AustriAAR: An Austria-Hungary-only AAR

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Hi All,

This is a quick-play 1914-start AAR where I'll be controlling only Austria-Hungary with all other countries controlled by the AI. The only time I'll take control of Germany or the other Central Powers is 1) to control convoys (the AI doesn't seem to do this), 2) to control diplomacy (I haven't notice the AI doing this), and 3) to control any units they put on my fronts that are getting in the way.

First-off, the Galician front. My sole goal here is to build a front to hold back the initial Russian advance. I don't think I can hope to achieve anything else here given the Russian preponderance.

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Next-up, the Serbian front. My goal here is to swiftly knock the Serbs out of the war so I can concentrate on other fronts. A lucky left-hook across the Danube destroyed the Belgrade garrison, and I've also made a modest advance into Montenegro. Now I need to weather any Serb counter-attack. German industrial support for Austria is set at maximum so I should have sufficient troops to destroy the Serbs quickly - but then Greece, Italy, Albania, Romania and so-forth may also need dealing with.

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Decisions for turn two - I decide that we need to concentrate on Serbia, and spending 50 MPP to buy 2000 worth of morale (i.e., supporting Galician refugges) seems like a good deal. Meanwhile the UK surprisingly decides to deliver the dreadnought ordered by the Ottomans, which will delay their entry into the war - perhaps this is not such a bad development given the difficulty the Ottomans always have in defending themselves.

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Russian front on turn 2: Tarnpol has fallen, which is a disaster. I'm trying to rebuild the front behind it but this is going to be difficult without the forces of 2nd Army sent to fight in Serbia.

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Turn 2 in Serbia has been a completely different story to that in Galicia: with the additional forces Austria again advanced with a left-hook to capture Kragujevac, outflanking the defence lines that the Serbs were building up south of Belgrade. The road to Nish now lies open...

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Turn 3 in Galicia is still not going well for the forces of Emperor Franz-Josef. Two corps lost trying to hold the line and ever more Russians appear to be coming on to this front. We're really going to need Germans on this front before long as there are little in the way of Austro-Hungarian reinforcements available whilst the battle rages in Serbia.

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Turn 3 in Serbia sees the Serbs shattered along most of the front. In Valjevo they are at risk of being cut off. Austro-Hungarian forces has cut off the line of supply from Russia near Nish. In a calculated risk, forces are advancing in Montenegro to cut off the port of Cattaro as well - it is possible that the Montenegrins may try to cut off the corps that is doing this but worth the risk. Can the Serbs recover?

A brief advance is being made in the Adriatic to mine the entrance - will the British and French respond?

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Turn 4 - It seems the Russians are exhausted for the time being (or distracted by battles with the Germans in East Prussia and Central Poland) as their attacks in Galicia have abated. In local counterattacks Austro-Hungarian forces were able to destroy three Russian infantry corps, thus equalling the count of KuK units lost to the Russians.

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Turn 4 in Serbia brings repeated frustration - at every turn attempts to sever the long Serbian salient have been beaten back. At least the foray into the Adriatic got away without encountering any enemy units.

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Turn 5 in Galicia saw the arrival of substantial reinforcements from our German allies that I put to good use - the destruction of two Russian infantry corps and a cavalry formation. It looks as though the tide is really turning.

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Meanwhile, in Serbia on turn 5, the precarious stalemate continuous - the only movement on my part to capture the mines at Bor. I've deployed one of the reformed formations destroyed in Galicia to this front so we can expect some movement in future.

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Turn 6 - In Galicia the Russians are in retreat, and Tarnopol will soon be back in the hands of the KuK army. However, visions of a general advance north across the neck of the Polish salient are abandoned when it becomes clear that the Russians are still present on this front in considerable numbers on defensive lines around Lutsk.

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Turn 6 in Serbia - Valjevo has fallen with (unexpected) German assistance. KuK forces have also swept about Nish to cut it off from the south prior to besieging the forces trapped there.

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Turn 7 in Galicia - Tarnopol is now back in the Austro-Hungarian hands, and a couple of more Russian formations have been destroyed. A dash about Lodz, and a wild cavalry attack on the garrison there by KuK forces, caused its surprising withdrawal. German units advanced to occupy the city.

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Turn 6 in Serbia - the encircled forces near Valjevo have been destroyed, another Serbian corps severely damaged. However, on the other side of the balance sheet a rash KuK advance to the south ended up being ambushed north of Uskub and badly damaged. Next turn or the turn after should see the fall of Nish - and perhaps the end of Serbia's war?

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Turn 7 in Galicia sees more advances and more Russian units being destroy - but more coming from within Russia's vast interior to replace them. Given Germany's failures in the West (they've only advanced as far as Lille) the focus must switch to knocking the Russians out of the war first, before dealing with the French.

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Turn 7 in Serbia sees further advances by the Central Powers, but no knock-out blows. I have aborted a heavy attack on Nish until Pristina is taken, to give my forces more elbow-room. An advance it planed to fully encircle Cetinje and destroy the garrison there - if Montenegro were knocked out of the war this would be the first Entente country to fall.

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Turn 8 - January 1915 and not much happening on the Galician front, but in Serbia Pristina has finally fallen and the garrison of Uzice has been destroyed. Meanwhile in Montenegro Cetinje comes closer to falling.

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Turn 10 (skipped a turn) - on the Serbian front Cetinje, Pec, and Nish have all fallen - surely this is the end for Serbia? Yet they still seem to be fighting like devils. The Ottomans have entered the war finally (it seems the British were unwise to send them that dreadnought?). Italian war entry is not far off and I am diverting plentiful forces to receive them.

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Turn 10 on the Galician front - Finally some developments to report. Two Russian corps destroyed and a Russian artillery unit badly mauled this turn. Kutno besieged and captured by the Germans.