Entente Turn 19: September 25, 1915
Old Crow had a very quiet last turn - which tells me he is taking advantage of Infantry Weapons 1 to start upgrading his German units. The fact that he did not attack in the east, suggests to me that he may be moving artillery over to attack France. If next turn is also quiet in Poland, Then I will be certain that he has pivoted, again.
Serbia/Bulgaria was the theatre that absorbed most of my thinking time in this turn. There is a Bulgarian corps defending a mountain hex due west of Sofia, that I now have surrounded on four sides. At the same time, this unit and two more full strength Bulgarian corps were in position to attack a Serbian corps defending the south-eastern approach to Nish. I had one artillery unit in range, but only 4 shells and the Bulgarian corps west of Nish has entrenchment level 5. The question was: should I take the offensive and attack the exposed Bulgarian corps, at less-than-optimal strength, or sit back and expect him to attack towards Nish, probably destroy my Serbian corps and then counter-attack? Before making a decision, I used my Italian recon bomber in the theatre to do a reconnaissance behind Sofia, revealing that his Bulgarian artillery is in position to support that attack towards Nish but he has no extra corps behind the line. This also confirmed that he had not moved the Bulgarian artillery to Palestine to support an Ottoman push into the Sinai. I finally decided that with two artillery pieces in the theatre and the opportunity to move now and potentially straighten up my line and reduce the threat to Nish was one I should take. I am glad I did: my Indian artillery destroyed three strength points from shell fire alone and I eliminated the Bulgarian corps in only three attacks for a loss of 5 strength points to his 10. This winning attack raised British General Plumer up to one point of experience - which is a real asset. I moved a Serbian corps into this mountain hex, rather than a British one, largely on the grounds that if it is destroyed in a counterattack, it is much faster to bring a Serbian corps back than one that is rebuilt in the UK. The fact that he is defending Sofia with a cavalry unit will also reduce the odds of his counterattack. I also moved up my second artillery unit in range to attack this hex again, if he retakes it.
Elsewhere in this sector, I moved up a Serbian corps on the one Serbian mine, so I now have a line of Serbian entrenchments, supplemented by a new corps that arrived in reinforcements (one of the units he killed south of Belgrade two turns ago). I deployed the Greek National Defence Corps as a reinforcement east of Salonika, where it can upgrade next turn. I landed the last British corps that I had on a transport in Salonika as well. Finally, I reinforced all the units that I could, and upgraded one corps behind the line to Infantry Weapons 1.
The UK had a very important DE fire this turn, giving them the option to fund the Arab Revolt. In this mod, there is a 20% chance of this happening from September 11 onward. I of course said YES and one Arab partisan immediately mobilized two hexes south of Medina. More will follow shortly, as they have a much highly likelihood of spawning in this mod. Meanwhile, the Senussi DE has yet to fire- no doubt Old Crow will be grousing about this in his You Tube recordings. It has a 25% chance each turn from August 8, 1915 - so he is a little unlucky that it has not happened by now.
In the Caucasus, I decide to shift my artillery to the short front between Batum and Rice, since it is the shortest route to Trabzon and then the shortest route back to a railhead for the artillery piece. I moved up one mountain corps and - unusually for me - deployed an extra Siberian infantry corps that arrived as a reinforcement to this sector too. I also attacked one Ottoman detachment blocking the road north from Erzurum to Trabzon and reduced it in strength and entrenchment. I hope that with extra units and the use of artillery, I can achieve a relative breakthrough in this theatre next turn.
In Poland/East Prussia/Galicia, I simply replaced losses from the last turn and brought in one new corps as a reinforcement.
In France, I carried out the last of my usual three hex side attacks at his final unit south of Bolougne and eliminated it for a loss of only 5 strength points. An airship mission from France behind his line revealed no extra defending corps in a second line, but one heavy artillery piece in the area. Next turn, if weather permits, I may attempt to piece his line with a frontal assault on Lille.
The rest of the turn was spent rebuilding units and investing in new ones.
- The UK rebuilt upgraded as many DDs and CLs as possible. They purchased their last discounted corps and bought one chit in Airship Tech for two. I upgraded both the British CL and the French CA near Halifax and sent one rebuilt British DD towards Canada, as I think the chances are good that he will try to reduce the source of the Canadian convoy again. At the end of the turn, the UK achieved Trench Warfare 2 - the last major to do so (since I had only invested 2 chits in it).
- France also upgraded ships with ASW 1 tech and bought the second to last full-strength corps available for France under the game build limits. This was not a purchase I wanted to make, but since I reckon that Germany will start attacking France again soon, and France's next offensives will be more costly since they can no longer attack against exposed positions, they will need as a large an infantry footprint as possible.
- Italy invested in a second Artillery Weapons chit and almost finished rebuilding its second HQ.
- Serbia bought back the last of its destroyed corps.
- The USA invested its first chit in Industrial Tech.
- Russia invested in a third chit in Industrial Tech, bought back the last two destroyed corps and reinforced all its understrength units. (It is remarkable what you can do with an income of 483 MPPs per turn).
Icarus Mod for 1914 Campaign: Play-test AAR
Re: Icarus Mod for 1914 Campaign: Play-test AAR
Entente Turn 20 October 23, 1915
This turn, I was able to "see" into the future using my airships - and it was not a pretty sight. Almost the entire German line in France has now been upgraded to Infantry Weapons 1. Two flights from my airships in France (one of which I based in the UK so it could fly behind his front line in Belgium) revealed two German heavy artillery behind the line. I did not spot a third artillery piece near Verdun, though it is possible there is one was not able to view the entire line. Given this qualitative superiority of his infantry (for the moment), I scrapped any plans to attack this turn in France. Instead, I pulled my artillery back a bit and positioned as many units as I could in a second line, ready to upgrade to Infantry Weapons 1 next turn (since France is now at 99% in that tech).
For fun, I railed one French heavy artillery piece to Padua in Italy. It should be able to take out the Austro-Hungarian fortified town in Trento, and thus enable the Italians to capture that NM objective for their first land attack of the campaign. This might also put some much-needed pressure on Austria-Hungary, which has been able to defend this frontier largely with detachments and one German corps.
In Serbia/Bulgaria, I used the Italian recon bomber to check behind Austro-Hungarian lines. It revealed two heavy artillery and one regular artillery - which is the full amount they can build - all aimed at the Serbian defensive line between Nish and Pristina. Using operational movement, I was able to rail in an upgraded British corps to defend Pec and I moved another British corps to occupy Nish. But this Serbian line is weak and will not hold against a sustained Austro-Hungarian attack. The only factors which will help is that his supply is poor at the front (4 and 5) until he gets a HQ properly located, and of course, winter is coming. Elsewhere, I upgraded my British corps to Infantry Weapons 1 and prepared as best I could for the coming attack. But the Serbians do not have the economic means to replace the losses that the Austro-Hungarians can inflict in an intensive campaign, and they have to defend a long line, including all of Montenegro. Replacements from the UK are a long way away and take time to build. This entire position in the Balkans could collapse in 1916, or at least, I may be forced to just holding a position in Greece where narrow fronts and mountainous terrain make it difficult to advance.
In Egypt, I had the unpleasant experience of noticing that the Ottomans have reached Infantry Weapons 1. I swapped the upgraded British marine unit for the Indian corps, which I then upgraded behind the line.
In Arabia, I moved my first Arab partisan north next to Yanbu. He might come out of Medina to rough it up, but I suspect he will prefer to stay entrenched there. My goal is to move the Arabs to threaten the Hejaz railway. No movement in Mesopotamia.
The Caucasus was the most active front this turn. Using my Mountain Corps, I was able to destroy the detachment north of Erzurum and with my artillery unit and two corps, I reduced the detachment on Rice to 4 points, and de-entrenched it. Moving behind his line, I could see that Trabzon is defended by only an Ottoman detachment. Despite the coming mud and snow, I hope to destroy his position on Rice east of Trabzon and start to set up a seige of Trabzon next turn or the one afterwards. I railed one detachment from Poland to Kars, to help hold the rear areas of my Caucasus position
In the Black Sea, my Russian sub that was raiding the hexes from the Zonguldak mine bumped into the furtive Austro-Hungarian sub, positioned to prevent me from shelling the other mine with my warships. I moved my sub further into the Black Sea, so it can cut the port supply to Trabzon next turn by moving next to it.
In Poland/East Prussia/Galicia, I considered attacking the Austro-Hungarian line in front of Tarnow and did a recon of the position. But on reflection, looking at the line of upgraded German corps in Poland, I decided to save my heavy artillery shells in case they will be needed for a counterattack. Almost no other movement this turn. Russia should reach Infantry Weapons 2 by December.
In terms of investments:
- The UK moved as many destroyers and seaplane carriers back to port as possible to be ready when I reach ASW 2 next turn. Most of my MPPs were spent upgrading corps to Infantry Weapons 1. The UK invested one chit in Infantry Weapons, to get started on the long slog to reach level 2.
- France reinforced remaining understrength corps, did some naval rebuilding, and then had 154 MPPs left which it could not spend on tech (since they had reached their maximum). So, I decided to try investing in 3 diplomatic chits on Norway. Unfortunately, I was tired and accidentally spent the lot in one click buying one diplomatic chit on the USA. This will eventually fire and will be useful - but it was not an optimal use of these resources.
- Italy bought a detachment, as they are a cheap way of holding a line in the mountains (and they are largely facing enemy detachments). The saved the rest of their MPPs so they can invest in Gas/Shell production next turn. Italy had a breakthrough in Artillery Weapons tech, reaching 48%.
- Serbia saved all its MPPs to rebuild from future losses.
- The USA invested a second chit on Industrial Tech.
- Russia invested a second chit on Artillery Weapons and then two chits on Infantry Warfare (the first time I have invested in that technology). They reached their tech limit.
At the end of the turn, Britain reached level 2 in ASW; France reached level 1 in Infantry Weapons, level 2 in Industrial Tech and level 2 in Command and Control. The USA reached level 1 in Aerial Warfare.
This turn, I was able to "see" into the future using my airships - and it was not a pretty sight. Almost the entire German line in France has now been upgraded to Infantry Weapons 1. Two flights from my airships in France (one of which I based in the UK so it could fly behind his front line in Belgium) revealed two German heavy artillery behind the line. I did not spot a third artillery piece near Verdun, though it is possible there is one was not able to view the entire line. Given this qualitative superiority of his infantry (for the moment), I scrapped any plans to attack this turn in France. Instead, I pulled my artillery back a bit and positioned as many units as I could in a second line, ready to upgrade to Infantry Weapons 1 next turn (since France is now at 99% in that tech).
For fun, I railed one French heavy artillery piece to Padua in Italy. It should be able to take out the Austro-Hungarian fortified town in Trento, and thus enable the Italians to capture that NM objective for their first land attack of the campaign. This might also put some much-needed pressure on Austria-Hungary, which has been able to defend this frontier largely with detachments and one German corps.
In Serbia/Bulgaria, I used the Italian recon bomber to check behind Austro-Hungarian lines. It revealed two heavy artillery and one regular artillery - which is the full amount they can build - all aimed at the Serbian defensive line between Nish and Pristina. Using operational movement, I was able to rail in an upgraded British corps to defend Pec and I moved another British corps to occupy Nish. But this Serbian line is weak and will not hold against a sustained Austro-Hungarian attack. The only factors which will help is that his supply is poor at the front (4 and 5) until he gets a HQ properly located, and of course, winter is coming. Elsewhere, I upgraded my British corps to Infantry Weapons 1 and prepared as best I could for the coming attack. But the Serbians do not have the economic means to replace the losses that the Austro-Hungarians can inflict in an intensive campaign, and they have to defend a long line, including all of Montenegro. Replacements from the UK are a long way away and take time to build. This entire position in the Balkans could collapse in 1916, or at least, I may be forced to just holding a position in Greece where narrow fronts and mountainous terrain make it difficult to advance.
In Egypt, I had the unpleasant experience of noticing that the Ottomans have reached Infantry Weapons 1. I swapped the upgraded British marine unit for the Indian corps, which I then upgraded behind the line.
In Arabia, I moved my first Arab partisan north next to Yanbu. He might come out of Medina to rough it up, but I suspect he will prefer to stay entrenched there. My goal is to move the Arabs to threaten the Hejaz railway. No movement in Mesopotamia.
The Caucasus was the most active front this turn. Using my Mountain Corps, I was able to destroy the detachment north of Erzurum and with my artillery unit and two corps, I reduced the detachment on Rice to 4 points, and de-entrenched it. Moving behind his line, I could see that Trabzon is defended by only an Ottoman detachment. Despite the coming mud and snow, I hope to destroy his position on Rice east of Trabzon and start to set up a seige of Trabzon next turn or the one afterwards. I railed one detachment from Poland to Kars, to help hold the rear areas of my Caucasus position
In the Black Sea, my Russian sub that was raiding the hexes from the Zonguldak mine bumped into the furtive Austro-Hungarian sub, positioned to prevent me from shelling the other mine with my warships. I moved my sub further into the Black Sea, so it can cut the port supply to Trabzon next turn by moving next to it.
In Poland/East Prussia/Galicia, I considered attacking the Austro-Hungarian line in front of Tarnow and did a recon of the position. But on reflection, looking at the line of upgraded German corps in Poland, I decided to save my heavy artillery shells in case they will be needed for a counterattack. Almost no other movement this turn. Russia should reach Infantry Weapons 2 by December.
In terms of investments:
- The UK moved as many destroyers and seaplane carriers back to port as possible to be ready when I reach ASW 2 next turn. Most of my MPPs were spent upgrading corps to Infantry Weapons 1. The UK invested one chit in Infantry Weapons, to get started on the long slog to reach level 2.
- France reinforced remaining understrength corps, did some naval rebuilding, and then had 154 MPPs left which it could not spend on tech (since they had reached their maximum). So, I decided to try investing in 3 diplomatic chits on Norway. Unfortunately, I was tired and accidentally spent the lot in one click buying one diplomatic chit on the USA. This will eventually fire and will be useful - but it was not an optimal use of these resources.
- Italy bought a detachment, as they are a cheap way of holding a line in the mountains (and they are largely facing enemy detachments). The saved the rest of their MPPs so they can invest in Gas/Shell production next turn. Italy had a breakthrough in Artillery Weapons tech, reaching 48%.
- Serbia saved all its MPPs to rebuild from future losses.
- The USA invested a second chit on Industrial Tech.
- Russia invested a second chit on Artillery Weapons and then two chits on Infantry Warfare (the first time I have invested in that technology). They reached their tech limit.
At the end of the turn, Britain reached level 2 in ASW; France reached level 1 in Infantry Weapons, level 2 in Industrial Tech and level 2 in Command and Control. The USA reached level 1 in Aerial Warfare.
Re: Icarus Mod for 1914 Campaign: Play-test AAR
Entente Turn 21 November 20, 1915
We are now in a slow-down and consolidate moment in the game, with mud in late autumn, winter about to arrive and both France and (next turn) Russia reaching Infantry Weapons 1.
In France, I upgraded 10 corps in my second line to Weapons 1. They will swap with the first line next turn.
In Serbia/Bulgaria, I reinforced damaged Serbian corps from his attacks and upgraded several more British corps. I was able to better prepare a second line of defence against attacks from the north, although they will not hold up to concerted artillery fire. I may resume attacks towards Sofia, as soon as the weather makes it feasible in the spring.
Egypt and Mesopotamia were quiet - I moved my detachment in Sinai behind the line to upgrade it.
In Arabia, I was able to send one partisan to cut the Hejaz railway and another around Medina. At the end of my move, a third partisan appeared near the Red Sea coast.
In the Caucasus, I had moved up to start besieging Trabzon and bought my sub over to cut off supply through the port. I was pleased that I could occupy a supply corridor north-west from Erzurum and made good use of the detachment that I railed in last turn.
In Poland/East Prussia and Galicia, I did not move into the hexes he attacked last turn, preferring to wait until Russia gets Infantry Weapons 1 next turn. I made some small reinforcing moves to the second line and moved back my heavy artillery from Ivangorod to keep it out of harms way.
The most fun I had was in Italy, where my attack on Trento came off perfectly. The French heavy artillery destroyed 3 strength points from his corps and the green Italians corps killed the unit in two more attacks. Not only did he have nothing behind Trento, but one corps was able to move a further hex north, cutting of the NM hex of Bruneck. This should definitely cause him to scramble a bit next turn to fill this unexpected gap.
In terms of investments:
- Britain finally was able to invest one chit in Spying and Intelligence and spent the rest of its MPPs upgrading destroyers and light cruisers to ASW 2, and upgraded three corps in the Balkans to Infantry Weapons 1;
- France invested one chit in Infantry Weapons and upgraded ten corps to Infantry Weapons 1;
- Italy invested one chit in Gas/Shell Tech
- Serbia repaired damaged corps and conserved its MPPs
- the USA invested two chits in Armoured Warfare tech
- Russia bought back the three corps killed last turn and bought one airship
At the end of the turn, the UK had a breakthrough and reached Gas/Shell tech 1; France reached Artillery Weapons 2; Russia reached Infantry Weapons 1.
Best of all, the port of Glasgow finally regained its strength to level 5 at the start of this turn, meaning that the convoys from Canada and the USA can resume.
We are now in a slow-down and consolidate moment in the game, with mud in late autumn, winter about to arrive and both France and (next turn) Russia reaching Infantry Weapons 1.
In France, I upgraded 10 corps in my second line to Weapons 1. They will swap with the first line next turn.
In Serbia/Bulgaria, I reinforced damaged Serbian corps from his attacks and upgraded several more British corps. I was able to better prepare a second line of defence against attacks from the north, although they will not hold up to concerted artillery fire. I may resume attacks towards Sofia, as soon as the weather makes it feasible in the spring.
Egypt and Mesopotamia were quiet - I moved my detachment in Sinai behind the line to upgrade it.
In Arabia, I was able to send one partisan to cut the Hejaz railway and another around Medina. At the end of my move, a third partisan appeared near the Red Sea coast.
In the Caucasus, I had moved up to start besieging Trabzon and bought my sub over to cut off supply through the port. I was pleased that I could occupy a supply corridor north-west from Erzurum and made good use of the detachment that I railed in last turn.
In Poland/East Prussia and Galicia, I did not move into the hexes he attacked last turn, preferring to wait until Russia gets Infantry Weapons 1 next turn. I made some small reinforcing moves to the second line and moved back my heavy artillery from Ivangorod to keep it out of harms way.
The most fun I had was in Italy, where my attack on Trento came off perfectly. The French heavy artillery destroyed 3 strength points from his corps and the green Italians corps killed the unit in two more attacks. Not only did he have nothing behind Trento, but one corps was able to move a further hex north, cutting of the NM hex of Bruneck. This should definitely cause him to scramble a bit next turn to fill this unexpected gap.
In terms of investments:
- Britain finally was able to invest one chit in Spying and Intelligence and spent the rest of its MPPs upgrading destroyers and light cruisers to ASW 2, and upgraded three corps in the Balkans to Infantry Weapons 1;
- France invested one chit in Infantry Weapons and upgraded ten corps to Infantry Weapons 1;
- Italy invested one chit in Gas/Shell Tech
- Serbia repaired damaged corps and conserved its MPPs
- the USA invested two chits in Armoured Warfare tech
- Russia bought back the three corps killed last turn and bought one airship
At the end of the turn, the UK had a breakthrough and reached Gas/Shell tech 1; France reached Artillery Weapons 2; Russia reached Infantry Weapons 1.
Best of all, the port of Glasgow finally regained its strength to level 5 at the start of this turn, meaning that the convoys from Canada and the USA can resume.
Re: Icarus Mod for 1914 Campaign: Play-test AAR
Entente Turn 22 December 16, 1915
Losing three French corps in one turn to Old Crow's heavy artillery and upgraded infantry was an unpleasant surprise. Fortunately, I have the reserves and moved forward all the corps I upgraded last turn to fill the gaps. The fact that it is now winter will also help cover them when they entrench. France used its MPPs to upgrade every remaining corps that was not next to the enemy to Infantry Weapons 1. I was also able to upgrade the two French heavy artillery units to Artillery Weapons 2 (regular artillery can only reach weapons 1).
For the UK, it was a great relief to have 430 MPPs to spend this turn, compared to the 270 or less they received while the North American convoys were down (due to the reduction of the port of Glasgow). This gives me the financial margin I badly need to start buying the UKs two heavy artillery units. They will be needed to counter the Germans in France. I deployed the last of Kitchener's New Army corps in Plymouth and shipped one more British corps south to the Med. In the western Atlantic, the destroyer I sent over reached Halifax and my repaired and ASW upgraded British light cruiser and French heavy cruiser are almost ready to take up their positions defending the raiding hexes in front of the port. I moved some light cruisers that were occupying the NM hexes off Glasgow back to port to upgrade them to ASW 2. I am still occupying all of these hexes and will do so until Glasgow reaches at least 10, as a buffer against future German unrestricted naval warfare attacks.
In Italy, I was tempted to use my French heavy artillery again to blast his remaining detachments around Trento, but I realized that the forward enemy unit will shortly be out of supply and poses no threat. So, I upgraded the heavy artillery unit to weapons 2 and moved the Italians forward to occupy and entrench in Bruneck - another Austro-Hungarian NM hex (worth 500 MPPs against them). I pushed more Italian corps north into the Alps and once I eliminate the two defending detachments, I will be able to take up a shorter defensive line anchored on Bruneck and can start to attack eastward towards Trieste and/or Klagenfurt.
In Serbia/Bulgaria fortunately there were no attacks last turn. So, the British upgraded and reinforced all their remaining corps, apart from the two Greek corps in the south. Serbia is now at its unit limit, so there was no more rebuilding to do.
In the eastern Med, I moved my French seaplane tender off the coast of Antalya in southern Anatolia and scouted there - which revealed that this sensitive spot is currently undefended. Given that I have a French marine unit in place, I could launch an amphibious raid here and occupy the town, thus cutting his railroad to Palestine, Arabia and Mesopotamia - with an immediate impact on his ability to supply and reinforce in those sectors. It will be an option to consider in future turns. Egypt and Mesopotamia were quiet.
In Arabia, by mutual agreement the Arabian partisan that sprang up at the end of his last turn next to Amman headed south-west towards the desert. It should not have been possible to spawn a partisan this far north until Jerusalem falls, and I will fix that in the next iteration of the mod. I now have the full complement of six Arab partisans - so they will have a merry time cutting the railroad and picking off Ottoman defenders. Two of them wiped out a lonely Ottoman detachment that he sent into the mountains north of Medina.
In the Caucasus, since it is winter now, I reinforced my Russian units and waited to accumulate more shells to be able to attack Trabzon. I realized that moving the sub here was useless, since Trabzon is a primary supply centre. So, I sent it back to the raiding hexes off Zonguldak, where it bumped into his Ottoman battlecruiser (the ex-Goeben) in the port.
In Poland/East Prussia/Galicia, I can now upgrade my Russian corps in the second line to Infantry Weapons 1 and did so with every unit I had. I even swapped a couple of detachments into the line in East Prussia so I could upgrade corps. I also deployed my second heavy artillery unit in reinforcements. I considered using the under-employed Russian navy to start raiding again the Swedish convoy line, but since that stops providing MPPs in the winter turns (as the northern Gulf of Bothnia ices over), I decided not to risk bothering the Swedes yet.
Russia had an easy DE this turn to decide to upgrade the railway to Murmansk. Even though I do not foresee the need for the UK ever to convoy resources to Russia (if anything, I wished it was the other way around), for an investment of 25 MPPs, once completed the towns along the rail-line will start to generate 14 MPPs per turn - thus the DE will pay for itself in two turns!
In terms of investments:
- the UK bought the first of its two heavy artillery units
- France rebuilt one destroyed corps
- Italy saved most of its MPPs to buy artillery next turn
- Serbia invested 1 chit in Trench Warfare for 3, since it needs all the defensive cover it can get
- The USA (now earning only 46 MPPs since the convoy resumed) invested one chit in Fighter Tech for 3
- Russia invested one chit in Infantry Weapons to start the trek towards level 2 and bought one diplomacy chit which it invested in Norway, hoping eventually to swing Norway to 20% for the Entente, thus triggering the Norwegian convoy to the UK.
At the end of the turn, Italy had a series of unexpected breakthroughs, reaching Artillery Weapons 1, Infantry Weapons 1 and Trench Warfare 2. They have come a long way from a low start at the beginning of 1915 - the slower roll into war and the 33 MPPs every turn from France via the convoy has helped a lot.
The only mildly discordant note was the USA objected to the Entente blockade on the distant blockade line, swinging back to 2% to 44% mobilized. This happens on a 2 percent chance each turn if the Entente have any blockading units on that line (and they almost always will). However, it should be offset by a greater chance of the USA objecting to attacks on their merchantmen, if they have any naval units between Ireland and the USA. That has not happened yet.
Losing three French corps in one turn to Old Crow's heavy artillery and upgraded infantry was an unpleasant surprise. Fortunately, I have the reserves and moved forward all the corps I upgraded last turn to fill the gaps. The fact that it is now winter will also help cover them when they entrench. France used its MPPs to upgrade every remaining corps that was not next to the enemy to Infantry Weapons 1. I was also able to upgrade the two French heavy artillery units to Artillery Weapons 2 (regular artillery can only reach weapons 1).
For the UK, it was a great relief to have 430 MPPs to spend this turn, compared to the 270 or less they received while the North American convoys were down (due to the reduction of the port of Glasgow). This gives me the financial margin I badly need to start buying the UKs two heavy artillery units. They will be needed to counter the Germans in France. I deployed the last of Kitchener's New Army corps in Plymouth and shipped one more British corps south to the Med. In the western Atlantic, the destroyer I sent over reached Halifax and my repaired and ASW upgraded British light cruiser and French heavy cruiser are almost ready to take up their positions defending the raiding hexes in front of the port. I moved some light cruisers that were occupying the NM hexes off Glasgow back to port to upgrade them to ASW 2. I am still occupying all of these hexes and will do so until Glasgow reaches at least 10, as a buffer against future German unrestricted naval warfare attacks.
In Italy, I was tempted to use my French heavy artillery again to blast his remaining detachments around Trento, but I realized that the forward enemy unit will shortly be out of supply and poses no threat. So, I upgraded the heavy artillery unit to weapons 2 and moved the Italians forward to occupy and entrench in Bruneck - another Austro-Hungarian NM hex (worth 500 MPPs against them). I pushed more Italian corps north into the Alps and once I eliminate the two defending detachments, I will be able to take up a shorter defensive line anchored on Bruneck and can start to attack eastward towards Trieste and/or Klagenfurt.
In Serbia/Bulgaria fortunately there were no attacks last turn. So, the British upgraded and reinforced all their remaining corps, apart from the two Greek corps in the south. Serbia is now at its unit limit, so there was no more rebuilding to do.
In the eastern Med, I moved my French seaplane tender off the coast of Antalya in southern Anatolia and scouted there - which revealed that this sensitive spot is currently undefended. Given that I have a French marine unit in place, I could launch an amphibious raid here and occupy the town, thus cutting his railroad to Palestine, Arabia and Mesopotamia - with an immediate impact on his ability to supply and reinforce in those sectors. It will be an option to consider in future turns. Egypt and Mesopotamia were quiet.
In Arabia, by mutual agreement the Arabian partisan that sprang up at the end of his last turn next to Amman headed south-west towards the desert. It should not have been possible to spawn a partisan this far north until Jerusalem falls, and I will fix that in the next iteration of the mod. I now have the full complement of six Arab partisans - so they will have a merry time cutting the railroad and picking off Ottoman defenders. Two of them wiped out a lonely Ottoman detachment that he sent into the mountains north of Medina.
In the Caucasus, since it is winter now, I reinforced my Russian units and waited to accumulate more shells to be able to attack Trabzon. I realized that moving the sub here was useless, since Trabzon is a primary supply centre. So, I sent it back to the raiding hexes off Zonguldak, where it bumped into his Ottoman battlecruiser (the ex-Goeben) in the port.
In Poland/East Prussia/Galicia, I can now upgrade my Russian corps in the second line to Infantry Weapons 1 and did so with every unit I had. I even swapped a couple of detachments into the line in East Prussia so I could upgrade corps. I also deployed my second heavy artillery unit in reinforcements. I considered using the under-employed Russian navy to start raiding again the Swedish convoy line, but since that stops providing MPPs in the winter turns (as the northern Gulf of Bothnia ices over), I decided not to risk bothering the Swedes yet.
Russia had an easy DE this turn to decide to upgrade the railway to Murmansk. Even though I do not foresee the need for the UK ever to convoy resources to Russia (if anything, I wished it was the other way around), for an investment of 25 MPPs, once completed the towns along the rail-line will start to generate 14 MPPs per turn - thus the DE will pay for itself in two turns!
In terms of investments:
- the UK bought the first of its two heavy artillery units
- France rebuilt one destroyed corps
- Italy saved most of its MPPs to buy artillery next turn
- Serbia invested 1 chit in Trench Warfare for 3, since it needs all the defensive cover it can get
- The USA (now earning only 46 MPPs since the convoy resumed) invested one chit in Fighter Tech for 3
- Russia invested one chit in Infantry Weapons to start the trek towards level 2 and bought one diplomacy chit which it invested in Norway, hoping eventually to swing Norway to 20% for the Entente, thus triggering the Norwegian convoy to the UK.
At the end of the turn, Italy had a series of unexpected breakthroughs, reaching Artillery Weapons 1, Infantry Weapons 1 and Trench Warfare 2. They have come a long way from a low start at the beginning of 1915 - the slower roll into war and the 33 MPPs every turn from France via the convoy has helped a lot.
The only mildly discordant note was the USA objected to the Entente blockade on the distant blockade line, swinging back to 2% to 44% mobilized. This happens on a 2 percent chance each turn if the Entente have any blockading units on that line (and they almost always will). However, it should be offset by a greater chance of the USA objecting to attacks on their merchantmen, if they have any naval units between Ireland and the USA. That has not happened yet.
Re: Icarus Mod for 1914 Campaign: Play-test AAR
Entente Turn 23 January 29, 1916
This was another quiet winter turn - but probably the last one for me before mud arrives in March. On the western front, I moved my French artillery and second line corps into locations to attack next turn. I bought back the heavy artillery unit that I had sent to Italy and placed it on Chalons. I also upgraded my two airships to Airship Tech 1.
In Italy, I considered pushing further north into the Alps to cut off the supply of the remaining German detachment but decided that would expose my un-upgraded Italian corps to heavy counterattack. So, I settled for destroying his zero-supply detachment and attacking at no cost the second one at supply level 2, reducing its entrenchment. I was also able to upgrade to Infantry Weapons 1 my first Italian corps.
In Serbia/Bulgaria, I moved one British corps into the mountains south of Sofia, to be able to attack the Bulgarian corps in a corner position next turn and I positioned both British artillery units to attack this hex. I reinforced a few remaining second line units.
Egypt and Mesopotamia were quiet. In Arabia, I moved my Arab partisans to try harassing isolated Ottoman units along the rail line. I tried a feint towards Aqaba but found it defended. I think he has deployed a sufficient number of detachments to prevent me from capturing any towns along the rail line, but that means other places along the Ottoman coast are undefended. I used my French seaplane to scout the sensitive spot on the Ottoman coast between Alexandretta and [] and found it was empty.
In the Caucasus, I simply upgraded Russian units and waited to accumulate more shells to take Trabzon.
On the eastern front, I deployed three new Russian corps in reserve and upgraded all the remaining corps that I could to Infantry Weapons One. Most of my front-line units are now at this level, which should square up the odds with the German corps.
No naval movements anywhere this turn, but I did a little more ASW upgrading for the UK. I deployed my third and last British naval mine on one of the North Sea blockade hexes. This is not the most imaginative use for mines, but it reduces the exposure of my blockading fleets to German attacks that I expect will come when the blockade becomes more damaging from 1917 onward. And if destroyed mines cost nothing to replace.
In terms of Decision Events, I decided after some reflection to say YES to having the UK introduce conscription. This produces three half strength corps in 1916 and 1917 at no up-front cost, but it will generate random strikes that will dent UK production. My calculations a few turns ago were that the cost/benefit ratio in terms of MPPs still favoured doing it. But one of the random factors is a further strike of workers in the Clyde shipyards - meaning the port of Glasgow - on a 6% chance per turn. This was the event that when combined with German unrestricted naval warfare sent that port below level 5 and cut off my convoys for about ten turns in 1915 - so it is a calculated risk. I will be "interested" to see at the end of the game if overall this was the right decision.
I also decided to have the II Anzac corps arrive in Egypt, where it will be needed to shore up my defences. Russia declined to invest 50 MPPs in Greek saboteurs against the Ottoman mines and ports - the amount of economic damage is too minor, and I could use those MPPs more effectively to fund diplomacy chits. Italy declined to buy the Albanian legion for 50 MPPs because I thought I needed the MPPs to buy artillery this turn - forgetting of course that the cost is incurred next turn. It is a small benefit, as a new detachment costs only 71 MPPs.
In terms of investments:
- The UK bought its second and last heavy artillery unit
- France bought back killed dead corps
- Italy bought its one and only heavy artillery unit - a big splurge for them
- Serbia invested one chit in Trench Warfare for 4 in total
- The USA saved its modest 31 MPPs this turn, now that the convoys are running to the UK
- Russia upgraded and reinforced its corps and bought one diplomacy chit to use in Norway.
At the end of the turn, the Russian foreign minister reported a breakthrough with Norway, swinging it 23% to the Entente and starting the Norwegian convoy to the UK immediately, which is worth 18 MPPs per turn. This was a very satisfying outcome for the 100 MPPs invested by Russia in diplomacy.
It also proved to be a big turn for tech breakthroughs:
- Russia reached Industry Tech 3, making its economy larger than Germany's
- Russia also achieved Command and Control 2, improving its mediocre generals
- Russia achieved Trench Warfare 4
- France achieved Trend Warfare 4
- the USA achieved Industry Tech 1
- the USA achieved Long Range Aircraft 1
This was another quiet winter turn - but probably the last one for me before mud arrives in March. On the western front, I moved my French artillery and second line corps into locations to attack next turn. I bought back the heavy artillery unit that I had sent to Italy and placed it on Chalons. I also upgraded my two airships to Airship Tech 1.
In Italy, I considered pushing further north into the Alps to cut off the supply of the remaining German detachment but decided that would expose my un-upgraded Italian corps to heavy counterattack. So, I settled for destroying his zero-supply detachment and attacking at no cost the second one at supply level 2, reducing its entrenchment. I was also able to upgrade to Infantry Weapons 1 my first Italian corps.
In Serbia/Bulgaria, I moved one British corps into the mountains south of Sofia, to be able to attack the Bulgarian corps in a corner position next turn and I positioned both British artillery units to attack this hex. I reinforced a few remaining second line units.
Egypt and Mesopotamia were quiet. In Arabia, I moved my Arab partisans to try harassing isolated Ottoman units along the rail line. I tried a feint towards Aqaba but found it defended. I think he has deployed a sufficient number of detachments to prevent me from capturing any towns along the rail line, but that means other places along the Ottoman coast are undefended. I used my French seaplane to scout the sensitive spot on the Ottoman coast between Alexandretta and [] and found it was empty.
In the Caucasus, I simply upgraded Russian units and waited to accumulate more shells to take Trabzon.
On the eastern front, I deployed three new Russian corps in reserve and upgraded all the remaining corps that I could to Infantry Weapons One. Most of my front-line units are now at this level, which should square up the odds with the German corps.
No naval movements anywhere this turn, but I did a little more ASW upgrading for the UK. I deployed my third and last British naval mine on one of the North Sea blockade hexes. This is not the most imaginative use for mines, but it reduces the exposure of my blockading fleets to German attacks that I expect will come when the blockade becomes more damaging from 1917 onward. And if destroyed mines cost nothing to replace.
In terms of Decision Events, I decided after some reflection to say YES to having the UK introduce conscription. This produces three half strength corps in 1916 and 1917 at no up-front cost, but it will generate random strikes that will dent UK production. My calculations a few turns ago were that the cost/benefit ratio in terms of MPPs still favoured doing it. But one of the random factors is a further strike of workers in the Clyde shipyards - meaning the port of Glasgow - on a 6% chance per turn. This was the event that when combined with German unrestricted naval warfare sent that port below level 5 and cut off my convoys for about ten turns in 1915 - so it is a calculated risk. I will be "interested" to see at the end of the game if overall this was the right decision.
I also decided to have the II Anzac corps arrive in Egypt, where it will be needed to shore up my defences. Russia declined to invest 50 MPPs in Greek saboteurs against the Ottoman mines and ports - the amount of economic damage is too minor, and I could use those MPPs more effectively to fund diplomacy chits. Italy declined to buy the Albanian legion for 50 MPPs because I thought I needed the MPPs to buy artillery this turn - forgetting of course that the cost is incurred next turn. It is a small benefit, as a new detachment costs only 71 MPPs.
In terms of investments:
- The UK bought its second and last heavy artillery unit
- France bought back killed dead corps
- Italy bought its one and only heavy artillery unit - a big splurge for them
- Serbia invested one chit in Trench Warfare for 4 in total
- The USA saved its modest 31 MPPs this turn, now that the convoys are running to the UK
- Russia upgraded and reinforced its corps and bought one diplomacy chit to use in Norway.
At the end of the turn, the Russian foreign minister reported a breakthrough with Norway, swinging it 23% to the Entente and starting the Norwegian convoy to the UK immediately, which is worth 18 MPPs per turn. This was a very satisfying outcome for the 100 MPPs invested by Russia in diplomacy.
It also proved to be a big turn for tech breakthroughs:
- Russia reached Industry Tech 3, making its economy larger than Germany's
- Russia also achieved Command and Control 2, improving its mediocre generals
- Russia achieved Trench Warfare 4
- France achieved Trend Warfare 4
- the USA achieved Industry Tech 1
- the USA achieved Long Range Aircraft 1
Re: Icarus Mod for 1914 Campaign: Play-test AAR
Entente Turn 24 March 25, 1916
It is the start of a new campaign season and although there was mud across Europe, I decided to go on the offensive. My strategy this year seems grimly appropriate to 1916: attrition. At this point, the Entente economies are significantly larger than the Central Powers (I will do the calculation next turn, but with Russia alone earning 615 MPPs per turn, I clearly have an advantage in my ability to replace losses). I reckon that if I can kill more German strength points per turn than he can replace, it will enable me to start making territorial advances late in the year. In the early turns of this year, on both the western and eastern front, I am less concerned with taking territory - the main lines are straight and do not offer easy opportunities to roll them up.
So, in France, I started by attacking two entrenched German corps on open ground on either side of Lille. In the first attack, I lost more strength points than I killed, in the second, I came out well ahead - overall a marginal net gain for the French. If it was just France attacking, these losses would not be sustainable, but combined with casualties in Russia and the Balkans, I think I can eventually crack Germany. I used my upgraded airships to spot behind the lines and found two German heavy artillery pieces in Belgium, in essentially defensive positions. No sign yet of an impending attack on Verdun.
For the first time in over a year, I brought over General Haig, the British HQ I had been keeping in Southampton to France. He is only function at the moment is to provide command to the British fighter and recon bomber in France, but by mid-year, he will be needed to command the two British heavy artillery pieces I intend to deploy there.
Italy is on a nice little roll: they destroyed the remaining German detachment next to Trento, and started upgrading their corps. Their next attacks will only come in a few turns once their heavy artillery unit arrives and is ready to fire.
In Serbia/Bulgaria, I had a less satisfactory attack by British corps against a Bulgarian corps one hex south of Sofia, entrenched in the mountains. Despite firing two artillery units at it and reducing it to zero entrenchment, plus a strong British general, my first attack was at 3-2 odds. Eventually, I reduced to 1 strength point but could not kill it for a loss of 14 British strength points. Still, the unit will have to be withdrawn and rebuilt. I also swapped two British corps with two Serbian corps in the front line facing the Austro-Hungarians to the north, because they had been upgraded to Infantry Weapons 1. The downside of this approach is that when they are destroyed, it takes many turns to bring in a new British corps. This is without a doubt my weakest front. I was however able to land one more British corps in Salonika.
In Egypt, I upgraded the II Anzacs plus the Australian light horse that deployed following a DE this turn. I also upgraded the forward units in Mesopotamia, to get ready for the summer offensive with General Maude.
In Arabia, the partisans do not seem powerful enough to capture the towns along the Hejaz railroad. But they can keep cutting the railroad and in this mod they incur a 200 NM hit every turn that they do so against the Ottomans.
In the Caucasus, I bided my time during mud and moved more units around Trabzon. With an entrenchment of 6 and upgraded weapons, his detachment there will be challenging to destroy. I may make a move next turn, if not I will surely be able to take the turn after.
In Galicia, I used my heavy artillery for the first time with my regular artillery unit to destroy easily an Austro-Hungarian corps behind a river bend. Mud prevented me from moving into the hex, but the killed corps was sufficient gain. In Poland, I tried a frontal assault against a corps entrenched in clear terrain next to Warsaw. One of hexes I attacked from was across the Vistula and this reduced my odds. The German corps also started with a unit moral of over 100% so, so I took fairly heavy casualties in destroying it - 10 points killed for 14 lost on the Russian side. The Russians can afford this, but I will consider easier targets in future turns.
There were no significant naval movements all turn. In the Atlantic, I moved up some of the ASW upgraded sea plane tenders and light cruisers and extended somewhat my coverage of the distant blockade line. Halifax is now defended by three ships. No sign of his subs - which suggests he is either still upgrading or is planning a large surprise attack - which I am learning is something of an Old Crow signature move. We will see.
In terms of the Decision Events, I said yes to the new script in this mod for Portugal, whereby the UK spends 50 MPPs to pressure Portugal to seize interned German and Austro-Hungarian ships. The result was that Portugal swung to 99% mobilized and thus will join the Entente next turn. They will make a modest contribution of about 16 MPPs a turn to the UK economy, but their ports might also be useful safe harbours for British troop transports heading to the Med. I also said YES to the DE offering to form the Australian Light Horse cavalry unit in Egypt. At 4 X 50 MPPs, this is not much cheaper than buying a full-strength cavalry corps. But it will be useful in Mesopotamia, and it arrives with one point of experience, meaning it can be upgraded with elite reinforcements. At this stage of the game, the UK at last is earning the MPPs to afford such optional choices.
In terms of investments:
- the UK invested 2 chits in Armoured Warfare, since it is already at Level 1
- France invested 1 chit in Production Tech and bought 1 Fighter and 1 Recon Bomber
- Italy invested 1 chit in Artillery Weapons tech, for 2
- Serbia invested 2 chits in Production Tech
- the USA saved its MPPs
- Russia invested 1 chit in Industry Tech for 3 and bought 1 new corps
This was the first time I have ever invested in Production Tech. This was one of the techs that I made cheaper in this game - only 60 MPPs for France (compared to 75) and only 40 for Serbia (compared to 50). For countries that are already above well above in their Industrial Modifier, like France at 130%, I reckon this will pay off more in the long run than an equivalent number of MPPs invested in Industrial Tech. Russia, however, the economic giant in the game, is only at 70% in its Industrial Modifier, so it still has room to grow. In the case of Serbia, really the only thing they can buy are strength points back from destroyed corps, so I might as well make them cheaper.
Russia also invested 2 diplomatic chits in Sweden, hoping to swing Sweden far enough away from the Central Powers to shut down that convoy and perhaps, if Sweden gets to 20% mobilized for the Entente, to start sending its convoy to the UK. At the end of the turn, the Russian Foreign Minister reported a 20% swing for Sweden to the Entente, bringing it to only 5% Central Powers aligned - a big step forward for my plan.
Other tech results were as follows:
- the UK reached level 1 in Airship Tech
- France reached level 2 in ASW
- Russia reached level 2 in Artillery Weapons
It is the start of a new campaign season and although there was mud across Europe, I decided to go on the offensive. My strategy this year seems grimly appropriate to 1916: attrition. At this point, the Entente economies are significantly larger than the Central Powers (I will do the calculation next turn, but with Russia alone earning 615 MPPs per turn, I clearly have an advantage in my ability to replace losses). I reckon that if I can kill more German strength points per turn than he can replace, it will enable me to start making territorial advances late in the year. In the early turns of this year, on both the western and eastern front, I am less concerned with taking territory - the main lines are straight and do not offer easy opportunities to roll them up.
So, in France, I started by attacking two entrenched German corps on open ground on either side of Lille. In the first attack, I lost more strength points than I killed, in the second, I came out well ahead - overall a marginal net gain for the French. If it was just France attacking, these losses would not be sustainable, but combined with casualties in Russia and the Balkans, I think I can eventually crack Germany. I used my upgraded airships to spot behind the lines and found two German heavy artillery pieces in Belgium, in essentially defensive positions. No sign yet of an impending attack on Verdun.
For the first time in over a year, I brought over General Haig, the British HQ I had been keeping in Southampton to France. He is only function at the moment is to provide command to the British fighter and recon bomber in France, but by mid-year, he will be needed to command the two British heavy artillery pieces I intend to deploy there.
Italy is on a nice little roll: they destroyed the remaining German detachment next to Trento, and started upgrading their corps. Their next attacks will only come in a few turns once their heavy artillery unit arrives and is ready to fire.
In Serbia/Bulgaria, I had a less satisfactory attack by British corps against a Bulgarian corps one hex south of Sofia, entrenched in the mountains. Despite firing two artillery units at it and reducing it to zero entrenchment, plus a strong British general, my first attack was at 3-2 odds. Eventually, I reduced to 1 strength point but could not kill it for a loss of 14 British strength points. Still, the unit will have to be withdrawn and rebuilt. I also swapped two British corps with two Serbian corps in the front line facing the Austro-Hungarians to the north, because they had been upgraded to Infantry Weapons 1. The downside of this approach is that when they are destroyed, it takes many turns to bring in a new British corps. This is without a doubt my weakest front. I was however able to land one more British corps in Salonika.
In Egypt, I upgraded the II Anzacs plus the Australian light horse that deployed following a DE this turn. I also upgraded the forward units in Mesopotamia, to get ready for the summer offensive with General Maude.
In Arabia, the partisans do not seem powerful enough to capture the towns along the Hejaz railroad. But they can keep cutting the railroad and in this mod they incur a 200 NM hit every turn that they do so against the Ottomans.
In the Caucasus, I bided my time during mud and moved more units around Trabzon. With an entrenchment of 6 and upgraded weapons, his detachment there will be challenging to destroy. I may make a move next turn, if not I will surely be able to take the turn after.
In Galicia, I used my heavy artillery for the first time with my regular artillery unit to destroy easily an Austro-Hungarian corps behind a river bend. Mud prevented me from moving into the hex, but the killed corps was sufficient gain. In Poland, I tried a frontal assault against a corps entrenched in clear terrain next to Warsaw. One of hexes I attacked from was across the Vistula and this reduced my odds. The German corps also started with a unit moral of over 100% so, so I took fairly heavy casualties in destroying it - 10 points killed for 14 lost on the Russian side. The Russians can afford this, but I will consider easier targets in future turns.
There were no significant naval movements all turn. In the Atlantic, I moved up some of the ASW upgraded sea plane tenders and light cruisers and extended somewhat my coverage of the distant blockade line. Halifax is now defended by three ships. No sign of his subs - which suggests he is either still upgrading or is planning a large surprise attack - which I am learning is something of an Old Crow signature move. We will see.
In terms of the Decision Events, I said yes to the new script in this mod for Portugal, whereby the UK spends 50 MPPs to pressure Portugal to seize interned German and Austro-Hungarian ships. The result was that Portugal swung to 99% mobilized and thus will join the Entente next turn. They will make a modest contribution of about 16 MPPs a turn to the UK economy, but their ports might also be useful safe harbours for British troop transports heading to the Med. I also said YES to the DE offering to form the Australian Light Horse cavalry unit in Egypt. At 4 X 50 MPPs, this is not much cheaper than buying a full-strength cavalry corps. But it will be useful in Mesopotamia, and it arrives with one point of experience, meaning it can be upgraded with elite reinforcements. At this stage of the game, the UK at last is earning the MPPs to afford such optional choices.
In terms of investments:
- the UK invested 2 chits in Armoured Warfare, since it is already at Level 1
- France invested 1 chit in Production Tech and bought 1 Fighter and 1 Recon Bomber
- Italy invested 1 chit in Artillery Weapons tech, for 2
- Serbia invested 2 chits in Production Tech
- the USA saved its MPPs
- Russia invested 1 chit in Industry Tech for 3 and bought 1 new corps
This was the first time I have ever invested in Production Tech. This was one of the techs that I made cheaper in this game - only 60 MPPs for France (compared to 75) and only 40 for Serbia (compared to 50). For countries that are already above well above in their Industrial Modifier, like France at 130%, I reckon this will pay off more in the long run than an equivalent number of MPPs invested in Industrial Tech. Russia, however, the economic giant in the game, is only at 70% in its Industrial Modifier, so it still has room to grow. In the case of Serbia, really the only thing they can buy are strength points back from destroyed corps, so I might as well make them cheaper.
Russia also invested 2 diplomatic chits in Sweden, hoping to swing Sweden far enough away from the Central Powers to shut down that convoy and perhaps, if Sweden gets to 20% mobilized for the Entente, to start sending its convoy to the UK. At the end of the turn, the Russian Foreign Minister reported a 20% swing for Sweden to the Entente, bringing it to only 5% Central Powers aligned - a big step forward for my plan.
Other tech results were as follows:
- the UK reached level 1 in Airship Tech
- France reached level 2 in ASW
- Russia reached level 2 in Artillery Weapons
Re: Icarus Mod for 1914 Campaign: Play-test AAR
Entente Turn 25: April 22, 1916
Ok, so maybe my March offensive was not such a brilliant idea. That was a hell of kicking that Old Crow delivered in France - 3 corps killed and an artillery unit almost mauled to death, not to mention more attacks in Serbia and Russia. In both of the latter locations, he astutely went after corps that I had left in low supply positions, which reduced their readiness and which I can only buy back at full cost, not to mention the NM bonus he received for killing them.
I spent a lot of time analyzing the Western Front and rebuilding my line. I considered for a while moving back into two of the three hexes north of the Somme which I had held before he destroyed my unit. In the end, I decided to be prudent and left him to decide whether to re-occupy those hexes or not. I counterattacked and wiped out easily his Marine unit that sniped my French artillery (lost 3 corps points, versus 8 from his Marine division). I swapped my artillery unit with a cavalry corps behind it, which allowed it to both escape the front line and rebuild - at a cost of 117 MPPs. I reinforced every corps that took casualties last turn and railed into Amiens the one elite corps that I built last turn. This did not leave me with enough MPPs to buy back even one destroyed corps, so I turned off the convoy to Italy for now (worth 40 MPPs) until I can rebuild France's strength. Finally, I fired two shells from one heavy artillery unit just to reduce the morale of two of his front-line units. At artillery weapons 2, heavy artillery can wipe 20% off a unit's morale and in this case, I killed one strength point too. I anticipate doing more of this and Old Crow has started to do the same with his two heavy artillery pieces behind his lines.
In Italy, I upgraded a couple of more corps to Infantry Weapons One, including in Libya and moved them towards the front with Austria-Hungary along the Isonzo. I also did some needed reinforcing of the Italian recon bomber in Libya. Using my airship, I took a peek behind his line north of Trieste - which looks quite thin. This sector should be quiet until my Italian heavy artillery unit is in place.
In Serbia/Bulgaria, I decide to simply reinforce all my British units and hunker down. Even though Serbia has a war chest of 213 MPPs, it was not sufficient to buy back the corps killed last turn - that takes 214 MPPs. I decided to leave the mountain hex between our lines in Bulgaria vacant. Since I had to move one of the British artillery units, I put it directly behind the line defending Serbia, so it could fire defensively. I have not found this to be much use in the past, but it can increase the attacker's casualties. I have a definite HQ shortage in this sector and could really use another British general. It is a dilemma whether to move General Hamilton from Egypt - if I do, my British units there have no commander and limited supply coming from the supporting Belgian HQ. What I need is some visibility behind the Ottoman lines - so I may move an airship British or French airship to Egypt next turn.
In Egypt I moved up the II Anzacs behind the line. In Mesopotamia, I decided to upgrade my detachment sitting in Basra, before moving starting to besiege his advance units.
In Arabia, I moved the partisans around to reduce their casualties, while still firmly cutting the Hejaz railway. This costs him 100 NM per turn, so it mounts up.
In the Caucasus, it was clear weather, so I decided to make my move against Trabzon. I proved remarkably easy after I used my artillery, and in three attacks, I killed the detachment at the cost of one strength point. At this point, I have finished campaigning in this theatre, and my plan is to leave the minimum force around Ezrurum to prevent him from retaking it. I will rail most of the mountain corps, plus probably the HQ and certainly the artillery unit to Galicia or Poland.
In Poland, I was able to extricate to safety the two corps that he had reduced to 1 strength point. I counterattacked and destroyed the 8-strength corps that had captured one hex in my line south of Radom. Given Russia's now huge economy (producing 615 MPPs per turn), I can afford some casualties and still keep investing.
In naval moves, the main action was north of the distant blockade line where my Intelligence revealed one German sub hiding out in a zone of bad weather. I threw everything I had at it and reduced it to 5 strength points and zero supply. I would have killed it had the bad weather not blunted my attacks. With luck, I will find it somewhere in the Norwegian Sea next turn, hoping to make it back to Germany. Elsewhere, I evacuated the port of Dublin, just in advance of the Easter 1916 Uprising and upgraded my British airships.
Elsewhere, my Russian sub spotted the lone Austro-Hungarian sub in the Black Sea. I moved various French destroyers into ports in Greece and Rhodes to they could upgrade to ASW2.
In terms of investments:
- the UK invested in buying one gas/shell tech chit to start the trek to level 2.
- the UK also invested one chit in Command and Control, so it could increase its HQ span of command
- France invested one chit in Production Tech (for two)
- Italy and Serbia conserved their remaining MPPs for next turn
- the USA invested one chit in Ground Attack Weapons (the next step in my plan to use time to build the most advanced air force on the board in the USA)
- Russia reinforced damaged units and bought a new full price corps.
- Russia also bought 2 more diplomatic chits and placed them Sweden.
At the end of the turn:
- the UK reached Industrial Tech 3
- Italy reached Industrial Tech 1
- Russia (finally) reached Gas/Shell tech 1
Ok, so maybe my March offensive was not such a brilliant idea. That was a hell of kicking that Old Crow delivered in France - 3 corps killed and an artillery unit almost mauled to death, not to mention more attacks in Serbia and Russia. In both of the latter locations, he astutely went after corps that I had left in low supply positions, which reduced their readiness and which I can only buy back at full cost, not to mention the NM bonus he received for killing them.
I spent a lot of time analyzing the Western Front and rebuilding my line. I considered for a while moving back into two of the three hexes north of the Somme which I had held before he destroyed my unit. In the end, I decided to be prudent and left him to decide whether to re-occupy those hexes or not. I counterattacked and wiped out easily his Marine unit that sniped my French artillery (lost 3 corps points, versus 8 from his Marine division). I swapped my artillery unit with a cavalry corps behind it, which allowed it to both escape the front line and rebuild - at a cost of 117 MPPs. I reinforced every corps that took casualties last turn and railed into Amiens the one elite corps that I built last turn. This did not leave me with enough MPPs to buy back even one destroyed corps, so I turned off the convoy to Italy for now (worth 40 MPPs) until I can rebuild France's strength. Finally, I fired two shells from one heavy artillery unit just to reduce the morale of two of his front-line units. At artillery weapons 2, heavy artillery can wipe 20% off a unit's morale and in this case, I killed one strength point too. I anticipate doing more of this and Old Crow has started to do the same with his two heavy artillery pieces behind his lines.
In Italy, I upgraded a couple of more corps to Infantry Weapons One, including in Libya and moved them towards the front with Austria-Hungary along the Isonzo. I also did some needed reinforcing of the Italian recon bomber in Libya. Using my airship, I took a peek behind his line north of Trieste - which looks quite thin. This sector should be quiet until my Italian heavy artillery unit is in place.
In Serbia/Bulgaria, I decide to simply reinforce all my British units and hunker down. Even though Serbia has a war chest of 213 MPPs, it was not sufficient to buy back the corps killed last turn - that takes 214 MPPs. I decided to leave the mountain hex between our lines in Bulgaria vacant. Since I had to move one of the British artillery units, I put it directly behind the line defending Serbia, so it could fire defensively. I have not found this to be much use in the past, but it can increase the attacker's casualties. I have a definite HQ shortage in this sector and could really use another British general. It is a dilemma whether to move General Hamilton from Egypt - if I do, my British units there have no commander and limited supply coming from the supporting Belgian HQ. What I need is some visibility behind the Ottoman lines - so I may move an airship British or French airship to Egypt next turn.
In Egypt I moved up the II Anzacs behind the line. In Mesopotamia, I decided to upgrade my detachment sitting in Basra, before moving starting to besiege his advance units.
In Arabia, I moved the partisans around to reduce their casualties, while still firmly cutting the Hejaz railway. This costs him 100 NM per turn, so it mounts up.
In the Caucasus, it was clear weather, so I decided to make my move against Trabzon. I proved remarkably easy after I used my artillery, and in three attacks, I killed the detachment at the cost of one strength point. At this point, I have finished campaigning in this theatre, and my plan is to leave the minimum force around Ezrurum to prevent him from retaking it. I will rail most of the mountain corps, plus probably the HQ and certainly the artillery unit to Galicia or Poland.
In Poland, I was able to extricate to safety the two corps that he had reduced to 1 strength point. I counterattacked and destroyed the 8-strength corps that had captured one hex in my line south of Radom. Given Russia's now huge economy (producing 615 MPPs per turn), I can afford some casualties and still keep investing.
In naval moves, the main action was north of the distant blockade line where my Intelligence revealed one German sub hiding out in a zone of bad weather. I threw everything I had at it and reduced it to 5 strength points and zero supply. I would have killed it had the bad weather not blunted my attacks. With luck, I will find it somewhere in the Norwegian Sea next turn, hoping to make it back to Germany. Elsewhere, I evacuated the port of Dublin, just in advance of the Easter 1916 Uprising and upgraded my British airships.
Elsewhere, my Russian sub spotted the lone Austro-Hungarian sub in the Black Sea. I moved various French destroyers into ports in Greece and Rhodes to they could upgrade to ASW2.
In terms of investments:
- the UK invested in buying one gas/shell tech chit to start the trek to level 2.
- the UK also invested one chit in Command and Control, so it could increase its HQ span of command
- France invested one chit in Production Tech (for two)
- Italy and Serbia conserved their remaining MPPs for next turn
- the USA invested one chit in Ground Attack Weapons (the next step in my plan to use time to build the most advanced air force on the board in the USA)
- Russia reinforced damaged units and bought a new full price corps.
- Russia also bought 2 more diplomatic chits and placed them Sweden.
At the end of the turn:
- the UK reached Industrial Tech 3
- Italy reached Industrial Tech 1
- Russia (finally) reached Gas/Shell tech 1
Re: Icarus Mod for 1914 Campaign: Play-test AAR
Entente Turn 26: May 19, 1916
I am finding the change of pace in 1916 in this mod very intriguing to watch and I am having to recalibrate my strategies on all the major fronts.
For me, the turn began with a wild anti-sub scramble north of Scotland, after three of his subs attacked one of my dreadnoughts (DNs) at anchor next to Scapa Flow. They reduced it to strength 3, which is a pain but not critical. I threw all my DDs and CLs plus the two sea-plane tenders, all with level 2 ASW I had at the first German sub I found and managed to destroy it. I could see the second sub further east in the Shetlands (perhaps due to intelligence) but I preferred to concentrate on killing one rather than attacking two. Then, I sent a French sub out looking for the sub I had reduced to zero supply last turn. Since it can only move 7 hexes in silent mode at zero, I was able to find it and kill it. Altogether very satisfying. But after this experience, I will be even more cautious about having my DNs exposed on the North Sea blockade line.
Then in France, I methodically attacked the most exposed of his advance corps, and despite the fact it had 1 experience point, I was able to kill it for a cost of only 3 corps strength points and 2 cavalry points. I decided to move one corps into one of the empty hexes between our lines and entrenched, even though it will almost certainly be destroyed in next turn in order to prevent him from retaking all the territory I captured in 1915. But for good measure, I fired heavy artillery at both German corps next to this unit, to reduce their morale when they attack. After flying my French Airships, I could see that he is about to move two more German heavy artillery into Belgium, so I will soon be facing four German heavy artillery - his entire build limit. This will tax the French to the limit - and I anticipate Verdun will be the main target. Fortunately, the British heavy artillery bought a couple of turns ago are beginning to arrive. It will be interesting to see how the tactics evolve over the summer with the amount of shells flying back and forth. Ironically, France has been able to build its first tank corps since last turn (since they reached Armoured Warfare 2) but given the cost of the tanks (190 MPPs) and the immediate need to replace infantry, I have not been able to afford buying it yet.
In Italy, I moved two more upgraded units into Bruneck using swap movement, to face off against his three corps. Without artillery on either side, this will be a static front. I realized I should have accepted the DE two turns ago to build the Albanian legion, as I would like to have another Italian detachment to defend southern Italy against a surprise amphibious attack across the Adriatic. Unfortunately, Italy has already exceeded its detachment build limits.
In Serbia/Bulgaria, I decided to try attacking again south of Sofia in the mountains against an elite Ottoman corps on the corner of the line. It took five UK corps to kill it, but I finally succeeded losing 9 corps strength points against 10. The plus factor is that this might restrain him from attacking the British corps now defending the southern approaches to Nish - we will see next turn. The rest of the sector was quiet.
However, after seeing how tough it is to use one general to command at least 10 UK corps in this theatre, I bit the bullet and transported General Hamilton from Egypt to Salonika. This will strengthen my defences immediately in the Balkans but will leave my small forces in Egypt very exposed if he ever brings an artillery piece there to attack. As a safe-guard, I used operational movement to send a British airship to Egypt, so at least I can spot any build up behind his lines and if necessary, send General Hamilton back again. The permanent solution of course, would be to build another British HQ and it may come to that - but at 357 MPPs, even with a Production tech discount, that would be a huge hit and would take many turns to reach Egypt. I am hoping that I am putting enough pressure on the Ottomans elsewhere that he will not be able to afford this. Separately, I send the French seaplane tender to scout and I saw that he *now has a corps defending Alexandretta, but not Adana. I reckon in part this is because he can no longer see the British marines on the front lines, and he is worried they might stage a landing. I would be actively planning to do so with my French marines sitting in Cyprus if I had the MPPs to spare for an amphibious attack. But merely the risk of one is tying up forces. Finally, in Egypt both the II Anzacs and the Australian light horse are at elite strength and upgraded and are ready to be sent to Mesopotamia next turn, in time to be in a position when General Maude arrives.
In Arabia, I moved my somewhat depleted partisans along the rail line south of Tayma. I have not really figured out a strategy for using them yet, but they are reducing Ottoman morale and are tying up units, so they are achieving their purpose. I sent one partisan, for no particular reason, into the desert toward the Sankaka Oasis. My hope is that the supply level there will be 5 which would allow me to upgrade it with infantry weapons.
In Mesopotamia, things are starting to stir. I moved the detachment in Basra towards Amara and shifted my second cavalry unit to Nasiriyeh, in order to upgrade it. By late July, once General Maude and the Tigris corps, plus the Mesopotamian field artillery unit, plus the Anzacs have all arrived, I should be able to mount a serious push to Baghdad.
In Kurdistan in the north, I reviewed the situation with potential Russian forces now that I have taken what I need in the Caucasus. My tentative plan is to rail one Russian cavalry unit from Poland to Tabriz so that it can move down and help the existing cavalry there upgrade without losing its position. My more devious plan is to build up the fairly useless Russian heavy bomber unit and have it either start bombing Mosul, in order to reduce the rail-line he is building, or Baghdad itself, to reduce his supply for defence. This is an expensive unit, but it would be fun to try using it in way that was intended! I may even send one of the lower rated Russian generals to reinforce these operations.
In the Caucasus, it is a period of downsizing and regrouping. At long last, I was able to move the field artillery unit to the rail head at Batum, so it can be sent to the Eastern Front next turn. One of the mountain corps could also reach the rail head. Other will move in the next couple of turns, and in the meantime, I will reinforce and upgrade them. My plan is to keep one full strength corps, two detachments and the mountain division holding Trabzon, Erzurum and a couple of hexes in between, with another detachment ready to rail in from Russia if needed.
In Galicia, I attacked again towards Tarnow with three corps and my very experienced Russian field artillery unit. This time, the defending Austro-Hungarian corps retreated on the second attack, so in the end, I was not able to kill it - but I reduced it to 1 strength point for a loss of only 3 points on my side, plus I gained a very useful hex. I intend to keep attacking along this 3 sided front, as the odds are good and it will weaken the Austro-Hungarians.
In Poland, my intention was to attack a German 8 strength corps south of Warsaw and kill it. But after reducing its entrenchment to zero with heavy artillery, I could still only 3-2 odds on it from two full strength corps. One of them is attacking across the Vistula River, so that partially explains why it is at a disadvantage. But my only explanation for the other one, attacking across clear ground, is that he must have a general commanding it with one or two experience points that tilts the odds in his favour. I considered pushing ahead but then decided to take a longer view and dropped the attack, in favour of reinforcing all of my previously damaged corps and holding a straight entrenched line. This tactical situation forced me to rethink my wider strategy on the Eastern Front. It seems clear (as it does in France) that attacking directly along straight fronts is a recipe for serious losses and painful counterattacks - even though he does not have the heavy artillery in this sector. So instead, my plan is to concentrate on the corners of his front, where I can attack on three sides and in areas where there is clear terrain. There are two spots that fit this bill - western Galicia, around Tarnow and heading towards Krakow, where I already have a field artillery and a heavy artillery unit in range; and East Prussia, in front of Konigsberg, round the river bend that the Germans are defending where we had several clashes in late 1914. I think I will move my Caucasus artillery and general here next turn to prepare a summer offensive.
In terms of investments:
- Britain invested one chit in Command and Control for 2 (given its need for better generals)
- Britain also invested one chit in Airship tech for 2
- France spent all of its MPPs buying back two killed corps and reinforcing the remainder
- Italy sacked and replaced General Brusati (rating 3) for General Diaz, (rating 6)
- Serbia discovered that the corps killed last turn was in fact a Montenegro unit, so it was able to buy it back and then invested one chit in Infantry Warfare
- the USA saved its MPPs (given that 75% of its production is now going to the UK)
- Russia invested 1 chit in Gas/Shell tech, so they can begin to work on getting to level 2.
Finally, Britain invested 3 chits in diplomacy against the Netherlands. There is a small possibility that a breakthrough could swing the Netherlands all the way to the Entente (it is currently 21% for the Central Powers). But even threatening the main source of food for Germany will put pressure on them to respond; and if Germany loses the Netherlands, it loses 60 - 65 MPPs per turn at a stroke.
At the end of the turn, Serbia received the great news that it had a breakthrough bringing it to Level 1 in Infantry Weapons, which it badly needs. Russia reached level 1 in Infantry Warfare. It will be interesting to see what effects this has on my combat odds.
I am finding the change of pace in 1916 in this mod very intriguing to watch and I am having to recalibrate my strategies on all the major fronts.
For me, the turn began with a wild anti-sub scramble north of Scotland, after three of his subs attacked one of my dreadnoughts (DNs) at anchor next to Scapa Flow. They reduced it to strength 3, which is a pain but not critical. I threw all my DDs and CLs plus the two sea-plane tenders, all with level 2 ASW I had at the first German sub I found and managed to destroy it. I could see the second sub further east in the Shetlands (perhaps due to intelligence) but I preferred to concentrate on killing one rather than attacking two. Then, I sent a French sub out looking for the sub I had reduced to zero supply last turn. Since it can only move 7 hexes in silent mode at zero, I was able to find it and kill it. Altogether very satisfying. But after this experience, I will be even more cautious about having my DNs exposed on the North Sea blockade line.
Then in France, I methodically attacked the most exposed of his advance corps, and despite the fact it had 1 experience point, I was able to kill it for a cost of only 3 corps strength points and 2 cavalry points. I decided to move one corps into one of the empty hexes between our lines and entrenched, even though it will almost certainly be destroyed in next turn in order to prevent him from retaking all the territory I captured in 1915. But for good measure, I fired heavy artillery at both German corps next to this unit, to reduce their morale when they attack. After flying my French Airships, I could see that he is about to move two more German heavy artillery into Belgium, so I will soon be facing four German heavy artillery - his entire build limit. This will tax the French to the limit - and I anticipate Verdun will be the main target. Fortunately, the British heavy artillery bought a couple of turns ago are beginning to arrive. It will be interesting to see how the tactics evolve over the summer with the amount of shells flying back and forth. Ironically, France has been able to build its first tank corps since last turn (since they reached Armoured Warfare 2) but given the cost of the tanks (190 MPPs) and the immediate need to replace infantry, I have not been able to afford buying it yet.
In Italy, I moved two more upgraded units into Bruneck using swap movement, to face off against his three corps. Without artillery on either side, this will be a static front. I realized I should have accepted the DE two turns ago to build the Albanian legion, as I would like to have another Italian detachment to defend southern Italy against a surprise amphibious attack across the Adriatic. Unfortunately, Italy has already exceeded its detachment build limits.
In Serbia/Bulgaria, I decided to try attacking again south of Sofia in the mountains against an elite Ottoman corps on the corner of the line. It took five UK corps to kill it, but I finally succeeded losing 9 corps strength points against 10. The plus factor is that this might restrain him from attacking the British corps now defending the southern approaches to Nish - we will see next turn. The rest of the sector was quiet.
However, after seeing how tough it is to use one general to command at least 10 UK corps in this theatre, I bit the bullet and transported General Hamilton from Egypt to Salonika. This will strengthen my defences immediately in the Balkans but will leave my small forces in Egypt very exposed if he ever brings an artillery piece there to attack. As a safe-guard, I used operational movement to send a British airship to Egypt, so at least I can spot any build up behind his lines and if necessary, send General Hamilton back again. The permanent solution of course, would be to build another British HQ and it may come to that - but at 357 MPPs, even with a Production tech discount, that would be a huge hit and would take many turns to reach Egypt. I am hoping that I am putting enough pressure on the Ottomans elsewhere that he will not be able to afford this. Separately, I send the French seaplane tender to scout and I saw that he *now has a corps defending Alexandretta, but not Adana. I reckon in part this is because he can no longer see the British marines on the front lines, and he is worried they might stage a landing. I would be actively planning to do so with my French marines sitting in Cyprus if I had the MPPs to spare for an amphibious attack. But merely the risk of one is tying up forces. Finally, in Egypt both the II Anzacs and the Australian light horse are at elite strength and upgraded and are ready to be sent to Mesopotamia next turn, in time to be in a position when General Maude arrives.
In Arabia, I moved my somewhat depleted partisans along the rail line south of Tayma. I have not really figured out a strategy for using them yet, but they are reducing Ottoman morale and are tying up units, so they are achieving their purpose. I sent one partisan, for no particular reason, into the desert toward the Sankaka Oasis. My hope is that the supply level there will be 5 which would allow me to upgrade it with infantry weapons.
In Mesopotamia, things are starting to stir. I moved the detachment in Basra towards Amara and shifted my second cavalry unit to Nasiriyeh, in order to upgrade it. By late July, once General Maude and the Tigris corps, plus the Mesopotamian field artillery unit, plus the Anzacs have all arrived, I should be able to mount a serious push to Baghdad.
In Kurdistan in the north, I reviewed the situation with potential Russian forces now that I have taken what I need in the Caucasus. My tentative plan is to rail one Russian cavalry unit from Poland to Tabriz so that it can move down and help the existing cavalry there upgrade without losing its position. My more devious plan is to build up the fairly useless Russian heavy bomber unit and have it either start bombing Mosul, in order to reduce the rail-line he is building, or Baghdad itself, to reduce his supply for defence. This is an expensive unit, but it would be fun to try using it in way that was intended! I may even send one of the lower rated Russian generals to reinforce these operations.
In the Caucasus, it is a period of downsizing and regrouping. At long last, I was able to move the field artillery unit to the rail head at Batum, so it can be sent to the Eastern Front next turn. One of the mountain corps could also reach the rail head. Other will move in the next couple of turns, and in the meantime, I will reinforce and upgrade them. My plan is to keep one full strength corps, two detachments and the mountain division holding Trabzon, Erzurum and a couple of hexes in between, with another detachment ready to rail in from Russia if needed.
In Galicia, I attacked again towards Tarnow with three corps and my very experienced Russian field artillery unit. This time, the defending Austro-Hungarian corps retreated on the second attack, so in the end, I was not able to kill it - but I reduced it to 1 strength point for a loss of only 3 points on my side, plus I gained a very useful hex. I intend to keep attacking along this 3 sided front, as the odds are good and it will weaken the Austro-Hungarians.
In Poland, my intention was to attack a German 8 strength corps south of Warsaw and kill it. But after reducing its entrenchment to zero with heavy artillery, I could still only 3-2 odds on it from two full strength corps. One of them is attacking across the Vistula River, so that partially explains why it is at a disadvantage. But my only explanation for the other one, attacking across clear ground, is that he must have a general commanding it with one or two experience points that tilts the odds in his favour. I considered pushing ahead but then decided to take a longer view and dropped the attack, in favour of reinforcing all of my previously damaged corps and holding a straight entrenched line. This tactical situation forced me to rethink my wider strategy on the Eastern Front. It seems clear (as it does in France) that attacking directly along straight fronts is a recipe for serious losses and painful counterattacks - even though he does not have the heavy artillery in this sector. So instead, my plan is to concentrate on the corners of his front, where I can attack on three sides and in areas where there is clear terrain. There are two spots that fit this bill - western Galicia, around Tarnow and heading towards Krakow, where I already have a field artillery and a heavy artillery unit in range; and East Prussia, in front of Konigsberg, round the river bend that the Germans are defending where we had several clashes in late 1914. I think I will move my Caucasus artillery and general here next turn to prepare a summer offensive.
In terms of investments:
- Britain invested one chit in Command and Control for 2 (given its need for better generals)
- Britain also invested one chit in Airship tech for 2
- France spent all of its MPPs buying back two killed corps and reinforcing the remainder
- Italy sacked and replaced General Brusati (rating 3) for General Diaz, (rating 6)
- Serbia discovered that the corps killed last turn was in fact a Montenegro unit, so it was able to buy it back and then invested one chit in Infantry Warfare
- the USA saved its MPPs (given that 75% of its production is now going to the UK)
- Russia invested 1 chit in Gas/Shell tech, so they can begin to work on getting to level 2.
Finally, Britain invested 3 chits in diplomacy against the Netherlands. There is a small possibility that a breakthrough could swing the Netherlands all the way to the Entente (it is currently 21% for the Central Powers). But even threatening the main source of food for Germany will put pressure on them to respond; and if Germany loses the Netherlands, it loses 60 - 65 MPPs per turn at a stroke.
At the end of the turn, Serbia received the great news that it had a breakthrough bringing it to Level 1 in Infantry Weapons, which it badly needs. Russia reached level 1 in Infantry Warfare. It will be interesting to see what effects this has on my combat odds.
Re: Icarus Mod for 1914 Campaign: Play-test AAR
Entente Turn 27 June 17, 1916
Anyone watching the replays of our moves at this stage in the war would see at best 20% of what is actually going on. One of the reasons I find this game so fascinating is that it really is as much a game of economic warfare and investment strategies played out over months and years as it is a tactical conflict played out from turn to turn.
In my view, the longer-term strategic picture looks good for the Entente - the Russian economy is now larger than Germany and taken together the Entente (not including the USA) is producing about 50% more MPPs than the Central Powers, with still room for growth in Russia and the UK. I can use this favourable economic advantage to fund diplomatic ventures - made more rewarding in this mod - that will put downward pressure on the German economy. Eventually (probably by late 1917), I will get the USA in which is quietly building capacity in all of the late-game technologies. Meanwhile, the Russians are steadily making up for their inferior starting tech levels and poor generalship and are becoming a very large army with good offensive prospects. My areas of weakness are France - which is being threated again by concentrated German artillery and superior generals than mine - and Serbia which will almost certainly lose Nish, thus connecting the Ottomans with the rest of the Central Powers, thus opening the way for him to put serious pressure on Egypt, which the UK cannot afford to lose.
This turn began for me like the last with more anti-submarine action in the North Sea. I found his sub that bumped into the destroyer I had deliberately placed in its way and managed to kill it. Then using my British subs to scout, I found a second German sub south of the blockade line. I did not have quite enough firepower to kill it too, but I reduced to 4 strength points, so it will have to return home for repairs. I also ran into a third full-strength German sub along the way. For the first time I brought most of my light vessels south of the blockade line, so in theory, he could bring up his capital ships to attack them. Against that contingency, I moved four dreadnoughts behind my lines, but kept my ports in Scotland empty, so I can send my destroyers and light cruisers in for repairs next turn. So far in 1916, I have killed 3 German subs and roughed up a fourth one, so I believe I have the upper hand at the moment in the Atlantic theatre. But I am still keeping a few units back to protect the NM hexes off Ireland.
In France, I considered attacking across the Somme at his corps that moved there last turn. In the end, I decided that since he is throwing all of his heavy artillery and much of his infantry at France, I will not have the manpower advantage needed to benefit by an aggressive strategy as I tried at the start of this season. So, I sat tight, bought back more dead corps and started to move British unit back into France - the first UK heavy artillery and the first of the corps raised through conscription. Even one or two British corps could help stabilize the line. Finally, I fired off a round of heavy artillery shells to reduce the morale of his front-line units. Will see if that makes any difference at all to future attacks.
In Italy, I deployed my new heavy artillery piece and upgraded a couple more corps. I also moved a detachment into the mountains - even though it is next to a German corps - in order to entrench next turn and block his line of sight into the Italian rear areas. I plan to attack across the Isonzo towards Trieste before the end of summer, but it will be a few more turns before I can accumulate the shells needed. In Libya, although the Senussi are running around capturing small towns, I think I have the main NM objective hexes well defended.
In Serbia/Bulgaria things look superficially fine but my reading of the prospects is dire. The good news is that Serbia can now upgrade to Infantry Weapons 1 - the bad news is that using some witchcraft I do not understand, he manoeuvred a Bulgarian corps into the mountain hex west of Sofia and entrenched it (which takes 5 Action Points), thus is prevents my two Serbian corps in reserve from upgrading. Worse, I can see that he is gearing up for a two-pronged assault on Nish next turn - from the north using the Austro-Hungarians and from the south-east using the Bulgarians and the Ottomans. I am learning that Old Crow likes these "shock and awe" attacks and will delay launching them for a couple of turns until he can get everything needed in place for maximum impact. Between the very tight spaces in between his two fronts and the mountainous terrain, I will be hard pressed to defend Serbia and frankly expect to lose Nish at least in the next two to three turns. Once it goes the land convoy from Russia to Serbia stops and the Serbs income goes to under 30 MPPs per turn - a consequence of my decision to switch the French sea convoy from Serbia to Italy in mid-1915. More importantly, he can then connect by rail the Ottomans with the rest of the Central Powers, giving the Ottomans a much-needed shot in the arm in terms of extra troops and more resources to attack or counterattack towards Egypt and/or in Mesopotamia.
In Egypt, I used the airship I sent there last turn to scout and found, pretty much as expected, several Ottoman corps, but no signs yet of artillery. Interestingly, he moved his Austro-Hungarian airship here too. I dispatched the Australian Light Horse to the Persian Gulf but decided to keep the II ANZAC corps in the port of Suez for another turn, just in case it is needed in Egypt. In the eastern Med, I did some more scouting with the French seaplane and made the surprise discovery that he is using anti-aircraft unit to occupy the port of Tripoli in Lebanon. My seaplane took one unexpected hit to its aircraft.
In Arabia, my partisans are getting a bit roughed up by the stronger Ottoman regulars, so I have retreated them into the mountains and desert east of the rail line, in the hope they might be able to reinforce a bit and then strike back somewhere else. One 4 -strength partisan is positioned to trudge across the desert heading north to the road across to Mesopotamia - mostly just to disturb the Ottomans into sending units out to block it.
In Mesopotamia, I finally moved up two units to start sieging his cavalry corps in Amara. This theatre will start to come back to life when General Maude and the Tigris corps arrive next turn.
In the Caucasus, I began railing units back to the eastern Front. As a longer-term ploy for the Mesopotamian campaign, I moved my reduced Russian heavy bomber unit forward to a spot in Persian Azerbaijan where it can reinforce using supply from Tabriz and then bomb Mosul or Tikrit. This could be very effective later in the year in terms of reducing the strength of those towns and this disrupting the railroad he is completing to Baghdad.
In Galicia, I continued my offensive under General Brusilov's capable hands, aided by a field artillery and a heavy artillery, and destroyed an 8 strength Austro-Hungarian corps for the loss of only 1 strength point (!). I then moved in a new corps that attacked his defending field artillery piece and knocked 4 points off it. I see no reason why I cannot keep up the pressure in this sector.
The main front in Poland in front of Warsaw was quiet - I know he does not have artillery there and with straight lines and some river lines to defend behind, it is difficult for the attacker. So, instead, I moved everything I needed into place for a new attack in East Prussia next turn - my long-awaited field artillery unit from the Caucasus, one heavy artillery unit from the Warsaw sector, a newly purchased recon bomber, General Kornilov also from the Caucasus (who now has one experience point and a rating of 7), plus three additional corps in reinforcements behind the line.
I also brought up all three of my Russian subs into the Baltic off the coast of Latvia. I have not yet decided exactly how to use them, but they could carry out a few unwelcome surprise attacks against the German navy in the lower Baltic.
In terms of Decision Events, I declined the opportunity to buy 3 discounted Russian corps from Muslim Central Asia, at the cost of triggering the Bismachi revolt and costing 1000 NM points. My army is large enough at present and I want to improve my NM position for Russia (currently at 91%).
In terms of investments:
- the UK went big on tech and bought 1 chit in Industry tech (for 3), 1 on Trench Warfare (where they are behind the other powers, for 2), and 1 on Spying and Intelligence (for 2, to avoid having the CP get to level 2 before me and thus slowing down my tech advances).
- France bought its first tank corps and one more killed corps, plus 1 diplomacy chit (see below)
- Italy, Serbia and the USA all saved their MPPs for future turns
- Russia bought one chit in Infantry Warfare (for 2), plus bought back one killed cavalry corps and a detachment, and the bought 1 diplomacy chit
In diplomacy, Russian played its chit against Sweden making 4 there for a 32% chance of a swing. France added its 1 chit to the three the UK has deployed in the Netherlands, also for a 32% chance. At the end of the turn, France scored diplomatic success in the Netherlands, shifting it 12%, so it is now only 9% for the Central Powers. There was also a breakthrough with the expensive chit (150 MPPs) that France bought by accident in the USA - it swung the USA 8% further towards the Entente, bringing it to 52%. The swing in the Netherlands was especially welcome, as Germany really cannot afford to lose its food imports from there, worth 60 MPPs a turn. We will see how Old Crow responds.
Anyone watching the replays of our moves at this stage in the war would see at best 20% of what is actually going on. One of the reasons I find this game so fascinating is that it really is as much a game of economic warfare and investment strategies played out over months and years as it is a tactical conflict played out from turn to turn.
In my view, the longer-term strategic picture looks good for the Entente - the Russian economy is now larger than Germany and taken together the Entente (not including the USA) is producing about 50% more MPPs than the Central Powers, with still room for growth in Russia and the UK. I can use this favourable economic advantage to fund diplomatic ventures - made more rewarding in this mod - that will put downward pressure on the German economy. Eventually (probably by late 1917), I will get the USA in which is quietly building capacity in all of the late-game technologies. Meanwhile, the Russians are steadily making up for their inferior starting tech levels and poor generalship and are becoming a very large army with good offensive prospects. My areas of weakness are France - which is being threated again by concentrated German artillery and superior generals than mine - and Serbia which will almost certainly lose Nish, thus connecting the Ottomans with the rest of the Central Powers, thus opening the way for him to put serious pressure on Egypt, which the UK cannot afford to lose.
This turn began for me like the last with more anti-submarine action in the North Sea. I found his sub that bumped into the destroyer I had deliberately placed in its way and managed to kill it. Then using my British subs to scout, I found a second German sub south of the blockade line. I did not have quite enough firepower to kill it too, but I reduced to 4 strength points, so it will have to return home for repairs. I also ran into a third full-strength German sub along the way. For the first time I brought most of my light vessels south of the blockade line, so in theory, he could bring up his capital ships to attack them. Against that contingency, I moved four dreadnoughts behind my lines, but kept my ports in Scotland empty, so I can send my destroyers and light cruisers in for repairs next turn. So far in 1916, I have killed 3 German subs and roughed up a fourth one, so I believe I have the upper hand at the moment in the Atlantic theatre. But I am still keeping a few units back to protect the NM hexes off Ireland.
In France, I considered attacking across the Somme at his corps that moved there last turn. In the end, I decided that since he is throwing all of his heavy artillery and much of his infantry at France, I will not have the manpower advantage needed to benefit by an aggressive strategy as I tried at the start of this season. So, I sat tight, bought back more dead corps and started to move British unit back into France - the first UK heavy artillery and the first of the corps raised through conscription. Even one or two British corps could help stabilize the line. Finally, I fired off a round of heavy artillery shells to reduce the morale of his front-line units. Will see if that makes any difference at all to future attacks.
In Italy, I deployed my new heavy artillery piece and upgraded a couple more corps. I also moved a detachment into the mountains - even though it is next to a German corps - in order to entrench next turn and block his line of sight into the Italian rear areas. I plan to attack across the Isonzo towards Trieste before the end of summer, but it will be a few more turns before I can accumulate the shells needed. In Libya, although the Senussi are running around capturing small towns, I think I have the main NM objective hexes well defended.
In Serbia/Bulgaria things look superficially fine but my reading of the prospects is dire. The good news is that Serbia can now upgrade to Infantry Weapons 1 - the bad news is that using some witchcraft I do not understand, he manoeuvred a Bulgarian corps into the mountain hex west of Sofia and entrenched it (which takes 5 Action Points), thus is prevents my two Serbian corps in reserve from upgrading. Worse, I can see that he is gearing up for a two-pronged assault on Nish next turn - from the north using the Austro-Hungarians and from the south-east using the Bulgarians and the Ottomans. I am learning that Old Crow likes these "shock and awe" attacks and will delay launching them for a couple of turns until he can get everything needed in place for maximum impact. Between the very tight spaces in between his two fronts and the mountainous terrain, I will be hard pressed to defend Serbia and frankly expect to lose Nish at least in the next two to three turns. Once it goes the land convoy from Russia to Serbia stops and the Serbs income goes to under 30 MPPs per turn - a consequence of my decision to switch the French sea convoy from Serbia to Italy in mid-1915. More importantly, he can then connect by rail the Ottomans with the rest of the Central Powers, giving the Ottomans a much-needed shot in the arm in terms of extra troops and more resources to attack or counterattack towards Egypt and/or in Mesopotamia.
In Egypt, I used the airship I sent there last turn to scout and found, pretty much as expected, several Ottoman corps, but no signs yet of artillery. Interestingly, he moved his Austro-Hungarian airship here too. I dispatched the Australian Light Horse to the Persian Gulf but decided to keep the II ANZAC corps in the port of Suez for another turn, just in case it is needed in Egypt. In the eastern Med, I did some more scouting with the French seaplane and made the surprise discovery that he is using anti-aircraft unit to occupy the port of Tripoli in Lebanon. My seaplane took one unexpected hit to its aircraft.
In Arabia, my partisans are getting a bit roughed up by the stronger Ottoman regulars, so I have retreated them into the mountains and desert east of the rail line, in the hope they might be able to reinforce a bit and then strike back somewhere else. One 4 -strength partisan is positioned to trudge across the desert heading north to the road across to Mesopotamia - mostly just to disturb the Ottomans into sending units out to block it.
In Mesopotamia, I finally moved up two units to start sieging his cavalry corps in Amara. This theatre will start to come back to life when General Maude and the Tigris corps arrive next turn.
In the Caucasus, I began railing units back to the eastern Front. As a longer-term ploy for the Mesopotamian campaign, I moved my reduced Russian heavy bomber unit forward to a spot in Persian Azerbaijan where it can reinforce using supply from Tabriz and then bomb Mosul or Tikrit. This could be very effective later in the year in terms of reducing the strength of those towns and this disrupting the railroad he is completing to Baghdad.
In Galicia, I continued my offensive under General Brusilov's capable hands, aided by a field artillery and a heavy artillery, and destroyed an 8 strength Austro-Hungarian corps for the loss of only 1 strength point (!). I then moved in a new corps that attacked his defending field artillery piece and knocked 4 points off it. I see no reason why I cannot keep up the pressure in this sector.
The main front in Poland in front of Warsaw was quiet - I know he does not have artillery there and with straight lines and some river lines to defend behind, it is difficult for the attacker. So, instead, I moved everything I needed into place for a new attack in East Prussia next turn - my long-awaited field artillery unit from the Caucasus, one heavy artillery unit from the Warsaw sector, a newly purchased recon bomber, General Kornilov also from the Caucasus (who now has one experience point and a rating of 7), plus three additional corps in reinforcements behind the line.
I also brought up all three of my Russian subs into the Baltic off the coast of Latvia. I have not yet decided exactly how to use them, but they could carry out a few unwelcome surprise attacks against the German navy in the lower Baltic.
In terms of Decision Events, I declined the opportunity to buy 3 discounted Russian corps from Muslim Central Asia, at the cost of triggering the Bismachi revolt and costing 1000 NM points. My army is large enough at present and I want to improve my NM position for Russia (currently at 91%).
In terms of investments:
- the UK went big on tech and bought 1 chit in Industry tech (for 3), 1 on Trench Warfare (where they are behind the other powers, for 2), and 1 on Spying and Intelligence (for 2, to avoid having the CP get to level 2 before me and thus slowing down my tech advances).
- France bought its first tank corps and one more killed corps, plus 1 diplomacy chit (see below)
- Italy, Serbia and the USA all saved their MPPs for future turns
- Russia bought one chit in Infantry Warfare (for 2), plus bought back one killed cavalry corps and a detachment, and the bought 1 diplomacy chit
In diplomacy, Russian played its chit against Sweden making 4 there for a 32% chance of a swing. France added its 1 chit to the three the UK has deployed in the Netherlands, also for a 32% chance. At the end of the turn, France scored diplomatic success in the Netherlands, shifting it 12%, so it is now only 9% for the Central Powers. There was also a breakthrough with the expensive chit (150 MPPs) that France bought by accident in the USA - it swung the USA 8% further towards the Entente, bringing it to 52%. The swing in the Netherlands was especially welcome, as Germany really cannot afford to lose its food imports from there, worth 60 MPPs a turn. We will see how Old Crow responds.
Re: Icarus Mod for 1914 Campaign: Play-test AAR
Entente Turn 28 July 8, 1916
Old Crow's last turn was not as bad as I feared - despite a full-scale assault in Serbia, he did not gain any territory to close in on Nish. Nor did he attack in France. His counterattack was slightly more effective than I expected in Galicia, given that I had sniped the Austro-Hungarian artillery unit last turn. But it was a lost that Russia can well afford.
In the North Sea, I pulled back to port all of my destroyers and light cruisers that took casualties hunting subs last turn. The UK will hit ASW 3 within two turns, so I will keep some of them there until I can reach that final upgrade level.
In France, I decided to try an attack across the Somme, and aborted it after one combat, when my best and only 11-strength corps took 4 losses to the enemy 3. Better to cut one's losses early than have 3-4 damaged corps next turn with little to show. I brought in both British heavy artillery into France and am slowly upgrading them and moving them into useful rearguard positions. I am bracing for a full-scale attack towards Verdun next turn - as I can see using my airships that he has all 4 of his heavy artillery, plus one regular artillery now in place.
In Italy, am patiently waiting for my heavy artillery to accumulate shells, before attacking.
In Serbia/Bulgaria, I was tempted to counterattack, but decided instead to upgrade everything I could, especially the Serbian corps that have been at a disadvantage since the start of the year, facing enemies who all have Infantry Weapons 1. I used rail movement to send the I Anzac corps to dig in and defend Nish, which is a good use for an elite unit.
No movements in Egypt - using my airship I can see it is still quiet behind his front line in the Sinai.
In Arabia, I decided to move most of the partisans away from the Hejaz railroad, as they are getting roughed up by the Ottomans and need to reinforce. For its nuisance value, I am sending one partisan north across the desert sands to get to the road to Baghad. At least it should draw off another unit.
In Mesopotamia, the Australian Light Horse landed. I am waiting for General Maude, who should arrive at the end of this turn.
In Galicia, the Russians attacked again in the corner north of Tarnow and wiped another Austro-Hungarian corps. With two artillery units in this sector, commanded by General Brusilov - who now has two experience points - I think I am in a strong position to keep attacking.
In East Prussia, my offensive towards Konigsberg came off perfectly. Since I had the shells, I decided to wipe out the detachment defending Johannisburg - which is hard to take as it surrounded by swamps. I sent in a cavalry corps behind his lines to occupy rear areas and advance hold my forward position - will see next turn how useful that was.
In the Baltic, I decided to position my three Russian subs just outside the entrance to Konigsberg lagoon, in the hope that some unwitting German naval unit will run into them by accident.
My diplomacy push last turn had an effect on my opponent - he committed all 5 of the diplomacy chits for both Germany and Austria-Hungary. That was no doubt a big hit on his resources for the turn. For Germany, losing the Netherlands is existential, so I am sure he placed at least 5 chits there (countering my 3). I will be intrigued to see if he placed the rest against Sweden, or perhaps some other minor. There were no diplomatic shifts this turn.
In Decision Events, the UK agreed to fund the deployment in Mesopotamia of General Maude and the Tigris Corps. The UK also agreed to the more modest formation of a Portuguese expeditionary corps - it does not arrive until spring 1917, but the resources from Portugal will pay for itself.
In terms of investments:
- the UK finally bit the bullet and spent 357 MPPS to buy a new HQ (Allenby) for deployment in Egypt and future offensives against the Ottomans;
- France bought back the last killed corps and invested 1 chit in Aerial Warfare (for 2) and 1 in Production Tech (for 3);
- Italy bought its one regular artillery unit, so it will soon have two artillery units;
- Serbia used its MPPs to upgrade two corps
- USA is now earning over 100 MPPs per turn; they bought 1 chit for Command and Control and 1 for Tank Weapons (first investment in that tech)
- Russia bought back its killed corps and killed detachment and then invested 2 chits in Mobility (first investment in that tech) and 2 in Armoured Warfare (why not?).
Old Crow's last turn was not as bad as I feared - despite a full-scale assault in Serbia, he did not gain any territory to close in on Nish. Nor did he attack in France. His counterattack was slightly more effective than I expected in Galicia, given that I had sniped the Austro-Hungarian artillery unit last turn. But it was a lost that Russia can well afford.
In the North Sea, I pulled back to port all of my destroyers and light cruisers that took casualties hunting subs last turn. The UK will hit ASW 3 within two turns, so I will keep some of them there until I can reach that final upgrade level.
In France, I decided to try an attack across the Somme, and aborted it after one combat, when my best and only 11-strength corps took 4 losses to the enemy 3. Better to cut one's losses early than have 3-4 damaged corps next turn with little to show. I brought in both British heavy artillery into France and am slowly upgrading them and moving them into useful rearguard positions. I am bracing for a full-scale attack towards Verdun next turn - as I can see using my airships that he has all 4 of his heavy artillery, plus one regular artillery now in place.
In Italy, am patiently waiting for my heavy artillery to accumulate shells, before attacking.
In Serbia/Bulgaria, I was tempted to counterattack, but decided instead to upgrade everything I could, especially the Serbian corps that have been at a disadvantage since the start of the year, facing enemies who all have Infantry Weapons 1. I used rail movement to send the I Anzac corps to dig in and defend Nish, which is a good use for an elite unit.
No movements in Egypt - using my airship I can see it is still quiet behind his front line in the Sinai.
In Arabia, I decided to move most of the partisans away from the Hejaz railroad, as they are getting roughed up by the Ottomans and need to reinforce. For its nuisance value, I am sending one partisan north across the desert sands to get to the road to Baghad. At least it should draw off another unit.
In Mesopotamia, the Australian Light Horse landed. I am waiting for General Maude, who should arrive at the end of this turn.
In Galicia, the Russians attacked again in the corner north of Tarnow and wiped another Austro-Hungarian corps. With two artillery units in this sector, commanded by General Brusilov - who now has two experience points - I think I am in a strong position to keep attacking.
In East Prussia, my offensive towards Konigsberg came off perfectly. Since I had the shells, I decided to wipe out the detachment defending Johannisburg - which is hard to take as it surrounded by swamps. I sent in a cavalry corps behind his lines to occupy rear areas and advance hold my forward position - will see next turn how useful that was.
In the Baltic, I decided to position my three Russian subs just outside the entrance to Konigsberg lagoon, in the hope that some unwitting German naval unit will run into them by accident.
My diplomacy push last turn had an effect on my opponent - he committed all 5 of the diplomacy chits for both Germany and Austria-Hungary. That was no doubt a big hit on his resources for the turn. For Germany, losing the Netherlands is existential, so I am sure he placed at least 5 chits there (countering my 3). I will be intrigued to see if he placed the rest against Sweden, or perhaps some other minor. There were no diplomatic shifts this turn.
In Decision Events, the UK agreed to fund the deployment in Mesopotamia of General Maude and the Tigris Corps. The UK also agreed to the more modest formation of a Portuguese expeditionary corps - it does not arrive until spring 1917, but the resources from Portugal will pay for itself.
In terms of investments:
- the UK finally bit the bullet and spent 357 MPPS to buy a new HQ (Allenby) for deployment in Egypt and future offensives against the Ottomans;
- France bought back the last killed corps and invested 1 chit in Aerial Warfare (for 2) and 1 in Production Tech (for 3);
- Italy bought its one regular artillery unit, so it will soon have two artillery units;
- Serbia used its MPPs to upgrade two corps
- USA is now earning over 100 MPPs per turn; they bought 1 chit for Command and Control and 1 for Tank Weapons (first investment in that tech)
- Russia bought back its killed corps and killed detachment and then invested 2 chits in Mobility (first investment in that tech) and 2 in Armoured Warfare (why not?).
Last edited by mdsmall on Fri Jul 15, 2022 2:59 am, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Icarus Mod for 1914 Campaign: Play-test AAR
Entente Turn 29 July 22, 1916
We are now in full summer of 1916 and I think both of us are learning how high intensity combat works out in this mod. Old Crow threw a huge artillery barrage at the French last turn and while it could have been worse, it was still pretty bad - two corps killed and two more heavily damaged. What troubled me most was the complete destruction of the corps entrenched in Amiens - he attacked that over a river line, with only two hexes to access it, and he destroyed it - something I was not able to do when I tried attacking over the same river line the turn before and aborted my attack after one combat. My educated guess is that he has at least one and probably two Generals with two or three experience points gained from his offensives in France and Russia in 1914. This makes a very significant difference in terms of combat results between units of equal strength.
This turn, I moved up my second line French corps into the first line and pulled back damaged corps to be reinforced next turn. If I sustain equivalent losses next turn, I will have to use the swap and reinforce method to replace losses in the second line. I am hoping he will not have the shells next turn to make that necessary. It may be that I will need more infantry corps in France than France can build to sustain losses at this rate. Unfortunately, France is already almost at its build limit (it has only one unbuilt mountain corps) and I think most of Frances's MPPs will be taken up with buying back killed corps. Fortunately, the UK is next door and over time, they can send more corps to France. I pressed the first UK corps raised through conscription into the line at Amiens and there is one more on the way still in Southampton. After that, the UK will have to build new corps at full price. Also of help will be the two UK heavy artillery units, now moving into place behind the line at Artillery Weapons 2. This means that we both have four heavy artillery units facing each other, with one or two additional regular artillery.
Despite these pressures, I still counterattacked and eliminated one German corps that had moved into the hex in front of Chemin de Dames that we had both left empty for the past few turns. Overall, he lost 10 points and I only lost 7 - which counts as a success by WW1 standards. I think it is important that Germany suffer lost corps every Entente turn, if I am to blunt his push into France.
Elsewhere on the board, things look more promising. There was no naval activity in the North Sea this turn - I presume he has taken is subs back to upgrade and resupply. The UK spent MPPs to reinforce damaged destroyers and will upgrade them to ASW 3 next turn when they reach that tech level.
In Italy, I decided to move up my offensive towards Trieste to next turn by railing the one French regular artillery unit to help the existing Italian heavy artillery that is accumulating shells. I did this partly to enable Italy to attack before the fall but also to be sure this French unit is at no risk of being attacked by a German breakthrough next turn, as happened to it earlier this year. Italy has a shortage of corps to sustain an offensive, so I am planning on bringing back the one corps I sent to Libya, in the belief that well entrenched upgraded detachments are enough to hold back the Senussi partisans. I have sent a Portuguese detachment in transports to get there for this purpose. Further down the road, Italy will have to start building full-strength corps - which will be a challenge given that they generate only about 150 MPPs per turn, now that France has had to turn off its convoy, in order to meet its own needs.
In Serbia/Bulgaria, since he did not attack last turn, I decided I should counterattack once more against the Ottoman corps defending that much fought-over mountain hex west of Sofia. This time, the results were much better, I think I only lost 5 strength-points to his 10 and I was able to move a full-strength corps into the hex, benefitting from the trenches that he built. He may counterattack back, but I was pleased that his artillery spent two shells in defensive fire, with no immediate effect.
In Egypt, I finally sent the I Anzac corps in its way to Mesopotamia. In Mesopotamia, General Maude and the Tigris Corps deployed at the beginning of the turn. I moved the general forward to Qurn, the nearest town, so that as many of my Mesopotamian forces could benefit from the 6 or higher supply levels that the General can now offer.
In Arabia, I considered sending my partisans via the road through Riyadh all the way to Mesopotamia, so they could benefit from General Maude's supply and be upgraded to 10 strength points and 1 infantry weapons. But it would take at least 16 turns to make that trip there and back. So, for the time being, I am happy to have them stay weak but nearby the rail lines, so I retreated them into the Arabian desert or the mountains, to make it difficult to for them to be attacked.
In Russia, I now have a tidy little war machine running with two prongs, one against the Austro-Hungarians in Galicia, the other against the Germans in East Prussia. Each prong is based on one regular and one heavy artillery, one recon bomber, five to six corps, one cavalry corps and one HQ with two experience points - Brusilov in the south and Kornilov in the North. The southern prong demolished an Austro-Hungarian corps and then occupied Tarnow, enabling my forces to push through the line, destroying the defending Austro-Hungarian artillery. He now has a gap of two clear terrain hexes to cover, which will be even easier to take. In the north, I ploughed forward towards Konigsberg and killed another German corps. Next turn my units will have to start attacking a straight German line, which will be a bit of a challenge. In the Baltic, my subs checked his ports in East Prussia and found that both were empty.
At the beginning of the turn, I had a UK Decision Event to decide to send a British sub to Russia to deploy into the Baltic. This can be attractive, but I decided on balance it could be more useful with my main fleet off Scotland. Besides, Russia is now rich enough it can start building its own subs.
In terms of diplomacy, I cashed out one Russian chit still in Norway and allocated it to Sweden, which now has all five Russian chits deployed there. At this point, I think we have a stand-off in terms of four to five chits each against Netherlands and Sweden - but I will give it another turn or two to see if there are any swings.
In terms of investments:
- the UK invested 1 chit in Trench warfare for 3 since they are behind all the other majors in this tech and will need to reach 5 to keep up on the Western Front, plus 1 more chit in Spying and Intelligence for 3. I debated the cost/benefit of latter move - since I am already at about 50% towards level 2, but my perception is that my tech advances have slowed a bit and I cannot afford to have him at level 2 in this tech, while I am crawling forward.
- France bought back two dead corps
- Italy saved its MPPs to invest in a buying a new corps next turn
- Serbia bought back the last killed corps
- Russia bought one more chit in Armoured Warfare for 3 and then bought a new HQ. This will be useful for a future campaign towards Mosul, or if my lines lengthen even further in Galicia.
At this point, Russia is taking few losses each turn, has bought back all of its killed units, has allocated all of its diplomacy chits and is within 50 points of its tech limit. So, it will be a challenge going forward to decide how to spend all of its MPPs. As problems go, this is a good one to have.
At the end of the turn, the UK reached ASW 3, Italy reached Trench Warfare 4 and Serbia reached Production Tech 2.
We are now in full summer of 1916 and I think both of us are learning how high intensity combat works out in this mod. Old Crow threw a huge artillery barrage at the French last turn and while it could have been worse, it was still pretty bad - two corps killed and two more heavily damaged. What troubled me most was the complete destruction of the corps entrenched in Amiens - he attacked that over a river line, with only two hexes to access it, and he destroyed it - something I was not able to do when I tried attacking over the same river line the turn before and aborted my attack after one combat. My educated guess is that he has at least one and probably two Generals with two or three experience points gained from his offensives in France and Russia in 1914. This makes a very significant difference in terms of combat results between units of equal strength.
This turn, I moved up my second line French corps into the first line and pulled back damaged corps to be reinforced next turn. If I sustain equivalent losses next turn, I will have to use the swap and reinforce method to replace losses in the second line. I am hoping he will not have the shells next turn to make that necessary. It may be that I will need more infantry corps in France than France can build to sustain losses at this rate. Unfortunately, France is already almost at its build limit (it has only one unbuilt mountain corps) and I think most of Frances's MPPs will be taken up with buying back killed corps. Fortunately, the UK is next door and over time, they can send more corps to France. I pressed the first UK corps raised through conscription into the line at Amiens and there is one more on the way still in Southampton. After that, the UK will have to build new corps at full price. Also of help will be the two UK heavy artillery units, now moving into place behind the line at Artillery Weapons 2. This means that we both have four heavy artillery units facing each other, with one or two additional regular artillery.
Despite these pressures, I still counterattacked and eliminated one German corps that had moved into the hex in front of Chemin de Dames that we had both left empty for the past few turns. Overall, he lost 10 points and I only lost 7 - which counts as a success by WW1 standards. I think it is important that Germany suffer lost corps every Entente turn, if I am to blunt his push into France.
Elsewhere on the board, things look more promising. There was no naval activity in the North Sea this turn - I presume he has taken is subs back to upgrade and resupply. The UK spent MPPs to reinforce damaged destroyers and will upgrade them to ASW 3 next turn when they reach that tech level.
In Italy, I decided to move up my offensive towards Trieste to next turn by railing the one French regular artillery unit to help the existing Italian heavy artillery that is accumulating shells. I did this partly to enable Italy to attack before the fall but also to be sure this French unit is at no risk of being attacked by a German breakthrough next turn, as happened to it earlier this year. Italy has a shortage of corps to sustain an offensive, so I am planning on bringing back the one corps I sent to Libya, in the belief that well entrenched upgraded detachments are enough to hold back the Senussi partisans. I have sent a Portuguese detachment in transports to get there for this purpose. Further down the road, Italy will have to start building full-strength corps - which will be a challenge given that they generate only about 150 MPPs per turn, now that France has had to turn off its convoy, in order to meet its own needs.
In Serbia/Bulgaria, since he did not attack last turn, I decided I should counterattack once more against the Ottoman corps defending that much fought-over mountain hex west of Sofia. This time, the results were much better, I think I only lost 5 strength-points to his 10 and I was able to move a full-strength corps into the hex, benefitting from the trenches that he built. He may counterattack back, but I was pleased that his artillery spent two shells in defensive fire, with no immediate effect.
In Egypt, I finally sent the I Anzac corps in its way to Mesopotamia. In Mesopotamia, General Maude and the Tigris Corps deployed at the beginning of the turn. I moved the general forward to Qurn, the nearest town, so that as many of my Mesopotamian forces could benefit from the 6 or higher supply levels that the General can now offer.
In Arabia, I considered sending my partisans via the road through Riyadh all the way to Mesopotamia, so they could benefit from General Maude's supply and be upgraded to 10 strength points and 1 infantry weapons. But it would take at least 16 turns to make that trip there and back. So, for the time being, I am happy to have them stay weak but nearby the rail lines, so I retreated them into the Arabian desert or the mountains, to make it difficult to for them to be attacked.
In Russia, I now have a tidy little war machine running with two prongs, one against the Austro-Hungarians in Galicia, the other against the Germans in East Prussia. Each prong is based on one regular and one heavy artillery, one recon bomber, five to six corps, one cavalry corps and one HQ with two experience points - Brusilov in the south and Kornilov in the North. The southern prong demolished an Austro-Hungarian corps and then occupied Tarnow, enabling my forces to push through the line, destroying the defending Austro-Hungarian artillery. He now has a gap of two clear terrain hexes to cover, which will be even easier to take. In the north, I ploughed forward towards Konigsberg and killed another German corps. Next turn my units will have to start attacking a straight German line, which will be a bit of a challenge. In the Baltic, my subs checked his ports in East Prussia and found that both were empty.
At the beginning of the turn, I had a UK Decision Event to decide to send a British sub to Russia to deploy into the Baltic. This can be attractive, but I decided on balance it could be more useful with my main fleet off Scotland. Besides, Russia is now rich enough it can start building its own subs.
In terms of diplomacy, I cashed out one Russian chit still in Norway and allocated it to Sweden, which now has all five Russian chits deployed there. At this point, I think we have a stand-off in terms of four to five chits each against Netherlands and Sweden - but I will give it another turn or two to see if there are any swings.
In terms of investments:
- the UK invested 1 chit in Trench warfare for 3 since they are behind all the other majors in this tech and will need to reach 5 to keep up on the Western Front, plus 1 more chit in Spying and Intelligence for 3. I debated the cost/benefit of latter move - since I am already at about 50% towards level 2, but my perception is that my tech advances have slowed a bit and I cannot afford to have him at level 2 in this tech, while I am crawling forward.
- France bought back two dead corps
- Italy saved its MPPs to invest in a buying a new corps next turn
- Serbia bought back the last killed corps
- Russia bought one more chit in Armoured Warfare for 3 and then bought a new HQ. This will be useful for a future campaign towards Mosul, or if my lines lengthen even further in Galicia.
At this point, Russia is taking few losses each turn, has bought back all of its killed units, has allocated all of its diplomacy chits and is within 50 points of its tech limit. So, it will be a challenge going forward to decide how to spend all of its MPPs. As problems go, this is a good one to have.
At the end of the turn, the UK reached ASW 3, Italy reached Trench Warfare 4 and Serbia reached Production Tech 2.
Last edited by mdsmall on Fri Jul 15, 2022 2:58 am, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Icarus Mod for 1914 Campaign: Play-test AAR
Entente Turn 30 August 5, 1916
Anyone who has been reading these notes this far will know that my potential Achilles heel in this campaign has been my position in Egypt. While I calculated at the outset of the Ottoman entry into the war that the minimum required to hold the Suez Canal was two HQs and at least two full strength corps backed up by two detachments, given the pressures of supporting Serbia, I stripped the British general in this sector (Hamilton) away to send him to the Balkans. Last turn, I shipped the second infantry corps in Egypt - the II Anzacs - to Mesopotamia to participate in General Maude's offensive to capture Baghdad. I have been keeping a British airship in Egypt for the past few turns, to check if there has been any build-up of Ottoman forces, in particular the Bulgarian artillery unit. So far, that has not happened.
However, in his last move, Old Crow spotted that the Anzac corps had left, no doubt using the Austro-Hungarian airship that he has behind his lines, so he attacked the full-strength Indian corps south of El Arish and reduced it by 2 strength points. More importantly, by attacking with three corps, he reduced it to 1 entrenchment level. My position in Egypt was starting to look weak and I spent a lot of time, thinking through how far I would have to pivot to shore it up.
On the ground in Egypt, I moved the Indian corps into El Arish, moved the detachment that was there back one hex and entrenched and moved up the British marine unit I had been keeping in Port Said up to the hex south-west of El Arish, and entrenched there. This is a stronger position, as the Indian corps get the better defence bonus of the town, plus it can entrench to an extra level. But concerted Ottoman attacks could still weaken it and it is only at supply level 5 without a second general in the theatre and has no command bonus without a UK general present. The new general which I bought two turns ago to send the Egypt will arrive in England next turn - placing it three turns away from Egypt. I could transport General Hamilton back to Egypt in one move, but this would compromise my defence facing Bulgaria. As a precaution, I decided to pause the launch of General Maude's campaign and moved him back to Basra, so he is only two turns away from Egypt. But in the end, I decided to land the II Anzacs in Basra anyway rather than send them back to Egypt. Instead, I shipped the French marine unit sitting in Cyprus, positioned for a possible amphibious assault to Egypt as temporary backup, until a new UK general and another British corps arrives, either from the Balkans, or from the UK. I sent one Italian dreadnought to Egypt, so it could bombard at least one Ottoman unit from the Mediterranean coast and reduce their morale; and I sent another strength 7 Italian pre-dreadnought into port, so I could upgrade it in the future for this same purpose.
I also checked out the possibility of doing an amphibious landing in Turkey to cut the Ottoman rail lines to Palestine. Using the French seaplane in the area, I scouted the coast at Antalya - the most promising spot for such a disruption, since the rail line runs along the coast here through the town and discovered that he had moved a detachment in place. So, I scratched that plan for now. Overall, an amphibious landing is not as appealing as it seems: two Ottoman corps next to the entrenched marines would wear out their supply from the town of Antalya and the marines would be required to retreat using amphibious movement again after a few turns, at a cost of 48 MPPs each way, apart from any strength point losses. Using generals in Palestine, he could compensate for most of reduction in supply strength in Gaza while these towns were cut off from Constantinople. If France was not facing an existential threat, and I could easily afford to lose the unit, I would have searched around for another landing spot - but this gamble was too expensive to risk.
The above paragraphs will give some idea of the constant marginal risk calculations that one has to make in this game that run furiously behind the scenes. If you only see my visible moves on You Tube, you would be forgiven for thinking that not much is going on.
The French got a breather last turn on the western front. So, I attacked as I have the past few turns at the French unit in the corner hex just north of Chemin to Dames. Using heavy artillery with one experience point and General Foch, who won back his experience point, I destroyed for a loss of only 3 strength points. I reinforced all the remaining French units in the sector and moved the UK heavy artillery into better positions closer to Paris. Finally, I fired a volley of single heavy artillery shells at every front-line German unit to reduce their morale and thus blunt a bit their initial attack, which no doubt is coming next turn.
I also noticed with a French airship doing surveillance behind the lines the German fighter near Ypres has been upgraded to Fighter 1 - you can tell by the different coloured sprite. This is annoying, as I have not yet invested in Fighter tech. But fortunately, France received a new fighter unit this turn and a second recon bomber (due to investing in aerial warfare last year), so I am hoping that two fighters in theatre will compensate for being behind in this tech.
Italy launched its first offensive using artillery. It went well - especially since the Austro-Hungarian marine unit in front of Trieste retreated before being destroyed. So, the Italians moved into the hex and will be in a position next turn to attack the much tougher Austro-Hungarian mountain corps defending Caporetto. I also used operational movement to bring the Italian recon bomber that had been assisting the British in Serbia/Bulgaria back to Italy and sent the UK recon bomber from France to Serbia. This is a better alignment of air units with generals.
In Libya, I could see one Senussi unit heading toward Tripoli. My plan is to block it either with the detachment in Malta or the Portuguese detachment being reinforced now in France. Three more Senussi are heading towards Tobruk. But I decided that one upgraded Portuguese detachment entrenched in Tobruk could see these off, so I transported my Italian corps in Tobruk back to Venice to fight on the Isonzo front.
In Serbia/Bulgaria, there was almost no movement. I shifted one artillery unit closer to the line in Bulgaria and upgraded some corps used in last turn's attack. I was pleased that I could entrench in the hex west of Sofia that I seized last turn. I was able to upgrade one of the two artillery units in this sector to strength 11 with an elite reinforcement. It is not clear to me how much difference this makes in the artillery's ability to kill strength points with each shell, but I believe it makes a positive difference. I anticipate another round of attacks next turn towards Nish from the Austro-Hungarians in the north and the Bulgarians and Turks to the south. At this point though, all my corps are upgraded, are well commanded and are dug in - so I am hoping that one or both survive the attack.
In Galicia, the Russian war machine ground forward, killing another Austro-Hungarian corps south of Tarnow, for a loss of only 2 strength points. I upgraded the Russian artillery unit in this sector with elite reinforcements. General Brusilov now has three experience points - the maximum. I can only take one hex a turn, given the number of shells available, but my plan is to slowly expand this opening around Tarnow and eventually to threaten and capture Krakow. That may take until early 1917 to accomplish.
In East Prussia, I used my Russian airship to scout around Konigsberg and found he had moved one regular artillery unit there from the western front. I decided to ignore the annoying detachment he had defending a hex projecting into my line, and instead attacked a German cavalry unit defending the line in front of Konigsberg. After one attack, it retreated. So, I moved two corps into the space which proceeded to destroy the defending artillery unit; and then finally I moved in a Russian cavalry unit to cut off Konigsberg and destroy the retreating German cavalry. I thought I would have the APs to entrench this cavalry unit, but I miscounted. So, it is likely to be killed next turn, but I moved my HQ forward to be sure that this unit has a supply strength of 6. Given the size of the Russian economy, it will be easy to buy back. Finally, with these attacks, General Kornilov now has three experience points too, which will make him very formidable.
I considered scouting further forward with my three Russian subs in the Baltic but decided they could be more useful raiding the Swedish convoy to Germany - now that it looks unlikely that I can swing it to my side through diplomacy, at least for now. (I will need to revisit this diplomatic position in the future).
At the end of the turn, I started to make plans to organize a column to head south towards Mosul from Tabriz. I railed a cavalry corps from Poland to Tabriz and will begin putting a force together once my new general arrives. This will be a late autumn / winter campaign, but since there is no snow in northern Mesopotamia, the timing does not much matter.
Finally, in the North Sea and Scotland, I started upgrading every destroyer and seaplane carrier in port to ASW 3. This will continue for a few turns, depending on how many resources I feel I can divert to my ships.
In terms of investments:
- the UK bought a Greek new corps at 253 MPPs; although expensive, it does not need to be transported and my Greek general has command room to spare. It can offset a British corps if I need to send one to Egypt, and/or help a future attack against Sofia.
- France invested two chits in Trench warfare for four. My thinking was that if any of my majors need to get to Trench Warfare 5 quickly, it is France. I also invested one chit in Fighter Tech, to start that process.
- Italy invested one chit in Infantry Weapons - which I realized was more important in the long run than buying a new corps this turn.
- Serbia saved its MPPs to buy-back corps I expect will be killed next turn.
- the USA invested one chit in Infantry Weapons for two, since just I discovered it is the only major which can invest two chits in this critical technology.
- Russia bought two full strength upgraded corps at a cost of 474 MPPs.
At the end of the turn, Britain reached Command and Control 2 - which it needed in order to manage all of its forces in the Balkans.
Anyone who has been reading these notes this far will know that my potential Achilles heel in this campaign has been my position in Egypt. While I calculated at the outset of the Ottoman entry into the war that the minimum required to hold the Suez Canal was two HQs and at least two full strength corps backed up by two detachments, given the pressures of supporting Serbia, I stripped the British general in this sector (Hamilton) away to send him to the Balkans. Last turn, I shipped the second infantry corps in Egypt - the II Anzacs - to Mesopotamia to participate in General Maude's offensive to capture Baghdad. I have been keeping a British airship in Egypt for the past few turns, to check if there has been any build-up of Ottoman forces, in particular the Bulgarian artillery unit. So far, that has not happened.
However, in his last move, Old Crow spotted that the Anzac corps had left, no doubt using the Austro-Hungarian airship that he has behind his lines, so he attacked the full-strength Indian corps south of El Arish and reduced it by 2 strength points. More importantly, by attacking with three corps, he reduced it to 1 entrenchment level. My position in Egypt was starting to look weak and I spent a lot of time, thinking through how far I would have to pivot to shore it up.
On the ground in Egypt, I moved the Indian corps into El Arish, moved the detachment that was there back one hex and entrenched and moved up the British marine unit I had been keeping in Port Said up to the hex south-west of El Arish, and entrenched there. This is a stronger position, as the Indian corps get the better defence bonus of the town, plus it can entrench to an extra level. But concerted Ottoman attacks could still weaken it and it is only at supply level 5 without a second general in the theatre and has no command bonus without a UK general present. The new general which I bought two turns ago to send the Egypt will arrive in England next turn - placing it three turns away from Egypt. I could transport General Hamilton back to Egypt in one move, but this would compromise my defence facing Bulgaria. As a precaution, I decided to pause the launch of General Maude's campaign and moved him back to Basra, so he is only two turns away from Egypt. But in the end, I decided to land the II Anzacs in Basra anyway rather than send them back to Egypt. Instead, I shipped the French marine unit sitting in Cyprus, positioned for a possible amphibious assault to Egypt as temporary backup, until a new UK general and another British corps arrives, either from the Balkans, or from the UK. I sent one Italian dreadnought to Egypt, so it could bombard at least one Ottoman unit from the Mediterranean coast and reduce their morale; and I sent another strength 7 Italian pre-dreadnought into port, so I could upgrade it in the future for this same purpose.
I also checked out the possibility of doing an amphibious landing in Turkey to cut the Ottoman rail lines to Palestine. Using the French seaplane in the area, I scouted the coast at Antalya - the most promising spot for such a disruption, since the rail line runs along the coast here through the town and discovered that he had moved a detachment in place. So, I scratched that plan for now. Overall, an amphibious landing is not as appealing as it seems: two Ottoman corps next to the entrenched marines would wear out their supply from the town of Antalya and the marines would be required to retreat using amphibious movement again after a few turns, at a cost of 48 MPPs each way, apart from any strength point losses. Using generals in Palestine, he could compensate for most of reduction in supply strength in Gaza while these towns were cut off from Constantinople. If France was not facing an existential threat, and I could easily afford to lose the unit, I would have searched around for another landing spot - but this gamble was too expensive to risk.
The above paragraphs will give some idea of the constant marginal risk calculations that one has to make in this game that run furiously behind the scenes. If you only see my visible moves on You Tube, you would be forgiven for thinking that not much is going on.
The French got a breather last turn on the western front. So, I attacked as I have the past few turns at the French unit in the corner hex just north of Chemin to Dames. Using heavy artillery with one experience point and General Foch, who won back his experience point, I destroyed for a loss of only 3 strength points. I reinforced all the remaining French units in the sector and moved the UK heavy artillery into better positions closer to Paris. Finally, I fired a volley of single heavy artillery shells at every front-line German unit to reduce their morale and thus blunt a bit their initial attack, which no doubt is coming next turn.
I also noticed with a French airship doing surveillance behind the lines the German fighter near Ypres has been upgraded to Fighter 1 - you can tell by the different coloured sprite. This is annoying, as I have not yet invested in Fighter tech. But fortunately, France received a new fighter unit this turn and a second recon bomber (due to investing in aerial warfare last year), so I am hoping that two fighters in theatre will compensate for being behind in this tech.
Italy launched its first offensive using artillery. It went well - especially since the Austro-Hungarian marine unit in front of Trieste retreated before being destroyed. So, the Italians moved into the hex and will be in a position next turn to attack the much tougher Austro-Hungarian mountain corps defending Caporetto. I also used operational movement to bring the Italian recon bomber that had been assisting the British in Serbia/Bulgaria back to Italy and sent the UK recon bomber from France to Serbia. This is a better alignment of air units with generals.
In Libya, I could see one Senussi unit heading toward Tripoli. My plan is to block it either with the detachment in Malta or the Portuguese detachment being reinforced now in France. Three more Senussi are heading towards Tobruk. But I decided that one upgraded Portuguese detachment entrenched in Tobruk could see these off, so I transported my Italian corps in Tobruk back to Venice to fight on the Isonzo front.
In Serbia/Bulgaria, there was almost no movement. I shifted one artillery unit closer to the line in Bulgaria and upgraded some corps used in last turn's attack. I was pleased that I could entrench in the hex west of Sofia that I seized last turn. I was able to upgrade one of the two artillery units in this sector to strength 11 with an elite reinforcement. It is not clear to me how much difference this makes in the artillery's ability to kill strength points with each shell, but I believe it makes a positive difference. I anticipate another round of attacks next turn towards Nish from the Austro-Hungarians in the north and the Bulgarians and Turks to the south. At this point though, all my corps are upgraded, are well commanded and are dug in - so I am hoping that one or both survive the attack.
In Galicia, the Russian war machine ground forward, killing another Austro-Hungarian corps south of Tarnow, for a loss of only 2 strength points. I upgraded the Russian artillery unit in this sector with elite reinforcements. General Brusilov now has three experience points - the maximum. I can only take one hex a turn, given the number of shells available, but my plan is to slowly expand this opening around Tarnow and eventually to threaten and capture Krakow. That may take until early 1917 to accomplish.
In East Prussia, I used my Russian airship to scout around Konigsberg and found he had moved one regular artillery unit there from the western front. I decided to ignore the annoying detachment he had defending a hex projecting into my line, and instead attacked a German cavalry unit defending the line in front of Konigsberg. After one attack, it retreated. So, I moved two corps into the space which proceeded to destroy the defending artillery unit; and then finally I moved in a Russian cavalry unit to cut off Konigsberg and destroy the retreating German cavalry. I thought I would have the APs to entrench this cavalry unit, but I miscounted. So, it is likely to be killed next turn, but I moved my HQ forward to be sure that this unit has a supply strength of 6. Given the size of the Russian economy, it will be easy to buy back. Finally, with these attacks, General Kornilov now has three experience points too, which will make him very formidable.
I considered scouting further forward with my three Russian subs in the Baltic but decided they could be more useful raiding the Swedish convoy to Germany - now that it looks unlikely that I can swing it to my side through diplomacy, at least for now. (I will need to revisit this diplomatic position in the future).
At the end of the turn, I started to make plans to organize a column to head south towards Mosul from Tabriz. I railed a cavalry corps from Poland to Tabriz and will begin putting a force together once my new general arrives. This will be a late autumn / winter campaign, but since there is no snow in northern Mesopotamia, the timing does not much matter.
Finally, in the North Sea and Scotland, I started upgrading every destroyer and seaplane carrier in port to ASW 3. This will continue for a few turns, depending on how many resources I feel I can divert to my ships.
In terms of investments:
- the UK bought a Greek new corps at 253 MPPs; although expensive, it does not need to be transported and my Greek general has command room to spare. It can offset a British corps if I need to send one to Egypt, and/or help a future attack against Sofia.
- France invested two chits in Trench warfare for four. My thinking was that if any of my majors need to get to Trench Warfare 5 quickly, it is France. I also invested one chit in Fighter Tech, to start that process.
- Italy invested one chit in Infantry Weapons - which I realized was more important in the long run than buying a new corps this turn.
- Serbia saved its MPPs to buy-back corps I expect will be killed next turn.
- the USA invested one chit in Infantry Weapons for two, since just I discovered it is the only major which can invest two chits in this critical technology.
- Russia bought two full strength upgraded corps at a cost of 474 MPPs.
At the end of the turn, Britain reached Command and Control 2 - which it needed in order to manage all of its forces in the Balkans.
Last edited by mdsmall on Fri Jul 15, 2022 2:59 am, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Icarus Mod for 1914 Campaign: Play-test AAR
Hi - I will be taking another break from posting additional turns here. But Old Crow will keep my blog notes updated to match his turns on his You Tube Channel and I will bring these notes up to date after the series has finished on You Tube.
Re: Icarus Mod for 1914 Campaign: Play-test AAR
Entente Turn 31 August 19, 1916
Old Crow's big summer offensive against France was harsh: I think he fired almost all of his shells and captured Verdun. In total, he killed three French corps - which was bad, but I was anticipating something like this and had positioned my units, especially heavy artillery, to be able to counterattack. I concentrated my artillery fire on his unit in Verdun - entrenched at 6 with a defensive bonus of 5. Even after reducing its entrenchment to zero and reducing its strength through artillery fire from 8 to 7, it was hard to kill - I lost at least 7 strength points and 2 cavalry points doing so. Still, I retook it - meaning that I win back the 4000 NM points that I lost last turn, and Germany loses the 2000 NM he gained. I anticipate this major fortress will see-saw back and forth throughout the rest of war. Fortunately, I had two reinforcement corps arriving this turn, so at the end of the turn, I had reoccupied the same line and had only one killed corps left to buy back. I also moved my two British heavy artillery one hex each towards Verdun, so they can reach more of the German lines. A lot will depend on how many shells he has next turn and his ability to attack again - I believe it will be limited but not zero.
Italy had a second kick at the can with artillery and attacked the Austro-Hungarian mountain corps defending the historic site of Caporetto, one hex west of Klagenfurt. I expected my casualties would be high but after two attacks, his unit retreated two hexes, so I was able to occupy the hex. Italy's very high unit morale - most units are over 110%, compared to around 60-70% for Austria-Hungary - certainly helps. Italy's own regular artillery unit arrived this turn as a reinforcement and had to be positioned well back from the line, given the narrow corridor south of the Alps which the Italians have to use to attack. I kept the French artillery unit in Italy for now, at least until the new Italian artillery has built up its shells.
The Senussi in Libya were surprisingly troublesome - which was odd compared to how effectively the Ottomans have seen off the Arab partisans. In good measure this is because Italy has no direct rail connections to Libya, thus reinforcements have to transported to the few scattered ports along the North Africa coast. One of the Senussi is clearly heading for Tripoli to disrupt the convoy to Italy. From the changing shape of the enemy owned hexes in the Sahara, I detect that there are at least two more heading east towards Cairo and Alexandria. I thought about attacking the Senussi but preferred to upgrade one Italian detachment with Infantry Weapons first. It is essential in this campaign for Italy to hold on to Bardia - otherwise, the Ottomans can send in officers to form a half-strength regular corps in Libya. Conversely, I would like the Senussi to capture Sidi Barrani in western Egypt, as that will trigger the UK's Western Desert Force detachment to mobilize in Alexandria. So, I decided to force march one Italian detachment to occupy the next town towards Alexandria, Mersah Matruh, which is also the railhead for the Egyptian railway. I also transported the second Portuguese detachment sitting in southern France (benefitting from better supply) to Tripoli to block the impending partisan. Finally, I considered sending the Greek detachment guarding Athens to Libya as well, but I ran out of MPPs this turn, I may do so in future turns, as well as the small garrisons in Gibraltar, Malta, and Cyprus.
In Serbia/Bulgaria, I decided once more to try attacking an entrenched Bulgarian unit in the mountains south of Sofia. (I think this is the third time I have tried this). Again, the mountain defensive bonus of 3 is difficult to overcome without mountain corps (and neither Britain nor Serbia have them). But I ground down the defending unit, which suddenly retreated. Unfortunately, none of me remaining units had the Action Points to move into its place. I will see how he replaces it. Overall, I think we are at a stalemate in this theatre - but I am still waiting to see how he uses his two Austro-Hungarian heavy artillery, which have been quiet for a couple of turns.
In Egypt, I upgraded the French marine sitting in Suez, so that I can replace either of the two corps holding the line. I also used the Italian DN that I sent to Egypt last turn to bombard the coastal Ottoman corps to reduce its morale, and I dispatched a second DN to Egypt for the same purpose. From my airship flight, it looks like his still has only three full strength corps in Egypt - which would pose no threat if I had a second general on the ground to ensure I was defending on supply level 6 hexes. This turn, I decided that on balance, the forces now in Egypt can probably tough it out until General Allenby - who deployed this turn in Plymouth - arrives in three turns. In case of emergency, General Hamilton can be transported in the same turn from Salonika back to Egypt.
The Arab partisans are, frankly, struggling. I decided to keep two in the desert near the Sankaka Oasis, to pose a potential threat to the railroad and oblige him to keep some units to ward them off. I sent another one to scout around Medina and it promptly bumped into a detachment defending outside the city, and so was mauled. The last two under-strength partisans, I decided to send on the long trek east across the desert so they can be properly upgraded when they reach General Maude.
In Mesopotamia, I upgraded the long-awaited artillery unit that arrived at the end of last turn, Using General Maude's supply strength, I reinforced to the maximum a couple of units and began sending forces to Kut-al-Amara to besiege the Ottoman cavalry unit holed up there. Up north, I sent a newly arrived Russian cavalry corps from Tabriz down the road to join the second corps that has been watching over the approaches to Mosul for over a year.
In Galicia, I attacked another Austro-Hungarian corps south of Tarnow to widen the salient there. It retreated twice, and so escaped being killed. I should be in a position to start moving forward towards Krakow next turn.
In East Prussia, I had a tougher fight to eliminate the last German corps in front of Konigsberg and I took as many casualties as I inflicted. But I now have two corps next to Konigsberg - which is a major NM location for Germany. I probably will use next turn to reinforce and not attack, as my artillery units are down to zero shells, but I will resume in September. I also moved my airship near Memel, so it could fly lengthwise down the axis of my attack towards Konigsberg.
In the Baltic, since Sweden objected to my raiding last turn, I moved my subs away and send one of them to base in the newly liberated naval base at Memel. I also decided that I could forward base my Russian fleet a bit more. Regretting my decision at the at beginning of the war to mine the entrance to the Gulf of Riga, I used a destroyer to clear it (at a cost of 4 strength points) and moved a destroyer to the port at Libau and my Russian dreadnought to Riga.
In the UK, I upgraded the last of my destroyers to ASW 3. There are still many understrength light cruisers that need to be upgraded as well - which I will do slowly, as MPPs permit.
I took an important longer-term decision at the end of my move to start to use diplomacy to bring Romania into the war. My thinking is that Russia is already large enough that it can easily absorb the upfront costs of upgrading the Romanian army and buying its valuable artillery and air units. The timing is good - it will take a number of turns to accomplish and ideally, I would like Romania to enter during winter, as it will be vulnerable to pre-emptive attack or a counterthrust towards Bucharest by the Central Powers as it comes into the war. Once it joins, it will enable me to link up with the substantial British forces in the Balkans defending Serbia.
Executing this via diplomacy requires Russia pulling its chits out of Sweden (with no cash back), where they are blocked by an equal number of German and Austro-Hungarian chits. It may take Old Crow a couple of turns to figure this out - and of course, it also means he could diplomacy Sweden entirely to his side (it is currently sitting at 9% for the Central Powers versus 48% for Romania for the Entente). On balance that is an inconvenience I am prepared to accept, as Sweden does not pose much strategic risk to Russia, given the size of its economy, and Germany in fact does not obtain any more resources from Sweden when it joins the Central Powers than it already gets via the convoy. This does mean though that I am unlikely to raid the Swedish convoy for fear of pushing Sweden further towards the Central Powers. If I capture Krakow soon, it will give the Romanians a 10-15% boost in mobilization - but I am hoping to bring them into the war before then.
In terms of investments:
- the UK bought a new full-strength corps, which it will likely send to Egypt
- France bought back two killed corps and saved about 98 MPPs
- Italy bought its one mountain corps (the Alpini corps)
- Serbia invested one chit in Trench Warfare (for 4) and one in Infantry Warfare (for 2)
- the USA invested one chit in mobility and one in Aerial Warfare (for 2)
- Russia bought one cavalry corps and one marine unit, plus two diplomacy chits. It also fully upgraded it heavy bomber unit, for future use in Mesopotamia.
At the end of the turn there were a wave of tech results:
- the UK reached Trench Warfare 4, which will help them defensively in Egypt and the Balkans. - - France reached Production Tech 2, which will reduce the cost of all the units it is buying back. - - Italy reached Artillery Weapons 2, which will be useful for its heavy artillery unit
- the USA reached Infantry Weapons 1
- Russia reached level 4 in Industry Tech, meaning it is now earning 765 MPPs a turn!
Old Crow's big summer offensive against France was harsh: I think he fired almost all of his shells and captured Verdun. In total, he killed three French corps - which was bad, but I was anticipating something like this and had positioned my units, especially heavy artillery, to be able to counterattack. I concentrated my artillery fire on his unit in Verdun - entrenched at 6 with a defensive bonus of 5. Even after reducing its entrenchment to zero and reducing its strength through artillery fire from 8 to 7, it was hard to kill - I lost at least 7 strength points and 2 cavalry points doing so. Still, I retook it - meaning that I win back the 4000 NM points that I lost last turn, and Germany loses the 2000 NM he gained. I anticipate this major fortress will see-saw back and forth throughout the rest of war. Fortunately, I had two reinforcement corps arriving this turn, so at the end of the turn, I had reoccupied the same line and had only one killed corps left to buy back. I also moved my two British heavy artillery one hex each towards Verdun, so they can reach more of the German lines. A lot will depend on how many shells he has next turn and his ability to attack again - I believe it will be limited but not zero.
Italy had a second kick at the can with artillery and attacked the Austro-Hungarian mountain corps defending the historic site of Caporetto, one hex west of Klagenfurt. I expected my casualties would be high but after two attacks, his unit retreated two hexes, so I was able to occupy the hex. Italy's very high unit morale - most units are over 110%, compared to around 60-70% for Austria-Hungary - certainly helps. Italy's own regular artillery unit arrived this turn as a reinforcement and had to be positioned well back from the line, given the narrow corridor south of the Alps which the Italians have to use to attack. I kept the French artillery unit in Italy for now, at least until the new Italian artillery has built up its shells.
The Senussi in Libya were surprisingly troublesome - which was odd compared to how effectively the Ottomans have seen off the Arab partisans. In good measure this is because Italy has no direct rail connections to Libya, thus reinforcements have to transported to the few scattered ports along the North Africa coast. One of the Senussi is clearly heading for Tripoli to disrupt the convoy to Italy. From the changing shape of the enemy owned hexes in the Sahara, I detect that there are at least two more heading east towards Cairo and Alexandria. I thought about attacking the Senussi but preferred to upgrade one Italian detachment with Infantry Weapons first. It is essential in this campaign for Italy to hold on to Bardia - otherwise, the Ottomans can send in officers to form a half-strength regular corps in Libya. Conversely, I would like the Senussi to capture Sidi Barrani in western Egypt, as that will trigger the UK's Western Desert Force detachment to mobilize in Alexandria. So, I decided to force march one Italian detachment to occupy the next town towards Alexandria, Mersah Matruh, which is also the railhead for the Egyptian railway. I also transported the second Portuguese detachment sitting in southern France (benefitting from better supply) to Tripoli to block the impending partisan. Finally, I considered sending the Greek detachment guarding Athens to Libya as well, but I ran out of MPPs this turn, I may do so in future turns, as well as the small garrisons in Gibraltar, Malta, and Cyprus.
In Serbia/Bulgaria, I decided once more to try attacking an entrenched Bulgarian unit in the mountains south of Sofia. (I think this is the third time I have tried this). Again, the mountain defensive bonus of 3 is difficult to overcome without mountain corps (and neither Britain nor Serbia have them). But I ground down the defending unit, which suddenly retreated. Unfortunately, none of me remaining units had the Action Points to move into its place. I will see how he replaces it. Overall, I think we are at a stalemate in this theatre - but I am still waiting to see how he uses his two Austro-Hungarian heavy artillery, which have been quiet for a couple of turns.
In Egypt, I upgraded the French marine sitting in Suez, so that I can replace either of the two corps holding the line. I also used the Italian DN that I sent to Egypt last turn to bombard the coastal Ottoman corps to reduce its morale, and I dispatched a second DN to Egypt for the same purpose. From my airship flight, it looks like his still has only three full strength corps in Egypt - which would pose no threat if I had a second general on the ground to ensure I was defending on supply level 6 hexes. This turn, I decided that on balance, the forces now in Egypt can probably tough it out until General Allenby - who deployed this turn in Plymouth - arrives in three turns. In case of emergency, General Hamilton can be transported in the same turn from Salonika back to Egypt.
The Arab partisans are, frankly, struggling. I decided to keep two in the desert near the Sankaka Oasis, to pose a potential threat to the railroad and oblige him to keep some units to ward them off. I sent another one to scout around Medina and it promptly bumped into a detachment defending outside the city, and so was mauled. The last two under-strength partisans, I decided to send on the long trek east across the desert so they can be properly upgraded when they reach General Maude.
In Mesopotamia, I upgraded the long-awaited artillery unit that arrived at the end of last turn, Using General Maude's supply strength, I reinforced to the maximum a couple of units and began sending forces to Kut-al-Amara to besiege the Ottoman cavalry unit holed up there. Up north, I sent a newly arrived Russian cavalry corps from Tabriz down the road to join the second corps that has been watching over the approaches to Mosul for over a year.
In Galicia, I attacked another Austro-Hungarian corps south of Tarnow to widen the salient there. It retreated twice, and so escaped being killed. I should be in a position to start moving forward towards Krakow next turn.
In East Prussia, I had a tougher fight to eliminate the last German corps in front of Konigsberg and I took as many casualties as I inflicted. But I now have two corps next to Konigsberg - which is a major NM location for Germany. I probably will use next turn to reinforce and not attack, as my artillery units are down to zero shells, but I will resume in September. I also moved my airship near Memel, so it could fly lengthwise down the axis of my attack towards Konigsberg.
In the Baltic, since Sweden objected to my raiding last turn, I moved my subs away and send one of them to base in the newly liberated naval base at Memel. I also decided that I could forward base my Russian fleet a bit more. Regretting my decision at the at beginning of the war to mine the entrance to the Gulf of Riga, I used a destroyer to clear it (at a cost of 4 strength points) and moved a destroyer to the port at Libau and my Russian dreadnought to Riga.
In the UK, I upgraded the last of my destroyers to ASW 3. There are still many understrength light cruisers that need to be upgraded as well - which I will do slowly, as MPPs permit.
I took an important longer-term decision at the end of my move to start to use diplomacy to bring Romania into the war. My thinking is that Russia is already large enough that it can easily absorb the upfront costs of upgrading the Romanian army and buying its valuable artillery and air units. The timing is good - it will take a number of turns to accomplish and ideally, I would like Romania to enter during winter, as it will be vulnerable to pre-emptive attack or a counterthrust towards Bucharest by the Central Powers as it comes into the war. Once it joins, it will enable me to link up with the substantial British forces in the Balkans defending Serbia.
Executing this via diplomacy requires Russia pulling its chits out of Sweden (with no cash back), where they are blocked by an equal number of German and Austro-Hungarian chits. It may take Old Crow a couple of turns to figure this out - and of course, it also means he could diplomacy Sweden entirely to his side (it is currently sitting at 9% for the Central Powers versus 48% for Romania for the Entente). On balance that is an inconvenience I am prepared to accept, as Sweden does not pose much strategic risk to Russia, given the size of its economy, and Germany in fact does not obtain any more resources from Sweden when it joins the Central Powers than it already gets via the convoy. This does mean though that I am unlikely to raid the Swedish convoy for fear of pushing Sweden further towards the Central Powers. If I capture Krakow soon, it will give the Romanians a 10-15% boost in mobilization - but I am hoping to bring them into the war before then.
In terms of investments:
- the UK bought a new full-strength corps, which it will likely send to Egypt
- France bought back two killed corps and saved about 98 MPPs
- Italy bought its one mountain corps (the Alpini corps)
- Serbia invested one chit in Trench Warfare (for 4) and one in Infantry Warfare (for 2)
- the USA invested one chit in mobility and one in Aerial Warfare (for 2)
- Russia bought one cavalry corps and one marine unit, plus two diplomacy chits. It also fully upgraded it heavy bomber unit, for future use in Mesopotamia.
At the end of the turn there were a wave of tech results:
- the UK reached Trench Warfare 4, which will help them defensively in Egypt and the Balkans. - - France reached Production Tech 2, which will reduce the cost of all the units it is buying back. - - Italy reached Artillery Weapons 2, which will be useful for its heavy artillery unit
- the USA reached Infantry Weapons 1
- Russia reached level 4 in Industry Tech, meaning it is now earning 765 MPPs a turn!
Last edited by mdsmall on Fri Jul 15, 2022 2:59 am, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Icarus Mod for 1914 Campaign: Play-test AAR
Entente Turn 32 September 2, 1916
It is the end of the summer of 1916, and we seem to be close to a stalemate on most fronts in the war. This is about where I thought we should be in 1916, given that my stated ambition with this mod was to slow down the tempo of the conflict so that games would run well into 1917 or 1918. But a stalemate does not mean static: I think the underlying reality is that the Entente is earning about 50% more MPPs per turn than the Central Powers; and overall, it's majors have better national morale levels than the Central Powers. Things are moving slowly on several fronts, both in my favour and against me, and could open up in 1917.
The biggest threat to me is in France, where Germany has concentrated all of its heavy artillery and much of its best generals and experienced corps. He delivered a heavier attack on the French last turn than I expected (given the scale of the attack the turn before) - which suggests to me that he may have achieved Gas/Shell tech 2 already. This would be a big advantage, since the strongest limiting factor on attackers in this mod is the shortage of shells. Fortunately, France is close (at 90% this turn) but my other majors are a long way off in this tech. I did not counterattack this turn, preferring to build up units damaged two turns ago. I was able to buy back all three corps killed last turn (given that I saved almost 100 MPPs from the turn before). Reaching Production Tech 2 will help too in replacing casualties. I noticed that Germany is not moving into several empty open terrain hexes - which tells me he does not have the number of corps to push forward for a concerted assault. I brought back my regular artillery unit from Italy (now that the Italians have both their units). And for a first in this game, I deployed the new French tank corps, just behind Verdun.
In Italy, I moved my artillery and upgraded the heavy artillery unit, to be ready for another attack towards Trieste when the Italians have accumulated 6 shells in total. Using my Italian airship, I was interested to see that he has brought back the destroyed Austro-Hungarian artillery unit to this front. The terrain in Italy makes it hard to make progress and they continue to lag behind in tech. But they take very few losses, have high morale (for now) and can be a major pain in the side for the Austro-Hungarians.
In Serbia/Bulgaria, he used the Austro-Hungarian heavy artillery to good effect last turn. However, I have reasonable strength in depth between Serbia and the UK and I was able to fill the holes in my line. Again, I was interested to see that he did not advance into them. He left the hex south of Sofia vacant; I decide to risk a mauling by moving one UK corps into it, unentrenched (since it takes me 4 action points to move into that mountain hex). The main threat to my position here comes from my weak position in Egypt (see below), so I finally decided to send General Hamilton back to command in Egypt from Salonika (one naval cruise move) and I positioned one British corps in Greece next Salonika, so it can travel to Egypt too next turn if needed. Fortunately, there is a British HQ and another corps in transports en route to the eastern Mediterranean, but it will be two turns before they arrive.
In Egypt, I am counting in the Ottomans needing to reinforce next turn after the losses attacking my corps in El Arish last turn. I decided to retreat from El Arish - where the supply is only level 4 back one hex where a detachment is already entrenched. General Hamilton will now provide his command bonuses which should help, though supply on my two front line hexes is still only level 5.
Libya continues to be vexing, as I have to keen many smaller units protecting key urban centres along the coast, while the Senussi steam into Egypt. However, I think by next turn, I will be able to stop him with one or two additional units. And as I have found with the Arab partisans, they do not stand up on combat with upgraded infantry units.
In Arabia, the Ottomans wiped out all but three partisans - fortunately that means they can now spawn again. I am keeping two of them further west from Ha'il and my send them to Mesopotamia, rather than attempting to weakly menace Medina.
In Mesopotamia, the expeditionary force under General Maude is slowly moving into place and has now squared off against his force entrenched in front of Baghdad. It will take at least three turns though for the new artillery unit to get into place and for this force to start attacking in earnest.
In Galicia, I had a text-book assault which pierced his line in front of Krakow. An elite cavalry unit destroyed the German corps that retreated, and the cavalry could have then moved behind his lines, beyond Krakow. But I concluded that the disruption to his front line could not outweigh the probability that he could destroy this useful elite unit (since it could not entrench), so I brought it back behind my line. I should be in a position to start unravelling this line next turn.
In East Prussia, my artillery needed an extra turn to acquire enough shells to attack Konigsberg, so I did a major reinforcement round.
In the Baltic, I had fun with my Russian fleet for the first time: they attacked a light cruiser spotted in the entrance to Danzig. I deployed a naval mine in front of my subs, in the hope he will run into it. It is fun playing hit and run tactics for a change! There were no other naval moves of any consequence in North Sea or the Mediterranean.
In terms of investments:
- the UK bought a full-strength corps
- France bought back all three corps killed last turn (now at 10% off due to production tech)
- Italy committed two diplomatic chits to Romania
- Serbia conserved its MPPs to buy back a killed corps next turn
- the USA invested two chits in Trench Warfare - which I had overlooked until now
- Russia invested 1 chit in Tank Weapons, 2 in Advanced Submarines and it switched three diplomatic chits from Sweden to Romania. It also bought a submarine (for four).
This diplomatic push to Romania paid off. At the end of the turn, the Russian Foreign Minister reported a breakthrough as Romania swung 23% towards the Entente and now stands at 71%. Their entry into the war may happen faster than I thought.
At the end of the turn:
- the UK reached Spying and Intelligence 2
- France reached Command and Control 3 and Trench Warfare 5
- Serbia reached Trench Warfare 5
- the USA reached Naval Warfare 1
- Russia reached Command and Control 3 and Armoured Warfare 1
It is the end of the summer of 1916, and we seem to be close to a stalemate on most fronts in the war. This is about where I thought we should be in 1916, given that my stated ambition with this mod was to slow down the tempo of the conflict so that games would run well into 1917 or 1918. But a stalemate does not mean static: I think the underlying reality is that the Entente is earning about 50% more MPPs per turn than the Central Powers; and overall, it's majors have better national morale levels than the Central Powers. Things are moving slowly on several fronts, both in my favour and against me, and could open up in 1917.
The biggest threat to me is in France, where Germany has concentrated all of its heavy artillery and much of its best generals and experienced corps. He delivered a heavier attack on the French last turn than I expected (given the scale of the attack the turn before) - which suggests to me that he may have achieved Gas/Shell tech 2 already. This would be a big advantage, since the strongest limiting factor on attackers in this mod is the shortage of shells. Fortunately, France is close (at 90% this turn) but my other majors are a long way off in this tech. I did not counterattack this turn, preferring to build up units damaged two turns ago. I was able to buy back all three corps killed last turn (given that I saved almost 100 MPPs from the turn before). Reaching Production Tech 2 will help too in replacing casualties. I noticed that Germany is not moving into several empty open terrain hexes - which tells me he does not have the number of corps to push forward for a concerted assault. I brought back my regular artillery unit from Italy (now that the Italians have both their units). And for a first in this game, I deployed the new French tank corps, just behind Verdun.
In Italy, I moved my artillery and upgraded the heavy artillery unit, to be ready for another attack towards Trieste when the Italians have accumulated 6 shells in total. Using my Italian airship, I was interested to see that he has brought back the destroyed Austro-Hungarian artillery unit to this front. The terrain in Italy makes it hard to make progress and they continue to lag behind in tech. But they take very few losses, have high morale (for now) and can be a major pain in the side for the Austro-Hungarians.
In Serbia/Bulgaria, he used the Austro-Hungarian heavy artillery to good effect last turn. However, I have reasonable strength in depth between Serbia and the UK and I was able to fill the holes in my line. Again, I was interested to see that he did not advance into them. He left the hex south of Sofia vacant; I decide to risk a mauling by moving one UK corps into it, unentrenched (since it takes me 4 action points to move into that mountain hex). The main threat to my position here comes from my weak position in Egypt (see below), so I finally decided to send General Hamilton back to command in Egypt from Salonika (one naval cruise move) and I positioned one British corps in Greece next Salonika, so it can travel to Egypt too next turn if needed. Fortunately, there is a British HQ and another corps in transports en route to the eastern Mediterranean, but it will be two turns before they arrive.
In Egypt, I am counting in the Ottomans needing to reinforce next turn after the losses attacking my corps in El Arish last turn. I decided to retreat from El Arish - where the supply is only level 4 back one hex where a detachment is already entrenched. General Hamilton will now provide his command bonuses which should help, though supply on my two front line hexes is still only level 5.
Libya continues to be vexing, as I have to keen many smaller units protecting key urban centres along the coast, while the Senussi steam into Egypt. However, I think by next turn, I will be able to stop him with one or two additional units. And as I have found with the Arab partisans, they do not stand up on combat with upgraded infantry units.
In Arabia, the Ottomans wiped out all but three partisans - fortunately that means they can now spawn again. I am keeping two of them further west from Ha'il and my send them to Mesopotamia, rather than attempting to weakly menace Medina.
In Mesopotamia, the expeditionary force under General Maude is slowly moving into place and has now squared off against his force entrenched in front of Baghdad. It will take at least three turns though for the new artillery unit to get into place and for this force to start attacking in earnest.
In Galicia, I had a text-book assault which pierced his line in front of Krakow. An elite cavalry unit destroyed the German corps that retreated, and the cavalry could have then moved behind his lines, beyond Krakow. But I concluded that the disruption to his front line could not outweigh the probability that he could destroy this useful elite unit (since it could not entrench), so I brought it back behind my line. I should be in a position to start unravelling this line next turn.
In East Prussia, my artillery needed an extra turn to acquire enough shells to attack Konigsberg, so I did a major reinforcement round.
In the Baltic, I had fun with my Russian fleet for the first time: they attacked a light cruiser spotted in the entrance to Danzig. I deployed a naval mine in front of my subs, in the hope he will run into it. It is fun playing hit and run tactics for a change! There were no other naval moves of any consequence in North Sea or the Mediterranean.
In terms of investments:
- the UK bought a full-strength corps
- France bought back all three corps killed last turn (now at 10% off due to production tech)
- Italy committed two diplomatic chits to Romania
- Serbia conserved its MPPs to buy back a killed corps next turn
- the USA invested two chits in Trench Warfare - which I had overlooked until now
- Russia invested 1 chit in Tank Weapons, 2 in Advanced Submarines and it switched three diplomatic chits from Sweden to Romania. It also bought a submarine (for four).
This diplomatic push to Romania paid off. At the end of the turn, the Russian Foreign Minister reported a breakthrough as Romania swung 23% towards the Entente and now stands at 71%. Their entry into the war may happen faster than I thought.
At the end of the turn:
- the UK reached Spying and Intelligence 2
- France reached Command and Control 3 and Trench Warfare 5
- Serbia reached Trench Warfare 5
- the USA reached Naval Warfare 1
- Russia reached Command and Control 3 and Armoured Warfare 1
Last edited by mdsmall on Fri Jul 15, 2022 3:00 am, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Icarus Mod for 1914 Campaign: Play-test AAR
Entente Turn 33 September 16, 1916
I was surprised that Old Crow launched no attacks last turn, so I took full advantage of the respite. On the Western Front, for the first time since the spring, I decided to launch two counterattacks. In part this was because I had already bought back all of my killed French corps; in part because I could see that he moved one of his German heavy artillery units to defend Krakow, so I assume he will be reducing his tempo of attacks in the West. He even retreated from one hex in front of Nancy that he had occupied the turn before. I used the artillery unit transferred from Italy last turn to launch one attack in the quiet sector of the Vosges mountains and killed his corps that had moved into a hill hex, after checking with my airships that he had no artillery in range to counterattack. I lost 9 points; he lost 10 but I also moved into the hex and entrenched, improving the shape of my line. I also decided to try attacking again in front of Amiens to kill the corps at the front of his. This time, aided by heavy artillery and General Foch further boosted by level 3 Command and Control. I was much more successful this time: I lost 5 points, he lost ten. I chose not to move into the hex, as he still has two artillery units that could shell any attacker that tries to move forward. I had hope to commit my tank unit to one of these combats, but they were beyond its modest range of 3 action points, so I plan to leave it behind Verdun for now. By the end of the turn, France had bought all the infantry corps available, including the one mountain corps, and it had some MPPs left over to start investing again in tech. But it will take a substantial margin of superiority in available corps on this front before I can afford to take the casualties of moving forward into empty terrain hexes in front of his front line.
The Italians successfully attacked and destroyed one Austro-Hungarian mountain corps in the mountain hex due north of Trieste. But given the terrain, they did not have the APs to move in. This attack cost all of Italy's reserves of shells (they are not yet at level 1 in Gas/Shell production). My plan in the future is to attack along the road toward Klagenfurt, so that I take hexes that my troops can move into. This will be a very slow-moving front,
In Serbia/Bulgaria, I build back corps damaged in the previous turns. I was surprised that he did not attack the British corps that moved in one hex south of Sofia, so it happily entrenched, and I now have troops on three sides of Sofia. He will probably counterattack first with his Bulgarian artillery but if not, I will be in a position to assault Sofia next turn. I concluded that now that I have General Hamilton back in Egypt, the situation there is stable enough that I do not need to strip any British corps from the Balkans to beef up my defences in Egypt.
In Libya, I brought over the second Portuguese detachment from Tripoli, shipped in the garrison from Cyprus and attacked the Senussi for the first time. They seem to have stopped their advance into Egypt, but I think I now have enough units in western Egypt and Libya to keep them at bay.
In Egypt, I moved my two generals around behind the line to improve supplies and landed a new British corps in Alexandria that can walk over next turn to help defend the line in front of the Suez Canal.
In Arabia, the situation is sad as no more partisans have appeared - is it possible that he is covering all ten spawning hexes? Anyhow, one diminished partisan retreated into the Syrian desert to escape the Bulgarian cavalry and two more started making the trek toward better supply levels around Basra.
In Mesopotamia, I moved my elite British units forward to entrench in front of his front line and started moving my field artillery unit up. It will take at least three more turns before this force will be ready to attack the defenders in front of Baghdad.
In Galicia, I continued my attack on his line south of Warsaw and rolled up one more hex, so I now have a salient three hexes wide. I also railed two cavalry units that I was not using to Russia's southern border with Romania, so they will be in a position to race in and defend some key Transylvanian mountain passes once Romania has mobilized.
In East Prussia, I launched the attack against Konigsberg and killed his defending corps for a loss of seven strength points. But Konigsberg is a 2500 NM loss for him and 1000 NM gain for me, so it was worth it. Once I push him back by one more hex, I will be able to use the port of Konigsberg which will be a plus for my subs.
In the Baltic, he threw about ten capital ships and destroyers at my three subs and sank the destroyer that laid the mine last turn. He trapped two of the subs from escaping north (I put them on hunt mode - which was a mistake) but the third was able to sally forth from Memel and return. Still, I damaged one dreadnought by 3 points and am tying up a big chunk of his surface fleet.
Given that his fleet is preoccupied in the Baltic, I decided for the first time to do a Jutland style sweep with the British navy in the North Sea. I sent four subs south to positions about 5-6 hexes north of the German North Sea coast, backed up by four destroyers and four dreadnoughts. I doubt that I will catch any surface ships outside of his two ports on this coast, but at a minimum, it will be useful to do a reconnaissance in force to see where he has placed naval mines (if any) defensively.
In total, I destroyed five enemy corps this turn, two German in the West, two in the East and one Austro-Hungarian one in Italy. A good result for the war of attrition.
In terms of investments:
- the UK bought another corps and invested its first chit in Naval Weaponry
- France bought a mountain corps (the last unbuilt infantry corps), plus one chit on Armoured Warfare (for 3) and two on Fighter Technology (for 3).
- Italy bought two chits in Industrial Tech (for 2)
- Serbia bought back a killed Serbian corps
- the USA invested two more chits in Trench Warfare (for 4)
- Russia bought a naval bomber and a seaplane carrier, invested one chit in Armoured Warfare and two chits on Aerial Warfare; and bought one more diplomatic chit for Romania.
At the end of the turn, Romania swung another 21% towards the Entente, so the Russian Foreign Minister has been earning his keep. It now sits at 92%, meaning that it should enter the war next turn. This will truly be a game-changer.
At the end of the turn:
- the UK reached Armoured Warfare 2 and Industry Tech 4
- France reached Gas/Shell Tech 2
- France reached Trench Warfare 5
I was surprised that Old Crow launched no attacks last turn, so I took full advantage of the respite. On the Western Front, for the first time since the spring, I decided to launch two counterattacks. In part this was because I had already bought back all of my killed French corps; in part because I could see that he moved one of his German heavy artillery units to defend Krakow, so I assume he will be reducing his tempo of attacks in the West. He even retreated from one hex in front of Nancy that he had occupied the turn before. I used the artillery unit transferred from Italy last turn to launch one attack in the quiet sector of the Vosges mountains and killed his corps that had moved into a hill hex, after checking with my airships that he had no artillery in range to counterattack. I lost 9 points; he lost 10 but I also moved into the hex and entrenched, improving the shape of my line. I also decided to try attacking again in front of Amiens to kill the corps at the front of his. This time, aided by heavy artillery and General Foch further boosted by level 3 Command and Control. I was much more successful this time: I lost 5 points, he lost ten. I chose not to move into the hex, as he still has two artillery units that could shell any attacker that tries to move forward. I had hope to commit my tank unit to one of these combats, but they were beyond its modest range of 3 action points, so I plan to leave it behind Verdun for now. By the end of the turn, France had bought all the infantry corps available, including the one mountain corps, and it had some MPPs left over to start investing again in tech. But it will take a substantial margin of superiority in available corps on this front before I can afford to take the casualties of moving forward into empty terrain hexes in front of his front line.
The Italians successfully attacked and destroyed one Austro-Hungarian mountain corps in the mountain hex due north of Trieste. But given the terrain, they did not have the APs to move in. This attack cost all of Italy's reserves of shells (they are not yet at level 1 in Gas/Shell production). My plan in the future is to attack along the road toward Klagenfurt, so that I take hexes that my troops can move into. This will be a very slow-moving front,
In Serbia/Bulgaria, I build back corps damaged in the previous turns. I was surprised that he did not attack the British corps that moved in one hex south of Sofia, so it happily entrenched, and I now have troops on three sides of Sofia. He will probably counterattack first with his Bulgarian artillery but if not, I will be in a position to assault Sofia next turn. I concluded that now that I have General Hamilton back in Egypt, the situation there is stable enough that I do not need to strip any British corps from the Balkans to beef up my defences in Egypt.
In Libya, I brought over the second Portuguese detachment from Tripoli, shipped in the garrison from Cyprus and attacked the Senussi for the first time. They seem to have stopped their advance into Egypt, but I think I now have enough units in western Egypt and Libya to keep them at bay.
In Egypt, I moved my two generals around behind the line to improve supplies and landed a new British corps in Alexandria that can walk over next turn to help defend the line in front of the Suez Canal.
In Arabia, the situation is sad as no more partisans have appeared - is it possible that he is covering all ten spawning hexes? Anyhow, one diminished partisan retreated into the Syrian desert to escape the Bulgarian cavalry and two more started making the trek toward better supply levels around Basra.
In Mesopotamia, I moved my elite British units forward to entrench in front of his front line and started moving my field artillery unit up. It will take at least three more turns before this force will be ready to attack the defenders in front of Baghdad.
In Galicia, I continued my attack on his line south of Warsaw and rolled up one more hex, so I now have a salient three hexes wide. I also railed two cavalry units that I was not using to Russia's southern border with Romania, so they will be in a position to race in and defend some key Transylvanian mountain passes once Romania has mobilized.
In East Prussia, I launched the attack against Konigsberg and killed his defending corps for a loss of seven strength points. But Konigsberg is a 2500 NM loss for him and 1000 NM gain for me, so it was worth it. Once I push him back by one more hex, I will be able to use the port of Konigsberg which will be a plus for my subs.
In the Baltic, he threw about ten capital ships and destroyers at my three subs and sank the destroyer that laid the mine last turn. He trapped two of the subs from escaping north (I put them on hunt mode - which was a mistake) but the third was able to sally forth from Memel and return. Still, I damaged one dreadnought by 3 points and am tying up a big chunk of his surface fleet.
Given that his fleet is preoccupied in the Baltic, I decided for the first time to do a Jutland style sweep with the British navy in the North Sea. I sent four subs south to positions about 5-6 hexes north of the German North Sea coast, backed up by four destroyers and four dreadnoughts. I doubt that I will catch any surface ships outside of his two ports on this coast, but at a minimum, it will be useful to do a reconnaissance in force to see where he has placed naval mines (if any) defensively.
In total, I destroyed five enemy corps this turn, two German in the West, two in the East and one Austro-Hungarian one in Italy. A good result for the war of attrition.
In terms of investments:
- the UK bought another corps and invested its first chit in Naval Weaponry
- France bought a mountain corps (the last unbuilt infantry corps), plus one chit on Armoured Warfare (for 3) and two on Fighter Technology (for 3).
- Italy bought two chits in Industrial Tech (for 2)
- Serbia bought back a killed Serbian corps
- the USA invested two more chits in Trench Warfare (for 4)
- Russia bought a naval bomber and a seaplane carrier, invested one chit in Armoured Warfare and two chits on Aerial Warfare; and bought one more diplomatic chit for Romania.
At the end of the turn, Romania swung another 21% towards the Entente, so the Russian Foreign Minister has been earning his keep. It now sits at 92%, meaning that it should enter the war next turn. This will truly be a game-changer.
At the end of the turn:
- the UK reached Armoured Warfare 2 and Industry Tech 4
- France reached Gas/Shell Tech 2
- France reached Trench Warfare 5
Last edited by mdsmall on Fri Jul 15, 2022 3:00 am, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Icarus Mod for 1914 Campaign: Play-test AAR
Entente Turn 34: October 7, 1916
So, Old Crow pre-emptively attacked Romania when it was already at 99% mobilized. I fully expected this when I started to spend diplomacy to bring in Romania, which is why I waited until early fall to start. My only surprise was that I had two diplomatic breakthroughs in a row, so they mobilized before bad weather set in. The only downside for the Central Powers in attacking first is that the USA reacts negatively to a new declaration of war - and indeed they swung another 4% towards the Entente and are now 55%. Old Crow succeeded in his first war aim of cutting the convoy line from Russia to Serbia that flows through western Romania. This will take some time and concerted effort on my part to restore and in the meantime, Serbia will be starved for funds to replace unit losses. His other evident war aim was to threaten Bucharest - which he did as I discovered by moving two artillery units to this new front. However, I was able to pull five more corps from Russia's second line in Poland and East Prussia and I railed them to surround Bucharest. Where possible, I did not move the Romanian corps that mobilized, so that I could upgrade them immediately to Infantry Weapons One. I used the Romanian cavalry corps to scout the advancing Austro-Hungarian forces (which is how I spotted the two artillery units) and then used another corps to entrench to block their line of advance towards the Ploesti oilfields and Bucharest. Finally, I railed another infantry corps and cavalry corps to Constantia to move on Varna in Bulgaria. Unfortunately, I chose to upgrade the detachment which started on Constantia, rather than moving it forward to scout Varna - assuming, perhaps wrongly, that it would be occupied by a Bulgarian or Ottoman unit.
In hindsight, I should have focussed much more in this opening move on positioning to attack Varna, rather than defending Bucharest. My prepared attack in the west by British forces succeeded quite easily in taking Sofia and cutting of the rail line to two Bulgarian corps. This means the only thing now keeping Bulgaria in the war is their alternate capital in Varna, located in open terrain on Romania's southern border. I will focus my efforts next turn, including moving Russian artillery so I can start attacking towards Varna and ultimately capturing it - if necessary, during winter. Once Bulgaria surrenders, his whole position in the Balkans will collapse and I can move on Constantinople with Russian and British forces. My assessment is that while his attacks towards Bucharest and Nish will continue, he simply does not have the units to force those attacks while holding his lines on other fronts.
In Egypt, I moved up the new British corps that landed last turn and moved the Indian corps that was mauled two turns ago and reinforced last turn back into the line. I landed General Allenby at Port Said and shipped General Hamilton back to Salonika (this latter move was not strictly necessary as I could have sent Allenby to Salonika, but Hamilton has one strength point of experience which will be useful in further battles in Bulgaria, so back he goes). I also pulled the British and French marine units back from the line, so they are now in a position to defend Cairo and Alexandria against the marauding Senussi, or even move back to an amphibious jump-off point near Turkey.
In Libya, just three or four Senussi partisans have now forced me to deploy a string of detachments defending my coastal towns. But once I start attacking the partisans, they will take heavy losses, as happened in Arabia.
In Arabia, I am beginning to doubt that more partisans will spawn. I left one reduced partisan in the middle of the Syrian desert beyond his supply range and send two more heading to Kuwait and better supply trekking across the trackless wastes which only they can cross.
In Mesopotamia, I moved my units forward to contact and entrench before his defenders in front of Baghdad. The Indian field artillery unit moved up to within range, but it is still at half strength, and it is in low supply. I will probably take a couple more turns to bring up General Maude and reinforce the artillery unit before attacking. In the north, I brought up my Russian secret weapon close to my lines in northern Kurdistan - Russia's full strength heavy bomber unit, which I plan to use just before attacking Baghdad.
In Poland and East Prussia, I did my now standard attacks with two artillery units each and three corps on the corners of his line and easily wiped out an Austrian corps just south of Lodz and a German corps south of Konigsberg. I may divert some of my artillery from these fronts next turn to push on Varna, as discussed above, but will resume these offensives in the spring with the aim of rolling back his line to retake Warsaw and Novo Georgievsk by summer 1917.
In the Baltic, I sent two of my subs north to reinforce in northern ports and the third is resting in the port of Memel. He seems to have sent most or all of his subs north to block my retreating subs. Good. If they are wasting time in the Baltic, they are not in the Atlantic creating more mischief.
In the North Sea, I sent my subs to scout the German coast and found it barren - no mines deployed, no destroyers or subs on picket duty. He has a battlecruiser in port in Cuxhaven and I could try to reduce it by a point or two by attacking with my subs next turn.
In Italy, the front was quiet as I am accumulating shells for my next attack. Given the weather, this might not happen until spring.
On the Western Front, despite having taken heavy losses last turn, my overall situation is OK - I received three corps back this turn and France can replace all of its losses. He has withdrawn one heavy artillery and all regular artillery from this front, so he is not pushing forward, just counter punching. I attacked and destroyed two corps on the line in front of the Somme. The most exposed corps I killed easily with a loss of 6 points to 10. A second corps on the mine hex of Loos was much more costly, in part because I was partially attacking over a river hex side - in the end, I decided to kill it anyway at a loss of 14 strength points to 10. That's how it goes on the Western Front.
These attacks were notable because it was the first time that a tank unit has seen action in the game. In this mod, France and Britain start with one chit on Armoured Warfare and I chose to keep up this investment. I my experience tanks are brilliant at being the mopping up unit - the force you send in after the prepared attacks to kill an enemy corps that is now down to 2 or 3 strength points. They usually take no losses in these attacks, unlike infantry and cavalry, and thus build up XP points fairly quickly. I try to avoid keeping tank units on the front line, as enemy infantry backed up by artillery can take them out. If destroyed, they are relatively cheap to buy back - cheaper in fact than an infantry corps - but they take 3 turns to rebuild. Their main limitation is the only have 3 Action points (until you can upgrade them with mobility), so they have to operate on roads or clear terrain most of the time.
I had a DE this turn, when the Romanians offered the Russians some cruise ships for refitting as a seaplane carrier in the Black Sea. This is a luxury, but I reckoned the Russians could use the forward recon capacity and could afford the 2 X 50 MPPs, so I said yes. I also deployed the Russian marine unit I bought two turns ago in Sevastopol.
In terms of investments:
- the UK bought its first tank unit, having reached level 2 in Armoured Warfare, and bought two recon bombers, one British and one Greek.
- France invested one chit in Production Tech (for 3) and bought back two killed corps
- Italy invested two chits in mobility. This is an unusual choice as an early tech buy, but I concluded that Italy's biggest limitation is the mountain terrain it has to fight through and even two corps upgraded to 5 Action points will increase their ability to move into and entrench mountain hexes after the enemy has been destroyed.
- Serbia bought back one killed Montenegrin detachment.
- the USA invested two more chits in Trench Warfare, for 4.
- Russia bought the Romanian artillery unit and one Romanian corps. They also invested two chits in Aerial Warfare, since they will need the increased recon bomber capacity to support the Romanian artillery. At this point, they only have 50 points in spare research capacity.
At the end of the turn:
- the UK reached Airship Tech 2
- France reached Aerial Warfare 2 and Industry Tech 3
- Serbia reached Production Tech 3
- the USA reached Aerial Warfare 3
- Russia reached Infantry Warfare 2
So, Old Crow pre-emptively attacked Romania when it was already at 99% mobilized. I fully expected this when I started to spend diplomacy to bring in Romania, which is why I waited until early fall to start. My only surprise was that I had two diplomatic breakthroughs in a row, so they mobilized before bad weather set in. The only downside for the Central Powers in attacking first is that the USA reacts negatively to a new declaration of war - and indeed they swung another 4% towards the Entente and are now 55%. Old Crow succeeded in his first war aim of cutting the convoy line from Russia to Serbia that flows through western Romania. This will take some time and concerted effort on my part to restore and in the meantime, Serbia will be starved for funds to replace unit losses. His other evident war aim was to threaten Bucharest - which he did as I discovered by moving two artillery units to this new front. However, I was able to pull five more corps from Russia's second line in Poland and East Prussia and I railed them to surround Bucharest. Where possible, I did not move the Romanian corps that mobilized, so that I could upgrade them immediately to Infantry Weapons One. I used the Romanian cavalry corps to scout the advancing Austro-Hungarian forces (which is how I spotted the two artillery units) and then used another corps to entrench to block their line of advance towards the Ploesti oilfields and Bucharest. Finally, I railed another infantry corps and cavalry corps to Constantia to move on Varna in Bulgaria. Unfortunately, I chose to upgrade the detachment which started on Constantia, rather than moving it forward to scout Varna - assuming, perhaps wrongly, that it would be occupied by a Bulgarian or Ottoman unit.
In hindsight, I should have focussed much more in this opening move on positioning to attack Varna, rather than defending Bucharest. My prepared attack in the west by British forces succeeded quite easily in taking Sofia and cutting of the rail line to two Bulgarian corps. This means the only thing now keeping Bulgaria in the war is their alternate capital in Varna, located in open terrain on Romania's southern border. I will focus my efforts next turn, including moving Russian artillery so I can start attacking towards Varna and ultimately capturing it - if necessary, during winter. Once Bulgaria surrenders, his whole position in the Balkans will collapse and I can move on Constantinople with Russian and British forces. My assessment is that while his attacks towards Bucharest and Nish will continue, he simply does not have the units to force those attacks while holding his lines on other fronts.
In Egypt, I moved up the new British corps that landed last turn and moved the Indian corps that was mauled two turns ago and reinforced last turn back into the line. I landed General Allenby at Port Said and shipped General Hamilton back to Salonika (this latter move was not strictly necessary as I could have sent Allenby to Salonika, but Hamilton has one strength point of experience which will be useful in further battles in Bulgaria, so back he goes). I also pulled the British and French marine units back from the line, so they are now in a position to defend Cairo and Alexandria against the marauding Senussi, or even move back to an amphibious jump-off point near Turkey.
In Libya, just three or four Senussi partisans have now forced me to deploy a string of detachments defending my coastal towns. But once I start attacking the partisans, they will take heavy losses, as happened in Arabia.
In Arabia, I am beginning to doubt that more partisans will spawn. I left one reduced partisan in the middle of the Syrian desert beyond his supply range and send two more heading to Kuwait and better supply trekking across the trackless wastes which only they can cross.
In Mesopotamia, I moved my units forward to contact and entrench before his defenders in front of Baghdad. The Indian field artillery unit moved up to within range, but it is still at half strength, and it is in low supply. I will probably take a couple more turns to bring up General Maude and reinforce the artillery unit before attacking. In the north, I brought up my Russian secret weapon close to my lines in northern Kurdistan - Russia's full strength heavy bomber unit, which I plan to use just before attacking Baghdad.
In Poland and East Prussia, I did my now standard attacks with two artillery units each and three corps on the corners of his line and easily wiped out an Austrian corps just south of Lodz and a German corps south of Konigsberg. I may divert some of my artillery from these fronts next turn to push on Varna, as discussed above, but will resume these offensives in the spring with the aim of rolling back his line to retake Warsaw and Novo Georgievsk by summer 1917.
In the Baltic, I sent two of my subs north to reinforce in northern ports and the third is resting in the port of Memel. He seems to have sent most or all of his subs north to block my retreating subs. Good. If they are wasting time in the Baltic, they are not in the Atlantic creating more mischief.
In the North Sea, I sent my subs to scout the German coast and found it barren - no mines deployed, no destroyers or subs on picket duty. He has a battlecruiser in port in Cuxhaven and I could try to reduce it by a point or two by attacking with my subs next turn.
In Italy, the front was quiet as I am accumulating shells for my next attack. Given the weather, this might not happen until spring.
On the Western Front, despite having taken heavy losses last turn, my overall situation is OK - I received three corps back this turn and France can replace all of its losses. He has withdrawn one heavy artillery and all regular artillery from this front, so he is not pushing forward, just counter punching. I attacked and destroyed two corps on the line in front of the Somme. The most exposed corps I killed easily with a loss of 6 points to 10. A second corps on the mine hex of Loos was much more costly, in part because I was partially attacking over a river hex side - in the end, I decided to kill it anyway at a loss of 14 strength points to 10. That's how it goes on the Western Front.
These attacks were notable because it was the first time that a tank unit has seen action in the game. In this mod, France and Britain start with one chit on Armoured Warfare and I chose to keep up this investment. I my experience tanks are brilliant at being the mopping up unit - the force you send in after the prepared attacks to kill an enemy corps that is now down to 2 or 3 strength points. They usually take no losses in these attacks, unlike infantry and cavalry, and thus build up XP points fairly quickly. I try to avoid keeping tank units on the front line, as enemy infantry backed up by artillery can take them out. If destroyed, they are relatively cheap to buy back - cheaper in fact than an infantry corps - but they take 3 turns to rebuild. Their main limitation is the only have 3 Action points (until you can upgrade them with mobility), so they have to operate on roads or clear terrain most of the time.
I had a DE this turn, when the Romanians offered the Russians some cruise ships for refitting as a seaplane carrier in the Black Sea. This is a luxury, but I reckoned the Russians could use the forward recon capacity and could afford the 2 X 50 MPPs, so I said yes. I also deployed the Russian marine unit I bought two turns ago in Sevastopol.
In terms of investments:
- the UK bought its first tank unit, having reached level 2 in Armoured Warfare, and bought two recon bombers, one British and one Greek.
- France invested one chit in Production Tech (for 3) and bought back two killed corps
- Italy invested two chits in mobility. This is an unusual choice as an early tech buy, but I concluded that Italy's biggest limitation is the mountain terrain it has to fight through and even two corps upgraded to 5 Action points will increase their ability to move into and entrench mountain hexes after the enemy has been destroyed.
- Serbia bought back one killed Montenegrin detachment.
- the USA invested two more chits in Trench Warfare, for 4.
- Russia bought the Romanian artillery unit and one Romanian corps. They also invested two chits in Aerial Warfare, since they will need the increased recon bomber capacity to support the Romanian artillery. At this point, they only have 50 points in spare research capacity.
At the end of the turn:
- the UK reached Airship Tech 2
- France reached Aerial Warfare 2 and Industry Tech 3
- Serbia reached Production Tech 3
- the USA reached Aerial Warfare 3
- Russia reached Infantry Warfare 2
Re: Icarus Mod for 1914 Campaign: Play-test AAR
Entente Turn 35: November 7, 1916
The entry of Romania in the game has completely re-oriented my focus. I spent some time analyzing my responses to the very tangled situation in western Romania - I don't think I have ever seen a campaign over this section of the map before. My initial concern was that the Romanian corps that mobilizes in Craiova would be surrounded by Austro-Hungarian cavalry from the west and infantry coming down from the north. But I worked out that if I reduced or destroyed the German cavalry corps in front of Bucharest, I could send Russian cavalry to make contact with this unit. So, I mounted various attacks against the German cavalry without the benefit of artillery, and it eventually retreated to the town of Pitesti I then sent everything I could west to establish a supply chain to my outpost, reckoning that to concede terrain now would just lengthen the time it would take to conquer it back again. The fact that the convoy to Serbia runs through this corridor gave me an additional strategic rationale to hold my ground west of Bucharest. Around Varna, I decided not to try to wipe out the entrenched detachment this turn but instead moved the corps I railed in last turn to optimal locations to pressure his other units defending Bulgaria. I railed in two heavy artillery units from Poland, plus one of my best generals, Kornilov, from East Prussia, plus two mountain corps and one regular corps. At this point, I have major force in Romania. There will be at best only one turn of late fall weather in early December before it freezes, but I reckon that with enough troops, I can continue to pressure Varna and maybe take it before spring.
In Serbia/Bulgaria, my artillery well placed to counterattack, so I destroyed the Austro-Hungarian unit that had captured the Serbian mine north of Nish. Then I decided it was worth attacking the Bulgarian corps that was partially cut-off when I took Sofia, as it was now at supply 4 and I was able to destroy it too. I believe by next turn, Bulgaria's situation will look precarious, and he may start to retreat towards the center of the country.
In Egypt, I simply reinforced my line in front of the canal with a new British Corps. The Senussi from Libya seem to be heading south - for no reason, I can discern - so I ignored them. In Arabia, the two partisans crossing the desert reached the border of Entente-owned Kuwait.
The Mesopotamian field force had its first combat, using its new artillery unit to de-trench and then destroy an Ottoman cavalry unit south-east of Baghdad. Despite my low supply, this worked better than expected. I moved up General Maude and other supporting units. In the north, I took the risk of sending in a Russian general from Poland to Tiflis to command the heavy bomber unit waiting in northern Kurdistan.
In Poland and East Prussia, I put my campaigns on pause until next spring while I railed the heavy artillery and some additional corps to Romania. I will resume the offensive towards Warsaw once we are past the mud season in the spring.
In the Baltic, I simply moved two Russian subs around his marauding subs and into two bases in Finland, where they can reinforce.
In the North Sea, I tried firing torpedos at the lone battlecruiser in Cuxhaven and missed twice, so I retreated a line of subs about 7 hexes back from the German coast. I sent all the other surface vessels home, parking one sub in front of Stavanger fjord which Old Crow likes to use a sub staging grounds.
In Italy, I moved up my new mountain corps and bided my time accumulating shells, until next turn.
On the Western Front, I decided to move in and occupy all the hexes that he had vacated due east of the Somme. He may have done this to reduce the risk of counterattack, or he may have done it to upgrade his German troops to Level 2 Infantry Weapons - which France is on the verge of achieving. I used this quiet turn to reinforce all the French corps than had taken hits in the previous turns.
At the beginning of the turn, Italy received a DE offering to build a Czech volunteer corps for 3 X 50 MPPs. This was a good deal, so I said yes. Italy may not need to buy any more corps. France also received a DE offering to seize two Greek naval vessels. There is a 75% chance that each one will come over the Entente and 25% they will defect to Austria-Hungary.
In terms of investments:
- the UK bought back a killed corps and then finally bought the Greek artillery unit now that there will be more scope for attacking in the spring in the Balkans. They also invested one chit in command and control for 2.
- France reinforced its many damaged corps. They invested one chit in Aerial Warfare for 3 and then took advantage of having reached Aerial Warfare level 2 to buy a third airship and a third fighter. The reasoning for the latter is that Germany already has a tech lead with fighters, so the only way to sustain parity on the Western Front is to outnumber them in the number of units.
- Italy reinforced its damaged corps and saved its MPPs.
- Serbia saved its MPPs to build up a larger reserve, since it is now only earning about 35 MPPs per turn while the convoy line through Romania is severed.
- Russia invested one chit in Aerial Warfare, bought the last Romanian corps and then invested in buying one diplomacy chit with the USA for 150 MPPs. Only the Russians can afford this kind of investment, but I believe it will pay off over the first half of next year.
At the end of the turn, there were no diplomatic swings. I am surprised that there has never been any movement in Sweden - which suggests that my inference that he put five chits there many turns ago may have been wrong.
In tech, there were some milestone results:
- the UK reached Infantry Weapons 2
- France reached Infantry Weapons 2
- Italy reached Gas/Shell tech 1
- Serbia reached Infantry Warfare Tech 1
- the USA reached Trench Warfare 1
The entry of Romania in the game has completely re-oriented my focus. I spent some time analyzing my responses to the very tangled situation in western Romania - I don't think I have ever seen a campaign over this section of the map before. My initial concern was that the Romanian corps that mobilizes in Craiova would be surrounded by Austro-Hungarian cavalry from the west and infantry coming down from the north. But I worked out that if I reduced or destroyed the German cavalry corps in front of Bucharest, I could send Russian cavalry to make contact with this unit. So, I mounted various attacks against the German cavalry without the benefit of artillery, and it eventually retreated to the town of Pitesti I then sent everything I could west to establish a supply chain to my outpost, reckoning that to concede terrain now would just lengthen the time it would take to conquer it back again. The fact that the convoy to Serbia runs through this corridor gave me an additional strategic rationale to hold my ground west of Bucharest. Around Varna, I decided not to try to wipe out the entrenched detachment this turn but instead moved the corps I railed in last turn to optimal locations to pressure his other units defending Bulgaria. I railed in two heavy artillery units from Poland, plus one of my best generals, Kornilov, from East Prussia, plus two mountain corps and one regular corps. At this point, I have major force in Romania. There will be at best only one turn of late fall weather in early December before it freezes, but I reckon that with enough troops, I can continue to pressure Varna and maybe take it before spring.
In Serbia/Bulgaria, my artillery well placed to counterattack, so I destroyed the Austro-Hungarian unit that had captured the Serbian mine north of Nish. Then I decided it was worth attacking the Bulgarian corps that was partially cut-off when I took Sofia, as it was now at supply 4 and I was able to destroy it too. I believe by next turn, Bulgaria's situation will look precarious, and he may start to retreat towards the center of the country.
In Egypt, I simply reinforced my line in front of the canal with a new British Corps. The Senussi from Libya seem to be heading south - for no reason, I can discern - so I ignored them. In Arabia, the two partisans crossing the desert reached the border of Entente-owned Kuwait.
The Mesopotamian field force had its first combat, using its new artillery unit to de-trench and then destroy an Ottoman cavalry unit south-east of Baghdad. Despite my low supply, this worked better than expected. I moved up General Maude and other supporting units. In the north, I took the risk of sending in a Russian general from Poland to Tiflis to command the heavy bomber unit waiting in northern Kurdistan.
In Poland and East Prussia, I put my campaigns on pause until next spring while I railed the heavy artillery and some additional corps to Romania. I will resume the offensive towards Warsaw once we are past the mud season in the spring.
In the Baltic, I simply moved two Russian subs around his marauding subs and into two bases in Finland, where they can reinforce.
In the North Sea, I tried firing torpedos at the lone battlecruiser in Cuxhaven and missed twice, so I retreated a line of subs about 7 hexes back from the German coast. I sent all the other surface vessels home, parking one sub in front of Stavanger fjord which Old Crow likes to use a sub staging grounds.
In Italy, I moved up my new mountain corps and bided my time accumulating shells, until next turn.
On the Western Front, I decided to move in and occupy all the hexes that he had vacated due east of the Somme. He may have done this to reduce the risk of counterattack, or he may have done it to upgrade his German troops to Level 2 Infantry Weapons - which France is on the verge of achieving. I used this quiet turn to reinforce all the French corps than had taken hits in the previous turns.
At the beginning of the turn, Italy received a DE offering to build a Czech volunteer corps for 3 X 50 MPPs. This was a good deal, so I said yes. Italy may not need to buy any more corps. France also received a DE offering to seize two Greek naval vessels. There is a 75% chance that each one will come over the Entente and 25% they will defect to Austria-Hungary.
In terms of investments:
- the UK bought back a killed corps and then finally bought the Greek artillery unit now that there will be more scope for attacking in the spring in the Balkans. They also invested one chit in command and control for 2.
- France reinforced its many damaged corps. They invested one chit in Aerial Warfare for 3 and then took advantage of having reached Aerial Warfare level 2 to buy a third airship and a third fighter. The reasoning for the latter is that Germany already has a tech lead with fighters, so the only way to sustain parity on the Western Front is to outnumber them in the number of units.
- Italy reinforced its damaged corps and saved its MPPs.
- Serbia saved its MPPs to build up a larger reserve, since it is now only earning about 35 MPPs per turn while the convoy line through Romania is severed.
- Russia invested one chit in Aerial Warfare, bought the last Romanian corps and then invested in buying one diplomacy chit with the USA for 150 MPPs. Only the Russians can afford this kind of investment, but I believe it will pay off over the first half of next year.
At the end of the turn, there were no diplomatic swings. I am surprised that there has never been any movement in Sweden - which suggests that my inference that he put five chits there many turns ago may have been wrong.
In tech, there were some milestone results:
- the UK reached Infantry Weapons 2
- France reached Infantry Weapons 2
- Italy reached Gas/Shell tech 1
- Serbia reached Infantry Warfare Tech 1
- the USA reached Trench Warfare 1
Re: Icarus Mod for 1914 Campaign: Play-test AAR
Entente Turn 36: December 2, 1916
Snow and ice swept across Europe this turn. Despite that, I pressed forward with a number of attacks. The most consequential was the one I least expected: I had positioned one of my Russian heavy artillery units to shell the Bulgarian detachment entrenched in front of their Alternate Capital at Varna. After de-entrenchement, the detachment suddenly retreated to Varna - which it turns out Old Crow had left empty! I moved up one more Russian corps to eliminate it, and then had enough movement points left in my one cavalry corps to move in and capture Varna. Game over for Bulgaria, I thought. At the end of the turn though, they did not surrender - I had temporarily overlooked the equation which allows minors to fight on after they lose their last capital, depending on the number of units they have left. But the chance of surrender is calculated after each player turn so Bulgaria's prospect of survival are not good.
West of Bucharest, I used my second Russian artillery to blast the detachment defending the obscure town of Pitesti. Fortunately, I had a lot of units that could attack, given the halving of attack strength due to the weather. It too finally retreated to the mountains of Transylvania, allowing me to occupy the town. Given that Old Crow had retreated a bit last turn from his most advanced positions, I was able to create a chain of friendly occupied hexes between Nish in Serbia and Bucharest in Romania. I trust this will allow the Russian land convoy to Serbia to resume next turn.
In Serbia, I reinforced units that were damaged the turn before and moved Genera Hamilton into Nish, so he could radiate supply out in all directions. Next turn will be devoted to upgrading as many British units as possible to Infantry Weapons 2 - a tech level achieved this turn.
In Egypt, I boxed in one of the Senussi in the western desert. I left my two marines in the port of Alexandria, after using a seaplane the turn before to scout the Gallipoli peninsula and spotting that the Ottomans were still defending it.
In Mesopotamia, I moved my units in an arc around Baghdad as wide as I could make it and moved up my artillery and General Maude. My piece de resistance however came from the north, where I finally sent my Russian heavy bomber to attack Tikrit, where the new rail-line to Baghdad is nearing completions. It should inflict resource damage of 2 and set-back the moment when Baghdad reaches level 10 supply by a couple of turns.
In East Prussia, I used one remaining artillery to shell a salient west of Johannisberg that was still occupied by a German detachment - which eliminated in the end to no cost to Russia. In Poland, I moved my remaining artillery piece to be in a position to start attacking Lodz, once the freeze ends.
It was quiet in the Baltic - I reinforced my two subs that move back to ports in Finland. In the North Sea, I left my subs on picket line about 7 hexes from the German coast but brought back to the rest of my fleet close to the blockade line. There was some naval action though in the Adriatic - as a result of the French DE last turn, the pre-dreadnought of the Greek navy defected to Austria-Hungary. I knew his fleet was already occupying every post, so I sent my one French sub in the Adriatic scouting and found it as expected outside of port next to the Pola peninsula. So, I reduced it by 2 strength points. The other Greek naval unit, a destroyer, joined the Entente side.
In Italy, I used my artillery to attack one detachment north of Klagenfurt at a point where a road enters the mountains - and thus it is easier to advance. I did not destroy the unit, but should be able to do so next turn, thus obliging him to send in a reinforcement.
Like last turn, there was no combat in France. Old Crow did not try attacking the line that moved into the hexes he left empty. I used this winter breathing room to start upgrading to Infantry Weapons 2 my second line of French corps.
In terms of investments:
- the UK, bought a full-strength corps and invested two chits in Long Range Aircraft (with the intention of increasing the striking range of seaplane carriers).
- France invested one chit in Gas/Shell tech at 200 MPPs for the chit.
- Italy bought a maritime bomber.
- Serbia invested a new chit in Infantry Warfare (having achieved level one the turn before).
- the USA invest one chit in Trench Warfare (for 4) and one on Aerial Warfare (for 3).
- Russia invested one chit in Infantry Warfare (for 2) thus reaching their research limit; they bought a railgun, with the intention of using it to reduce the supply capacity of Constantinople. They also bought two diplomacy chits deployed on the USA, at cost of 2 X 150 MPPs.
At the end of the turn, there were no diplomatic swings, and to my mild surprise, Bulgaria did not surrender. However, there were a wave of tech breakthroughs:
- the UK reached Command and Control 3
- France reached Fighter Development 1, Airship Tech 2, Armoured Warfare 3
- the USA reached Ground Attack Weapons 1 and Industry Tech level 2
Snow and ice swept across Europe this turn. Despite that, I pressed forward with a number of attacks. The most consequential was the one I least expected: I had positioned one of my Russian heavy artillery units to shell the Bulgarian detachment entrenched in front of their Alternate Capital at Varna. After de-entrenchement, the detachment suddenly retreated to Varna - which it turns out Old Crow had left empty! I moved up one more Russian corps to eliminate it, and then had enough movement points left in my one cavalry corps to move in and capture Varna. Game over for Bulgaria, I thought. At the end of the turn though, they did not surrender - I had temporarily overlooked the equation which allows minors to fight on after they lose their last capital, depending on the number of units they have left. But the chance of surrender is calculated after each player turn so Bulgaria's prospect of survival are not good.
West of Bucharest, I used my second Russian artillery to blast the detachment defending the obscure town of Pitesti. Fortunately, I had a lot of units that could attack, given the halving of attack strength due to the weather. It too finally retreated to the mountains of Transylvania, allowing me to occupy the town. Given that Old Crow had retreated a bit last turn from his most advanced positions, I was able to create a chain of friendly occupied hexes between Nish in Serbia and Bucharest in Romania. I trust this will allow the Russian land convoy to Serbia to resume next turn.
In Serbia, I reinforced units that were damaged the turn before and moved Genera Hamilton into Nish, so he could radiate supply out in all directions. Next turn will be devoted to upgrading as many British units as possible to Infantry Weapons 2 - a tech level achieved this turn.
In Egypt, I boxed in one of the Senussi in the western desert. I left my two marines in the port of Alexandria, after using a seaplane the turn before to scout the Gallipoli peninsula and spotting that the Ottomans were still defending it.
In Mesopotamia, I moved my units in an arc around Baghdad as wide as I could make it and moved up my artillery and General Maude. My piece de resistance however came from the north, where I finally sent my Russian heavy bomber to attack Tikrit, where the new rail-line to Baghdad is nearing completions. It should inflict resource damage of 2 and set-back the moment when Baghdad reaches level 10 supply by a couple of turns.
In East Prussia, I used one remaining artillery to shell a salient west of Johannisberg that was still occupied by a German detachment - which eliminated in the end to no cost to Russia. In Poland, I moved my remaining artillery piece to be in a position to start attacking Lodz, once the freeze ends.
It was quiet in the Baltic - I reinforced my two subs that move back to ports in Finland. In the North Sea, I left my subs on picket line about 7 hexes from the German coast but brought back to the rest of my fleet close to the blockade line. There was some naval action though in the Adriatic - as a result of the French DE last turn, the pre-dreadnought of the Greek navy defected to Austria-Hungary. I knew his fleet was already occupying every post, so I sent my one French sub in the Adriatic scouting and found it as expected outside of port next to the Pola peninsula. So, I reduced it by 2 strength points. The other Greek naval unit, a destroyer, joined the Entente side.
In Italy, I used my artillery to attack one detachment north of Klagenfurt at a point where a road enters the mountains - and thus it is easier to advance. I did not destroy the unit, but should be able to do so next turn, thus obliging him to send in a reinforcement.
Like last turn, there was no combat in France. Old Crow did not try attacking the line that moved into the hexes he left empty. I used this winter breathing room to start upgrading to Infantry Weapons 2 my second line of French corps.
In terms of investments:
- the UK, bought a full-strength corps and invested two chits in Long Range Aircraft (with the intention of increasing the striking range of seaplane carriers).
- France invested one chit in Gas/Shell tech at 200 MPPs for the chit.
- Italy bought a maritime bomber.
- Serbia invested a new chit in Infantry Warfare (having achieved level one the turn before).
- the USA invest one chit in Trench Warfare (for 4) and one on Aerial Warfare (for 3).
- Russia invested one chit in Infantry Warfare (for 2) thus reaching their research limit; they bought a railgun, with the intention of using it to reduce the supply capacity of Constantinople. They also bought two diplomacy chits deployed on the USA, at cost of 2 X 150 MPPs.
At the end of the turn, there were no diplomatic swings, and to my mild surprise, Bulgaria did not surrender. However, there were a wave of tech breakthroughs:
- the UK reached Command and Control 3
- France reached Fighter Development 1, Airship Tech 2, Armoured Warfare 3
- the USA reached Ground Attack Weapons 1 and Industry Tech level 2
Re: Icarus Mod for 1914 Campaign: Play-test AAR
Entente Turn 37: December 30, 1916
Winter came early this year (December 1 - 20 is considered "late Fall" in terms of the seasons in this game) and there is a lot more fighting than I have seen in winter turns, at least in the WW1 game. Last move, Old Crow used his Austro-Hungarian heavy artillery and corps to break the convoy line once more from Russia to Serbia along the Serbian/Romanian border. I marshalled my forces from both direction - Romanians and Russians from the east, Serbs and Brits from the west and managed to destroy the 6-strength AH corps blocking the convoy. Still, the Russians and Romanians are strung out along the road that runs to Serbia and if he had greater strength in Transylvania, he could probably disrupt it again.
In Romania, I decided to surround the entrenched Ottoman corps in the fortified town of Rustchuk on the Bulgarian/Romanian border. My understanding is that if a unit is surrounded on all six sides, it ceases to benefit from the defensive bonus of the town - and given that three of my six units are attacking from marsh hexes, I will need some help to destroy it. I also pushed forward with my Russian cavalry and destroyed his 5-strength Bulgarian cavalry corps outside of Varna. This unit had seen great service in Arabia pushing away the partisans from the Hejaz RR.
Killing one Bulgarian unit also helps reduce their chances of surviving the next surrender check (the percentage chance of survival each turn is determined by multiplying the # of surviving units in the country X 6). I deployed my new Romanian artillery piece and moved my heavy artillery units close together to a central position close to Bucharest, so they can fire both north and south next turn.
In Bulgaria, Old Crow decided to retreat from the frontier with Serbia and Greece. I moved up just two Serbian corps which entrenched in front of the retreating Bulgarians. The remainder of my Greek and British units stayed in place to upgrade to Infantry Weapons 2. In Serbia, I kept my line along the norther frontier in front of Nish as strong as possible since I expect continued heavy shelling and counterattacks from the Austro-Hungarian forces along this frontier.
In Italy, I followed up my small attack last turn and destroyed his detachment just north of Caporetto. This allowed me to move one Italian corps up and I now have a two hex frontage to use to press forward to attack towards Klagenfurt.
I had a little fun in the Adriatic since the pre-dreadnought that defected from the Greek navy to Austria-Hungary could not find an open port. My British sub knocked 3 points of its remaining strength and then I sent in one French dreadnought from the force blockading the mouth of the Adriatic to finish it off, for a nice NM bonus for France.
Egypt was quiet - I moved the marine units back towards the front so I can upgrade the two British corps there. The Senussi seem to be heading towards Upper Egypt - for whatever reason, I am not sure.
It was a big turn in Mesopotamia. Old Crow - to my surprise - pulled out the corps that was entrenched in Baghdad and replaced it with a sacrificial detachment. This still proved hard to kill, even after I de-entrenched it with my artillery unit and surrounded it. But eventually I took Baghdad for a 2000 NM hit to Ottoman morale. In the north, I used my heavy bombers again to bomb Mosul this turn, and then sent one of my Russian cavalry to cut the rail line to Mosul, reducing it to (probably) 4 level supply. Having captured Baghdad, Mosul is the only NM objective left in Mesopotamia. At this point, any Ottoman forces defending here are ones he is not using to protect Constantinople, which will be very exposed once Bulgaria surrenders.
The Galicia/Poland/East Prussia front was quiet this turn. I moved my two remaining artillery units together opposite Warsaw to resume the offensive when the freeze ends. I also rebuilt my second line. I am light on command support along this front, having sent one to Kurdistan to supply the forces threatening Mosul. I will have to bring it back soon.
In the Baltic, I managed to extricate my one dreadnought from the port of Arensberg where it has been exposed to his subs firing torpedoes into the port and I moved it back to Helsinki.
There was no action this turn in the North Sea. In the Med, I mauled the long-lost Austro-Hungarian sub that tried to sneak out through the Aegean and bumped into a French destroyer. But it still survived.
There were no diplomatic shifts this turn - despite the fact I had three Russian chits on the USA and he bought three diplomatic chits two turns ago. I may start using British diplomacy on Sweden again next turn, since it seems that he has not invested there - despite my best guess from some turns ago when I last had Russian chits against it.
In terms of investments:
- the UK bought back one killed corps and invested one chit in Armoured Warfare for 2. Most of its MPPs this turn were spent upgrading corps to Infantry Weapons 2.
- France invested 1 chit on Fighter Development (for 3) and 1 chit on Armoured Warfare (for 2). All the rest of its MPPs were spent upgrading corps to Infantry Weapons 2.
- Italy reinforced some damaged units and saved its MPPs
- Serbia saved its MPPs
- the USA invested one chit in Ground Attack Weapons (for 2) and one chit in ASW (for 3).
- Russia is at its tech maximum. They bought a sub and a destroyer and invested two chits on diplomacy with the USA (now at 5).
At the end of the turn, Bulgaria survived its third surrender check. In tech:
- Italy reached Industry Tech 2
- the USA reached Tank Development 1
- the USA reached Armoured Warfare 2
- Russia reached Advanced Subs 1 and Armoured Warfare 2
Winter came early this year (December 1 - 20 is considered "late Fall" in terms of the seasons in this game) and there is a lot more fighting than I have seen in winter turns, at least in the WW1 game. Last move, Old Crow used his Austro-Hungarian heavy artillery and corps to break the convoy line once more from Russia to Serbia along the Serbian/Romanian border. I marshalled my forces from both direction - Romanians and Russians from the east, Serbs and Brits from the west and managed to destroy the 6-strength AH corps blocking the convoy. Still, the Russians and Romanians are strung out along the road that runs to Serbia and if he had greater strength in Transylvania, he could probably disrupt it again.
In Romania, I decided to surround the entrenched Ottoman corps in the fortified town of Rustchuk on the Bulgarian/Romanian border. My understanding is that if a unit is surrounded on all six sides, it ceases to benefit from the defensive bonus of the town - and given that three of my six units are attacking from marsh hexes, I will need some help to destroy it. I also pushed forward with my Russian cavalry and destroyed his 5-strength Bulgarian cavalry corps outside of Varna. This unit had seen great service in Arabia pushing away the partisans from the Hejaz RR.
Killing one Bulgarian unit also helps reduce their chances of surviving the next surrender check (the percentage chance of survival each turn is determined by multiplying the # of surviving units in the country X 6). I deployed my new Romanian artillery piece and moved my heavy artillery units close together to a central position close to Bucharest, so they can fire both north and south next turn.
In Bulgaria, Old Crow decided to retreat from the frontier with Serbia and Greece. I moved up just two Serbian corps which entrenched in front of the retreating Bulgarians. The remainder of my Greek and British units stayed in place to upgrade to Infantry Weapons 2. In Serbia, I kept my line along the norther frontier in front of Nish as strong as possible since I expect continued heavy shelling and counterattacks from the Austro-Hungarian forces along this frontier.
In Italy, I followed up my small attack last turn and destroyed his detachment just north of Caporetto. This allowed me to move one Italian corps up and I now have a two hex frontage to use to press forward to attack towards Klagenfurt.
I had a little fun in the Adriatic since the pre-dreadnought that defected from the Greek navy to Austria-Hungary could not find an open port. My British sub knocked 3 points of its remaining strength and then I sent in one French dreadnought from the force blockading the mouth of the Adriatic to finish it off, for a nice NM bonus for France.
Egypt was quiet - I moved the marine units back towards the front so I can upgrade the two British corps there. The Senussi seem to be heading towards Upper Egypt - for whatever reason, I am not sure.
It was a big turn in Mesopotamia. Old Crow - to my surprise - pulled out the corps that was entrenched in Baghdad and replaced it with a sacrificial detachment. This still proved hard to kill, even after I de-entrenched it with my artillery unit and surrounded it. But eventually I took Baghdad for a 2000 NM hit to Ottoman morale. In the north, I used my heavy bombers again to bomb Mosul this turn, and then sent one of my Russian cavalry to cut the rail line to Mosul, reducing it to (probably) 4 level supply. Having captured Baghdad, Mosul is the only NM objective left in Mesopotamia. At this point, any Ottoman forces defending here are ones he is not using to protect Constantinople, which will be very exposed once Bulgaria surrenders.
The Galicia/Poland/East Prussia front was quiet this turn. I moved my two remaining artillery units together opposite Warsaw to resume the offensive when the freeze ends. I also rebuilt my second line. I am light on command support along this front, having sent one to Kurdistan to supply the forces threatening Mosul. I will have to bring it back soon.
In the Baltic, I managed to extricate my one dreadnought from the port of Arensberg where it has been exposed to his subs firing torpedoes into the port and I moved it back to Helsinki.
There was no action this turn in the North Sea. In the Med, I mauled the long-lost Austro-Hungarian sub that tried to sneak out through the Aegean and bumped into a French destroyer. But it still survived.
There were no diplomatic shifts this turn - despite the fact I had three Russian chits on the USA and he bought three diplomatic chits two turns ago. I may start using British diplomacy on Sweden again next turn, since it seems that he has not invested there - despite my best guess from some turns ago when I last had Russian chits against it.
In terms of investments:
- the UK bought back one killed corps and invested one chit in Armoured Warfare for 2. Most of its MPPs this turn were spent upgrading corps to Infantry Weapons 2.
- France invested 1 chit on Fighter Development (for 3) and 1 chit on Armoured Warfare (for 2). All the rest of its MPPs were spent upgrading corps to Infantry Weapons 2.
- Italy reinforced some damaged units and saved its MPPs
- Serbia saved its MPPs
- the USA invested one chit in Ground Attack Weapons (for 2) and one chit in ASW (for 3).
- Russia is at its tech maximum. They bought a sub and a destroyer and invested two chits on diplomacy with the USA (now at 5).
At the end of the turn, Bulgaria survived its third surrender check. In tech:
- Italy reached Industry Tech 2
- the USA reached Tank Development 1
- the USA reached Armoured Warfare 2
- Russia reached Advanced Subs 1 and Armoured Warfare 2