All submit to Golden Congress! [Random map, 6 AI+, shroud, LIVE]

[Westheim]

I'm starting another AAR, this time live as played, so by the time you read it, you're as clueless as me. [:D]

This time I will try to subjugate the world on a 97% land map, medium settings regarding forests and mountains and so on, I'm hoping for some rough terrain here and there, after I had to play my last game on wide plains surrounded by AIs.

This start looks not too promising though. Forests everywhere around my capital. I moved my SHQ in the only direction where the terrain was clear of woods and ordered production of engineers and trucks in my capitol Downion.

[Westheim]

Turn 3; that's not good. I haven't found anything yet, not even a village. Good news: no opponent either.

[Westheim]

End turn 4; my SHQ found the town of Balbo to the northwest. West of it there are some hills, a lake, and a river. Interesting terrain so far. The 1st Engineer Division will be out of supply range in the very south, which is very empty as well, so I established the I Corps in Downion and subordinated both engineer divisions to it. Production partially switched to some infantry. I also researched SMGs (I play without full first tech level), which could prove more useful in this rough area.

[Westheim]

Turn 7; during the last turn, my 2nd Engineer Division conquered the village of Watertimber in the northeast and my auto-expanding borders showed the city of North a bit southwest of my capitol. I ordered the 1st Engineer Division away from the very south to connect North with Downion via a road. Sent some SMGs to the south, where I spotted two things: a swampy mess and the borders of my first enemy across it. The Third Conglomerate seems to live in the middle of these ugly swamps. God, I'd hate to have to fight down there! In the far north, nothing happened, but I moved my SHQ a bit out of supply range from Balbo and am going to retreat it. To the west there seems to be a long mountain range and rivers as well. Seems like a good defensive line. I wouldn't be too amused about towns or cities on the other side ...

[Westheim]

End of Round 8; my 2nd Engineer Division, who had been building roads into the blue, discovered the lakeside town of Minor Valley. Yay, lucky me. [8D] My borders also expanded to two villages. Bluetimber in the southeast (extrem upper right corner on the picture), and another one in the far north. My 6th SMG Division moved into Third Conglomerate territory to find the city of Central Morning, which is surrounded by a river on five sides and swamp on four. They didn't spot enemies in the city itself, but when they tried to move in, they suddenly ran into two motorized infantry divisions and received a bad beating. [X(] They fled into a forest to the north. I have yet to spot other enemy countries.

I'm a bit torn on what to research. Normally, I'd go for light tanks now and rifle/SMG II, however, tanks don't seem to be too effective on this map. The western half of my realm is heavily wooded and also includes hills and mountains, while the eastern half seems to be more open. Anyway, light tanks cost 18 PP, and I only have 12 now. Maybe I'm forced to make the unusual step of researching armoured cars for 8 PP.

[Westheim]

End of round 9; I ran into a really strange situation now. My I Corps is managing most of the reinforcements and supply, while my SHQ is locked up in the north and tries to establish a connection between the village of Central up there and the rest of my country, like a human connecting two torn copper cables with his bare hands ... I need to do something about it, but right now I can't afford a second subordinate HQ. I started with 22 PP and invested them into new units, machine guns, and armoured cars (for 8 PP per research).

My I Corps moved from Downion to North to be closer to the Third Conglomerate front. I'm concentrating four infantry and two engineer divisions down there right now and try to hold the forests.

The 2nd Engineer Division continues to happily build roads in the northeast. There seems to be a huge lake there that would secure that front for now, but in the long run I would have to fear naval invasions there if more towns are bordering the lake.

[Westheim]

End of round 10; the situation of Central seems to be hopeless. I spotted the expanding borders of the Hindu Movement already last turn, but now they show up in numbers at Central. The 10th Infantry Division in there had only 20 rifles at the start of my turn. I was torn between retreating or reinforcing them, then chose the latter. Central still sends supply to my SHQ, so it's still worth something. Established the II Corps in Balbo, although it won't get reinforcements on its own.

The southern front was quiet. I built some roads there and regrouped my new armoured cars into the 6th Armoured Division.

In the east, my 2nd Engineer Division still is very lonely. They turned south last turn. I'm still hoping for another VP location there.

In the west, my borders expanded to the town of Metallfall Fir. Bad thing is: it's behind the mountain range (what I feared), and virtually all my engineers are busy elsewhere. It's about four hexes south of that crazy terrain west of Balbo.

[Westheim]

End of turn 11; no fighting, just maneuvring. The Hindus moved up about 100 infantry, motorized, at Central, while I have just 30 rifle and 3 machine guns in there. It seems however, they do not have enough recon to see my weakness.

The 2nd Engineer Division in the east discovered the borders of the First Org. They will move west now, maybe towards Metalfall Fir, which is blocked from supply by the mountains. I need more engineers, for the love of god!

The I Corps had a quiet day, and its position is fairly secure. The left flank rests against the swamp and the river, and the right is covered with forest.

General overview map because nothing really happened.

[Westheim]

End of round 12; no fights between turns. The Hindus seem to be really undisclosed about my strength in Central. I still don't have a road connecting it with Balbo. Metalfall Fir is unconnected as well and only brings about 50% supply to the SHQ.

No First Org units visible yet.

The Third Conglomerate retreated from the forests west of Central Morning, which made me attack them. Central Morning's exposed position makes it easy to seal off from the rest of the Conglomerate realm. I've locked down the city with troops of my I Corps, however there is a variety of units in it, including machine guns. I have neither mortars nor artillery nor any airplanes. I invested 8 PPs into the research of mortars now. I created a new III Corps in North as well. It will be fairly small and only protect the western front there. I spotted another town there as well, but it is beyond a river and not reachable right now. [:(] There's another village in the northwest as well.

Bad news about the northeastern lake: it may be not big enough to provide flank protection against the Hindus. It looks like there's a passage leading directly to Watertimber ... I have not a single soldier there.

[Westheim]

End of round 13; no fighting again. I improved my positions in the south and moved the I Corps HQ from North in the direction of Central Morning. Wouldn't it make a nice location for the Corps HQ? For now, I just stuffed the 7th Infantry Division with some mortars, but I don't believe in the attack next turn ...

My borders auto-expanded into a new village (northwest) and town (southwest) and I found another city by the lake in the northeast! My borders will expand there first, but there is not a single unit close to guard it.

General overview map.

[Westheim]

End of round 14; well, I attacked Central Morning with the 6th (Armoured), 7th, and 12th Divisions and took it without major losses. Engineers already connected it to the rest of my country and thanks to it's location inside a swamp and almost completely closed off by a river it won't be attacked that easily again.

The road constructions go on very slowly. Central has been linked up already last turn. The Hindus are up to something. They are pushing forth my borders in the north.

Meanwhile I got Tarminister Hole. It's beyond supply range, so I had to install a new HQ there, the IV Corps. It doesn't have units on its own yet and will have to supply itself out of Tarminister Hole. By the way, I spotted another city in the east, which my borders will include next turn, and which could build up another small corps in the east against the First Org, although the Org has still to be seen there.

[Westheim]

End of round 15; another quiet round. The I Corps moved up to the Third Conglomerate lines. Metalfall Fir was finally connected by road, and North Hardskinstream and Stonebeatleford will be next turn. I could not put up a HQ in Minister in the east yet. I preferred to research light tanks for 18 PPs, and as there is no border to see there I delay it a turn. Minister will build PPs for now and try to send it to my SHQ, although there are five or six hexes of light forest separating it from the nearest road.

Only the Hindus are moving. II Corps will have to be strengthened a bit.

[Westheim]

End of round 16; mostly engineering moves. I have all the western cities connected with my interior lands, now I ordered another road between Stonebeatleford and Metalfall Fir. I feel like I need it.

The V Corps was established in Minister. I spotted borders there now as well as in the far north opposing Tarminister Hole, where I saw borders belonging to the First Army. Still no word from First Org.

Finally, the I Corps puts pressure on the Third Conglomerate. A forward engineer unit was beaten my my 6th (Armoured) and 12th Divisions. I'm also building a lot of roads down there, but haven't crossed the river yet.

[Westheim]

End of round 17; all enemies were quiet again. I don't like that. They are too quiet. [X(]

Did two attacks - first on the Hindus luring around outside of Central. They were driven out with armoured cars, but I spotted more of them some hexes to the west.

Second, I'm pushing into the direction of Balbofield. It seems weakly defended, but I thought that of Central Morning as well. Some costly battles were fought here. The 8th, 14th, and 18th Divisions got a bloody nose on the right wing of I Corps.

The borders in the northeast belong to First Army as well, so I'm facing four neighbours now, but only saw units of two so far.

Production was reduced regarding infantry and other equipment. I want to collect PPs over the next few turns for some costly researches. I still have no artillery, aircraft or any advanced infantry.

[Westheim]

End of round 18; again no attacks by the enemies. Am I that powerful?

Anyway, the next rounds could become interesting. I see a number of First Army units in the northeast, and Hindus are there as well. I don't know whether they're fighting each other right now. These are the IV Corps (pink) and parts of II Corps (blue) there.

In the east, the V Corps spotted the first First Org unit advancing on Minister. I created the new VI Corps in the huge gap between I and V Corps, with the HQ close to Bluetimber. So far the corps only consists of the 5th Engineer and 16th Infantry Divisions borrowed from I Corps.

The I Corps itself advanced to the west again. The 9th Infantry and 23rd Tank Divisions crossed the river to the south of Balbofield. There seems to be more resistance there. They might retreat again next turn to assist the attack on Balbofield.

[Westheim]

End of round 19; I took Balbofield this turn with some losses and also pushed Third Conglomerate units into the rough terrain to the west. The left flank of the I Corps of the river is extremely thinned out and I worry about a counterattack there.

The other fronts saw only maneuvring. It appears that both First Army and First Org are after Minister and that my V Corps is too weak to hold it. On the other hand I spent 38 PPs for Rifle/SMG II this turn.

[Westheim]

End of round 20; the VI Corps was attacked by First Org units, but I only lost five engineers that did scouting duties, which is quite a pathetic use for engineers, I guess. The VI Corps is still to be built up to strength and is currently supported by the SHQ and the I Corps.

Part of my northern front were short on supply this turn, especially the II Corps, but parts of the IV Corps and the few SHQ units as well. I ordered the production of supplies to be raised from ~2,800 per turn to 4,600. Something like that can't be allowed to happen.

The V Corps is still supplied out of Minister. The few engineers I built there are not enough to build a road through the forest fast enough, while First Org units closed the gap between them and the big lake to two hexes. The V Corps is now in high danger to be cut off.

The I Corps launched a successful attack to the south. The 23rd Tank Division is at the gates of Orion, the Third Conglomerate capitol, but has no recon. The 8th Division (with mortars) and the 6th Armoured Division are following. It appears as if the Conglomerate tries to cross the river east of Central Morning, but who could be so stupid to walk through that swamp there?

[Westheim]

End of round 21; there’s only a small corridor left that connects the Minister area with the rest of my country. The VI Corps seems also to be in trouble. The First Org has Medium Tanks II, which are more powerful than anything I have to offer. So far, there’s only one tank there, but this could easily become a problem.

The I Corps has now three divisions at Orion, but nothing to protect their rear. Some other Conglomerate forces are retreating into the mountains west of Balbofield.

There was minor fighting at the II Corps’ front, but the IV Corps spotted heavy fighting between forces of the Hindu Movement and the First Army.

I wonder what is going on in the west. There seems to be nothing there at all. I haven’t seen any units there yet, and in fact my borders are still continuing to auto-expand west of North Hardskinstream and Metalfall Fir.

[Westheim]

End of round 22; the V and VI Corps are under pressure, the V Corps from two sides. But with help from the SHQ subordinated 15th Engineer Division Minister was connected with my country, finally!

The I Corps failed to cut off Orion. I need more troops there, but most of the corps is busy chasing weak enemies in the mountains. The eastern divisions of the I Corps (7th, 20th, 32nd, 36th Infantry Divisions) around Central Morning were regrouped into the new VII Corps.

The IV Corps saw a little action. Hindus and First Army continue to fight over the Hindu village of Rainbackhill, and I could step into the fray. The IV Corps has little room for actions, but the II Corps could step in from the west, since the Hindus around Central have retreated.

[Westheim]

End of round 23; I had researched artillery at the end of the last turn and was now able to put the first two artillery pieces behind the front of the VI Corps, which is currently threatened by increasing amounts of First Org armour. Two infantry divisions (the 33rd and 38th) were beaten between turns. My 30th Tank Division striked back now, but didn't cause much harm among the Org units. The First Army is at the outskirts of Minister. I think I can still hold it, but ultimately the V Corps may have to retreat to the west. Minor fighting on other fronts.

General overview map.