This period sees a delicate standoff affect both of the competing coalitions. While no new major strategic developments occurs across the continent. The remnants of navies of France, Spain and The Netherlands choose mostly to remain in port and repair the squadrons that managed to survive the engagements with our own navy.
As we enter June we see an the completion of the first wave of Light Infantry. The Outliner still demonstrates that we have more incoming, the place they will appear and the date they will be ready on. We take this opportunity to change our rally and merge point from London to Chatham. For this is the location of the Home Army, and we want new units to move their ready for reassignment.
Monthly Highlights:
1 May
We continue with out diplomatic efforts to influence Sweden, Prussia and Austria increasing our relations with them by (+5) to:
- Prussia: 115
- Austria: 65
- Sweden: 40
10 May
Having defeated the Danish invaders in Torshavn, the British Liberation army sets sail with its escort to Scotland to receive resupply and reinforcements from London. Soon after their brief visit of the Highlands both transport and escort fleets set sail for the Danish territory of Iceland. A statement of intent must be made.
12 May
A brief naval battle occurs on the waves of southern Dogger Bank. Compared to previous encounters this one is fairly brief, but with the same result. Naval Attrition however is reducing the strength of these squadrons at sea. Unless we can position them next to a coastline they will continue to deplete our Manpowre reserves. Though to be fair its is a miniscule amount when compared to fighting on land. Still for a country fighting alone every man, Dick and Harry will count in the struggles ahead.
Result: GB victory
Losses: Dutch - 4x Ships of the Line & 1x Frigates; GB - 3x Ships of the Line.
14 May
The same Dutch fleet is pursued and caught off the seas of Texel, resulting in further losses for the enemy. For his troubles General Sir John Duckworth receives a new naval trait – Frigate I (+5% Light ship attack)
Result: GB victory
Losses: Dutch - 1x Ships of the Line & 1x Frigates; GB – No losses.
24 May
A day long to be remembered in history as we take the fight to the enemy. General Wellesley's Liberation army lands in Iceland, in the easterly province of Austisland. Immediately intiating a siege. No armies are located here. Just garrisons which are automatically situated inside any fort. Checking the size of the enemy garrison reveals it to be 10 times inferior than our own. Weighing up the odds of an assault, we give the order and send our armies into the fray.
The battle does not go very well for us. The frontage of the fortress greatly reduces our ability to use many brigades on a flank during the combat. Meaning that the smaller force can be measure up to a large force and only take on one or two brigades at a time, rather than feel the full weight of the opposition in attack. Furthermore fortresses also provide bonuses to some troops. While others receive a penalty they attack.
Further information on Frontage modifiers can be seen in the above screenshot. Next time before ordering an assault it may be an idea to reduce the numbers of troops on each flank to its minimum and put the rest of the force in the reserve area. This will allow for the optimum formation and allow the stack leader to move units up if and when they are required.
Result: GB Victory
Army sizes:
Casualties: GB - (attacker) , DEN – wiped out.
Considering that we gain just under that amount per month in new manpower, you can see that fighting the “wrong” battles is not good for long term victory planning. With the province of Austisland under our control we send the Liberation Army to Reykjavik.
However during that long march the decision is taken to cancel the attack and return the army back home to England. The statement has been made to our Danish enemy so further losses with be worthless in the grand scheme of things. Afterall neither of these provinces fit in with our plans to obtain complete dominance.
The problem attacking remote areas is potentially three-fold:
- Army Size
- Lack of supply (less than maximum) OR supply limit (province value)
- High Attrition rate (increased by poor terrain)
- Slow movement (province transport system = tracks)
Combing such high Attrition (and being Out of supply – slower reinforcement), together with a low Movement speed (Tracks are slowest form of transport), means that we receive high casualties getting to our objective. If not higher than battle casulties, then at least on a par.
Above we can see the attrition calculation for our army as it has reached its target. Notice in the outliner that the Supply Centre (Austisland) is still not providing 100% supply either. So for every moment the army remains there, 8% of army size is lost. Despite that being the maximum for that province its not really an acceptable loss in terms of strategic goals. So I decide not to carry on with the attack and that is why this army returns to its ship and sets sail back to England.
Monthly Highlights:
1 June
With out brief Military excursion over we continue with out diplomatic efforts to influence Sweden and Austria increasing our relations with them by (+5). For Prussia we send two diplomats this month so our relations with these countries now look like this:
- Prussia: 125 (+10)
- Austria: 70 (+5)
- Sweden: 45 (+5)
As we can see all this constant diplomacy is wrecking havoc on our Prestige. In five months it has plummeted to 430 points. Looking at the
Victory Conditions window we can see that if we are not careful at some point in the near future France will have a better Prestige score than us, and even Austria are likely to leap-frog us to.
7 June
To make things worse France is now sabotaging our relations with Meckleburg (30). This is another nation, though small could have been a contender to join our coalition. However our priorities should remain to get Prussia, Sweden and Austria into our alliance, as geographically they are the best placed to render assistance.
19 June
Some good news arrives later in the month. The third wave of Light Infantry are ready and begin moving towards Chatham. Now recruitment on the cavalry begins.
Monthly Highlights:
1 July
Back on home soil the British Liberation Army is reorganised so that a fresh artillery brigade is moved into the centre from the reserves. It is important to note here that after every battle (in fact during battles) when brigades are utterly destroyed, the selected preferred tactic will not be active if the pre-requisites do not match the conditions needed (brigade type composition and number of required brigade).
2 July
Economically we are barely breaking even. Province income does not cover military maintenance. So long term this will be a problem. Though current treasury funds will cover any shortfall, another loan may be required by the end of the year.
3 July
Our usual diplomatic efforts are rewarded as per usual. (IIRC Prussia should be approachable when it reaches 150 points. Austria a little less, maybe 120. And since Ive never tried to get Sweden to join, this is new territory for me!)
- Prussia: 130 (+5)
- Austria: 75 (+5)
- Sweden: 50 (+5)
6 July
Our mobilisation continues. The newly reinforced Ireland Force in Dublin now consisting of 15 brigades of 26k troops embarks aboard the secondary transport flotilla newly arrived from London. It sets sail for its destination - Colchester.
12 July
War Update: Austria seems to be making small in roads against the OE. Russia has made similar in-roads in Persia (less than a dozen locations). While Egypt takes advantage of OE plight against Austria and seizes around 6 provinces across her borders.
31 July
A moderate Dutch fleet reinforced to full strength (16 ships) makes it way out from port. The Atlantic Fleet moves to intercept and a battle begins.
Monthly Highlights:
1 August
More diplomatic activity provides predictable results.
Prussia: 135 (+5)
- Austria: 80 (+5)
- Sweden: 55 (+5)
With all this fighting we finally accumulate enough Idea points to adopt a fresh Idea. Considering the options is not easy. We must really think about adopting some army based ideas given that we will be sending out armies to fight more substantial foes very soon. (Normally I would be a little more patient and wait for coalition support – but that would make for a boring AAR.)
So I decide on March to the Sound of Guns – Land Movement idea. This activates the option to give armies a new order through Operational toolbar. In effect armies with this option activated have a chance (based on Leader manoeuvre) to join a battle in an adjacent province, if not involved in their own battle.
This really can be a lifesaver when an enemy force attacks a friendly unit, as their numbers can double, treble, quadruple in an instant without the player needing to intervene. The downside is that they may not join the battle you would have preferred them to join – if more than one battle is taking place.
5 August
The battle off the Coast of Holland ends as the Channel Fleet moves from Dover to assist the Atlantic fleet. Lord Keith gains a new trait, Quick I (-5% attack, but initiative is -1 for all ship types, making them quicker to deal out damage.)
Result: GB victory
Losses: Dutch - 6x Ships of the Line & 2x Frigates; GB – 1x Ships of the Line.
13 August
Ireland Force arives in Colchester and is renamed Erskine Force after its leader and reorganized ready for its new area of operations. It along with the British Liberation army are embarked on a campaign to er... liberate Denmark. But take note there will likely be a twist at some point. (Ill give you a clue – Denmark isn't the real target.)
As you can see we have a similar setup to this force as our previously used army:
- Left: Refuse (defensive)
- Centre: Up the Guard (offensive)
- Right: Hold (defensive)
13 August
With our new force ready to join Wellesley's Liberation army, both formations are loaded on transport fleets and given their own escorts as they move to their intended area of operations – Denmark.
17 August
We are informed that France continues to sabotage our relationship with Mecklenburg. Does anyone know where Meckleburg is?
25 August
Both fleet reach the coast of Denmark's Funen and Zealand islands without molestation. Our so-called primary objectives of Copenhagen and Odense are there before us. By checking the Province window we can tell if there are any Straits (small strips of travesable land) that link a territory to another area of land, without the need to use naval transport.
Locations with straits are key strategic areas vital for player control so that movement can be restricted by enemy forces. Essentially they are bottlenecks to army movement, if and only if movement through them can be blocked.
We will try to stop any enemy reinforcements from arriving from the mainland. To that end their role will be two fold.
To do this we will move the transport fleets to the Aarhus and Flensburg channels, to stop any army movement across the Straits from Aarhus or Flemsburg. Yet also our fighting naval formations will need to patrol the seas and intercept any enemy fleets in the area to stop them from disembarking any armies from the sea.
The adventure continues...
