Solo Empires & Alliances, March 1915 Turn

The snows returned, hindering German plans.


WESTERN FRONT

Central Powers turn

The Germans were 1 RP away from replacing every single loss from March. They restored 6 Infantry corps, sending the two strongest to the West. Unfortunately the snow reduced the mobility of those units making them unable to get to the frontlines at Verdun (4MP reduced to 2, 1MP to entrain, 1MP to detrain, cannot use rail movement in enemy ZOC so can't rail to the needed hex). Instead the high command decided to activate two cavalry corps in Belgium from garrison duty and move them to the front to participate in the attack, replacing them with the infantry corps. The attack was a success, with the two French corps defending Verdun eliminated, while the Germans lost the two Cavalry Corps in exchange.

Allied turn

The French, again felt obligated to respond. They reformed three infantry corps, and were able to pull three more corps plus an artillery unit out of the line as the British moved troops in to take over the line in the Beauvais sector. Unfortunately they too were hampered by the weather and were unable to bring any of these powerful forces to the front line. Without the reinforcements, all the French could hope to achieve is a risky 2.2:1 -1 attack. I say risky because, assuming the French do not manage to roll on the 3:1 column, there is a 30% chance they get hit with an "Attacker Demoralized" result. This result would leave French units weak, and also force the troops attacking from the hexes to the West and Southwest to retreat, exposing an enormous hole in the French lines. With next turn guaranteed to not be a snow turn, the Germans are likely to be able to bring at least 4 strong corps to the area and start grinding the French down from the flanks.

But this same concern for the arrival of more Germans is what causes the French to choose to make the attack; they fear that if the Germans are able to retain their control of the Verdun region that essentially exposes both the Toul fortress area and also the Champagne region to greater German troop concentrations. In the end, while they do not meet with disaster, they do not meet with success either; heavy fighting destroys a corps on each side, but the lines do not move more than a hundred yards.


EASTERN FRONT

Central Powers turn

In the East the Germans shifted troops in East Prussia to stabilize the line, while also trying to strengthen their positions around Warsaw for a final assault. It was here they met with disaster. They attempted a hasty assault on the Russian line east of Warsaw, hoping to capture Wyszkow and nearly complete the encirclement of Warsaw. They crossed the Narew easily, but met stiff resistance at the Bug River line, and when they attempted to withdraw found they had been led into a trap, with their Narew crossing points back in Russian hands. They fought ferociously for a while but were unable to break out of the encirclement and were eventually forced to surrender. The Germans lost 3 Infantry and 1 Cavalry corps for 1 Russian Infantry corps.

Allied turn

The Russians caught the Germans off-guard by swinging forces from Poland into East Prussia, capturing and destroying the Boyen fortress in the Masurian lakes before joining the 1st Army in a large attack on the German 8th army lines East of Kongisberg. This attack was a dismal failure, sending all 8 corps retreating.





BALKAN FRONT

Central Powers turn

In the Balkans the Austrians decided to both take a risk and play it safe. They railed 3 corps to Bosnia to begin the march to Montenegro, while the Austrian troops outside Cetinje decided to make a risky assault on their own. As the assault began a snowstorm blew up in the mountain positions of the Austrians; while some troops successfully assaulted the city many others succumbed to frostbite, got lost in the white-out conditions, or even took advantage of the confusion to desert their units. In the end the 9th corps ceased to exist as an effective unit, meaning that despite causing heavy casualties to the Montenegrin defenders they weren't able to enter the city proper. [2:1 attack with a "Half Exchange" result means the Montenegrin division is eliminated, but so is the Austrian corps!] It may take until May to get the other troops in position but when they do they should be able to finish the Montenegrins off. 

The Montenegrins pulled the rest of their army into the city, and raised another division with their RPs.


THOUGHTS / NOTES
Still having a great time, though I'm starting to chafe a bit at a few issues. Neutral Power involvement is still a challenge for me to accept; I've read a bit more about Bulgaria's entry and I have to think that as Macedonia was a major area of interest to them a quick conquest of Serbia might convince them to accede to Central Powers inducements and join them.

But a new area of concern for me has been the CRT; I'm getting a feeling that the Attacker Demoralized result can often be worse than the Attacker Eliminated result, especially in trench warfare. It's not in any way ruining the game for me, but I do wonder if it should be rethought, tweaked a little. I've heard it's a major change from the CRT for The Guns of August, so I may peek at that one at some point.

I also struggled with the fact that a Half Exchange killed my Austrian corps when all they needed to lose was 1/4 of their attack strength. It just doesn't feel right at the resolution of this game. One possible solution is to allow a breakdown; The rules allow for nations to breakdown a limited number of corps into pairs of divisions (2 corps for most countries), but only at the beginning of their movement phase (and recombine at the end). I will have to think about this, but this is a change I could actually instigate prior to taking the next turn; it would lead to an Austrian capture of Cetinje, and consequent conquest of Montenegro, but I do think it feels "fair". The Austrians, btw, still take a disproportionate loss, in that they lose one division or 2 strength points when they were only required to do one. Hmmmmmm..........