Slitherine

Good to know. Thanks

As adherbal said there is indeed a bonus. The green dots in the water show the bonus area. I believe that is 4 hex from a friendly port. When my U-boats attacked the American transport in the French port I took much more damage then if it had been out in open water.

Turn 8, 16 July 1917, Americans land in France. the race against time has begun in earnest. Germany needs to defeat France before the American Expeditionary Force arrives in strength.


Austrian forces attack the encircled Russians wiping them out. Now that the rear is secure the troops push deep into Russian territory. They luckily encountered weaker garrison and artillery destroying them. Vinnytsia is within striking range, but the strategic objective is to surround the rest of the Russian and Romanian forces in the south and destroy them.






Turkey continues to harass the British. No major operations are taking place in the Middle East.


German infantry have broken out of the encirclement and troops are positioning themselves to keep the supplies flowing.


The Italians are losing ground as the Austrians continue to pressure them. German infantry have secured the southern frontier. It appears the Italians may have overexerted themselves as their offensive looks to have ran it's course.




Germany presses on with the summer offensive. The Allies are pushed back again with the possibility of a real breakthrough.







Reinforcement are under construction which will greatly help with keeping the initiative in the coming weeks.

AI Turn 8, 16 July 1917, the Italians respond, but it's too little too late.


The allies apply pressure and exploit a small hole in the German line. Germany better beef up the center or risk a French breakthrough. Well see how this plays out.





Russia appears to be cautious with only minor attacks against the Germans. It appears they may have transported troops to the center front to counter the Austrian breakthrough.

Turn 9, 30 July 1917, the Austrian offensive advances slowly. Troops have reached Vinnytsia, but find the city garrisoned. The river will make it tough to take the city.



Pressure is still being applied to the Italians. Venice will be the next objective to take.



Little has changed in the desert. The arrival of Izzet Pasha may break the stalemate.



Germany's offensive has stalled. The troops require repair and rest. The French infantry has been blocked. Germany only needs few more weeks before she can deploy reinforcements.

Interesting! Did the Russian's press you in the north? I'm guessing they'll have called off the attack to try to stabilise their southern front?

Your gambit in the west looks particularly interesting. If you actually break through, it may win you the war, but you're creating a large salient where each one of your units is vulnerable to massed attack. Especially your infantry unit with the commander attached, which is within range of French artillery and armour.

The Russian didn't do too much. I think they are moving down to head off the Austrians. We'll see how that turns out. Yeah I'm almost scared to hit the next turn. This could be bad on the Western Front.

I guess it depends on how well entrenched you are, and how much the Entente can afford the casualties...

AI Turn 9, 30 July 1917, the Italians withdraw closer to Trento. This will give the Germans an opportunity to scout the area with their armored car. Armor cars are great for scouting with their quick ability to retreat when needed. Venice has been reinforced with infantry. It appears they expect an attack soon.


Russia has renewed their offensive in the north. Vilna is the target. The Germans are holding strong, but for how long.



Many months have pasted with no significant action in the Caucasus, but now the Russian have withdrawn. What does this mean?


General Nivelle aggressive attack has left his army in a difficult position and yet at the same time could cause the collapse of the entire northern western front for the Germans. The loss of artillery is a costly blow to the Germans. The Germans will have no choice but to consider a withdraw.




Precious iron ore arriving from Sweden. Barring any attacks on the Convoy this will bring much needed PP to Germany.

Turn 10, 13 August 1917, the Arab rebels have about been completely defeated. Once this rebellion has been subdued Turkey can set her eye on Egypt.



Turkey is still unsure of what the Russians are doing in the Caucasus. They left their trenches intact. It is very slow moving in the mountains.


The Russian suffer defeat after defeat in the middle. Vinnytsia should fall in the next few weeks. Bulgarian and Turkish reinforcement have arrived to keep the momentum of the offensive going.







Russia's attack has left the Northern front is a vulnerable position. Germany will repair her troops and hope for the best.


Austria beats Germany to scout the area. This pays off as Italian fighters are discovered and promptly attacked.



The Western Front has seen 3 years of stalemate and it appears there will be no changes to this anytime soon. The Red Baron moves his squadron to the safety of Liege. Hindenburg feels a limited withdraw is necessary and orders his troops back. This ensures Nivelle has no escape and most importantly no supply. The fighter and bombers pound on his position weakening the French troops. The entire front is shuffled north to secure the hole.








The U-boats have not had much success, but continue to look for prey.


The much needed recruits are ready for deployment. The recruits are positioned were hopefully they do the most good.

AI Turn 10, 27 August 1917, Vilna is surrounded. There is little hope of holding the city. The best Germany can do is delay the Russians before new recruits can arrive to stabilize the front.





Russia sensing the danger began to move troops to the center. This could be her undoing as fortified positions are left vacant. She also continues to retreat from the Caucasus region.




The Western front is not looking good. Nivelle army may be doomed, but the Allies are going stronger and pressing in on the Germans. If something is not done and soon Germany could be in real trouble.

Turn 11, 27 August 1917, Germany counterattacks. Russian Cossacks have been defeated near Kovno. This should make the Russian think twice about continuing their offensive.



Austria's offensive this week makes steady gains. Their plan while not perfect achieves it's objectives. Iasi, the Romania capital is within sights. Pressure is still being applied to Vinnytsia with the Russians scrambling to establish a defensive position. It remains to be seen what Russia will do about the Austrian breakthrough. Russia has the advantage of having huge amounts of land, so she still has time to respond. The real question is how does this effect her national morale?











At Germany's request Austria sends a garrison to fortify Koenigsberg. Another garrison was moved to Brest-Litovsi.




Turkey wipes out the rebels in Tabuk retaking the city. The British armor car continues to be defeated and retreats.



Russian troops continue to withdraw in the Caucasus. Turkey decides to hold as it will take many weeks to cross the rugged mountains with little to gain.


Operation Venice begins in full swing with artillery bombardment. The city falls as Austrian infantry storm her.




The Italians fail to withdraw her fighters leaving them for a quick death.




Nevilles gambit has failed and his troops pay the price. No army can stand without supplies. French tanks are bombed as this new machine of war can roll right over the trench. Germany continues to apply pressure to the middle weakening the French troops. It's doubtful that anymore gains will be achieved along the front closes to Paris. An offensive south of Verdun will be planned for in the coming weeks.








Germany makes a bold move using her battleship. The German Navy is hopelessly outgunned on the seas. This may give her a chance to sink some Allied ships. U-boat ponders attacking the transport, but decides against it.




New recruits are deployed near Lemberg and Strassburg.

AI Turn 11, 27 August 1917, the allies navy attacks sending a cruiser to the bottom of the ocean. The other cruiser suffered serious damage. The fleet has been ordered to withdraw. A cruiser tries to block escape.





Russia continues to attack the right flank forcing the garrison to retreat. The infantry should prevent an encirclement.



Austrian troops have allowed themselves to get cut off. They will be lucky to survive this situation. Meanwhile the Russians and Romanians shuffle the wounded away from the enemy and prepare for one last ditch defense to save Iasi.



Little takes place on the Western Front, but a positioning of troops. Punching through the Allies lines will be difficult.

Great AAR. It seems that the AI can handle itself in this game quite fine. There is room for improvements, though, e.g. it should try to save its air units instead of leaving them on the front...

Thanks Cybvep, this is a learning experience for me. Never done an AAR before. Sometimes the AI does that, but for the most part it's fairly smart about moving units out of harms way. Hopefully my internet is stable today so I can get another turned posted.

Turn 12, 10 September 1917, the Austrians move in for the kill. Iasi is virtually surrounded and wont last long. Once Iasi is taken the next target will be Chisnau and then a encirclement of the Romania infantry. If all goes to plan it will then be a matter of marching up behind the Russian lines and killing them. The Northern front has finally stabilized.










The Austrian fleet takes a shot at the Italians.


Not much going on at the Western Front, just few harassing attacks against the French.


The German fleet withdraws and takes out an American cruiser. The U-boats take a shot at the battleship and spot a defenseless transport. It's doubtful the transport survives next turn.

AI Turn 12, 10 September 1917, the Americans sink one of Germany cruisers.


The Italians and British launch a operation to retake Venice and succeed. We'll see if they can hold the city.




France pounds on the German line, but Germany holds on.


Russia launches limited operations up north. The Romanians reinforce Iasi. The Austrians are confident they will take the city in the coming week.




American transports have been spotted. Something needs done before to many arrive and the tide of war turns against Germany.

How do subs work in the game? Is it efficient to attack transports in ports? Do subs have unlimited range? How high is their spotting distance?

It's very very inefficient to attack transports and convoys in port. A sub can theoretically sail across the Atlantic, but it's operational effectiveness is limited by naval supply, which depends on the distance to your nearest friendly port. Effectively this means that German subs operational range only just covers the British Isles at the start of the war. If the Germans can capture Antwerp (or better yet, Calais) this greatly extends their operational range.

Turn 13, 24 September 1917, Von Mackensen joins the fight and is deployed on south of Verdun were the Allies look weak.



The U-boats take out a British transport and the German cruiser makes it safely to port.




The Western front sees little action this week. The Germans withdraw to a more defensive position.



Austria launches another offensive against Venice and retakes the city.



Iasi is still under siege. It has been one defeat after another for Russia and her Allies in the south. She has also made no progress up north once German and Austrian reinforcements arrived. The Central Powers plan to keep the pressure on in the south and maintain the status quo for the other fronts.