Absolute Domination - A Campaing of Prussian Hardships

[Voffvoffhunden]

I have played MotE a fair bit, and decided it was time I shared the tales of my grand conquests. Therefore, welcome to this most humble of AARs, about the most humble of great powers. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you:

Absolute Domination – A Campaign of Prussian Hardships

Introduction: The Diplomacy of King Friedrich-Wilhelm III von Hohenzollern

Ah, that handsome devil​

I have played Prussia before, but the best I have managed is a measly prestige victory. And let’s be honest, if prestige really mattered, the Napoleonic wars would have had a lot more glitzy military parades, and a lot less gruesome death from starvation and gangrene.

Anyways, Prussia is a nation with a fair few challenges. The first of which is it’s placement in the middle of four other great powers, who all covet its tasty, tasty domination provinces.

If Prussia was a cake, each slice would have a nation’s favourite topping, ready for sharing​

But we are not going to lie down on our backs as the other nations feast on our corpse! Indeed, it is we who shall do the corpse-feeding!

And we’ll stop other nations from feeding their corps! Because, you know, attrition, and supplies, and military, and… Never mind.

From past experience, I have the foresight to know that Prussia runs the risk of struggling with manpower if they get caught up in wars with large casualties, which, unfortunately, puts a tiny bump in the whole sending-thousands-to-their-glorious-deaths-thing. I know that is a problem I will have to deal with, but a more pressing issue right now is the state of the map. I mean, look at it!

It is my God-given mission to introduce some order into this ridiculous rabble of resisting Reich-to-be. To the diplomacy table!

And by diplomacy table, I mean the “DECLARE WAR”-menu.​

I strike pre-emptively, as waiting has the unfortunate side-effect of all these small states being guaranteed by my eternal enemies. So I immediately diplomate all these states hard. I diplomate them so hard I end up with no diplomats left. Oh well, my king is so adept at diplomacy that I’ll have five more harbingers of war in no time.

Most of my units are quite capable as they are, so I draw up the battle-lines, and charge in blindly

I also have enough points to choose an idea. Considering I would prefer my men not to die too much, I pick the first of the Prussian ideas, which gives me a 25% bonus to Guard Defence. Yes yes, March to the Sound of Guns is amazing, and I will pick it next, I simply don’t need it quite yet. I also eventually want the bonus idea points that come from the Prussian ideas. They will help me a lot, as I don't intend to lose ANY battles. Ha.

I would like the one that makes my men not die so often thank you very much sir​

Finally, before I unpause and actually, you know, start the game, I check in on the Prussian Grand Navy. I find one single transport with a leaky hull crash-docked in what the inhabitants of Danzig refer to as their “port.”

That seems a bit thin considering the vicious battles that are going to be fought in the Baltic Sea (if not by my enemies, then definitely by me!) so I put set my men to construct a First-rate Ship of the Line. In just a few months, my fleet will have more than doubled in firepower! Take that, Great Britain!

Next up: Conquests and Guarantees!

 

[BPM]

Nice! Always enjoy Prussian AAR's! always the most interesting (in my opinion) nation to play during this period!

Enjoy re-writing history as one of the greatest (and most interesting) nations of the time. Best of luck!

 

[Avindian]

Very entertaining writing, and an excellent choice. I'm following with great interest.

 

[Seelmeister]

Great overview, looking forward to this.

 

[Voffvoffhunden]

Thanks a lot!

 

[Voffvoffhunden]

Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Don’t you Nassau!​

With my grand conquest of the German territories prepared, I charge in. It goes more or less exactly as you would expect.

In just a few months, they begin falling, one by one. The only piece of glass in my delicious candy bag is the fact that Nassau has been guaranteed by Austria. Curse those devils! They got there before my diplomats returned, so for now I have to ignore the tiny state.

It is important to mention, however, that this is the beginning of a long chain of events that leads me to my first really major mistake. And I don’t mean that as in military mistake, I mean basic stupid human error. See if you can spot when it happens.

Anyways, my manpower base is now slightly extended, and importantly, the map is ever so slightly more pleasing to look at. A lot of work remains, however. It is May 1805, and I have yet to construct anything but a single ship. I therefore start the production of my third ship!

At least the map is a step up now.​

I also start the production of a number of other troops. I only have a little more than 40,000 men, hardly more than when I started, and once my armies are reinforced I have even less. Oh well. It doesn’t really matter, though, as I only need to strengthen the armies I already have standing – I have used every single leader I’ve got, and there’s no way in coldest Siberia I’ll have any armies running around leaderless. Heck, there’s no way I’ll have a single flank unled!

What is being led, however, is the reformation of European military:

Bonus idea points!​

So, I spend all my precious manpower reinforcing the standing armies with extra supply trains – essential for invasion no matter where; some more guards – the brilliant backbone of my relatively small armies; and light infantry – to guard the guards in case of fighting in mountains or bogs, or boggy mountains. March of the Eagles REAL killers. I also have to give them just a few extra artillery units. My armies seemed a little too puny going up against the West-German fortresses.

Looking at my victory goals, it becomes apparent that whoever else I choose to fight I will have to enter Austria (a lot of times). I line my newly strengthened forces up on the Austrian border – the long one close to Warschau and the short one along former Baden/Württemberg.
However, to my Northwest, something interesting is happening:

France isn’t really fighting back against the 53,000 Brits marching through Westphalia and sieging Dutch provinces. I am a little uncertain about what that implies, as the only other French map activity I can find is in – as in every early-game ever – Sicily.

Exactly what they are getting up to, only the Italians know.​

With no evidence of French troops anywhere, I make a decision. I prepare to declare war against Nassau, and the moment the French honour their guarantee, I’ll storm across their border. I even commandeer one of the Saxon armies – complete with generals! I mean, no offense to the AI, but France can’t even manage to protect its own borders.

Now, if you’ve been paying attention, you probably see the mistake I am about to make. Well, it’s less of a mistake, and more of a poor decision. Maybe staying awake for more than half a year impaired my judgement, I don’t know.

I declare war, storm into Nassau, and barely a day passes before the Great Power honours its guarantee…

Oh, right.​

France was the country with military access in Nassau. Austria was the one with the guarantee. Oh boy.


Next up: Germanic Giants!

 

[Seelmeister]

Wow, well as far as human error goes that is an interesting one! Are Austria at war with the Ottomans? They frequently are in my games. They hold a number of dominane objectives, as well as some towns with excellent manpower reserves so Prussia stands to gain much from this war.

That being said, I was looking forward to seeing how an early attack against France would play out, hopefully another opportunity to strike at them presents itself soon.

 

[Voffvoffhunden]

Interesting is the word!

Unfortunately, Austria is unengaged. I don't know if it's due to the bettering of their relations in the patch, or if there's changes to the AI when you play on hard. I would have liked to strike France, but on the other hand, knowing the French starting position vs. Prussia's it could have gone horribly, horribly wrong. Maybe next time!

 

[Voffvoffhunden]

Chapter 2: Mounting Menace​

So, I had some good news, and some bad news. The good news was that by the time Austria declared war on me, I had practically already annexed Nassau.

By the time I was ready to annex them, my declaration of war still hadn’t reached them.​

The bad news was that I now was at war with Austria, while my forces were still stationed on the French border.

I stormed back, my troops hauling cannon across Saxony and Baden in order to reach the Austrian border. Military access from Bavaria made the whole thing a lot easier!

Don’t think this means I won’t come for you soon…​

Austria clearly hadn’t prepared for any war, so my lands were still untouched by November 15, when I made it deep enough into Austria for preliminary skirmishes.

More like preliminary buttkicking, am I right?
​

I was really hoping the Ottomans would take the opportunity to go to war against Austria, but so far everything was quiet but for the sound of money being dropped into my coffers.

It is better than nothing, but a long ways off any real kind of help. Maybe if they sent me soldiers. Or ships. Not that I need them against Austria, but I want them. Speaking of which, why doesn’t Austria just let me win already?

My two main armies are occupying Karlsbad to the north, while in the south, 40,000 men are marching on Innsbruck. That’s when I see something to makes even my brave men tremble:

The only relief even close are the two armies currently occupying the HRE.

As noted earlier, my guard troops are poorly suited for mountain-valley assaults, and I start retreating. I don’t want to sacrifice men for a stupid cause like the alps. They can wait anyways.

Meanwhile, in Karlsbad up north, things are going great. My newly acquired March to the Sound of Guns-drill means that the three armies now in position (the Saxon army I commandeered has made its way back from France) are able to repel the Austrian mass.

The remaining eleven thousand men retreat into the fort, where they’re at least easy to keep an eye on! If those weakling try anything, General Von Kalkreuth will be the first to know! He’ll know before me for sure, as I am terrible at paying attention. Case in point: My intoxicating victory has distracted me from the south, where almost a hundred thousand men have caught up with my escaping spearhead.

The 4:1 odds are too much, even for Blucher, and I order his immediate retreat. Do any of my generals realise how precious a life is? Unless it is the life of an enemy?

“Minimised” losses.​

I retreat all the way back to Ansbach, where I round up three nearby armies – my forces are now divided between a northern and southern front.

I get in position mere days before the army of doom arrives, but thankfully my tactical genius forces him into making an error: he has to cross that river to do battle, and it’s a mistake he’ll regret!

So…​

I clearly made an error of judgement there (again!), but now I have a fool-proof plan. Keep away from that damn army until I know I can beat it! I Have another 20,000 troops recently done with the conquest of Frankfurt, and they take the lead in dogging the massive Austrian army.

Meanwhile, on the East-Austrian border, the forces of evil have finally gotten their act together. I have few defences there, but as of yet I feel confident I can repel them if I can only destroy their main force.

That main force, 75,000 strong, has decided to march around Bavaria and through Saxony in order to relieve the other large army holed up in Karlsbad. I don’t blame them. Unfortunately, I also want them dead.

My southern forces have regrouped, and are making sure to cut any supply lines the army attempts to establish the moment it leaves a province. By the time it makes it to Southern Saxony, it’s lost 3,000 men to starvation.

As the new year dawns, the army prepares to march on Karlsbad. Thankfully, I have finally surrounded it with sufficient forces, and…

After about eighteen raids, the enemy army finally breaks. I feel hope rising. Maybe the Austrian menace can be brought low! From there, it all disintegrates into several small skirmishes around the border. We destroy them all. For the glory of Prussia!

Once my armies have regrouped slightly, I take two of the smallest ones and start going deeper. Prague is the first town to fall, then they move south, passing by Wien, occupying as they go. Finally they even take Innsbruck – at long last!

My hope is that this display of power will convince the Austrian emperor to sign a peace deal beneficiary to Prussia. Of course it’s not enough.

I need something more convincing. Something as convincing as the complete decimation of his armies, for example the complete decimation of his armies. It needs to be fast too. I have seen more and more recently-recruited infantry troops moving around during my occupation-streak, and Austria has the manpower to support a prolonged war.

Well, if it’s a meat grinder Austria wants, I’ll give them a bloodbath! My forces are ready and prepared, and on my order, they start moving eastwards. I’ll pick those occupying armies apart with my own two hands if needs be! I’ll drag their entrails from Warschau to Wien! I’ll… I’ll… calm down a little.

This needs to be done, calmly, rationally, and most importantly of all – cleverly.

Unfortunately, it seems my enemy himself might be more clever than I thought. He has the exact same plan I do. From the east comes reports of armies on the move…

Next time: Clash of the Remnants!

 

[BPM]

Very entertaining stuff! and just enough humour that its amusing, but not so much that it becomes silly!

A jolly good job old chap

+1

 

[Seelmeister]

Looks like the war has gone well so far. You've built up a decent war score, akhhough the Austrian war capacity suggests they still have many men to fight. The attack into Silesia is an issue, but if those forces can be separated a little you could rack up some war score and cause them decent casualties. Looking forward to part 2!

 

[BPM]

@Seelmeister: Dont you mean part 3?

@Voffvoffhunden: With your manpower down at 0, and asutrias war capacity at 100% with 107K manpower... You my friend are in for a bumpy ride! Best of luck, you will need it

 

[Voffvoffhunden]

@Voffvoffhunden: With your manpower down at 0, and asutrias war capacity at 100% with 107K manpower... You my friend are in for a bumpy ride! Best of luck, you will need it

Some of my desperation started to seep into Chapter 2, and let me tell you, Chapter 3 has some full-blown explosions of the stuff. Which is great for excitement. Less so for my nervous disposition. And Prussia.

 

[BPM]

Some of my desperation started to seep into Chapter 2, and let me tell you, Chapter 3 has some full-blown explosions of the stuff. Which is great for excitement. Less so for my nervous disposition. And Prussia.

Let us hope then that your nerves do not fail you. Would hate for this aar to end abruptly.

If you do end up crushed by austria (i hope not) perhaps consider a new aar with a mod (such as 1792 mod)

I started to collect things for one, but i kept missing screenshots, forgot to note down events, left the game running to get a sandwich, etc.... so it would be a thoroughly threadbare aar :O

Perhaps during the easter holiday i can be a bit more organised

NOTE

OOPS!! i misspelt Austria in my last post. Sadly you quoted me, thus everyone will forever know of my mistake

 

[Seelmeister]

Some of my desperation started to seep into Chapter 2, and let me tell you, Chapter 3 has some full-blown explosions of the stuff. Which is great for excitement. Less so for my nervous disposition. And Prussia.

Sounds good to me, definitely interesting for the reader!

@Seelmeister: Dont you mean part 3?

You're quite right, I meant part 2 of the war but that is of course part 3 od the AAR.

 

[Voffvoffhunden]

OOPS!! i misspelt Austria in my last post. Sadly you quoted me, thus everyone will forever know of my mistake

Then my work here is done!

Also, have a close look at the thread name...


But yes, I would like to do a mod AAR somewhere down the line, as I think it would be fun to dive in blindly. As for this one... let's just say that Prussia will fight to the very end, be it bitter or sweet!

 

[BPM]

Then my work here is done!
EDIT: Also, have a close look at the thread name...

!!!! Excellent, I am not alone when it comes to clumsy typing

 

[Tallfellow]

I'm following this Prussia have always been one of my favorite nations in paradox games!

 

[Voffvoffhunden]

Chapter 3

Chapter 3: In Over Head
​

So, since Austria seemed to be intent on indulging my plans to have a face-off between our remaining forces, I don’t see why I should march miles across hostile territory for it. I wait for him to come to me. There is only one problem:

Instead of dividing his armies into small, digestable snacks, the Austrian emperor is crafting a heart attack-inducing double cheeseburger.

In a desperate gambit, I send the smallest of my remaining armies south. It has one single target, with one of two goals in mind. He will conquer every town and village he comes across, either pushing my warscore up to a point where Austria would accept peace (unlikely), or divert one of his chunky armies, allowing me to deal with them one at a time (even more unlikely).

Lienz: Fort. Wien: as if.​

If I could, I would have sent ten messengers to the emperor, each one telling him a different size of the army ravaging his western lands. Unfortunately, March of the Eagles insists on placing an emphasis on, you know, the actual warfare, and my crazy gambit doesn’t seem to have worked…

Then, as Iglau is retaken, and one of the major armies march on Praag, the larger army turns southwards! Maybe von Hohenzollern, with his incredible diplomacy and stunning good looks actually did send a hundred messengers to the emperor!

Praag falls, retaken by the worthless Austrians (who are dangerously close to undoing everything I’ve worked for with their worthlessness). However, the remaining 30,000 men do not march straight into my trap waiting for them by Karlsbad. They head south as well.

By this point, I have managed to reinforce my Karlsbad-force with another 12,000 men who were busy ensuring the HRE would not rise again. However, I start to doubt whether it will ever be enough.

Because from the south, doom is marching.

I was so terrified when they arrived in Tabor that I forgot to take a screenshot until now.​

It is worth pointing out that there is still a 15,000 strong Austrian force hiding out in Karlsbad. I wish it wasn’t true, but there you have it. With March to the Sound of Guns all around, one little spark in the wrong place at the wrong time can ruin every single one of my forces. At the same time, I cannot afford any one of them to be decimated on their own.

Then, after a week and a half of manoeuvring back and forth, battle is joined.

Not only is it joined, it is lost.

No, I’m not going to include a picture of the game gloating about my “DEFEAT!”​

This is it. This is where I fall. My only consolation is that the Austrians in Karlsbad still haven’t left their hidey-hole, and that the other armies have split up. Still, I am crushed, both when it comes to manpower and morale. The morale can be regained fairly quickly as long as I stay back, but the manpower? Not a chance. Especially considering Austria’s manpower pool has just taken a dive: they are building.

My warscore has also taken a nosedive, and although it is still overwhelmingly positive, Austria does not want any kind of peace, short of me giving them Görlitz and releasing a German minor. For a short while I consider it. I don’t exactly have much choice. I mean, the only thing that could save me now would be a sudden injection of manpower, preferably in the form of a ready made ar-

I look to Saxony. I may have integrated the Sachsen Armee into mine, effectively disbanding it, but that doesn’t mean they haven’t been busy building a new one!

THERE IS STILL HOPE!

Next time: The End of War

 

[Seelmeister]

The AI has proved a worthy adversary so far in this war, and they know that they have the upper hand. That said, clever movements of your army can still make things difficult for them - you still have the upper hand in terms of occupation. Perhaps following the defeat in Bohemia Austria will be tempted to divide their forces, giving you another shot at victory?

Eagerly awaiting the conclusion of this war, good luck!