The General's HQ Game 1

[Odysseus]

This is inspired by the narrative form of AARs found over at the HoI2 AAR forum, to provide a tad of immersion to the account of the game. A turn-by-turn account will follow, in time. The narratives will primarily be from a Russian pov, because I'm playing Russia in the game.

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November 3th, 1805.

Pierre Bezukhov put away his pen and swept his shoulders in the warm blanket. Another letter telling his family of the dreary routines in the chilled out offices of Stavropol. Another letter telling them that he had no idea of when he might return to St Petersburg or even Moscow. His duty was with the Emperor's foreign relations department, and since it was whereever the Emperor was, so was he. It soothed his heart that they were so understanding.

Of course, it was easy to be understanding during a time of celebration. Not only did the people rejoice the victory over Sweden and the subsequent liberation of Finland, but the peace treaty of Cologne, signed in October, was widely publicized as the Russo-Prusso-Austrian Coalition's great triumph over the Usurper.

Bezukhov was not convinced. Yes, Denmark "been convinced" to shift it allegiance to Russia, Holstein and Hamburg were to be conquered this very month, and the latest reports said that the Russian navy was shipping the heroes of the war home.

But the only real confrontation had been the battle of Baden between Russians under Austrian command and the French where the Russian infantry corps got torn to shreds covering the escape of the two cavalry corps. The French army was still very much intact. The treaty guarantueed peace on the continent for the coming year, but after that? And in the south, the Turks had allied with almost every Muslim country. Was this foreboding a conflict this summer in the Mediterreanean, now that the attention of the major powers shifted away from the Rhine?

The future of Europe, it seemed, still balanced on the razor's edge.

Bezukhov took up another piece of paper and started writing on a transfer request for the embassy in Copehagen. His friend Bolkonsky might be yearning to go into action against the enemies of the Empire, but he preferred the comforts of a desk. And besides, most people said the Danish climate was considerably more forgiving than that of the Caucasus.

[Odysseus]

November 19th, 1805

Prince Bolkonski led his battalion through the final little crop of trees that remained between them and Hamburg. He was in good spirits, roused like his men by the platoon of choirmen marching in front singing about how the Swedes had been vanquished by Alexander Nevsky a long time ago. The kook lead the song with his wooden cutlery, waving his arms in the air and drumming the beat against his boots as he danced along the road.

Then they came out and saw the city. And the French flag flying above it, an entire corps of French infrantry camping outside the walls.

So much for simply marching in and claiming the city for the glory of the Russian Emperor. What had gone wrong?

The occupants were obviously notified of the Russian advance, judging by the messenger that hastened to meet him. Being a nobleman, the French language presented him no problem.

"What goes on here? Where is the goverment of Hamburg?"

The messenger bowed courteously, "I'm sorry, Monsieur, the government of Hamburg is under arrest in the name of Emperor Napoleon of the French Republic."

"Excuse me, monsieur, but our orders are just that: to arrest the mayor of Hamburg. I must insist that you immediately turn him over to the representatives of His Highness Alexander, Emperor of Russia."

"That cannot be done, I'm afraid. You see, when Russia declared war with Hamburg, the state announced its allegiance with Great Britain. In doing so, it became an active ally of Great Britain, and by extension, the enemy of France. Our occupation of this land is entirely legitimate."

Bolkonskji was dumb-founded. So much for the glorious entry into the city. He was also quick awestruck by the speed at which this French infantry had moved past his men during the past two weeks. It seemed he would have to write a lengthy explanation to his superiors in his report. The smiles on the faces of the Stavropol courtiers were bound to become less enthusiastic when they got the news.

[Odysseus]

An attempt at a turn-by turn summary:

January
France allied with SP and the RU-GB-PR-AU coalition formed. SP also allied with RU.

AU DoW Romagna
SP vs Portugal and GB vs Tunisia.

SP won at Elvas, AU failed at Romagna.

February
Turkey allied with France.

SP assaulted Lisbon without result.

Romagna fell to Austria and Tunisia to GB.

March
DoWs:
AU vs Tuscany

GB allied with Spain
Spain allied with Turkey

GB assaulted Ajaccio unsuccesfully but gained controll when defenders starved.
Spain breached Lisbon and won.

At this stage the player for TU had dropped out and it was AI controlled.

April
DoWs
PR vs Oldenburg

Then this happned: Turkey DoWed Russia (love that AI - made no sense at all, not one corps on my border), and because of my settings (cuz I hadn't seen it coming) I automatically called my allies GB and SP, who didn't respond, resulting in the subsequent breaking of these alliances with the PPs paid by them. Meanwhile AI Turkey calls France to war vs RU and fails too and this time TU loses another 2 pps for failing for a total of 6, sending TU into Instability resulting in the loss of Rhodes.

Meanwhile AU assaulted Florence and breached and Portugal fell to Spain.

GB had also invaded Corsica and it fell to GB this turn.

May
I tried getting an informal peace with Tu from this time on, I just couldn't bring myself to fight against the AI - totally unfair in my advantage. The AI kept rejecting.

Spain made Portugal a Free State.

DoWs
Spain vs Morocco - Austria gained control.
Russia vs Sweden - GB gained control.

Spain allied with Prussia.

Battles
First high seas battle - France had loaned a bunch of Spanish ships that, due to a bug, were involved in a battle against GB - so France had 7 fleets vs GBs 2 Fleets. France won both the Battle of Brest, the Battle of La Rochelle (8 vs 2) and the battle of Amsterdam (5 vs 2), as well as Area12 (2 vs 1). That hurt the GB navy for sure.

GB responded with a counterattack in Area 12 - 2 vs 2, and won.

Prussia Assaulted Bremen without success.

Tuscany fell to Austria.

By this time, coalition forces (PR-AU-RU) were massing on the Rhine, with 5 RU corps lent to Austria

June
Responding to the Spanish naval assistance, GB broke the alliance with Spain.

The Coalition also started the war against FR - Prussia and AU declared war. Russia was not yet involved. Bavaria and Denmark joined the war on the French side.

Another high seas battle in Area 12 occured - France attacking GB with 2 fleets vs 1. France won and eliminated the V Hvy Fleet. GB responded in the same area with 4 fleets vs 2, sinking the Danish light Fleet.

In Freiburg France won a minor battle, and assautled Luxemburg and breached. The same at Liege.

GB invaded France at Toulon with the Cav corps landing from a transport - that is where the French Med Fleet was based. The corps breached the defense and defeated the defenders resulting in the French II Hvy Fleet being scuttled.

SP assaulted Tangier without success.

Russia controlled Abo and Finland fell to Russia. The war between RU and Sweden then lapsed, giving GB full control of the Swedish navy.

July
Finally, a new player stepped up to take over Turkey - but we still had trouble figuring out how to get that informal peace ;P.

Turkey turned Imertia to Conquered status.

Russia DoWed France, joining the Coalition.

GB DoWed Spain, calling PR unsuccessfully. Thus the GB-PR alliance was broken. The same thing happened with AU.

France then attempted informal peace with both AU and PR. Both refused, but due to a bug, their alliance was broken because "separate peace was not allowed" by either nation.

Since Turkey slipped back into Instability when DoWing Rhodes, the Conqed Imertia became neutral

Because of the broken alliance with PR, AU slipped into Instability, losing Venetia and Romagna!

Battles:
TU assaulted Rhodes and breached.

France attacked 3 Russian corps on loan to Austria in Karlsruhe, but Austria successfully withdrew.

AU attacked France at Cologne, winning and eliminating the VIII corps. AU also assaulted Munich and Zurich and Breached. In the latter, the defenders were destroyed. Finally, AU assautled Milan and Breached, eliminating the French defenders.

Prussia attacked France in Area412 and won and was unsuccesful in its siege of Hanover. However PR breached Amsterdam.

GB Assaulted Marsellies unsuccesfully and Spain assaulted Gibraltar and Tangier without success.

Luxembourg fell to France.

August
France attempted informal with RU, declined.

Battles
Sea Battle of London - GB attacked France with Nelson 9 fleets vs 7 - GB won.

Russia assaulted Copenhagen and won.
AU assaulted French held Munich and won and breached Strasbourg, Cologne and Turin. France prevailed only at Turin.

PR took Hanover and Amsterdam.

Spain assaulted Gibraltar again without success.

GB succeeded to gain control in Lisbon. Oldenburg fell to Austria and Rhodes to Turkey. The war between Spain and Morocco lapsed, giving Austria control over the Free State.

September
PR Dowed Mecklenburg - GB gained control.
TU Dowed Imertia.
France attempted informal with RU again without success but Russia and TU finally succeeded with an informal!

Battles:
GB assaulted Valencia with no result (the cav corps had been evacuated from France and landed in Spain).

Spain won over GB at Lisbon regaining control.

Hanover fell to Prussia, Bavaria to Austria and Denmark to Russia.

October
Russia made Denmark a Free State.
Austria made Bavaria a Free State
Prussia made Hanover a Free State.

GB unsuccessfully attempted informal peace with Spain.

France surrendered conditionally to RU+PR+AU. Terms: Enforced peace 24 months to PR, Royal Marriage to AU and No Trading to RU (a bogus term - the only one left that France would accept - I just didn't want to have no box checked in case of bugs).

DoWs
Pr vs Nassau, Wurzburg & S Pommerania.
AU vs Baden, Wurtemburg, Berg, Venetia, Munster and Swabia.

France assaulted Wurzburg (english controlled) - no Result.

AU assaulted Stuttgart unsuccessfully. Breached Ulm and Munster. Dusseldorf siege was unsuccesful. Austria won against the Baden corps.
Prussia won against Mantua.

Victorious Spain destroyed the GB I Guards at the Battle of Elvas.

Imertia fell to Turkey.
Lapse of war between Prussia and Wurzburg.

November
DoWs
France vs Savoy & Genoa
PR vs Hesse
RU vs Holstein and Hamburg
AU vs Romagna, Gottingen, Thuringia and Modena.
Spain again reject informal peace with GB.

Battles:
Sea Battle at Area 16 France vs GB 2vs2, France wins.

France Assaulted Hamburg, breached and won. France also defeated Lubeck and eliminated the GB cav corps at Valencia. The French Assault on Genua was unsuccesful.

RU wins at Kiel and destroyed the defenders.

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That's as far as we've gotten....

And I don't know how to upload screenies...

[Odysseus]

December 6th, 1805

Bezukhov tried to look out the window in the cramped office, but no matter how much he rubbed it with his gloved up hand, the fog simply persisted. Not that he'd be rewarded by a spectacular view - it would simply turn from dimly white to clear white, but it was more the principle of things - windows should not be fogged over.

The door opened letting in a white cloud and a very panting messenger, whose stomping boots quickly covered the floor in small piles of snow.

"The latest diplomatic dispatches from our embassies, sir."

"Thank you, I'll take them", Bezukhov rushed over to grab the bag before the man could bring the chaos of winter further into the room, and then promptly ushered him out. As dreary as such documents were, they at least gave him something to do. Bezukhov poured himself some more tea from the samovar and sat down to read.

"Hm, let's see now. So the Austrians are marching on Rome. Seems appropriate, let the Papists have it. Better than those godless revolutionaries, anyway. Spain still refuses peace with Britain, expe...."

Bezukhov stopped himself as he looked at the next envelope. Not from the West at all. From Circassia, just south of the border. Had the Circassian government finally allied with Turkey? He opened it quickly, scanning through the text...

"Oh no! Those cunning Spaniards!"

It was much worse, Turkey had declared war on Circassia, but in spite of all those diplomatic ventures from Russia, Circassia had asked the government of Spain for support! What were they hoping? That the Spainards would intervene against Turkey? Or that they were more "impartial"? Whatever the reason, the foreign minister was not going to like this!

*********

Final diplomatic roundup of November and December:

In Central Europe, a gaggle of small countries fall -
Baden, Venetia, Munster and Swabia to Austria, Baden is turned Free.
Wurzburg falls to France.

There are also 3 lapses of war: Prussia vs Hesse, Hesse is Austrian, Austria vs Gottingen and Thuringia, both Prussian.

France makes Switzerland, Piedmont and Lombardy Free States.

GB's informal peace proposal is refused again.

Turkey declares war on Circassia, Spain gains control.
Austria declares war on the Papacy with GB gaining control.

Spain requests alliance with GB but is denied.

GB will make his naval move last.

To be continued.

And the end of the December turn seems a good time to try to learn how to upload screens so I can show the map situation and the political situation more clearly...

[Odysseus]

December 10th, 1805
To His Highness, Sultan Selim III
 
Your Highness,
It is with great sorrow we note the declaration of war by Turkey on the defenseless sovereign country of Circassia. Turkey has recently showed itself to be a peaceful nation, engaged only in the political unification of Muslem countries. This, however, constitutes an act of aggression on the very border of Christianity. We must warn that Russia looks upon this as a most serious matter that any military action is taken against the Christian nations of Georgia and Chechnya will have the most serious ramifications for the relationship between our two nations.
 
Yours sincerely,
Alexander,
Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias

[Romanov]

From the Prussian point of view in the same game( Player Romanov)
 
 
Thoughtfully, whilst rubbing his eyes, King Frederich mused over the past years events.

"December 1805.......... So close, so close did we come to a calamity. War, then thankfully, reason prevailed, an uneasey peace exists. Uneasey yes, but peace nevertheless."

He sips at his port, the noise of merry-making from the children of the royal family intruding on his thoughts, a sad smile crossing his face.

Who was it that said "a country has neither allies nor enemies, only interests"?........... What interests lie before Prussia for the coming year? Will the alliance hold? Will Austria rejoin after that disastrous diplomatic bungle? What of Great Britain and their war with France, and now Spain? How will this effect the stability of Europe?

The noise of the study door opening breaks his train of thought....

His eldest son, Frederick, enters, "Sorry father, but you must come,Her Majesty is anxious, she wishes the family to be together before Prince Ferdinand goes to sleep....the cake..."
Only ten and so proper...
"Please inform Her Majesty that I will be along at once"....the boy smiles at his father and dutifully closes the door and returns to his mother.
With a warmer smile on his face the King closes his diplomatic papers, finishes his drink, and returns to the party......

The problems of the new year can wait for one more night.

[gazfun]

Napoleon enters the drawing room, Talyrand nervously holds a report of the latest diplomatic incident on the Caucasus, as he enters the room, the guard snap to attention.
"My dear Talyrand if you have something to report, stop jibering and come forth with it man!"
As the Emperor opens the dispatch, and reads it.
"This is of little concern to us!"
Talyrand Replies "With your indulgence sire this could change the situation between Russia and Turkey"
Napoleon retorts. "This is nothing more than a display of local interest to the Sultan. His troop disposition says something else, and as usual the Tzar has got himself all tangled up in what ifs again, and in some sort romantic trans about Chritianity!"
"Let me know if the Turks do something more definate.
You are dismissed".
Napoleons head snaps to the right, as a messenger returns from Massena's HQ, he recognises the ADC at once. "Looks like we have more important news from Germany, you may enter!"
As the ADC has been dismissed, he goes outside where he catches up with another ADC, that of Davouts HQ, Captain Auclair, they once where in the same class together in the officer acadamy of 1800, "hey Jean he says, you are a sight for sore eyes how are you"!
"Well if it isnt my old friend Caprice, what have you been up to, I hear you guys surprised the Russians at Hamburg".
Jean replies
"Thats right we heard from a scout reporting on there position, earlier in the month, that there where all doing march drill as we past them, something to do with a dress parade".
They both laugh heartedly, Jean continues "I hear they do that everyday, and so to the Prussians, they can take up to 3 hours per day on this, do you believe it"
Yes Caprice replies, "Remember the old days before Napoleon" Jean continues, "Well thankfully those days are gone" They turn to see a Lt Colonel from the Gendarme de elite exit Napoleons HQ, they snap to attention and salute.
"Havent you got something to do gentleman" "Yes sir" they reply, then they find there appropiate mounts, and wave of to each other, saying till next time..........
The Generals HQ
The Generals HQ Forum

[Odysseus]

So how do you upload screens? When I click to make a screen, I can paste the screen into a Word document a'right, but how to actually get the screen as a separate file, I dunno...

[gazfun]

Do you see the "Click here to upload" link ? then also tick the little box with the "embed picture as post" then upload it, simple easy peasy.
BTW you will have to make sure you load a pic in TGHQ as well [;)]

[Odysseus]

Easy peasy if you have an identifiable file. So, how do you get the file? When I want to take a screenie - I press Prt Sc, and then go to a word document and paste the pic there. But how to turn the pic into an actual file? I mean, I must be a file when I've done the Prt Sc, but I have no idea of where to find it. I feel like such a n00b, ;P

[gazfun]

ok when you take a screenshot, what program are you using and what type of file does it make a bitmap, jpeg, or jpg file?
If the file you get is a bitmap file you have to convert it to a jpg, file or a jpeg file and you can do that with the standard paint program, and save as a jpeg file.
Most forums allow jpeg file as they are a smaller type of file, and dont take up too much data space.
I use Screenshot Utility to make the file, and then use Corel paint to save it to a jpeg picture file, then I can change and adjust the screenshot as needed
[:)]

[Odysseus]

I dunno what program I'm using. I'm pressing the Prt Sc button, that's all. So when I do that - in what folder should I look for the new file? Where does the screenshot end up when it is initially created?

[gazfun]

"Prt Sc" could you extend the abreviation so I could understand what you mean.
If its the "Print Screen" button, then unless you have your windows software to support that function it wont work.
As I said the above Screenshot program, you can designate whatever buttons you want to activate it when the program is on.

[Odysseus]

I'm not sure I follow. I do like this:
 
1) Press "Print Screen".
 
2) Open a new document in Word.
 
3) Press "Paste" -> the screenshot appears on the Word document.
 
This means that I can obviously take screenshots. They are presumably generated somewhere on the computer when I press Print Screen. However, I have no idea of where, in which folder, they are generated, so I have no idea of where to look for the picture file that is pasted onto the Word document. I can send you word document for you to look at if you want me to.

[Hoffnung]

Odysseus,
 
I think if you "paste" the screenshot into Paint, you can then save it as a .jpg file.
 
Hoff

[gazfun]

ORIGINAL: Odysseus

I'm not sure I follow. I do like this:

1) Press "Print Screen".

2) Open a new document in Word.

3) Press "Paste" -> the screenshot appears on the Word document.

This means that I can obviously take screenshots. They are presumably generated somewhere on the computer when I press Print Screen. However, I have no idea of where, in which folder, they are generated, so I have no idea of where to look for the picture file that is pasted onto the Word document. I can send you word document for you to look at if you want me to.

Ok send it to me I have a look at it, you know my address

[Odysseus]

Ok - taking at stab at this. Victory point standings at the end of the year:

[Odysseus]

Political standings:

As you can see - a very even game, with Prussia slightly ahead of the pack at this time. But anything can still happen.

[Odysseus]

The major nation relations - quiet at the moment...

[Odysseus]

On the ground in the West - Gibraltar