We played with Gen Con tournament rules (no set up changes), and a couple of House Rules suggested by @Slip-Capone. They were a bid of 12 IPCs to the CPs and a game limit of 6 rounds (instead of 6 hours). You can see a session report by @Slip-Capone here https://www.axisandallies.org/forums/topic/33534/3-newbies-and-a-game-of-1914
The bid was spent on 1 German fighter in Munich and 2 A-H Inf in Trieste.
A1: The A-H player went with the classic buy of 4 Inf 2 Art and 1 Fig. He decided to attack Serbia, Venice, and Tuscany (via Transport). A small force was sent to Trieste while all other reinforcements where sent to Galacia in preparation for an attack on Russia. Battles went well for A-H taking all 3 territories with only heavy casualties in Serbia.
R1: Bought 7 Inf and 1 Art. Mobilized Romania with 1 Inf, left 1 inf in Moscow, Poland, Belarus, and 2 in Sevastopol. Everything else was sent to Ukraine. Also attacked SZ20. Sea battle resulted in all ships on both side being sunk.
G1: Bought 7 Inf 2 Art and 1 Fig. Took territories in Africa, Attacked Belgium, moved everything it could to Alsace and Ruhr, Attacked small British fleet in SZ2, and attacked British fleet in SZ9. He took Belgium easily and took out the fleet in SZ 2, but the big naval battle went poorly with a British BB and Transport surviving.
F1: Bought 8 Inf. Left a token force in Picardy, Paris, and Lorraine. Moved everything else to Burgundy. Attacked German Subs. German subs submerged unscathed.
B1: Bought 1 Cruiser and 7 Inf. Shuffles some guys from India to Egypt and Wales to Brest. Also had some meaningless battles in Africa.
O1: Bought 5 Inf. Mobilized Bulgaria with 6 Inf and 2 Art. Reinforced Trans Jordan and Mesopotamia.
I1: Bought 2 Inf and 2 Art. Mobilized Albania and attacked Tuscany. Left 1 Inf in Piedmont and Rome. Took Tuscany easily.
U1: Bought 3 Trans.
@MasterMark26 nice mate. Look forward to the rest of the game!
Sorry forgot to say some stuff in the first post. Black colored troops represent minor powers and we use green chips to represent 20 guys.
A2:Bought 6 Inf 2 Art 1 Fig. Attacked Romania, left 1 Inf in Serbia, Reinforced Galicia. Rolled really well in Romania and only took two casualties. Romania remains contested.
R2: Bought 8 Inf 1 Art. Attacked Poland with a small force from Ukraine, left 1 Inf in Ukraine, and attacked Romania with everything else in Ukraine. No hits on either side in Poland. Completely crushed Austrian forces in Romania, clearing the territory.
G2: Bought 13 Inf 1 Art. Attacked Poland, Lorraine, and theFrench transport fleet in SZ 14. Reinforced Belgium and Ruhr. Took Poland and Lorraine. Sea battle resulted in one sub lost, one sub submerged, and no hits on the French battleship.
F2: Bought 8 Inf. Attacked German sub in SZ 14. The sub was sent to the bottom dealing no damage in return.
B2: Bought 4 Trans. Moved ships back to India. Shuffled guys to Picardy via transport and reinforced Paris.
O2: Bought 4 Inf 2 Art. Attacked Romania and reinforced Trans Jordan. Got 9 out of 14 hits in Romania but got completely wiped out by the Russians.
I2: Bought 1 Inf 1 Art 1 Fig. Attacked Trieste with guys from Albania, Reinforced Albania via Transport, and Reinforced Tuscany. Trieste battle didn’t go amazing. Remains contested with one A-H Inf left.
U2: Bought 2 Art and 2 Trans
Don’t want to interrupt the game until after it’s over, but like what I’m seeing so far. Thanks for the report.
A3: Bought 6inf 3art. Attacked Romania with its large force in Galicia. Attacked Trieste with their force from Veinna, attacked sz17 with its navy, and attacked Ukraine with 2 inf to stop a double move from Moscow to Romania. Got lucky in Ukraine and took it. Uncontested Trieste, took one hit on its battleship in the naval battle while injuring Italy’s battleship and sinking its cruiser. The Romania battle was close with Russia having a slight edge but now their artillery are exposed (only 4inf left) and cut off.
R3: Bought 7inf 1art. Attacked Ukraine and sent a token force to Livonia. Also retreated from Romania to Sevastopol. Moved a battleship to German waters. They easily cleared Ukraine but Austria got straight hits.
G3: Bought 13inf 1art. Attacked Picardy and Livonia. Reinforced Poland, Lorraine, and Ruhr. Took Picardy easily, neither side got a hit in Livonia.
F3: Bought 5inf 2art. Reinforced Paris leaving token force in Burgundy.
B3: Bought 7inf 1art 1fig. Shuffled guys to Brest via transport and shuffled guys from India to Egypt. Attacked Afghanistan. Cleared Afghanistan but lost 2 guys in the process.
O3: Bought 5inf 1art. Reinforced Mesopotamia and Transjordan.
I3: Bought 5inf. Attacked Venice with everything it could. Austria won the air battle in Venice and the battle went dead even 6-6.
U3: Bought 1tran 1art 2fig.
(Sorry forgot to get a pic of this one)
Round 4
A4: Bought 11inf. Reinforced Venice and Romania, attacked token force in Romania. Easily removed token force from Romania.
R4: Bought 6inf 1art. Attacked Romania, took Galacia, reinforced and attacked Livonia, and moved ship towards Britain. Cleared Livonia but Germany got two hits. Huge casualties in Romania for both sides leaving only 1 inf and a stack of art left for both sides.
G4: Bought 7inf 6art. Attacked Paris, Burgundy, Livonia and took Ukraine. Reinforced Picardy, Belgium, Ruhr, and Poland. Livonia was left contested with one Russian dude left. Germany easily won the plane battle outnumbering the French 3-1 in Paris. Paris became contested with pretty even hitting. Germany lost an art in Burgundy and it was left contested.
F4: Bought (economic collapse) Attacked sz18, and Paris. Rolled spiratictly but evenly in Paris but did not kill Germany. Damaged Austrian battleship. Suffered Political Collapse.
B4: Bought 7inf 1art 1fig. Attacked sz18 with 3 Cruisers, and attacked Picardy (via land and sea) with a sizable force. Shuffled guys to Russia via Afghanistan. One Austrian Cruiser was sunk while all 3 Brit Cruisers were sent to the bottom. In Picardy both German art hit on preemptive strike, this combined with bad rolling caused the battle to slightly go Germany way.
O4: Bought 5 Inf 1 Art. Attacked Persia seeing an exposed India and reinforced Transjordan. Easily took Persia with a good stack left.
I4: Bought 5 inf. Attacked the Austrian navy seeing the injured battleship. Reinforced piedmont. Sent the Austrian navy to the bottom taking no hits.
U4:bought 4inf 2art. Took Bordeaux via transport with 6inf 4art and 2fig
EV: CP 10-Allies 7
A5:bought 9inf 1art. Reinforced and attacked Romania. Put 1 inf in Budapest. Romania battle went even but Russia lost a lot of artillery.
R5: bought 7inf 1art. Reinforced Livonia with buy from last turn. Attacked Budapest (1inf vs 1inf). Attacked Ukraine. Lost in Budapest. Won in Ukraine.
G5: Bought 5inf 2art 4subs. Attacked Ukraine. Liberated Galicia. Left 1inf in Poland and Belgium. Took Marseilles. Reinforced and attacked Paris, Picardy, and Livonia. Reinforced Ruhr. Easily took Ukraine. Heavy casualties in Livonia still contested. Easily took Paris. Easily won the air battle in Picardy, but battle went evenly and remains contested
F5: They dead
B5: Bought 10 Inf 1Art. Reinforced and attacked Picardy via transport. Picked up guys from Canada. Reinforced Sevastopol. In Picardy lost the plane battle (got no hits.) In the normal battle rolled really well but took a ton of casualties. Placed in India.
O5: Bought 7 Inf. Attacked Egypt with everything in Trans Jordan and reinforced Mesopotamia. Rolled average in Egypt but took few casualties. Remains contested.
I5: Bought 5 Inf. Attacked Marseilles, Took Burgundy, Attacked Trieste from Albania and the sea. Reinforced Venice. Took Marseilles. Transport got hit by mines when landing in Trieste, remaining guys traded hits with A-H and it became contested.
U5: Bought 6 Inf 1 Art. Reinforced and attacked Picardy. Lost the air battle without getting a hit. Rolled poorly and left territory contested with 3 German Fig left.
Final Round
A6: Bought 7 Inf 1 Art. Reinforced and attacked Venice and Trieste. Trieste remains contested. Rolled well in Venice but remains contested.
R6: attacked Ukraine with Moscow force. Rolled poorly in Ukraine remains contested.
G6: Attacked Russian Battleship, attacked Livonia, reinforced and attacked Ukraine, attacked Belarus, reinforced and attacked Picardy, attacked burgundy, attacked Marseilles, took Bordeaux, and took Brest. Belarus ends contested, Ukraine remains contested, Took Livonia, Picardy remains contested, took Marseilles, took burgundy, and sunk the Russian battleship but lost 3 subs. B6: Attacked Mesopotamia, attacked Persia, attacked Kiel via transport (mines and naval battle pending). Took Kiel, Persia remains contested, and Mesopotamia remains contested.
O6: Attacked and took egypt.
I6: reinforced Venice
U6: attacked Brest via transport. Took Brest.
Game ends
CP 19
Allies 4
CP win!
Just the ending political situation.
Nice report mate. Feels like the Entente needed to be a lot more aggressive vs the Ottomans and on the Western Front. Did the Entente players mention any learning points at the end of the game?
Thoughts below:
France was entirely too passive. They need to be more aggressive with Germany to keep them out of France’s IPCs and ease some of the pressure of Russia. Next time you play, try concentrating your forces in Belgium-Lorraine F1 and being tough on Germany.
UK was wasting its time by concentrating on Europe. UK should be sending the majority of it’s money to the India territory in order to defeat the Ottomans. With aggressive UK play, a single Ottoman mistake can result in their collapsing and the Entente raking in the IPCs/Victory Points.
Everyone else more-or-less did what they were supposed to, but I think you’re misreading the rules. You’re not required to leave Infantry in every territory. You just have to make sure that there are no Artillery Units alone. You’re allowed to leave territories empty, but retain them under your control. That’s a difference between A&A and Risk that some newer players mix up (I was the same way when I started).
Thanks again for the report!
@DoManMacgee said in 1914 Battle Report:
Thoughts below:
- France was entirely too passive. They need to be more aggressive with Germany to keep them out of France’s IPCs
For a moment, before I saw the context of the post, I thought this was a historical reference to France in the September 1939 - June 1940 period, rather than a gaming post about A&A WWI 1914. :) I’ve been watching a DVD of the two Battlefield series episodes on the Battle of France, so at the moment this subject tends to catch my attention.
@CWO-Marc Jockeying for position is important in the opening turn(s) of 1914. You need to abuse the 2-move capabilities of your starting forces to get strong stacks set up. This will deter the German player from aggressively attacking you, lest they take irreplaceable casualties and get sucked into a decisive battle that’s closer to your supply line (capital) than his.
Whoops! Totally didn’t realize that it was you @CWO-Marc and not the OP. If France was as lackadaisical in WW1 as they were in WW2’s opening months, the Central Powers would have had it easy.
@DoManMacgee said in 1914 Battle Report:
Whoops! Totally didn’t realize that it was you @CWO-Marc and not the OP. If France was as lackadaisical in WW1 as they were in WW2’s opening months, the Central Powers would have had it easy.
No problem about the mistaken identity, and good point about the contrast between the WWI and WWII performance of France early in each war. I’m not sure if this is widely known, but France briefly invaded the Saar region of Germany in early September 1940 – taking advantage of the fact that most of the Wehrmacht was in Poland at the time – then withdrew after Poland fell. All that France got out it was some useful propaganda footage. I once saw a British newsreel whose narrator was enthusiastically describing the scenes filmed on German soil, at one point commenting “Here is a captured German railway station!” Quite a change from what General Foch is reputed to have communicated to his superiors during the Battle of the Marne in 1914, as I recall, it was: “My left flank is driven in; my right flank is giving way; the situation is excellent – I attack!”
@Slip-Capone The Entente players said basically the same thing you did, they were way to passive. Also, some of them said they should have bought more planes because the Central Powers kinda owned the skies.
@DoManMacgee Totally agree with your thoughts. I also thought that Russia just needed to do something to throw the CPs off their game. In regards to the 1 Inf, I think its just an annoying move people made so the opponent couldn’t just grab free IPCs, but I’ll check with some of the other players to make sure that rule was understood right.
