From the desk of the evil guys (companion AAR)

[KorutZelva]

ORIGINAL: Robotron

I sincerely hope this match will go on for quite some time, the separate threads for each side are quite a delight to read and the copious amount of screenshots is highly appreciated. [&o]

Thanks!

Well there should be quite a bit of game left based on the morale level of each remaining combatant! The game will probably not be won in 1916 but it is shaping up to be the decisive year!

[KorutZelva]

The jig is up! The ever sniffing Russian subs catch a glipse of a single lvl 2 sub. Well, it's too late to do anything now. Either UK researched ASW and he's ready or he didn't and he's about to feel pain. The subs are getting into position, waiting for the rest of the fleet to get upgraded. My blimp spots another UK subs also out to look for my fleet... if he stays there he's about to get a face full of upgraded destroyers... Amphibious tech completed.

Off the Italian boot, a french seaplane carrier sinks one of the austrian DN (unupgraded carrier lands a str 2 shot, lucky!). I sense I still have more guns than him in the area and send my subs to locate his fleet location. Once revealed, I sink the third and last French dreadnought. I almost lunged to take a lick of a str 7 battleship but decide against it massing my freshly repaired battleships for another counter attack if he does not flee.

By my count the Entente gets 15 battlecruisers and Dreadnoughts to germany's 7, counting starting ships and those in production queue. I manage to buy 1 DN and two extra BCs and I have sunk 5 DN and BCs from the Entente so far. We'll be about even comes summer... but uncontested the Austrian may break through Gibraltar to add a BC and a DN...

I'm surprised at how thin the Russian line are. Behind the first line of corps I can catch glipses of the HQs. I pinged three different generals so far.

[KorutZelva]

Entente sinks a battleship off the coast of Italy, but the CP takes its revenge notching a battleship of its own and a (very sturdy) seaplane carrier. The combined CP fleet in the med consist of a light cruiser, 1 destroyers, 2 torpedo boat, 2 subs, 2 battleships, 1 dreadnought and a battlecruiser. Survivors from the Entente fleet consist of 2 seaplane carrier, 3 subs, 2 destroyers. I expect these to scatter following the battle. My fleet will make port, refit and then go to Gibraltar.

Finally took Riga this turn. Russian artillery makes an appearance in Ukraine, this will make the approach to Kiev more arduous. In the center the road to Smolensk seems wide open, but I don't expect it to be the case for long.

Russian morale is in freefall so the question is whether to Lenin or not when the time comes. I don't think the Russian can prevent the NM moral death spiral with the amount of russian real estate I own. I'm tempted to skip on Lenin to leech on Russian NM cities and avoid the NM drain from the bolcheviks. It will depend the extent the russian's ability to mount offensive when I'm asked for it. If the Russian can drain me corps on offensive I'll send Lenin, if they are stuck playing defense I'll pass. It also depends of my naval plan, if I'm currently blockading the UK, it's not a bad idea to let Russia languish to prevent the UK to leverage a USA entry from Russia's surrender.

In the West, the UK is starting to shoulder some of the frontline load to preserve french morale. This is both good and bad. Going for the UK, obviously having english target is good but... as long as France morale is higher than Germany's I'm nervous. Right they hold a 5% edge so it's not a critical gap (Russia surrender would cover it and then some) but something to monitor. Austrian victories at sea have given them a little bump in morale and surged over 50% again.

[KorutZelva]

Hum... are long range amphibious transport Entente only or you need level 2? I got tech 1, but I didn't see the option to board one...

[KorutZelva]

Whoops... manual says no long range transport in the standard scenario. Is it too late to get a refund on those tech chits? [:D]

Imma gonna have to think of some use for them... Simultaneous landing on Wick and Dundee? These are unlikely to be garrisoned and would give me ports near the naval battlefield... Might catch UK ships in ports too. Surprise attack on Italy maybe? Lemme think about it.

[KorutZelva]

This turn events have convinced me to send for Lenin when I get a chance. I had to evacuate Strasbourg for more defensive line which will impact my morale badly. The Russian are finally giving me a fight and I no longer get easy odds on that front, despite my HQ having superior xp.

Detected a UK sub and attacked it with 3 tech 2 destroyer... but for some reason inflicted only 3 dmg total despite the fact the sub was level 0. No dives either, just straight crap damage. That doesn't seem super well balanced to be honest. At least that bodes well for my own sub fleet I guess! Do you get one or two message regarding the blockade? I only got one... maybe he left the distant blockade to refit his ships...

[KorutZelva]

Entente counter-attacks cost me 5 units. Ouch. The time for major offensive is over. Quiet turn for me refitting fleet and troops. I don't expect the frontline to move a whole lot in the East, it isn't so much about advancing anymore as killing Russian corps to drain morale. Russian seems to be losing morale at a rate of 2% a turn. In the west, I will be slowly (or not so slowly!) pushed back. I think Ashfall retreated from the far blockade to be close to the convoy line as my spy spot two ships next to those convoy hex. If the distant blockade got lax, it's going to give me a bit of a NM break. If that's indeed the case that is navy is out at see rather than hiding in ports, I might be able to score a decisive victory. My fear is that he triple chits naval tech and hides in port. I really need to hussle to make my move but I can cruise because it would reduce my supply and my readiness and I need all of them for the class ahead. Slow and steady.

[operating]

Do you use your zeppelin to bomb at all? If so, what are the effects on average to target (let's say Paris) and to the zeppelin?

[KorutZelva]

I've used my zeppelin to look for naval activity in the last few months. I use less for bombing but as secondary scouting for when I plan to advance not to be surprised by enemy troops.

[KorutZelva]

Gave a bloody nose to a snoopy sub (I guess last turn result vs sub was due to weather), the ball of death has assembled and will start moving north. A secondary squadron will escort amphibious landing to seize some Scotland ports. Gibraltar bound squadron fully repaired in the adriatic. One last turn of upgrade and then all ships will be upgraded and will be able to fully dedicate myself to land affairs... Well until my ships need refitting... I got a breakthrough for Inf tech 2, so I'm one turn away from learning it. Probably going to save a bunch of money next turn to do one big upgrade session in two turns. Can't come soon enough, the west is buckling...

[KorutZelva]

My spies are showing that the UK has positioned its fleet to protect the convoy lines rather than hiding in ports... Like there's a ship to protect every convoy tile. That means they are sort of spread-out so won't be able to support each other if I strike from medium distance one area. I also spotted all 4 Entente mines so I don't have to worry about bumping into them. That gives me an opportunity to defeat them in detail. It would have been more effective to let me assume position then take pot shots and retreat back into port. France has started to upgrade its troop to inf tech 2. Both Germany and Austria develop the tech too. He seems to have evacuated the med, no ships in Corfu or Malta. My breakout should not be contested. I sent Lenin to stir up trouble, Russia death ticker got faster... but so is mine. I wish I had money to spend on diplo to slow America joining... it's in the low thirties but I don't want it to be past 50 before I start unrestricted sub warfare because that's going to annoy the USA a whole lot. Since he left his fleet out I'm not planning to sit on the convoy tile until I sunk most of them and driven them off. Basically I don't want to start until I can occupy most tiles at the same time. The USA doesn't care if I do it one one tile or all of them.

[KorutZelva]

So a visual aid. In the black area is where he is currently keeping is cannon fodder ships and in the red where I saw a battleship and I assume the rest are massing.

I'm thinking I'll circle around and attack the battleship area first because I'm afraid that I give a trashing to the cannon fodder, the battleships will leave for port. If I sink the big guns in the opening attack then my fleet is safe and the small ships won't be able to trouble me even if the flee. I'll sail a silent sub between the two zones to confirm ship placement.

[KorutZelva]

I'm half-tempted to slip all my subs in between to have them swarm the battleships while my big guys attack the cannon fodder from a safe hit and run range. The only problem is that god damn Irish isle, a couple of airship on that thing and that plan is kaput.

[KorutZelva]

Massing my death ball near rockfall. I make a screw up in my placement and one ship is on a blockade tile which will alter him of my presence along the blockade. Hopefully he'll assume this is a ruse and not a screw-up on my part. [:'(] My spies report ships all over the place... perhaps indicating movement? Ships going to port to upgrade maybe? (prob ASW 1 which can be triple chited) Russian blockade my last batch of ships from Plan Z, two battlecruisers. With a little help from my nearby airship I slip them away, each taking 1 str of damage. I'll lose a turn refitting them, arg. No german ships left in the baltic sea. The west is cracking... really need troops... I'll start sending Austrians to help because they have less money problem than the germans. On the land I start the inf upgrade program.

Some Entente ships left in the med, one ship in port spotted by a sub in Tunis port. Another one bump into a seaplane carrier by the Algeria convoy line. I use naval cruise to teleport behind them...

[KorutZelva]

The plot thickens. My airship scouting a possible landing in Norwich discovered where Ashfall was stashing its dreadnought. It looks his plan was to keep an entire island between his DN and the bulk of my navy... Well since my Battlecruisers fresh off their russian escape were in range and sank two of them... I tried to destroy their scouting sub or at least force him away but that was probably a mistake and left them vulnerable to be destroyed on the counter. My invasion turned back... at a speed of 5... it was not getting to destination with so many naval assets in the area. Russia is sieging my ports... but I can't let it distract me.

Since he had evacuated the convoy line I started occupying them, including dropping some mines. 14 tile occupied that's roughly about 1000 MN reduction to UK morale on my turns... and his. I can occupy 14 more if he doesn't go out and engage me...

Bad news is that he had researched ASW all along and he's already at 3. Another bad news is that he guessed my intention to break free of the med and placed the reminder of his med task force to act as spoiler... due to their lack of punching power I should be able to break through anyway.

[KorutZelva]

So for people that lost count, I sank on french dreadnought on the opening turn. The Agincourt off the cost of Italy. A 2 dreadnought and a BC at the same spot latter on. And now 2 more UK Dreadnoughts.

So the Entente get 15 DN and BC (forgot to include the BC they get after dealing with von Spee). That leaves them with 8 and I think there's at least one he's not getting until a few more turn.

I've got 10 of my own (excluding med) but likely going to lose two from the counter in my next turn but my med task force is poised to escape compensating for their loss. But by chasing my BCs he's going to damage his own DN, slowing down when he can engage my task force blocking his convoy line. Subs are annoying as heck, and any of his destroyer that can't find a spot in a port after shelling them is in danger. He better have enough aircover to find my subs because I don't think he has enough subs in the theater for spotting. Furthermore my capital ships are upgraded while his aren't... Has anyone taken out the UK in mp??? [:'(]

[operating]

Did you save any screenshots of the action?

[KorutZelva]

I did. Don't you see it the pic? it takes the whole screen! [:'(] My previous comment was just elaborating on my last submitted turn it's not a new turn.

Ashfall takes forever to send his turn back, gotta keep busy. [:D]

[KorutZelva]

Rough sea means one of my BC avoid the ax at str 1. It makes it to port and so is my sub. All the surviving fleet from that area naval cruise around Scotland to go bolster the blockade. 27 Hex are occupied. Almost 2000 MN worth. If I can hold this under winter the higher chance of bad weather at sea may get me a couple more turns in as my ship will be harder to dislodge... with some luck this will make it harder for him to dislodge my ships. Airpower hammers one of my DN, so I put him further out on the convoy line. Austrian escape the med and are chasing down the Entente former med task force. West is breaking, nothing new. Russia at 25%, all inf upgraded on her front but some artillery were striped to renforce the west. I lost two artillery in the west so I sneaking an Austrian one out from the balkan since it's quiet over there.

[KorutZelva]

British people remain pretty stoic despite the Royal Navy being exposed as overrated cowards. [:'(] Morale is at 81% so they can stomach a lot still. So far a net loss of 9% since I've begun... That's not nearly fast enough, mah dudes! 24 Hexes occupied... this is about as much as I can maintain accounting for battles away from tiles and combat losses. Naval exchange between our navies have resulted in 2 UK pre-dreadnought casualties for an upgraded german DN. Bad weather works both ways... He had clear weather, I didn't, which account for the poor exchange rate. When my turn ended the blockade had shut down all convoys. UK is stilly plenty rich though. Speaking of which, is it me or Germany seems poorer than in the first game? Technically I could have fed it Serbia, Montenegro and Albania... but can't for role-play reasons. Those are Habsburg land! [:D]