• We have updated our Community Code of Conduct. Please read through the new rules for the forum that are an integral part of Paradox Interactive’s User Agreement.
This AAR just got (more) interesting! ;) Has the Ottoman beast finally met its match?
 
Well, well, well... This certainly is interesting. :) So, it'll be French brute strength versus your agility. So far, brute strength hasn't carried the day yet (viz. the French in the Sinai), but maybe they just have to throw in a little more. That certainly seems to be the AI's thinking right now. ;)
 
Well, well, well... This certainly is interesting. :) So, it'll be French brute strength versus your agility. So far, brute strength hasn't carried the day yet (viz. the French in the Sinai), but maybe they just have to throw in a little more. That certainly seems to be the AI's thinking right now. ;)

Yup. That will work in the short term, since even though conscripts have crap ORG, they outnumber my enveloping units massively. Since ORG is handled at the unit level, my units would have to retain their org and numbers while taking out the org of the large conscript army one by one until it retreats. Not likely.

If I can get the main battle (with 30+ French divisions) to end soon, I can start running for the hills and regrouping.
 
Wow. Went better, initially, than my battles against France! :D

Their mobilization strategy reminds me of a B movie script: "Let them rush into the room, then electrify the floor!" :p

Hope you gain control in the next update, as I'm sure you will.

Renss
 
Their mobilization strategy reminds me of a B movie script: "Let them rush into the room, then electrify the floor!" :p

That is an amazingly apt description. Mind if I rename the last chapter to that? :)
 
Chapter 28: Advancing to the Rear

Pants have been changed, and it's time to deal with France's evilly-timed mobilization.

July 12: The mega battle in Besancon finally is over, with France losing two large armies (30+ brigades). I manage to extricate one brigade from Melun alive - but it may not make it all the way home. There will be sacrifices.

o28bofbesancon.jpg


Here is a map of troop movements - if my war plan looks like mass panic, that's because it is. I need to retreat completely from France, form a defensive line, and regain ORG.

o28troopmovements.jpg


July 13: I retreat from Dijon before my army can be surrounded and forced to surrender, or break and run in every possible direction. This was with my troops on the defensive, but with a meh general.

o28bofdijon.jpg


July 20: With overlapping retreat paths, I'm able to thrash large yet low ORG French conscript armies in Metz (3600 casualties to 1600) and Metz (3200 to 400).

July 21: Another desperate battle breaks out in Besancon. As you can see, some of my armies have made it to safety, while a few lone brigades are still trapped.

o28bofbesancon2.jpg


July 22: An Ottoman brigade is trapped and machine-gunned down in Laon. 2 days later, another surrenders in Moulin, followed by one in Troyes, and finally one in St. Etienne.

July 24: French African Theatre plan: Walk across the Sahara to Egypt...where I have almost 100K men waiting.

o28marchtoegypt.jpg


In Pakistan, an attempt to wipe the French invasion army in Bela fails -they are entrenched in the mountains with a +3 defensive general. We'll just surround them and starve them - if they attack, I can then turn the tables.

August 1: The battle in Besancon ends with a marginal victory (1300 dead on both sides), despite a defensive stand with the Ottomans having a 7:1 numerical advantage. Rolling all 0s can wipe out a lot of advantages. A slightly better victory in Epinal follows on the 4th, clearing the path to extricate myself from French soil.

August 7: The French sent 12 brigades to take out 2 Ottoman brigades in Geneva, and reinforcements are turning this into an epic battle...

o28bofgeneva.jpg


August 14: Army check: France now has 286 brigades to my 221. They've lost over 40 already. In Saarbrucken, retreating Ottoman forces are thrashed and forced to retreat east to avoid encirclement and destruction. A lone Ottoman army is holding off French hordes in Metz, but over 140,000 French are cascading into Rheinland. Due to the shock of the mobilization, war score from battles has dropped to 0.

August 25: 24,000 Saxon nationalists rise in Gotha.

September 3: Another forced withdrawal...

o28bofkaiserlautern.jpg


...and our last army retreats out of France.

o28bofmetz.jpg


September 4: Holsteinian Nationalists rise in Kiel. Hessian nationalists follow in Darnstadt the next day.

September 7: We finish researching Iron Steamers, which allows us to build the Suez and Kiel canals. We can soon contemplate building some Ironclads. Next up: Empiricism (+50% RP).

September 13: Things are calming down: the French are occupying western Switzerland and Rheinland, the major battle in Geneva is a slugfest, and our armies are moving back and trying to regain some ORG. Our double line of forts on the border should hold off the French for a bit.

o28calmingdown.jpg


In Persia, a nationwide Anarcho-Liberal uprising has occurred. This might be my chance!

The real lesson to take from this forced retreat is when given a narrow front and lots of warm bodies, the AI can kill you with pressure alone. My plan now is to rest, regain org, and then try to set a trap so I can get an advantageous defensive battle where I can encircle and pick off AI armies.

In Africa, I'm occupying French Egypt and preparing a bushwhack for incoming French forces - once they're gone, I can take French Algeria at will, strike across Nejd and occupy French-owned Abu Dhabi, and start pulling forces from Egypt to Germany.
 
Wow, at least you were able to retreat before more damage occurred. I'm really interested in knowing what happens in Geneva. The last screenshot shows 175 - 119 and surrounded by French troops. Not good...
 
This is developing into an interesting battle! I certainly hope you can rest long enough to regain your organisation in Europe.
 
Eber: I'm "winning" that battle. I have a crafty plan for it. :)

Melrick: Yes, that is an issue. I also have to go kill some rebels.

Enewald: I got it a while back, but I don't really consider it a very important event. It's flavor. :)

loki100: Exactly. I just hope I can wipe the French army in Pakistan first, so I can race to the west and take Persia's borderlands/ports. Persia will take 2 wars.
 
Gripping stuff. The casualties caused by the French mobilisation were not as bad as I had feared, although it must be galling to lose all of your war score from battles. Rather that than all of your armies though, of course. Nonetheless having safely extracted your forces, I think France's chance to gain anything from this war has now disappeared and your own counter-attack shall see the Ottomans victorious once more!
 
A certain German warlord could've learned a lot from your willingness to retreat troops to more defensible positions/situations (of course, if he had, history would've taken a distinct course for the worse, but that's a different discussion altogether).

I'm impressed that you managed to get your troops out at such relatively low cost. I realize that merely retreating isn't going to win you the war, but it was an impressive performance nonetheless. You've shown the ability to isolate and destroy superior forces many times before, so as long as your Empire will hold up to the strain, your eventual victory seems assured.

Until then, I shall enjoy the French trainwreck in slow motion. :)
 
The real lesson to take from this forced retreat is when given a narrow front and lots of warm bodies, the AI can kill you with pressure alone. My plan now is to rest, regain org, and then try to set a trap so I can get an advantageous defensive battle where I can encircle and pick off AI armies.

In the case of fighting against China a narrow front isn't even necessary. As 1850s Japan I had a lot of fun defending my newly-won Korean territories from millions of men.

Looks like the worst is over and the low organisation of the French troops softened the blow somewhat. The AI is a little too keen to throw mobilised brigades into battle without letting them gain ORG.
 
Chapter 29: The Battle of Geneva

September 21, 1887: The battle in Geneva is coming to a climax: the French brigades are running out of ORG.

o29bofgeneva1.jpg


September 22: The French army in Giza surrenders. Our armies in Egypt begin maneuvering in preparation for the French armies from Algeria to arrive.

October 2: An intrepid Turkish naval engineer (a decorated former sergeant) develops a new type of ship, the Ironclad. By gluing a layer of clothesirons onto a wooden ship, it protects the hull from enemy cannon.

October 9: Italy is removed as a great power, and replaced by Spain.

October 14: With the French down to 10 battleworthy brigades in Geneva, Ottoman armies spring into action. 3 "volunteer" armies are sent to tie up French armies in Neuchatel, Bern, and Sitten, while others occupy passes on the French side of Geneva. The armies sent to charge machine gun nests in the mountains report "unbridled enthusiasm".

o29bofgeneva2.jpg


October 20: The crafty plan is successful! 77 French brigades surrender, leaving them with 201 (less than me!).

o29bofgeneva3.jpg


October 28: The poor armies sent to tie up the French in the Mountains were not so lucky.

o29bofsitten.jpg
o29bofneuchatel.jpg


October 29: The army in Bern escapes a thrashing only by having the armies from Geneva help out.

o29bofbern.jpg


November 13: The French decide to avenge the loss in Geneva by attacking an army twice its size in Basel.

o29bofbasel.jpg


November 17: The war in Africa is still mixed: 3 French brigades are thrashed in Suhaj, Egypt, but 6 French brigades under Leroy Bonaparte (or is it LEEROY!!!!?) inflict heavy losses on us in Miraj, Egypt.

November 21: A brand new baby French brigade is raised right in front of 12,000 Ottoman guards. They instantly surrender.

November 24: Since the French have men in Neuchatel, the army in Basel can flee...there.

o29bofbasel2.jpg


November 26: Grrr. At least the Russians just got a wave of A-L rebels to keep them busy.

o29bavariannationalists.jpg


To pass Press Rights reform and try and shake loose some conservatives, I switch to the People's Union (liberal) party. Passing Press Rights leaves me 1% shy of passing a second one later, though.

o29censoredpress.jpg


December 3: All of French Egypt is now occupied.

December 22: 3 French brigades are wiped out in Besancon, again attacking a larger army that's in a forest. The AI really prioritizes kicking you out of your territory, even when it's suicidal/stupid.

On the other hand, an attempt to kick the French out of Neuchatel so I can concentrate on the armies farther north ends abysmally. I just don't want medium sized armies free to run loose on me when I try encircling people, however, my troops, selfishly, don't want to be gunned down mercilessly while charging uphill towards dug in machine gun nests. Whiners.

o29bofneuchatel2.jpg