To End All Wars AAR - Western Entente against the AI of Central Powers!

[H Gilmer3]

I have to do a much better job in organizing my armies. I was losing a lot of power on the force in Trier. I think he was a strong 560, but after reorganizing into 4 Corps, the power of the exact same units now equals > 1000.

[petebeadle]

Thanks for persisting in this. Really enjoying it.

[wodin]

WOW by March '15 your in German territory all the way upto Frankfurt..

Sets of alarm bells to me.

One reason for the War going static was lack of Arty and Arty ammo, immense fatigue on both sides plus the weather. Really to be remotely like the period if the Central Powers don't manage to take Paris trench warfare would be inescapable and kick in in the winter of '14 until come the fighting season when the armies would be fully entrenched.

What difficulty settings are you using and are you an experienced AGEOD game player?

[vaalen]

My deep thanks for this fascinating AAR, and all the work you put into sharing it with us.

Very useful info, and I think you are a much better player than you think.

Regards,

Vaalen

[MrLongleg]

WOW by March '15 your in German territory all the way upto Frankfurt..

Sets of alarm bells to me.

I believe that would not be possible against a human opponent. this game is really meant to be played person vs person.

[Taciturn Scot]

WOW by March '15 your in German territory all the way upto Frankfurt..

Sets of alarm bells to me.

One reason for the War going static was lack of Arty and Arty ammo, immense fatigue on both sides plus the weather. Really to be remotely like the period if the Central Powers don't manage to take Paris trench warfare would be inescapable and kick in in the winter of '14 until come the fighting season when the armies would be fully entrenched.

What difficulty settings are you using and are you an experienced AGEOD game player?

I think it's important to remember that this game is not following the historical path at all. The Germans are attacking the Russians in the east and haven't made a drive on Paris which failed.

Also, this is v1.00 of the game engine. There hasn't been a patch for it yet. We've already got a couple of folks who've made the drive into Paris successfully, and it's been noted that the CP AI isn't doing a good job of assaulting through Belgium. I wouldn't be surprised to see substantial changes and improvements coming along soon.

Let's give the game, and this AAR a bit more time before we draw any conclusions about the game. Who knows what is happening on the Russian front in this AAR.

To H Gilmer3, would it be possible to show us a screenshot of who owns/occupies what on that front?

[H Gilmer3]

Thanks for persisting in this. Really enjoying it.

Thank you for reading. It makes it more enjoyable for me to hear people are following.

[H Gilmer3]

WOW by March '15 your in German territory all the way upto Frankfurt..

Sets of alarm bells to me.

One reason for the War going static was lack of Arty and Arty ammo, immense fatigue on both sides plus the weather. Really to be remotely like the period if the Central Powers don't manage to take Paris trench warfare would be inescapable and kick in in the winter of '14 until come the fighting season when the armies would be fully entrenched.

What difficulty settings are you using and are you an experienced AGEOD game player?

Default settings, except I gave AI more time to make decisions + simplified supply settings. There may be some issues with when the CP chooses the Moltke plan, because one of the designers already said the CP units on the WF are locked and the Luxembourg area is very undefended. If the CP/Germany had decided to attack France first, I'm sure I'd be in a lot of trouble up to my eyeballs. It may not appear so, but I've pretty stretched to the limit of my armies and am probably very vulnerable to counterattacks.

As for how experienced I am - I have most of their games, but I'm not very good. I read others' AARs in amazement on how they are able to beat Athena on high settings.

[H Gilmer3]

My deep thanks for this fascinating AAR, and all the work you put into sharing it with us.

Very useful info, and I think you are a much better player than you think.

Regards,

Vaalen

Thank you, Vaalen. Much appreciated that you are following. I didn't play any yesterday, because I drank a few beers before I got home and I was very tired and a little alcohol affected.

[H Gilmer3]

Let's give the game, and this AAR a bit more time before we draw any conclusions about the game. Who knows what is happening on the Russian front in this AAR.

To H Gilmer3, would it be possible to show us a screenshot of who owns/occupies what on that front?

Sure thing. I have not looked too closely at the Eastern Front since I get almost no information from over there. It looks like in the South the EE has won some against Austria, but in the North, Germany seems to be winning territory from Russia.

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For anyone that does not understand. The territories with the white flag and the black cross are the German controlled territories that they won from the EE. The multicolored circle flag represents the territories that the EE has won from the Central Powers.

[H Gilmer3]

I believe that would not be possible against a human opponent. this game is really meant to be played person vs person.

I tend to like playing the AI. It usually is enough challenge for me.

[Elmo]

Thanks for taking the time to do this AAR. Wish they would add an option to turn off FOW for the other Entente side so you cold see the battles and such. Would add so much more immersion to the game.

[H Gilmer3]

Thanks for taking the time to do this AAR. Wish they would add an option to turn off FOW for the other Entente side so you cold see the battles and such. Would add so much more immersion to the game.

I agree. It would be fun to see what the Russian side is doing and what battles.

[H Gilmer3]

EARLY JULY 1915
=================

These are my plans and the turn is running.

1. I have redeployed one fighter squadron from Great Britain to Calais. The other I am convoying over. I'm not sure which is best or easiest.

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2. I have ordered 3 divisions for the Japanese army.

3. Movements----->>>>>

A. The Reserves formation I am using as a regular fighting corps I am moving up and I'll leapfrog into Essen with another corps. I hope this will cut off the 2 formations to the West of me, even though they are small formations I am sure.

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B. I am moving to formations North to Beira from South Africa to relieve the Portuguese under attack there.

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C. I am assaulting Kamerun, AGAIN!!!

[H Gilmer3]

Early July 1915 Resolutions:

Kamerun is not really going the way I hoped. We keep winning battles and they keep not surrendering.

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I did play a "Air Cap over London" card which meant that I had fighters flying over London in case of any Zeppelins wanted to cause any mischief.

Africa->>>>>

Troops went to Beira/Mozambique and the CP retreated.

Other events. Both fighter squadrons have made it to France and I am railing them to the front.

Two infantry divisions are ready and I'll mate them up to my 6 British generals I unlocked a few turns ago, and then get them into the fray quickly.

The last this is the Western Front. Essen is besieged now. I am going to switch Allenby's corps with the Reserves of GHQ formation that I have thrown into the fray, being led by a generic 2 star with middling stats. I'd rather have Allenby on point and sieging Essen. He's a good leader.

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I guess I am probably not using that reserve formation correctly, but it had a decent power rating so I moved it up.

[H Gilmer3]

Sidebar:

I thought I'd show a little of the game and some things you can do. I don't think everyone has actually played an Ageod game before and may not have gotten too deep into the game yet, so here are a few screen shots with overlays.

The first I'm going to show you is terrain. Note how the bright green is considered "Clear" area and unless you have bad weather, armies fight with no advantages or disadvantages due to terrain. The flesh(?) colored areas are hills and the defender can have a huge bonus defending from such areas and it gives a detriment to all units' movements. And the dark green is forest and it can give the defender some advantages but it also can carry some detrimental effects as well, especially hindering movement. I have obviously not gone over everything, so please check the manual for all bonuses and malus adjustments that all sorts of terrain gives.

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The 2nd overlay I will show is Ownership of Regions. This shows what you owned when you started (and have kept) but also shows what regions you have captured. Note the breakout I have in the North. Some have wondered if this means the AI is poor. I have it on Lieutenant so it is already set kind of low. Whatever the reason, I have a breakout in the North and have captured several towns/cities.

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And the last I am going to show you, but not even close to all of them I could show you, is called "Who is Controlling Strategic Towns". This means that w2hat you are trying to do is capture strategic towns to progress to winning the war. It would not do any good to have as the objective of an advance some town no one cares about. Now, if you have success towards strategic towns and cities, you'll more than likely capture a few towns that no one really cares about. Well, that's fine, too. Find the best hotels and take a rest.

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[H Gilmer3]

Late July 1915

Nothing much of note has happened.

Few notes:

Bought several British infantry divisions (5 or 6) and 2 heavy artillery British units. And 2 French Fighter squadrons.

I'm kind of bummed about two things.

1. My Grand Fleet waited 6 days to get started and we missed intercepting the German fleet off the coast of England.

2. I had my Mediterranean Fleet I thought dropping off the corps in Egypt that I thought I had picked up in Malta. We obviously did not pick them up in Malta for some reason and I parked off the coast of Egypt with nothing to unload.

Italy moved slightly more to the WE. They are at 81% lean and Arabia is at 86% lean to the WE. The USA is up to 39% lean to the WE.

The CP's morale went up for once. They inched up to 69 NM and my NM has dropped to 92.

Allenby is sieging Essen and Essen is garrisoned with a 33 power unit. Allenby's lists hos power as about 490. Let's go ahead and take our first strategic city. I'm still waiting for the other guy to take Mainz or the Mainz defenders to surrender.

This turn SHOULD be the turn that has an air battle, so I'm looking for ward to that.

The London Cap card was called invalid. I got a message after the turn ran. I wish they wouldn't let you buy it if it is invalid and if you are doing something to make it invalid, let me know that it will become invalid.

Last not not least, I'm funding tank research again. Germany has a jump on artillery research. They got a similar card to mine on tank research.

[H Gilmer3]

One other thing in Late July.

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I didn't do it, but it made them swing more to our side. Bulgaria at some point joined The CP. I missed the message. So, I guess I now go for all the countries that usually side against Bulgaria. Like Greece and Romania.

That was why the CP NM jumped to 69.

[Lynxyonok]

I love the AAR. Please keep it going all the way until the victory... or death

[H Gilmer3]

Hi and thanks Lynxyonok! I'm reading yours as well.

[H Gilmer3]

Early August 1915:
====================

A lot of battles this turn. A lot of good things. And one bad thing. Let's get the bad news out of the way first.

Last turn I said, "Bulgaria joined the CP at some point and I must have missed the message." I said that because they were at 100% CP. Well...

This screenshot also says though... Essen gained (First strategic city gained for the WE), Aachen gained (minor city as relates to objectives, no points for it, and Kamerun was gained.

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Oops submitted before done.

Since Kamerun was mentioned......

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Actually, the assault on Kamerun was 4 battles, but I wanted to show you this and I can only attach 5 screenshots.....So I showed battles 1, 2, and 4 and then there is this screenshot....

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JC Smuts is promotable!! Since he is not the highest seniority, if I promote him I lose 137 VPs but no NM. I think since this is the very first person I can promote, I'm going to do it, especially since there is no NM penalty.

[H Gilmer3]

Early August 1915 continued....
====================

Essen assaulted and gained. Good work General Allenby!!! He gained a couple of seniority points and was congratulated. But why no NM gain? That was a stinging defeat for the CP.

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Battle of Mainz

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Another good win, but losses severe for CP and no NM gain. I am a little disappointed because the disposition of losses are heavily against the CP.

And then the battle that made my turn a great turn....Gain of 7 NM. YES!!!!

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Now, Bulgaria joining the CP allows this political card to be played: Occupation of Salonika. I'll definitely be playing it. I am looking forward to Greece getting into the War and although I don't think they officially join, it adds more troops and opens up cities on the Greek peninsula to me. Very nice.

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Not last but it is the last "battle". The Air War takes a deadly turn.... for the CP......

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Our fighters take to the air. There were 7 or 8 total air battles but they all looked exactly the same so I did not post them all. The CP lost 104 aircraft in 1 week from my fighters shooting them down. Nice work airmen!!!!

[H Gilmer3]

Early August 1915.... continued:
========================

I don't always show you this but I thought I'd show you at least one time....

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I'll be getting more very soon.

[H Gilmer3]

I just realized my West Front Troops up North in Aachen and Essen area have absolutely no ammunition. I am at a loss as to why that is and also how they have won battles without it.

I'll try to build a depot in Aachen with an army leader who has two supply units. That should be good for us, since Longwy is 3 regions away and has a depot and maybe that will push ammunition to Essen which has a level 3 depot.

[Lynxyonok]

I just realized my West Front Troops up North in Aachen and Essen area have absolutely no ammunition. I am at a loss as to why that is and also how they have won battles without it.

If they don't have any medium or heavy artillery, they should be just fine. Regimental artillery, included in most divisions, does not require ammo.

[H Gilmer3]

I think they have some artillery. I'll have to check. I've been building a lot of artillery since all the discussions about how you have to have artillery to soften up positions if you attack fortified positions.

[Lynxyonok]

How are you doing on war supplies? Can you even afford all that artillery

[H Gilmer3]

I'm doing Ok. I have built about 10 munitions factories and they produce war supply too. I just read that I need 4 suppy units to make a depot, so now I know why I couldn't before and will be able to build some now.

[H Gilmer3]

I'm doing Ok. I have built about 10 munitions factories and they produce war supply too. I just read that I need 4 supply units to make a depot, so now I know why I couldn't before and will be able to build some now.

[H Gilmer3]

Late August 1915:
=============

Very little happened.

Here is the research levels of the respective alliances.

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Italy is so very close.......

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Oh, and the Salonika event fires due to my playing the event card.

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