Author: Carl Kleihege (Page 2 of 5)

The French recover from their collapse and are now back up to 100 morale points. The French start construction of a second line of entrenchments along their entire defensive line. The Italians are forced to pull the cadres from last turn’s attack on their lines back for rebuilding while rushing reserves to hold the line. They are also sending more fortress troops to hold the road through the Alps north of Trent. The British reinforce their offensive.

The British attack at Lens. The bombardment is lack luster (only two cadres disrupted with seven attacks on the 9 column) and the attack ends in a BX result. The British are now down to 208 morale points – only 9 from going down to a National Will of 3 and losing the advantage over the Germans.

None of the Central Powers armies are able to react and all of the Zeppellins become lost. Pretty quiet on the front.

The Entente lost 33 British, 7 Canadian Manpower, and 12 Equipment points. The Central Powers lost 13 German, 6 Wurttemburg, 5 Saxon Manpower, and 19 Equipment points.

Tom: Well, I dodged the bullet on the French collapse. The quick recovery should help. The French will surrender at the end of their 100 morale points, but it should be interesting to see if Carl can keep up the pressure over the rest of this game year. Only 6 months to survive. The British are attacking, but it is not going anywhere fast. I don’t think Carl will swing from attacking the French now, it is the game if he manages to destroy them.

The Austrians continue to extend their drive through the Alps towards Milan. The Germans build up to continue their offensive on the French around the Reims area and towards Paris.

The attack on the French 35th Corps is preceeded by a devastating bombardment which is mostly luck (all but one roll of 4 or higher) and the entire corps is disrupted. The attack goes home and shatters the French corps which retreats with no losses to the Germans. The offensive continues towards Paris with a small bombardment followed by a quick assault and the hex beyond Soissons falls to the Germans – only three hexes to Paris! Another attack on the French 20th Corps near Reims results in the French successfully holding off an overwhelming amount of Germans. The Austrians help the Germans attack the Italians near Trient and forces the Italians back out of the Alps. The Austrian drive towards Milano is stalled until the Austrians can reinforce their army.

The Entente were not successful in reacting to the new Central Powers offensives.

The Central Powers lost 13 Austrian, 10 German Manpower, and 10 Equipment points. The Entente lost 47 French Metropolitan, 11 Italian, 7 French Colonial, 5 French African Manpower, and 43 Equipment points. The French now sit at 84.5 morale points.

Carl: While the French recovering from collapse seems like a lost opportunity to blow out of the trench warfare, at least they are still losing morale and the surrender of the French is now measured strictly by their morale points. The next time they are reduced to 0, they surrender. The longevity of the German offensive towards Paris has surprised me. It is fortunate that the next turn is a production turn because I am about out of manpower and resource points for the Central Powers in the French front. I have been using the Austrians to absorb the losses on the Italian front. The French are in a bad way because I am beginning to increase my offensive to include the capture of Reims. I now have two hexes adjacent to the city and am close to capturing another one. The French cannot allow me to capture the city, the loss of 10 morale points would be extremely deadly to their morale at this point. The good news is that the British are about out of their manpower to keep their offensive against Lens going. I think it will continue for as long as the game lasts since it is about the only thing that the British can hope to do to relieve the pressure on the French.

The weather has cleared up with mud in the Alps. The French have used up all of their replacements – both manpower and equipment – but are unable to recover from last turn’s losses. The French 1st Colonial Corps withdraws. The rest of the French line is reinforced as much as possible while engineering troops take positions to start entrenching another line behind the existing one.

The British launch their offensive against Lens. The Germans repulse the attack with heavy losses on both sides.

Zepplins hit the factory at Lyons and do another morale hit on London, aborting the sole British fighter unit. The German 4th Army hits the French 8th Corps for mutual exchange. The German 3rd Army hits the French 35th Corps for another three divisions cadred. Although the Germans have lost troops too, the French are now down to only 11.5 morale points.

The Entente lost 34 British, 27 French Metropolitan, 7 Canadian Manpower, and 31 Equipment points. The Central Powers lost 30 German, 22 Bavarian, 6 Wurttemburg, 5 Saxon Manpower, and 34 Equipment points.

Tom: The French are going to hit NW of 0 soon, there is nothing I can do about it. I only hope that they bounce back from it soon. The British have started their offensive and it is going okay, I will know if it has helped if Carl is forced to reinforce the area. With the clear weather, Carl’s artillery is going to be a big pain. He will be able to play the odds and just go for massive low number bombardments and probably overwhelm the defenders. It should prove interesting – but extremely painful!

The clear weather signals a start of a great Austrian offensive. The troops are moved up to attack the Italians in several spots along their line. The Germans move more troops up to continue their multi-pronged attacks against the French.

The Germans and Austrians combine in an attack on the Italian 2nd Corps in an attempt to clear the secondary rail line from Trent into Italy. The HX gives the Central Powers the hex with little loss. Another attack to the west (along the road into Northern Italy) yields another Austrian victory and advance. A German attack south from Toul is stopped at great loss by the French 8th Corps. Another attack on the French 35th Corps starts with a bombardment that only disrupts a single unit. The attack gained little ground but cost the French some more morale points. The grand attack on the French 37th Corps started with a devastating bombardment that left four of the six divisions cadred (one of the cadres was left without a disruption) and destroyed three smaller units. The attack then hit home and a single French cadre survives to retreat out of the hex. The French have lost all of their morale now.

The Entente high command is in shock and none of their armies manage to react.

The Central Powers lost 12 German, 8 Austrian, 7 Saxon Manpower, and 41 Equipment points. The Entente lost 44 French Metropolitan, 16 Italian, 4 French Colonial Manpower, and 81 Equipment points.

Carl: I got the French! Now to see what will happen with France in collapse (at least until they recover in a friendly initial phase – probably next turn with my luck). I probably should have refrained from the last attack and waited for the reaction combat phase so that I would get at least one of my turns with the French in collapse before they had a chance to recover. In the meantime, I do not know what Tom will do. The British really cannot afford to spread out too much while the Italians are finally being attacked and pushed out of the Alps. The capture of the mountain hex with the rail line gives me the ability to supply a push to the Adriatic Sea. I do not know if I can do it, but with the French down at the moment, I can afford to expend the time and supplies to try and find out. Things are definitely looking good for me at this time.

The British begin to move their forces towards the German 7th Corps at Lens. The French reinforce between Reims and La Fere heavily to slow down the German offensive. The Italians rearrange some of their forces to be prepared against the Austrians.

The German 6th Army reacts and attacks south from Epinal. The rest of the front is silent.

The Entente lost 10 French Metropolitan Manpower and 2 Equipment points. The Central Powers lost 11 German Manpower and 3 Equipment points.

Tom: I think the French have reinforced the endangered area sufficiently to make Carl hesitate about attacking without his artillery. This is the second time that the German army directing the offensive has reacted but not attacked. The British will be able to launch an offensive with the good weather. Until then they will just have to concentrate their forces and hope that the Germans do not reinforce too heavily. I really need Carl to respond to this threat and weaken his attacks on the French.

The Central Powers maneuver against the Italians in Italy. The French front sees additional shifting about of units also. The German defensive line is going down to only two divisions per hex against the French everywhere but a few locations to be attacked. The main offensive army has switched directions and is attacking the British at La Fere.

The attack out of Epinal is bloodily repulsed, but the three French divisions are still cadred. The French 1st Colonial Corps is mangled but manages to hold on to their hex. The attack on the British at La Fere surprises both sides as the British are attacked on 12:1 odds (reduced to the maximum 9:1) and are destroyed! The Germans march in and capture the rail intersection at La Fere and will be able to supply their forward troops on the road to Paris.

The British 1st and 3rd Armies react and send reserves to bolster the retreating 2nd Army and move the rest of the artillery up in preparation for the attack on Lens.

The Central Powers lost 35 German, 9 Wurttemburg, 7 Saxon, 6 Bavarian Manpower and 23 Equipment points. The Entente lost 40 French Metropolitan, 19 British, 5 French Colonial Manpower, and 34 Equipment points.

Carl: The French are down to 17.5 morale points now and it looks like I should be able to get them to 0 within the next few turns. The British are about to launch an attack near Lens (it is kind of obvious) but I have been able to reinforce my defenses there. The victory at La Fere was very surprising. I did not figure on having those kind of odds against the British, but he pulled a division out of the hex to reinforce his future attack and he paid big time for it. The capture of the hex and cadreing four British divisions was a good feeling. It also secured the rail lines I need to continue supplying my push on Paris.

The weather has turned to mud. The Italian factory was able to produce properly despite the hit it took from the Zepplin attack. Final production was 17 resource and 13 equipment points – 2 equipment points above the historical!

The French reinforce their reserves behind the German offensive. The Italians reinforce a few of their more exposed defensive positions. The British have moved a reserve corps to the left of their line in case the French need them to take over an additional hex of the line.

The Zepplins return to London and get through but the barrage balloons succeed in keeping the city safe. The Austrian 11th Army reacts and reinforces the front line near Villach preparing for an attack on the Italians. No other Central Powers army is able to react.

Tom: The weather is starting to clear a bit and this could be dangerous for me in France. Fortunately, he has not been able to react with his offensive army for the past two turns so some of the pressure is off. We shall have to wait and see just what he does now and if the French troops can hold on.

The Entente celebrate as the Austrian factory in Triest is damaged and cannot produce this cycle. The total production ends with 22 resource and 19 equipment points – one resource point over historical!

The Zepplins return to London and are not thwarted by the barrage balloons this time as they do another morale hit. It is a slow process, but the British are beginning to be bothered by the raids. The Austrians and Germans maneuver their troops to attack weak points in the Entente line.

The Germans continue their offensive with a quick assault (no bombardment) and capture Soissons from the French. The thrust is now only four hexes from Paris. Another attack hits the French 1st Colonial Corps and does a bloody exchange there. Yet another attack from Epinal causes even more carnage.

The Entente are not able to react to the multiple attacks along the French line.

The Central Powers lost 34 Bavarian, 11 German Manpower, and 15 Equipment points. The Germans have also slipped to a National Will level of 3 – the British are now alone with a National Will of 4. The Entente lost 29 French Metropolitan, 10 French Colonial Manpower, and 40 Equipment points. The French are down to only 30.5 morale points.

Carl: I have stepped up my attacks. I knew that the German National Will was going to drop this turn (it was 602.5 after the variable losses) so I made a much broader amount of attacks and really hurt the French. They were only able to use reserves in the attack on Soissons since the other two attacks were in bad terrain where they did not have the ability to move into the hex. This has worn down their front line in sevaral places and another breakthrough may occur. My offensive is still able to continue and another hex is captured from the French. I think Tom is going to have to do something with the British now. I expect a quick offensive against my lines there to relieve the pressure on the French. We shall see if it is able to do anything. I did not bombard this turn because of the bad weather. The modifiers are just too steep and I am better off doing a quick assault.

As the new year has started, we decided to issue a joint status report to compare to the Feb I 16 Historical Setup. This is where we are now:

Entente Status

Belgium has 17.5 Morale Points for a National Will of 1. They have lost a total of 103 Manpower points.
Britain has 234 Morale Points for a National Will of 4. They have lost a total of 192 British, 15 Indian, and 21 Canadian Manpower points. This is a grand total of 228 Manpower points.
France has 63.5 Morale Points for a National Will of 1. They have lost a total of 57 African, 87 Colonial, 10 Foreign, and 772 Metropolitan Manpower points. This is a grand total of 962 Manpower points.
Italy has 90.5 Morale Points for a National Will of 2. They have lost a total of 245 Manpower points.
Entente Equipment points lost are 732.
Total Manpower points lost are 1502.

Central Powers Status

Germany has 624 Morale Points for a National Will of 4. They have lost a total of 103 Bavarian, 744 German, 80 Saxon, and 38 Wurttemburg Manpower points. This is a grand total of 965 Manpower points.
Austria/Hungary has 197.5 Morale Points for a National Will of 2. They have lost a total of 37 Manpower points.
Central Powers Equipment points lost are 490.
Total Manpower points lost are 1002.

Historical Results

According to the Entente Initial Forces, Feb I 16:
Belgium has 46 Morale Points for a National Will of 1 and has successfully passed its first forced surrender roll.
Britain has 198 Morale Points for a National Will of 3.
France has 240 Morale Points for a National Will of 3.
Italy has 108 for a National Will of 3.

According to the Central Powers Initial Forces, Feb I 16:
Germany has 585 Morale Points for a National Will of 3.
Austria/Hungary has 186 Morale Points for a National Will of 2.

The difference is much more evident than the year previous. The French morale is much lower while the British and German is higher. Italy has had a bad war so far, they have lost almost seven times the losses of Austria/Hungary. This was helped some by the declaration of war and attacks by Germany. Overall, Entente losses are now 50% greater than the Central Powers.

The weather turns bad as snow hits the entire map. The Entente work hard at preparing their defenses. The French and British reinforce the areas between their armies to defend against the Central Powers offensive. French troops build up their reserves and another line of entrenchments is prepared. The Italians hit the Austrian factory at Triest again.

The Zepplins put two more terror bombing hits on Birmingham – the British player realizes that he will never have a fighter unit outside of London in this game. Army Group C successfully reacts and a ground assault is launched against the French 37 Corps. The artillery (since it is all in divisional form) is not able to participate and the French succeed in reinforcing with two chssr divisions. The air battle is won by the Central Powers, but none of the four tactical Recon missions succeed. The attack goes through for a BX. The French lose 8 morale points while the Germans lose 5.5 morale.

The French exploit two more chssr divisions into the hex.

Total losses were 18 French Metropolitan, 7 French African, 5 French Colonial Manpower and 26 Equipment Points. The Central Powers lost 42 German Manpower and 10 Equipment Points.

Tom: Once again, those ***** German divisions can absorb his losses with losing the morale. This will be scary, particularly when he gets to try out Arthur’s newest ruling on bombardment disruptions (where you can place a second disruption on a unit and destroy/cadre/remnant it). With all of that nasty artillery he has it will probably be very deadly.

The Central Powers are able to rebuild their cadres from the battle while the French are only able to rebuild three of their six divisions. Zepplins hit Birmingham for another terror bombardment. The air battle over the French 37 Corps results in the elimination of a Fok E1 and a Nie 11! Offensive bombardment disrupts three divisions and a cadre while also eliminating two cadres. The effectiveness was truly helped by great die rolls by Carl. Defensive bombardments are now fired by the defending troops to either side of the French 37 Corps. The defensive bombardment disrupts a MG X. The attack now hits and results in a 9:1 with no DRMs. The DD result hits the French hard and the German 17 Corps takes the hex! French morale is now at 46.5 and sinking fast.

The French army is frozen by fear (no reaction rolls made for any French army HQs!) but the British react and build up a reserve corps to send in aid.

The Central Powers have lost nothing while the Entente has lost 15 French Colonial, 7 French African, 5 French Metropolitan Manpower and 22 Equipment Points.

Carl: One hex down, another 5 hexes to Paris! Only 46.5 morale points for the French to lose. A few more turns like this one (where France has lost 17 morale points) and the French will be at NW 0 for the first time. I will have to make hay and hit the French hard while they are at 0 in order to get them to surrender. I will be giving the NW edge to Britain soon because the Germans are close to going down to NW of 3. I have probably ignored the British too much during the game but the French have really been worn down.

Winter and snow hit the entire maps. The British have four divisions and an artillery unit in each of their eight front line corps. The French have managed to build a front line of three divisions per corps and some artillery spread out along the front. The Italians have three or four divisions in most of their front line.

Tom: Another quiet turn before the fury of a Central Powers offensive. I truly expect him to attack the French line at some point. I know he is massing reserves behind the lines in several points, almost all of his artillery is out of the front line and I know he has pulled back some of his rifle divisions too. I can do nothing but build up my front line and hope that I am ready when it comes.

The Central Powers have created a reserve army (Str/C) based around three corps (3, 10, and 13 Wur). Six artillery divisions, all of the available assault engineers, and the majority of the heavier rifle divisions are part of it. It is massed in the Metz area and will be able to deploy quickly anywhere on the French front by rail. The idea is that two of the corps replace two defending corps which consolidate their three divisions with the corps adjacent to them. These two adjacent corps are then reinforced by the third reserve corps which becomes the single reserve corps for the offensive. With sufficient manpower and equipment points in the replacement pool, this should be able to sustain an attack on the Entente for several turns.

The Central Powers defensive line in France is three divisions per corps. In Austria, the defensive line varies depending on the terrain it is defending. The Germans have not yet pulled out, but there is the possibility of some shifts because of supply restrictions.

Carl: A quiet turn with one or more to come. It is time for rebuilding and formulating new plans. I think my new attack will come in the Jan II 16 or Feb I 16 turn. This gives me a few turns of attacking before the Entente (and myself) get a production cycle to build up more replacements. I am still not sure where I will attack, although it will probably be against the French.

Frost in the Alps and Winter in the rest of the maps. The British get four more New Army divisions, enough to replace the loss of the Indian divisions and the 28th Rifle division that are beginning to be pulled out of the line and sent elsewhere. The French do some minor realignment of their defenses while the Italians sit pretty still. The Italians use their Ca 2 and successfully hit the Austrian factory at Triest again. A massive (!) air raid is staged by the French, using Cau G4s and a Cau G3 in an attempt to bomb the German factory at Antwerpen. One Cau G4 is aborted by a patrol mission while the CAP mission by the Fok E1 over Antwerpen is unsuccessful. AA fire aborts the second Cau G4 and the mission becomes a scrub as the Cau G3 has only a single bomb point, not good enough to matter. (Actually all three bomb points would not have mattered since they would have been halved due to the winter weather!)

Tom: A slight mistake with the French air mission – nothing serious though, I have the ARPs to rebuild them. I think the next few turns will go fast as I have nothing planned and Carl seems to be in a build up phase. I will have to watch out in January, 1916 but that will give me a few months to build up some reserves of my own. The French mutiny will release a division or two from Paris in January, so that will help also.

The Central Powers pull back extra units into their reserve. The Zepplins terrorize London for the tenth hit! It is otherwise a very quiet turn.

The Italians just miss hitting the Austrian factory again.

Carl: A quiet turn and probably at least a few more in the near future. The air battle was fun – our first other than AA – even if it turned out to be unnecessary. I am building up my reserves, some of my best rifle and artillery divisions. I am not sure where they will be committed, but it sure seems to worry Tom!

There is now mud everywhere. The normal rifle divisions are no longer able to move up to the defensive line as reserves, so only the light divisions will now be held in reserve by the Entente. The other divisions and artillery are moved into the front lines to support the defense.

The Zepplins succeed for their eighth terror hit on London.

Tom: A quiet turn. The coming of bad weather is good for its negative DRMs to the Central Powers, but bad because of the problems in moving up reserves. The Central Powers appear to have a shortage in resource points at the moment and that will probably save me from any attacks this turn.

The Zepplins hit London yet again (that makes nine!). In exchange, the Italians use their Ca 2 bomber and succeed in hitting the Austrian Factory at Triest. The Central Powers do their reorganization for the winter.

Carl: A lack of extra resource points have stopped any thoughts of offensive actions. I have spent another resource point for a fort against those pesky British. There is no real pressing need to attack the Italians at the moment. Just a quiet turn for both sides.

Mud has started in the Alps. The French manage to recover from instability. The Entente pulls units back and begins to configure the defensive line for bad weather by pulling their light divisions into reserve, sending other units to the front line for more defensive factors. The rest of the French garrison artillery is mobilized and the Italians disband a large majority of their field artillery.

The Zepplins hit London again for their seventh terror bombing – the British will never see any of their fighters if this keeps up!

Tom: The past turn has been very rough for the Entente. The bright side is that the French have recovered from instability and things should start to settle down as winter approaches. The British are in good shape but they are limited by their three Army HQs in the line that they can take over. They are about stretched as far as they can go at the moment.

The Central Powers reorganizes their lines for better defense. The German 4th Army attacks the French 1 Colonial Corps by Toul and achieves a BX result. Another attack on Epinal by the German 6th Army results in the routing of the French defenders and Epinal falls. The German Alps Corps attacks the Italians and manages a BX result despite extreme mismanagement of the attack.

The Central Powers lost 32 German, 8 Bavarian Manpower and 36 Equipment Points. The Entente lost 20 Italian, 16 French Metropolitan, 10 French Colonial Manpower and 26 Equipment Points.

Carl: Another French fortress falls, bringing the French down to 75 morale points left. I could possibly cause a French collapse by the spring of 1916. The two fortresses that are left for me to attack easily are Belfort and Reims. Both will be difficult to attack and win, but the French cannot afford to lose them. The British are too strong and will probably have the NW advantage before too long. I think I have gotten as much as I can in Italy, it is time to stop my attacks down there for now. It is only a manpower and resource point drain without very many benefits. I succeeded in forcing the Italians back from Trent and Triest and back across the Isonzo. I am happy with the current situation there.