Plan XVII

[Dixie]

I'm playing the 4 player scenario against the AI, I'm controlling France (and the Western powers as they arrive). The difficulty has been slightly raised up to 4.

Initial setup for France is:
Plan 17 with events and Red-Blue uniform options. Plan 17 involves a mandatory attack into German territory so the uniform option should help to reduce casualties from the attacks. With 3 events to keep I chose Arab Revolt, Laffargue and Mata Hari. I also opted to keep the battleships instead of delivering them to Turkey, HMS Agincourt and Erin will provide a boost to keeping the German fleet bottled up.

Germany opted for the Schlieffen Plan.

[Dixie]

Early August 1914

Initial diplomacy was directed at Japan in the hopes of getting them into the war early to neutralise the German threats in the Pacific, unfortunately this was only partially succesful as Japan have made claims on the German possesions but stopped short of actually declaring war. The second round was directed at keeping Turkey out of the war (Russia sent 2 diplomats to Japan so I couldn't send more) but the diplomats failed to influence the Turks.
German efforts to bring the Turks into the war also failed but they did gain some support from the Netherlands.


Prior to the first military turn the German AI played the Grandmaison event, removing the shock tactic rule from the French forces and allowing them to use their defence values rather than attack values for defence.

The Royal Navy has sortied in strength, Home Fleet is heading to the Eastern North Sea, Scouting Fleet to Dogger Bank, Atlantic Fleet is setting out to hunt down German ships in the Atlantic and the Med fleet is in the Eastern Med. The single full strength corps in Britain and the GHQ are heading to Portsmouth to embark for France.


Battles:
The Germans defeat a small Belgian force at Brussels and break through with 4 corps.
The Germans defeat the Belgians at Namur as well, breaking through with 2 corps.
The Germans lay siege to Liege and reduce the fort, an infantry assault fails to take the city though.

[wodin]

Looking forward to this.

[calvinus72]

The first public beta patch will be published later today, on AgeOD official forum.

This patch fixes the erratic freezes during AI vs AI sieges, so I advice you to download and install it, provided you are playing the 4-players GC campaign.

By the way, your idea of red colour filtering the map is excellent! [8D]

[Dixie]

August 1914

With the French forced to go on the offensive the Entente move into German territory. The Belgians refill the casualties suffered by their infantry in the initial assaults and try to reform into a better defensive line in SW Belgium. The British GHQ boards ships and set sail for Boulogne.

Battles:
French I Army attacks Muelhausen, even without artillery the French manage to overcome the German defences. No corps are destroyed by either side although several are shaken or disorganised.
French II Army attacks Saarbourg, German attacks tie up most of the army and only 2 corps make it to the attack. Without artillery support both attacking corps are destroyed by the German defenders.
French III Army attacks Metz, with the German armies on the attack the French lay siege to the city.
A Naval Battle in the Eastern North sea ends in a RN victory, but at the cost of Jellicoe being killed and 7 major ships and 1 smaller squadron destroyed. In return the Germans suffer 4 ships sunk and a smaller squadron destroyed before fleeing the battle.
The Belgians try to retreat to Bastogne, but the Germans get there first and destroy the single corp that tries to attack.

Germany attacks Briey but is defeated by French III Army and retreat. Germany and France both have 1 corps destroyed but German forces are shaken and disorganised.
Germany attacks Valle de Moselle but suffer the loss of 3 corps before retreating.
Germany attacks Epinal but retreats with two units disorganised or shaken.
Germany attacks Longwy and break through the French lines with 5(!) corps. Both sides suffer 1 corps destroyed with 2-3 shaken or disorganised. The superior numbers of German corps allow them to soak up the losses and wear the French down.


Combat losses lead to the loss of 3 NW for France but gets a gains 3 NW for the victory in Valle de Moselle.
Belgium loses 1 NW from casualties.
Great Britain gains 1 NW from the victory in the North Sea.

[Dixie]

September 1914

Last one for today.

Diplomacy/Events
I chose to enact the blockade on the Central Powers. Diplomacy for the next few turns will focus on getting Japan (1st) and Italy (2nd) into the war on my side. After that things will depend on whether Turkey has joined the Central Powers. If it looks doable then I'll try and keep Turkey out for as long as possible, otherwise efforts will focus on cutting German support from the Scandinavian nations and increasing US support for the Entente effort. Greece is another possibility if the Turks join in although their erratic approach to diplomacy doesn't give any guarantees.

Rasputin arrives in the Csar's court in Russia, leading to negative effects for Russia until he is assasinated. I draw the Kerenski event card, which will allow for a 'blue' coup in Russia (other events allow for a 'Red' or 'White' coup).

Entente diplomacy is succesful! Japan joins the war against the CP, their powerful fleet is more than a match for anything the Germans can put into the Pacific so I can redeploy the RN forces from the East to help clear the South Atlantic.
Turkey joins the Central Powers, no great surprise after the Germans gave them gold and a battlecruiser and the Entente kept the two modern battleships at the start.

Military
The BEF has landed in Le Havre, they're going to get on a train and head straight to Arras to block the Northern arm of the German advance. German forces are probably too close to Lille for the Brits to beat them there so I'll attampt to hold the line at Arras before counterattacking towards Lille.
The French V Army is concentrating at Sedan to block the German thrust through the Ardennes which is probably heading for Paris. III Army is stopping the siege at Metz, there isn't any artillery so the outcome isn't looking rosy for the French attackers.
British V Army is moving into Turkish territory at El Arish. British VI Army is gathering in Kuwait with the Indian Corps heading to the middle east to join the upcoming campaign there.

Battles
There's an inconclusive naval battle in the South Atlantic as the Germans slip away from the more powerful RN fleet.
Germany attacks in strength at Sedan, the French are heavily outnumbered and fall back towards Rethel hoping to use the river X as a barrier to German advances. German losses are light but the French have a corps destroyed and two more are shaken.
The Germans counter-attack at Metz and push the French forces back, although no French corps are hit badly the Germans had several fresh corps available whilst the French forces were starting to suffer casualties so I ran away!
Germany attacks at Mulhouse, but without artillery the terrain heavily favours the French defence and the attack is beatne off with 2 German Corps destroyed. No major French losses are suffered.
The Germans lay siege to Maubeuge.
Two German assaults are defeated at Liege, luckily the Germans only have 2 corps available as the 2nd assault leaves the Belgian garrsion shaken and unable to take part in more combats this turn.


Results
France loses 2 NW through combat losses.

The devious Boche didn't attack where I expected, instead of taking the major city of Lille they turned south and laid seige to Maubeuge instead. French V Army withdrew past Rethel and onto Reims instead.
The choice now is to either use the BEF and their elite infantry corps to defend the approaches to the Channel ports or to shore up the French defence on the way to Paris. Whilst the loss of the ports would be a blow, losing Paris in 1914 is a war ending event for the French so the Brits are going to pack their kitbags and take position between the Oise and Marne rivers. French V Army will move forward to Rethel and reform the front there, I'm not sure they can hold as they have no artillery and were soundly beaten at Sedan.

[Dixie]

My view so far...

Taking the Red-Blue uniforms option at the start seems to have improved the initial French offensives when they managed to attack in force. The German AI playing the Grandmaison event was a help in removing the shock attack tactic from the French military. The combination of the two events helped the initial stages of the war. The situation around the Ardennes is pretty poor though, with V Army outnumbered and the Belgians outgunned it's probably up to the Brits to defend Paris.

I had hoped to keep Turkey out of the war for a few months more, but it wasn't to be. I've got two armies in the desert and a far superior navy in the Med so barring any silly mistakes I'm feeling positive about the Mid-East. Holding the Arab Revolt event will also be a bonus on this front.

There definately seems to be a difference in the AI performance with even a slightly higher aggression setting. Usually I'm able to extract the Belgian army before they're cut off from France and the BEF check the German advance at Mons. This time the Germans were at Mons before the BEF were off the ferry [X(] I'm hoping the AI can cope this well with the transition to trench warfare.

[calvinus72]

Public beta patch 1.08C is online:
http://www.ageod-forum.com/showthread.php?p=177963

[Dixie]

October 1914

THe siege of Maubeuge ended with the fall of the fortress at the start of the turn. The fortress at Liege has also been neutralised leaving the city open to an attack later in the month.

Diplomacy
French diplomats turn their attention to Greece, succeeding in changing the Greek attitude to the Entente. Greece now allows right of passage to all the Entente nations as well as supplies. The Germans concentrate on Italy (were I was unable to send my diplomats this turn) and achieve some limited success in swaying the Italian opinion back to the CP.

Military
With the French armies refilled it's time to face the Boche once again, V Army is ordered to move up to the Meuse (will they get there before the Germans though?) and the French GHQ is ordered northto lend support to the defence. The BEF gets back onto the trains and is sent to Compiegne to block any potential thrusts from the recently captured Maubeuge.

Germany attacks Mulhouse, 2 German corps and 1 French corps are destroyed in the fighting but Mulhouse remains firmly under French control. The hilly terrain here is a major bonus to the defence.
A detachment of the British VI Army capture Basrah without opposition.
A large battle breaks out at St Mihel (the first with two flanks in this game), two German corps are destroyed with one French corps being wiped out. Although the French IV Army is victorious the survivors are badly mauled so it's just as well the battle ended when it did.
Germany attacks Valle de Moselle with 3 corps. The French defence easily holds them off and destroys a German corps before the attack fails. The Germans are unable to cause any real casualties among the defenders (not even a wounded counter!).
French V Army makes it to Rethel shortly before the Germans do and force them to cross the river under fire. Two French corps are destroyed with 3 more falling into disarray as a result of the battle. Three German corps are destroyed with another three badly wounded. Ultimately the defence fails and the Germans break through the French lines once again.

Results
France has lost another 3 NW points through combat losses.
The remnants of the Belgian army have managed to reach France. From here they're heading back into the frontline as part of the desperate attempt to save Paris. Once that's done they'll be heading back to the Belgian front.

The situation in the South is much better, but the forces there are facing a smaller number of German armies and are in danger of becoming cut-off. There's a redeployment phase arriving soon (dec 1914) but waiting until then might mean the front line being too far the the west (at the Seine or even the Yonne rivers). Falling back now might also allow the French to hold Verdun, losing the city would be a loss of 5 NW and France is already down to 23...

In the MidEast the British V and VI Armies are doing well and I decided to play the Arab Revolt event. The lack of Turkish forces opposing the Brits has been a bonus and the revolt will force them to garrison Hijaz or suffer NW loss every turn. The Arab forces that I gain will attempt to link up with the main Brit army in Palestine.

France is the first nation to make the doctrine change, Transition to Trenches. Presumably they been shocked by their heavy losses so far...

[Dixie]

Nov-Dec 1914

Diplomacy
After the efforts of my best diplomats Italy has entered the war on the side of the Entente. Not only does this provide the boost of an extra nation and it's military, it also frees the French VII Army to move from the Alps.

Military
With the freedom to move French VII Army and the arrival of the French VIII Army at Marseille things are looking slightly better for the Entente. Both armies will be boarding trains and heading north, initially to the area around St. Dizier and Auxerre but the VII will be redelpoyed south during the interphase.
The arrival of the British II Army allows the I Army to move forward in an attempt to meet the Germans at Soissons and blunt the advance on Paris. I'm feeling confident that Paris is safe for the near future and that I'll be able to focus on consolidating the front and pushing back the Germans in early 1915.
On the German border the French armies are pulling back to a line through Verdun-Toul-Nancy

Battles
The Royal Navy and German Fleet clashed again in the Eastern North Sea. The initial contact between the Home Fleet and a small German fleet soon escalated to involve the British and German battlecruiser fleets. The RN forces sank 4 large warships and a squadron of smaller vessels in return for one lost ship of their own before the Germans retreated. Brittania still rules the waves! [8D]
A Turkish assault managed to overwhelm the small British force at Basrah and recaptured the city.
Germany attacked Nancy but were defeated by the newly redeployed Fr II Army who destroyed a Ger cavalry corps.
Verdun was attacked by a German force but suffered 2 infantry corps destroyed at the hands of the Fr III Army. I'm glad I redployed the armies from the border...

Interphase
France improved her wartime economy (x2) and managed to get a war loan. All those lovely RPs are going into more land forces for the French Army.
Great Britain has started to expand the blockade on the Central Powers to include neutral ships, the diplomatic hit is worth the extra problems it#ll bring Germany in the future. Gen Allenby was appointed as a new leader. 2 attempts to improve the war economy resulted in 1 success although this is partially offset by a succesful war loan.
The biggest news from Germany is the start of submarine warfare.

National status
Entente
France: Sacred Union, National Will 20
Great Britain: Sacred Union, NW 35
Belgium: Pacifist, NW 40
Italy: Pacifist, NW 33
Russia: Hard Liners, NW 33
Serbia: Sacred Union, NW 40

Central Powers
Germany: Sacred Union, NW 26
Austria Hungary: Sacred Union, NW 29
Turkey: Sacred Union, NW 26

[Terminus]

Looks like you're in a could-have-been-worse situation for now...

[Dixie]

Jan 1915

With the arrival of 1915 several new techs are available for research. British research is directed towards heavy tanks and trench mortars. Both of these techs will provide a nice boost when trench warfar kicks in. France is still(!) researching light machine guns having achieved nothing so far...

The extra French economy is directed towards two artillery corps and an extra selection of infantry corps. The artillery will be a while in arriving but the infantry will arrive during the summer. A unit of aircraft rounds out the new unit construction for France.
Great Britain is spending resources to make 9 MUN each turn. Points are spent on new infantry corps to form the core of the new III and IV Armies. The lack of conscription in Britain is limiting the amount of new forces that can be raised each turn. Two fighter units are ordered to arrive in May & June 1916. HMS Barham is laid down and will arrive later this year after a single stage construction.

Diplomacy wise things were a mixed bag. Greece has now opened the entire nation to Entente forces to transit between fronts. AT the other end of Europe, Spain has expelled all foreign dilpomats on suspicion of espionage! Toulouse now needs to be garrisoned by three corps, which is exactly the amount of force I can't afford to spare from the front at the moment.

Military
The adoption of submarine warfare by Germany means that I've got to allocate light warships to ASW duties. There are a few small fleets scattered around the world for the Entente and these are being sent to sea at once and are on their way to the North Atlantic and North Sea.
On land, the French Army is pretty much in position with a detachment of IV Army moving from Dijon to plug the whole at Bourgogne.
British II Army is moving towards St. Quentin, German forces have been reported on the march so combat is a possibilty here. I Army is also on the march, a German detachment is to the east of Paris at Craonne and I intend to push them back over the Oise river.
British forces in the Middle East are pulling back slightly to more defensible positions.

Battles
Turkish forces are defeated in the battle of Gaza, a single Turkish corps attacks 5 British/Anzac corps and is easily wiped out. The obstination value of the Turkish general was obviously higher than 1 so the single Turkish corps was easily exhausted and finished off.
The Battle of Al Muthanna ends with 2 Turkish Corps destroyed, 1 Indian Infantry Corps is destroyed and another ends the battle in panic. As a result the battle is won by the Turks.
An outnumbered German force attacks Nancy, the German attack breaks off and retreats after 2 infantry corps are destroyed. Unfortunately current doctrine doesn't allow for a counter attack against the battered Germans so the French hold their positions.
Br I Army arrives at Craonne after the Germans have already seized the best positions. Luckily the German force consists of a single infantry corps whilst the British force has some of the best troops available to the Entente. The resulting battle is short and the Germans are forced from the battlefield.

Results
German forces take Douai, Argonne and Val de Meuse causing a loss of 3 NW in France in addition to the loss of NW from the ungarrisoned border with Spain. Entente forces are still reeling from the initial CP assaults and there aren't enough troops to do everything that is needed.
British NW suffers from combat losses but this is countered by public rejoicing at the successful battle at Craonne.
I'm considering shipping the territorial corps from the UK to France in an effort to bolster the front, they are far from the best forces available but they have to be better than nothing.
Br I Army has managed to link up with the remnants of the Belgian Army, the Belgians will be withdrawn from the forest and sent back to Belgium's Channel coast, they are of limited value though with just 1 weak infantry corps and a cavalry corps. It's possible to deploy some foreign corps into the Belgian army so if it seems prudent then a British Infantry corps might provide a bit more support.

British research pays off quickly. Trench Mortar A and HEavy Tanks are both available now, several tank corps are going to be ordered ASAP. They should arrive in time for a Grand Offensive later in the year. Entente forces have also made the transition to Firepower Doctrine (this is the first time I've got it before the CP).


The thick white line shows the current front line, note the massive gap at the Northern end of the line. If I use the British GHQ as an emergency force then there are still 3 areas without any Entente forces between Paris and the Channel. The German attack in the south around St. Dizier is not sustainable, the detachment from IV Army is going to move north to St. Dizier itself. Although it's only a small detachment they could cut the German force off from their supplies leaving them easy pickings for a French counter. You can also see that my forces have started to dig in, shown by the orange area with the number inside indicating the relative level of entrenchment. I may look at deploying 2 Indian Corps in France for a while as part of the defensive line...

[Tarsyk]

Great AAR, I love your excellent maps!

[Bevington]

Thanks for sharing this excellent AAR. Can't wait for my copy of the game to arrive...

[Terminus]

I suppose there's no chance of you withdrawing from the salient southwest of Dinant, and tidying up your front that way?

[Dixie]

ORIGINAL: Terminus

I suppose there's no chance of you withdrawing from the salient southwest of Dinant, and tidying up your front that way?

It's been considered and is still a possibility. I'm being optimistic and hoping that I can stabilse the front and hold the salient. Although it's taking valuable troops losing Verdun would lead to a loss of 5 NW points for France leaving them in a shaky situation. I'm also looking to use it as a launch area for a French grand offensive in the summer. The salient provides a decent start point as there aren't any river crossings to deal with before the offensive starts.

Of course, that won't matter if the front folds totally... I may have to look at splitting the French Army into smaller forces to cover the entire front.

[06 Maestro]

You made it through the great danger period-now you can hammer the CP into submission-or at least starve them out. Time is on your side.

[Terminus]

ORIGINAL: Dixie

ORIGINAL: Terminus

I suppose there's no chance of you withdrawing from the salient southwest of Dinant, and tidying up your front that way?

It's been considered and is still a possibility. I'm being optimistic and hoping that I can stabilse the front and hold the salient. Although it's taking valuable troops losing Verdun would lead to a loss of 5 NW points for France leaving them in a shaky situation. I'm also looking to use it as a launch area for a French grand offensive in the summer. The salient provides a decent start point as there aren't any river crossings to deal with before the offensive starts.

Of course, that won't matter if the front folds totally... I may have to look at splitting the French Army into smaller forces to cover the entire front.

Ahh, forgot about Verdun. Well, the Germans will have to go into burrowing mode too soon...

[Dixie]

Mar-Apr 1915

Diplomacy
Two of my best British diplomats (level 2 + 3) are sent to Greece and given orders to influence the government there. Despite the presence of 2 rival German diplomats the Greeks join the war (on the side of the Russians). This also provides a boost to the Entente's ratings in Turkey, Bulgaria, Italy and Rumania.
Germany concentrates her efforts on getting more neutrals onside in their attempt to bypass the blockade, this turn it's Sweden who is convinced to help out.

Military
French VIII Army is moving to St Dizier to cut the advancing German army off from it's supplies.
The IV Army detachment (2 Inf corps) is moving to Langres in case the Germans head that way.
Fr VI Army is moving to cover the gap in the line left by VIII Army's redeployment, their positions are being taken over by the infantry corps from the GHQ. It's not the best of options but using the GHQ to plug the line will be all they're doing for now.
The Belgians are attacking the German corps in Maubeuge (the force that was defeated in St. Quentin by the GB II Army last turn).
GB II Army is advancing to Douai, from here I can either move north to the Channel or East into Belgium. The terrain is flat so it'll be a nice place to test out my tanks when they arrive...

Battles
Another naval battle in the North Sea resulted in a victory for the RN. A mixed force of cruisers and battlecruisers was intescepted by the Home Fleet. 1 RN ship was damaged and 6 German ships damaged before the Germans retreated.
The Germans attacked St Quentin, stalling the planned advance by GB II Army. A German infantry corps was destroyed giving another victory for the Entente. One British corps was wounded during the encounter.
Germany attacks FrVIII Army at Bar le Duc, the attack fails with two German inf corps left in disarray. The river crossing didn't help their cause much there and my troops having a trench line helped counter the slightly superior German firepower advantage.
The Belgians gain a victory at Maubeuge(!). Belgian cavalry sweeps aside the understrength German infantry corps holding the town. Even if things had gone badly the fact that the battle took place near several British HQs meant that several British corps could have backed up the assault if needed.

End Turn
The stability of France is improved by +3 NW and a general strike fails. However the loss of Lille, Val de Moselle and Briey is a major blow to French morale (-3, -1 and -1 NW respectively). Capturing St Dizier helps to restore some pride (+1 NW)
The capture of Maubeuge provides a boost to the Belgian populace (+1 NW) and a blow to German pride.
The continuing exploits of the RN improve the NW of GB by +3.

I can provide detail on the Italian and MId-East fronts if people want, and some detail on the East front as well.


The situation as of Apr-May 1915...
The chance to cut off and destroy a German HQ this early in the war is a great chance. As they're now going to be out of supply the Ger III Army can't replace their casualties so a couple of decent battles should have them worn down to nothing.
The front line is almost continuous in central/southern France but neither side has created a solid line in Northern France yet. The arrival of 3 territorial infantry corps to garrison Calais is a start, and GB III and IV Armies will arrive in the next couple of months as well as at least 1 independent infantry corps.
You can also see that the Brit positions are ata haigher level than the French or Belgian forces due to the deployment of trench mortars throughout the British held areas. The city of Lille will be a central goal of British operations up to the summer, I want to hold at least the Belgian border before October.

[Dixie]

May 1915

I'm splitting May into two parts, the first part will be the diplomatic stuff and issuing orders to the military forces. Tomorrow will be the resolution of the orders.

Diplomatic
I wanted to send diplomats to Spain to start improving relations there, but the Russians have already got two diplomats there so I'm blocked from sending more. Instead I sent my diplomats to several nations and concentrated on improving relations with Denmark. The diplomats manage a slight improvement of Denmark's opinion (+3 to the Entente).

Future diplomatic efforts are being set at:
1) Spain, get things back to a good footing so I can get rid of the negative effects of not having a garrison on the border there.
2) Denmark, this is the first nation I'm getting to cut agricultural support for the CP thus improving the RNs blockade. Good relations with Germany also allows for the possibility of getting Entente fleets into the Baltic unnoticed.
3) USA, good relations with the US will provide economic advantages and extra MUN for the Entente powers.
4) Other neutrals to worsen the blockade for Germany.


French Military
French reinforcements arrive in the shape of three infantry corps. One is assigned to the IV Army HQ (1), one is sent to IV Army detachment at Langres (2) and the third is assigned to a detachment of V Army (3). The reinforcements mean that each HQ has three front line corps available and at least one corps in reserve. IV Army det has three corps whilst V Army det has two corps assigned. Eventually I want all of the formations to have at least 3 frontline and 1 reserve corps, artillery will be assigned to each HQ and also to dets engaged in offensives.
VI Army is moving south to Troyes (A), they will be replaced by the V Army detachment (B). Although the detachment only has two infantry corps the proximity of the army HQ should provide some reserves. The French GHQ is also in location with the French marines and three Arab infantry corps to provide some backup. IV Army detachment is moving forward to tackle German III Army (C), the major provinces around the German force are held by French forces with only open countryside left ungarrisoned so even if the Germans avoid the trap this turn they can't survive forever.
Things are looking much healthier now for the French.

Production
The French economy is currently running at a loss of 53 points [X(]. Factories are producing 15 MUN each turn, this should provide a decent reserve of munitions ready for the eventual arrival of some heavy guns.
Five infantry corps are under construction, three will arrive next month with the other two arriving in August. Four artillery units are under construction, due in Sept, Oct, Nov and Jan 1916. Support units take a while to build and each one after the first takes an extra month to arrive, so it's important to plan ahead in this area.
The final reinforcement is a fighter unit due to arrive in May 1916.

Whilst the economy is running at a loss currently, efforts to improve the wartime economy and further war loans should take care of that. I feel it's worth running at a loss in order to provide some heavy support to the French armies.