The Obsessive Grognard

(Because of a lack of movement, I did not provide a wide view image this turn) On Christmas Eve, snow fell all over Europe. The soldiers started singing Christmas carols, and unofficial truces were declared all over the Western front, and in sporadic places on the Eastern Front as well (the continued Russian use of the older Julian calendar made for a lack of synchronicity in the two sides' celebrations). Soldiers mingled, exc hanged rations, moonshine, and Christmas traditions. Local commanders looked the other way, and as the snow continued to fall for weeks, well into the new year, the fighting slowed down. (Snow in both weather zones). Once again, the lines indicate the front line; blue for the French sector, red for the British WESTERN FRONT No major fighting on the Western Front this turn; as all the combatants spent their time strengthening the lines and preparing for future massive offensives. The included image shows the front line between the two entrenched ...

The end of the year has come, and with it the realization of of so many broken promises. "It's just a punitive expedition, to get the Serbs to stop supporting terrorism." "We just need to pass through your country for a little while to deal with the French, we're not here to stay." "It's just a continental war, we don't need to get involved." "Elan will see us through, they have no weapons to counter our spirit." "We will restore lost lands and redeem our national honor." "We will finally be accorded the respect we deserve." "We'll be home before the leaves fall." December saw the advent of snow in the East, and continuation of mud in the West. Three of the battles from November continued this turn, along with one new one. The entrenchment markers make it difficult to see which nationality the stacks are, so I've drawn a line between the Allies and Central Powers marking the fr...

BU SAVAŞ! It's War! Turkey joins the Central Powers, and, um, ho-hum so far (with the Middle East and Caucasus abstracted in the game to off-map boxes, there's just not much going on here). Technically, the British can deploy any forces in the Middle East Box anywhere in on-map Turkey, allowing for, say, a Gallipoli campaign. But so far it doesn't look very appealing. Overall, this is a much less violent turn than October, with only 3 battles resulting in the loss of a total of 5 Infantry Corps and an Artillery Corps. WESTERN FRONT There is no 'Miracle of the Marne'; the French are not strong enough to throw the Germans back from Paris, but maybe there is a lesser 'Miracle of the Somme', as the Germans assaulted the three French territorial corps defending Amiens with eight corps and two artillery units. French losses were heavy (2 corps eliminated vs 1 German corps lost) but the line held. The Territorials were then shifted South to bolste...

This was a bloody turn! The Germans lost 6 Inf and 2 Art XXX, the Austrians 1 Cav and 3 Inf XXX. The Allies lost the remainder of the Belgian Army (2 Inf XX and the Cav XX), and 2 French Inf XXX in the West. In the East the Russians lost 3 Inf XXX, a Cav XXX and Art XXX, while the Serbs lost 4 Inf XX, the Cav XX, and an Art XX. A lot of difficult decisions, and some interesting rules conundrums. THE WESTERN FRONT The September Allied turn saw the BEF safely evacuated from Ghent to Calais. In October, with the rains beginning (Mud) the Germans finally eliminated the last of Belgian resistance, completing their conquest of the country according to game rules. They also pushed their lines up to the French, and then took a very risky 2.8:1 attack on a pair of French corps in hex 2554. They scored a HX blasting a hole in the French lines 2 hexes ENE of Paris! The Allies were forced to respond to this and another hole in the southern part of the massive German sa...

I will at some point say more about myself and my history in this hobby, but just to give some sort of context I will say that while I have been involved in the hobby (mostly solo) for a long time, and never completely  withdrew from it, in the past couple of years I discovered the modern renaissance of boardgaming, which led me to the modern renaissance of historical (board) wargaming. I have been gathering my old games and expanding my collection for a while, and while I've known about Vassal for a while I finally got tired of thinking to myself that I'd get around to figuring it out later, sat down and actually made it happen. I've chosen as my first Vassal game Empires & Alliances by Compass Games . Here's what you need to know about the game: Era: World War I Location: All of Europe and part of Asia Minor; Caucasus front and Middle East handled abstractly. Focus: The land war Units: Mostly corps, a few divisions Scale: Approximately 30 miles per...

End of the Central Powers September 1914 turn Well, I've finally gotten a Vassal setup going, using it to solo Compass Game's   Empires & Alliances. This is at the end of the Central Powers Sep 1914 turn. This is the first post of the series; you will have to gather how the August 1 and August 2 turns went from the current situations. Balkan Front The Balkan Front has seen some initial success by Austria-Hungary with a quick capture of Belgrade, but the Serbs are not an easy nut to crack. After some general slow but steady advancement the Austrian commander decided rather than a grinding push down the line to send 3 corps in on a single Serbian division. The Serbs were pushed back and 2 Austrian corps broke through the line, meaning the Serbs will probably have to make a general withdrawal to a mountain line centered on Nis. Eastern Front The Eastern Front has been more challenging. The Germans received a lot of Russian pressure, with the 1st ...