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Springtime of Nations II: A European Republic Quest

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C_Z said:
I'm going to disagree. Summer's prime time for a big push into Russia, since the spring and fall are rasputitsa. We've also seen very clearly that we do not have enough shell production for two simultaneous offensives. If we want to hit Russia hard before this war is over, then we should stockpile our shells for this turn, then do two offensives into them in the summer.
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Something in the vein of:

[] Strengthen defensive positions in Poland.
[] Strengthen defensive positions in Austria.
[] Deploy the Allied fleet to contest the eastern Baltic Sea.
[] Ask the Allies to threaten the Dalmatian coast.

?

I'm not sure I like this plan. We attacked Zagreb to have the chance to lever open the Franz Josef Line and open the way to Budapest, and I think we can do that. My preferred alternative is:

[] Strengthen defensive positions in Poland.
[] Initiate an offensive toward Budapest (Pink).
[] Deploy the Allied fleet to contest the eastern Baltic Sea.
[] Ask the Allies to threaten the Dalmatian coast.
 
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C_Z said:
I'm going to disagree. Summer's prime time for a big push into Russia, since the spring and fall are rasputitsa. We've also seen very clearly that we do not have enough shell production for two simultaneous offensives. If we want to hit Russia hard before this war is over, then we should stockpile our shells for this turn, then do two offensives into them in the summer.
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We need to close the Austrian front so we can achieve the necessary superiority on the Russian front to launch any far ranging offensive.
 
C_Z said:
I'm going to disagree. Summer's prime time for a big push into Russia, since the spring and fall are rasputitsa. We've also seen very clearly that we do not have enough shell production for two simultaneous offensives. If we want to hit Russia hard before this war is over, then we should stockpile our shells for this turn, then do two offensives into them in the summer.
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Just one offensive next turn into Austria next turn then, while fortifying in Russia (the action also extends our logistical reach, with the Konigsberg offensive having shown our limits for the front). Basically the reverse of what we did in Winter. Austria is a much weakened foe too with them dipping far into their untrained reserves, and us being backed up by the connection with Italy.

I propose Pressburg to further a supportive pincer for an eventual strike into Budapest in the Summer alongside a simultaneous attack into one of the Baltics (Vilnius) or towards Minsk (likely stopping around Grodno/Hrodna)
 
C_Z said:
I'm going to disagree. Summer's prime time for a big push into Russia, since the spring and fall are rasputitsa. We've also seen very clearly that we do not have enough shell production for two simultaneous offensives. If we want to hit Russia hard before this war is over, then we should stockpile our shells for this turn, then do two offensives into them in the summer.
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I think that it's easier to knock out Russia by punting Austria into the abyss. I really doibt they're going to stick with the war if we finally btfo the Hapsburgs.
 
<o>U<o> said:
I think that it's easier to knock out Russia by punting Austria into the abyss. I really doibt they're going to stick with the war if we finally btfo the Hapsburgs.
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This is part of C_Z's consideration. We don't want Russia to nope out of the war too quickly, or else they'll keep too much that they can use to threaten the Alliance once they can hide beneath the Entente's skirts.
 
Zimmerwald1915 said:
Something in the vein of:

[] Strengthen defensive positions in Poland.
[] Strengthen defensive positions in Austria.
[] Deploy the Allied fleet to contest the eastern Baltic Sea.
[] Ask the Allies to threaten the Dalmatian coast.

?

I'm not sure I like this plan. We attacked Zagreb to have the chance to lever open the Franz Josef line and open the way to Budapest, and I think we can do that. My preferred alternative is:

[] Strengthen defensive positions in Poland.
[] Initiate an offensive toward Budapest (Pink).
[] Deploy the Allied fleet to contest the eastern Baltic Sea.
[] Ask the Allies to threaten the Dalmatian coast.
Click to expand...
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Do you think it's possible to take Budapest before the summer with our current artillery situation? From the front lines (around Vrbovec) to Budapest is 260 km in a straight line, ignoring things like the foothills that span between the Papuk Range and the Zagorje Hills or the need to bridge the Drava. For comparison, from the front line (somewhere west of Bialystok) to Minsk is only around 330 km through relatively flat ground (and I think it skirts the Pripyat marshes, so we should be able to avoid that).

If we can take Budapest without weakening the future offensive against Russia too much, then sure, but I really want to be in a good position come summer to make major gains.
Zimmerwald1915 said:
This is part of C_Z's consideration. We don't want Russia to nope out of the war too quickly, or else they'll keep too much that they can use to threaten the Alliance once they can hide beneath the Entente's skirts.
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Yup, exactly. We're going to need a few decades to rebuild and get ready for a war against the Entente which I do not think will be anywhere near as easy as this one - the politicians in France and the Low Countries are probably freaking out at what we're doing and throwing money at their militaries. If we leave a Russia with the majority of its IRL pre-WWI territory, it'll be very easy for the Entente to do a crash industrialization (and it's not like anyone's in a position to complain when the entire Russian steel industry is owned by London) and give us a massive pain of a second front. We need Russia to be so weakened coming out of this that they're in no position to fight us when we march west.
 
C_Z said:
Do you think it's possible to take Budapest before the summer with our current artillery situation?
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If we hadn't attacked, or hadn't taken, Zagreb last season, I wouldn't, but since we did I believe the Austrian line is both degraded and badly-positioned enough that we should be able to push north from Slavonia and east from Burgenland with a decent chance of success.
 
Hrm, IMO we could, assuming these actions below achieve their objectives:
1. Attack Pressburg & fortify Baltic-Polish front in Spring. I was told we shouldn't allow a fortified force the chance to sally out against our rear by opting a strike on Budapest before taking Pressburg.
2. Build up defenses & logistical network in the Hungary-Croatian front while striking towards Vilnius(?) to snap up further Tsarist industries in Summer.
3. Attack Budapest (Inshallah this will break the Habsburgs) while extending logistical & defensive network within the Baltic-Polish front in Fall.
4. Fortify the Hungary-Croatian front & attack further into the Baltics (Riga?) to add more Tsarist industries under our occupation in Winter.
 
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War Planning: March 1899-August 1899
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    • War Planning: March 1899-August 1899
    ​


    The entry of Romania and Bulgaria (and Montenegro, technically) into the war has bolstered League morale even as the strategic situation continues to turn against them. Between the resumption of supply shipments to Austria and the addition of two new militaries, there is a glimmer of hope that this war might be turned around on the League's side.

    The Alliance approaches this turn of events with remarkable sangfroid, even as the conflict starts to drag and casualties mount. There is some domestic desire to simply be done with the war, but the defections from the governing grand coalition are insufficient to worry the wartime government at present.

    There are noises being made in London and Paris that the Eastern War has perhaps reached a natural conclusion and that hostilities should be resolved diplomatically, but no direct effort by the Entente to intervene seems immediately forthcoming. This is likely due to the fact that British and French merchants are making a fat profit selling arms and supplies to the League through its Black Sea ports, ensuring that there is little economic incentive to see the conflict end.



    What is to be done?

    Movement
    [] Reallocate troops toward the Austrian front.
    Send two or three armies from Army Group Poland to reinforce Army Group Austria.

    [] Reallocate troops toward the Polish front.
    Send an army or two from Army Group Austria to reinforce Army Group Poland.

    [] Do not reallocate troops.
    Leave the troop dispositions as they are.

    Attack and Defense
    [] Strengthen defensive positions in Poland.
    Army Group Poland will focus on building up defensive positions and logistical support within occupied Poland, while restricting its movements to repulsing incursions.

    [] Strengthen defensive positions in Austria.
    Army Group Austria will focus on building up defensive positions and logistical support within occupied Austria, while restricting its movements to repulsing incursions.

    [] Prepare for an offensive on the Austrian front.
    Army Group Austria will receive priority for logistical support, shells, and other military supplies, enhancing any offensive push they might make during this half of the year.

    [] Prepare for an offensive on the Polish front.
    Army Group Poland will receive priority for logistical support, shells, and other military supplies, enhancing any offensive push they might make during this half of the year.

    [] Initiate an offensive toward Klaipeda (Gold).
    Taking Russia's last warm-water port in the Baltic would force the Russian fleet to sail for much less hospitable waters and directly into the waiting ships of the Allied Combined Fleet. It would also give the Landwehr a strong position from which to threaten the rest of Lithuania from multiple directions.

    [] Initiate an offensive toward Minsk (Green).
    Minsk is over 500 kilometers away from Warsaw, and it's unlikely that anything but the most dedicated effort would see the Landwehr anywhere near there within the time allotted, but Bialystok and Grodno are both in the line of advance, and pushing deeper into Russia proper would certainly upset the League's defensive strategy.

    [] Initiate an offensive toward Kiev (Red).
    The capital of Russian Ukraine and the industrial and urban heart of the region. This offensive would be a broad, sweeping motion intended to roll up as much rich Ukrainian farmland as possible, with the city itself almost an afterthought given the enormous strategic value of seizing the Russian breadbasket.

    [] Initiate an offensive toward Pressburg (Orange).
    The largest and most prosperous city in Slovakia, the capture of Pressburg would open the way to the Hungarian plain and further the encirclement of Budapest. However, Pressburg is well-defended by the Carpathian Mountains, as well as its proximity to Budapest, and will be a difficult target.

    [] Initiate an offensive toward Budapest (Pink).
    The new Habsburg capital now that Vienna has fallen, Budapest is the center of Hungarian political and economic activity, located on a broad open plain. It is also behind the most heavily-defended sections of the Franz Joseph Line, and any effort made to take it will likely be bitterly contested.

    [] Initiate an offensive toward Osijek (Purple).
    By itself Osijek is not a tremendously important strategic objective, but seizing it will serve to flank Budapest and put the Allied armies far behind the Franz Joseph Line, where defenses are much less built-up. It will also allow for further movements against the rest of Croatia and pave the way for an advance into Bosnia.



    Welcome to the next phase of the Great Eastern War. The following update will encompass March 1899 through August 1899. Due to the slower tempo of the war, this update and subsequent updates will take place over six months rather than three.

    Each offensive option includes a colored arrow on the map indicating its general direction of advance. Additional territory besides that in the way of the arrow may be taken.

    Please vote in the form of a plan. Each plan must include one and only one choice from each of the categories, except for Attack and Defense. Each plan must also include at least one and no more than three choices from Attack and Defense. Plans with unallocated actions (those that choose fewer than three) will increase the efficacy of those actions that are chosen.

    Given the static nature of the naval front, naval operations have been automated. The Allied fleets will automatically support any land-based operation where it is sensible for them to do so.

    Here, have an example plan:

    [] Case Ostrich
    -[] Do not reallocate troops.
    -[] Strengthen defensive positions in Poland.
    -[] Strengthen defensive positions in Austria.

    24-hour moratorium to make plans, then 24 hours to vote.
     
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    • Etranger said:
    There are noises being made in London and Paris that the Eastern War has perhaps reached a natural conclusion and that hostilities should be resolved diplomatically, but no direct effort by the Entente to intervene seems immediately forthcoming. This is likely due to the fact that British and French merchants are making a fat profit selling arms and supplies to the League through its Black Sea ports, ensuring that there is little economic incentive to see the conflict end.
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    Perfidious Franco-British, sky's blue, water's wet, they will one day pay :mob:

    Etranger said:
    Please vote in the form of a plan. Each plan must include one and only one choice from each of the categories, except for Attack and Defense. Each plan must also include at least one and no more than three choices from Attack and Defense. Plans with unallocated actions (those that choose fewer than three) will increase the efficacy of those actions that are chosen.
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    Ooooh folks the overextension for three actions - in this case attack & defense category - is no more!

    ...tho turns are now six months long instead of three oof. Makes sense as our offensive tempo finally hits its limit.
     
    [] Plan: Pannonian Sweep
    -[] Do not reallocate troops.
    -[] Prepare for an offensive on the Austrian front.
    -[] Initiate an offensive toward Pressburg (Orange).
    -[] Initiate an offensive toward Budapest (Pink).

    Taking Budapest will more or less collapse the Habsburg imperial project and make it possible Romania will start having a revolution. Budapest and Pressburg are mutually reinforcing offensives, as an offensive toward Budapest prevents our enemies from allocating everything to Pressburg, and once we take Pressburg it opens up the Danube for us to support an offensive against Budapest. Russia will recover and try to do some damage, so I'm not transferring troops from the east, but crippling the Habsburgs will make all our future actions much easier, and worth it to go near all out against them this turn.
     
    I think we should fortify Russia if we focus on Austria in Spring/Summer. And I think we should attack Budapest after we take Pressburg & Osijek.

    So:
    [] Strengthen defensive positions in Poland.
    [] Initiate an offensive toward Pressburg (Orange).
    [] Initiate an offensive toward Osijek (Purple).

    Fortify our hold in Poland-Prussia while improving our logistics there, then attack Pressburg & Osijek to further ease our eventual strike on Budapest

    If we decide to continue focusing on Russia this turn
    [] Initiate an offensive toward Klaipeda (Gold).
    [] Initiate an offensive toward Minsk (Green).
    [] Strengthen defensive positions in Austria.

    Edit: Take more of Russia's industrial centers, take the rest of claimed Polish lands (up to Grodno based on our command councils' expectation), & defend Austria-Bohemia against a League offensive
     
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    [] Plan: Case Dreizack
    -[] Do not reallocate troops.
    -[] Initiate an offensive toward Klaipeda (Gold).
    -[] Initiate an offensive toward Osijek (Purple).
     
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    Parzival said:
    [] Plan: Case Dreizack
    -[] Do not reallocate troops.
    -[] Initiate an offensive toward Klaipeda (Gold).
    -[] Initiate an offensive toward Osijek (Purple).
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    This wastes one action btw, since unused action doesn't boost an offensive or defense anymore with the existence of the "prepare attack into" actions. You should add in a fortify or prepare attack option too.
     
    Regency said:
    This wastes one action btw, since unused action doesn't boost an offensive or defense anymore with the existence of the "prepare attack into" actions. You should add in a fortify or prepare attack option too.
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    It quite clearly says in the post that an unused action boosts the efficacy of the other actions chosen.
     
    Regency said:
    This wastes one action btw, since unused action doesn't boost an offensive or defense anymore with the existence of the "prepare attack into" actions. You should add in a fortify or prepare attack option too.
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    Unused actions broadly increase the efficacy of all chosen actions. Actions like "prepare" or "fortify" specifically improve a certain kind of action on a specific front (and have a greater effect on that specific action/front combo than the broad general improvement granted by an unused action).
     
    [] Plan: Low Hanging Fruit
    -[] Do not reallocate troops.
    -[] Prepare for an offensive on the Polish front.
    -[] Initiate an offensive toward Osijek (Purple).

    I say prep for a an offensive into Lithuania for summer while we hit the weak link in Austria.
     
    Parzival said:
    It quite clearly says in the post that an unused action boosts the efficacy of the other actions chosen.
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    Etranger said:
    Unused actions broadly increase the efficacy of all chosen actions. Actions like "prepare" or "fortify" specifically improve a certain kind of action on a specific front (and have a greater effect on that specific action/front combo than the broad general improvement granted by an unused action).
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    It seems I can't read today :V

    Ty for the correction
     
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