• 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.
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.

Especially since it pretty much prevents me from maxing out with +25 from battles.

Until then, I shall enjoy the French trainwreck in slow motion. :)

A glorious train wreck it shall be! I had been somewhat cautious on my occupation of France, knowing mobilization would occur eventually, but it certainly was inconvenient.

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.

Yes. After a while, your arms get tired holding the machine gun up.

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.

In this case, they were smart to stomp on my unprotected occupying brigades, but then they should have fallen back to regain ORG. Oh well...
 
Since it's now become alot more difficult -- nay, death defying -- to iron your clothes on an ironclad, what you've created is simply alot of safer men in wrinkled clothes.

What a series of epic battles. But very nicely done, all in all. Two major defeats in Besancon. Ick. But things are looking up.

From the earlier update:

"...and we're retreating on all fronts in France. The only place where we're holding our own is Pakistan."

"Anything else?"

"Oh, and there's a major rebellion in Persia, and our allies there are at risk of being overthrown."

"Well, at least you have SOME good news!" :)

Great work!

Renss
 
There are many Germans fighting to crush France. They just should have been told decades ago that success required they be Turkish. :)
 
That nigh all-green map of Africa is truly impressive!

Sadly, it really isn't. It is not that hard to start rushing colonization once you get machine guns and outrun the AI. The "Scramble for Africa" is one sided if the player has 5 NFs and puts them all in colonies. France has been the big AI colonizer, and I think they've had only 3-4 colonies...

...and they should consider some soldier NFs now. ;)
 
Chapter 30: Blowing the doors off

January 10, 1888: The French relief army is wiped out in Fayyum, Egypt. Half the army returns north, the other half west to join what's already in Algeria/Tunisia.

January 13: A minor victory wipes a couple of French brigades in Bizerte, Algeria.

January 22: 25,000 Turks lose 1500 men trying to drive 3000 cavalry out of the mountains in Sitten.

January 25: A stealth French army!

o30northerninvasion.jpg


January 27: The army that occupied Mainz decided to wander south and engage me in Epinal. Alone.

o30bofepinal.jpg


February 14: More suicide. France is now down to 138.

o30bofbesancon.jpg


February 27: A French army had reversed course from Egypt back to Algeria, and I didn't notice. The result - a brigade coming from Sokoto wandered right into in Gabes and was cut in half before it could flee. It's painfully easy to lose brigades in secondary theatres this way.

March 5: The French are happily letting themselves be suckered into bad fights - machine guns + forests = hot death. That's over 18 brigades in Strasbourg.

o30suckers.jpg


March 17: The first mainland French province falls in Lons.

March 26: Another army surrenders...

o30bofkarlsruhe.jpg


March 27: We begin colonizing in New Guinea.

April 9: Despite being on the defensive, my attempt to surround and kill the French army near Hamburg fails miserably.

o30bofbremen.jpg


April 23: The retreating armies out of Hamburg get thrashed further, and the fighting in Algeria continues to be...bloody. It's a war of attrition in Northern Africa.

April 24: This leaves 2 (badly mauled) armies left in France, a still nasty army in Hamburg, and the mess in Algeria.

o30bofkaiserlautern.jpg


April 28: Sadly, this army escaped through Luxembourg.

o30bofmetz.jpg


May 3: And this opens up mainland France for invasion. I just have to keep a few brigades extra in Northern France to take out the army from Metz when it comes south from the Netherlands.

o30bofstrasbourg.jpg
 
Wow. The French are throwing away their superior numbers with admirable speed! I expected you to have to tiptoe around a good bit longer, slowly picking them off little by little, but instead the French seem intent on getting themselves killed with the utmost dispatch. My 'trainwreck' prediction is coming true (unsurprisingly), but the 'slow motion' part was about as wrong as it could be. :)
 
It can be nasty if they've taught their horses to shoot from behind the trees. :)

Excellent job of force destruction! This makes the war alot easier. Once all that's done you can take their lands at your leisure!

Rensslaer
 
The screenshots remind me of the Franco-Prussian war in my current Germany game. Hordes of French brigades with low organisation throwing themselves into a battle with my troops while I surrounded them with my reserves.

Great job grinding them down. Machines guns are great levellers on the defence.
 
Wow. The French are throwing away their superior numbers with admirable speed! I expected you to have to tiptoe around a good bit longer, slowly picking them off little by little, but instead the French seem intent on getting themselves killed with the utmost dispatch. My 'trainwreck' prediction is coming true (unsurprisingly), but the 'slow motion' part was about as wrong as it could be. :)

I was rather shocked to see them run headlong over and over at my armies. Single brigades make irresistible lures.

It can be nasty if they've taught their horses to shoot from behind the trees. :)

The horses seem to be too busy directing their grand strategy.

Great job grinding them down. Machines guns are great levellers on the defence.

Thank you! When I first saw that 1.2 made attack and defense apply when you're attacking and defending (rather than the old way of being damage/reduction), I thought it was a bad plan, but I think this method really does play up the deadliness of defensive machine guns. Now they just need to re-balance artillery to not be so worthless on defense.
 
Now you have just to preoccupy an entire French generation, maybe relocate some brave adventurers along the Persian border?
How much population has France lost in this war?
 
A very impressive recovery. France seems to be on the ropes now, crippling the blue blob will certainly make things easier in the future. Hopefully things in North Africa can be improved upon too.
 
Enewald: Not sure. We have humanely allowed many to surrender, so that they can feel our warm, hospitable Turkish hospitality.

morningSIDEr: North Africa, sadly, will just be a place Turks and French go to die.
 
Chapter 31: The (first) Fall of France

May 5, 1888: Siamese peasants storm our embassy, causing Siam to fall out of our sphere of influence. We can't do anything about that right now - France's fleet is too large in the area to move troops around, and we don't have enough troops near Siam. However, we had 100 influence on top of being sphered, so we can keep Britain away from being friendly when we attack.

In other news...

o31cuba.jpg


May 16: 5 brigades are sent along the French/Belgian border to keep France's remaining (and battered) army from being a problem, whilst Turkish brigades fan out to introduce themselves to the French people.

o31occupation.jpg


May 21: Oh, hai, Brazil!

o31brazil.jpg


May 31: France is down to 88 brigades - most of which are stuck where they can't get to me, or are battered and weak (Algeria, Belgium).

June 5: This is representative of what is happening in Algeria. I'm "winning" the battles, but can't get an encirclement or land a good blow. Algerian provinces are large, have too many neighbors, and the desert seems to slow you down.

o31boftozeur.jpg


July 1: Mainland France is now completely being occupied.

o31occupation2.jpg


July 6: More mayhem in Algeria - 2 battles result in losing 6000 men (and 2 brigades) to France's 1000. I just can't seem to catch a break.

July 11: Brazil accepts white peace, giving me +2 MIL for giving up my humiliate goal. The increased militancy will let me...Noooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!

o31reform.jpg


August 4: France's lone European army dies in Cambrai.

August 9: The French people, overcome with anger at losing their armies, revolt. Face first into machine guns.

o31frenchrevolt.jpg


November 2: Half our army is bored.

o31dowaustria.jpg


November 11: One of our brigades, moving into Beszterce to encircle the Austrian army at Cluj, gets there 1 day after an Austrian army. Pain and a wipeout results.

November 18: Austria mobilizes. Not really a worry.

December 24: Early Christmas - 2 Austrian armies are encircled and killed.

o312battles.jpg


January 5, 1889: Colonization continues!

o31borneo.jpg


January 13: Mexico declares war on USA. Interesting choice...

January 19: Austria's main eastern army is encircled and wiped, followed by their main western one a week later. The war is again down to occupation and killing off a few minor brigades.

April 17: Tunisian and Algerian nationalists rise under my armies in French Algeria, and Jacobins rise against us.

o31jacobins.jpg


April 21: And the war in France is over! Hurrah! In the end, I decided I wanted to deprive France of French people (NFs and mobilization) first. Next war, I think I'll go for Algeria, just so I don't have to fight there.

o31frenchpeace.jpg
 
Last edited:
So far, so good. Love how you are just eating Africa for breakfast, Asia for Lunch, and having a nice Europe steak for dinner. I say that in this war with Austria, you should take what is left of the Eastern half. Time to eat all of mainland Europe.
 
November 2: Half our army is bored.

That made me chortle.

"I say, awfully boring here. What say we invade another country?"
"Ah, jolly good, eh what what?"

Leroy Bonaparte? ..... Leroy, well that conjures all sorts of images - is he from the Reggae loving wing of the family?

Actually he drives his truck into battle screaming "YEEEEEHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" at the top of his lungs.