Its All Over But The Crying

[Dangle]

Just completed my first pbem. A loss as CP when Germany surrendered July 15 1916.

I'm an SC and ww1 noob, and my opponent was an SCWW1 Champion. Here are some of the low-lights of my defeat:

EARLY WAR
--Opening strategy was not invade Belgium, hit Russia hard in opening months of war, but reserve a lot of troops on West front for Surprise invasion of Belgium in Spring 1915. Minimal troops on Serbian front to devote Austrians to Russian front.
--Going bad from start. Massive tech and diplomacy investments go nowhere
--Accidentally send 150 mpp to India on turn 3
--I lose faith in my plan a few turns in and decide to go for an early Russia knockout. I divert lots of troops from West Front reserves and send them to Russia
--But the diverted troops arrive a day late and a dollar short. Winter comes just as I am about to launch a pincer offensive on Russian Front.
--In the Spring France invades Belgium. I am able to hold the line at the German border, but now I need more troops for this bigger front.
--Then the BAD THING happened.

MID WAR
--Right about the time I was about to begin hitting Russia hard, the Italy even comes up. I foolishly decide to cave to their demands to avoid the war.
--Suddenly Austrian people are furious with me, Deserters in the army, yada yada.
--Russians launch an offensive and make mincemeat of my Austrian line
--Serbs getting aggressive.
--Somehow, though,Ottoman's are able to hold the Turkish border, and Russian invasion of Turkey goes nowhere.
--Subs in place, and I'm doing a little damage, but British blockades are murdering me.
--Decide to send out a battle fleet to disrupt blockade. I lose a lot of ships and retreat home, inflicting little damage.
--Austrian fleet is also severely damaged by French ships, and much of it is now stuck in port with 2 or 3 str points.
--Finally my pincer move comes together in Russia, and I turn the Russian Bulge into a line.
--But the Austrian portion of the front is just now stabilizing and not very strong.
--I do a feint on the far north end of the Russian front, gain a little ground and get him to redirect some troops. Getting ready to start a new assault.
--I'm still investing a ton in tech research, but the scientists are blowing all the money at the Beer Haus and making no progress

END WAR
--Kind of getting my act together now, a couple of successful turns, but those blockades are killing me.
--My subs are doing okay, but it seems like he's got a LOT of ships chasing my subs.
--Enough ships chasing my subs, that I think maybe I can take my fleet out and disrupt his "unprotected" blockades
--I meticulously sneak my fleet out, but just as I get to the blockade, I am ambushed. It's a trap! A huge fleet appears behind me, and a big fleet in front--how does he have SO MANY SHIPS???
--My fleet is nearly wiped out. A few stragglers escape home.
--Ah, I see...Reason I've seen no British Troops in France and hardly anywhere else in the world, I realize he has put all of UK resources into a massive mega-fleet.
--Suddenly Romania joins the Entente and enters the war. Austrian Morale plummets, and mass desertions occur in the army
--He flanks the Austrian line and Russian horses are running loose in the Austrian countryside.
--Serbia begins assaulting the line and I'm barely able to hold them in place.
--Iraq is seized by UK
--I stop the Russian incursion into Austria, but the damage is done, and Austria no longer has the stomach for this war. They drop out a couple months later, and Austria fractures into a few nations.
--Russia begins a massive assault in North Germany and on Constantinople.
--The artillery begins to fire on the West Front and France breaks the line. They are charging into Germany and I am struggling to form a new line.
--The Ottoman Empire drops out of the war. Right about now, Germany makes some tech gains in Trench warfare and weapons
--The French push deeper into Germany, and Germany surrenders.

[This End Up]

Excellent game! Would love a rematch in the future :)

Just one correction to the above: I did not build up the British fleet. The only ship I used were the ones that are built by default. But even then, the British advantage is ridiculous. The slight advantage in 1914 turns into a massive one by 1915, and any sally then is doomed if you did not try to whittle down their ships in 1914. Most of the army was was just sitting in Britain because the sea lanes had too many subs; after those clashes at sea I had to rein in my sub patrols and could not afford to escort them to the front.

[This End Up]

Some other points to consider:

-A delayed invasion of Belgium is a mistake. It only works in 1914 because the French army is slow to mobilise. By 1915 you would be stopped cold at the French border and would have trouble taking out Belgium itself.

-East first strategy is, at least in my opinion, much worse than a west first strategy. There are many more juicy targets to seize in the west, and the earlier British entry doesn't change the strategic situation by much. There is a much deeper discussion on this on the Matrix forum that you might want to check out

-As mentioned earlier, if you want to use the German fleet, you absolutely have to use it in 1914. Any later is suicide.

-Taking Serbia is more important than holding Galicia. By leaving Serbia alone, Bulgaria becomes very vulnerable to an Entente expeditionary force, and so do the Ottomans. Both have capitals close to Serbia.

-Use your HQs effectively! Your attacks by the Germans don't seem to pack the punch they normally do. I suspect that they are either unattached, attached to HQs with low ratings, or in bad supply. This can have a massive effect on infantry performance.

[Bill Runacre]

Thanks for writing this up, it's very interesting to read your experiences from both sides too!

[Dangle]

Originally posted by This End Up:

Some other points to consider:

-A delayed invasion of Belgium is a mistake. It only works in 1914 because the French army is slow to mobilise. By 1915 you would be stopped cold at the French border and would have trouble taking out Belgium itself.

-East first strategy is, at least in my opinion, much worse than a west first strategy. There are many more juicy targets to seize in the west, and the earlier British entry doesn't change the strategic situation by much. There is a much deeper discussion on this on the Matrix forum that you might want to check out

-As mentioned earlier, if you want to use the German fleet, you absolutely have to use it in 1914. Any later is suicide.

-Taking Serbia is more important than holding Galicia. By leaving Serbia alone, Bulgaria becomes very vulnerable to an Entente expeditionary force, and so do the Ottomans. Both have capitals close to Serbia.

-Use your HQs effectively! Your attacks by the Germans don't seem to pack the punch they normally do. I suspect that they are either unattached, attached to HQs with low ratings, or in bad supply. This can have a massive effect on infantry performance.

HQs--I didin't start managing my HQs until well into the game. As a noob, I had been relying on the auto for awhile, until I finally asked myself, "Why cant my guys hit like his?" I realized much of this revolved around HQS

Of the forums I've read, quite a few people think not invading Belgium at all is a good idea, but after a couple of games, I see a million reasons why it isn't. Neglecting Serbia was entirely my half-baked idea. I should have known better, because when I played vs AI, I put a LOT of forces in Serbia, and it was much more successful than my strategy in our game.

One half-baked reason I decided to delay Belgium invasion, is I thought it would give me time to get subs into place before war with UK. This obviously isn't necessary, as getting subs out isn't too difficult, and I probably should be engaging UK fleet in those opening months.

[Tanaka]

Nice summaries guys! In my opinion the WW1 game is much more complicated to grasp and it is much more difficult to play as CP so kudos to you in jumping head first into your first MP game! The fun is in the learning process! This is what the players that rage quit and give up so easily lose out on. Learning and getting better. So kudos to you for sticking it out and learning for the next time! It will make you a much better opponent!

[Dangle]

Originally posted by Tanaka:

Nice summaries guys! In my opinion the WW1 game is much more complicated to grasp and it is much more difficult to play as CP so kudos to you in jumping head first into your first MP game! The fun is in the learning process! This is what the players that rage quit and give up so easily lose out on. Learning and getting better. So kudos to you for sticking it out and learning for the next time! It will make you a much better opponent!

Thanks! I found even the losing endgame to be pretty fun in this game. because this war is mostly focused on breaking national morale, it all comes to an end right about the time the situation gets hopeless.

I also enjoyed watching my opponent break the deadlock on the West Front. Very compelling to watch that mostly stagnant line fall to pieces after a long war.

[Bill Runacre]

Originally posted by Tanaka:

Nice summaries guys! In my opinion the WW1 game is much more complicated to grasp and it is much more difficult to play as CP so kudos to you in jumping head first into your first MP game! The fun is in the learning process! This is what the players that rage quit and give up so easily lose out on. Learning and getting better. So kudos to you for sticking it out and learning for the next time! It will make you a much better opponent!

I totally agree!

[Dangle]

Originally posted by Bill Runacre:

Originally posted by Tanaka:

Nice summaries guys! In my opinion the WW1 game is much more complicated to grasp and it is much more difficult to play as CP so kudos to you in jumping head first into your first MP game! The fun is in the learning process! This is what the players that rage quit and give up so easily lose out on. Learning and getting better. So kudos to you for sticking it out and learning for the next time! It will make you a much better opponent!

I totally agree!

SC is the most fun I've had with a grand strategy in a long time. It works great in single player and in pbem. A lot of Grand Strategy games set up all of these deep systems, but the AI can't can't handle it all and the scope and time required isn't feasible for multiplayer.

SC is filled to the brim with decisions, both micro and macro. I love it.

[Tanaka]

Originally posted by Dangle:

Originally posted by Bill Runacre:

I totally agree!

SC is the most fun I've had with a grand strategy in a long time. It works great in single player and in pbem. A lot of Grand Strategy games set up all of these deep systems, but the AI can't can't handle it all and the scope and time required isn't feasible for multiplayer.

SC is filled to the brim with decisions, both micro and macro. I love it.

Completely agree! Very few games function and play well SP and MP and the SC Series does both well!