Part 6: Turn 11, Turn 12
Turn 11: November 12th, 1914
Production
Research
New naval and defensive techs coming up.
Diplomacy
Management
Eastern Front
von Falkenhayn and the 1st Parisian Volunteers encircle a Russian group and attack from two sides, annihilating two corps at the cost of one division.
3rd Eastern Army jumps in after and with only one division lost the Russian Army is destroyed with another reserve group still cut off.
Momentum is swinging back in favor of the Central Powers!
1st Eastern Army skirmishes for little gain and our Austrian forces start to push towards Warsaw. Such a large city falling should provide a good boost to morale at home while forcing Russian citizens to reconsider their intervention in the Balkans.
Two new armies are deployed in reserve on the Russian front.
Serbian Front
We move up and establish a line while reinforcing and refitting our men. Runners come back with high defensive estimates so for now we hold off and build up for an artillery strike to take Nis at a later date.
Ottoman Front
With 800 manpower and two new fronts, the Ottomans can be an asset or a liability.
The first thing we do is pump our production into research. Though Ottoman Janissaries were once an elite force, our army is now technologically behind. This move should help us catch up and be able to field better infantry.
Our first move is to start ferrying our forces to where they need to be: Egypt. We start with strong forces at Gallipoli and Constantinople. The unit should arrive on the front in another two weeks.
We shift our Capital Reserve closer to Constantinople and we prepare the Gallipoli group to move out once we have the trains for it.
We start forming up the Egyptian Front. These first few weeks will be rough as we don't have the defensive technology but we will be able to rail some stronger units here. Britain will either have to respond and open up France and their own shores, or we can steamroll through here and reclaim Egypt in the name of the Turks!
We start to move a garrison down to Kuwait. Britain and France can land ships down here, and though they will be only partially supplied, not having anything here gives them a backdoor into our empire.
In the Caucasus we start moving towards Russian holdings. Again, this will help to split their forces or surrender precious factories.
Western Front
8th Army calls for air support and artillery support before destroying one of the French armies near Verdun.
We repair the Elsass-Lothringen Line and 7th Army and 1st Cavalry take Dijon and try to encircle the French. They run into an airbase. The pilots, mechanics, and officers use their anti-air guns and what rifles they can find to mount a valiant defense, killing a division before losing nearly all of their strength. They manage to hold though, so the trap won't snap shut for another two weeks.
This is the same reason I put the airbase on Brussels. In a pinch, though they fight like shit, an air unit will hold a hex and is great for guarding things during crazy over-extension or if you forget to garrison something. It isn't cheap but it can help in a desperate situation.
Second Army launches an attack against a British reserve, but with the entrenchment and rivers the main bulk of our forces will wait for the artillery to redeploy. The actions of 8th Army and 1st Cavalry should force a move though so for now we can afford to be patient.
Allied Response
The French launch a desperate counter attack against a fortified position in order to break out of the impending pocket but to no avail. They also retreat their airbase, allowing us to finish the pocket now.
The British are shifting towards the south but it will be too little too late.
The British launch a blitz into Ottoman territory that would make Guderian jealous. Already we have lost Aqaba and a reserve with one army crawling towards Jerusalem. Losing the Holy Land is not an option!
Interesting. Against the more powerful Germans the Russian Army calls for a general retreat while in the south they deploy two new armies against the Austrians. They also refit and upgrade where they can.
Not much of note but a French escort fleet deploys near our Adriatic blockade. Are they planning an expedition into the Balkans while their home cities burn? Are they going to supply a British excursion? Weird.
We also have a new convoy but with no sign of the Russian fleet it will hopefully arrive unharmed in a month.
Turn 12: November 26th 1914
Our production is ramped up to 100 percent and a new army is ready as well as new trench improvement technology for the Germans.
Eastern Front
Our two city reserves start whittling down the trapped Russian unit. It will make its escape next turn, but due to being out of supply not be able to repair.
The Germans strike out against the Russians around Warsaw. A garrison is nearly destroyed and other forces are pushed back. One Russian Army bloodies our nose but overall the operation for Warsaw is well underway.
The Austrians meet even more success at the fresh Russians are experiencing decreased organization due to the long trip to the front. A Russian army and reserve are almost destroyed and Warsaw is within spitting distance.
Rail travel and boat travel deplete efficiency. Railing thing to the front can be helpful, but the Canadian Corps in Britain, for example, is almost always at like 1 or 2 efficiency due to the super long boat ride coupled with being railed from western France to the east.
Serbian Front
This is why I did the artillery before I decided on a plan in France. We had a good -2 set up in prognosis only to chip away just 1. It took 2 efficiency off, but it isn't enough here.
We begin shelling Nis and then launch a 3 army coordinated attack.
So close. Down to two battered division, the defenders of Nis hold out. To the West we have two armies gang up on a reserve to keep slowly working our way forward. Without artillery support, Serbia cannot hold on forever.
Ottoman FrontDamn the British! It seems their empire is more important than their allies!
Our capital group is railed to Jerusalem. Their efficiency has dropped to 4 from the long trip so we must fight a delaying action until they are ready. Our border army slightly gets the better of a British group and our cavalry unsuccessfully try to reclaim Aqaba. With recon showing more British units in the area this could be ugly until we increase our defensive technology.
Vrooooom!
We move into the Caucasus but my God look at this. Our army gets odds of -4 -2 and attacking with the corps would just be hilarious. Clearly attacking into mountains won't work but at least being here will keep some Russians away from the Eastern Front.
Waiting for trains, can't hop on a transport more than 1 hex away from a rail connected city so for now they are just drinking and rabble-rousing.
Western Front
The trap is sprung!
We encircle three full armies and some corps. A French reserve is bloodied and we have three armies force a British one back to ensure that the pocket will hold. Pocketed units only get 1 hex of movement per turn so we shouldn't have to worry about escape since we have pushed all possible relief units away.
We bully the French because we can. Can't let our soldiers have too much fun playing being idle in the trenches. Best to take a break from swimming in mud and fighting rats for scraps of food from time to time.
Allied Response
The Western Font allies scramble to the south but launch no attacks or deploy nothing interesting.
Naval Battle Incoming
The French escort fleet attacks our escorts. In home waters, we are the better for it, but with a capital ship fleet nearby.
Serbia retreats and will repair Nis to 5 in vain. Every week we get closer and closer to victory in this theater.
The sick man of Europe lives up to the name. Two British armies nearly destroy our cavalry and ensure that Aqaba will stay in British hands... indefinitely. The one wounded army limps away to safety.
Russia, fearing a pocket, flees east towards Warsaw. The flanking units consolidate and refit.
Overall, these turns wen't really well save the Ottomans. I'm not worried though because with how many units Britain has deployed they are most likely running a deficit despite the hands off approach to their transatlantic shipping. Britain doesn't naturally have enough industry to compete and depends on the convoys for troops. This can lead to running a huge deficit between convoy shipments if they produce more armies than they can handle. An event will tell Britain they are now rationing, and continued deficits will start to erode their national morale. Even though things are bad in Egypt, if Britain has 6 or so full armies running, we can hope it will eat into their national morale and make for a less extensive Operation Sea Lion.
Again though, I've yet to get out of a battle with AI Britain without Sea Lion.