Solo Empires & Alliances January 1915 Turn

(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, exchanged 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 sides, with the French portion of the line in blue, and the British sector in red. I've marked 5 hexes were the opposing sides are considering upcoming offensives. The black 'X'es represent possible German attacks, the blue 'X'es possible French attacks, and the purple 'X' a possible combined French-Anglo attack.

The Germans are considering an offensive into the Vosges region as part of an effort to cut off the French incursion into southwestern Germany. German success here could see them in position to attack towards Thann and Belfort and eventually cutting off the French forward forces.

The other offensive they are considering is an assault on Verdun, and interestingly the reasons they are looking at this attack are largely the same reasons the Germans attacked Verdun historically. The Germans are looking to bleed the French white, and are willing to pay the price to do it. The reason? Replacement points. The Germans have too many. After emptying the replacement pool the Germans still have 17 RPs, and earn 24 each turn (enough to rebuild 4-5 infantry corps). They can only hold on to 30, after which they are wasted. So for the Germans, not losing units next turn will mean wasting RPs. The French, meanwhile earn only 11 RPs a turn, just enough to rebuild 2 of their strong infantry corps, or almost enough for 3 reserve corps. And the French still have 4 reserve corps in the Replacement Pool, along with a cavalry and a territorial corps. So to the Germans, French losses may be the road to victory.

Despite this manpower problem, the French, too, are considering attacks. One attack would be to eliminate the German salient in the south around Colmar. Success here would strengthen French holdings in Germany, possibly helping in future negotiations. The other French-only attack consideration is at the southwestern tip of German-occupied France, where the French would like to throw the Germans back across the Marne. Strategically, it doesn't actually offer the French much; if successful the French would actually be in a somewhat more exposed position only slightly ameliorated by the river defense line. And realistically, if the Germans do launch their assault on Verdun, the French probably will not be able to attack here.

Finally there is the prospect of an Anglo-French offensive on the German salient at Compeigne, the closest front line to Paris. If successful this attack could allow follow-on attacks. It also solves a situation the British face that is similar to the Germans: too many RPs. On the downside is the fact that the British and French don't play well together (-1 DRM on combined attack) and that more British losses will likely mean more fragile units replaced with weaker ones.

Blue arrows indicate Allied movements, Red Central Power movement. The blue "explosion" indicates a battle, in this case an Allied victory

EASTERN FRONT

There was a bit of jockeying for position, and the picture shows the troop movements. There was also the interesting factor of entrenchment; in Poland and Prussia it was the Russians entrenching while the Germans were still shifting units in the snow to gain local superiority. Along the Galician Front it was the Russians moving around and the Austrians entrenching. This was also the location of the only major battle of the month, and an odd one at that, when Russian soldiers noticed that the Austrian fortifications in the mountains outside Sanok were largely illusionary (I had accidentally retreated the Przemesyl fortress out of the hex along with the combat units), and hastily organized an assault. Again, the 2.5:1 attack was wildly successful, destroying two more Austrian corps and allowing the Russians to occupy another strong defensive position.

The Germans did move a strong group of 3 Infantry Corps and an artillery Corps to the southern end of the Galician frontlines in an effort to begin outflanking the Russians, but will likely now have to turn those forces north to plug the new whole in the Hapsburg lines.

Blue arrows represent Allied movement; red arrows, Central Power movement

BALKAN FRONT

This front was all about maneuver as the Austrian 9th corps crossed the border into Montenegro but appear to have been unable to stop the Montenegran army from making it to the capital ahead of them. In Serbia Austrian forces made contact with the Serbian defenders in Skopje. As the Serbs continue to rebuild their army in the area they will look to provide the strongest defense of their remaining city possible, while also holding positions outside the city to prevent being placed under effective siege (if the Austrians can put units or uncontested ZOC all around Skopje it becomes isolated), but Skopje can only support 6 divisions.

NOTES/THOUGHTS

As I've already mentioned the Replacement Points and Pools for the other combatants, I'll fill you in on Austria-Hungary and Russia.

Not surprisingly, Austria-Hungary is in BAD shape. With the Russians occupying they only earn 7 Infantry RPs each month, not even enough for two decent Infantry Corps, and they currently have 5 weak infantry corps and 3 cavalry corps in the Replacement Pool.

Russia, on the other hand, is doing fine. They have 13 unused RPs and earn 14 a month (and can only have a max of 24, so they need to start spending next month, too). Their Replacement Pool currently one strong and one average (for Russia) Infantry corps, along with 4 cavalry corps.

You might notice that there's a lot of cavalry in the Replacement Pools. That's because they're often not worth building. At best they will have the same attack as infantry corps, but always weaker defense, and their greater mobility is negated by mud and snow weather.

That ends the January turn. Will February be similarly slow? I highly doubt it.