The Montenegro Gambit

[OldCrowBalthazor]

Entente SEPT 5 1914

Serbia is on the ropes..if Russia is lucky, they have 2 turns before the surrender and its ramifications hit especially hard...including the temporary uptick that the Central Powers will get the turn after. And then of course, the really bad and permanent hit when Serbia falls.

Atm Russia's NM score is 95%. Serbia 67%. Germany 97% and AH 96%

[OldCrowBalthazor]

Knowing that Serbia is going to fall...and that AH and Germany will get the temporary increase in readiness and morale for its units after the surrender turn..plus and increase in their overall NM...with the corresponding decline
of Russia's NM the loss of Brestlitovsk, and Vilnius, the Russian High Command orders a breakout.

The supply situation was going to be poor, and a tenative attack north into East Prussia yielded poor results against a German cavalry corp. I knew it was time to break out.

At Lutsk...after a 5 corp attack on the AH corp there...the town could not be entered. So a large bulk of the Russian Army made the decision to force march into the area to open this gap next turn.

A successful attack near Vilnius managed to destroy a German corp...and the line in the north holds for now.

[OldCrowBalthazor]

Closeup of the Battle of Lutsk, Sept 5 1914.

It took 3 Inf and 2 Cav corps to destroy the AH corp in Lutsk. (I noticed that the AH forces were starting to lose their Montenegrin Surrender buff..but they are still above the norm).

Unfortunately, the Russians had nothing to occupy the town. At that moment, I decided on a general retreat from Poland. There are 3 major clusters that were ordered to move, but there will be rear guards. If we are lucky, we maybe able to turn on the dogs that are licking our heels. )

Note: The diamond pattern denotes the Russian attacking units.

Edit: I believe its was actually 6 attacks on Lutsk...the 6th is a 7 strength Inf corp south of Rovno with out the diamond pattern.

[OldCrowBalthazor]

Close up Lithuania, SEPT 5 1914

The German Corp blasted out of smithereens was easy because I found it foundering in a swamp outside Vilnius. Now, if I can only convince Bavre to follow me into the Pripyat. [:D]

[shri]

Few Qs-
1. Why isn't UK going into Balkans to help the Serbs?
2. If Germany pulled a switch into Lithuania + enough troops in Balkans and Galicia, can a Belgium invasion be pulled off by France? What is happening on the Western Front or on Ottoman fronts etc?
3. Why is Italy at 0? in Sept 1915?

[BillRunacre]

ORIGINAL: Bavre

Btw, if Bill or Hubert are reading this: is the "unit boost from country surrender" cumulative with itself?

Yes, though having one surrender each turn (if possible) can also be good as it means the effect lasts for longer, though the usefulness of that depends on the tempo of your offensives of course.

[Dazo]

Nice going both of you [8D].

The country surrender boost reminds me of a WWII game where axis timed Pacific offensive to match Barbarossa, giving insane bonus to german units (couldn't even scratch them) because of all allied minors taken down by Japs.

Back to the topic and Shri question about Belgium:

ORIGINAL: shri
2. If Germany pulled a switch into Lithuania + enough troops in Balkans and Galicia, can a Belgium invasion be pulled off by France? What is happening on the Western Front or on Ottoman fronts etc?

You can certainly attack Belgium with France and UK and you should be able to kill it in one turn with nice NM bonuses for 2 corps and HQ.
The "hard" part is to put your units in the good starting hexes so you can reach german border while killing most belgian units. It's all about the good use of Entente cavalry.
I'd say you need at least 3-4 turns to deploy the necessary forces but weather can still be an issue.
You can also just go for a small thrust to isolate Belgium from Germany meaning you'll only target Bruxelles and finish Belgium later.

Plus, if it comes to that, Entente has the option to attack directly Holland once Belgium is out. You probabaly won't be able to kill it quickly but just the NM and MPP hit on Germany should balance the units and MPPs given by Holland.

[OldCrowBalthazor]

ORIGINAL: shri

Few Qs-
1. Why isn't UK going into Balkans to help the Serbs?
2. If Germany pulled a switch into Lithuania + enough troops in Balkans and Galicia, can a Belgium invasion be pulled off by France? What is happening on the Western Front or on Ottoman fronts etc?
3. Why is Italy at 0? in Sept 1915?

1) If Montenegro is captured on turn 2...Albania event won't fire..and Albania stays neutral. Greece is also Neutral so there are no ports for Entente forces to land to get into Serbia. There are also no Entente forces in the area although I could of gotten a French corp in Cetinje on Entente turn 2 if Cetinje held.

2) Invading Belgium is a possibility but inpractible early because France is still mobilizing and the UK is still neutral. This usually needs to be planned so that the entire country including Liege goes down in one turn.
(In this test I don't want to reveal another gambit I'm planning unless this is concluded early.)

3) This is Aug to Sept 1914 so far. I see I typed 1915 in my last post...corrected

[Tendraline]

Congrats on mauling Russia so badly!

However, I assume that the troops on the Eastern Front were diverted from the West, giving France breathing room and giving a good chance of turning the war into a stalemate or a slow crawl on that front. Not saying you did anything wrong, just heads up on that

[Bavre]

The new update is out. It is HUGE and contains a ton of highly anticipated changes, so OldCrow and I agreed to only do one last round here. So here is turn 4:

In the northern sector of the Russian front Kovno, Vilna and Baranovichi fell. Nothing spectacular but an excellent base for potential future operations.

[Bavre]

The south however is simply a bloodbath:

[Bavre]

In Serbia one corps managed to slip away by getting 2 retreats in a row. Hold still when I'm trying to kill you, dammit [:@]. However Serbias economy is gone and Bulgaria is only 2 turns away, so the Balkan is basically in the bag.

[Bavre]

ORIGINAL: BillRunacre

ORIGINAL: Bavre

Btw, if Bill or Hubert are reading this: is the "unit boost from country surrender" cumulative with itself?

Yes, though having one surrender each turn (if possible) can also be good as it means the effect lasts for longer, though the usefulness of that depends on the tempo of your offensives of course.

Thanks for clearing that up. Just one more question: this effect seems to be identical for all countries, as far as my tests could tell. I mean I get such an effect when say Russia falls, but the end of some tiny minor throwing the entire CP in a frenzy (even if it's just temporarily) seems a bit over the top. So might it not be better to scale it to the surrendering nations size?

[Bavre]

ORIGINAL: Tendraline

Congrats on mauling Russia so badly!

However, I assume that the troops on the Eastern Front were diverted from the West, giving France breathing room and giving a good chance of turning the war into a stalemate or a slow crawl on that front. Not saying you did anything wrong, just heads up on that

Thanks!

Yeah, the old conundrum. Both France and Russia can become major pains in the rear area if left alone too long. Going Schlieffen has the advantage that your lads are already in place and you can hit France like a truck, just check Dazos thread in the war room on that. All east has the advantage that your defensive front is much easier to secure. Not really sure what's in the end stronger. Mainly just did all east because I wanted to see if I can make it work.

[shri]

Got it, understood.

So, despite patch doing lots of wonders, Monte##### gambit can succeed and do deep wounds.

[OldCrowBalthazor]

Entente 4th Turn. 2nd Battle of Lutsk

2 AH corps are destroyed in a desperate counter attack as Gen Brusilov takes control of the 'situation'.
More than 60% of the Russians Forces within the pocket have linked up at Lutsk. To the south, a scratch force is formed and makes a run on the Tartar Gates...taking the passes.

Casualties are high but the spirit is stronger then the flesh!

[OldCrowBalthazor]

Northern Front stabilized as Yudenich (HQ 7) is pulled from his harem girls in the Caucasus to take command here.

[OldCrowBalthazor]

Entente Turn 4

France makes limited probing attacks east..detrenching and damaging two German corps.

A child was heard in a nearby village asking, "Mommy, where are all the Englishmen?". [:D]

[OldCrowBalthazor]

The first wave of French and UK forces arrive in Egypt....more are on their way. Australian forces have all been diverted to this AO. Seems the Ottomans are at 87% mobilization.

When I see the Montenegrin Gambit coming next time...I will authorize the Sultan Osman dreadnought to be sent on to the Sultan forthwith...this will delay the Ottoman Empire's entry into the War so we can be more than ready to take Palestine.

....and besides, I can just sink it then.

[OldCrowBalthazor]

Russian Naval Intelligence reports with High Confidence that there are no German Warships in the Baltic or in their ports. Seems they sallied out.

The old farts at the Admiralty snort and say, "We told you so!" [:D]

Nice test Bavre!!! I'm still in shock with the full implications of the Montenegro Gambit...but extreme setbacks warrant cool resolve to get back off the floor...and grab the offending wankers b$##s!..or try too anyway )

cheers