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ORIGINAL: Wurstkommode

I just started playing a random game against Sigizmund and he did a Russia + Balkan first with the second wave of Subs also going after the NM targets of Britain. Is this worth it, as it gets the US economy going early while only slightly damaging the UK one, especially as the UK is not heavily engaged (in my game). Is the calculation different if the UK has to fight in France?

A bit off topic but I hope it is ok. Nice MP AAR, not many of those on the WW1 Forum!

Slight damage??? I'm just a bit confused, because the early unrestricted sub warfare usually hits like a truck. Did he not manage to shut down some convoy routes completely? Appart from the NM damage this is probably the most annoying feature of the opponent going unrestricted.
And yes, damage to the GB economy will be felt much more keenly in a Schlieffen, when british troops are in the thick of it and have to take pressure off France. In a Russia first it means you can send less MPPs over to the Russians, but the immediate effect is not as big.

True, probably the port hast not shut down yet. Can the damage to the port be prevented by having ships next to the subs? I will see how it plays out in the long run.

Only driving the German ships away will prevent the reductions in port strength, because that represents the chaos caused in the ports from having them clogged up with merchant shipping desperate to avoid the German raiders.

With Sigizmund back from the wilderness, the fight continues. Here's the situation in the east in spring 16:

And the corresponding situation in the west:



The fighting has been especially fierce here and both sides lines look like swiss cheese in places due to the massive casualties. Some french Generals even had to plug holes with sabre in hand. But I'd like to take a moment to appreciate the effect of one of the most underestimated units in this game: the airship! The french one in Besancon and its british counterpart in Dover (not in picture) gave me total tactical awareness for the entire battle. In this phase of the game the trenches are so deep that infantery on its own can hardly do anything, so knowing the exact placement of the enemies cannons is absolutely crucial, as it will give you a good idea where his next blows are going to land. Due to the sheer furor teutonicus of Sigizmunds onslaught he managed to do plenty of damage to my second line nevertheless, but without my recon I would have fared FAR worse.
Another thing that helped greately was the Royal Navys shorebombardement in Normandy, which reduced the morale of almost every German unit on the coast to nearly zero. In the end the huns practically gave up approaching my lines directly at the coast.

Further development:
Petain is cursed with bad luck, twice he fails closely to kill a german gun (attempt 1 pictured above), then his (admittedly premature) attempt to recapture Verdun fails miserably. MERDE!
In the east the Austrian diversionary attack out of northern Galicia turns out to not be diversionary at all. General Everts gets surrounded and dies while heriocally defending Invangorod fortress to the last man. блядь!

Emboldened by the Austrians unexpected success (and under pressure due to rapidly declining NM) the CP commits to an all out offensive in the east that has some initial success due to the element of surprise. On a strategic level however I'm very happy with this development as it takes much pressure off my battered France while Russia is in overall great shape and can easily take it. I decide to only delay the Austrians and use Russias ample reserves solely to counterattack the Germans (who have definitely overstreched) with great results:

Meanwhile the Russian navy decides to do a countervisit to the Kaisers shores:





As the germans have already lost half their DDs in previous battles and do not have ASW tech they can't do too much about the 3 Russian subs and the british one that will soon join them. Initially it seems that they are retreating, but as it turns out they chose the Chosin route and just attack in a different direction: a big naval battle in the channel starts and there's even some skirmishing near Scapa Flow.

In the west the Entente uses the break to rebuild and counterattack and finally manages to break through the depleted CP lines:



Also the french aces around Fonck (center bottom) manage to finally down enough huns to max out their XP!

In the east Brussilovs and Yudenichs combined push also breaks through and it proves to be the final nail in the CPs coffin: in September 16 the Kaiser agrees to peace negotiations!

So a fast and furious match comes to its end and despite only lasting 2 years instead of 4 it was no less bloody:



Details for the numbercrunchers:

NM Sep 16:

GB 68%
FR 34%
RU 72%
GER 10%
AH 47%
OE 72%


Losses:

GB 10969
FR 14228
RU 18096
GER 37305
AH 14232
OE 4699
SER 2125

Research:

GB 1480
FR 1920
RU 3110
GER 1730
AH 1620
OE 1500

Wow...this looks like it was a fantastic match between you too. Thanks for doing this AAR.😎

Wow, nice fighting guys!

Thank you very much for the AAR.

I have so many questions though!

Like, how do you defend better against the enemy guns when you know where they are?

How do you find time to build extra subs when the Russians are bleeding?

You seem to concentrate the guns rather than disperse them, thinking there? How does one do Furor teutonicus?

I've always found shore bombardment lacking, and mostly do damage to my own ships. How was it effective here? How and what to think about shore bombardment? Why didnt he just get supply from HQs and other towns?

How do you set up delaying a front as opposed to a fully offensive one?

All those interesting tactical and operational details!

Would love to see more detail about that sort of thing. Perhaps in either of your next games that you make an AAR of? :P

ORIGINAL: OldCrowBalthazor

Wow...this looks like it was a fantastic match between you too. Thanks for doing this AAR.😎

Time for that Oldcrow vs Bavre AAR? [:D]



(Just kidding. Well, not really)

ORIGINAL: AshFall

Wow, nice fighting guys!

Thank you very much for the AAR.

I have so many questions though!

Like, how do you defend better against the enemy guns when you know where they are?

It allowed me to better position my often very meagre second row and evacuate squishy units like HQs and cannons. Was not always 100% possible of course due to the frantic fighting and very low unit reserve.

ORIGINAL: AshFall
How do you find time to build extra subs when the Russians are bleeding?

Russia was not bleeding, Sigizmund only feinted east and did a delayed Schlieffen. Besides Russia gets 3 subs anyway, just takes a while (nr 1 in summer 15) and the GB sub can be brought there via decision.

ORIGINAL: AshFall
You seem to concentrate the guns rather than disperse them, thinking there?

The situation above is not really a scene of perfect planning etc. Everything was very chaotic and I often had to move guns so they were not destroyed and then back in some firing position. This is just how it ended up somehow.

ORIGINAL: AshFall
How does one do Furor teutonicus?

Just a figure of speech. Sigizmund played very aggressively, which caused the above chaos, but also the enormous German losses.

ORIGINAL: AshFall
I've always found shore bombardment lacking, and mostly do damage to my own ships. How was it effective here? How and what to think about shore bombardment? Why didnt he just get supply from HQs and other towns?

I meant the other shore bombardment: If a ship attacks a land unit that is NOT on a structure, it always results in a 0:0 fight, but the ships demoralization is applied on the land unit. Note how in the picture above the Germans do not approach the hex next to my Brits on the beach? That's because every unit that did got its morale reduced by the DNs and most of them died immediately after.
Overall shore bombardement was VERY helpful in this match, not just in Normandy but also the Sinai and the Black Sea coast.

ORIGINAL: AshFall
How do you set up delaying a front as opposed to a fully offensive one?

Highly situational, but I usually determine where his guns are, try to figure out which hex he's going for next and position my units (esp my guns) in a way that I can immediately retake it (and my HQs+guns are not in danger if possible)
Also I try to snipe enemy guns as often as possible.
If you have a lot of room (like in Russia), good trenches and know where his guns are, you can also try to just move out of their range as opposed to taking the entire frontline back one hex.