Good thing I'm not Napoleon - a DNO RUS AAR

[Axe27]

Sup everybody. I'm Axe27, and I've decided to add to a heinous workload with an AAR. Most of the AARs in this forum have covered the basic RUS game - that of the short campaign Civil War by Bornego. However, the RUS game came with another scenario called Drang Nacht Osten. Let's assume that WW1 is still going on in 1921, and that the empire of satellite states that Germany carved out of Russia at the treaty of Brest-Litvosk suddenly becomes the target of a reborn Russia, fresh from wrapping up its civil war. That's right - the Reds are invading the Ukraine.

The Germans need to capture Moscow to force the Reds to heel, whilst avoiding a revolution in their own lands. The Reds need to either capture Ukraine, Finland, and the Baltic States, or force a German revolution. In short, it's a race against the clock for the Germans - beat the Reds before your NM falls to zero. And for the Reds - Either inflict massive defeats on the Germans, defeat the recently freed countries, or both.

Sounds like a mess, doesn't it? And I forgot to mention: The Revolutionary Anarchist Army threatens the Ukraine from the East, the Southern Whites persist in the Krim, and Greens are as ready as ever to revolt if you steal enough of their bread.

I'll be playing as the Germans for this scenario. I've never played a DNO campaign before, so this will be a learning experience for me. Luckily, I have three campaigns under my belt as all three factions in the Civil War - So, lets hope that experience transfers over.

Settings:

FW:Yep
Navy Box Handling: 75%
Commitment: Units will fight as soon as they meet
Force Pool:Historical(Armies are big enough as is)
Activation Rule: Normal (If unactivated, Generals can move, but very slowly, can't perform offensive actions, and have malus defending)
Randomization: Nope. Reds get to keep their crappy generals.
Attrition: Historical for me and the AI, meaning the AI can no longer set up a tent in a field forever. This is a first for me too, so another learning experience.

AI Bonuses:

Difficulty: Colonel (AI gets to move faster, recover cohesion qucker, and field larger armies
Detect bonus: Low (Unlikely this will come into play much)
Normal aggressiveness, though I may change this if the AI doesn't utilize its strategic opportunities enough.
Normal activation rules, meaning a +1 activation for the AI, meaning its (terrible) generals will activate more often than not
And of course, all behaviors.

And with that, a good luck to me, and a good luck to my reader, who choses to sit through and read this memoir of my failure to win a land war in Asia.

[Axe27]

Turn 1: Welcome to Russia:Intial Forces
Turn 2: We summon Awesome Forces:Early February, 1921
Turn 3: Baby, this is party is just getting started!Late February 1921
Turn 4: Heligoland Bight was a Fluke,Early March, 1921
Turn 5: A herring with some Lye please, Late March 1921
Turn 6: You wanna live forever?!Early April, 1921
Turn 7: Mr. Austria and other great things to name your kid,Late April,1921
Turn 8: I've got 99 problems, but stacks ain't one, Early May 1921
Turn 9: Día de San Valentin, or how I survived the Great Eastern War and all I got was this stupid T-shirt, Late May 1921
Turn 10:The Somme Offensive, part deux, Early June 1921

[Axe27]

Welcome to Russia: Initial Forces

The Reds are playing in my yard, and I don't like that. I don't know if the Reds can simply sit on their hands until the German stacks unlock, but I guess we'll see as we progress.

Oh and forgot to mention, I can also (and probably will) utilize Austro-Hungarian units when they unlock.

This is in the northern part of the initial front.* The garrison at Kiev is very strong(540 pwr and across a river), and will probably unlock next turn. It contains a number of 4-1-1 generals (meaning almost always activated), which will become important as time goes on. As for local superiority, the Reds have it both to the north and to the southeast, but that will change as stacks unlock. At Kharkov is a small sized force of around 83 pw, speaking of which:

I order the scattered Ukrainian units and their divisions to assemble at Kharkov, along with our first German corp commander, A.Wolf (great initials), at a modest 4-2-1. Not great, but light years better than the vast majority of Red generals.Next turn, he'll have enough strength to not be swiped aside by the enemies across the Don river. What I'm worried about is the enemy sweeping down at Kharkov, but I believe that most stacks are locked this turn, meaning that I'm safe. However,

The same cannot be said for the Reds near Rostov. Mamontov with his 1215 power corp (around 27k men) is ordered to attack Donetsk. He outpowers the enemy corp, but I'm worried about wasting his strength early. He'll have to fend for himself until enough forces are available in the Ukraine to go on a major offensive. I'm on the defensive for now, but that will soon change. There are significant enemy forces located at Rostov, but those (I think/hope)are locked in place for now.

You know, I've never seen so many damn troops in one place. There is a crapload of power sitting here, and there are even more in the various cities around Europe (probably around 5000), all of which are locked. Most of these, I believe, will unlock as time progresses, but the armies in Europe will become available through request(at the cost of NM).This will power the initial drive in the Kuban and the Ukraine. I don't think I will be able to capture Moscow this year, but I have some ideas already forming to harass the Reds majorly. Well, since not a whole lot can be accomplished this turn, how about recruiting?

There are only two Polish brigades in the Force Pool, which can only be built in Poland/Germany. These units cannot operate outside of Belarus/Lithuania or the Ukraine(they lose their cohesion). But, hey, build it if you got it is what I learned when playing the Reds/Siberian Whites, and I'm not about to go back on that education. Well, what about my other client states? What will they contribute to the war effort?

Not a whole lot. These areas will likely become liabilites if I can't defend them(meaning NM loss). The Circassian republics will incur NM loss to the Reds every 6 months, meaning the Reds have some incentive to attack them which is what I'm hoping they do (the Turks, I believe, will only intervene if the Reds attack), and they need Finland/Baltic States to win the game. The Baltic states are in the worst position, mostly because, with the exception of Estonia, their infrastructure and terrain is poor for defense, not to mention poor troop numbers available for immediate defense. Finland is a forest of both forest terrains, swamps, and rivers, meaning its perfect defensive terrain.

Oh, and involving them in the war incurs a NM penalty for me until I capture a principle objective: Petrograd (Finland, Balts), and Rostov (Circassians).

Oh, and there is a neutral party whose involvement hasn't been talked about:

Well, not entirely neutral, as they're fighting the Reds too. I can choose to ally with them for an NM cost every turn, but I can also choose to go to war with them after the alliance. As we're all competing for the same territory, we'll see how the Whites act before we do anything to them. If they're just going to sit in the Krim all game, we can peacefully coexist. If not, well, 14,000 pwr in Poland does speak for itself.

---------
*I forgot to mention the rail line between Brest-Litvosk and Minsk. Brest-Litvosk is controlled by a 1,500 pwr locked Germany Army, whilst Minsk is controlled by a moderately sized Red force.

[loki100]

looks great, this has always seemed an interesting scenario so it'll be fascinating to see how this plays out

[germanpeon]

I've never played this scenario... should be interesting!

A question: does allying the Southern Whites mean that you control them, or that they are operated by the AI?

[Axe27]

Loki: I hope so too. This scenario is like the Grand Campaign with all the huge armies of the Short campaign.
germanpeon: I believe you control them yourself. I'll hold off on verifying my answer till later, as I may ally with them.

We summon awesome forces:Early February, 1921

These are the options the Reds get during their first turn. While it would make for an interesting AAR if they decided to give into the ultimatum, well...

The AI outright refused the Ultimatum instead of playing for time (a better option in my opinion), meaning I get (or will get) access to all units on the map, such as Turkey when I eventually involve the Circassian republics, opening up even more power for me. I'm going to need it.

Main feature of this scenario:

Every turn, the Germans lose 3 NM, due to discontent amongst the population. This is a slippery slope, because as the German NM sinks, the effectiveness of its units sink, meaning defeats, meaning more NM loss, meaning more defeats. IE, once I start losing, it only gets worse. I can stave off the effects of this through decisions, events, and big defeats of the opposing Red Army. Since the German decisions are also effected through involving its puppets, the Germans can lose NM rather quickly through inefficient use of their friends.

With that in mind, the first battle of the war:

Mamontov engaged the 16 thousand strong strong Red Army, which unfortunately managed to benefit from favorable ground, a 50% luck roll, and the involvement of the Don Front (commanded by everybodies favorite Georgian) located in Taganrog. A mistake on my part being so aggressive so early, but oh well. Mamontov pulls back to Odessa, the nearest level 4 depot. There, he will join with the Romanians in the next two turns and go back on the offensive ASAP.

With the bitter taste of defeat, surprise also ensues. With the decision of the Reds to reject the ultimatum, both Kharkov and Kiev temporarily fall to the Reds.The current situation in the Eastern Ukraine:

The Kharkov force will probably be forced to pull back toward Central Ukraine as time progresses(losing Kharkov in the process ), but The Reds are pushing hard in this sector, and I don't have any forces nearly strong enough to counteract them.

The current situation in Kiev:

Kiev and its flotilla briefly fall to the Red revolt. It will be recaptured next turn with the involvement of the Ukrainian Corp, bringing the total pwr of the Forces located at Kiev to about 1,300. While still isn't much, it will help. The current overall strategic situation in the Ukraine:

The Central front, bringing roughly 4,500 power to the Ukraine with the assistance of the Romanians will be directed to drive the Reds back into the Kuban. Even though these are massive forces (not including the 1.400 pwr army at Bucharest), I fear the Reds will also bring massive forces to this sector. It and southern Central Russia will likely evolve to be the main fronts of this war. You may have noticed that I'm building lots of supply wagons. As Bornego noted in his Siberian White AAR, Poland in the short campaign (and in the Grand) has no depots, meaning Polish intervention comes with a supply crisis.

Thankfully, in the DNO scenario, virtually every city in Poland is a level 4 depot. In the Ukraine however, only Odessa, Kiev, Kharkov, and Rostov are level 4 depots. I plan to establish a level 4 depot at Ekaterinoslav, and elsewhere where needed, possibly at Keretop. As a certain Corsican said, an army moves on its stomach.

Speaking of Poland:

Poland is a limited front for the time being(I'm thinking about involving the Balts to increase the frontage), as the Pripyat marshes limit South Easterly movement, and the only rail line North leads to Minsk. With that in mind, I decide to commit 6,500 power to taking it, or the entirety of Army Group Nord. I feel this is the proper course of action for the time being, as Minsk serves as the rail hub to either reinforce or attack Lithuania and Latvia, and is thus an important target.

Finally, what I choose to do this turn:

I choose to strength my puppets and the Whites a bit. As most are or will be involved in the eventual war, its only to my benefit, plus I get cash for it. I'll come out positive for NM this turn, barring any more major defeats/events.

A few parting thoughts:

Theater commander which reduces supply consumption. Hindenburg probably has better stats, but that's a pretty damn useful trait.

And yes, that 4000 power is mostly unlocked, meaning I can dominate the Baltic Sea, and potentially even initiate operations in the Far East (Oh man, that sounds like fun) or in the Gulf of Finland. Anything is possible at this point in time. For now, I will probably use them to try to destroy the Red Baltic Fleet. I don't want my shipping being bedeviled by some damn Red in a boat.

Finally, it may pay to involve the Southern Whites in the war in the Ukraine. It may hurt for NM early, but it's reinforcement I don't currently have on hand, and I can simply liquidate them later on when securing the Ukraine/Kuban. We'll see.

[loki100]

this seems as much a political as military scenario (appropriate as the Soviets would have seen it that way) with lots of decisions with a complex mix of good and bad outcomes. In effect you need steady progress to offset the NM loss and all the Soviets need to do is not to lose?

[Searry]

Very interesting! Makes me want to buy the game even more. *hopes for a sale*

[TheExecuter]

Subscribified.

It will be interesting to see how you handle the inevitable (mis)fortunes of war.

Good luck against the evil bolshevicks!

[Stuyvesant]

Very interesting... It seems more event-driven than the other RUS scenarios I've seen AARs of, with more choices to make (and a bigger impact on your valuable resources).

The slippery slope of decreasing NM... From Bornego's AARs it seems pretty clear that, once you hit a critical point, you're locked into a vicious circle. In your case made even worse by the automatic -3 NM every turn. That means you'll have to be very aggressive and hopefully destroy either a few really big Red armies, or keep up a steady dribble of small- to medium-sized victories.

Good luck, I'm looking forward to seeing how this plays out!

[Bornego]

A question: does allying the Southern Whites mean that you control them, or that they are operated by the AI?

I believe it works like the relationship between White and Ukrainians or Reds and Anarchists in the Grand Campaign: there is an option to forge an alliance which gives you direct control over their troops but at a cost of -1 NM per turn. Which makes the option rather unattractive. It is a lot smarter to get Finland, Rumania, the Baltic states and the Caucasian nations into the war (even Turkey can be persuaded to join in). This has the advantage of a much larger frontline which will make a breakthrough a lot easier.

Every turn, the Germans lose 3 NM, due to discontent amongst the population. This is a slippery slope, because as the German NM sinks, the effectiveness of its units sink, meaning defeats, meaning more NM loss, meaning more defeats. IE, once I start losing, it only gets worse. I can stave off the effects of this through decisions, events, and big defeats of the opposing Red Army. Since the German decisions are also effected through involving its puppets, the Germans can lose NM rather quickly through inefficient use of their friends.

Yes, but the Bolsheviks have similar problems. They lose NM if they hold off on declaring war on Finnland, the Baltic states, the Caucasian nations, ....

But most importantly the Drang Campaign unlike any other scenario in RUS has events balancing NM. If you get above 125 points of NM or below 75 points, you will gain/lose NM via event. This is the system used in ROP.

this seems as much a political as military scenario (appropriate as the Soviets would have seen it that way) with lots of decisions with a complex mix of good and bad outcomes. In effect you need steady progress to offset the NM loss and all the Soviets need to do is not to lose?

The Drang Campaign offers a huge amount of options but unless the Bolsheviks cave in when presented with the initial ultimatum - like Axe27 pointed out, this is the smart choice - the Campaign isn't so much about politics as it is about huge clashing armies. The sheer amount of troops dwarfs even the already big Short Campaign. The Red Army is a colossus in this scenario but it is no match for the Germans who hold the edge in every aspect: bigger army, better quality, better generals, ... Yes the Reds have a few doomstacks in this scenario but if Germany manages to get all possible allies involved, the Reds are pretty much toast. Even on their own the German win the doomstack competition.

And one final word: I love it that you have dared to tackle this huge scenario in an AAR. Not an easy task. Continue the good work.

[germanpeon]

But most importantly the Drang Campaign unlike any other scenario in RUS has events balancing NM. If you get above 125 points of NM or below 75 points, you will gain/lose NM via event. This is the system used in ROP.

This can't be the case for Germany though. Isn't one of the Red victory conditions triggered by low German NM?

[Axe27]

The Drang Campaign offers a huge amount of options but unless the Bolsheviks cave in when presented with the initial ultimatum - like Axe27 pointed out, this is the smart choice - the Campaign isn't so much about politics as it is about huge clashing armies. The sheer amount of troops dwarfs even the already big Short Campaign. The Red Army is a colossus in this scenario but it is no match for the Germans who hold the edge in every aspect: bigger army, better quality, better generals, ... Yes the Reds have a few doomstacks in this scenario but if Germany manages to get all possible allies involved, the Reds are pretty much toast. Even on their own the German win the doomstack competition.

And one final word: I love it that you have dared to tackle this huge scenario in an AAR. Not an easy task. Continue the good work.

The Red Army, numerically is slightly smaller than my army. However, German troops and stacks are significantly better than the Reds. However, the Reds have the advantange of the entirety of Russia to exploit, while I don't, meaning they will be building huge armies before this over. If we don't see 3000 pwr Red stacks when this is finished, I'll be disappointed.

And you're right on the Doomstacks, I almost found myself complaing about having too many troops on hand that unlocked this turn. And that's just the Germans.I still haven't got the Austro-Hungarians that will unlock shortly, and even more troops will become available as I begin to involve more nations.

Also thanking you answering the questions I don't know the answer to myself.

Baby, this is party is just getting started!Late February 1921

The turn inevitably starts off with a bang. Kiev is recaptured immediately in a short battle.

The boats are recaptured and not burnt,which all great and wonderful, but you will see why this is a bad thing (Hint: The Ukrainians are in assault posture).Kharkov is also recaptured,

Which is again all great and wonderful, but I will have to retreat from there, as a 21k strong army under Samoylo annihilates the garrison at Belogorod just up the road with hardly any losses. It doesn't really matter, as Kharkov will probably spend a few turns under Red dominion anyway. No point in wasting a perfectly good Ukrainian stack early on.

Now, a right bloodly mess this is:

Antonov-Ovseenko (having a significantly higher strategic rating than I remember) crosses the river and the Ukrainians attack him, and loses. Had they been in defensive posture they would've held Kiev - after all, attacking over a river is always a bad idea.

Unfortunately, this means the German division that was supposed to rally with the Ukrainians?

For a 20k sized force attacking into a 56k strong force, I'd say they gave as good as they got. Oddly enough, this transfers into a Strategic opportunity. Initial Army Group Centrum forces were to rally south of Kiev which they did. One of the corps also crossed the river, to make a move northward. This has suddenly transferred into a lucky opportunity.

If I'm lucky, the enemy force will have to spend a few turns in the marsh, which is great for me, as attrition will take a bite out of them. If I'm moderately lucky, their line of retreat will be cut off, and reinforcements will break them. If I'm not, well, at least I can retreat back into Poland. If I'm extremely unlucky, a Red stack will move south and reinforce at the right moment, meaning a disastrous NM sacking defeat.

Speaking of which,

A massive dreadnought fleet that I have roaming the Baltic runs into some destroyers escorting some transports. The destroyers are all sunk, the transports take some hits, and the armored cars they were carrying are killed. Firstly, I don't know how on earth I managed to kill the cars and not the transports, and secondly, what exactly was the AI planning to do with some cars in Poland? Blow up railroads? Regardless, this balances out the disastrous defeats at Kiev, and gains us another opportunity. With the Red Fleet still in the Baltic, and the Gulf of Finland now mined, they'll either have to sail to Murmansk to find safety, run the mines and take hits, or face the powerful Battleship fleet on their own. All good.

Speaking of Poland, the current state of things:

As more troops unlock in Poland, Army Groups Nord and Centrum will receive massive reinforcements, tipping the balance in my favor. The current Army Group Nord continues its advance on Minsk. It won't be there till two turns from now, as the actual Army Group Nord stack is 15 days out of Baranvichy. And yes, the discrepancy in power is a mistake. I still have 6.500 power advancing on Minsk, I just forgot.

As for the Ukraine:

As it turns out, Romania entering the war also unlocked German stacks at Bucharest, Belgrade, and in Austria-Hungary, meaning a lot of troops are coming to the Ukraine from the South. These troops will probably be the ones to take Rostov, but we'll see. For now, they're going to organize at Odessa and meet up with the Don Cossacks, bringing almost 8000 power to Southern Ukraine. Hopefully, we can start smashing Anarchist heads after that, and Red heads after that.

Minor news that doesn't get a newspaper photo. The Red war machine is swinging into action, as the Reds just spent a lot of money on some new factories near Moscow. The SRK I'm guessing is either flavor with NM. They may control Kharkov and Kiev, but the numbers are still in my favor.

I meant requistion. Since I don't get conscription, I have to draw up my manpower exclusively through decision, meaning every dead German soldier is more of a loss to me than a dead Russian is to Lenin. I'll also need to start my propaganda machine into gear as time goes on and I advance into Russia, lest I face the wrath of the Greens.

Finally, an idea I had:

I may in the future transfer troops to Circassia (when I'm advancing on Rostov most likely) to create a new front in the south. This is two part: First, so that I can encircle the Southern Whites toensure I can knock them out later, secondly, to open up a potential Turkestan campaign later on, and finally, the capture Grozny and Astrakhan, victory point cities.

And finally, the decisions. They pretty much speak for themselves. Hopefully I come out in the positive this turn with a big win at Kiev, but we'll see.

----------
You may be wondering why I don't show the composition of my armies. Suffice it to say, there's a crapload of German troops. Next turn, I'll show the composition of a normal German stack, but understand that the number of stacks is very large, and so are the troop numbers, and I only get so many pictures per post.

[loki100]

interesting swing of events at Kiev, its indicative that the AGEOD AI can hurt you badly if you in the 'wrong' posture or exposed.

as to the rest, the sheer scale of this is rather overwhelming, hope that troop organisation isn't too much of a workload?

[Axe27]

interesting swing of events at Kiev, its indicative that the AGEOD AI can hurt you badly if you in the 'wrong' posture or exposed.

as to the rest, the sheer scale of this is rather overwhelming, hope that troop organisation isn't too much of a workload?

The replay of that turn went like this: North Army Group recaptures Kiev, holds it for a few days before Ovseenko crosses the river and enters the province, and then me losing. What I should have done is put the Ukranians into Defensive posture and waited until the arrival of Army Group Centrum and Ukr. Corp before assaulting the city, but I didn't expect the Reds to be so aggressive so early.

[Stuyvesant]

Firstly, I don't know how on earth I managed to kill the cars and not the transports...

Clearly, the gunnery skills of the Kriegsmarine should not be underestimated...

The lumbering German Beast slowly awakens and starts to roll all over Mother Russia. Shame about the (temporary) setback at Kiev, but hey, overall it's hard to not see you starting to crunch Red armies like bugs underneath your jackboots very, very soon.

[Axe27]

Clearly, the gunnery skills of the Kriegsmarine should not be underestimated...

The lumbering German Beast slowly awakens and starts to roll all over Mother Russia. Shame about the (temporary) setback at Kiev, but hey, overall it's hard to not see you starting to crunch Red armies like bugs underneath your jackboots very, very soon.

The gunnery skills of the Kriegsmarine become truly legendary this turn. You'll see why.

Heligoland Bight was a fluke, Early March, 1921

Hello everyone, and welcome back to another round of DNO. This turn, some interesting things happen, and some paradigms shift. Let's begin.

First, the news:

Pretty minor stuff except for Frunze getting unlocked and the Reds declare war on the Baltic States!. It also means I can't build up a large gunboat fleet to land an invasion force in mid Russia using the Volga, since Kronstadt is now mined. This will also hamper us in the Kuban, as the Reds now have uncontested control of the Don river.

The first of a series of laws that will come into effect as time passes. This increases the amount of money flowing into the coffers (because I really needed more money), at the expense of some of my NM.

Now, onto the big battles of the turn. First, you know that brillant plan to destroy Ovseenko early? Well,

Unfortunately, only one part of the plan actually goes according to plan.Sixt von Armin assaults the fortfied Dnieper redoubt across the river:

And takes a ton of casualties. Oh well. At least he gained 1 NM for his efforts, and opened up the rail line to Kharkov. Since Kiev is still in Red hands (some reds were left in the city by Ovseenko), he'll move back with Army Group Centrum and rest and reequip after the city is retaken.

Some other minor wins happen (Balts engage Red uprising and destroy them), but I decided not to post them due to being rather insignificant. However, something really big happens on the Baltic Sea.

The Red Baltic Fleet is completely sunk, for which we trade some cruisers. This, along with a mined gulf of Finland, means we now control the Baltic Sea, allowing for uninterrupted transport service from Kiel to the Baltic States/Finland. With no significant Red naval presence in the Black Sea, this means that any Red sea ships (that aren't river boats) will have to sail from Vladivostok, around the world, to engage me.

It's good to rule the waves.

This fantastic news is however, underscored by a defeat in the Ukraine.

Lugansk is taken for 0 NM lost. Since most these units were locked and complete garbage anyhow, no big loss, but 6500 dead Ukrainians stings.

With the Baltic States now open for business, some new fronts will evolve. The first is the Vilnius-Minsk-Smolensk area. I feel this area will probably see a lot of action in the days to come.

For now, I have local superiority here, but this will change as more Red stacks begin to pour into the area. The Reds may have a crappy troops, but they have a LOT of them.

A look further north

For the span of two or so turns, the Reds will have superiority in Estonia, but they will lose this if they attempt to march on Narva(or attack into Narva), as my now unchallenged naval superiority allows for me to land troops in Lativa. Expect to see offenses in this theater as time progresses. The cramped conditions of these lands offer the chance to inflict big defeats on the Reds.

Now for the biggie:

The Eastern Ukraine is beginning to fill up with Reds. I'd guess that over half the Red Army is sitting here in the Ukraine, while I've probably committed 40% of my forces in its defense (that have unlocked so far ). Big battles will occur here in the next two turns, as I may turn north to retake Kharkov. In short, Rostov is holding a LOT of troops, that will probably take the combined efforts of both Army Group Centrum and Sud to take. Also, what is not shown here in this screenshot, but is just as important is that a massive Green uprising has taken place near Tsaritsyn, cutting railway access between there and Rostov, meaning all Red reinforcements to that sector either have to march through a swarm of angry peasants,take the long way around to Voronezh, or attempt to cross the Don in the Kuban(which also includes a swarm of angry peasants). A large Southern White Army has gathered (and as of yet, remains passive). I guess that they won't make any moves until I ally with them.

Since I haven't shown this so far:

This is an average German army. It doesn't include motorized infantry (yes the Germans actually have them), but it's the average. German armies are very modern compared to their Red counterparts, and thus with less men are able to do a lot more(and thusly have more power). I'd rather be a German soldier than a Russian Soldier, as getting shot means that I have a better chance of surviving (notice the hospital truck).

[loki100]

that was a decisive naval win, as you say you can now move around the Baltic freely.

Interesting to see the make up of one of your armies. Does look very modern and well balanced, presume the Soviets are still mostly WW1 vintage formations?

[Searry]

Thanks for the update. It will be interesting to see how this campaign develops.

[Axe27]

that was a decisive naval win, as you say you can now move around the Baltic freely.

Interesting to see the make up of one of your armies. Does look very modern and well balanced, presume the Soviets are still mostly WW1 vintage formations?

The true irony of the Eastern Front lies in the Brusilov offensive. In that widly successful offensive, the Russians used a lot of completely new tactics such as small squad sized formations to force breakthroughs instead of massed infantry charges. The irony is that the lessons of the offensive went completely over the head of Tsarist Army, and the Germans actually learned more from that offensive than the Russians did, leading to the development and widespread usage of squad sized infantry units, storm troopers to break through heavily fortfied positions, and by extensions, the usage of armor to blow open holes in enemy formations.

Part of the reasoning that the Reds still use (and historically would use them up till WW2) massed infantry tactics is that the vast majority of the tsarist military officers that survived the war are either Southern Whites, dead, or in exile, and the revoluntaries are not good generals.

That's not to say the Reds are completely obtuse - Red Fronts(the Red equivalent of an Army Group) utilize tanks and tachnakas( think of them as a poor mans Armored car) as infantry support. This is only present in their largest formations however - the average sized corp is signifcantly less effectively equipped(I'll show a few next turn).