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A mixed turn with some big wins but also some major losses.

In France, Nancy was lost to the Germans, who now have 2 artillery pieces pounding the French front line. I seem to be in line to lose 2 corps per turn at current speed, although he is taking losses on the attack.

In Italy, Venice fell, and the Italians are starting to look thin on the ground - fewer troops than the Serbs! (Still all quiet there)

But in better news, the fortress city of Przemysl fell right on queue, to minimal Russian losses, thanks to the new Russian artillery.

In Prussia, the Russians mounted a bold offensive into Marineburg, capturing the town and destroying the Russian corps holding it. In response I destroyed 2 German corps and cleared the town but wasn't able to occupy it.



Russia had other successes in the Caucasus - the artillery there plus supporting mountain corps cleared Ezurum with ease.

Brits have just hit artillery level 1 so am starting to refit ahead of offensives in the coming turns.

At the end of the turn, Italy and France both levelled up their entrenchment tech - timely!

The Entente continue to adapt to their newfound power in upgraded artillery. In the Middle East, the Ottoman defenders of Gaza are swept aside with ease, although I neglected to bring any scouting units, so I don't risk occupying the city just yet.

In Iraq, British infantry and cavalry are surrounding an Ottoman held town, although I moved the cav slightly too far into the desert and they lost supply and perished - whoops.

In France and Italy, the Germans continue to beat up individual corps as they press the line. Both France and Britain upgraded their artillery here this turn so the counter attacks can start from next turn.

In Serbia, quiet for many months, a fearsome array - 3 - guns opened up on the front line, destroying 1 corps and wounding another. Serbia will crumble quickly with that much firepower trained on it.

In Russia and the Caucasus, just some shuffling of the line. Ezurum now flies the Russian flag and artillery is moved up for a little 'ground and pound' next turn.



German subs which slipped the net end up off the coast of Canada raiding my ports. Slippery bastards!

Apologies to those following along as I've skipped a few turns, largely because not much was happening. A bit more detail this turn.

Stalemate on the Western Front (some light trading of corps, but no breakthroughs) and similar in the East. Galician line has been static although there's been a bit of action in Prussia. Of note, to keep Konigsberg alive for as long as possible, KZ was ferrying his troops out via transports and replacing them with fresh corps and marines. With the Russian navy still barricaded in dry dock under siege for the better part of a year by the German fleet, they couldn't assist to prevent it. Fortunately, that trick has a limited lifespan and this turn he finally gave it up, with the corresponding NM hit.

In Galicia the Russians have been sniping key towns. This turn they hit and took Krakow with relative ease. It seems to have caught the Austrians a little on the back foot as there was no reserve line behind it, so Russian troops have stormed in and captured the town behind it just adjacent to a juicy mine.

In the Caucasus a steady drumbeat of artillery has whittled down the Ottoman presence here.

In Iraq, the Brits are starting to push up against an unsupported force of a few Ottoman detachments and the odd corps. Don't think there's an OE HQ here so progress should be slow (owing to terrain and supply issues) but steady.

Bit of a potential breakthrough in Gaza. British troops split the Ottoman line in two, and landed Royal Marines behind the Ottoman HQ to prevent the most obvious line of retreat. I'll probably turn my attention briefly south shortly to capture Aqaba and stimulate the Arab revolt.



Italy is a bit of a concern - large swathes of the north have been captured and Italian forces are rather sparse. I don't want to sacrifice Italy, but I don't have enough British/French troops to redirect reinforcements there either. Bit of a puzzle and while I think about it, they are continuing to lose territory and manpower...

Austria continues to commit a full 3 guns to the Serbian front, although the defenders are proving surprisingly resilient. Corps losses are about 1 per turn and while their defeat is pretty much inevitable against that kind of investment, they're sucking up resources from other fronts. Nish is now a front line city and probably won't last more than 2 more turns at most.

On the research front, although all Entente nations still fall somewhat short of the German technological powerhouse, I am starting to catch up a little. France and Russia both have inf weapons 1 and are starting to upgrade. Britain and Italy should have them before the bunting comes down from the 1916 new year's parties.

Russian NM is now at 101% and climbing thanks to their relatively light losses and significant territorial gains. I'm trying to invest in industry so as to bring their income to a level where even if Italy goes down, they can churn out enough troops to stay a menace for the rest of the game.

Quite a bit of diplomacy is happening in the background, although neither of us have had any major swings. CP have evidently invested in Denmark, presumably to preserve their convoys. Norway is leaning slightly Entente but not enough to start sending money to the UK. I have a small investment in Romania but so far have only landed a 5% hit. Taking Krakow seems to have persuaded them a bit, though. Currently they are around 60% while Bulgaria is around 80+%. When Bulgaria joins and rams their meaty fist through Serbia's backdoor it's curtains for the beleaguered Serbs.

Splendid AAR with nice screenshots, I quite enjoy reading this. [8D]

Glad to hear it! I'm afraid the 1 image per post limit means I can't show the whole battlefield each turn but I'm trying to rotate across the theatres and/or show the most interesting one each turn...

No, the screenshots are good and the narratives are great..[;)]

A bold move this turn as I try to land a killer blow on the Ottomans in the Middle East.

A 2nd reserve royal marine unit lands, and together they land some heavy shots on the HQ and outflank into Amman.



In Serbia Nish falls, and we're down to the last stand as Uskub. Bulgaria joins the CP and will mobilise on KZ's turn.

In Russia, I'm able to snag the Austrian mines behind Krakow and take up defensive positions. Artillery and upgraded infantry move up to face off against a long line of Austrians in the mountains behind Przysmyl. If I can push this line back and capture the mountain pass towns, it will make it extremely difficult for him to push back in as the bottleneck will force him into uncomfortable positions.

I attempted a limited offensive in northern France with the brits on the thin end of the German line. Managed to punch a hole which allows for a German HQ to be punched on the nose, but I'll probably lose a corps in the attempt unless snowfall comes next turn.

At sea, u-boats have been causing a nuisance off the coast of Canada, and have blocked my export port for some 2-3 turns now. The destroyer fleet has arrived and is chasing them away. One u-boat is cornered and badly hurt in the Gulf of St Lawrence.

Ottomans are now facing a real crisis in the ME as the HQ goes down and they are without any support from their European allies. Deraa captured and the remnants of the army can be mopped up. In Iraq, an Ottoman corps which was holding the line is finally defeated seemingly leaving only 1 cav corps between me and Baghdad.

In Austria and southern Germany some movement as the CP line is thin. With so many Austrian troops in Serbia he will have difficulty upgrading the mountain ridge troops facing the Russians with no reserves to rotate them with. One isolated German corps is surrounded. The road to Breslau seems only lightly defended.



In France the Germans capture another French fortified town and my counterattack is hampered by weather and poor readiness of the French troops. They've suffered quite a bit this game.

The CP offensive seems to have paused in Italy, but that's probably just while he upgrades his troops. Italy very likely in for another rough year.

Ottomans get mopped up as expected in the ME with Jerusalem falling.

In Iraq, a cheeky cavalry shot past the British lines and took Basra. It will be temporary, but quite annoying.

Snow elsewhere means not too much else happening.

The Serbian lines are cracking in a big way and I'm falling back, preparing to retreat into Greece.

The Russians are starting to cause real issues for the Germans now. We've been battling over Marienburg, but a German offensive cost him dearly and my counter allowed me to break the line and strike Hindenburg. There doesn't appear to be much in the way of a strategic reserve. Further south in Poland Russian troops are surrounding the Germans near Breslau, and I'm pinging the Austrian line in the mountains each turn. I've now captured both mountain pass towns so will move the artillery to focus on taking Breslau.



In France we're trading blows fairly evenly, although the northern end of the German line by the coast is looking very thin. KZ plugged one of his gaps with an un-upgraded corps this turn which the Brits made short work of.

Some fairly brutal trading happening in the West with French troops largely taking the brunt of it. After countering and destroying a couple of corps, the French line is rather scattered and shell-shocked.



In Italy, the defenders have fallen back almost to the French border. Anglo-French reinforcements are now a necessity, to prevent any further incursion.

Russia continues to soar high with a whopping 107% NM. Readiness across the board is extremely high. No attacks this turn from them - just refitting ahead of some major offensives in the coming turns, particularly in Prussia where I have my eye on a number of key battleground cities.

Ottomans continue to slide into obscurity - the only front holding for now is in the Caucasus, but artillery is now in range of Trabzon. The sneaky cav at Basra have been destroyed and I can now resume my advance on Baghdad.

The backslide continues in France where the devestated French economy is struggling to replenish the shattered front line corps. On the plus side, the German front line isn't looking too hot either. We're both running low on troops. Some French reserves have been sent to prevent the Germans overspilling from Italy.

Speaking of, Italy is continuing to be ground down. Their NM has now dipped past 50%.

The Ottomans, fortunately, are collapsing even quicker - Trabzon captured this turn by Russian mountain troops in the Caucasus and a corps + detachment are destroyed. British troops approach Baghdad and move north through modern-day Syria effectively unopposed. I'm going to try and land some more Royal Marines in due course to sever the rail connection between mainland Europe and the Ottomans, as otherwise the Austrians and Germans will be sent to reinforce and I really need to collapse the OE so as to free up British troops badly needed in Italy and elsewhere.

Meanwhile on the eastern front, German troops cracked my line and managed a decent strike at my artillery, but I countered and reformed the line. The Russians have made their move on Breslau and surround it on all sides. Cavalry outflanks a rail gun, trapping it.



A number of notable national morale milestones this turn - France, Germany and Italy all hit 50%, the Ottomans hit 25%.

Hi Will952,

Could you please include a time line. I've never played Entente in SP or MP, Question: What was France's MPP at it's peak compared to present? If you can recall. Would your match played any different had your side not known about the other side's NM?

ORIGINAL: operating

Hi Will952,

Could you please include a time line. I've never played Entente in SP or MP, Question: What was France's MPP at it's peak compared to present? If you can recall. Would your match played any different had your side not known about the other side's NM?

Next turn I'll get you a chart of their MPPs. Certainly, it was more than they're getting now!

No, I don't think it would've played differently if NM was hidden.

It's July 1916 now.

Bugger, forgot to snap a pic of the MPP chart. Will remember next time!

This turn, a couple of significant scalps. Damascus fell to the Brits against limited Ottoman resistance. Syria is liberated. British infantry are adjacent to Baghdad, which is unguarded, although there is an Ottoman cav nearby which will probably move to hold the fort for a turn or two.

The Russian Caucasus campaign is being wound down - all significant territory gains have been made and to push further in is to get wrapped up in mountains and bad supply. I will shift most of that force back to the eastern front to start fighting the Austrians in the mountains and leave detachments and garrisons to hold, not that I think the Ottomans can muster much fighting force now.

In the east, Breslau fell as expected to the Russians. Some fighting in Prussia but no breakthroughs.

Italy is looking pretty grim and probably won't see Christmas. I could try to launch a major offensive there with the French now I have some manpower to spare, but I think it's unlikely to slow their decline.

Austrians are now advancing into Greece, and to maintain a foothold in the Balkans I am going to send some British support there. The Baghdad contingent and some artillery will go there in the next few turns.

In the West, I'm gearing up for some major offensive action. I now have 4 artillery pieces here and enough infantry to sustain a prolonged advance. The German lines are looking critically thin - a sign of how much pressure the Russians are exerting. Only appears to be a single arty piece from them, and I nearly destroyed it this turn.

The Western assault begins and the German line is rocked with some heavy hits. The artillery takes it on the chin, again.

Quite a few Austrian and German artillery pieces are now in the east, but thanks to the Russians insanely high NM they are proving near bulletproof.

The Ottomans continue to get wrapped up, and I reckon once Baghdad falls that should seal the deal. British cavalry charging up from Syria are now practically in semaphore range of Russian infantry in the Caucasus.

Oddly, despite German sadness, the Austrians are full of beans - their successes in Serbia and the Balkans have buoyed them up quite a bit.

French income screen as requested.

I think there may be an even more important reason for the Russians resilience than NM. What's the xp level of the HQs commanding them?
The great thing about the boni from HQs (both from rating and xp) is, that they go directly to readiness. That way they are not negated by late game's abundant demoralization, making it for one less likely to take damage during the barrage and also making the units hold up significantly better when the enemy infantery follows up.

My Russian HQs actually aren't that experienced (except the one who was in the Caucasus which is 3 pips). I think 1 other HQ has a single pip, that's it.

Another turn, more death for both sides, but CP definitely coming off worse. Baghdad falls and an Ottoman pre-dreadnaught is sunk, plunging their NM to new depths - can't be more than 2% at this point. British troops prepare to ship out back to Europe and Greece to continue the fight.

In the East Breslau was briefly retaken by the Germans, but the Russians fought back, retook the town, and destroyed the Austrian artillery behind it - the first big guns to go down in the war.

In the West, the German have pulled right back and Northern France is now back in French hands (albeit mostly thanks to the Brits). Ypres is captured, the German holdouts at Bolougne are destroyed, and we now advance on Brussels.

Ottoman NM hits 0% and I accept the decision event to sign the armistice (although strangely they don't surrender at the end of my turn).

Big offensives in the east and west - another Austrian artillery piece goes down in Poland. Russians are taking losses but dealing more than they're taking. Still above 100% NM and now the heavily vetted troops from the Caucasus campaign have arrived, they are making short work of the Austrians in the mountains. The CP line creaks.



In France KZ poked a hole in my line and swiped at my artillery, but failed to destroy it. I hit back hard destroying several German corps along the line.

Front lines static in Italy.

In Greece the Austrians have almost reached Athens where a small number of Brits and Greek troops are holding a final stand.

Very interesting AAR. With the Ottomans out of the war you can reinforce Italy big time and hopefully keep them alive.