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Okay, I've decided to do a you make the choices AAR. Every session I will end by leaving a choice for my next session, I hope a major choice, to the audience. I will abide by the majority decision and try to make each choice an A/B choice. Now I may screw up a lot of things between choices, but those will be on me.

I have just started a new game on a Siwa planet with lots of rain an agreeable to terran agriculture. I have not even made my ascension speech. I have only looked at the initial map screen and initial resources screen. So I've done a map recon but nothing else. And I have already made a decision unless you overrule me. One thing I did look at was rainfall. Rainfall is plentiful. But I've been dumped in an area with virtually no rainfall, including 0 at my capital. That is one consideration.

Here is my plan. I want to immediately attack and quickly conquer the two minors to my west. I take Avalon because it is closest and then turn north and take Torona. Another consideration in doing this is that I don't want to wait to see what the major sitting north of Torona will do.

So there it is and here are your choices:

A. Do it. Attack now. Fortune favors the bold. Or as Andrew Jackson said, "Take time to deliberate; but when the time for action arrives, stop thinking and go in."

B. Don't be rash. Wait 5 turns and then evaluate your situation. Do some recon. Look at your resources. Begin building things up.

If you pick B give me some things I can be doing, based on the limited info you have.

Here are two maps to give you a little info. That is almost all I know, too. I'm going to go eat supper, read a little, watch an episode of The Last Kingdom with my wife, and then see if there are any responses and tally them up. If only one of you responds, then I will do whatever you say.

Part 2. I got no takers on my first offer, though I only took about a two hour break so I'm not surprised. But now I'm about to close out and go to sleep and not get back to the game until tomorrow afternoon, so here is my current situation and a choice.

Meanwhile, I took option A and quickly rolled over Avalon and Torona. That's Phase 1 and 2 on the map. I then explored into non-aligned territory to the north and east Phase 3 and quickly ran into both nomads with bipedal cavalry and mutants. That took place inside the green oval. I fought for about 15 turns with them before defeating them. Meanwhile I was upgrading my supply network and getting mining operations going and trying to build up my zones. I decided to call it a night after eliminating the last mutant unit.

So now what to do next? I still have just my one starting infantry formation, but the militia has been very good to me. I have two mobile militia regiments, one mobile battalion, and one light tank battalion, in addition to two recon battalions I constructed along with a machine gun regiment in each town plus some odd units I picked up along the way. Where do I go?

A. Strike west at Bannershire and Montidor. I have protection relationships with both of them. I have enough recon in each to see that each has at least 10 infantry units. Bannershire is farmers and Montidor is relilgious fanatics.

B. Strike at the Baden Imperium. They are militarists. They are hostile. We have a 32 relationship. Their tech level is 4.54. My tech level is 4.83.

C. Go east into the non aligned territory. I don't have good intel on Picard.

Here is the current map and main screen and my current victory points.

Well, so much for my plans. You know the saying about plans. In this case the plan did not survive the next turn. I got this start of turn message.



So I am at war with the Baden Imperium. I assume my choices are to either prosecute the war or try to end it, and I doubt Baden Imperium (BI) will be interested in that. Considering the profile of BI, I don't see that I have any real choice, however. As I noted early, BI is militaristic. A little more. Fist 80%. Autocracy 59%. Meritocracy/Government 33%.

The qualities listed under Fist are as follows:

Volunteerism
War Lust
Esprit de Corps
Militarized Politics
Fanaticism
Total War Mentality

So I'm fighting Klingons or Vikings, take your pick.

I also have a new zone to manage, the zone being invaded. The invasion is the black arrow, only one unit visible right now. They have 9 militia infantry units, and I think I can form a fairly good defensive line. I also note that BI did not invade with a Fist but with an open hand, so maybe he will move slowly. AFter all, I am still playing on beginner.

By the way, I only asked them if they wanted my protection because I had the card and to see what would happen. Just an experiment. My last full game, Redwolf, no minor ever wanted my protection. I wondered if BI might invade them, but I didn't expect it to happen so soon. And I didn't know that I would absorb them if they were invaded. OR does that happen every time? I will have to look that up.

Anyway, here is my plan. I will mass and attack directly into BI with an immediate objective of capturing Baden. If I accomplish that, that should relieve the pressure on Montidor. That's the green arrow.

I also have to look at my new zone and see how this effects my overall economy.

My next report will be after that operation is over.

I think you better start preparing for Halkan. Have you been monitoring their growth?

ORIGINAL: Malevolence

I think you better start preparing for Halkan. Have you been monitoring their growth?

Yes. I don't know much about them though. I used up my spies for now in the immediate area. I hope to be able to defeat BI quickly. That might be a fantasy, but that is my hope. And I need to get more info on those guys to the east. The Regime is Primesso, and at the start of the turn they were 2nd behind me in victory points.

The game is based on WW2, the source of power is the city. Capture the cities as soon as possible. In terms of your forces' objectives, ignore everything else. For example, destroy enemy units only as necessary.

At this point in time, the game's AI fails to construct new Truck Stations/Cities as zone's capital is seriously threatened. Remaining enemy units starve in 1-4 turns.

Update before turning in. Here is the current situation. I just took the city of Baden from the Baden Imperium. They appear to have just one town left. I intend to press forward and take it.

It has been a roller coaster.

First I annexed Bannershire aka Tomlinson. I tried the you are for us or against us card, and it worked. They have lots of militia units.

Then suddenly Orlfort decided to go to war while BI was pressing an attack on Montodor aka Rochac. But I settled that diplomatically. For a turn or two I had BI pressing Rochac from the north and Orlfort from the south. BUt I brought most of my new militia units in Tomlinson to the border and asked for peace and Orlfort politely accepted.

Then I took Baden from BI.

I also negotiated peace with Primafel. Our relationship continues to improve. So maybe I have that solved.

The sticky part was my new zone of Montodor/Rochac. I found I had no logistics there because I had no connection with 1st SHQ. I thought maybe putting a new SHQ there would solve that. It didn't. I still needed a connection with 1st SHQ. No supply no ability to build anything. Now I have a long road connection and am building a Transport Hub in Tomlinson. And now I'm not sure is the 2nd SHQ is needed. I will have to sort all that out in the coming turns.

So the goal is to finish the war with BI and attempt to absorb those three peaceful minors on my eastern border.

In terms of resources, production, logistics, etc., S-2 is like having a separate regime. It should have a group of zones assigned. Units and assets within the those zones, use S-2 as their resource hub.

Making peace with a strong neighbor can provide a respite, but you could also be ceding the game victory to them. Assume war is inevitable and prepare a way to break the peace without turning your regime's happiness against you. For example, make a protectorate of a minor in their path. Contain large, aggressive regimes.

Aargh that I only now just discover this! Read the first post, very ready to suggest A, but then saw it got posted yesterday

Second post: I'd have said B. And make sure indeed to touch the sea for water income but it seems you got that.

And yay you got B

Also, didn't know protection worked that way, that's really cool

Would indeed, had you offered a choice there, said to rush for Baden city.

Ok and now I've read up. Seems you stopped offering choices, if you ever do this again send me a PM

It's interesting and you did what I would have voted for anyway

ORIGINAL: Malevolence

In terms of resources, production, logistics, etc., S-2 is like having a separate regime. It should have a group of zones assigned. Units and assets within the those zones, use S-2 as their resource hub.

Making peace with a strong neighbor can provide a respite, but you could also be ceding the game victory to them. Assume war is inevitable and prepare a way to break the peace without turning your regime's happiness against you. For example, make a protectorate of a minor in their path. Contain large, aggressive regimes.

Thanks for the comments. I created a second SHQ in my last game, see Redwolf AAR. So I do know how to create one. I just am not sure I need one in this case. Still debating that with myself and haven't gotten back to the actual game. I created S-2 just as a way to try to get a log system set up in the one zone when it was isolated, and now it is no longer isolated.

And, yes, I'm working on trying to make Picard a protectorate. I hope to win my war with BI before I have to take on anyone else. I know that with I must "trust but verify" virtually every turn with the major I'm at peace with.

It is also interesting to see things play out in this game that didn't play out in my first long game. I won't go into detail, but the variety of events that can happen keeps surprising me. I will give one example I haven't mentioned. I got rid of one governor I was having problems with and who had very low support for me by playing a referendum card. She lost the referendum and I was able to appoint a new governor. I never saw a referendum card in my first game. Nice.

Quick update. I have just taken Costello and the Biden Imperium has no cities. They still have units. I was fortunate to be able to use a Hellraiser one-time use tactical nuke or whatever that thing is to quickly take the city with a direct assault from one hex rather than having to work my way to a multi-hex assault. There have been no other major changes. I have worked out my logistical problems and now have a network that goes through the formerly isolated zone of Rochac. I disbanded my 2nd SHQ. I had a food shortage and spent several turns doing a lot of selling to buy enough food to get by, but I have now created enough agricultural production to run a surplus. Here is a look at the strategic screen.

Nightly update and a choice. I've spent time tonight just finishing up the campaign against the Baden Imperium. I now have all but a few hexes of its land and just destroyed what I think might be its last military unit. I've also been setting up improve my economy and fine tuning my logistics. I should have a more interesting report tomorrow because I have to decide what to do after I finish the cleanup of the BI.

Meanwhile, what do I do next? Sachsen to my east is at war with the three minors between me and them, though their advance is very sluggish. Halkan is now at war with Picard. I have a non-aggression pact with Halkan and excellent relations. About 90% of my army is in the east in the area north of Castello now. Sachsen has the stronger army of the two remaining majors, based on my intel, though it isn't acting very rapidly against the three minors between us.

I do have one problem that takes a lot of resources. My capitol, Faulttop, is on the west side of a mountain range that extends the entire length of my territory from south the north. I need to build two hexes of railroad to connect the rest of my zones to S-1. That will cost me about 9300 in metal and IP. I will be able to build the first hex next turn, but it will take me about 7 turns to build up metal and IP to build the second hex. Maybe I should have considered that when making my first expansions and should have gone east rather than west, but that is water under the bridge. But I think, based on my war with the Baden Imperium, that I can pursue A or B before completing the rail network. Going further north takes me further and further from my SHQ.

Should I

A. Attack the three minors to the east, Quartzcon, Platespring, and Orlfort, in preparation for a war with Sachsen?

B. Go west. Take Picard and prepare for war with Halkan.

C. Strike north and absorb Neopeak, Reunion, Albion, and Aurora.

Update turn 70. Once again my plans were changed. I finished wiping the Baden Imperium from the face of the Sociris Rising. To celebrate I changed the name of Baden Zone to Triumph. I extended my rail network from Faulttop to Triumph and continued growing my logistics capacity.

But just as I was deciding which way to turn next, the choices I had offered above, the minor power Reunion to my north decided it would move southward into my newly liberated land. So I turned my 1st MG Infantry Brigade northward along with a horde of assorted militia and independent unit to punish Reunion and unite it with my nation. That leads me to the possibility of doing even more expansion to the north with the unaligned territory and the other minors in that region.

Meanwhile my relations with the two remaining powers, the Sachsen Reich and Primesso, have worsened. But they are occupied in their own wars. They appear to have had a war with each other while I was otherwise occupied, because their borders with each other have changed. Right now, however, Primesso (Halkan) continues a war with Picard, while the Sachsen Reich is at war with every minor power to its east.

Victory Overview
Molon Labe - 29.8
Sachsen Reich - 17.6
Primesso - 17.2

Here is a view of my current supply lines in their entirety at turn 70. Faulttop where my SHQ is located is circle red. My force in the far north is well supplied and all green for the moment despite my delay in getting rail established because it cost so many IPs and metal points because it is on the wrong side of a mountain range. Maybe I should have started moving east from the start instead of west, but there was already a road across the mountains, and I didn't think of the cost of upgrading to rail at the start of the game. Regardless, my forces are well supplied, with trucks moving from Castello, my northernmost city.

BULLETIN

SACHREN REICH HAS VIOLATED OUR BORDERS AND DECLARED WAR ON US!

Just as I was finished my conquest of Reunion and mopping up some adjacent non-aligned lands, the Sachren Reich declared war. They are in an interesting situation, because they are also at war with all four of the minors along my western border: Neopeak, Quartzcon, Platespring, Orlfort, and some non-aligned territory. Those have served as a buffer between us, but now it appears that buffer has been breached. At first glance it appears they may be trying to make a quick move on Castello and Rochac, but it appears there is little power behind their moves. I need more intel there.

My immediate plan is to move the 1st Division (I had to type the name on the map because it didn't show up, possibly because of the clutter in that area, but it is definitely there) south to protect Castello and the 2nd Division west to protect Rochac. I also have several independent militia units in Castello and Rochac, so I can move a couple of those into Sachren Reich territory to see just where they aren. I will also raise at least two more formations this turn, including possibly my first armored formation, and then try to get a better handle on what the Sachren Reich is actually trying to do.

Meawhile Primesso aka Halkan remains engaged in its long, slow war with Picard, and I hope they remain so engaged.

Another update after this situation develops.

Turn 90 situation report. I am playing at beginner level.



The war with the Sachsen Reich now stretches nearly the length of the map vertically. The Reich conquered two of the bigger minors, Quartzcon, and Platespring, opening up the entire middle of the map for them to attack me. I have raised as many new formations as I can for now, and have attempted to stabilize the front and have had some success in advancing against the Reich.

I am also attempting to take pressure off Orlfort in the south and Neopeak in the north. The Reich had a large force adjacent to Neopeak city when I counterattacked in the north. My attack caused the Reich to move units against me, so Neopeak lives for now. I still feel weak in the north and need to get more units into that gap between the 8th and 6th Infantry.

In the center I am advancing to try to take Quartzcon with a concentric attack and think I may be able to do that in 3-5 turns.

In the south I attempted a quick attack with my only armored formation on that front, but it failed. I'm moving up the new 4th Infantry to replace the 1st Lt Tank, and think I will move the tanks northward to attempt a penetration south of Quartzcon, or at least to occupy the Reich AI with the attempt.

In the east I have been shamelessly trying to appease Halkan/Primesso with money, and so far they have remained peaceful. I have also moved three formations close but not too close to Halkan to perhaps show their AI that I am not weak. I never quite know what the AI is thinking, so that may be a useless gesture, but I need those units there anyway in case they decide to go to war with me.

My biggest moves, though, have been with the minors in the north, Jupiter and Albion. I convinced both of them to unite with me, and as you can see they have a lot of units. Jupiter is all infantry, but Albion has a couple of tank units. I have just connected my road network with those two new zones last turn, so I haven't taken a good look at what that has done to my logistics yet. My rail network extends all the way from my capitol Faulttop to Reunion in the north. I am also working to bring Aurora into the fold and to scoop up the large non-aligned area between Aurora and Jupiter. So far Aurora has resisted my proposals.

That may give me enough points to win, or at least get me really close. Right now I'm at 44.2 victory points (49.2/39.1). Sachsen Reich is at 25.2 (24/26.4). And Primesso is at 19.4 (16.6/22.1). Incorporating Aurora and that non-aligned area would get me close to 50. Perhaps retaking Quartzcon might be needed.

That is the plan, and I hope that Primesso will stay peaceful.

One thing about minor diplomacy is that I can't make agreements with Orlfort and Neopeak while they are at war. It would seem they might want to ally or even unify with me, but I had no agreements with them when the Reich went to war with them. So now I can't make agreements with them because they are at war with another power. I'm not sure of the logic of that, but perhaps it is just a game balancing feature. I have tried to help them because I want them to stay alive but have avoided attacking them to take any of their land while they are fighting against the Reich and securing my northern and southern flanks. But I may need to do that to get over 50 to get a win.

So that is the situation.

Bottleneck overlay, turn 90, back to the game. After opening that long road to my new zones of Albion and Jupiter. It looks better than I thought it would, but I have to work to get better supply to my units fighting the Reich. Playing 1.04, no beta.

Turn 103. I am master of Sociris Rising. In the end it was diplomacy, insurgency, and a slog through the wastelands of Quartzcon that did it. Plus playing on beginner level.

The Sachsen Reich was a tough nut to crack. In fact, they never did crack. Unlike my first AAR, where I won by conquering a major power, I never could get a decisive advantage on the Reich. Every offensive I attempted, they countered. I could gain local advantages, but every time I attempted a real breakthrough, they countered it and brought up enough units to stop me. So it turned into a slog.

The decisive moment was on the western front was taking Quartzcon, which was one of the objectives I posted at turn 90. I used two infantry formations, and independent units including some medium and heavy tank brigades that I started building. That combination was effective. But it wasn't enough to win the game. It got me to about 48 victory score.

I also tried an insurgency strategy against the Reich. For the last dozen turns of the game I played the Call to Rebellion I stratagem on them. I don't know exactly how effective it was, but you can see several Sachsen Rebel pockets opening up inside the Reich on the map. It must have been at least somewhat effective. I ended up fighting one of the rebel pockets, because it ended up on my flank as I slogged forward, and I started picking off some of their territory to try to build my score.

One scary moment was when Neopeak in the north suddenly fell, and I had nothing in the far north along that border. The Reich made a move along the border, but not in strength, and I was able to counter it with a couple of indendent units, and they broke off the advance as I put pressure on Neopeak. I was at the gates of Neopeak when the game ended.

The gap in my lines in the center may seem ominous, but there are mountains and forest there, though I was planning on bringing a couple of units there to prevent a possible small breakthrough.

I also noticed the Reich did a withdrawal of one hex all along the Quartzcon front a couple of turns before the game ended. I had a lot of strong units there, and it was interesting to see that organized withdrawal. In 250 or so total turns, I don't think I've seen the AI do that. It felt almost like a real player. As I've noted, the Reich really fought well on the defensive, and made enough offensive thrusts to keep me alert.

But diplomacywas what finally won the game. In the north, after getting Albion and Jupiter to unite with me, I spent the rest of the game securing all the non-aligned territory and trying to get Aurora to unite with me. They were very, very stubborn. I did a whole series of failed rolls in offering protection. Three different times they were so angry they went to war with me the next turn, but they also accepted peace on the same turn. I even considered replacing my Foreign Affairs Council director, but I found I had no one with better stats than him. Finally, finally, on turn 101, they agreed to my offer of protection, and the next turn, 102, they agreed to unification. That put me at 51 and gave me the win at the start of turn 103.

Likewise, I kept paying Primesso/Halikan, and they stayed hostile but with a high relationship and never jumped, and at some point in the last 13 turns they went to war with the Reich. I did not notice the exact turn. That also obviously helped me.

I also had a contingency plan ready in case Aurora never agreed to unite with me, and I was moving two formations into position to execute it in the next few turns. That was to invade Primesso in the general direction of Picard and south of Picard and attempt to grab enough land to put me over 50. I planned on doing that if I reached 49 and nothing else had changed on the Sachsen Reich front.

Final score:

Molon Labe 51.6 56.9/46.2
Sachsen Reich 23.2 22.3/24.2
Primesso 21.4 17.4 25.4

Final troop totals are interesting:

SR 191.5k
P 168.8k
ML 160.4k

Tanks also interesting:

P 2930
ML 2860
SR 1890

I also sustained more casualties than either of the other two, but I think that was because I was mainly on the offensive the last 20+ turns. I'm almost embarassed to post this.

Casualties sustained

ML 56.9k
SR 35.9k
P 31.4k

Casualties inflicted

SR 116.9k
ML 69.1k
P 42.0k

Obviously I did a poor job operationally. I will have to think about that.



So thus ends my Molon Labe AAR. I hope it helps someone.

I won't do another until after the next update. My plan for my next AAR is a more personal focus telling the story of the game through the eyes of my starting operational headquarters commander in a more narrative form, as I will start with one formation. That might be fun.