Against Entente AI

[Metalist]

Can the new emperor find a remedy for the chronic instability of the Empire? We will see. Here's the full text of the event: "Recognizing the growing pressures of nationalism among the many ethnic groups within Austria-Hungary, Karl intended to stabilize the empire by replacing Austro-Hungarian dualism with a Triple Monarchy in which the empire's Slavs would be given an equal voice in government. While such radical reforms might have saved the empire, Hungary and those with vested interests in the existing structure were profoundly hostile to the idea. Serbian nationalists saw the move as a threat to their desired secession and the formation of a greater Serbia. Ignoring pleas for caution from his advisors Karl initiated his reforms, transforming the Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary and making the Slavic lands a bulwark against foreign expansionism."

297090_20260119225523_1.png (490.96 KiB) Viewed 411 times

This time I was successful in influencing China, but it was not enough to trigger a shift in alignment. There is also a chance that Japan might invade if China goes pro-Central Powers.

297090_20260119230315_1.png (2.64 MiB) Viewed 411 times

In the West, I aim to strike both the British and the French by targeting Arras for the Grand Offensive. For this aim, the 1st Army is being transferred from the Paris frontier, leaving that sector to the 3rd Army. Despite the rain, I intend to attack this turn; I want the initial heavy combat concluded before the Grand Offensive in the East begins.

297090_20260119230103_1.png (2.7 MiB) Viewed 411 times

As Germany pivots West, Austria-Hungary is also required to conduct a Grand Offensive to avoid a loss of National Will. You can see the target area on the map. The 5th Army is currently being transferred from Romania, as I believe the forces remaining there will be sufficient to knock the latter out of the war. Three German armies will support the Austrian drive, with the offensive likely commencing in June once the 5th Army is in position.

297090_20260119230152_1.png (3.05 MiB) Viewed 411 times

[Randomizer]

Hopefully, France fails to get a Patriotic Reaction and recover from its NW collapse.

-C

[Metalist]

So, the German 1st and 2nd Armies begin their grand offensive. The initial objective is to capture Arras, which will be enough to reward Germany +10 NW points. However, the ultimate objective is to destroy the Entente forces north of the Somme. The German armies will try to develop infiltration tactics—Stormtroopers to the front lines!!!

297090_20260131224418_1.png (1004.38 KiB) Viewed 193 times

297090_20260131225626_1.png (3.07 MiB) Viewed 193 times

In the meantime, the Austrian 6th Army will attack the remnants of the Serbian Army defending Romania.

297090_20260131225044_1.png (3.84 MiB) Viewed 193 times

[Metalist]

The Germans managed to implement infiltration tactics, which were helpful in defeating the Entente in Arras. I initially thought that Russians fighting in France was just AI absurdity, but apparently they did send nearly 45k men: https://web.archive.org/web/20080119212 ... rmarne.htm

297090_20260131225713_1.png (335.33 KiB) Viewed 193 times

The Serbs just don't give up. Crossing a river made it difficult for the Austrians as well.

297090_20260131225822_1.png (336.37 KiB) Viewed 193 times

The first encounters between the Italians and Austrians were small skirmishes, but more will surely come.

297090_20260131225857_1.png (338.37 KiB) Viewed 193 times

297090_20260131225943_1.png (338.61 KiB) Viewed 193 times

[Randomizer]

I initially thought that Russians fighting in France was just AI absurdity, but apparently they did send nearly 45k

There is pretty complete book on this subject. See With Snow On Their Boots: The Tragic Odyssey of the Russian Expeditionary Force in France During World War 1 by Jamie H. Cockfield.

-C

[Metalist]

With the capture of Arras, the objective of the grand offensive, Germany is awarded 10 NW points, while France loses 3. Now it is time to capitalize on the breach in the Entente lines.

297090_20260131230633_1.png (122.76 KiB) Viewed 165 times

The 2nd Army will march towards Hazebrouck to strike the BEF. Meanwhile, the 1st Army will try to envelop the Entente forces. Note that its two corps are now attached with Stormtroopers and have become 'Assault Corps.' This occurred in the previous battle, where two Stormtrooper units each supported an infantry corps. When they are committed in this way, they merge. Assault Corps are stronger and have elite morale

297090_20260202193912_1.png (3.12 MiB) Viewed 165 times

The Austrian 6th Army will try again to defeat the Serbs, hoping they did not have a chance to recover from their previous casualties.

297090_20260202193755_1.png (3.87 MiB) Viewed 165 times

"The Deutschland had been built in 1916 to counter Britain’s naval blockade which had hindered Germany’s war efforts substantially. The submarine was intended to travel to the neutral United States selling goods in exchange for vital raw materials. Deutschland’s third journey, planned for January 1917, was aborted when the U.S. abruptly entered the war and the German Imperial Navy converted Deutschland to a submarine cruiser. In three cruises, Deutschland was subsequently credited with sinking 43 ships, becoming a British war trophy in December 1918."

297090_20260131230848_1.png (489.16 KiB) Viewed 165 times

[Metalist]

The Battle of Hazebrouck is about to commence. I decided to order a breakthrough attempt in case the battle goes well. Thanks to having cavalry units in my reserves, I can attempt to capture two provinces via a breakthrough. I picked the 'Momentum' tactic to help with this attempt. Note also that I can't use the Infiltration tactic; I guess only the 1st Army has access to it so far. So, I picked Massive Bombardment instead.

297090_20260202194734_1.png (3.14 MiB) Viewed 157 times

The Serbs resisted again, but fortunately, this time the Austrians were able to defeat them.

297090_20260202201351_1.png (4.04 MiB) Viewed 157 times

The Italians finally managed to beat the Austrians, capturing the town of Flitsch. The German 11th Army was prepared for this eventuality and will move to support their allies with two mountain corps and one infantry corps, backed by artillery.

297090_20260202201417_1.png (4.15 MiB) Viewed 157 times

The Germans achieved a costly victory at Hazebrouck. The breakthrough attempt faced little resistance, so the remaining Entente forces are now pocketed.

297090_20260202201139_1.png (3.42 MiB) Viewed 157 times

[jcrohio]

Enjoying this and getting back to WW1G. Unfortunately, I am in FL for 3 months with a Windows 11 computer. WW1G will not install on it. The other problem is that my home computer is on its last legs and a new one means Windows 11.

Random
I couldn't tell from one of your earlier posts if you could not get Centennial to load on Win 11 or WW1G. If you got WW1G to install would love to know how you did it. Any help would be appreciated.

Jack

Sorry to kind of hijack the thread!!

[Metalist]

Enjoying this and getting back to WW1G. Unfortunately, I am in FL for 3 months with a Windows 11 computer. WW1G will not install on it. The other problem is that my home computer is on its last legs and a new one means Windows 11.

Random
I couldn't tell from one of your earlier posts if you could not get Centennial to load on Win 11 or WW1G. If you got WW1G to install would love to know how you did it. Any help would be appreciated.

Jack

Sorry to kind of hijack the thread!!

No worries, I hope someone can help you, I know I can't since I play the game on Linux. I recommend giving a bit more details about the issue, and AI tools like Gemini or ChatGPT are also helpful when it comes to technical issues, you may want to write the problem to them.

A new computer might also mean Linux

[jcrohio]

Thanks for replying. I need to install again and document the errors. One was a DirectX issue which I attempted to fix. The other I don't remember.

Again thanks
Jack

[altipueri]

Jack - I got it working on Win 11 by copying the entire installation from another computer - there's a thread here somewhere.

Edit - found it on Ageod - I am Taillebois http://www.ageod-forum.com/viewtopic.php?f=237&t=54333

Sorry to interrupt this great AAR.

[jcrohio]

Thanks for the help. Great to know when I upgrade back in Ohio. For now I'm stuck with Centennial. But next year I will use your idea!!

Jack

[Metalist]

At the end of May, there was an interphase where submarine warfare and blockade effects were calculated. The Central Powers are taking a hit, but compared to what the UK is suffering, we are doing fine.

297090_20260202200747_1.png (399.9 KiB) Viewed 60 times

I used an option I had never used before—though I definitely should have: appointing generals for Germany and Austria-Hungary. In the game, some armies lack historical generals, so when they initiate a battle, a random commander is assigned and then removed after combat ends. With this option, I can slowly assign historical generals to these armies. Another advantage of having historical leaders is that some of them have special abilities, e.g. a "tank" trait gives bonuses when using tanks in combat. There are also harmful ones though, for example: "Risks suicide when defeated: This leader takes his honor in great account! If badly defeated in battle, he may commit suicide!"

Hoffmann, an excellent commander with 2 stars (the maximum) for both offense and defense, is assigned to the 8th Army near Königsberg. Puhallo has been sent to command one of the two Austrian armies on the Italian frontier.

297090_20260208233854_1.png (211.75 KiB) Viewed 60 times

The French severed my trade with the USA, but it’s not really a big deal

297090_20260208233502_1.png (504.04 KiB) Viewed 60 times

Sorry to interrupt this great AAR.

Cheers

[Metalist]

The time has come to begin the Austrian grand offensive against the Russians. I will attempt to acquire the 'tactical air support' doctrine, as the air force is taking shape.

297090_20260208235608_1.png (1014.36 KiB) Viewed 55 times

The Germans will also provide support.

297090_20260208235928_1.png (2.99 MiB) Viewed 55 times

The Austrians will continue their (slow) advance in Romania, this time supported by the Bulgarians as well.

297090_20260209000249_1.png (3.79 MiB) Viewed 55 times

The opening went well; the doctrine was acquired, and the recon mission in the area was successful. Here is what the latter entails:
"All aircraft may execute this mission type. Recon allows the aircraft’s owner to know how many corps are present in a frontline enemy stack (i.e. removes fog of war). Recon gives a bonus to all artillery bombardments: preliminary bombardment, siege bombardment, gas bombardment."

297090_20260209001315_1.png (322.76 KiB) Viewed 55 times

[Metalist]

The skies are heating up. Two air duels occurred without clear victors, yet the Entente gained 3 aces! (I missed the name of the second Russian ace.)

297090_20260209001522_1.png (1.24 MiB) Viewed 37 times

297090_20260209001408_1.png (1.23 MiB) Viewed 37 times

On the Western Front, I attempted to eliminate the pocket, but to my surprise, the defeated Entente forces were able to retreat into German-controlled territory behind my lines. Apparently, I should have left some forces to block their retreat path.

In other news, the USA is now pro-Entente thanks to its slow but consistent drift toward the latter. Notice how this boosted French National Will and parliamentary standing. It is the same for the Russians, as you can see in the following post

297090_20260209003339_1.png (3.53 MiB) Viewed 37 times

[Metalist]

As the Entente had the initiative, the Russians stopped some of my attacks with preemptive strikes against my forces. Still, the initial results are promising, though the Germans suffered considerable losses. The Austrian attacks were relatively easier, hence there is no need to report on them.

297090_20260209003449_1.png (3.96 MiB) Viewed 37 times

Romania, however, was a total failure. Just my luck—the attacking Austrian corps panicked, causing the rear unit to undergo a morale check, which it subsequently failed. Since my other units were in reserve to exploit the expected victory with a breakthrough, I had no units left and lost the battle! The Bulgarians fared even worse, but admittedly, crossing a river made it difficult for them.

297090_20260209003536_1.png (3.93 MiB) Viewed 37 times

[Randomizer]

Russia is never a pushover for the first two years. In the Balkans, Danube is a formidable obstacle and must be treated with respect.

On a different note and with unabashed self interest as a motive, I received essentially zero feedback on modding the two army HQ's each for Bulgaria and Romania and was wondering if works well. I think that it does and it makes the two countries play out more realistically than stock but one should never check one's own work in a vacuum. Thanks in advance.

-c

[Metalist]

Russia is never a pushover for the first two years. In the Balkans, Danube is a formidable obstacle and must be treated with respect.

That's true, but admittedly I am doing considerably worse than the historical timeline. Below is the frontline just before the Brusilov Offensive, around the same time as it is in my game. I am still unable to completely liberate East Prussia. Of course, that is compensated for by doing much better in the West.

On a different note and with unabashed self interest as a motive, I received essentially zero feedback on modding the two army HQ's each for Bulgaria and Romania and was wondering if works well. I think that it does and it makes the two countries play out more realistically than stock but one should never check one's own work in a vacuum. Thanks in advance.

-c

I'm afraid I won't be able to compare, as I never really played the stock version. But a quick look at the Wiki shows that both nations had numerous armies, so what you did seems to be at least historically justified (though I do not know if their historical armies automatically translate into 'armies' in game terms).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobilizat ... bilization
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romania_in_World_War_I