The Moltke Plan

[06 Maestro]

Air War-Western Front
1915

There have been a few small skirmishes along the Western Front. In each case the German Air Force retired from the battle. The French Air Force has suffered some damaged units, but retained control of the sky.

[06 Maestro]

Western Front
June '15

The grand offense into French held Luxembourg continued into June. Better results were had. Losses were still high-and higher than the French, but the battle was won. For the time being, defensive operations will be the mission on the western front.

[06 Maestro]

Palestine
June '15

The British attempted a small invasion of Palestine-the Turks drove them back.

[06 Maestro]

Eastern Front
June 1915

The Russian Army is kaput. The level of disarray and weakness of the Russian Army was not known in May, if it had been known earlier, June would have been much more active. Due to successful spying (via event) it has become known that there is not much fighting left to be done in the east. July will see attacks all up and down the front. It is expected that the Russian Army will collapse. It may be possible to have an early negotiated peace with the Czar.

The primary operation for June was a major attack by the redeployed 2nd Army toward Minsk. The 1st army is to advance south to gain a bridgehead for the A/H 4th Army. The 8th Army, which until the recent intel was going to stand on the defense, will advance on Riga. Riga may be attacked in July.

Russian national will is below zero and army moral is negative. It is not known what the Russians can do to alter this situation in the near term-perhaps nothing.

[pvthudson01]

When you play this game, how is combat handled. What I hate about BOA2 is its so abstract. For example, in this game do units have ATK DEF MOVE vaules, and can you add up what you think the totals will be by looking at the counters?

I mean how are you judging the combats? Moving units up, and trying to attack with higher odds, or is it more convoluted?

This game looks awesome. I didnt even know there were air battles like that

[06 Maestro]

The lower numbers shown on the unit icon are the typical attack, defend, and movement factors. The flag color denotes veteran (or moral) status, which is just about as important as actual strength.

Due consideration for an attack changes as the game progresses. Trench levels and techs have a very significant affect on battles. The term convoluted is an apt description of combat resolution. It is much, much more than adding attack factors. Much of the time, all you can do is make a good guess as to what will be defending anyway. Of course, with practice, the guessing gets more accurate.

Factors include the units moral, attack/defense factors, the weather, terrain, trench tech, various techs which affect grand battle planning and defense, unit fire power bonus (top left of unit icon-very expensive to increase) encirclement, and a few other things. A larger force can loose simply because it does not have artillery for both flanks of a big battle which can result in losing on one flank and suffering a penalty. You can have more arty, but run out of ammo with bad effects. You can have a much larger force and loose due to the other side having an advantage in veteran status. The reverse can be true, better units may be defeated by low grade units if their adjusted moral (change from national will) is lower.

Convoluted may be the correct term to describe the variables of combat in this game. However, that is not to say that you cannot make a good appraisal of an outcome. I have not attempted to create values for attacking groups, but can still make a good guess as to who will win in a given battle. For instance, if I assemble a large force that contains a few elite units with arty for both flanks if needed; I will win the vast majority of the time. Very often, the first real evidence of an enemies strength won't be had until the first round of combat.

The greatest challenge to planning a successful attack is making a proper analysis of the opposing forces. These map shots that I have posted do not show all enemy units. If enemy units are outside of my operational intel, I do not see them. There are (rare) spy events which will let you see an opposing side (on one front) for two consecutive turns. This can be a tremendous help-if you have the power to take advantage of the info.

[06 Maestro]

Weest Front
July '15

The French have launched several attacks this month, one large and several rather small and futile. The German Army was able to hold the line. There was never a threat of breakthrough.

[06 Maestro]

East Front
Sept. '15

The Central Powers launched attacks everywhaere on the eastern front in July and September. The Russian Army is in very bad condition-outnumbered and with low moral. There was one surprising succes for the Russians in the battle of Kowal. The A/H 4th Army got a bloody nose.

[06 Maestro]

Romanian Front
July '15

The surprise entrance of Romania into the war has been a problem for the CP. The Romanians have not ventured out of their territory, but still required many CP units to be deployed along the frontier. The German 11th Army was redeployed from the eastern front as were many A/h divisions. The A/H 1st Army is in route to the southern flank of the A/H 2nd Army. It will be used to push south along the Prut River.

The German 11th Army has started its attack out of Bulgaria-it eventual objective; Bucharest.

[06 Maestro]

Armenian Front
August '15

In keeping with its required offensives, the O.E. launched a major attack into southern Russia. It was a somewhat daring plan with only slight hope of success. The 3rd Army would advance through the mountains and attack Batum from the east and the 2nd Army would advance along the coastal area which is a poorly supplied area. Both armies would then attack attack Batum. This took all of July and August to accomplish.

It may be that the Russian Army is broken here also. If it were not for the supply concerns, the advance could continue right through the winter.

[06 Maestro]

Eastern Front
October '15 (early)

Minsk has been captured by the 10th Army and Riga is besieged. The heavy artillery available to the 8th Army is not enough to take down the forts of Riga, so some guns are en route from the 1st Army. Hopefully, Riga will fall by December. Another two Russian Armies are cut off to the west of Minsk-those are out of supply and isolated. The HQ's still need to be attacked to speed their demise.

The A/H front line is still covered quite well by the Russian Army. No great advances are expected here before next spring (assuming Russia has not surrendered) The A/H 1st Army will soon be advancing south along the west bank of the Pruth River. This will have the affect of exposing the Russians southern flank. Just how many more divisions Russia can raise is not known, but to cover this new front while trying to rebuild a front to the east of Minsk will be extremely difficult for them.

[06 Maestro]

National will
Mid '15

The National Will of Germany took a big dive this summer. Losses accounted for part of that, but it was still a surprising drop in view of the victories. It had been in the upper 30's (40 max) then dropped to the mid twenty's. At the start of October it fully recovered to 35 points. Germany was running a deficit, perhaps that had something to do with it (time to re-read the rules).

The Austro/Hungarian Empire had a similar NW path, but it did not drop as low as Germany's. It is currently at 32.

Russia has been at 0 NW or below for months. It is currently at minus 5. AN event was played for a negotiated peace. 2 turns have elapsed and 4 more are available for that event to work. Regardless whether Russia surrenders, the Grand offensive will be launched against the French. No point in wasting the new secret weapons on a defeated foe.

The French currently have a NW of 29. They did loose one province, but I suspect the NW hits occurred due to combat losses.

Great Britain's NW has been maintaining in the mid 30's.

The minors and Italy all have a high NW-upper 30's.

[Mus]

What are the secret weapons gas shells?

[06 Maestro]

Yes -I actually have 2 gas techs-this will be good for a very long Grand Offensive. It might get me half way to Paris.

[calvinus72]

Hi 06 Maestro, being you an expert [8D], I strongly suggest you to install the latest beta patch 1.06I, that I posted last night on the official forum of WW1. It affects the trench warfare. No risk to loose your saved game, it's totally compatible! [;)]

[06 Maestro]

Will do-thanks for the tip.

About being an "expert", I must pass on that title. I am reasonably familiar with the game though.[;)]

[06 Maestro]

Pripit Marsh Battles

Nov/Dec 1915

With a feeling of total supremacy, the German High Command decided to continue the offensive into the winter. Two of the large attacks involved the 1st and 3rd Armies. Those were ordered to attack into the Pripit Marsh along the rail roads. There were still some sizable Russian forces in the area, but due to a multitude of factors, their defeat seemed certain and easy. As it turned out, neither was the case.

The 1st Army did succeed in achieving a victory, but it was costly.

[06 Maestro]

Battle of Rafalovka

Kluck manage to pull off another victory. The attack proved to be a mistake. Further attacks into the marsh will be postponed until good weather-perhaps never to be thought of again.

[06 Maestro]

Battle of Zaretahnoie

General Hausen did not fair as well as Kluck. The first Army suffered some heavy losses-and the Russians held their position.

Finished with the Pripit.

[06 Maestro]

North Romania

The A/H 1st Army has completed its transfer to the southern flank of the Russian front. It has begun its movement south into Romania. It shall advance south along the Prut River-using the river to help guard against a Russian move to interfere with the attack on Romania.