps exposed alone in front of the lines, Prince Rupperecht struck a heavy blow. Artillery and aerial bombs rained down, and both corps along with the concentration of artillery behind them were destroyed. The entire line in front of Strasbourg moved up. Rupperecht is hoping for the weather to turn and hamper French counterattacks.

The Prussian-Russian front

Our men have spotted a great monstrosity of metal in the east. They do not yet know what this machine is, but they call it a “tank”, wary of its’ hulking shadow. Fierce Russian attacks continue on our lines, and Hindenburg withdraws to a line on Bialystok. The Bulgarians have gathered in the south, ready to start moving shortly.

In the north, Hindenburg sends a corps to occupy and hold Haranovich to keep the great Russian sack closed on this end, Von Bulow continues to race to the aid of our beleaguered corps.

The Italian front

Venice falls, and most of our forces move as quickly as possible towards Milan. Here we discover a new corps occupying the city, wielding French weaponry and artillery support of their own. It seems the Italians are not entirely out of it yet…

General Staff

Austria and the ottomans again strengthen their diplomatic missions towards the US, now at a total of 35% (7 chits). Prussia invests a third chit in Aerial warfare, the US protests at the ongoing blockade (very good, that’s another turn out of the war) and Austria also gains advanced heavy artillery! (lvl 2)

[AshesFall]

Turn 39 – March 24th, 1917

The british raise ever more troops through their conscription measures. Möwler attacked british pacific trade last time, and now we receive reports that Seeadler is doing the same, this little venture is good for us.

The West front

With good weather, Prussian and Austrian forces advanced across the line to close the gapes. We now stand close to Verdun, have taken the no mans’ land, and moved artillery across the line to support. No attacks were made, we wish to be at full strength for the counter attacks. Our army is, with the exception of the corps around Strasbourg who dug in, at full strength.

The Prussian-Russian front

Both the south and the north are about to get interesting. The Bulgarians moved up towards the very flank of the Russian line, and the Austrians deployed two newly recruited corps in support. Hindenburg and Mackensen dug in and positioned.

The north is definetly heating up. Two more Russian corps appeard around Vitebsk, and von Bulow is but weeks from reaching them. Will the Surrounded corps hold? What will the Russian do, dig in? Retreat? Attack? We simply do not know. Our cavalry has spotted an enemy corps moving to intercept, they cannot escape as they hold the crossing, so a corps is sent by train to Riga to counter-intercept.

The Italian front

The Austrian army marches hard to reach the outskirts of Milan. While this is punishing for our morale, the positioning is far more important. Artillery is brought up to support. The Austrians in the centre north of Italy pause, as Prussian troops hasten to pose for cameras.

The war in the Middle East

A report from the middle east. Our preparation in garrisoning pretty much every single hovel seems to have paid off in regards to the Arabian rebels. Most of them have been destroyed, but more keeps appearing. Our positions along the canal are strong, with the corps slowly receiving new equipment and training. Artillery has been brought up but cannot be deployed in range due to roving French battleships. We try some potshots at it with the arty, but to no avail so far.

General Staff

The Japanese hunt our commerce raiders in the indian ocean, and the New Austrian emperor relieves Von Hotzendorf. It must have been personal, considering the excellent gains the Austrian army has made in the past year.

As our scientists have observed the entente metal boxes, they have immediately started designing improved versions. Not only did both Prussia and Austria build a unit (the only ones they can build) but they advanced to Armored warfare lvl 2 (Prussia) and lvl 1 (Austria) respectively.

[AshesFall]

Turn 40-42, May 19th to June 16th 1917

Things are a bit crazy right now, both in the game and outside, and the most of the screenshots for the first two turns have gotten lost somewhere. I’ll try to summarize, as these turns have certainly been interesting!

The West front

(A = Austrian corpse destroyed, P = Prussian, F= French)

The west front has turned from the quiet vacation spot of 1916 into an absolute butchers’ yard. Our advance near Verdun with one Prussian and one Austrian Corps was turned into a crop of corpses. In turn, during May and June we have savaged the French frontline, and the British have in turn demolished ours. The entire northern front has withdrawn these past two weeks, trying to gain a little breathing room. Along the rest of the front, the recent past has meant mass reinforcements, as much of our troops were depleted after the series of attacks on the French. Soon we will again advance into the teeth of the enemy, and plant a new Prussian crop six feet below the ground.

The Prussian-Russian front

This front is also a hotbed of action, with fluid battles in the north, and a slow grinding death machine in the middle. Death on both sides. The central battles are punishing, and our northern line is close to breaking. Sporadic reinforcement with new corps arriving helps somewhat, and perhaps the pressure from the southern side by the Austrians and Bulgarians can help ease the situation somewhat. The sack is now firmly closed, as far as I understand it, there should be no direct reinforcement of this pocket with new corps, it does have to be connected to a capital or industrial centre?

The Russians continue to fall back deeper into the pocket, no doubt looking to create a line of trenches and sit tight. We hound them, destroying a couple of corps on the fallback while trading tit for tat on the northern line. Scouting near Radom reveals no enemies there, and considering the disposition of the enemy lines we’ll try a rush to ivangorod in the coming two weeks.

In the northeast, Von bulow destroys on of the newly arrived Russian corps and withdraws backwards to reinforce. He receives reinforcements. Our other corps, spread around the cities, have encountered resistance. It seems the Rus is trying to retake his lost territory, and we’re digging in to prevent it wherever we can.

The Italian front

Italy, the French have appeared with another Tank. While the Italians initially had two corps, and the French one, we first destroyed one Italian corps in the city with a light barrage (Italian trenches aren’t very deep) and then as the French redeployed into the city destroyed that corps and the last Italian one and took the city with the Prussian public relations detachment.

In the south we have reached and surrounded Rome. One corps is visible here, and was immediately attacked. The detachment holding the city is deeply dug in.

The war in the Middle East

We have been swatting rebels, and nothing else of much interest has occurred.

General Staff

These past weeks have been rife with developments. Though the US has started moving slowly towards the entente, the stranglehold on our northern convoys annoy them quite a bit (two occurrances, very good, as it is two more turns the US are set back). The Entente has had success persuading the Norweigans to overlook their incessant raiding, and they stopped sending their convoys altogether, the Prussian people was not happy…

The Prussians have striven to rebuild lost corps, and have been hard pressed to keep up with the losses. They developed Airships lvl 2, And Aerial warfare lvl 3.

Austria Deployed Von Hotzendorf, and have now upgraded shell production to lvl 3.

The ottomans have heavy artillery lvl 2.

I have tried to catch up on artillery units, I have no idea why I haven’t before, as artillery is clearly the lynchpin of both attack and defense. The Austrians, Prussians and ottomans are all building their limit in artillery, to arrive this winter.

[AshesFall]

Turn 43

The West front

Falling back did not buy us any respite from the British. They gave chase and immediately destroyed two corps and damaged two more to the breaking point. We have attempted, to the best of our ability, to repair the line here, but it is extremely fragile. In the south, final reinforcements were made to facilitate another push into the French. Belfort and Verdun are so very close… and yet so far away. With any luck, our push in Italy will draw some French reinforcements from the line to that sector.

The Prussian-Russian front

Spotting an exposed Russian corps moving away from the line around Orsha, Von Bulow immediately struck and shattered it before moving away towards lake Naroch and out of reach of Russian retaliation. He has requested detachments to hold Riga and Vilna, as the Rus seems to be probing for weakness along the lines. High command, overburdened with requests for reinforcements, have yet to fill his order.

The central pocked saw more interesting developments. Bulgarians and Austrians press hard from the south, shattering one exposed weak corps. Unfortunately, the Rus seems to have begun digging in and there will be no shifting him in a frontal assault. Our quick scouting strike towards Ivangorod was a success, as I suspected my opponent left it empty. I’ve noticed that he has often done this in the past, and seeing how weak his southern line looked I took a chance. We moved another detachment to garrison Radom. Lemberg is now exposed, but we hope that our opponent will not try a mad dash for it. And if he does, it will be one corps to destroy. Tanks appeared on our northeastern lock, and spotting another infantry corps “off the line” Hindenburg moved in for a probing attack. The corps was not dug in and low on morale, so two more corps followed up and destroyed it. This has left a glaring weakness in our lines and I suspect we’ll suffer for it in the coming weeks.

The Italian front

We continued to chase the Italians and French, nearly destroying an Italian artillery unit that was retreating towards the west. Rome is still surrounded, and another corps has appeared.

General Staff

Nothing at all of significance, no developments, no diplomacy. One small note, the prussians have once again started reconstituting the last of their shattered corps. No doubt there will be more of those shortly, but for a moment at least, their losses are slowly being rebuilt.