Ulver vs. Geoffrey or Germany goes East while France goes to the Desert

[ulver]

The most noticeable feature of the Jul-Aug turn was how it amply demonstrated the power of the offensive with neither side ever losing a battle when attacking even when outnumbered and outgunned by fully dug in defenders.

For both sides much of the effort centered around maneuvering for two attacks the opponent knew was coming and had plenty of time to prepare for.

Allied aerial recon showed a massive German buildup to retake Prague and the garrison had plenty of time to fortify the city – an effort that would ultimately prove as futile as German attempts to halt the Entente advance into the heartland of Austria.

Entente forces launched multiple attacks to reestablish communications between forces in Austria and France succeeding in trapping six German corps in Munich – regrettably there is not enough time left for me to wait for them to stave to death.

In the North British tanks lead a successful – sort of – assault on Cologne. Successful only in the sense the city was taken even though my troops got their ass kicked in terms of casualties.

As for the major strategic objective for the entente this turn: The US president opened the final joined war conference with one word: Vienna.

August 1919: Building up for the decisive attack against the Austrian capital

[ulver]

Exactly five years after the outbreak of the Great War a British army storms into Vienna with immediate and dramatic effects.

September 1919: The end of Austria. The must have been short of food to have had their morale reduced to 0 before the fall of their capital

[ulver]

Almost unbelievably the Entente is on the verge of climbing out of the hole – this game is going down to the wire.

Two turns left and things could not be any closer.

[Naskra]

More unbelievably, the death toll has gone down.

[geoffreyg]

The Second Iron Throne has fallen!
The citizens of Vienna took the loss of Venice, Trieste and Salzburg very badly and also didn't much like the surrender of the Ottomans. Bit of food shortage didn't help.
Down to the wire it is although I rather think Ulver will make it.

[ulver]

The penultimate turn opens with the remains of the German air force being hunted down. From now on the skies truly belong to the valiant defenders of democracy.

September 1919: Total annihilation. Blown away to the very last (bi)plane

[ulver]

Sep-Oct will finally see the once invincible Germany army beginning to fall decisively apart as nothing seems able to stem the multi pronged advances of the various Entente armies now smelling the blood of a fatally wounded enemy.

The possibility of a victory is turning into a certainty as I come to realize that Germany is beaten and her downfall may well occur at much greater speed then anyone anticipated.

Home by Christmas is finally turning into something other then a cruel joke as the 6 surrounded elite German formations, shelled and starving are overrun in Munich and Pershing opens a new massive offensive in the North aiming for Kassel.

End of October 1919: The Entente ahead by 22 points – all over but the victory parade?

[ulver]

There is very little to say about the final turn. Prague changes hands a few times and American forces push into Kassel while Germany actually repulses a British assault on Stuttgart

It is oddly anticlimactic as there now can be little doubt about the outcome.

Allied troops about to receive their attack orders for the final impulse.

[ulver]

The final tally shows some surprising results such as Germany seeking an armistice, casualties jumping by several millions and Belgium suddenly being unconquered?

End of the Great War: Only Bulgaria seems to stand proud against the entente tide. I suppose some grudging respect is in order.

Actually I find the results of this game quite worrying from a re playability point of view in that it once again proves just how heavily tilted the game is in favor of the Entente.

My opponent played an absolutely brilliant game and achieved more then I could ever have hoped for in his shoes – consider that by the end of 1917 He’d knocked out both Russia and Italy without losing the Ottoman Empire. Short of nukes there was simply no way he could have done any better.

I really feel victory conditions should be modified – perhaps by allowing the CP to keep some of the points scored at each end point. They will almost certainly lose the war but you win the game based on how well you do meanwhile.

With current victory conditions in place I simply can no longer conceive of a viable CP strategy that doesn’t involve stacking everything on Paris and decide the war one way or the other by 1915.

While the “Paris or bust” strategic requirement for a CP victory is no doubt realistic it dramatically cuts down on viable game options and is just not that interesting.

Have anyone ever managed to scrap home a Central Power victory that didn’t involved conquering France?

[geoffreyg]

The stab in the back - the Imperial German forces surrender!
I'm not sure I fully agree with Ulver.
I was indeed doing OK at the end of 1917 but I didn't adapt at all well to the more fluid situation that occurred with level 2 assault troops etc. In particular I invested too heavily in Infantry units rather than HQ points (a situation made worse by AH's surrender).
In the same situation again I would put far more emphasis on a counter attack strategy supported heavily with Artillery.
Anyway great game and many congratulations to Ulver for a well deserved victory.

[hjaco]

A great AAR and game from the two of you. Most games should be as tight and exciting as yours surely have been.

When it becomes obvious for the CP player that he can not win an outright victory he needs to adapt to the fluid endgame situation.

Your analysis and conclusions are correct. Trench warfare from late 17' onwards will be futile. High tech artillery in judiciously amounts and fresh troops for counterattack is what you need. Hot spots in the frontline should be defended lightly but with enough forces that your opponent must make a serious effort. A theory of mine is to defend with cavalry in contested areas?

Anyway a serious effort must be made in technology. You can't allow yourself to get two levels behind in air tech - one tech level can be manageable. Assault troops are a must to still be a possible strategic threat all over the map.

Even if CP don't go for France they should make a serious effort to cause an exhaustion level upon the French (see my notes in the tips thread) to make your hightech artillery really work against the French. Handling the Brits and behemoth Yanks will still be a serious challenge though.

[hjaco]

Oh and hopefully Ulver in the future will continue playing while the fat lady is still singing [;)]

And about scoring its important to base a strategy upon the fact that your points are being halved with each passing year. No hard facts are known about how the final score are being calculated but in your game keeping AH in the fray and a concentrated effort by the CP to conquer holland should have tipped the scale not to mention keeping Germany alive off course [8D]

I think more end game experience would make these goals achievable?

[hjaco]

ORIGINAL: ulver

The final tally shows some surprising results such as Germany seeking an armistice, casualties jumping by several millions and Belgium suddenly being unconquered?

That indicates a scoring bug with a Belgium calculated alive on the Entente side?