Icarus Mod playtest-AAR, Moongaz3r vs Jazon

[moon1]

Somewhat tired of vanilla 1914 scenario, me and Jazon decided to give this mod a go. This mod is made by mdsmall and it is a general overhaul of both balance and tempo of the game. You can learn more about it in the dedicated thread on the forum.

Both of players are about upper-intermediate level, understading game mechanics and having some victories in Call to Arms scenario under their belt. Jazon is also a creator of 1920 Polish-Soviet scenario, which is a great mod worthy of checking out.

The game is reported with 9-12 months delay.

And so, let's begin!

Moongaz3r (Central Powers) vs Jazon (Entente)

August-September 1914

At first I was thinking about skipping Belgium and going full "Russia First" strategy but then decided that for playtest something more historical will be more appropriate. So I've started with a classic dow on Belgium and cavalry rush past the French army. The main objective was to capture Lille and the mine to the south in order to deny France its industrial capacity in the long run.

German push to Lille

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French and BEF approached Germans cautiously, especially since this mod nerfed the attack of infantry, so the losses are much more even between attackers and defenders even without trenches. Several small scaled counterattacks made the Boches bleed, yet they were not capable of saving Belgium. By the end of August Germans captured Ypres and Antwerp, forcing the King of Belgians Albert I to flee the country. Belgium surrenders.

September 1914

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In the east, German army under von Bulow launches an attack againt Russian garrison in Bialystok, in order to create a salient, threatening Warsaw-Minsk railway and Brest-Litovsk fortress.

Bialystok captured

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Though Russians greatly outnumber Germans, they do not launch any counterattacks, instead forming a defensive line on Vistula-Bug rivers. General Paul von Hindenburg, returning from his retirement, immediately orders to exploit this and German forces together with Hungarian cavalry launch a daring attack, surrounding Lodz and taking Kutno.

Lodz cut off

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[moon1]

However, the bloodiest battles were not fought on land but at sea. Kaiserliche Marine command orders the fleet to launch a sortie to the North Sea, hoping to catch Royal Navy off guard and without subs, which are essential for spotting in the early stages of the war. This whole affair went south when a lone British light cruiser spotted the battlships on the horizon. Royal Navy got the first strike and weather also greatly favoured the British, so even though High Seas Fleet fought back valiantly and managed to sink 2 British dreadnoughts and 1 battlecruiser, the overall result of the battle is a strategic victory for the United Kingdom with several German light ships and 1 dreadnought going to the bottom of the sea.

Royal Navy vs High Seas Fleet

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Overall, I would have considered the first two months of the war to be a success if not for North Sea Battle, which will have a lot of implications in the long run. Looks like my naval strategy will need a bit of revising...

August-September losses

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[moon1]

October-November 1914

Unfortunately I lost the screenshots of this period, so there will be only text-AAR.

These were relatively quiet months. I went full heavy on German research, investing around 1000 mpps at this point, so any attacks were kept to a minimum. French and British were passive as well, especially when 1 Trench tech entered the scene. There was limited action in Galicia: Russians took Chernowitz and then tried to push their way through Carpatian passes but one successful Austrian counterattack left the great Bear with a bloodied nose and hurt pride. There were no attacks on Lemberg (or Lwow, as those pesky Slavs call it) as well, city stands defiant in the face of Russian opposition.

Kaiserliche Marine returns to harbour to lick their wounds while the command already orders a sortie to the Baltics. Swedish embassy reports that Russian u-boats sunk several of their merchantships heading to Germany. A squadron consisting of several destroyers and light cruisers lead by battlecruiser SMS Derfflinger heads to the Gulf of Bothnia.

While Austria-Hungary withstands Russian pressure on Galician front, bad news arrive from Dalmatia. Serbian army launched a daring attack on Ragusa and took the city in just a couple of days. A mistake on Austrian HQ part, leaving just a half-strength detachment to defend a city. With Ragusa lost, K.u.K. Kriegsmarine lost an important naval base in the Adriatic. So while Austrian Chief of Staff Konrad von Hötzendorf had to explain the situation to Kaiser, or more likely to make excuses for his failure, Serbians celebrate the liberation of the first South Slavic city from Habsburg yoke, which was immediately renamed to Dubrovnik.

[moon1]

December-January 1914-1915

Silence descends on the fronts of Europe. Germans, French, British, Russians and Austro-Hungarians count their losses and make plans for 1915, while in the trenches soldiers from both sides take part in spontaneous acts of humanity and fraternity, playing football and exchaning gifts. Tonight they are not enemies but brothers.

Well, I don't know, whether my opponent is doing all of these but I am definitely not! Germany spends all of her research MPPs, focusing artillery, infantry and industry. Industry 1 arrives early due to a research breakthrough and I start to replenish the losses suffered in the 1914 campaign. Austro-Hungary focuses more on rebuilding since Italy didn't join the war on their side and they can potentially attack us in the future...

In the Baltics German squadron arrives to the Gulf of Bothnia and attacks Russian sub on the raid. We'll see whether Russians will respond or the memories of humiliation at Tsushima made them teethless.

Battle of the Gulf of Bothnia is about to begin

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Morrocan tribes rebel against their French overlords and march on Casablanca. But apparently British High Command anticipated this and prematurely sent a cavalry corps to deal with the insurgency

Morrocans face regular British forces

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Oh, and Ottomans finally enter the war. British made the decision to hand over dreadnought Sultan Osman-ı Evvel to the Turks, so the Sultan and his cabinet somewhat hesitated until the false-flag raid on Sevastopol, orchestrated by Enver Pasha, brought them into the war with Russia. Immediately Ottoman Army encountered diffculties in the Caucasus, not prepared for harsh weather conditions and diseases. General mobilization, locust swarm in the Palestine, railway construction in Mesopotamia - all these put a big drain on Ottoman economy. A little bit more and the Sultan can declare his country bankrupt without firing a single shot!

Ottoman income. Yikes!

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[moon1]

February-March 1915

Yet again, not much happened during these month. except naval action. Battle of the Gulf of Bothnia was in full swing, Russian fleet rolled on from their ports... and got smashed. German command dispersed their forces across the coast of Sweden in small groups in order to hide their real numbers, lure Russians in and have a capability to strike anywhere if it was necessary. A couple of destroyers and a light cruiser of Russian Baltic Fleet engaged in a fight with German screen ships in the north, while the mighty Pyotr Veliky, an obsolete yet still heavily armed battleship sailed behind them. She was spotted by a German U-boat and immediately battlecruiser Derfflinger together with her support screens descended upon this behemoth and sent it to the bottom of the sea. The rest of the Russian navy, battered in the clash with German destroyers and subs, immediately returned to ports after that, ending the battle in a decisive German victory.

Initial phase of the battle, Russians took the bait

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[moon1]

April-May 1915

Across the spring mud German soldiers pulled their field guns to the set positions. The concentration of forces on the northern flank of Polish salient was almost complete. The idea behind this offensive was quite simple: squeeze Russians from both sides, threating railways to Warsaw from north and south and force them to retreat instead of storming their fortified positions head on. However, the supply situation in the area around Biyalostok, where Germans set up most of their forces, was not optimal - no railway connection to the salient and the city itself was in range of Russian guns, meaning it could not provide supply. At first the idea of generals Hindenburg and von Hutier, who replaced von Below in March, was to strike towards Brest-Litovsk, marching directly to the railway but Russian vast reserves of men and supply situation forced them to scale down this plan and redirect the initial spearhead drive from Brest-Litovsk towards Warsaw itself. The capital of Tsarist Poland was crucial for linking their armies with the 9th Army of general Mackensen, established at Lodz, and still put pressure on the Russian army, leaving it little space to operate.

And Austro-Hungarians, as usual, were running late. Their Galician offensive was an important part of the overall strategy but they were no near ready even at the end of May, so Germans decided to carry on without them.

At 22nd of May, guns finally began to roar at the Eastern Front. German infantry went over the top and smashed into Russian lines, destroying the vanguard of their defenses. The initial advance was slow as expected and very bloody, which was less expected. The worst situation was near Lodz, where Mackensen's diversionary attack ended up in more dead Germans than Russians. It seems we are off to a rocky start...

German offensive has finally begun

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[mdsmall]

Hi Moongaz3r and Jazon,

Delighted to see that the two of you are giving the Icarus Mod a go. What's happening on the Serbian front? - you have not mentioned it yet in your AAR. I wrote a number of new Decision Events for that theatre to give the Entente some choices if the Serbians were getting pressed. Glad to see that the Ottomans opted to start building the RR way to Mosul. Did the Russians opt to extend their sphere of influence into northern Persia? And has the new convoy from Persia to the UK kicked in yet?

Cheers,

Michael
(mdsmall)

[moon1]

Hi Moongaz3r and Jazon,

Delighted to see that the two of you are giving the Icarus Mod a go. What's happening on the Serbian front? - you have not mentioned it yet in your AAR. I wrote a number of new Decision Events for that theatre to give the Entente some choices if the Serbians were getting pressed. Glad to see that the Ottomans opted to start building the RR way to Mosul. Did the Russians opt to extend their sphere of influence into northern Persia? And has the new convoy from Persia to the UK kicked in yet?

Cheers,

Michael
(mdsmall)

Hello Michael!

Actually, I've mentioned it once, just didn't have a screenshot (forgot to save them). Serbians took Ragusa but otherwise frontline remained static since I put most of my focus on keeping Galicia. But don't worry, I will return to that front and we'll see how these choices will play out!

Yes, Russians had moved into Northern Persia and UK had started to receive that juicy oil convoy. Southern front is playing out quite interesting in our game, I will cover it as the time goes!

[moon1]

June-July 1915

The eastern steamroller is starting to gain pace. Hindenburg's army approached Warsaw from the left bank of Vistula, squeezing Russian formations ever more while Austria-Hungary had finally launched its attack and immediately punched a whole in the frontline south-east of Lublin. Counterattacks immediately followed with heavy casualties on both sides but it seems that Russians suffer greater than Austrians and Germans because of their artillery inferiority and poor organisation.

Russians under pressure

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Facing the threat of encirclement, Russian Commander-in-chief Grand Duke Nicholas, cousin of the Tsar, made a decision to abandon Warsaw and the fortress of Novo-Georgievsk all together. In just one week they managed to move dozens of thousands of soldiers and supply across the Vistula river and then blow the bridges. In 22nd of July army of general von Hindenburg march into Warsaw and Kaiser himself arrives to the capital of Poland so he can congratulate his soldiers. Yet the fighting is nowhere near at an end: Germany and Austria-Hungary continue to press Russians and newly produced Krupp heavy artillery starts to arrive en masse to the frontlines. Looks like the Germans haven't throwed their heaviest punch yet...

Warsaw has fallen

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However, things were not looking as great for Central Powers in the Caucasus. Russian forces under general Yudenich attacked Trabzon which was defended by Georgian volunteer batallions. Difficult terrain, strained supply chains and well-prepared defensive positions: all that made Pasha Kemal, who assumed command over this front in January, believe that any attack there would be repulsed. Yudenich proved to be very wrong as his mountaineers and Cossacks stormed the city, taking a lot of disheartened Georgian prisoners. Undoubtedly, horrible fate awaits them in the hands of Russian heathens.

Russian steamroller in the Caucasus

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Inspired by Russian success, Armenians of the Ottoman Empire tooks arms and rebelled. Russian troops moved into Northern Persia and established a forward base at Tabriz, where Armenian army, motivated though small, was formed. Riots on the streets of Van disrupted Ottoman communications and presented Russian command with an opportunity which they immediately seized, beginning their attack. Ottomans had a big cavalry reserve at Bitlis, which they were planning to use to defend the city but the scout report of Russian soldiers marching toward Mosul through Elburz Mountains completely changed this plan and forced the Turks to commit their reserves to stop this advance. The defenders of Van were left without help and by the end July battered Ottomans were retreating to Bitlis. Ottoman Armenia had fallen and Russian were marching on Erzurum from the east...

Mosul is under threat

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[moon1]

All these failings only futher conviced British Admiralty and its First Lord, Winston Churchill, that Ottoman Empire just needed a firm kick in the butt to completely fall down in shambles. A hastly put naval invasion of Dardanelles was ordered and British Marines sailed towards Gallipoli, only to be greeted by the roar of coastal battery guns and Ottoman Navy battleships. The invasion was almost instantly scattered with thousands of Brits disappearing beneath the waves and the news of victory spreaded across the Empire, raising morale of both soldiers and civilians.

British marines ambushed by coastal guns bombardment

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With these news and Turkish soldiers finally putting the stop to Russian advance in the Caucasus, inflicting heavy casualties at the battle of Eleskirt, looks like the Sick Man of Europe is not about to die any time soon.

Turks fight back

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Meanwhile in Morroco the rebellion is on its last legs. Though the tribes have not succeeded in their goals, they did force the Entente to commint troops there, which could have been used at Gallipoli, for example. Their sacrifice will not be forgotten and after the Central Powers win this war, Morroco will be granted its self-rule. Under German patronage, of course.

The rebels have nowhere to run

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[moon1]

August-September 1915

German slow yet relentless advance continued into August. Under the heat of late summer sun soldiers fought and died, taking trench after trench. The biggest news arrived from the northern flank under general Von Hutier: Germans took fortified city of Grodno after the biggest artillery barrage this war has ever seen. But it looks like it will not be the biggest for long as German industry continues to produce ever increasing amounts of heavy guns and shells.

Grodno has fallen

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Lessons of 1914 and 1915 were learnt and changes were made in infantry tactics and equipment in both Germany and Austria-Hungary. Stahlhelm was introduced en masse, newly developed machine guns and cartridges for rifles - all these would give German and Austro-Hungarian infantry an edge over their poor Russian opponents.

Infantry Weapons Lvl 1 are researched on both Germany and Austria-Hungary.

But Entente was not sitting idle either. Russian industry was finally set onto wartime rails and British supplies were arriving daily to the port of Arkhangelsk. The losses inflicted on the Russian Bear must become even greater before millions of mobilized serfs will be equipped and trained!

Russian industry is getting speed

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Under constant pressure Russians have started to pull back from Poland all together. Lublin and fortress of Ivangorod were abandoned without a fight and advancing opponent was on their heels. The so called "Great Retreat" was not without its setbacks: Russians had to build ad hoc fortifications and trenches to cover their retreat, the sheer number of troops clouded the roads and Central Powers fully seized this moment of disorganisation in the ranks of their enemy. In the early September a series of battles were fought across all the Eastern front in which Russians lost 5 infantry corps, hunderds of thousands of soldiers were either killed, wounded or taken prisoner. Now 1915 campaign in the East can be called a splendid victory for Germany and Austria-Hungary!

Start of final stages of Summer Offensive

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And its finish. Poland is "liberated" from Russians!

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[moon1]

On the northern flank, Von Hutier amassed a big number of small detachments of infantry. The idea behind this was to force Russians to commit troops in order to defend Riga and Vilna, while Hindenburg, Mackensen and Von Straußenburg push Russians back to Ukraine. At the same time his main force was closing onto Kovno.

Preparations for diversionary attack to Baltics

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Germans near Kovno

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[moon1]

Now to the Southern fronts. British troops were now arriving at significant numbers to Serbia and even tried to launch an attack on Sarajevo without artillery support. Austro-Hungarians stand defiant and British are pushed back.

British attack on Sarajevo

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In the Mediterranean Ottoman fleet, lead by dreadnought Sultan Osman-I Evvel, set course to Cyprus, trying to catch British destroyers, hunting in this area, off-guard. Instead they found a French convoy, carrying marines who were supposed to participate in Gallipoli invasion. A sad fate indeed: they escaped death there only to find death beneath the waves of the sea and by British-built ships none the less! However, German submarine reported via telegraph that a big squadron of Allied ships was approaching. Ottomans turned back for their bases in Syria but Allied ships caught up to them and avanged their brothers: Sultan Osman-I Evvel is sunk. Though Entente lost an Italian armored cruiser and several ships were damaged, this is still a victory for them.

Ambush! Marines run straight into Ottoman fleet but Allied ships are getting close

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Aftermath of naval battle.

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[moon1]

Meanwhile Russian Cossacks made a daring run across the shore of the Black Sea to the city of Sivas in order to cut the supply line of the Ottomans. This sent the high command in a slight state of panic and an infantry corps was sent from the front to intercept this raid.

Cossacks on the loose

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Now to the diplomatic front, since war, waged by pen, is no less important than the sword one. Norway foreign ministry allowed German subs to use naval bases at Bergen and Stavanger to resupply. Kaiser and his admirals believe that this will prove to be detrimental in the war with the UK.

Norway allowed sccess to her ports

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Speaking of Kaiserliche Marine. In the Baltic Sea German ships intercepted a newly built Russian dreadnought Gangut, sailing to the Gulf of Bothnia, where German destroyer squadron was hunting Russian subs. Her career in the navy ended fast and without any glory: Gangut was sent to the bottom of the sea by German battleship König.

Gangut spotted

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Russian fleet scattered

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[mdsmall]

This is quite a melee! I will be especially interested to see how the Germans make use of the two bases in Norway that they secured using diplomacy.

Michael

[moon1]

October-November 1915

A season of rains and mud was coming to the European continent, forcing most offensive operations to stop. Russians used this opportunity to pull their troops back even further, abandoning Kovno. German soldiers marched into the city to find it completely empty - citizens fled the city together with the Russians.

Russians pulling back to Vilna

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However, the German war machine was not about to settle in for the winter just yet. After thunderous artillery barrage German army under general Von Hutier stormed Vilna, obliterating Russian rearguard and at the same time Von Hindenburg's troops forced the garrison of Brest-Litovsk to surrender. Germans were now standing at the gates of Belarus.

Even mud can't stop the German soldier!

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Dust and ash have not yet settled over capital of Lithuania but German High Command was already planning their offensives for 1916. It was decided that they will not repeat the mistakes of Napoleon and be bogged down in attritional fighting in the Russian heartland. Instead, this time Central Powers will focus on Entente "lesser allies": Serbia and Italy. Sebians blocked the land route from Germany and Austria to Ottoman Empire, which right now was in dire straits, while Italy posed a direct threat to Vienna and was considered to be "the weak chain" in overall Entente forces in the West. Crown Prince of Bavaria Rupprecht, who was given command over German forces on the Italian front, believed, that he just needed one summer to knock Italy out of the war or, at least, incapacitate her army. Von Krobatin, in charge of the Austro-Hungarian 6th Army, made simillar promises to his Kaiser regarding Serbia. Time will tell whether these promises will hold.

Preparations on Italian front

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Preparations on Balkan front

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[moon1]

This is quite a melee! I will be especially interested to see how the Germans make use of the two bases in Norway that they secured using diplomacy.

Michael

All I have to say is that both me and Jazon went nuts over North Sea

[moon1]

Meanwhile troubling news were coming far from the east. Arabs, those traitorous barbarians, revolted against the rule of the Sultan and together with the British agents, one Colonel Thomas Lawrence in particular, attacked Ottoman garrisons, stationed in Medina and Tayma. The situation was quickly getting critical: Ottoman soldiers were running low on ammunition, food and water and Arabs were about to cut off road and rail connection to the mainland. An uneasy decision was made to abandon Medina and retreat further north. We will fight another day.

Arbas revolted!

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Ottoman soldiers leave Medina. We will be back!

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[moon1]

Yet Entente was facing down the same problem. Senussi tribes revolted against Italian rule and with the support of the Ottomans started to wreak havoc across Cyrenaica. French had to transport several infantry sorps and British - to form Desert Force - in order to prevent Senussi from overrunning Italian garrisons. The fighting here promises to be extremely hard: desert weather conditions and strained supply chains work heavily against the Allies.

I wonder, what is better: trenches of the Western front or this?

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And there was another victory on the diplomatic front. Persia, facing an outrageous violation of her borders by Russia and the UK and receiving support from the Ottomans and Germans, seized the oil wells in the south, leaving British war machine without this valuable supply line for its battleships and trucks.

No convoys from Persia for the UK

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[moon1]

December-January 1915-1916

For the first time in a long time there was silence on the Eastern Front. Russians were slowly pulling back to lick their wounds and Central Powers had used all their reserves, so any further attempts of breakthrough were futile.

Russians pulling back

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Russians pulling back 2 Electric Boogaloo

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Instead, action was sparkling in the West and in the Balkans. British and Serbian troops conducted a limited offensive and took the city of Valjevo, crushing the detachment defending it. The situation could have become unstable if Austro-Hungarian Head Command didn't send newly trained troops to this area to prepare for their own offensive. For now the situation was completely stable: without artillery support Allied troops were suffering heavy losses for each inch of land.

Fighting in the Balkans will only get bloodier with time

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