Serbia first

[boogada]

Ok, I've just started a new game with a special campaign. It's a little what if scenario but it's not that fictional actually. What if Austria had tried to knock out Serbia first? In 1914 the KuK Army first massed against Serbia, but then half of the troops that were deployed in the south were transported back to the northern front. Now what if Austria had tried to fight against Serbia only, leaving only few troops to cover the Russian front? It's not that fictional, because 1914 war was declared between Russia and Austria as late as August 5th, while hostilities with Serbia started one week earlier.

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August 1914 war plans:

Serbia: AH will try to seize Serbia in one turn. So there are actually 4 attacks: 1) The main attack will come from the coast, trying to occupy Scutari first and then turn east to trust deep into Serbian territory aiming at Skopje. Two HQ will be on this attack. 2) The second one is coming from the Bulgarian boarder directed at Nish. 3) A cavalry attack north of the second attack is supporting it. 4) Belgrade will be attacked from the north-west with artillery support.



Russian front:Both central powers have only small forces that the eastern front, trying to cover the important areas from Russian attacks.




Western Front: Having left only few troops in the east, Germany will launch it's attack full scale through Belgium and Luxemburg.

Naval Warfare: All fleets will attack, in the Mediterranean Sea as well as the Atlantic and North Sea.

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August 1914 Battle results:

Naval Warfare: It's starts great for the CP, all naval battles are fine, except in the North Sea British Dreadnoughts are giving my cruiser squadron a hard time. CP control the Atlantic and West Med.

Serbia: The Balkans Campaign is a 100% success! All attacks work the way they were supposed to do. All Serbian cities are sacked with few looses, only one Corp suffers severe damage from an Serbian counter attack. I even start pulling out troops after the initial attacks, noticing that I had too much force assembled there.



Eastern Front: Not much happening, a few Russian troops are advancing into Germany, and start entering Galicia from the East.

Western Front: I can't believe how good that front worked out. My initial attack on Liege was repulsed and I feared the worst, but then Belgian troops retreated and I could seize Antwerp without fighting. 2 Impulses later I had control of the whole country. BEF forces didn't support Belgium, but lined up in France instead.
To cover my attack into Belgium I attacked Verdun and also north and south of Verdun to prevent Frensh counterattacks. My attacks worked so well that I even knocked them out of Verdun! The Western Front is doing fine, I hope that I can keep up with my offensives like that. Casualties were acceptable.



1 turn done, thinks are looking fine with Serbia and Belgium conquered, Turkey has joined my side.

[hjaco]

Good AAR Boogada.

What program are you using to cut images - just microsoft paint ?

[boogada]

Yes just copy and Paint.

[hjaco]

Great. What file format are you using JPG/GIF ?

[boogada]

jpg

[boogada]

Ok next turn:

Naval Warfare: British naval power drives me out of the Atlantic. I still can hold the Med though.

Serbia: The Austro-Hungarian Transport department is trying, but failing miserably. There is no train capacity for the troops, so they just pack their things and start moving slowly to the north...



Eastern Front: I have no idea what the Russians are doing. They seem to appear here and there, but I cannot see a real massive attack. They still come to Galicia from the East and start encircling Lemberg, so I retreat to Przemyśl. Also some troops start invading Prussia, but still no big offensive...



Western Front: I keep pushing to the north-west, I conquer Arras and win the race to the British Channel. Now the troops start turning to the left, coming to Paris from the North, just like Schliefen had planed. But there is still a big Frensh spearhead at the Frensh-Belgium boarder. And there are troops keeping it connected with the Paris region (that army isn't in the picture).

[boogada]

November/December 1914:

Eastern Front: Finally some strategic movement allows Conrad to bring troops to the northern Front. The Russians did not Attack Lemberg, so it can be supplied with new troops. Looks like the Austrian gamble might be successful after all!



Meanwhile the Russians seem to have decided to attack in Prussia for real this time. I will try to defend Königsberg and Danzig as good as I can. Some additional forces have been moved to the East. But the Russian forces are strong and push me out of Danzig quickly, damn!



Western Front: I did not attack in the North right away, but start with a second attack directed at Nancy. The attack fails, while I stand an counter-attack in the North. I realize that I won't be able to conquer Paris before my offensive powers will be exhausted so I turn back to to the south-east and trap the Frensh troops at the Belgium boarder. Where are the BEF? Frensh resistance in the north is rising, but they get weaker in the south.



Turkey: I launch an invasion into Egypt. The British seem to have abandoned France, so I might be able to find them elsewhere.

I hope that I can regroup in the West, there are lot's of troops out there between the Netherlands and Paris. This should also allow me to get troops to the East. And once the Austrian deployment is finished I should try to counter-attack.

[EUBanana]

Don't be afraid to keep hitting the Western Front in areas only lightly fortified. You will inflict as many casualties as you take (at least if you mass troops so you aren't ever outnumbered in an attack, don't send your men into hopeless battles) and France has a serious problem replacing their losses.

ie, attack for attritions sake, if nothing else. You have until mid 1915 to cripple France, if France is still a player after that you'll have serious (though not insurmountable) difficulties.

[boogada]

January February:

Barely any action. I finish the last French resistance at the Belgium boarder and regroup. Also the AH army starts some offensive movements in Galicia to take some pressure off off its ally.

[boogada]

Feb/March 1915

I see that there is only a small garrison in Danzig, so I can recapture the town. I try to push further east to refief Königsberg, but the Russians repell my attack. In the west I can conquer Epinay and repulse French counter attacks. I also take Nancy and looks like there is a hole in the French line now. But my offensive powers are exhausted and I probably won't be able to breaktrough.  The Austrian  army did a little offensive also even successfully but with little overall change. Turkish ships have taken control of the eastern Med.

[boogada]

April/May 1915:

The game freezes during the strategic phase and I've learned a lesson:

Save your goddam game every turn!

 I could go back a few month when I saved last time but it wouldn't be the same.

Now what have I learned: If the AI doesn't attack in the north, it's fairly a good idea to take Serbia out quickly. But you need at least 3 turns until your troops can be used against Russia after that. Also if you are quick and have some luck, you can sack Belgium very easily. And I still have no idea whats up with the Russians. I guess a human player would concentrate at one place and you will be in serious trouble...

[EUBanana]

The Russians dont have very many HQ refits, they can only get so far before stalling.  Also their industry-to-arms ratio is poor, so while they do have a reasonable amount of industrial points to spend, they have to spend a disproportionate amount of what they do have on arms, provided you can keep attrition going against them.

Which means they don't have enough for refits, which means stalemate.

The Eastern Front is more prone to trench warfare than the Western in my experience of this game.  [:D]

[SMK-at-work]

There are 4 auto-save files from various stages of the game - check them out....

[hjaco]

AutosaveNaval is the position before you ended your previous strategy phase i.e. just before you check for naval combat and all that.

[James Ward]

Where do you find the auto saves? When I go to load a saved game the only choices are the ones I made.

[boogada]

Ok I found the savegame and continued in 1915:

May June 1915:

Eastern Front: Austria starts an offensive from the Krakow area without success and heavy looses. The army is now fully assembled against Russia. The Russian drive into Prussia has stopped, looks like theres gonna be some stalmate there.





Western Front: I try to launch my only offensive in the middle of the front, wanting to use the hole in the French defenses, but they attack first. I can repulse the attacks, but my only HQ is still in the north. After regrouping I realize that the French must have transfered many troops to the south, because they built a new front west of Nancy. So I assemble all my remaining troops and my artilary starts shelling the Eifel Tower. German infantry goes in and captures Paris!!! France is weak now.
But: Finally British troops show up in northern France. Right at the time when I don't need them. Also Italy has joined the Entente! I'm walking down the thin red line...

[ejs6263]

Great thread. My normal approach when playing with the CP against the AI is to mass troops north of Belgrade and then another thrust into Scutari and south east in order to take out Serbia by 1915. I usually fight a delaying action against the Russians who tend to make their thrust towards the Carpathians. but stall due to lack of activation points.

In the West, I blow through Belgium taking Luxembourg while maintaining strength in the Alsace region. I find that with the current AI the French tend to fall back towards Paris and that the BEF fails to muster enough strength to prevent the capture of Paris.

In the last couple of CP campaigns I've played I've managed to knock out Serbia by early 1915 and France by late 1915.

PBEM is where this game really excels.

[boogada]

July August:

Western Front: I try to press the BEF against the Channel coast (in a Dunkirk way), I can hold Paris and Rouon. I know that I'm superiour on this front, I have much more troops. They have more shells though. If only I had more HQ's. I know I'm so close to knock out France....



Eastern Front: The Austrian retreat again. Back and forth back and forth in Galicia.



Italy: The Italian take Trent and I have to assemble troops to stop them.

Naval: Combined Italian/French navies give me a hard time in the Med. My Uboats are doing great in the Atlantic.

[boogada]

September/October 1915:

Western Front: Ok I launch my final offensive to finish of France. I choose to trench my troops in the north and attack in the middle of the front at the German/French boarder. French troops are weak and I have a bunch of A class fully equiped troops ready to attack. It takes two turns and I seize Dijon and Epinal. The French army is crushed. I repulse counterattacks in the north. Heavy looses for the Western Allies.



Eastern Front: Quite quiet.

Italy: The Italians still advance, but I've contained them for now. I moved some German troops from the French boarder to support the front.

Caucasus: I'm trying to mass troops to force Russia to deploy troops here too.

Bulgaria has joined the Central Powers, allowing me to sent goods and raw materials from Turkey to Germany! Yes!

[Moltke71]

Fascinating!