Excellent updates november. And very interesting seeing how you've managed to rise up.
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I can say only this: YOU'RE GOING TO WIN AS BRAZIL??? WOW, FRICKIN' AWESOME.
Also, on the style on the AAR: I like it a lot and I think your strategy of simultaneity worked to increase the excitement. As for the literary creeping in: it's natural as you begin to fantasize about the glories of your empire.
Onward to victory!
Also, on the style on the AAR: I like it a lot and I think your strategy of simultaneity worked to increase the excitement. As for the literary creeping in: it's natural as you begin to fantasize about the glories of your empire.
Onward to victory!
April, 1906
The Bear took the bait! While it was something I was hoping for, when it happened my reaction was “Oh, sh*t! Now what?”
Russia DOWed me. I was at war with Russia and Prussia once again. All my satellites joined the war but, except for Otto, it was cold comfort.
At first blush it looked like a reprise of the previous war of ’93-’94. In that war, relying on my isolation from Russia, I was able to concentrate on Prussia, and to good effect. But this time I had a common border with the Bear and could not ignore her.
Although out numbered 5-3 by the Russian fleet, my fleet was strong. I had 7 battleships compared to her 2. This gave me considerable leg-room but it ruled out an amphibious assault on St. Petersburg.
My war aims were to satellite one or both, and of course get war indemnities. If things went horribly wrong, I intended to give Russia provinces taken in the OE war—all of them if necessary.
My strategy was to go after the weak link, Prussia. I would hold the line against Russia around the Black Sea, and attempt to replay my previous campaign in Prussia: land in Kiel and then capture Berlin. At that point I could satellite Prussia and threaten St. Petersburg and either capture it or bring Russia to the bargaining table.
I mobilized which brought my division total to 195. I was counting on a free hand with the fleet to ferry troops from Brazil to Prussia and the Southern front.
The next order of business was to secure the Southern front. Bucuresti in Romania was where I drew the line in the sand. This screen shot illustrates this.
Eventually Brazil had 104 divisions in this front.
Although I eventfully had over 100 divisions in Romania, the Russians had more—many more. Thank god it took the Russians as much time to concentrate her force as it did me.
Jan. 1907
The first 20 divisions are landed in Prussia. There are no Prussian troops to be seen.
Several small naval battles occur at this time without loss to the fleet. The fleet, with its 20 division transport capacity, was able to ferry troops about at will. Without this ability, Brazil would have been in hopeless situation.
Meanwhile on the Southern front things heated up. Around this time I made a terrible tactical blunder by attacking the mountainous province of Fogaras. That meat grinder nearly cost me the war. Luckily I was able to retreat from it before the full weight of the Russian armies arrived and made one thing abundantly clear: Brazil would never break out on this front. In fact, she may be lucky just to hold.
That battle plus a few others also made clear that by falling behind in the army tech race a price would be paid. I immediately traded with France for more army techs. Unfortunately most of the inventions didn’t fire until after the war.
March, 1907
Back on the Prussian front things were considerably brighter. The initial 20 divisions (now reinforced by 19 more) captured Berlin. Prussia turned down my peace offer, which was accepting satellite status and paying indemnities.
(Question: will a nation that is part of an alliance you’re at war with agree to become a satellite? Switch sides?)
April, 1907
The Romanian front holds—just barely. I have to admit I was shocked by how difficult my position was. My armies were moving constantly from one massive battle to another. While we won most battles, the Russian armies keep growing larger and larger. There was also over 20 Prussian divisions on this front.
To make matters worse, rebellions sprang up everywhere. Ignoring reforms was also catching up to me.
For the first time I thought I might actually lose this war. Prussia turned down offer after offer of peace—4 times altogether.
Desperate to break the stalemate—no not true; desperate to secure my Southern front—I stripped Africa of its native divisions and landed them in Simferopol on the Black Sea. I was trying to draw Russian armies away from the main line of defense.
At this juncture my contempt for my OE ally was mitigated. Thank good they drew as many Russian divisions to their parochial war as they did. Spain never made an appearance.
May, 1907
Argh! The worst disaster of the game occurred. My 20 division diversionary army was trapped and destroyed by Russian divisions that apparently materialized out of thin air.
I had no more reinforcements. I dare not strip the home provinces of the divisions putting down the ceaseless rebellions. The divisions in the field would have to do their job.
Prussia refused to accept peace, so I turned the 39 divisions toward Russia and won several smallish battles there. My heart sank as I saw one Russian division after another arrive on this front. There seemed little chance for a dash to their capitol.
On the Southern front I attempted to take advantage of several Russian armies that seemed out of place by attacking. I was watching the progress of this battle—sitting on pins and needles, let me tell you!—when Russia caught me completely off guard by offering peace. I was truly shocked.
What they offered was not what I wanted at all. They offered 12-15 provinces bordering Romania. Accepting any peace with Russia meant forgoing booty from Prussia. Nor would I get war indemnities or the prestige from gaining new satellites.
Why? Why were they offering peace? It seemed to me my 800k army was going to lose that particular battle. What did Russia see that I didn’t? I agonized over my decision for several minutes. At that point winning the war seemed a remote possibility—so I accepted.
Fruits of the peace with Russia
I still don’t know why Russia offered peace when they did. I’m missing something somewhere. Immediately after the war (and maybe during it but I didn’t notice) France made a dramatic comeback by attacking Prussia and its new ally the Netherlands and handing them a terrific defeat. Could that have had something to do with the timing of the offer?
Anyway, the peace had several important consequences. First, my war debt stood at 230K and I had no one to pay it except myself—ugh. Second, it was my firm belief that those ceded provinces were a poison pill and Russia would attack anew as soon as the peace was over. This next screen shot shows what I mean.
My! What big teeth you have!
This meant I would have to forget about industrial expansion and redouble my military expansion—perhaps for the remainder of the game.
Brazil didn’t lose a single ship during the war; Russia lost her 2 battleships (if I had paid closer attention to Russian naval losses, I might have changed my mind about an amphibious landing in St. Pete). My badboy was now a hopeless 82.
On the plus side, the acquired regions included several coal producers as well as some iron producers.
Feb., 1913
Firmly convinced that Russia would attack as soon as the treaty expired in May of 1912, I spent the years since the war expanding the military while paying off the debt. My military is now ranked number 2! ahead of Russia itself. That may explain why she didn’t attack, that and her war with China.
I now have 136 divisions to Russia’s 193. My mobilization now stands at 130 divisions.
The 39 ship navy includes 7 battleships and 2 dreadnaughts. The Russian navy has neither.
I was able to pay off the debt after a couple of years. I also completed the colonial buildings that will being me the colonies of Tanganyika and Kenya.
Current situation
With seven years left and a decent lead, I may decide to hold onto what I have. But I’m frustrated by the terms of the last war. By being forced to prepare for war with Russia I’m severely limited. For example, I lost Mexico as an ally in Jan., 1912 because I begged out of her war with France because I was sure Russia would attack in May of that year.
Anyway, here’s a screen shot of Europe. See what I mean by France’s comeback?
The Bear took the bait! While it was something I was hoping for, when it happened my reaction was “Oh, sh*t! Now what?”
Russia DOWed me. I was at war with Russia and Prussia once again. All my satellites joined the war but, except for Otto, it was cold comfort.
At first blush it looked like a reprise of the previous war of ’93-’94. In that war, relying on my isolation from Russia, I was able to concentrate on Prussia, and to good effect. But this time I had a common border with the Bear and could not ignore her.
Although out numbered 5-3 by the Russian fleet, my fleet was strong. I had 7 battleships compared to her 2. This gave me considerable leg-room but it ruled out an amphibious assault on St. Petersburg.
My war aims were to satellite one or both, and of course get war indemnities. If things went horribly wrong, I intended to give Russia provinces taken in the OE war—all of them if necessary.
My strategy was to go after the weak link, Prussia. I would hold the line against Russia around the Black Sea, and attempt to replay my previous campaign in Prussia: land in Kiel and then capture Berlin. At that point I could satellite Prussia and threaten St. Petersburg and either capture it or bring Russia to the bargaining table.
I mobilized which brought my division total to 195. I was counting on a free hand with the fleet to ferry troops from Brazil to Prussia and the Southern front.
The next order of business was to secure the Southern front. Bucuresti in Romania was where I drew the line in the sand. This screen shot illustrates this.
Eventually Brazil had 104 divisions in this front.
Although I eventfully had over 100 divisions in Romania, the Russians had more—many more. Thank god it took the Russians as much time to concentrate her force as it did me.
Jan. 1907
The first 20 divisions are landed in Prussia. There are no Prussian troops to be seen.
Several small naval battles occur at this time without loss to the fleet. The fleet, with its 20 division transport capacity, was able to ferry troops about at will. Without this ability, Brazil would have been in hopeless situation.
Meanwhile on the Southern front things heated up. Around this time I made a terrible tactical blunder by attacking the mountainous province of Fogaras. That meat grinder nearly cost me the war. Luckily I was able to retreat from it before the full weight of the Russian armies arrived and made one thing abundantly clear: Brazil would never break out on this front. In fact, she may be lucky just to hold.
That battle plus a few others also made clear that by falling behind in the army tech race a price would be paid. I immediately traded with France for more army techs. Unfortunately most of the inventions didn’t fire until after the war.
March, 1907
Back on the Prussian front things were considerably brighter. The initial 20 divisions (now reinforced by 19 more) captured Berlin. Prussia turned down my peace offer, which was accepting satellite status and paying indemnities.
(Question: will a nation that is part of an alliance you’re at war with agree to become a satellite? Switch sides?)
April, 1907
The Romanian front holds—just barely. I have to admit I was shocked by how difficult my position was. My armies were moving constantly from one massive battle to another. While we won most battles, the Russian armies keep growing larger and larger. There was also over 20 Prussian divisions on this front.
To make matters worse, rebellions sprang up everywhere. Ignoring reforms was also catching up to me.
For the first time I thought I might actually lose this war. Prussia turned down offer after offer of peace—4 times altogether.
Desperate to break the stalemate—no not true; desperate to secure my Southern front—I stripped Africa of its native divisions and landed them in Simferopol on the Black Sea. I was trying to draw Russian armies away from the main line of defense.
At this juncture my contempt for my OE ally was mitigated. Thank good they drew as many Russian divisions to their parochial war as they did. Spain never made an appearance.
May, 1907
Argh! The worst disaster of the game occurred. My 20 division diversionary army was trapped and destroyed by Russian divisions that apparently materialized out of thin air.
I had no more reinforcements. I dare not strip the home provinces of the divisions putting down the ceaseless rebellions. The divisions in the field would have to do their job.
Prussia refused to accept peace, so I turned the 39 divisions toward Russia and won several smallish battles there. My heart sank as I saw one Russian division after another arrive on this front. There seemed little chance for a dash to their capitol.
On the Southern front I attempted to take advantage of several Russian armies that seemed out of place by attacking. I was watching the progress of this battle—sitting on pins and needles, let me tell you!—when Russia caught me completely off guard by offering peace. I was truly shocked.
What they offered was not what I wanted at all. They offered 12-15 provinces bordering Romania. Accepting any peace with Russia meant forgoing booty from Prussia. Nor would I get war indemnities or the prestige from gaining new satellites.
Why? Why were they offering peace? It seemed to me my 800k army was going to lose that particular battle. What did Russia see that I didn’t? I agonized over my decision for several minutes. At that point winning the war seemed a remote possibility—so I accepted.
Fruits of the peace with Russia
I still don’t know why Russia offered peace when they did. I’m missing something somewhere. Immediately after the war (and maybe during it but I didn’t notice) France made a dramatic comeback by attacking Prussia and its new ally the Netherlands and handing them a terrific defeat. Could that have had something to do with the timing of the offer?
Anyway, the peace had several important consequences. First, my war debt stood at 230K and I had no one to pay it except myself—ugh. Second, it was my firm belief that those ceded provinces were a poison pill and Russia would attack anew as soon as the peace was over. This next screen shot shows what I mean.
My! What big teeth you have!
This meant I would have to forget about industrial expansion and redouble my military expansion—perhaps for the remainder of the game.
Brazil didn’t lose a single ship during the war; Russia lost her 2 battleships (if I had paid closer attention to Russian naval losses, I might have changed my mind about an amphibious landing in St. Pete). My badboy was now a hopeless 82.
On the plus side, the acquired regions included several coal producers as well as some iron producers.
Feb., 1913
Firmly convinced that Russia would attack as soon as the treaty expired in May of 1912, I spent the years since the war expanding the military while paying off the debt. My military is now ranked number 2! ahead of Russia itself. That may explain why she didn’t attack, that and her war with China.
I now have 136 divisions to Russia’s 193. My mobilization now stands at 130 divisions.
The 39 ship navy includes 7 battleships and 2 dreadnaughts. The Russian navy has neither.
I was able to pay off the debt after a couple of years. I also completed the colonial buildings that will being me the colonies of Tanganyika and Kenya.
Current situation
With seven years left and a decent lead, I may decide to hold onto what I have. But I’m frustrated by the terms of the last war. By being forced to prepare for war with Russia I’m severely limited. For example, I lost Mexico as an ally in Jan., 1912 because I begged out of her war with France because I was sure Russia would attack in May of that year.
Anyway, here’s a screen shot of Europe. See what I mean by France’s comeback?
Duuuude
You WON a war with Russia? On extremely favorable terms? Without taking their capital????
Well, Brazil will undoubtedly win the game. The question is, how many continents can she take before 1920.
You WON a war with Russia? On extremely favorable terms? Without taking their capital????
Well, Brazil will undoubtedly win the game. The question is, how many continents can she take before 1920.
Wowzers...astonishing game.
On the unexpected Russian peace: I think that occupying those provs of Prussia gives you war score against Russia, since Prussia and Russia are allies. The relationship is the same as the fact that occupation of a satellite produces warscore on its mother country.
At least that army of 57 divisions is well positioned for you to attack it!
At this point, are there any SA countries not under you domination?
EDIT: If BB is a concern, why not give some of the Russian provs to Otto?
On the unexpected Russian peace: I think that occupying those provs of Prussia gives you war score against Russia, since Prussia and Russia are allies. The relationship is the same as the fact that occupation of a satellite produces warscore on its mother country.
At least that army of 57 divisions is well positioned for you to attack it!
At this point, are there any SA countries not under you domination?
EDIT: If BB is a concern, why not give some of the Russian provs to Otto?
Nicomacheus said:
Thing is, to get it low enough he'd need to cede something like sixty provinces.
I say you go satellite Britain....
Either release some satellites in those provinces or sell 'em to somebody--that seems a bit overstretching... well, unless you turned half the population there to soldiers and started pumping out the garrisons
anonymous4401 said:Duuuude
You WON a war with Russia? On extremely favorable terms? Without taking their capital????
Well, Brazil will undoubtedly win the game. The question is, how many continents can she take before 1920.
Ha! I guess I should look on the bright side, eh?
Although I’ve finished several GCs, this is only the second time I’ve fought Russia in Russia. The other time—as France maybe?—I broke out from the same area where this game stalemated rather easily and made a beeline for St. Petersburg, which fell quickly enough.
But in that game Russia was weak and my nation had an army tech advantage. From here on I’m going to be cognizant of the military tech advantages of potential enemies. It had a big effect in this game.
So with no chance to take their capitol and Prussia refusing all peace offers, I thought the gig was up. It was a big surprise when they offered peace.
Nicomacheus said:
That must be it. Prussia was denuded of Prussian troops. They were all in Romania helping the Russians. So I had a free hand in Prussia.
Nicomacheus said:
I'm looking at that now
Nicomacheus said:
Columbia and Venezuela. Relations are high but they won’t join my alliance due to high bb.
Nicomacheus said:
BB is a concern, a *big* concern. But what can I do about it now? Worst case scenario is Russia and GB declare simultaneously. But I think I could hold them off for the remaining 7 years. *knocks on wood*
Golden_Deliciou said:
That would be possible if I increased my fleet’s transport capacity to, say, 50. I could load the troops and station them off Great Britain’s coast then declare war. I could probably count on the troops disembarking safely, and there’s a good chance that the first province would fall quickly so that the fleet could enter the safety of the port. But there would be no chance to reinforce the initial invasion force.
Morpheus506 said:Either release some satellites in those provinces or sell 'em to somebody--that seems a bit overstretching... well, unless you turned half the population there to soldiers and started pumping out the garrisons
What I did was to convert a lot of POPs in the former Russian provinces to soldiers. Hopefully if I have to mobilize, a lot of the reserves can be deployed there.
november said:
If you were feeling really gamey you could put smaller suicide fleets in each of the adjacent sea zones to delay the British whilst you made your landing.
Golden_Deliciou said:
There's a problem with that. Suicide fleets tend to hold out for about three days, the MINIMUM number of days a battle can take. However, unloading may take more than three days. The British also tend to have a very good fleet, thus ensuring that the suicide fleet will last only three days.
But hey, you're Brazil, and can actually build ships! So perhaps a warship screen instead of suicide fleets? Like surround an all-transport navy with warship navies?
stnylan said:
The 600k army that attacked Fogaras neraly evaporated in a matter of days. Thank god I was albe to extricate them.
It may have been a blesing in disguise. I assumed I would blow through Fogaras and take the offensive. If I had launched a general offensive and spread my forces out—I shudder to think what might have happened. The massive Russian army that eventualyy appeared on my front was a total shock.
anonymous4401 said:
Well I was figuring they would be warships- just against the Royal Navy it'd be suicide.
Mind you, the AI tends to send its fleets into battle without mobilising them, particularly early in the war. So it might not be a problem.
november said:
Yeah, the Russians are surprising.
I thought that eight regular infantry divisions, entrenched at 40 in a province with forests and mountains would be enough to hold back the Russian tide if I did this for each of the provinces on the Korean border.
It wasn't. :wacko:
Golden_Deliciou said:
I might have a go. Transports ordered now should be available soon enough to make a serious stab at it before the game ends. I’ll run my fleet around GB on a scouting expedition. If 40-50 divisions look like they could actually get the job done? Why not?
If this game has a moral it’s: never underestimate the value of a good navy. Without the navy, Brazil would still be fighting over Patagonia.
anonymous4401 said:Yeah, the Russians are surprising.
I thought that eight regular infantry divisions, entrenched at 40 in a province with forests and mountains would be enough to hold back the Russian tide if I did this for each of the provinces on the Korean border.
It wasn't. :wacko:
Yes, I’m so impressed that I’m changing plans for my next game. I need more experience fighting the Big Boys. So instead of Peru or Mexico, I’m thinking about Otto, Prussia or France.
november said:
The Ottomans? (P)russia? France?
Come on! The only way to fight Russia is to fight them as Bukkhara!