RoP, the White, Blue and Green version

[loki100]

Still lots of manly staring going on: May 1762

Somehow, judging by these two turns I think the AI is as unsure as to what to do as I was ... so lots of gathering in mutually threatening positions and not too much actual action ...

To the details:



Bavaria was the quietest, I gather 3 corps at Nuremberg and decide to send the weaker 4th up to Erfurt - that will muck up their supply lines to Kassel & the Rhineland, and give me some options (either a raid into Saxony or to join up with the Army at Magdeburg)



Here's Central Germany - suddenly becoming the pivotal sector, at least in terms of movement & threat. My Corps that is meant to be covering my rear is fast asleep just as a Prussian/British force appears and Cumberland is somewhere in the woods around Kessel too. I decide to stick where I am for the moment.



And, Bohemia. The Prussians have definitely shifted the weight of their forces to the West (Bavaria?), so I decide to let Nadrasdy have another chew on that weakened Corps he wrecked last turn and to start concentrating to the south of Prag. If the main Prussian army moves back to Prag I can scuttle back to Iglau and rethink.



well Russian female rulers in my AARs do tend to do this sort of thing ... so its no surprise



more in tune with the game - Nadrasdy secures the vital stocks of Budvar (note to US readers - this stuff is actually drinkable unlike its near namesake)



and beyond that, not too much happened.



That weak (2 stars) Prussian corps is running around the Rhineland, I think its off to Bremen (which I don't want to lose) and beatable (ie a cheap NM boost), so the French march off in pursuit.

Around Braunschweig, Cumberland appears as suspected. Now my 2 corps at Magdeburg could beat him, but I don't want to lift the siege (& I have a brigade of Hussars who might be able to cut his supplies). If he's off to Bremen, thats quite a high risk move by the AI - anyway, after lots of dithering I end up deciding to ignore him for the moment.



In Bohemia, I decide to bring all the Austrian columns together, and then go for Prag in June (or run away - it all depends), I want a fight and preferably one on terrain of my own choice.



Well done, Xavier, that makes a nice mess of that column heading to Bremen (it must have stopped for some reason and I caught it twice due to how I'd set up my orders)



Bit more active this turn, some progress with the sieges and I lose Troppau - this is a bit annoying as I was trying to ignore all Prussian activity over there (eastern Bohemia), but there is still another line of big forts before that flank is opened up.



And this maybe explains why I'm looking for action at Prag. All things being equal, for me thats a good NM position & the Austrian army at the moment is relatively strong.

Which means June may be fairly active - I can't believe the Prussians will carry on standing off in Bavaria, I think I can threaten Prag (which should provoke a response) and that complex situation in the centre has to resolve one way or the other (we're both really across each others supply lines)

 

[TheExecuter]

Here's hoping a favorable opportunity presents itself in front of Prague...and that Magdeburg falls soon!

<Raises glass>

 

[Stuyvesant]

8 points of NM for beating up that crappy Prussian column in Northwest Germany! That seems a little much, considering the small size of that force to begin with... Oh well, I certainly don't begrudge you your gains and if it allows you to take the offensive against Prague, all the better.

The Prussians seem to have manoeuvred themselves out of their commanding central position (hinging between Bavaria and Bohemia). I hope you can take advantage of this situation, which is bound to be fleeting. Go knock some Prussians on the head and see what you can do for/near/to Prague!

 

[loki100]

Here's hoping a favorable opportunity presents itself in front of Prague...and that Magdeburg falls soon!

<Raises glass>

Well the opportunity pops up at Prag in June, but Magdeburg goes a bit wrong ... so one out of two is pretty good by my standards in this AAR

8 points of NM for beating up that crappy Prussian column in Northwest Germany! That seems a little much, considering the small size of that force to begin with... Oh well, I certainly don't begrudge you your gains and if it allows you to take the offensive against Prague, all the better.

The Prussians seem to have manoeuvred themselves out of their commanding central position (hinging between Bavaria and Bohemia). I hope you can take advantage of this situation, which is bound to be fleeting. Go knock some Prussians on the head and see what you can do for/near/to Prague!

Its the first time I've seen the AI 'confused', it may have lost quite a lot in winter with all those marches (something it would be good to stop if possible with the next patch) and I wonder if my main armies in Bohemia and Bavaria are now quite a threat?

 

[loki100]

Lets play swopsies: June 1762

Still a lot of menacing moves without necessarily an end point except in Germany where the AI is very menacing and does reach an end point .... never fear all will be clear soon:



Well that was a surprise, I really did not expect Prag to be left so unprotected ... its too good to miss out on really



Now this is more dynamic. Cumberland is across my supply lines but I have a breach at Magdeburg. For the moment I'll leave things as they are (& by the next turn realise this was a mistake, I should have reacted quicker)



So there was a small covering force at Prag, but still an easy victory



Right, that really does break my supply lines to Magdeburg, I need to retake all that territory in Hannover now



Well its amazing what goes on in a city you hold and no one even spots the Swedes busily surrendering.



French siege work is up to its usual standard.



So, off to late June. Here's Bavaria. I've got one corps heading to Erfurt and then into E Saxony (there are quite a few unwalled towns there) to make a mess of the Prussian supply lines.



And, here's a right mess of my supply lines. I can clear Braunschweig this turn and I think Cumberland is there for the beating so its not too bad an option



oh damn. I keep on thinking their sieges will be as slow as mine, but the reality is they have masses of cannon and I have almost none.



That helps repair my supply lines, need to dislodge Cumberland too though.



And that makes a further dent in that British column that pushed into the Rhineland. I think I'll easily concentrate two corps on Cumberland which should be enough.



To add to the good news, Bayreuth next and then go Heinrich hunting (both of him)



Good to see the French capturing the cod stocks ... but whats this about peace terms?



The loss of Hannover seems to depress everyone and empties out my EP stock as well. Otherwise good gains in NM from those battles.

 

[Narwhal]

The AI knows it has won, so why bother playing well for it

Well the opportunity pops up at Prag in June, but Magdeburg goes a bit wrong ... so one out of two is pretty good by my standards in this AAR



Its the first time I've seen the AI 'confused', it may have lost quite a lot in winter with all those marches (something it would be good to stop if possible with the next patch) and I wonder if my main armies in Bohemia and Bavaria are now quite a threat?

 

[Stuyvesant]

Looking, dare I say it, rather good. It seems you have more of the initiative than the Prussians, but how dangerous is that Anglo-Prussian foray into Northwestern Germany? And - the eternal question - what is Freddie up to?

 

[loki100]

The AI knows it has won, so why bother playing well for it

I have a horrible feeling you are right - even if I destroy all their armies this summer, I can't take all the VP cities in 1763 so I'll lose due to the accumulated losses to date --- &, to be fair, I don't exactly deserve to win either

Looking, dare I say it, rather good. It seems you have more of the initiative than the Prussians, but how dangerous is that Anglo-Prussian foray into Northwestern Germany? And - the eternal question - what is Freddie up to?

For the first time in a long while in Bohemia, I'm actually feeling like I'm bullying the AI rather than cowering ... Central Germany is totally chaotic with bits running around all over the place ... viz:

 

[loki100]

The liberation of Prag ... really: July 1762

These two turns follow the usual pattern of 1 quiet and 1 rather active. Germany sees lots of movement and I start to recover bits and pieces I'd lost earlier.



Here's Central Germany - I decide the priority is to whack Cumberland about a bit and retake Hannover (if I can), so abandon Braunschweig (I can always retake it later) to concentrate around Hannover - but won't arrive till late July.



And in Bohemia, I get a bit bold (which so far has consistently led to disaster), Nadrasdy can go back to Tabor to protect my supply lines and Lucchese can pop over to Koenigratz. That leaves 2 corps (55,000) at Prag with 2 good defensive generals, I think that is almost unshiftable for the short term as the Prussians are pretty scattered around.



and, so ends the quiet part. I retook Passau on the Donau (more to clean up my supply and communication lines) with a brigade of fresh troops.



Here's a confession of a mistake - I'd forgotten to tell the French to actually attack Nuremburg (hence the continued knocking holes in the walls), but in general, even just the Austrian army can now match the Prussians actually in theatre. As I have 2 breaches at Prag, I'll gamble on a third and prepare an assault.



And, if Bohemia is complex, try Germany. Cumberland stays at Hannover (or hangover as the BAOR used to call it), small columns are running around all over the place, so I decide to start chasing them down - I really do not want to lose Bremen.

I'll probably abandon the siege at Stade - at the start it had a large garrison that could have done a lot of damage, its now pretty weak and I can take cities like Lubeck almost for free instead.



Here's the late July NM position - now I've lost Hannover, the VP gap is widening again, but the NM position is pretty good.



Well as lost battles go, that was good. Cumberland fell back, I think to where he can't escape easily and my second corps arrives a few days later so I can restart the siege too.



Well its been a while, but hallo Prag ... and welcome back. Maybe it should be renamed Dien Bien Phu in homage to General Giap?



And Lucchese lives up to his newfound reputation.



I retake Troppau - no real importance but it restores my fortifications on the eastern flank, this time using a brigade which was originally the Koenigratz garrison.

And, for the first time in ages, I'm ahead on NM.

For August, if I can, I've decided its time to cull some Prussians, especially in Bohemia. When France retires (when does France retire?), my only hope is that the Prussian army is very weak, and I can push back into Saxony pretty much unhindered.

As a footnote:

I've now worked out why I first lost and then retook Troppau, same applies to a number of other small sieges that ended with no breeches. Sometimes the garrison simply runs out of supply and the fort is empty. So a single weak brigade can take a major fort if its in poor supply?

 

[Stuyvesant]

Wahey! Good job retaking Prag and generally slapping those Prussians and their perfidious allies around! Shame that the (temporary) loss of Hannover is doing such a number on your VP gain, but to be honest, you'll never make up that thousand-point gap in 35 turns, anyway. Can you win the game any other way than by victory points? I hope so, it'd be a shame if all your good efforts are all for naught.

Lucchese is doing quite well, even though his ratings aren't as impressive as the more 'major' generals. Does he have any traits that help offset those 'medium' traits, or is he just lucky in picking on foes he can handle?

 

[loki100]

Wahey! Good job retaking Prag and generally slapping those Prussians and their perfidious allies around! Shame that the (temporary) loss of Hannover is doing such a number on your VP gain, but to be honest, you'll never make up that thousand-point gap in 35 turns, anyway. Can you win the game any other way than by victory points? I hope so, it'd be a shame if all your good efforts are all for naught.

Lucchese is doing quite well, even though his ratings aren't as impressive as the more 'major' generals. Does he have any traits that help offset those 'medium' traits, or is he just lucky in picking on foes he can handle?

In effect, you win by either controlling all the objective cities (those on the left hand side of the pages with the National Morale details), or, at the end victory (& a level) is assigned using the accumulated VPs. I don't think I can bridge that gap in 18 months of campaigning (with at least one winter in the way), & doubt if I can take all the cities. But my current plan is based on the assumption the French pull out the war at the end of the year. If I can trash the Prussian army, I may, just, be able to split up my forces and see if I can take the cities I need.

Lucchese is as rubbish as his stats, but he's been very active and I've been using him on fringe activities where hopefully the stronger, nastier Prussian forces weren't likely to pop up

 

[loki100]

In which Freddie loses a battle: August 1762

This was a bad (well not very good) set of turns for the French and pretty good for the Austrians, and very bad for the Frederick.

Problem for the French is that N Germany is chaotic



I think I basically have 2 choices, abandon siege at Hannover and run around squashing all those little units or use 1 corps (the one back at Minden) for squashing duties. What makes this a bit harder is the Prussians have good artillery so even small forces can take a fortress in 2-3 turns that will take me 4-5 to recover.



The Bohemian and Bavarian fronts are almost joined. My fantasy outcome is a huge Kessel of the Prussians in the mountains, and then even without the French I've got the numbers to drive back into Saxony.

Despite orders the French still will not actually attack Nuremberg, but I gamble on sending 2 corps to Bayreuth in any case. The Austrian army is concentrating into E Bohemia.



Not a surprise ... he was asleep and Keith is good, I'll pull back and see what happens but at least marching to Erfurt seems to worry the AI.



again, not too great, but the good bit is more dead Prussians, I'll regroup and try again in September.



as part of exploiting my victory at Prag, I retake Lobositz. This must mess up their supply lines and does mean I could raid Dresden. Decide against it as damaging the Prussian army is my focus for now.



All of a sudden N Germany looks busy. I've had a year of no progress at Stade and had decided to leave a single brigade to keep the blockade going and move the main corps to take easy towns such as Lubeck.

I decide in case Cumberland is off to Stade to lift the siege and retire to Hamburg.



And Central Germany is no less chaotic. As you can see, there is now a danger that Munster will fall and my corps with the job of chasing down all these bits and pieces is fast asleep.



In Bohemia, I decide to take another chunk out of the Prussian supply lines by retaking Karlsbad and sieging Eger (I may not be able to take it before winter).



And Nadasdy rather enjoys himself ... beating Freddie twice (ok the second is one of those wierd ping-pong battles)



As Daun got in on the act too.



The Spanish take a small border fort and lose Havana, can't see this lasting very long.



So I get a breach at Hannover, another at Nuremberg (attack damn you), as I feared, lose Munster, but generally put a hole into their NM for a change.



and, at the start of September heres the NM etc. I'm losing towns on the right hand side but on the left you can see all I need if I am to win in 1763.

The other thing in my favour is with Prag back, and my NM fairly high, I'm recruiting a fresh Austrian battalion every turn at the moment. Its not a lot (& some I raise as depot battalions to given me replacements instead), but it does allow me to put brigades into action on the flanks and/or reinforce the main combat corps.

 

[Stuyvesant]

Hm. 32 turns sounds a lot more impressive than 18 months... I guess time is starting to run out for you. I think you can haul in quite a few cities in Central and Northern Germany, but I have a harder time believing you'll be able to take those cities in eastern Prussia (like Kolberg). Unless the Russians decide to rejoin the party in a meaningful way...

For all the disparities between your forces and the Anglo-Prussians, I'm quite surprised how relatively even the overall casualty numbers are. That must definitely be to your advantage.

 

[loki100]

Hm. 32 turns sounds a lot more impressive than 18 months... I guess time is starting to run out for you. I think you can haul in quite a few cities in Central and Northern Germany, but I have a harder time believing you'll be able to take those cities in eastern Prussia (like Kolberg). Unless the Russians decide to rejoin the party in a meaningful way...

For all the disparities between your forces and the Anglo-Prussians, I'm quite surprised how relatively even the overall casualty numbers are. That must definitely be to your advantage.

re losses, Narwhal implied he'd take 2:1 in the Prussians favour so in that sense I'm doing well. Bu that doesn't show attrition losses & I reckon I've lost 5 corps (100,000+) of French and Austrians and the entire Russian army to attrition. So with that factored in, I'd guess the loss ratio is closer to 3:1?

I don't think I can do it, if I get a mild winter that'll give me a starting chance, Saxony is easy (most of the cities are not fortified), but there a number of level 3 (ie 4-6 week sieges) to clear out. So I think I'll lose, but given where I'd got myself by the end of 1759, I'll settle for a loss purely on grounds of running out of time

 

[morningSIDEr]

This starting to get ever more tense as the time ticks down. It looks like it will be very close, I am hoping like yourself that the Prussian army has been badly injured, their casaulties seem considerable, so perhaps you can sneak victory before the end. I did love the Russian complaint of late wages in May 1762 from these updates, despite their no longer fighting. Actually I feel moved to complain about late wages myself considering I too am not participating in this war!

 

[loki100]

The French go out with a bang (or two): September 1762

As usual, the rythym of one active, one quiet turn continues, with most action between the French and the Prussians



So in N Germany chaos and stupefaction in equal measure. My corps that is meant to be running down all this Prussian formations slumbers on. I decide to detach 2 heavy cavalry brigades from Hannover to do the job instead. They are fairly powerful and quite fast.



And in the south, I still cannot convince the French to assualt Nuremberg, but the Austrians could retake the cities in E Bohemia - which will trap the Prussians in Bavaria when the snow comes.



in outcome, the only real event was the French heavy cavalry finishing off that Prussian detachment at Bielefeld.



Oh, and the British retake the cod stocks



So, N Germany becomes even more chaotic, I've a breach at Hannover so hope to take it back in late September and decide to go for Cumberland's force at Stade - it can't be that strong?



Well it was a lot stronger, but I guess short on ammo or organisation?



Thank you, thats Hannover back in my hands



ah, right, ok. Well the good thing is it stops the French knocking holes in Nuremberg and despite a pretty brutal loss that is a lot of damage done to Prussian battalions.



I also retook Eger which is good as its a useful fort and controls the passes from Bavaria to Bohemia.

And even with the defeat at Nuremberg, I'm still ahead in the NM game:



So, October and then presumably winter. My instinct is the Austrians can stay in Bohemia, I don't really want to risk being the wrong side of the mountains in winter. With Hannover back in my hands, I think there is scope to go hunting Prussian columns in N Germany. In Bavaria, I'll fall back to Wurzburg and again turn on any isolated Prussian units I can find.

My logic is the French leave soon (? - I presume) with the British too (? - I presume), so every Prussian they kill is one less for the Austrians (& I assume the Russians re-enter) to deal with in 1763.

 

[morningSIDEr]

Good that you have captured Hannover and caused yet more casaulties to Prussia despite a damaging loss. Bad that winter is soon upon you which will curtail operations for a while, if only you had a year or so extra.

 

[Stuyvesant]

The recovery of Hannover and the victory over Cumberland must be the highlights of this turn. Possibly the victory over Cumberland even more than the taking of Hannover, considering how much of a bogeyman he had become to you (or am I merely projecting my own fears on you?). Speaking of bogeymen, watching Freddie getting hammered* repeatedly in the prior turn was very entertaining, too.

Keep culling those Prussians: you'll need all the numerical superiority you can get, if the French do indeed decide to bugger off.

*I was going to write 'rogered' here, but a quick check of an online dictionary revealed that, while the word has connotations of receiving physical attention, it wasn't quite the kind of attention I was thinking of... Lesson learned.

 

[loki100]

This starting to get ever more tense as the time ticks down. It looks like it will be very close, I am hoping like yourself that the Prussian army has been badly injured, their casaulties seem considerable, so perhaps you can sneak victory before the end. I did love the Russian complaint of late wages in May 1762 from these updates, despite their no longer fighting. Actually I feel moved to complain about late wages myself considering I too am not participating in this war!

I'm not sure if I can manage a win, but its a plausible outcome as opposed to impossible ... but the Prussians still have other ideas

Good that you have captured Hannover and caused yet more casaulties to Prussia despite a damaging loss. Bad that winter is soon upon you which will curtail operations for a while, if only you had a year or so extra.

Getting Hannover back is good as its stops my regular loss of VPs - I don't believe I can ever recoup a 1200+ gap but it was depressing to see it rise every month. It must also muck up their flow of reinforcements (in this case to the Hannoverian units) which helps too.

A short hard winter maybe quite handy, I think (next post) the Prussians are playing fast and loose with their supply lines, so a decent winter may reduce their numbers in a very pleasing manner.

The recovery of Hannover and the victory over Cumberland must be the highlights of this turn. Possibly the victory over Cumberland even more than the taking of Hannover, considering how much of a bogeyman he had become to you (or am I merely projecting my own fears on you?). Speaking of bogeymen, watching Freddie getting hammered* repeatedly in the prior turn was very entertaining, too.

Keep culling those Prussians: you'll need all the numerical superiority you can get, if the French do indeed decide to bugger off.

*I was going to write 'rogered' here, but a quick check of an online dictionary revealed that, while the word has connotations of receiving physical attention, it wasn't quite the kind of attention I was thinking of... Lesson learned.

Freddie seems to have given up actually leading troops and is running around with a couple of battalions most of the time. Again, something that a patch really ought to look at, they have some idiots in charge of some columns (although most Prussian generals are good), but its a shame to waste the best general in the game.

aye whacking Cumberland about is a sort of duty as well as in-game necessity. Rogering him may just be a step too far ... unless this AAR is really in the Mount and Blade Forum?

 

[loki100]

Running around a lot, with some screaming: Ovtober 1762

The main events in these turns was the Prussians running amok behind the slow retreating French columns, I'm caught between chasing down small columns and watching a steady loss of cities (with their artillery advantage they can take places really quickly). What I'm not sure of is if their actions are very sensible, or putting them in a near impossible position once winter hits.



Here's North Germany where its at its worst. I make one bad mistake in not moving one of the Corps from Hannover back to cover Bremen (instead I went to cut their supply lines), but there are all these small(ish) 8-12,000 men units running around and with my rather sleepy generals they manage to take quite a few cities.



Of which, losing Bremen was by far the worst. I'm not sure how much longer the British and French stay in the war, but I don't want new British forces running around in any case.



At least I made one hole in Koenigratz, but my strong suspicion is I'll lose Frankfurt next turn.



The French are pulling back after their defeat at Nuremburg, but one corps has gone to sleep for 2 turns now, right in front of the main Prussian army.

With the Austrians, I'll leave 1 corp around Karlsbad to watch the passes, and pull 2 to Prag to re-organise. They will be busy in 1763.



well thats Frankfurt lost, I need to start reacting to all these annoying little incursions (at least with the French) which stops me concentrating or doing much of my own choice



always a nice picture ...



And that, in terms of losses compared to numbers engaged was probably my worst defeat since 1759. The only small bright spot is 10% of the Prussians died.

Ignoring the need to run around after units behind my lines, this leaves the French army in Bavaria with 2 effective corps, probably enough to keep the Prussians engaged.

In the meantime the Prussians seem to want to take over Bavaria and are running around doing sieges all over the place.



I lose Munchen and Passau, I guess Regensburg and Augsburg will go next turn.

What I'm not sure about is if the AI has gone into a trap of its own making. With luck, I can close their supply lines and they won't be up to much in 1763. On the other hand, the French are in danger of being outmanouvered and forced back to the Rhine.



Which may, or may not, explain why they really are not concentrating on the matter at hand.

So I'm going to head to winter quarters and hope. Hopefully Russia rejoins in 1763 and if so, gives me some leverage up in the North East.