Westheim vs. 5 AI (random madness)

[Westheim]

The AT King of Fail is back – briefly. The power unit to my current laptop died a silent death yesterday and while I wait for a replacement for this very “exotic” component, as the guy in the shop (not where I bought it), put it, to be shipped I am on the old laptop that still has AT Gold on it. Haven’t played in years, obviously, and dabbled a bit yesterday, where I was pretty rusty and made a few dumb things. Just like the olden days!

This is going to be a long Sunday – better use it.

I think I did see AT Gold on Steam just a few days ago, but I can’t be bothered to download Steam onto this machine here at all, so the summer sale will definitely be over by the time I get my current machine back. Oh well. Tough luck.

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We’ll be playing a game with 5 AI (standard, I’m rusty as all heck), Civ-style with a 1-town start, stone age tech, and few initial railroads. I might reroll however if I don’t get a sensible amount of resources initially, which happened in my first attempt yesterday. No raws. NO … raws.

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In May 1932, the Eastern Empire awakens. 15 years of internal strife had ravaged the people to the greatest extent, but finally, this winter, the last free thinkers had been deported to distant labor camps and the entire populace, their will and their desires, were aligned on one cause: to conquer the world and end the dangerous concept of free thinking altogether!

The conquest of the world would have to start from humble beginnings, from the Empire’s capital in Minsk, which was literally in the middle of a forest that itself was located in the middle of nowhere. But hey, at least there were plenty of labor camps to produce everything necessary for a steaming war machine nearby.

Immediately after embarking on conquest, the Empire sent envoys to all other nations in the world to inform them that the Empire would graciously accept them submitting to Empire rule and that they would be spared if they stopped their errant ways of thinking freely immediately. Unfortunately, this merciful offer was not well received, instead rebuffed, and of the five other empires, three declared war more or less immediately: Kent State, Imperial Chengdu, and The Kaliphate.

Alright, get those pointy sticks sharpened. Good ol’ Empire is goin’ to war!

Below an overview over our little corner of the world at first contact with Germania (not at war with!). Research has been pretty basic so far, including mortars, artillery, and armoured cars. Who needs defensive stuffs? We will go on the attack!

[Westheim]

Sound the alarm!! Mobilize the militia!! Arm the workers!!

A hidden nest of free thinkers was discovered in the woods near Minsk!! Brave soldiers! The fate of the glorious future lies in your hands, pistols, and pitchforks! Root out free thought! Such dangerous concept has no place in our time!!

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In slightly less shocking news, the Empire also encountered the Kaliphate (which we are at war with) in the deep south in I Corps’ sector. It’s uncomfortably warm down there, and fighting in anything else than minus 20 degrees will give the Empire’s troops a severe disadvantage. So far, only their territory has showed up, no units.

[Westheim]

February 1933

The Caliphate has yet to physically show up, but there are clear indicators for two more people in the south. In the southeast we have spotted Sun Kingdom units (not at war with), while there is the Chinese city of Jingmen right where Germania, The Kaliphate, and of course the mighty Eastern Empire clash together. The Empire might not get the city first, but since there are still no Kaliphate units around, we might conquer it right away.

I Corps popped a crate in the uncomfortable desert, revealing a research lab. Huzzah! A glorious day for the Empire! A celebratory second 5-minute break was granted to all workers towards the end of their 17-hour shifts!

The problem down there is obvious, though. Supply will become an issue before long, and the Empire’s workforce is scrambling to produce enough shovels and pickaxes to outfit an engineer division to build a road and bridges down there. The same will be required for the II Corps sector.

[Westheim]

March 1933

The mighty Eastern Empire forces assaulted the free thought swamp of Lubao with great effect!

(Even though it was not the desired effect)

The enemy's 35th division was completely annihilated, though!

[Westheim]

April 1933

Glorious Eastern Empire scientists have made a phenomenal advancement, allowing the Empire to outfit its troops with very much advanced hammers and pitchforks, as Rifle II was successfully and gloriously researched.

Nothing much else is going well, however. The Free Thinkers continue to repulse every heroic assault of our III Corps and withstand even the most merciless artillery barrage, while no move against The Caliphate is possible due to the fact that all forward units are out of supplies. This is double unfortunate given that we were just one good advance away from snatching a productive mine right away from the Caliphate, but it wasn’t meant to be. Likewise, no assault on Jingmen is possible.

A naval command was set up in Sonkovo, our only coastal city, to slowly build up a small navy to explore the eastern sea and perhaps in the future conduct fancy and glorious amphibic operations there.

You know – once we research boats with hammers and pitchforks on it.

[Westheim]

May 1933

Minsk is under attack! Onwards, onwards, workers! Repel the dangerous free thinkers while we evacuate all important persons to the south.

Party leaders and commissars first!!

[Westheim]

/Out of character:

Funny thing. Yesterday I played as the Japanese Sun Kingdom, and somehow I got mixed up when the name and the yellow counters showed up something for me, and I thought we were at peace. We very much aren’t. That’s Imperial Chengdu, and we’re at war. The Sun Kingdom are the free thinkers that are about to overrun Minsk.

Well, I’ve always been crap at this game. I think I’ll shoot a few bureaucrats (or aristocrats!) in public to distract the workers from this intelligence failure and pretend everything is well.

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May/June 1933

Imperial Chengdu kicked the Caliphate out of the contested mine, and the Eastern Empire would very much like to get stuck in, but simply can’t due to the supply issues with I Corps.

The Empire is experiencing a severe shortage of ore at this point, which makes the inability to take over that mine even more of an annoyance.

In June, I Corps managed to attack the mine with the 6th division, but despite a 4:1 force advantage, 6th Division failed to take the prized possession.

The Minsk front sees an almost comical inability by III Corps to surround and eliminate the free thinking scum.

Empire scientist found out how to not only launch wooden, winged contraptions into the air, but also how to keep them up there for a meaningful amount of time – Fighters have been researched. But due to the lack of raw material at this point, producing anything other than more cannon fodder for frontal assaults is … challenging, to say the least. We need to build three more bits of railroad. The RR with I Corps is mostly complete, but we need one to cross the river that separates II Corps, and we also need one to run west from Minsk into the woods. Despite piece with Germania, I don’t trust them farther than the distance a well trained worker can fling his hammer.

[Westheim]

/Out of character

Okay, I take everything back I said last time. That’s NOT Chengdu in the mine – it’s more of the free-thinking scum! To make up for my second mistake, I will execute some intellectuals.

+++

July 1933

Success! 6th Division finally took the mine at our extreme southern border, but by now the Caliphate is amassing troops and I Corps might be in for a hot summer down there.

III Corps finally managed an advance on the Minsk front, even if they took ridiculous casualties again. Since there was nothing else to do, the commanding general was court-martialed and sent to a labor camp in the northeast.

[Westheim]

August 1933

Great calamity! The Caliphate almost encircled I Corps by pushing through the desert mountains and also claimed the important mine from inept 6th Division again.

[Westheim]

August 1933

The strength of eliminating free thought lies in the ability to take a horrible situation and mindlessly throw cannon fodder recruits at it for as long as it takes to generate a good outcome. I Corps realigned to counter the Caliphate’s pincers, although that means that they can not counterattack the mine.

Meanwhile, III Corps sacrificed enough young hammer-wielding workers to push the free thinking Sun Kingdom out of Lubao and claim that haven of mind-distorting free-thought concoctions for the better of the Eastern Empire. We expect a swift roundup of the remaining radical elements in the vicinity!

Also, the Empire FINALLY managed to bridge that river with the II Corps. FINALLY.

Raws are still so short that we can’t produce much in terms of advanced weaponry. Endless hammerthrowers were researched however, with machineguns added to the arsenal. Well, if we could build any.

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September 1933

Defeat!! I Corps’s front was pierced, 11th Division was eliminated, and the Caliphate is pushing north. II Corps was also dealt a blow.

One problem is also our lack of transport capacity. There are more reinforcements than our trains can shuffle to the front. In a desperate move, V Corps was formed with enough units to set up six infantry and one armored division – in Minsk. They will have to get down south on their own, which will literally take MONTHS.

The prudent thing might be to pull out I Corps before they are completely obliterated – but the Eastern Empire might shake, but it does not crumble! No retreat! Steady, workers, steady! The final victory will be ours! Your heroic sacrifice will not be forgotten in our carefully adjusted history books!

[Westheim]

October 1933

The South is in complete disarray now after a massive assault by the Caliphate swept over I Corps, which had 12th Division eliminated and several other units badly mauled. WHY ARE YOU RETREATING!!?? Who allowed that!? That fool will be shot to death!

+++

November 1933

While the roundup of the misguided Sun Kingdom adherents in the Minsk area continues, 8th Division popped the second crate and discovered a mercenary hideout. They joined the cause to conquer the world. Great, more infantry we can’t get to the frontline.

Not only is I Corps badly mauled (30th Division was entirely wiped out) and has without authorization withdrawn to the river front, where engineers have prepared some hasty fortifications, no, we are also almost out of oil and supplies. Things are REALLY going - … well, normally we would call this pear-shaped, but we are also out of pears and don’t know what they look like. At least only workers and peasants were lost in the retreat, and the heavy equipment, artillery and armored cars, was all successfully pulled out. A glorious maneuver!

V Corps is STILL not at the front. And since they are truck-powered, they might never arrive there at all.

Oh the indignity!

[Westheim]

December 1933

The river front in the south was holding, but the Caliphate was still ferrying in more troops.

The Empire is out of supplies and oil, transport capacity is low, and thus, the new VI Corps was again formed in Minsk, with enough stuff to form divisions on their own once at the front, but that would again take them months.

Just this month, V Corps finally arrived in the south and will plug into the small gap between I and II Corps after spawning its seven divisions, six infantry, and one with armored cars.

The Empire managed to set up its first air fleet in Drognitz, an ethnically German city, with four fighter wings that started to attack some Caliphate infantry.

By the way, that Naval Command the Empire set up in the summer still only consists of some staff in Sonkovo, where they are picking their noses with no ships to administer. And none researched, either.

The Empire did research how to drop stuff from an airplane, however, and we can theoretically now build divebombers.

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January 1934

The Caliphate gained a bridgehead at the river, and we were unable to push them back over the water.

The main problem right now is the fuel situation. No planes fly without fuel, and this happened right here, with the only fuel in vain allocated to the failed counterattack.

The only good news is that the free thinking Sun Kingdom followers have been summarily vanquished and the Minsk front is being dissolved. Some III Corps units will be converted into a token coastal defence, some will be transferred to the IV Corps, which forms a loose screen on the border with Germania, while most will be sent south – on foot. The artillery and armored cars have already been transferred south by rail.

[Westheim]

February 1934

No setbacks, but also no improvements. We have more airplanes ready to deploy to combat zones, but can’t get them there.

At least diplomatically, things have improved, with Chengdu declaring war on the Caliphate. That will get the Caliphate into a war on two fronts, greatly helping us out on the river front eventually. Watch out for Germania, though, as they are not at war with anybody they are bordering as far as Empire intelligence can tell. Of course the Empire is *also* at war with Imperial Chengdu, but as long as we’re not bordering another, all is well.

Meanwhile, half our raw and oil income comes from city production, and it’s still grossly insufficient.

Katyushas were researched.

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March 1934

Great heroism was displayed by the 4th and 46th Infantry Divisions (I Corps), who turned away a furious assault of the unkempt Caliphate hordes on our river defenses! These soldiers – or what remains of them – are true heroes of all Eastern Empire workers, soldiers, and even peasants!

The 4th Division was elevated to the status of Guards Division – an inspiration for us all!

Heroism aside, some dirty massed attacks won back the previously lost bridgehead on the river border with the Caliphate, and outside of artillery barrages we didn’t manage to do that much more.

Southeast of Drognitz an airfield was built, but the planes in Minsk still have no fuel to get there.

[Westheim]

April 1934

Another month, another setback, as the Caliphate fiercely counterattacked at the bridgehead we had just cleared and crossed the river again in force. Same old, same old in terms of oil.

The Empire researched Cruisers. From here, Sonkovo will produce a cruiser both this month and the next, and that microfleet will then explore the distant shores of the body of water to our east. Once they are done with that, they will be used for shore bombardment in an obvious location.

The small Sun Kingdom territory that was on the fringes of the land visible to the Eastern Empire was extinguished by the Bordeaux Commune, who are at war only with Germania, and are not bordering them.

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May 1934

The Caliphate launched a massive attack on the frontline held by I Corps, and was repulsed with staggering losses. Their casualties were about seven times as high as ours. It still doesn’t seem like they have gotten any weaker, despite 225 infantry units claimed annihilated by our frontline troops.

No improvement can be reported in terms of the oil situation.

VI Corps arrived with II Corps and will go into suitable positions for an attack on Jingmen. The plan there is to push over the river north of the city, take the city itself, and then create a defensive position at the river south of Jingmen against both Imperial Chengdu and the Caliphate.

[Westheim]

June 1934

The Empire spent much of June preparing for an assault by II and VI Corps that will be conducted in July.

A navy was successfully launched, with the two cruisers taking course to the northeast to hopefully discover pleasant things. The Empire could use a few pleasant things.

There was some fighting in the sector of I and V Corps, but nothing spectacular.

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July 1934

Before our offense could get underway, the Caliphate breached the I Corps’ defenses at the coastline, breaking into our system of fortifications. An immediate counterattack threw them back beyond the river. What a glorious reaction by our troops, their spirits filled with equality and brotherhood and hard work and … death. Glory for the Eastern Empire!

II and VI Corps’ joined offense meanwhile in the Jingmen sector was quite spectacular – and with that we mean there were spectacular losses for the assaulting Empire units. The 49th, 50th, and 53th Infantry Divisions on the right wing were grossly decimated, while only the 5th and 58th InfDiv (II) managed to cross the river to the east of Jingmen. There is a certain lack of air support in this theater that is quite disheartening…

Production is paltry, since a sizeable portion of our capacity is used to produce petty amounts of oil and – to a lesser extent – ore.

[Westheim]

August 1934

While the front remained stable, with neither II/VI Corps making any gains, nor I Corps getting pushed off that precious river bank, the Empire still – silently – conceded a defeat and stopped building planes. There was just no point in building planes that would never take off the ground.

Instead, more and more production capacity has been diverted into producing synthetic oil.

Our little navy has spotted the opposite coast, which is about 12 hexes away, and controlled by the Kent State.

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September 1934

V Corps suffered a defeat as Caliphate units crossed the river in some force. 38th InfDiv was wiped out completely and the Caliphate came close to a breakthrough. The III Corps units that weren’t diverted elsewhere is arriving just in time to flood into the developing gap.

VI Corps attacked around Jingmen again, suffering even more horrendous casualties. We can’t seem to hurt the Caliphate much at all on the offense, and to make things worse they are now rolling up light tanks.

But the leadership also had a nice day away from Minsk this month, inaugurating a new gun factory near Pskov that will produce the finest artillery for the ongoing war effort, allowing us to switch more of our conventional industry to the production of synthetic oil.

[Westheim]

October 1934

The leadership announced great successes to the working people this month! The Caliphate was defeated in three separate offensives, all reaping the greatest and most glorious rewards! The entire Eastern Empire rejoiced, and in celebration the length of the working day was increased to 19 hours for the rest of the year!

Actually, those were two counterattacks and that offense on the extreme right wing finally breaking through. Jingmen is still not in a position to be assaulted any time soon due to a concoction of supply and fuel shortages. That fighter and bomber wing that was built earlier in the year – still grounded in Minks. Winter is coming.

[Westheim]

November 1934

Wave upon wave of brave Eastern Empire workers and peasants clashed against Jingmen – but the doors would not open; the Caliphate occupiers held out.

Meanwhile the VII Corps has arrived and has split off five divisions of mercenaries to throw into the meat grinder.

The Caliphate also gained ground on the coast opposite I Corps. Time for the cruisers to show up and give some bombing support!

[Westheim]

December 1934

Sometimes you just have to continue to throw stuff at something. The Eastern Empire won a glorious victory by conquering Jingmen, where every location of some production value that wasn't thoroughly burned to the ground the last few months has been converted to produce more synthetic oil.

Oil! The Empire needs oil!

Other than that the front remains largely static.

[Westheim]

January 1935

Not much is new on the front, except that only one Caliphate division remains north of the river. Everything else has been thrown back and the Empire’s charismatic, yet gruesome, leaders think that the tide might be turning on the Caliphate in 1935. Their attacks were very weak and it seems like Imperial Chengdu is making good progress with them as well. Of course, once the remaining Caliphate units between the Empire and Chengdu fronts have been milled to dust, we will have to deal with Chengdu ourselves, and they will be really keen on gaining Jingmen, one of their cities.

Brilliant Empire scientists found out to shoot bigger explosives from mortars, allowing us to build Mortar IIs.

Some spare oil remained after operations had been concluded for this month, but now the airplanes stuck in Minsk were literally stuck in the mud and could not take off.