God, save the Tsar - EAW Eastern Entente AAR

[Lynxyonok]

Background: CP created a line of single-corps stacks south of Warsaw, and I attempted to pierce them in the middle, with no enemy army that could reinforce. At least that's what I thought until I saw a 1299 stack just across the river. With the battle lasting only one round, they haven't had a chance to join. I tried artillery suppression battle plan, as I do not get to see it too often. Sadly, it failed.

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[Lynxyonok]

This was a hit-and-run offensive, designed to catch an enemy stack without support and retreat. In retrospect, I should have stayed away from cavalry breakthrough, as I only had 4 cossack regiments to pull it off. Killing (or wounding) the enemy commander was a nice touch, as their survivors are now corralled in Lodz with no generals.

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[Lynxyonok]

I may have a unique chance to recover my situation on the Caucasus front. For the last month I was slowly sneaking up on Kars, fighting at occasional skirmish. Now it's still clear weather, and Kars is a step away. The main Turkish army is all the way by Tbilissi. If I pull this off, the entire Ottoman army will have just one depot to eat out of through the winter, Erevan.

Of course it helped to reinforce the area continuously at expense of the Austrian front. Altogether there are now 9 Russian corps in 6 stacks, more than double the initial forces in the area.

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[Lynxyonok]

My Black Sea fleet finally catches up with the Ottomans avenging the loss of my eight submarines. Turks pay with 8 destroyers (a full unit) and an armored cruiser. No morale is gained.

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[Lynxyonok]

My Baltic Sea fleet fights their own battle, unaware that a lot of ammo got spent chasing German merchants. I guess I should be happy that I only paid for this venture with 2 destroyers.

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[Lynxyonok]

2 Serb armies meet up at Nish, attempting to retake the depot there. It is a somewhat desperate charge, an attempt to use the last sunny days and force enemy to counterattack in the snow. I go for crossfire, hoping to incur some casualties before my troops are forced to cross the river.

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The good news is we win, if only by brute force. The bad news... the weather is still clear. And CP is rallying up about 12 stacks towards my Serb troops.

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[Lynxyonok]

This should have been an easy victory - 4 Russian stacks, clear weather and terrain, versus some infantry and supply trains with no leader.

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The battle starts out well, my troops quickly overpowering the garrison. And then an enemy army shows up, much larger than I expected it to be. It wasn't the one blocked at Tbilissi - that one was busy actually taking that town - but rather the secondary stack that my air recon never showed.

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[Lynxyonok]

My 4 stacks near Kars are all down to half their strength, and they are retreating. I had a stack by Tbilissi that is now out of supply, forced to forage in the mountains. And a Turkish cavalry unit just headed north to Vladikavkaz to cut off rail supply.

I am redeploying another cavalry corps from the Rumanian front as well as 2 Serb generals who finally snuck in through an opening between CP armies in Rumania.

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[Lynxyonok]

It was a very quiet turn, save for a few skirmishes, so here's a preview of each side's research levels.

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[Highlandcharge]

Really enjoying the AAR

[Lynxyonok]

Really enjoying the AAR

Thanks. Any picture requests?

[Lynxyonok]

My troops are trying to retreat from Kars by rail, but obviously they were not fast enough. The first wave of Turks comes; we set up for a defensive artillery barrage, and enemies retreat. The second wave comes, this one resulting in battle. My troops fall back, several regiments are lost in hasty retreat.

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[Lynxyonok]

Things are not going too well in Rumania. CP managed to rally over 2 dozen small stacks, and surrounded my ally. For now I am choosing to fall back to Bucharest, hoping impending snow will slow the Austrians, Bulgarians, Ottomans, and whatnot. Brasov on the northwest border of Rumania is a different story: it was a tough and costly victory, and I am hoping to finish off that fortress before the deep freeze.

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[H Gilmer3]

Can you show us the West Front and/or objectives screen to see how the rest of the Entente is doing?

(I understand if you just do a screenshot that shows what regions have been taken or not. That's all I ever do.)

[Lynxyonok]

Despite a visibly stable front line, one can see remnants of multiple daring raids deep into Austrian territory. One that is missing is Trieste: it was under siege for a couple of months.

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[Lynxyonok]

Turks are clearly on steroids in my game...

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[Lynxyonok]

French were triumphant in 1914, and they made some headway into German territory. The battle lines have pretty much stabilized in 1915 here.

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[Lynxyonok]

While Germans were meek in 1914, they have really advanced in 1915, especially in the last 2-3 months.

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[Lynxyonok]

Germans have finally taken Namur. Liege has fallen pretty early. Overall my western allies are hurting quite bad.

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[Lynxyonok]

Following a couple of very quiet turns, I realized that Russian morale is dropping like a rock, and the revolution is already looming on the horizon. So a major winter offensive was devised, designed to intercept any stray CP stack, regardless of casualties, with the hope of gaining a morale point. An army was spotted just north of Lemberg; 3 Russian armies and 4 independent stacks converged on it. Even with most of my inept generals failing activation checks I still got my battle.

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[Lynxyonok]

I have an overwhelming superiority in Galicia, ~4300 attack strength versus ~1800 CP. This came at a price of leaving Northern Rumania and parts of Poland undefended, and I have to use this fast, or fall back to my original positions.

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[H Gilmer3]

Keep going!! Seize the initiative!

[Lynxyonok]

The winter offensive continues on, and the next two days see major fighting. I start off conservatively, relying on artillery, but not too defensive, as I want to exploit whatever little time I have to advance. During the second battle I go all out.

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[Lynxyonok]

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[Lynxyonok]

While the "winter offensive" failed to reach any strategic success, it certainly helped. CP morale at the beginning of this operation was 95, mine - 91. With no action, it would have been 93 and 89 respectively. After three major (and a couple of minor) battles CP and Eastern Entente are tied at 91, and the revolution has been pushed back a month. Go Brusilov!

Of course by now the front has been stabilized. German troops have poured in, and I have no choice but to fall back.

On a sadder note, Britain is now 97% aligned with rebels. I fear we may be losing their assistance soon.

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[Lynxyonok]

Two famous Serb leaders have finally reached by troops in Georgia and Armenia, relieving Vorontsov-Dashkov. Perhaps, just perhaps, I can finally turn the corner on that theater.

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[Lynxyonok]

Keep going!! Seize the initiative!

Thank you for the encouragement

[Lynxyonok]

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[Lynxyonok]

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[Lynxyonok]

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