AAR: The Schlieffen Plan.

After action reports for Commander The Great War

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operating
Master Sergeant - U-boat
Master Sergeant - U-boat
Posts: 511
Joined: Tue Nov 25, 2008 5:36 pm

Re: AAR: The Schlieffen Plan.

Post by operating »

After capturing Paris, did you complete the entire game? Also, had you updated to 1.30? then tried to replicate The Schleiffen Plan? Wish you had continued with the AARs, for they were quite interesting! :o
raydifarrell
Private First Class - Opel Blitz
Private First Class - Opel Blitz
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri May 28, 2010 3:50 pm

Re: AAR: The Schlieffen Plan.

Post by raydifarrell »

The reasons for German failure that Markov lists are all correct, but he misses the most important one: The plan was probably not viable. It called for a greater density of troops on the right flank than could be supported by the French and Belgian road network.

At the battle of the Marne, the front line German units were 80km from their railhead - an unsustainable distance. Adding more forces to the congested roads would only have worsened the problem. Which is why even if all the forces in the original version of the plan had been available, they probably would not have made a difference. They would still have been exhausted from marching 400 km. The horses would still be out of fodder (In fact sooner, since the amount of fodder that can be transported on any given road is finite. Put more horses on the road and they just eat it sooner).

Surprisingly, given that we usually associate the Prussian General Staff with meticulous planning, the plan failed this most basic staff check. But Schlieffen was a strategist, not a very good operational planner. Moltke's amendments to the plan improved the logistic problem somewhat but could not resolve it completely.
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