Part 18: Turns 35-38

Turn 35: October 14th, 1915

Production



A new army and soon we will have some more escorts for supply/suiciding the British battleships.

Research



A mix of land offensive and defensive technology. Masks will reduce the shock value of artillery and the binoculars will allow us to use counter-battery fire. Unfortunately, most of these land technologies are useless but the Ottomans getting grenades will help them be less obsolete.

Diplomacy



Bulgaria will be in soon. This will allow us to have a continuous rail line from Austria and Germany to the Ottoman Empire. With Russia collapsing and Sea Lion stalling we can possibly ship some artillery and air units down to break the stalemate in Egypt.

Management



We are still producing a lot of industry and will have no issues building up and sustaining our forces.

1 percent away from penalties to new units from lowering our standards though.

Eastern Front



AGN destroys the cavalry unit and pulls back to repair and consolidate. Russia expended 20 shells and most likely still has 30 left and will add another 5 or so. I don't want to get hit with two salvos at once until I get masks so we are going to let them hold hear while we rip apart their center.



The other two armies destroy the armored rail finally and take the mighty fortress city of Brest-Litovsk. The fighting has left their industry in ruin, but Russia is rapidly losing the ability to make war.



AGC takes Bryansk with 3 attacks and continues to push forward. Gomel will be dealt with once the garrison drops to half supply. For now we have to ride the momentum further into the heart of the mighty bear.



A weakened AGS destroys the surrounded Russian army and continues to push forward.



Just a testament to how weak Russia is. Though the long trip has ruined our efficiency, that Russian army is tech level 1. The cruisers will keep them at full supply, but we are going to rest for a bit then take it from them while the other units keep on pushing.

Ottoman Front



We finally take Sarikamish. Eypgt and Kuwait continue to stagnate.

Italian Front



Trento is reinforced but still the only point of worry. We airstrike corps along the line and shell and destroy one as we cut off another. Unfortunately shell production is down due to naval bombardments but Italy is crumbling and should break off the attack on Trento if they want to hold their own soil.

Sea Lion



Showing off the option of an amphibious attack on a unit. You take some huge penalties but with the match-up of cavalry against cannon we have to do this. If not, their artillery will shell our army back into the Channel.



The attack goes well, though our beachhead loses two divisions to one based on faulty intel. We bring up our battleships to supply both armies and bring up a third. The British morale is still really, really shitty from the constant rail travel. If we can destroy those cannons and deploy our other army we may get our first city in England.



Favorable odds so we hit an army and wipe out a corps. I don't like risking even a single divisions or some shock damage, but Britain has such a manpower shortage and we may be able to convince their people that losing half of our fleet was a fluke and the war is over.

After that, we commission still more cruisers for supply runs in case we have to continue this after winter.

Allied Response



Hell fucking yeah! I don't see Russia give up before the winter of 1916 frequently so this is a pleasant surprise. They can line up on rivers in the north, but if you break the line and make it past Romania it is really just a land grab until they give up. Losing the 10 morale from their fleet also fucked them over. This will free up our largest and nastiest hordes for finally convincing Britain and Italy to knock this shit off and let us form Mitteleuropa.





Britain shifts around a lot to put two full strength armies where they had much weaker ones. That said, there are still many men who are weary from being railed all over their own soil. Soil they never thought they'd have to defend.



Italy finally looks in the right direction but hits a corps instead of any of our meaty center. Breaking off Trento is smart but they should really shift those armies and dig a line and wait for winter. As it is, they are out of position and come freshly pressed shells they are in trouble.



Oh shit here it comes... NOPE. I guess they are going to try to weaken our morale and whittle us away, but seeing as Gaza can only be engaged from one hex this is really dumb. They would be smart to target the center, blow it open, then force is to rotate reserves. The reality is that they may not have the manpower to trade divisions with us.

Russia does nothing!

Turn 36: October 28th, 1915





Next turn we should get the event for the contiguous rail line! Bulgaria has decent manpower and starting armies, but suffers from having to upgrade its forces from 1. Don't expect to use them from the first turn. We shift them towards Italy and upgrade them. Full Bulgarian armies can tag out Austrian corps and having reserves will be very helpful during winter.

Eastern Front... is a fucking mess. We start railing units west, upgrading and repairing weakened forces, and everyone else marches.

Ottoman Front upgrades men with grenades and won't start attrition warfare against Britain until next round.

Italian Front



We rotate our units, move up artillery and airbases, then repair and upgrade anything we can. Though winter is fast approaching and time is of the essence, we really need more shells to break this open and take another 40-80 miles or so.

Sea Lion



Our battleships shell the westernmost British army and we launch a cavalry attack on it with supporting amphibious troops. The army is reduced to one corps and their morale is shattered. If it comes down to bleeding manpower, we can still win. A new army is on the way and another embarks out of Brest. Locally, that one white army with 8 efficiency scares me, but morale could be the factor here.

To the east, nothing happens because they now have 3 armies surrounding our one and they are all dug in and full of morale.

Slow turn but this thing is winding down and I'm actually surprised how well the landings this round went.

Allied Response



Well hello Italian navy! With their entry marked by a Sea Lion setback they seek to destroy our supply convoy to one of our armies. They also continue to shift and try to prevent a strong foothold here.



Italy decides to continue being aggressive enough to make up for Russia backing out and creates a massive Salient in our lines. Can they defend it? Can they break through?



Still attacking Gaza.

Bonus Turns! Turn 37: November 11th, 1915

Since we are down to two fronts, we are going to do some extra turns now.





New ships and the Constantinople Express is open.

Italian Front



We hit the corps holding the salient open with two airstrikes and try to shatter it. The men yield only two regiments and so we rail Bulgrians into Munich to keep Germany safe. They are growing lazy taking so many trains, but they will hold for now.



In Egypt we trade a division for a division. It isn't much, but maybe Britain will just go away or something.



Hooray! We launch three attacks and secure Plymouth. This will give us a minimum of half supply. It also shoves the Italian battleships out of port and the scramble to depart hurts their morale greatly. We have two more armies ready to strengthen our foothold here. We also shell the most efficiency British army to try and keep this secure. First of many baby woo.

Allied Response



The Italian battleships destroy corps in their ships and the British try to establish a much stronger line. We are still having supply issues but we have multiple cruisers on the way and are continuing to build more.



Italy starts waffling in their salient and strikes back towards Trento again. They have a new unit holding the base, but still don't seem to be able to force us back anywhere.



Britain shifts out their army for a fresher corps. That size difference will still present an opportunity here.

Turn 38: November 25th, 1915



Italian Front



We shell one garrison then airstrike the lead army in the salient. Unfortunately, our infantry don't really back up the support units and winter will most likely arrive before we can achieve a breakthrough.

Ottoman Front



Intel promised us an easy opportunity but again, Ottoman intel seems to be most keen on throwing away the lives on young men. Good thing we have the reserves to rotate in and out here.

Sea Lion



We strike out at the red corps and in forcing it back, we land another army. Our new cruisers move to supply our lone army in the east so we use a cruiser group and our battleships to attack the Italian navy. They are down to half strength and present a juicy 10 morale prize if they don't disengage. Our weakened army is still enough to make an amphibious attack and destroy the British army there.

We still have another army ready to land. It isn't the strongest salient but they won't throw us into the sea and we have tons of troops coming off of the Eastern Front. Plymouth being a port also allows us to shelter new convoys or attack ships and repair them on site.

Allied Response



Britain deals heavy damage to our furthest army and the Italians continue to be giant assholes to our embarked troops. That is fine. Although German morale is tiring of these convoy attacks, Italy is about to lose their fleet for this.



Italy is never getting Trento and it makes them angry. They will pay for claiming our rightful land.



British intel works as well as ours.

Next time, we burn through the winter turns and destroy the Italian navy.


Honestly? Build a huge navy, completely destroy theirs and blockade everything, then possibly invade. A naval invasion of Washington wouldn't be feasible until 1917 or 1918 for us with Sea Lion underway.

If you surrender they are more or less eliminated anyway. Even against a human player, if the country chooses surrender and you accept it, they are out unless you re-declare. You can annex them but again, surrender will usually suffice and will still hit everyone else with penalties for losing a key member of an alliance system.

I have never not accepted but looking at the manual, it doesn't seem to indicate a penalty for re-declaring.