Wolf001 wrote: ↑Sat Jan 21, 2023 11:04 pm
Robotron wrote: ↑Sat Jan 21, 2023 9:48 pm
As a quick sidenote: with singleplayer mode now being "out of order" for the time being, I'd still like to hear some of your adventures from multiplayer mode to bolster my morale (if it's not too much too ask for of course).
Me and umeu are playing a game right now. I’m playing as the Entente. I lost Belgium and Paris pretty quickly. Emeu took a massive risk and stripped Austrian forces that were facing Russia to overwhelm Serbia with no hope to stop the Austrian advance. Serbia finally surrendered at the start of 1915 with a Bulgarian attack finishing her off. I couldn’t send French forces to help out since my lines are stretching from Cherbourg to Belfort.
My Russian invasion of East Prussia and Austria-Hungry could have gone better I did get a small victory by killing Dankl and Von Francois. Umeu has now given me the name Wolf the general slayer.
Umeu didn’t get the Goeben event which made Turkey enter the war much later I think turn 16. I used the delayed war entry to build up a sizable Russian and British force to invade the Ottoman Empire. I cost Umeu a lot of PP invading with the Russians but he won a massive victory with a surprise attack towards the Suez and took Port Said. We are fighting over that right now I do have the advantage that I can put pressure on Caucasus front and I’m making a push towards Baghdad the British.
Umeu has the advantage on the eastern front with a lot of artillery and is slowly pushing my Russians back. Romania is thinking about joining me which I’d prefer they didn’t because I’d have more area to defend.
The western front was in a stalemate after Paris was taken with neither one of us able to take much ground. Umeu managed to take a few hexes but I’ve managed to stop any breakthroughs. I am now putting a lot of pressure on Umeu with a French offensive from Verdun and slowly gaining ground.
I've intercepted this telegram, and it contains valuable information muahaha I shall certainly win the war now
@Robotron, I'm sure you'll understand, the info you ask for is top military secret of Imperial importance.
Jokes, I'll make a write up.
1915. The world is at war. Bulgarians are defending the outskirts of Brussels side by side with the German reserve and Austrian regulars fresh out of the Balkan where they smashed through the lines with a bold cavalry charge down the Nis flank, threatening the soft underbelly of the Serbian army. They defended bravely, but racked with typhoid, they simply couldn't win the war of attrition. A backstab by their Balkanbrothers meant surrender or death. Most chose death.
How did it come to this? Taking a page from their Austrian allies, Germany rushed through Belgium, Liege, Brussels and Namur all falling within days of ach other, in that order. Austrian Howitzers and Big Berthas laying waste to their structures and garrison alike. Keep the right wing strong, the elder had said, and the younger had a meltdown as he violated the neutrality of Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Would it be war, or would they yield their railways. In the end, they yielded, but Moltke was not fit for command any longer. It fell to his generals, and what a splendid show they gave. Lille collapsed, but Ypres held out, 9 out of 10 of their comrades dead or wounded, yet they held. In the end, it didn't even matter. Cut off and surrounded from supplies, they were forced to surrender a week later. Was their sacrifice enough to stall the German advance? Reims and Amiens were next, and suddenly, they were at the gates of Paris. The French government of cowards fled the city, and Gallieni was left to hold down the fort. And he did. Kneedeep in blood and guts, he replled repeated German assaults on the city. He withstood the onslaught for a month and a half. But the German high command recognized that this is a game of railways, you capture them, or you die. Hausen seized the railhead near Paris, cutting the metropole off from reinforcements, and battered Gallieni's corps into dust. The reserves that replaced his crack troops were not up to the challenge. They shattered, hard. Winter set in not much later, and for a while, all was quiet on the Western front.
In the east, the steamroller lived up to its reputation. Tarnopol was evacuated, but the Austrian high command, after having chosen to change to a more defensive war plan, was overwhelmed and almost routed. Lemberg fell, and Przemysl was besieged, though not for long. The Germans fared no better. Having stripped the Eastern front from its cavalry corps in order to keep the right wing strong in the west, the lines were strong but stretched thin. The Russians crashed into Eastern Prussia like a storm, Prittwitz reeled and fell back, not across the Vistula, but into Konigsberg. The navy shall have my back, he thought. Instead he was hit be a shellshard during the retreat, and his reserve corps disintegrated with him. Prittwitz would survive, escaping on the pre-dreadnaught SMS Preussen. In a moment of jubilance and hubris, Admiral Essen decided to destroy the Swedish fleet in a bit to secure hegemony over the Baltic seas. Sweden rose to the tides, however, and far from being cowed by Russian arrogance and beligerance, declared for Germany instead. The Swedish Expeditionary Corps sailed immediately, but would arrive too late for the second battle of Konigsberg. Because as things looked most dire, there they were. The Teuton Titans. Hindenburg, Ludendorf and Hoffman were the masterminds, von Francois their sword. Konigsberg was retaken after a miraculous victory at Tannenberg. Samsonov offed himself and Prussia was saved. From there, the Germans were on the offensive in the east. But it would not be a quick mad dash to Moscow as it had been in Paris, no. The Russians had dug in, and winter was falling. In the east, too, all would be quiet.
Until Spring 1915 came upon us. Bulgaria declared, tired of waiting for their Big Ottoman Brother, we'll call him BOB for now. We know Serbia's fate, our story started there, but it did not end there. The Germans, frustrated that their elite infantrymen were repeatedly repulsed by Russian farmers from the reserve, resorted to dirtier tricks. Gas was used for the first time outside of Warsaw, and then soon near Le Havre as well. The British lines there fled before the green fog, but the Russians held. Would nothing break them? Bulgiarian, Swedish and Austrian howitzers were all brought to the front line, surely, this would be enough? Mackensen and Hotzendorf planned their grand summer offensive, and finally the Russian steamroller turned hedgehog started to lose its spikes. The lines near Warsaw crumbled until finally the mighty city fell.
In the mean time, BOB had found his spine and declared for the Central Powers. They should not have. Basra fell without a fight. Enver Pasha looked to invade the Caucasus but Bergman beat him to the punch. They scrambled back to Erzurum with their tails between their legs where they're making a desperate stand as the Russian steamroller redirected its pressure on them. Because to the south, the British are in kahoots with Russia, driving their Indian Expeditionary Force relentlessly through Mesopotamia. A cheeky attempt to capture them in the rear by a Turkish cavalry corps out of Kuwait got caught and punished by two Indian army corps. Their hordes are endless, and the front is in dire need of reinforcements. Grasping at straws, the Caliph declares Jihad, hoping to persuade Persia to join them while also keeping the Saudis quiet. Is it enough to turn the tide of war? A war for which BOB was completely unprepared, but yet, not all is dark. A surprise attack on the canal saw Port Said fall into Ottoman hands, threathening both Cairo and Suez with the same fate. The ANZAC is rushed in to defend these vital shipping lanes and restore business as usual in the canal. If they don't succeed, Britain might be first to run out of food.
In the West, things are less spectacular. France is holding on by a thread, the overhastedly dug in British lines on the left flank perhaps more a liability than an asset, the Central Powers manage to take Cherbourg, but are forced to redirect their attention back to where it all started for them. France, in a desperate attempt, launches their big 1915 offensive. But without artillery and generals of name to oversee the charge, their attack falters, though it breaks through the German lines between Namur and Rheims, threatening to retake Brussels, Lille or even Ypres. The German reserve, aided by Austrian and Bulgarian veterans from the Serbian front, make a stand and crush the last of Gallic hopes. The Fokker scourge guarantees air superiority, and the zeppelins soar high, giving the CP the edge in intelligence warfare. Submarines are released upon the seas as well, and Norway sharply protests the sinking of their convoys. But it's do or die as they British blockade, briefly broken, is reestablished and hunger looms. The war must be won, before the people starve.
And while we wait, the question on everyone's mind is... What will Italy do? They looked to be firmly lodged in the CP camp for a while, despite proclaiming neutrality on paper. But then D'Annunzio reared his ugly head, and Trieste was demanded as downpayment for their services. It was granted, grudglingy, but granted nonetheless. And still, they have not declared. Romania, another turncloack state, has made a deal with Britain. It seems to be a devil's bargain, Russia looked strong when they signed their contracts, but things have changed since then, as with Novo-Georgievsk, another stronghold in Poland surrenders.
Winter is almost upon us oncemore. A second Christmas. But still no peace on earth.