That’s a great way of putting it.
Domination 1914 No Man's Land
-
Interesting starting positions…
-
Good article Kurt…this is a very interesting game.
-
I think the German colonies in China have about zero chance of survival…
-
Agreed. but Germany does have a chance in New Guinea. At least they can disrupt the allies from there.
I don’t believe a lot would go on in the Pacific in this game. The allies could mount offensives against China or Japan, but the logistics of attacking those neutrals wouldn’t make it worth the gains. -
Pretty accurate. Moldavia/Bessarabia are the same thing, border is post 1945. Volgograd was not so named until after Stalin’d death (Tzaritsyn).
Rio de Oro is just desert, not worth 1 IPC.
-
With respect to Germany’s forces in China: typically it will consolidate its two Shanghai infantry into one territory, then build trenches in that territory. (You can place trenches in any territory you owned at the beginning of the turn, even if there’s no factory.) The trenches are normally enough to allow Germany to hold onto one Shanghai territory, with the Entente possessing the other three. If however the United States begins building Pacific transports, there isn’t a whole lot Germany can do to defend that last Shanghai territory. Unless of course it builds a factory there. A German factory for Shanghai is a rare, but not an unheard-of strategy.
But mostly I’d like to address the subject of an anti-Russian offensive. There are multiple ways one can go about doing this, but I’ll focus on one approach in particular. The idea here is to have all four Central powers go after Russia. Under this plan, Germany is responsible for building a strong fleet in the Baltic / North Atlantic, to counter British naval spending in the area. In addition it should build several transports, and ship 8 - 10 Stormtruppen to Scandinavia each turn. Initially, Germany’s objective is to add to its income by conquering neutral Scandinavian territory. Having achieved this, it will move its Scandinavian force to Finnland, next to the Russian capital of St. Petersburg. If the Russian player is reasonably competent and careful he won’t allow that force to capture St. Petersburg. But that’s not the objective. The objective is to force Russia to spend money there, leaving it with less money for solving the other problems the Centrals will create.
While Germany’s main anti-Russian effort will be to the north, in Scandinavia, it should also send 2 - 4 infantry each turn to the Polish/Russian front. Those infantry are for back-and-forth battles, and to help Austria defend Galacia.
The heart of Austria’s anti-Russian effort will be its factory in Galacia. That factory is right on the Russian border, and can produce six units a turn. Initially Austria will be on the offensive against Serbia, on the defensive against Italy and Russia. But once Serbia falls–as it should do on Austria’s fourth or fifth turn–then Austria can adopt a more offensive posture towards its other two fronts. There will be a large Russian force in Belarus. Austria should threaten to destroy that force. This will force the Russian player to build trenches in Belarus. The more defensively-oriented the Russian force there is, the more successful the next part of Austria’s plan is likely to be. Its goal is to split its Galacia force, with one half remaining in Galacia, the other half moving forward to Odessa. (The fact that Germany will have some soldiers in that area will help Austria get away with this.) If Austria is able to split its force without getting either half killed, then the Odessa half will normally be able to take Russia’ factory in Kiev. This is a “death by a thousand small cuts” strategy, and the conquest of the Kiev factory represents one of the intended cuts.
Turkey’s initial focus should be on wiping out Arabia–with that objective to be achieved on Turkey’s third turn. After that it will be in good position to go after Russia. To achieve this it should take Caucasus in force, and build a factory there. The Turkish force there will threaten the factory that Russia will presumably build in Volgograd. Sure, you’d love to take the Volgograd factory if possible. But if not, then at least Turkey should be able to split its Caucasus force, with one half going to Kazakhstan. The Kazakhstan half will then take Russia’s factory in Omsk. With the Omsk factory under its belt, Turkey will then be in a position to threaten the Volgograd factory with main force. Also, the Turkish player should be eyeing Russia’s factory in Moscow. Turkey’s approach should be opportunistic, with it taking whichever Russian factories seem the most vulnerable. On top of all this, Turkey should have a Black Sea fleet, complete with several transports. The objectives of this Black Sea fleet include creating more back-and-forth battles for Russia, and speeding the flow of Turkish troops from Constantinople to Caucasus.
The communists have several objectives. Ideally, they’d like to capture at least one Russian factory. Preferably more than one. In addition, they should embrace opportunities for back-and-forth battles against Russia, as well as looking for chances to grab off Russian land wherever possible. The Russian hinterland is a potential candidate for a Turkish or communist invasion. The Vladivostok factory would be a great one for the communists to take. However, it’s four spaces away from the communist capital, making an early conquest of it difficult. The nearest and most tempting factory is the one in Irkutsk. However, the Russian player knows this, and is likely to heavily defend it. The communists might be able to take it anyway, especially if Russia is under so much pressure elsewhere that it’s unable to spend the money it would like to spend on defending that factory. There is also a plan B for the communists. Plan B involves them taking Bratsk in force, thus forcing the Russians to go into a defensive shell in Irkutsk. Then, they move the Bratsk force one space west to Novosibirsk, to threaten the Russian factory in Omsk. After taking Omsk, the communist force could then return to Bratsk to once again threaten the factory in Irkutsk. Or, it could continue west, with the thought that the Moscow factory is only two spaces away. Even if it merely besieges Moscow (after having taken Omsk), that could easily set the stage for the conquest of the Russian hinterland. The thinking is that even if you can’t take away Russian factories immediately, you can take a chunk of Russian income instead. The smaller Russia’s income, the easier it should be for the Centrals to take an extra factory or two here or there.
The penultimate goal of this strategy is to take all Russian factories except the one in St. Petersburg. Once that’s been achieved Russia will be a rump state, controlling little more than the area immediately around its own capital. At that point, a dedicated effort by one Central power should be enough to finish off Russia. Other central powers can contribute to the finishing off effort via back-and-forth battles, or by gas attacks against St. Petersburg. (Gas is a good way to get a somewhat decent exchange, even if your attacking force is much weaker than the defender’s.)
-
There is a German factory in Tsingtao, which produces beer ( no its not Chinese but German)
-
Turkey is very fun to Play.
-
Only when Germany is drawing the UK’s fire and giving Turkey a free ride! :-P
Of course it is a pleasure to help you out! :-D
-
Turkey is keeping the British busy so that Germany can walk into Paris for some crepes. :lol:
Suggested Topics
