Pursuit of Glory

[Caliga]

Just started my first (solitaire) playthrough last night.  Really like what I see so far.

I finished the first turn... the Russians started a push into Caucasia, which the Turks failed to reverse via an attack on the western flank (didn't really want to do that, but I did have that MO).  They're now on the outskirts of Van with troops flowing in from the north and the east, via Azerbaijan.

The British did the conventional landing in Fao, captured Basra without difficulty, and pushed on into southern Iraq, securing Persian Arabistan on the eastern flank with additional Indian troops from Bahrain.  On the west flank, Indian and Aussie cavalry secured Kuwait and resisted a Turkish counterattack at Shaiba, southwest of Basra.  The Marsh Arabs have revolted against the occupation and cut the supply lines between Basra and Amara, which was occupied by Indians coming west from Arabistan.

In the western theatre, the Turks conquered the Sinai and pushed forward to the canal, but were defeated by the canal at Romani by a single brave division of Indian troops, which were shortly thereafter reinforced by a regular British division that rushed to Port Said from Cairo.

As the winter of 1914-1915 begins, the Russian army has moved reserves up to the front, preparing to secure Eleskirt in its center, attack Van on its left, and attack Rize on its right.  The Turks for their part are building up forces around Erzurum in preparations for an attack into Caucasia at Oltu, as well as rushing troops into Iraq to halt and possibly push back the British.

All in all a very enjoyable first turn, and easy enough to learn since I know PoG extremely well.

[Tamas]

Oh how I love this game.

After my de facto pbem collapse, I am looking at trying to recover my old form, slowly.

If you know how to handle VASSAL, I would be glad to offer you a game. I have played several against Habbaku, so I am not a noob, but he always wiped the floor with me. 

As a note for your solitaire game, make extra sure you dont forget one of the many small things this differs from PoG. I made that mistake and gained a few bad habits by the time I got into my first game with Habs.

[Caliga]

Such as?

Now that I think about it, are there any special supply rules re: Sinai? I didn't use any last night when I sent the Turks to the edge of the Canal.

Oh, and yeah I've used one of either ADC or Vassal in playing Berk and Habs online, but I forget which and that was many hard drives ago.  I'd be happy to play you though if I d/l it and get it figured out.

[Caliga]

P.S. Tamas, when you smash the Turks is it: personal? 

[Habbaku]

The big differences to remember are the restrictions on number of LCUs in restricted areas (1-Mobilization, 2-Limited War, 3-Total War for Allies/Berlin-Baghdad Railroad for Turks), the difference in trench creation (SCUs may entrench, no trenches by anyone except Brits and Germans in the mountains, no trenches in deserts), the limited movement of certain groups (Bulgarian units and Turkish LCUs can't enter marsh), and the restriction of deserts on movement (no LCUs may attack or move into a space without a rail line).

LCU creation is also a huge difference from POG, of course, being an entirely new concept.  Don't forget the limitations on that one for restricted areas as well--Turks, for example, within Mesopotamia can only organize in Baghdad and Samarra due to the restriction.

The game's a lot of fun and I've been banging away at it trying to find optimal strategies, as of late.  Here's hoping I'm ready in time for WBC.

[Tamas]

P.S. Tamas, when you smash the Turks is it: personal? 

On the contrary: Central Powers should have won the war. But I prefer playing the Allies.

[Caliga]

There should be a variant wherein the Ottoman Empire is allied with the Allies.  Didn't Djemal Pasha push for an alliance with France prior to the war, but Enver Pasha preferred the Germans?

Then again, the game might not be so fun in that case.

[Caliga]

I just finished my first solitaire playthrough (finally).

Wow, what a weird outcome.

The Central Powers won an automatic victory at the end of Turn 14 (Winter 1917/1918).

At the end of the game, the Turks had conquered all of Russian Caucasia west of Tiflis and southeast to the edge of Ordubad, where they were fighting the Transcaucasian Armenian forces (the Russian Army had of course evaporated by now due to the Bolshevik Revolution) in a stalled drive on Baku.  They also conquered all of Azerbaijan except Ardebil, and all of western and central Persia, including Tehran, Hamadan, Qum, and Meshed (the capture of Meshed is effectively what ended the game).  The Allies were trying to counter them in Persia, but an Indian drive on Hamadan stalled at Burujird, with the Indian divisions unable to advance toward Tehran either due to heavy Persian Turkish-allied resistance at Sultanabad.

In Mesopotamia, the Allies never managed to capture Baghdad, stalling on a line west of Hilla, Aziziya, and Diwaniyeh.

In Palestine, the British never got beyond Gaza and Beersheba, having stalled before Jerusalem and then being driven out of Beersheba by a strong and sudden Turkish attack.  The Arab revolt managed to liberate Mecca and had just captured Aqaba, but never got to Medina or Maan.

In the Balkans, Greece and Romania never entered the war.  Serbia fell as usual, but the Germans never managed to push into Greece, and eventually a reconstituted Serbian army, along with British and French forces made that impossible.  The Bulgarians pushed on Salonika but never managed to capture it.

The fighting on Gallipoli started in 1915 and never stopped until the armistice.  There were two beachheads, but no offensives after late 1916, so I guess that turned into a complete stalemate, tying down a couple of corps and supporting divisions on each side.

Given the results, I would guess the Allies signed an armistice with the Turks that basically returned things to the status quo on most fronts and advanced the Turkish frontier in Caucasia (as happened historically).  Since the Allies played both Turkish War Wearniness and the Arab Desertion events, I would imagine a full-scale civil war in the Arab portions of the Empire followed, so Turkey might still have ended the war balkanized anyway, but probably still in a much stronger position and maybe retaining a Sultanate.

I'm trying to figure out how exactly the Allies performed so badly; I probably need to do another solitaire game or two before I feel comfortable playing this PBEM with anyone (and certainly not as the Allies  ).

[Tamas]

I like to play the Allies.

Habbaku repeatedly defeated me by his better handling of the Caucasus front, regardless of the side. The Russians must be pushing the issue there real hard, but thats also the only front where the CP player can be sure to expect major AP efforts.

Palestine can be very easily sealed off by CP with two corps, so I think as AP you need strong forces and a lucky hand to breakt hrough.

I like Mesopotamia, everything is possible there from a quiet front throughout the game to some major Allied efforts and breakthrough. It can also be used to outflank the turkish units in Persia.

[Tamas]

Oh, and I think that not playing Greece and Romania is a grave mistake.

Romania can really slow the enemy on the Balkans, and Greece gives you Athens which saves you from the burdens of the CP submarines.

[Caliga]

Yeah, as the Allies I desperately wanted to bring both in, but the luck of the draw meant the Greece card cycled through the Allied player's hand only once, and the CP had the Constantine card to counter it when they played it.

As for Romania, the Russian Revolution occurred before that card entered the Allied player's hand as well.

[Tamas]

Yeah, as the Allies I desperately wanted to bring both in, but the luck of the draw meant the Greece card cycled through the Allied player's hand only once, and the CP had the Constantine card to counter it when they played it.

As for Romania, the Russian Revolution occurred before that card entered the Allied player's hand as well.

Something went terribly wrong for the Allies then.

BTW, do your next solo try on VASSAL, so you get used to the software, then we play.

[Habbaku]

As for Romania, the Russian Revolution occurred before that card entered the Allied player's hand as well.

What were the Russians doing?  Dispensing leaflets on pacifism and desertion?

[Caliga]

  Dunno man.  In fact, the Romania card didn't enter the Allied hand for the the first time until the last turn of the game, long after the Russian Revolution began.

[Habbaku]

Not able to give too much of an opinion at the moment; might do so later.  From the sound of it, though, I suspect the Allies let the Russians sit around for too long and didn't heavily contest the Caucasus.

It isn't a requirement to win, but effective use of them makes it a lot easier.