1914 Campaign: Slick vs. the Privileged AI

After action reports for Commander The Great War

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SlickWilhelm
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Re: 1914 Campaign: Slick vs. the Privileged AI

Post by SlickWilhelm »

Before I begin my moves, I wanted to show you what entrenchment on the terrain looks like. Notice the trench lines? They represents units that have been stationary in those hexes for two turns. Those hexes - not the units - are now at entrenchment level 1. The units have their own separate entrenchment value, which is influenced by what type of terrain they are in.

The hexes gain increasing levels of entrenchment as long as the same unit sits idle on it. The increase is +1 per turn until the max entrenchment for that country is attained. The hex will retain that entrenchment value until a unit leaves. Any entrenched hex left vacant will lose -1 entrenchment per turn until it reaches zero, or until another unit enters the hex and remains idle for one turn.
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I begin my turn with the Serbian front. Sarajevo is important to me, so I want to make sure that I don't lose it. Therefore, I've decided that a Garrison unit is just not strong enough to hold such an important location. I want an Infantry unit to protect Sarajevo, and there just happens to be one in the hex north of Sarajevo. This gives me the opportunity to demonstrate another useful feature which will be much-used during the game: The unit swap. To swap two units' positions, I select one of the units, then mouse over the other unit. This makes the double arrow "swap" icon appear.
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To perform the actual swap I now need to hold down the ctrl key while clicking the left mouse button. Voila! As you can see, the units switched places. Also, note that both units still have half-shaded globes, so they both may attack after the swap.
Btw, if you forget to hold down the ctrl key while left-clicking, the swap doesn't occur, and the unit with the "swap" icon over it will become selected. Ask me how I know. :wink:
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The only move I made on the Serbian front besides the swap, is to position that Garrison unit to the SW of Temeschburg, in order to support the Infantry unit above Belgrade. I purposely kept this unit only one hex away from Temeschburg because if I need to, I will be able to rail this unit up to the Russian border next turn. Units that are one hex away from a city that contains a railroad link can be railed to another part of the map.
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In East Prussia, I've set my scant forces up so that a nucleus of a protective ring will form around Koenigsberg and Danzig. My fighter unit can see three hexes in all directions, but I must keep it well behind the front line to protect it from a very opportunistic AI that enjoys attacking exposed auxiliary units. My hope is that before the Russians enter the war, the hexes where my units are positioned will be entrenched. It's going to be touch and go on this front until I can send reinforcements from the production queue.
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I had to make a decision on whether I wanted the German High Seas Fleet to defend in the North Sea against any British excursions, or whether to head into the Baltic via the Kiel Canal to take on the Russian fleet when Russia enters the war. Since my supply convoys bringing valuable iron ore(PP) from Sweden travels from north to south in the Baltic, and eventually unloads in Koenigsberg, I make the decision to head to the Baltic. My fleet will fight together and hope to overcome any Entente naval forces. Once again, I keep my fleet units in the green dot hexes whenever possible, due to the bonus this gives them in combat.
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Here's a tip: Entente naval units cannot pass through the Kiel Canal unless their land forces capture the two hexes I've placed hot pink dots in. Also, they have to capture the port of Kiel as well in order to traverse the Kiel Canal. But at any rate, any of you playing in a multiplayer game looking for a sneaky way to deny your opponent access to the Baltic Sea had best take note!
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On the western front, I have a few options of what to do. I could go defensive right away, consolidate my line and start railing units to the East Prussian front. But since I've always been a "what if" guy, I want to see if I can make the Schlieffen plan work as intended. Besides, I want to have my picture taken in front the the Eiffel Tower to send back home to mein frau! :wink:
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First, as was historically correct, the Fortress of Liege needs to be reduced and taken before we can proceed to roll up the Belgians and their pitiful army. And what better way to do that than to soften them up with a little artillery? In the pic below I've selected my Artillery unit and have moused over Liege. I can see from the popup that an attack requires 10 Ammo(AM), which I have. Also, since Artillery units can target hexes up to two hexes away in any direction, It's hammer time!

Before I fire, let's take a close look at the Combat Prognosis box. In cyan, my Artillery unit's bombardment attribute is 2. This is not great, and will increase as I upgrade the unit with more technologies. But for now, it'll have to do. In hot pink, we see that the Belgian Garrison unit(not the hex!) has an entrenchment value of 8. That's pretty good, but not good enough(I hope). In yellow, we see that the prognosis is that the artillery attack will cause a -2 Strength and -2 Efficiency hit to the Belgian Garrison unit. Remember, Green represents the potential casualties the enemy takes, while red indicates the potential casualties your units take. "Green is good, Red is bad". Just remember that and you'll be ok. Fire in the hole!
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The Artillery attack didn't quite fulfill the combat prognosis: The Belgian unit took only 1 strength point of damage, and 2 points of efficiency damage. Nonetheless, I swarmed the Belgian fortress with multiple attacks from my other Infantry units and took the fortress down to 3 points of strength remaining. At this point, I send in my Cavalry unit for the coup-de-grace. Cavalry is VERY effective at finishing off wounded units. especially Garrison and Infantry units.

Remember about the two globes on the bottom of the terrain panel? Something about them looks different than last turn. :mrgreen:
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That's all the moves for me this turn, as my Schlieffen plan develops and the last man on the right hopes to brush his sleeve into the channel soon. We'll see what the AI has to say about that!
Alright, let's finish off this turn by purchasing units for both AH and Germany. Notice that the big flag on the upper left is still Austria-Hungary's flag. That means any unit we purchase will be purchased by and for AH. If I want to purchase units for Germany, however, I need to first click on the small German flag where my mouse pointer is right now. That will change the large flag to a German flag.
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Now, I know your thinking right now "But Slick, what happens if I accidentally purchase the wrong unit?" Not to worry. The Lordz have thoughtfully provided a "Cancel Production" mechanism. Below, you can see that I've purchased a German Garrison unit, when I meant to purchase an Infantry unit instead. To cancel production and get all of the PP and MP back, I simply click on the unit in the production queue, and answer the question by saying "Yes". Nice.
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Now then, as to my own purchases this turn, I ended up purchasing one Austrian Infantry unit, one German Infantry unit and one German Garrison unit. I generally don't build many Garrison units because of their fragility, but in this case I need some boots on the ground ASAP in East Prussia before the Russians enter the war. Infantry units take 3 turns to produce, while Garrison units take 1. That Garrison unit will come in handy next turn to shore up the defenses around Danzig or Posen.

Next up, I'll show you what else there is to spend your PP on in CTGW.
Last edited by SlickWilhelm on Mon Nov 05, 2012 4:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.
SlickWilhelm
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Re: 1914 Campaign: Slick vs. the Privileged AI

Post by SlickWilhelm »

Alright, alright. Let's take a look at some of the other things there are to spend your precious Production Points on.

First, we take a trip to the RESEARCH tab. I want to talk about the four main areas of interest here, each shown in a different color.

In yellow, we have Technology LINES. From left to right: Land, Artillery, Naval, Air, Armored. Each line contains 5 possible CATEGORIES of techs to research. The numbers below the technology lines represent how many more game turns must pass before that technology line is available to research.

In cyan, we see the 5 Categories of the Land technology line.
I clicked on the Infantry Grenade tech, which made the details of the Infantry Grenade tech show up in the large panel on the left. We can see that the effects of the Infantry Grenade tech is a +1 to base defense and +1 to our assault attribute. Below this, you can see that the previous tech in this category was Industrial Warfare(represented by the the machine gun) and the next tech in this particular land category will be the Steel Helmet(cleverly represented by a steel helmet!).

In hot pink is the cost to purchase the next lab. The cost goes up each time you purchase one. This next lab costs 50 PP, while the next one will cost 60 or more. Also, we see that the current lab upkeep cost per turn is 6 PP.

In orange, we see the FOCUS button on the left, and how many focus points I currently have on the right. Focus points are used to speed up production of a tech. If I really wanted my troops to get the Infantry Grenade tech, I first click on the Infantry Grenade tech to get it into the large panel on the left. Then I click the FOCUS button. This causes one focus point to be removed from my focus point total, and the Infantry Grenade tech will now speed up. The negative consequence of choosing to use focus points, however, is that research speed for all other non-focused techs slows down. Think of it as some of the people researching other techs, like Barbed Wire for example, have been shifted away from Barbed Wire research to Infantry Grenade research. So, you can either let all research proceed at their normal pace for each tech(time to completion varies for each tech, btw) or you can choose to focus on specific techs. It's up to you.

Each nation starts the war with 2 focus points, and an additional focus point will be acquired for every two additional research labs that are built. When a focused tech is completed, the focus point used is returned to the focus point pool. Yes, you may "Unfocus" a tech before its completion, but that costs an additional focus point to do that. So, don't get too click happy. :wink:

See the plus and minus signs beneath the Land technology line? They are used to either buy or sell additional research labs.
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All countries do not start out technologically equivalent. Thus, on turn three, Germany has already researched the Industrial Warfare tech, while below the pic shows that Austria-Hungary has still not completed research on it!
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Now on to the MANAGEMENT tab. The Management panel provides the best place to look at your alliances' overall financial health in one place. See the info in yellow? All kinds of goodies! From left to right:

Economic Output: This is based on your Manpower reserves. So, the more manpower(MP) you preserve, the better your Economic Output.
Current PP Stockpiles: It's all about the PP's, baby!
Current Income: How many PPs per turn each country is generating.
Upkeep Costs: The number of PPs per turn that are used to pay for existing units.
Research Upkeep Costs: The number of those precious PPs per turn that are used to pay for your research labs.
Balance: Current Income minus Upkeep Costs = Your Current Balance for this turn.
Next Turn's Balance: Each nation's balance for next turn, assuming that everything stays the same.


Next up, we have Logistical Upgrades. In the middle of the screen surrounded by hot pink, we have Artillery Production, Railroad Capacity and Transport Capacity. Clicking on then will bring them into the large panel on the left, just like how the Research panel works. With the Logistical upgrade of choice selected in the large panel, a simple click on the PURCHASE button will increase the capacity for that Logistic. All at a price, of course.

On the right hand side of the screen are your Victory Condition Priorities, as determined by the game. Fulfilling all conditions by the end of 1918 will result in a completely overwhelming victory for your alliance over your enemy.
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On the very bottom of the user interface while the Management panel is open, the game displays a record of the kills inflicted by every country in the war. The numbers represent strength points, not units. So in the first pic below, we see that Austria has inflicted 2 land unit Strength point kills, while Germany has inflicted 12.
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If I click the symbol in the upper left hand corner that I've surrounded with yellow, the display changes to casualties. This represents the number of Strength points lost by each country so far.
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Well, that's it for this round. I'm going to be out of town for the next couple of days, so when I get back we'll continue on to more fighting. Will I be able to succeed where Moltke the younger failed? Stay tuned!
Myrddraal
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Re: 1914 Campaign: Slick vs. the Privileged AI

Post by Myrddraal »

I'm not 100% sure, but they may have to capture the port of Kiel as well in order to traverse the Kiel Canal. But at any rate, any of you playing in a multiplayer game looking for a sneaky way to deny your opponent access to the Baltic Sea had best take note!
Yes, you will need to capture Kiel as well to use the canal, however... it's worth noting that the Entente can't enter the Baltic with surface vessels because of the neutral Danish fleet blocking the passage. This doesn't prevent submarines entering the Baltic. Subs can pass under the neutral fleet undetected.
SlickWilhelm
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Re: 1914 Campaign: Slick vs. the Privileged AI

Post by SlickWilhelm »

Turn 4 begins with a breakthrough in research - we are now able to start researching Artillery categories, which will come in handy in order to break the stalemate that is sure to occur.
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As feared, the British have declared war against the Central Powers and I can expect the BEF to show up in France anytime now.
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There were no super interesting moves by the AI this turn, but I did want to show you a good pic of the differences between AI moves and an AI attack.

Blue Arrow = AI movement.
Red Arrow = AI attack
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Yay, my first unit produced is finally completed!
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Clicking the Production tab, we see that both an Austrian INF unit and a German Garrison unit are ready for deployment. When I click on the Austrian Infantry unit, the hexes where I may deploy that unit become highlighted in white. Since I need defenses against the Russians, I've placed my deployment cursor above the city of Krakow, and I click again to deploy.
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And there we have it, our newly deployed Infantry unit.
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I deployed the German Garrison unit to Danzig, to bolster my defenses in East Prussia. Notice that I have also moved the High Seas Fleet deep into the Baltic in order to protect Koenigsberg, and screen against advances by any Russian fleets. In CTGW, Cruiser units can inflict great harm on Battleships, so I always want to have my Battleship unit protected by a screen of a cruiser unit. Additionally, it's important to note that Battleships get a "First Strike" bonus for attacking, so if you discover an enemy battle fleet, you almost always want to attack with your battleship unit before the enemy has a chance to attack it.
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I'm feeling somewhat insecure about my exposed eastern front, so I decide to rail the Garrison unit based in the Ruhr to Posen. The AI is agressive when on "Privileged" difficulty, so I need to cover my bases as much as possible.
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Finally, the progress of my Schlieffen Plan is proceeding as expected. My forces are in the process of surrounding Brussels, and my Cavalry unit has scouted ahead and discovered that the vital port of Antwerp is lightly defended. My Artillery unit has been moved up so as to be in range of both Antwerp and Brussels.

South of Brussels, a French Armored Car unit tried to block my Infantry juggernaut and has paid the price, losing three strength points. The Armored Car unit is meant to slow down enemy units, and retreat when attacked, and this unit did exactly that.
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Time is running short for me. I've got to get moving and try to take the channel ports before the BEF arrives.
SlickWilhelm
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Re: 1914 Campaign: Slick vs. the Privileged AI

Post by SlickWilhelm »

Not much happened during the AI's turn 4, so we'll move right onto my Turn 5.

The Russian bear has awoken, and the steamroller is now a very real threat!
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On the Eastern front, my units have dug in and are prepared for the Russian onslaught.
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In the Baltic, I've sent my submarine unit ahead to scout. I hope to detect the Russian Battleship fleet and then attack it with my Battleship and Cruiser units.
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in the west, I've pushed westward and managed to capture Brussels!
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Because Brussels was Belgium's only capital city, its loss means that Belgium has lost all capability to produce new units.
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Meanwhile, on the Austro-Serbian front, all is quiet. I bide my time until I can produce an Artillery unit, which I've purchased this turn. It will take four turns to finish production on the Artillery unit.
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This turn, I've decided that I can afford to add another research lab for Austria. In the pic below, we see the current state of Austrian research affairs:
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And by left-clicking the plus sign, I've upgraded the ground unit technology line to "2". This will increase the speed at which ground unit technologies proceed.
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Myrddraal
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Re: 1914 Campaign: Slick vs. the Privileged AI

Post by Myrddraal »

Another thing to note, labs cost upkeep, so buying more research labs has an upfront cost and an ongoing cost. You'll see if you look at the last of Slick's two screenshots the 'Labs Upkeep' has increased from 6 to 9. Each lab costs you 3PP per turn.
SlickWilhelm
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Re: 1914 Campaign: Slick vs. the Privileged AI

Post by SlickWilhelm »

The honeymoon period is over, and the AI is roaring back with a vengeance!

I wanted to show you a small snip from the action on the Western front, in order to highlight the efficiency of the AI when it attacks. The pic below shows a textbook CTGW attack:

1) The Fighter unit softens up my Garrison unit SW of Strassburg, reducing its efficiency. A unit with reduced efficiency will be less able to withstand attacks from other units. Remember what I said about Strength vs. Efficiency? The Fighter unit's attack did not reduce the Garrison unit's Strength, but it did reduce it's Efficiency. The early war Fighter units are effective in reducing Efficiency in enemy units. Think of them as "poor man's artillery", in that they only damage Efficiency, not Strength. As the game proceeds, there will be a research battle back & forth between Air units' effectiveness in attacking and defending against enemy ground units, and countermeasures used by those ground units to defeat the air units(Anti-Aircraft weapons, etc.)

2) The AI uses all available Infantry units to hammer my Garrison unit and reduce its strength and efficiency.

As a player, you should take note of this attack. This is how to correctly utilize the forces at hand to put a hurtin' on the enemy.
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Here's a wider perspective of the AI's turn 5 moves on the Western front. As you can see, the AI is doing two things to counter my Schlieffen plan:

1) Attacks on my weak Garrison units protecting Strassburg and the southern Western front are getting my attention, and making me wish I had a couple of Infantry units in the south.

2) The AI pulls back a Garrison unit in order to not get flanked by my most-advanced Infantry unit.

Disregard that French Strength level 5 unit apparently sitting there waiting to be killed. This is an action screenshot with the AI in mid-stream, and it eventually moved that unit back and repaired it.
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On the Eastern front, we see the Russian steamroller in action. My Infantry units are dug in and strong, but I'm worried that the AI will try to slice in behind them and isolate Danzig. Things are going to be precarious for me on the Eastern front until I can get more units produced. I want to hang onto Koenigsberg and Danzig if at all possible, because those Swedish ore shipments coming down the Baltic need a place to unload!
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On the Serbian front, the AI is attempting a breakthrough where I left a hole in my line to the west of Belgrade. I assume that it's either going to try to flank and cut off my Infantry unit just north of Belgrade, or perhaps a rush to try to capture Budapest. Either way, I'm not too worried yet as I have effective counter moves:

1) My first and probably best option, is to move my Infantry unit two hexes above Sarajevo due east, cutting off all supply to the AI's Garrison unit. That closes one hole, but then opens up another where I just left...but I only have so many units. Trade-offs are inevitable.

2) Secondly, I could also pull my Garrison unit out of the line and rail it up to protect Budapest(path shown in bright green).

3) East of Belgrade, the AI has begun an attack on my Garrison unit protecting my left flank. I must immediately counter-attack with my Infantry unit above Belgrade. An Infantry unit with a Strength of less than 8 is pretty ineffective on the attack, so my goal is to reduce that attacking unit's Strength down to 8 or less, and force it to pause to repair.
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Two other interesting things happened during the AI's turn 5:

Naval technologies are now available for research
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and my first Commander, Paul von Hindenburg, has arrived in his old Blue Prussian uniform, ready for duty. Someone will need to get him a proper Feld Grau uniform before the troops see him! From the description on this panel, we see that he is an aggressive general, although at this point we're not able to see exactly which attributes he influences on his units. We could deploy him immediately, but let's wait for now and check his stats, first. I click on "Continue" for now, which places von Hindenburg into the production queue with the status of "Ready".
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Commanders, as a rule, are helpful in increasing your units' base attributes. Most commanders give a bonus of +1 or +2 to some attribute, to every unit within the "command radius". Be warned, though. Not all commanders give only positive bonuses. Some actually give a negative penalty to some attributes! Thus, we must carefully weigh the pros and cons of each commander, and employ them in the field where their bonuses will be most effective. I'll show you how this works in my next post.
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Re: 1914 Campaign: Slick vs. the Privileged AI

Post by SlickWilhelm »

I thought that there was a way to look at Hindenburg's stats while he was sitting in the production queue, but I was mistaken. So let's go ahead and click on Hindenburg in the production queue. When I do this, I get the familiar screen showing the white hexes where it's legal to deploy him. Notice, too, that we can see Hindenburg's command radius in red. I know that since he's an aggressive commander, that I'm going to want to deploy him near the spearhead of my attack in the west.

To place him in this hex, I simply left-click, just like when deploying a new unit.
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Now we see that this Infantry unit has a red star attached to its lower left side, denoting that this unit contains a Commander.
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We want to take a look a Hindenburg's stats, so I'm going to select the Infantry unit that he's contained in, and click on the lower-case "i" in the upper right hand corner.
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Then, a click on the COMMANDER button.
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In here, we finally get to see what Hindenburg brings to the table.
From left to right, we see that any unit within his command radius receives +1 to the unit's Base Defense, Ground Attack and Assault attributes.
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Right, onto my turn. On the Western front, I've shifted the aim of my Schlieffen Plan because French resistance is stiffening, and I want to capture the channel ports first before heading onto Paris. I also want to establish a solid line, or else I invite trouble from a very aggressive AI. I feel that I made one mistake during my attacks this turn. I pushed one hex too far with my Infantry unit where the yellow arrow is pointing. I was hoping that perhaps Verdun might be undefended, or lightly defended. I was wrong, and now my unit is hanging out in a salient, with only 7 Strength. I expect the AI to attack this unit next turn with those two nearby Infantry units, and perhaps more. I will be lucky if that unit survives to be repaired next turn.

I attacked in the north and forced the Belgian Garrison to retreat, allowing me to surround and isolate Antwerp. I will attack with arty next turn and hope to capture that critical fortress and port.
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On the Eastern front, I deployed my new Infantry unit to the hex just south of Danzig. That makes me feel much more secure about my East Prussian front, at the price of not being able to add that unit to my Schlieffen Plan. I'm staying on the defensive here for now, just establishing my line.
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In the Baltic, my submarine remains on patrol, searching for any Russian naval units. The German High Seas Fleet remains in home waters, ready to pounce on anything the sub detects.
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On the Russo-Austrian front, I deployed two new AH Infantry units to help establish my line. I would have liked to deploy that Infantry unit near Klausenburg a bit farther to the north, but that was as close as I could get. The hot pink arrows show my future probable moves.
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On the Serbian front, I made the difficult decision to rail my Garrison unit from just south of Sarajevo to just south of Budapest. I wasn't able to cut off the Serbian Garrison unit heading for Budapest, alas. The AH Infantry unit that attempted this was stopped one hex short by strong Serbian zone of control(ZoC). As planned, I also counter-attacked with the AH Infantry unit to the north of Belgrade, and reduced the Serbian Infantry unit down to 7 strength. That should protect my left flank for the the next couple of turns.
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That's it for moves this turn. I started building an additional AH Infantry unit, and an additional German Infantry unit, and both will be ready for deployment in three turns.


To end this post, I wanted to show you something that doesn't affect gameplay, but is kind of cool if you're a historical fanatic. If you find yourself feeling that your units are a little generic, you can give them names. To do so, first select the unit whose name you would like to change. Then, click on its current name.
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Since this unit is part of the spearhead of my Schlieffen Plan, I'm going to rename it "VII Reserve Corps", which was historically a part of von Kluck's 1st Army during the campaign.
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Voila!
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Next up, the AI's turn 6.
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Re: 1914 Campaign: Slick vs. the Privileged AI

Post by adherbal »

I thought that there was a way to look at Hindenburg's stats while he was sitting in the production queue, but I was mistaken.
When you hover over valid units, the bottom UI displays the stats that would receive bonuses from the commander.
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Re: 1914 Campaign: Slick vs. the Privileged AI

Post by SlickWilhelm »

adherbal wrote:
I thought that there was a way to look at Hindenburg's stats while he was sitting in the production queue, but I was mistaken.
When you hover over valid units, the bottom UI displays the stats that would receive bonuses from the commander.
I'm not sure I follow you, adherbal. Do you mean if I hover over von Hindenburg when he is sitting in the production queue before being deployed, I will be able to see which attribute bonuses he gives to units?
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Re: 1914 Campaign: Slick vs. the Privileged AI

Post by adherbal »

No, if you click on a commander who's ready in the deploy queue, then hover over a valid unit you'll see the standard unit stats display in the bottom center but with +/-X for the stats that get bonuses and - for everything else.
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Re: 1914 Campaign: Slick vs. the Privileged AI

Post by SlickWilhelm »

Ah so! Thanks, great catch. :)
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Re: 1914 Campaign: Slick vs. the Privileged AI

Post by avoran »

I was wondering why you couldn't deploy the 2nd Austrian corps south of Przemysl (you can deploy units at a city that is adjacent to the enemy as long as the new unit itself isn't adjacent to the enemy) but then I realized Przemysl is just a fortress with 0 production and you can't deploy units there anyway. :)
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Re: 1914 Campaign: Slick vs. the Privileged AI

Post by SlickWilhelm »

Well, look who showed up for the party! It's Erich von Falkenhayn.
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As adherbal was so kind to point out, we can see what attributes a commander affects while he is in the production queue.
As you can see, von Falkenhayn will give your units within his command radius a nice defensive bonus. I'm going to take advantage of that by deploying him into the Infantry unit that I deployed to stiffen defenses on the southern Western front.
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As I feared, the Infantry unit I had left sticking out of my line near Verdun was attacked and savaged for 4 points of strength loss. At least it survived(for now), and I've retreat it back into line. I just hope I can repair it fast enough before the AI can destroy it. If I had a spare Infantry unit, I would move it out of the line and back into a nice safe place to rest and repair. Unfortunately, I don't have any right now.

I almost took Antwerp this turn! Using an Artillery barrage followed by attacks with multiple Infantry units, I reduced it to strength 1. It will fall next turn. Notice that after being cut off from the rest of the French and Belgian units, Antwerp went from having full supply to only half supply. This was key to taking Antwerp. Units on half supply can't move as far or repair Strength or Efficiency as fast as when on full supply. Thus, it's always in your best interest to cut off enemy cities, fortresses and ground units before trying to capture or destroy them.
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In the Baltic, some badly needed PP reserves in the form of an Iron Ore shipment from Sweden is steaming down the Baltic Sea towards Koenigsberg. I was hoping to encounter and destroy Russian surface forces before my convoy showed up, so this makes me nervous. Do I risk bringing out my Battleship and Cruiser units to probe? If they discover a Russian Battleship unit, that means the Russian Battleship unit will get to use its "first strike" bonus, which would be very bad for my units. Instead, I leave them in home waters and hope for the best. The trick for effective use of your Battleship unit is to discover an enemy fleet with your submarine or cruiser unit first, giving you the opportunity to use that deadly "first strike" bonus. Never, ever, use your Battleship unit as a scouting force.
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On the Eastern front, all is still relatively quiet. I take the opportunity to advance the Garrison unit from Danzig to incorporate it into my line. So far, so good.
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Disaster on the Serbian front! My Infantry unit just north of Belgrade was counter-counter attacked, and wiped out. I can't believe it. It was sitting at Strength 7, and I didn't think the Serbs could bring anywhere near the force required to destroy it. But, I was wrong. Someone on my intelligence team is going to get a pink slip!

I counter by attacking with my Infantry unit toward Belgrade, and I find a badly damaged Serbian Infantry unit licking its wounds there. I order an attack and nearly annihilate it. I advance the Garrison unit below Budapest towards Belgrade, and to prevent complete catastrophe I rail in one of the two Infantry units protecting Krakow. My AH Artillery unit will be available next turn, so that means if I can hang on for two more turns I will get to bring its power to bear against the Serbs.
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Things are heating up, and the AI is proving to be one tough customer!
SlickWilhelm
2nd Lieutenant - Elite Panzer IVF/2
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Re: 1914 Campaign: Slick vs. the Privileged AI

Post by SlickWilhelm »

We begin the AI's turn 7 on the Western front. The AI attacks my weakened Infantry unit north of Verdun, and hits with a crippling attack for 3 Strength damage. Additionally, the AI continues to work on weakening the southern part of my line, in the hope that it can drive towards Strassburg.
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On the Eastern front, the Russian launch an attack on the Garrison defending Danzig, and creates minor damage.
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At the end of the AI's turn, we see that the Canadians are on the way to support the Entente allies.
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During my turn 8, things are looking up. On the Serbian front, the AI had wisely retreated from its exposed positions gained in the last turn. In pushing the Serbians back, I severely damaged one of their Infantry units and it's now licking its wounds to the south of Belgrade. My counter attacks have stabilized the front for now, and my deployment of the AH Artillery unit just NW of Sarajevo bodes well for me. I plan on an attack on the Serbian Infantry unit to the NE of Sarajevo the next turn.
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On the Eastern front, I've counter-attacked the Russian Infantry unit with two German Infantry units and reduced it to 3 Strength. I've also deployed a new German infantry unit into Danzig. My East Prussian front grows stronger. I may be able to go on the offensive here in the next couple of turns. I've also brought my submarine unit back to help shield the Battleship unit. Above all else, I want to keep my Battleship unit protected.
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On the Austro-Russian front, the AH Infantry unit has marched north to assist in the defense of Przemsyl and to block any Russian attempts of advance from Lemberg.
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Finally, on the Western front I've stabilized the front, moving the severely damaged Infantry unit to Liege for extensive repairs and rest. Meanwhile, my forces have captured Antwerp and secured this important port for use by the Central Powers.
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And the German people are informed by this news bulletin.
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I'm feeling confident on all fronts so far, and my Turkish ally will hopefully be joining the Central Powers soon...
joerock22
Captain - Heavy Cruiser
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Re: 1914 Campaign: Slick vs. the Privileged AI

Post by joerock22 »

Great AAR!

Not sure whether I want to buy this game yet, so I really appreciate the in-depth look and the time you're spending putting it together.
Blathergut
Field Marshal - Elefant
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Re: 1914 Campaign: Slick vs. the Privileged AI

Post by Blathergut »

It's been interesting to play.
massina_nz
Lieutenant Colonel - Fw 190A
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Re: 1914 Campaign: Slick vs. the Privileged AI

Post by massina_nz »

...and unfortunately you can currently replay mulitplayer turns like you can with CEAW. However the combat results are a lot less variable thant CEAW, and you don't have to email files between players.

The AI however is massively better than CEAW.
SlickWilhelm
2nd Lieutenant - Elite Panzer IVF/2
2nd Lieutenant - Elite Panzer IVF/2
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Joined: Sat Oct 23, 2010 12:43 pm
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Re: 1914 Campaign: Slick vs. the Privileged AI

Post by SlickWilhelm »

Having lost every city and port, and nearly the entire country, the Belgians have retreated and are essentially out of the war at this point. It's possible that they could surrender soon, but it's not official yet.
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Conrad von Hotzendorf, Austria-Hungary's Chief of the General Staff, and one of the most vocal hawks of the Hapsburg regime, arrives on the scene to "help" the Austrians' cause. He will provide an offensive bonus, at the cost of a negative defensive penalty. I will use him on the Serbian front where my offensive against the Serbs will commence.
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The AI has used its turn to solidify its Western front, including the first British corps deployed against the Schlieffen plan. This is going to make further progress in the west difficult, and we have already be in the period of stalemate. We shall see.
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In the Baltic, the AI brought down its Russian dreadnoughts looking for an easy kill of my iron ore shipments from Sweden. Its rashness of hunting in this manner without proper cruiser support will be punished by me shortly.
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A Russian unit has pushed westward and captured an undefended Breslau! This is intolerable and must be counter-attacked immediately. Meanwhile, near Danzig, the AI has probed in front of Danzig, hoping to find it undefended. I'm glad I deployed an Infantry unit there last turn!
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On the Serbian front, the AI tried to destroy my Garrison unit NW of Belgrade, but failed. In my offensive that I'll launch this turn, my plans are to destroy the Serbian Garrison unit and then send in one of the units into the gap.
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Amaranthus
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Re: 1914 Campaign: Slick vs. the Privileged AI

Post by Amaranthus »

Thanks for posting this - not only an interested AAR, but more importantly, a superb tutorial to help get people into the game (especially those for whom this is the first Commander game).
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