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It's now T6 in my game with my new friend Visp and he and I have just started playing this fabulous scenario. I've circled Visp's forces in red circles and my positions in blue.

There are TO's to convert the forces that come from that city to either my side ( empire ) or Visp's side ( leftists ) depending on Elmer's whim. In this turn you can see the four candidate cities that I have to choose from. If they all cast their lot with the leftists then I'm afraid I may be doomed. I would have to evacuate all my forces to the island I own in the south center, dig in fortify, and try to hold onto what I have left.

If all four of the cities cast their lot with my side then I dare say that Visp may have to evacuate HIS forces to HIS island in the southeast.

If they split 50-50 then depending on which side spawns where this could turn into an interesting game. I have no idea what I'm going to have to do until the cities stipulate.

I have the choice to NOT choose any of the TO's and just try to drive one of my units into the city in question and hope for the best. I'm not sure I can get one of my units to arrive at Yusun Bulak before Visp get's one of his to get there first. So I can almost count that one surely one of Visp's cities and plan accordingly. In fact he could arrive at either or both of the northern candidate cities before I can get there so I'd best choose the TO's corresponding to those two northern cities on the off chance that they will decide to back my side. The two on the southern end of the continent are close enough that I might just be able to drive one of my units to it fairly quickly so I think maybe I should ignore the TO's corresponding to those two cities.

And there is the problem of what to do about the enemy island close to mine which also has an enemy force to the NW that are close enough to bomb my units with his aircraft. I'd best park my naval units close to my island just in case he tries something kinetic.

Visp has invaded my island and has attacked one of my arty units. I need to deal with this situation immediately before it gets worse. I'm pretty sure he's going to do some follow up and I need to plan accordingly. I need to move some of my ships to that zone to isolate the infection.

I moved all the nearby ships and formed two stacks to block that port to (1) prevent the escape of any enemy units and to (2) prevent the introduction of any more enemy units to my island. Fortunately I just happened to have 2 BB's within range of the nearby airfield which just happened to have some enemy aircraft parked there. I killed a significantly large group of enemy aircraft with that one bombardment strike. I used the other stack, the southernmost one, which were all R1 ships to strike the enemy unit(s) that were parked on the port hex, invisible to me, to bombard the seemingly empty hex and got hits on a handful of enemy equipment.

Now it's T8 and this is an image from just after the watching the playback. I see where Visp has moved one of his units, the 2nd of the 776 Recon Bde ( 4-4 ), to the west threatening one of my units, the 3rd Inf Bde (18-25 ), parked on the port at Ouahigouya. I have some units headed NE to save the 3rd Inf Bde but it seems that that Bde is powerful enough to deal with the enemy recon unit all by itself which means that I intend to attack it sometime during this turn. To the SW you can see that I have also moved some aircraft to the airfield there to help out in the ensueing attacks that might occur. I have the bombers on INT and the fighter unit there on AS. I should count myself fortunate that Visp didn't use his moving unit to drop either of the two bridges he had to traverse to arrive where he is now. I believe I would have dropped the bridges as I moved just to irritate the Empire. Dropping bridges would have become the single mission of any enemy units that survived long enough to reach one. That and holding the port as long as possible.

I expect Visp to move some of his aircraft within range of his survivors so as to provide whatever support they might be able to lend. I also need to be ready to defend myself from any naval SURFACE_TF's he might send to this AO

This event is proof enough to convince me that I really DO need to do something about the enemy island to my east. I need to start pounding the defenders of his ports and get my units to garrison my ports and use the rest of them to get a foothold on his island somewhere on the west end of his island within range of my eastmost airfields. He has two ports on the west end of his island that I might use for entry and one of them is Tenkodogo which has a light bomber and one Inf company. I can push my way ashore I do believe.

Here's a study of that enemy island to my east, Kongwa Island and you can see that it is seemingly sparcely populated. Depending on what else is present on the island I should be able to take it over rather quickly depending on what I have available to move via sea this turn. I have 126/500 sea cap. because I already have the 2nd Marine DB ( 13-11 ) afloat ( in the southernmost stack of ships ). I have annotated the image so that you can get an idea of what is where. The bottom of the image is another cut and paste of a zoomed out view so you can get a taste of what possibilities there are for his side.

There was a naval battle that took place wherein I lost 22 DD's 8 CA's, 2 BB's, 2 Bombers, and 33 Skua's (fighter bomber).

Here's this turn's TO's and the two new cities that are available to activate are cities that are near places where I have units nearby that I can use to drive to those places and thereby convert them so I'm going to chose no TO's at this time.

We had a small scurmish in two separate places in T10.

Damn, that naval battle was savage; will you be able to recover, or are the losses big enough to force you into defense in the naval theater?

Leftist's naval invasion seemed poorly planned. Hail mary to get your artillery, or is he trying to lure you into your own naval invasion instead of committing forces elsewhere? A feint, maybe.

It's now T14 and There's a major war going on along the north shore of my island and I'm not sure who is winning yet. If I were to guess what Visp's losses are I would guess moderate to heavy. But on the main continent Visp is kicking my butt.

And about the naval battle: Visp kicked my butt and sank a lot of my major ships. His navy is now dominate and I'm hiding in port mostly. At least parked in a port they will be repairing slowly. I'm not sure what his supply situation is but mine is excellent. I'm cautiously optimistic that I can clear my island from invaders but he's been shipping men and equipment into the NE-most port and reinforcing his toehold. So it'll likely take quite a while to rid him from my island, if it's possible at all.

Here's what's going on in a zoomed out view. Visp is kicking my butt on the main continent and I'm having to back up slowly, retreating to the north

StuccoFresco wrote: Mon Mar 21, 2022 8:01 am Damn, that naval battle was savage; will you be able to recover, or are the losses big enough to force you into defense in the naval theater?

Leftist's naval invasion seemed poorly planned. Hail mary to get your artillery, or is he trying to lure you into your own naval invasion instead of committing forces elsewhere? A feint, maybe.

Short Answer from the Leftist Player: Absolutely Larry will be forced into the defensive, and no it was not a feint in the initial phase. I counted his losses and my own, and they are extreme differences. Currently much of his fleet is blockaded in a port city on Southeast Kongwa Island. Given I have outnumber him at sea and on the island itself for now, it seems only time before they suffer the same fate as a DD flotillas which was in the south port on Kongwa island: expulsion and destruction by a locally far superior Leftist fleet. I was hoping to delay his Pangani armies, which are on an island, from entering the fight on the main continent. The cost is likely going to be two armies and their respective cities (Chunya and Kongwa) for two (Mwadui and Bayan Khongor). See more below:

Fun seeing the mistakes I've made - and some of the glorious moments come to fruition. Me and larry might continue this game - or more likely move over to the v9 of the scenario since we both encountered issues with naval bombers and the concept of more maneuver coastal defence units is appealing.

What happened was Kongwa city joined the Leftists, bolstering the army of Chunya (island to the east) which had been hesitant to make any major moves given overwhelming Imperialist forces in the region. To give you an idea of how bad it is, Larry could field up to 3 armies just from his capital on Pangani. Then he also had an Imperialist fleet from Tszaq (northeast city in desert), battlefleet from Pangani, and an Imperial fleet from Manyoni (city to the north of Kongwa and Chunya). In short, a full blown battlefleet and then the destroyer and cruiser flotillas from 2 additional cities. Not to mention the marines and air force of Manyoni, Pangani, and Tszaq all in the region. At one point I counted he had 6 battleships active in his battlefleet compared to my 4 (when they finally joined into the fight with the cruiser/destroyer flotillas of Chunya and Kongwa.)

With Kongwa city joining in, I immediately made moves west, southwest and south to try and secure some ports and blow the bridges. I further sent troops from Chunya but this was an incredible mistake in my opinion. I dearly miscalculated with how quickly he'd push up troops from the west, and further miscalculated with how fast I'd be surrounded. There was one turn, for example, in particular I should have blown a bridge and moved back but refused to - and in turn lost 2 brigades as a result. If I had to redo my response: Evacuate Kongwa army to Kongwa island, while sending divide my recon troops out to blow the rail lines. Likely suicidal but it would delay them. Maybe also leave a marine regiment or brigade in the city.

The naval action was ... interesting. Long story short, I gathered up the fleets of Chunya, Kongwa, and Songea and then moved in to attack his slightly dispersed task forces which were bombing the **** out of me in the city. It worked because he was dispersed (but also has left with me an incredibly fear of dispersing my own naval units given how badly a deathstack action can occur). It doesn't end there however, and certainly not better for the Imperialists (larry).

I ended up retreating, briefly, my Chunya/Kongwa/Songea flotilla to an island to repair and rest. After a turn or two, I linked them up with my own battlefleet from my capital and managed to secure some further decisive engagements. Currently? I have pinned what I believe to be the vast majority of Larry's fleet into the port city on the southwest of Kongwa Island.

Effectively, if you take what I can see and know and what Larry has said and told me before, I currently hold almost sole naval dominion. In practice, I'm only blockading a few ports and just trying to wipe out his fleet so I can begin to disperse even more while maintaining a core fleet (or two) to respond to any blockades which are assaulted/broken.

As for the city of Kongwa however? It was always utterly doomed, but its addition to the Leftist cause was a welcome one as Chunya. While its loss was certain, losing tens of thousands of leftist men and material trying to stall for time on the continent was not necessary. This is my biggest blunder by far and, while likely helpful in some ways in preventing an incredible mass of Imperialist troops on the continent, there is no doubt in my mind it will cause issues later. I won't discuss it too much in detail but... while not a 100% loss... its pretty close up there.

In retrospect? I should have evacuated the army of Kongwa to the Island of Kongwa (island to the direct east) and begun fortifying my Chunya island further while using the navy to wreak havoc. Instead, I got cocky and, effectively, that region would become a pain in the long term.

In the current situation, it looks like a trade of cities. I'm pincering the cities in the west with overwhelming amount of troops. Meanwhile, I'll lose Kongwa and possibly Chunya as well.

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On the other end of things, I experienced the same panic and joy Larry felt. I'll start with:

Turn 10
This was a particularly eventful turn.

Several hundred miles south of my capital (and possibly the closest city to my capital), Bayan Khongor renounced its neutrality and joined the Imperialists at the very same time the Leftist 6th Armored Bgd and 3rd Scout Rgt had been securing the city and outskirts.

Meanwhile, the Songea and Mwadui front erupted into violence with days of artillery shelling and bombing.

The city of Bayan Khongor currently lies mostly ruins after the 6. Armor Bgd there put up a valiant, and relatively successful, defense before blowing up the bridge in the middle of the city and falling back. On their heels, arrived the 1st and 5th Infantry Brigades to shore up a slow holding action. For a time there was a real concern the capital city was under direct threat and troops currently securing/moving towards non-aligned cities needed to be recalled. Then the Leftist Reservist Army and 14th Army activated

In the subsequent roughly 2 weeks (hitting now roughly Turn 15), the 14th Army and the Reserve Army arrived via rail to bolster the already three infantry brigades and the 6. Armor which had been holding position around hundred fifty miles northwest from the city. already near the city in the west. To the southeast, Leftist recon cleared rails. To the east, the IV Corps was re-routed from its and begins advancing at fast pace towards the city. Much like I experienced in Kongwa, Larry's Imperialists in the city and region of Bayan Khongor are swiftly being flanked, facing heavy assault, and swamped through the sheer numbers of troops a capital city and put out.

(Start of) Leftist Turn 15:





There's a supply depot southeast of Mwadui, so eventually I'd have to take that as well but the gist of the idea of what needs to be done is there. And the resources are certainly there to do it. Each city, barring capitals, comes with around one army. Thus... Unless another city somehow got involved, both of those cities are fighting on incredibly bad terms operationally. On the frontlines, they aren't too bad off frankly (mainly speaking about Mwadui here), but both are regionally about to feel some pain.

As for T15 itself, in the Mwadui and Bayan theatres at least, things progress smoothly.

At Geita: The Geita army moves quickly south to pincer Mwadui and caught out (what I hope beyond hope is a Mwadui) Imperialist HQ unit. If they are the Mwadui HQ... we are in a incredibly fantastic situation. If it is a Pangani HQ... things are going to get nasty.

At the Songea/Mwadui Front: Minor maneuvering. Engineer unit runs rampant and, frankly, I don't think Larry has any available units barring the ones guarding his provincial capital there, on the frontline, or the ones hundreds of miles away facing off the storm that is the Leftist Geita army.

At Bayan Khongor: The arrows denote relative movement paths. It looks like I'm about to encircle the vast majority of the Imperialist forces in the region north and west of the city. Even assuming I get held off (I'm not. I'm actively winning engagements and badly hurting Imperialist brigades even without sizeable prior artillery barrage), there are further units incoming from the east or available to arrive via rail including Commandoes and infantry.

(No Pictures - Nothing of true interest beyond what is obviously going to occur)
At Kongwa: Imperialist forces seize Kongwa city. Leftist Command failed to properly screen the city while at the same time trying to retreat the battlegroups to the southwest. Leftist Armor, Motorized, and Marines launched a suicidal assault on the Armor brigade in the city but failed to dislodge them. Tens of thousands of Leftist troops are expected to be captured or killed in the ensuing last stands. A dark week for Leftist command but illuminated by the Mwadui and Bayan Khongor situation and, in the incredibly distant northeast, the joining of Undur Khan to the Leftist cause. This last tidbit is particularly important because these troops will be necessary to stave off Imperialist forces moving west from the desert coastal cities in the east.

Naval Situation? Incredibly good, especially compared to the losses inflicted on the Imperialists but still Leftist command is wary. The more you have, the more you have to lose. The last thing I'd wish to do is call it early and think I had local naval supremacy and then suddenly a few Imperialist flotillas arrive and blast my dispersed fleet back to the stone age.

Rhinobones has developed a v09 version of the scenario and these are the changes he's been making so far:

Changes in v09
1. Units that were previously divided have been recombined.
2. Additional maneuver units added to home city Naval HQ formations
3. A second aircraft carrier added to CV units

Changes in v08
1. Major city units (land, aircraft) – Reconstitute, Fixed Point Entry, Replacement Priority High
2. Minor city units (infantry only) - Reconstitute, Reenter at designated Reentry Point, Replacement Priority Normal
3. Volunteer units – Do Not Reconstitute, Replacement Priority Low

And there were so many changes that we thought that it might be prudent to test it instead of using v08.

So we restarted and this is the setup so far:

Here's the TO's for T4. I'm going to choose Kongwa this time.

very nice new map Larry, perhaps is it Cabido mod map with a new tone for the "clear/open" hexes to avoid excessive light reflection?

Imperialist Player (Situation roughly at around Turn 8)

Battle lines are drawn, and war begins as the vile leftists rebel against their God and Empire. Much like their name, the battle lines are likely well drawn and clear. The Leftists will likely own much of the West and the vast plains and military and civil supply depots and regional reinforcement centers therein. The Imperialists, likewise, hold sympathetic ties in much of the East. Between them lie oceans and mountain range alike.

It is clear the Leftists, the rot within the Empire, had been planning this for some time. Already Liwate, Geita, Pangani, Yusun Bulak, and Manyoni have rebelled. Meanwhile, only Chunya, Manyoni, and Dalan Dzadagad have declared allegiance to the Empire. Worse still, Imperial rail, air, and marine, came on roughly later than the rebel equivalents. Hopefully Tszaq or Bukoba will declare allegiance within the week... but the Imperial High Command is grim given the reports of Leftist Armor columns closing on the city and Yusun Bulak casting off the cloak of Imperial loyalty.

All over the hemisphere, troops are gathered and equipment begins rolling. At Chunya, Imperialist forces rally and march to war. On Pangani, the traitorous island and city to its west, Leftist movements are spotted heading to the as-of-yet neutral city of Kongwa. Imperialist command surely expects the island to fall - barring a miracle. Kongwa island however is secured by Imperial forces. At Tszaq Imperialist troops secure the city and outskirts, allowing for safe transition of the city to open Imperial allegiance if they prove cooperative. At Liwate, Leftist troops activate as the city throws away its cloak of loyalty for the tattered rags of betrayal. At Undur Khan, Imperialist troops begin securing the city.

It is unknown when or where exactly the first major engagements will begin but it is certain it will.

For now, of all the questions which remain as the coming weeks loom, one stands the largest:

Will the Empire survive this crisis?

Sympathetic Starting* Imperialist Cities (Imperial TOs) are as follows:
- Chunya (Southeast island city)
- Manyoni (southeast continent city)
- Tszaq (east city, fairly close to Imperial capital initially one would think actually but still around 300 miles in distance - 30+ tiles - and separated by mostly desert)

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Hopefully I don't get too far behind on cities in the early game but we'll see. Tszaq for example, I *needed* to secure first before activating the TO. At the moment, if I had activated it and it went Leftist, I would have had my capital directly under threat on like T2-T5 while in the midst of pushing out my army to go secure capital cities and supply/reinforcement centers. While I'd likely, eventually, defeat a Leftist Tszaq it would also likely be anywhere from 5 to 20 turns of fighting and maneuvering against a dug in enemy with nowhere to go except my capital (which if they take = Game Over). Given I lacked rail capability and, until recently, marine and air transport and we are still so early into the game that our reserve armies haven't activated yet it would have been incredibly dangerous to just hope Tszaq joins me and that 20% chance doesn't go off. It would've been great to have the city activate earlier but I'm not willing to try my luck of massive early game issues with a 1/5 chance of resulting.

It's not as clear-cut West vs East despite what I said. Last game I would have owned much of the continent with favorable alliance. This time we both avoided at the cost of combat likely to start far later than our prior game, and operational considerations likely to be far more heavily effected by regional terrain.

fulcrum28 wrote: Mon Mar 28, 2022 3:40 pm very nice new map Larry, perhaps is it Cabido mod map with a new tone for the "clear/open" hexes to avoid excessive light reflection?

Good guess. Ummm......I believe I also deleted the tiles that had "...overlay..." in their filename. I like it a lot.