Allies vs. Skynet

[John B.]

Finally, things continue to crumble for the Central Powers in Galicia. Premyzl fell (and the Good Soldier Svejk was captured). The Germans were not able to capture Warsaw or to recapture Gorlice.

[John B.]

It's September 2015 and there is a major naval battle brewing in the North Sea. The tally so far is 3 dead German Dreadnoughts to one dead and three damaged British ones. There were also some minor ships on each side that were destroyed. I'm not sure if the Germans will stay out to play given the loss of capital ships but they have a whole lot of destroyers. The Russians, figuring that the Germans have put their battle fleet against Britain have cut the Swedish transport route and positioned their navy to deal with any minor ships that come to reopen the route.

No naval fighting in the Adriatic.

[John B.]

Italy continues to go from strength. This turn it liberated Trieste killing another Austrian detachment. The A/H corps are also in a weakened state so they may not be able to make much headway in recapturing their territory.

Not much happened on the Eastern or Western front. Britain, France, and Russia all spent a lot of time upgrading their infantry weapons.

[John B.]

And, Greece did come into the war! I don't know if this will save Serbia, but it at least gives it a retreat route and a few more corps to fight the A/H hordes. This should help the Entente in other ways given that it continues to tie down A/H resources.

[John B.]

It's October 1915 and the swirling naval battle up near Scapa Flow continues. The Germans continue to get the worst of it but they have now committed their subs which are very hard for the Entente to sink. The Germans did launch unrestricted submarine warfare and they sank the Lusitania which has moved the US from 8% to 16%. They are hitting a lot of British imports because british DDs are tied up in the naval battle.

[John B.]

In Poland the Germans finally took Warsaw. Their artillery appears to have been upgraded and they also have the next level of trench which includes pill boxes (FYI I like the upgrading graphics). The Russians retook it but that was a blow to Russian national morale which has now gone down below 70.

[John B.]

Still, Russia makes progress in Galicia. They took Stanislaw so they basically have all of the A/H NM objectives in that province. The Central Powers do not seem as thick on the ground here and perhaps if Rumania would get off the wagon and help to start pushing some progress could be made.

[John B.]

Rumania would also be helpful against Bulgaria. The French/Greek relief force has shown up and for the first time in a long long time it looks like the Serbs might be able to keep fighting. They even managed to destroy an A/H corps in the south and the Austrians on the front appear to be weak. But, I think that the Entente forces need to hold for one more turn to get things right.

And, the damn Sussinis and Moroccans are tying down French troops in N. Africa which is annoying.

[John B.]

In France the Germans sure put up concrete in a hurry! But, the Entente powers were able to kill two German corps and, again, the Central powers don't look like they have a lot of strength in the front lines.

Here's a tip I just figured out. If I'm going to advance into enemy territory I send in a bomber to hit two hexes back. I don't really care if I hit anything, but I see things so when I advance I don't get ambushed. It only takes me a year of bitter fighting to figure out the obvious.

Today's riddle is, if I get my pixel grandfather killed in this war before he has children does that mean that my pixel self is never born and never plays this game in this pixel universe? Clearly I have too much time on my hands today.

[Poth]

John B. Just so you know, there a bunch of lurkers out here enjoying your AAR. Keep it up!

And Starship Troopers in answer to the bugs question...

[John B.]

Poth, Thanks!

And, for the record, you are correct!!

[John B.]

Sorry for the delay, spent most of the weekend loafing.

BTW, if you are reading this AAR you are likely to have more than a passing interest in WWI. In that case, you should put the movie 1917 on your list. I saw it on Saturday and it was outstanding! And when you look at the trenches the Germans were clearly at a higher trench level than the British.

In other news, with the capture of Galicia and it's farmland, hunger is starting to stalk A/H. Naval battles continue to swirl around Scapa Flow but the Germans continue to take the worst of it. Looks like they lost a battlecrusier and an armored cruiser this turn to a British DD. The Imperial High Seas Fleet, however, is using the focus on the British on the surface action to continue to ravage English convoy routes.

The Russians did sortie out of the Gulf of Finland and sink a German light cruiser. All of this has hit German morale that now stands at 58%.

The Russian dreadnought in the black sea got a Turkish DD down to a 1, but just could not quite kill it.

Here is the situation in France. More heavy German losses attacking Verdun but the Germans did manage to kill the British VI corps and retake a hex in Belgium.

[John B.]

It looks like the Serbian front has stabilized. The A/H had to withdraw a corps from the frontal assaults to garrison Tirana. Not much going on here. But, I'm glad those corps are not going to be released to other fronts anytime soon.

Not much happened in Russia so there is nothing to report except that the German corps cut off near Gumbinen surrendered.

[John B.]

The revolt against the benign Italian rule in Lybia continues. However, a French corps made it to Benghazi first and so the revolt is now caught between to forces and should eventually be crushed as Italian reinforcements arrived outside of Trobruk.

As for the other revolt in Morocco, the French are slowly grinding down the rebel forces outside of Fes. They replace 3 each turn and should eventually die but it is taking a long long time.

[John B.]

It's December 1915 and the seesaw battle in Central Belgium continues with the Entente retaking two hexes and killing a couple of German corps. The French also managed to retake Nancy. It's a smoking wreck but as it repairs it will add to the Third Republics growing economic clout. Since France never lost Lille or the mines outside of Lille it's at nearly 375 MMP per turn. France did manage a breakthrough and put hits on two different German artillery units. France now has three of its own guns and is pestering its scientists to hurry up with those breakthroughs!

The British have been forced to take more of a backseat on the ground war as the Royal Navy carries the main burden of destroying the high seas fleet. The Germans lost two more DDs and an armored cruiser so their surface fleet north of Scapa may now be gone. But, Germany has lots (and lots) of UBoats. Britain has the ASW 1 upgrade but now it needs to get its DDs back to port to outfit them with early sonars and depth charges.

[John B.]

In Italy the A/H withdrew and let the Italians get to the gates of Pola. A/H also launched an attack on Trentino that was well supported with artillery but which did not do too much damage to the Italian defenders. Italy did launch a series of attacks on Klagenfurt but, which the defenders were worn down, they held onto their lines and expect replacements shortly.

[John B.]

The Arabs rose up in protest against centuries of Ottoman misrule and both Sykes and Picot swore up and down that the Arabs would all have independence at the end of the war. "Hey, have we ever lied to indigenous people about something as sacred as freedom?" the two ministers said.

Britain hopes that this will distract Ottoman attention from their repeated assaults on the Suez Canal. France, meanwhile, continued the never ending war of attrition in Morocco as the Morrocan rebels are able to replace their losses each turn. This revolt may take another corps to put down. France and Italy, however, are having better luck in helping the Libyan rebels see the error of their ways and eliminated one of the three rebel units.

[John B.]

Finally, here is the losses screen. As you can see, Imperial German has been taking it on the chin both on land and at sea. Both Britain and France are at or above 90%, Italy is over 100% and Russia is still in the 80% range.

There really is not much news on the Eastern Front. The Russians have been rebuilding and upgrading their army while the Germans appear to be unable to replace all of their losses. Russia continues to blockade the Swedish imports and has started its own limited offensive in the Caucasus.

[eightroomofelixir]

Since France never lost Lille or the mines outside of Lille it's at nearly 375 MMP per turn.

Ah, the mines of Loos-en-Gohelle, the French industrial powerhouse in all the new Strategic Command titles. It seems like the control of Loos mine and Lille will be a crucial war objective for both Allied and Entente players.

[John B.]

No fooling. Those mines produce 30 MMP, more than any other hex in France.