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unmerged(35351)

Shah of Persia
Oct 18, 2004
1.209
0
This AAR will be played with my very own ‘War of the Nations’ mod, which drastically improves the AI of both the Central Powers and the Allies. Compared to the regular 1914 scenario, Russia is weaker as it has a smaller mobilization pool as well as that the effects of a prolonged war, especially a disastrous war, are far greater. It will certainly be a challenge to lead Russia to victory.

My primary goals:
1. Defeat Austria as soon as possible
2. Prevent a German breakthrough in Poland/Belarus/Baltic
3. Destroy the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria (if joined)
4. Capture Berlin

My secondary goals:
1. Keep the Romanovs in power
2. Industrialize and catch up with the Great Powers
3. Create a Russian hegemony over the Balkan

Some additional notes are to be made. I’m allowed to declare war upon a third-party nation if I see fit. (For example Czechoslovakia when Russian troops are trapped in Austria) Also I allow myself the liberty to create new events during gameplay to simulate a ‘what if’ better. The first few updates will contain strategical and tactical information about Russia’s position in the world on the 5th of August 1914.

My basic strategy is to knock out Austria by forcing a breakthrough in Galicia. Przymsel and Lemberg are key forts which should fall to the Russians in the first weeks of the war. From there I'll take Slovakia, Hungary and Transylvania, before knocking Austria out of the war. Once they are out, I'll focus on knocking the Ottoman Empire down, before launching the final offensives into Germany.
 
This should be interesting, I especially look forward to seeing how your mod is different from the vanilla scenario.
 
Good luck, Russia can be a tough one. Hopefully the Germans wont get you enveloped, thats always the biggest threat that I see.
 
Oh man I tried Russia. Your so boned! Even on defense with around twice as many men as the Germans, you get taken down. They fight at around 150 effeciency and you fight at 50. Good luck! Your'll need it.... :rolleyes:

My basic strategy is to knock out Austria by forcing a breakthrough in Galicia. Przymsel and Lemberg are key forts which should fall to the Russians in the first weeks of the war. From there I'll take Slovakia, Hungary and Transylvania, before knocking Austria out of the war. Once they are out, I'll focus on knocking the Ottoman Empire down, before launching the final offensives into Germany.
Are you crazy? Your going to get chewed up and massacred! I advise you throw all your men on a defensive campaign, crawl up into a ball and cry until its all over.

Thats what I did. I had to.

It didn't work. :( :p
 
I'm a novice at Victoria, but I've tried the WWI Russian campaign in Victoria a few times, and victory is definitely within reach. However, an early offensive will probably lead to a German invasion and a quick demise. For some reason, in V:R, Germany focuses the bulk of its forces on the Eastern front 90% of the time, so in the early going I usually focus on defending myself from a German attack. My usual strategy with Russia in the WWI scenario is to fall back to a shorter line in E. Poland until the reserves are mobilized, then launch an offensive to retake W. Poland and gauge the strength of the German Eastern front. The only way I have been able to win the scenario w/o building extra troops (too easy) is by massing the bulk of my force in Warsaw, waiting for a major German offensive, and then crushing it by virtue of a 3:1 numerical advantage. After 6-12 months of this, Germany's army is usually worn down to the point where an offensive is possible, either to knock Austria out of the war, or to defeat Germany outright by marching on Berlin.

The main problem is, without gas attack or defense, there is just no way to pull off an early offensive against Germany. I have tried it, and the end result is always massive casualties and no gain whatsoever. Austria is weaker and less militarily advanced, but still a challenge early on with the threat of a German counterattack. But for a better military strategist, an early offensive could succeed, I guess. It should definitely make things more interesting.
 
GregoryTheBruce said:
Sounds good. Russia's always tough to play because its armies are just so...well, bad.

The biggest advantage Russia has is that 2 out of the 3 Central Powers she borders aren't much better in that regard.

Dr. Gonzo said:
Aye, not to mention your tweaks. Certainly will be a challenge worth watching. :)

Most of it is AI related, but if the war goes historically, Russia gets a series of bad events. So that must be avoided at all costs/

Quirinus308 said:
This should be interesting, I especially look forward to seeing how your mod is different from the vanilla scenario.

One thing that's no longer the case, are the annoying British landings in Northern Germany and trench warfare in Northern France instead of the Rhineland. Also Germany now will focus on the east front when the Trenches are dug. However, my intervention will cause different results though. Compared to the regular 1914 scenario, Russia has more leaders (4,IIRC) an additional defensive tech (to keep pressuring the Austrians and Turks, while have her mobilization pool largely removed (replaced with reserves under construction, which aren't completed till november) and a smaller mobilization in general, instead of 100 divisions they can only muster 80 now, of which 10 are available in occupied Poland :mad:

EstonianZulu said:
Good luck, Russia can be a tough one. Hopefully the Germans wont get you enveloped, thats always the biggest threat that I see.

The key is not to lose too much lands to the Germans, as neither Austria nor Ottoman Empire poses a big threat. Successes and failures on the battlefield lay close to each other and Russia's future, or rather that of the Romanovs, is at stake.

Iron_Skull said:
Oh man I tried Russia. Your so boned! Even on defense with around twice as many men as the Germans, you get taken down. They fight at around 150 effeciency and you fight at 50. Good luck! Your'll need it.... :rolleyes:

Are you crazy? Your going to get chewed up and massacred! I advise you throw all your men on a defensive campaign, crawl up into a ball and cry until its all over.

Thats what I did. I had to.

It didn't work. :( :p

Gas takes a lot of efficiency away from you, while in real life gas warfare was rather limited on the eastern front. The key is encirclement in Congress Poland and just throw enough men at them. And no I'm not crazy, playing on the defensive is. When playing Russia you're already at a disadvantage, and going on the defense allows the arrival of Lenin, plus all assorted negative events which put you at a greater disadvantage.

DaveK said:
I'm a novice at Victoria, but I've tried the WWI Russian campaign in Victoria a few times, and victory is definitely within reach. However, an early offensive will probably lead to a German invasion and a quick demise. For some reason, in V:R, Germany focuses the bulk of its forces on the Eastern front 90% of the time, so in the early going I usually focus on defending myself from a German attack. My usual strategy with Russia in the WWI scenario is to fall back to a shorter line in E. Poland until the reserves are mobilized, then launch an offensive to retake W. Poland and gauge the strength of the German Eastern front. The only way I have been able to win the scenario w/o building extra troops (too easy) is by massing the bulk of my force in Warsaw, waiting for a major German offensive, and then crushing it by virtue of a 3:1 numerical advantage. After 6-12 months of this, Germany's army is usually worn down to the point where an offensive is possible, either to knock Austria out of the war, or to defeat Germany outright by marching on Berlin.

The main problem is, without gas attack or defense, there is just no way to pull off an early offensive against Germany. I have tried it, and the end result is always massive casualties and no gain whatsoever. Austria is weaker and less militarily advanced, but still a challenge early on with the threat of a German counterattack. But for a better military strategist, an early offensive could succeed, I guess. It should definitely make things more interesting.

Russia is probably one of the more difficult nations in this scenario to achieve success. Yet, the AI has been modded in such a way that Germany now initially focusses on France, before taking down Russia. If we've managed to breakthrough Carpatia, a lot of German soldiers will go to Austria. Most likely Germany will pose a threat and we should try all to prevent a German breakthrough in Belarus and Latvia.
 
Should be a tale of a properly titanic clash of nations.
 
REALLY looking forward to this one.
 
Long life the Czar!
 
stnylan said:
Should be a tale of a properly titanic clash of nations.

Titanic clash? Germany should be able to beat me without too much problems. My only salvation are the French, which hopefully will put some pressure upon the Germans.

RGB said:
REALLY looking forward to this one.

Thank you. Hopefully it will be interesting.

Kurt_Steiner said:
Long life the Czar!

May the dynasty last another 300 years!

Now a short introduction of the changes Russia underwent.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Russia in 'War of the Nations'

Russia has received an overhaul in comparison to the regular 1914 scenario. It now has received deep defense system, but without any other level 3 techs Germany will still defeat the Russians easily, but Russia can now hold back the Austrians and Turks. They've received 4 new Generals, as they lack a lot of historical leaders.

RUSLEADERS.jpg


Then there is the mobilization pool. Together with the added deep defense system, receiving 100 divisions was putting Russia in a 'great' position. It could hold back the Germans and mobilization was completed the same time as Germany completed hers. To avoid this (and some nasty effects during the Russian Civil War) 70 divisions are being constructed as reserves and won't be completed till November 1914, and the mobilization pool has been reduced to 10. A total of 80 divisions in comparison to the 100 in the regular 1914 scenario.

RUSWOTN1.jpg


Additional events have been written to make things even harder for the Russians if the war goes badly, even if the war goes successfully, you'll still have some minor problems but your country won't fall apart if your successful. This
will be played with the latest version of the mod (not yet released), so some things you might not encounter in the current version released. Hopefully I'll release the war plans later today.
 
I've downloaded your WotN mod but not yet played it so I'll be watching this closely. There aren't enough Russian AARs IMO.

Good Luck (although I'll be secretly rooting for the revolutionaries!)
 
Oh I don't know - clash of might Empire has to be titanic be definition.

Even if three of them are ramshackle old things that will fall apart in so much as a stiff breeze, not the mention the quakes caused by several million heavily armed Teutons...

;)
 
Well, the future isn't quite bright, but looks promising!
 
The War Plans

Plan G​

The initial plan for the Russians was to retreat further into the deep heartlands and strike the Germans once their supply lines were stretched and Russian mobilization was completed, relying on the vastness of her lands and manpower, while in the end throwing the Germans out, just has they had done 100 years earlier with Napoleon. The French, however, pressed the Russians into a more offensive war plan as they believed Germany would launch a full scale invasion of France, and thus needed diversion from the east. Plan G was formed and would focus on taking Eastern Prussia from Germany.

In the case of a defeat at the hands off the Germans, a small amount of territory was assigned as ‘lost land’, meaning the Russians would retreat and leaving the lands to be occupied by the Germans. From time to time the Russian troops would launch attacks on the German positions in Poland, Belarus and the Baltic. A line, stretching from Riga at the Baltic sea to Kiev and subsequently to Odessa, was drawn up as a maximum line of German advance into Russia.

PlanG.jpg

Plan G. Blue dots indicate 'lost land'.
Blue arrows indicate favored Russian offensives


Plan A​

Plan A was far more ambitious as the war plan against Germany. The Russians would take the initiative and launch a full scale offensive on Southern Galicia, including the Austrian forts in Przemysl and Lemberg. By late October 1914 a second large scale offensive would strike into Transylvania and was to reach Serbian positions in late 1914 or early 1915. Simultaneously an offensive would be launched into Slovakia, with the goal to take Bratislava and come within several kilometers of Vienna, this offensive had to be completed between May and July 1915.

A third offensive, which would occur as soon as the eastern part of Slovakia had been liberated, would strike into the Hungarian plains. Several divisions would move south to put pressure upon the Austrian positions near Novi Sad and support Serbian attacks. The remaining divisions would move westwards towards Budapest and Sopron, creating a defensive line by November 1915. In early 1916 the final Russian offensive would take Vienna and march northwards to Prague and towards Silesia.

PlanA.jpg

Plan A Red = land to be taken by October 1914
Green = land to be taken before March 1915
Yellow = land to be taken before June 1915
Orange = last offensive in Austria, fall of Vienna expected in late 1915/early 1916


Plan T​

A third plan was developed in the case of Turkey joining the war. While Russian forces were still occupied in Austria, the Russians would hold a defensive line near Kars and Erevan. The Russian navy was to put pressure upon the Turkish positions at the northern Turkish positions at the Bosporus, draining their resources and allow for an allied intervention in the south. Once Austria was knocked out several Russian divisions would be transferred to fight the Turkish in Edirne and Constantinople as well as attack the Turkish positions across the strait.

After consolidating their positions across the Bosporus, Russian troops would march south towards Bursa and thus clearing the entire Bosporus from the Turkish. In the summer a second large scale offensive would be launched against the industrial city of Izmir, and depending on Russian successes, the offensive would continue till the Karaman region would fall under Russian control. From there, Russian forces would launch an attack from two sides, from the west and south Russian troops would occupy Ankara and the Black Sea coast.

PlanT.jpg

Plan T Dark blue = Russian Naval activity before 1916
Dark green = Places of Russian landings in Turkey, between January-March 1916
Light Green = First Offensive in Turkey, April 1916
Red = Second Offensive in Turkey, Summer of 1916
Yellow = Third offensive in Turkey, From Summer till Autumn 1916
 
A & T are particularly ambitious. I wonder at the danger of the Russians trying to do too much with too little, and subsequently doing nothing well.
 
Those are some aggressive plans for operations against Austria-Hungary and the Ottomans. Are you sure you'll have enough force for that kind of work, with the Germans after you as well?

Also, I haven't played the vanilla WWI scenario nor this mod (I'm awful at Vicky). Is there a peace treaty event designed to reflect Russian war aims, fired by Russian total victory? If I remember correctly, they had huge territorial desires.