The Flashman Report

No real problem, anyone can easily pimp money, factories, mines, the odd extra unit. There’s nothing wrong with the chips, just that white are much easier to distinguish from dark blue than medium blue.

Yes, don’t miss out on this one.

After the first couple of turns it starts to rattle along nicely, but you will need a proper production chart and something to mark mines. The Sahara “ones” track can be used to count game turns for triggered events. Hopefully this will be sorted in the 2nd edition.

Austria in particular has a lot of decisions to make, but experienced players should have a plan for A1 which will save a lot of time.

I still question some of the map decisions; Poland having a coastline is a big advantage for Russia; just mass a big army here and Germany has a real headache. Now if Prussia was correct and had a border with Livonia the Russian defences would have to be more thinly spread.

Switzerland having just 2 defenders MUST be a deliberate invitation to a German outflanking strategy.

Germany being able to create Mittelafrica without rolling a single die seems wrong, but they must have decided it was the only way to make Africa interesting.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mittelafrika

Askaris is the answer!

@Gamerman01:

So, is it a cool game?

Fun?

Promising?

FRANCE

So to the French. Their main concern is to get the British flowing over the channel, so they agree to an Allied naval buildup in SZ8, sending a BB and Cruiser there. Their transports carry 2 inf to Marseilles, and one to Portugal to activate another ally. The other transport moves to Portugal to pick up the newly mobilized pieces.

France’s main decision is what to do with the Lorraine army. Clearly the Germans intend to bypass it, going south through Switzerland-Burgundy and north through Belgium-Picardy. The single German defending Alsace is tempting, but France does not fall into the trap. Instead, 2 infantry are left defending Lorraine while the rest pull back to defend Picardy-Burgundy.

The other French Battleship fulfills its obligation to the Allies by sailing into the Bosporus and sinking the Goeben, taking damage in the process. France’s only combat this turn.

5 art and an inf are placed in Paris, a submarine is launched in Brest.

BRITAIN

The UK decides to tighten the noose around Turkey rather than a direct assault. The Indian army is ordered to invade Persia, while the eastern fleet concentrates in the Red Sea, dropping “one of each” into Arabia where the tribes rise in revolt.

Two undefended German colonies are captured.

However, disaster! The Persian expeditionary force is held at bay by Turkey’s new Persian allies, who suffer only one hit out of 8. Persia is now contested, and the Sultan dreams of a triumphant entry into Delhi.

I’ve also started running out of “1” chips and, you guessed it, dear old Milton Bradley comes to the rescue yet again.

Britain lays down 3 transports off Wales and 2 fighters in London, while the Canadian fleet joins the SZ 8 regatta party and offloads another one of each into Picardy.

TURKEY

The fleet has gone, probably forever, so Turkey must concentrate on defending its land frontiers and aiding Austria in the Balkans. The Constantinople army marches into Bulgaria, to be joined by the troops of the Tzar Ferdinand.

The long coastline will be difficult to defend, but an artillery is sited in each to cover amphibious assaults. Persia is heavily reinforced, and a modest build of 4 and 1 is reviewed in the capital.

ITALY

With two large enemy stacks in the north, Italy decides to pull back and concentrate in Tuscany. A single inf is left in contested Venice… or is it? If the Austrians decide to AA Tuscany could they move their Venice army straight through into Tuscany? Have to read the rules on this again before confirming the Italian moves.

The Somalian piece is moved to defend BEA.

Italy can’t afford to send units to Albania, the locals will have to defend themselves. If only I’d known before that the Brits could have activated Albania.

So the Libyan garrison is moved up to Tuscany; surely the Russians are strong enough to hold on in the Balkans?

Italy builds 2 of each and prays.

I really do not know what to do with America. The whole idea that it can build and move units into combat areas at this stage is so uninstinctive I can’t quite get my head around it.

OK, so Italy withdraws its main forces behind the Gothic line.

Austria now has to use the huge army in Venice to eliminate a single Italian defender in order to move on Tuscany in round 3.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Built some cruise liners. President Wilson assures a suspicious public that they have no military function.

ROUND THE SECOND

AUSTRIA

Pushes more troops into Venice from Switzerland and Tyrol, creating a large stack
to face a single annoying Italian defender. Austria takes (back) the city on the sea.

The eastern front is thinly held, and the units are spread as best as can defend. The big problem the CPs have here is the length of frontier:

They hold: Prussia, Silesia, Galicia, Budapest, Serbia
Russia holds Poland, Ukraine and Romania.

Austria must press the drive towards Rome, the entire CP strategy depends on it. So no more attacks in the east. Serbia is left with a token defence, Albania and Greece are left in peace.

RUSSIA

Now has 3 large armies on the enemy line, but where to attack? In the end Galicia is chosen, the Central Front can support the others and bring Russia to the very gates of Vienna. The first fighter to go into action helps Russia bring the Ruthenians back into the Slavic fold. The other fighter is sent to Romania to defend against an anticipated Turko-Bulgarian advance. Serbia is quickly overrun, and the Balkans look like falling into the Allies lap.

A transport is added to the Baltic fleet.

GERMANY

With Austria hard pressed, and an Allied transport fleet poised over the English channel, Germany decides that it cannot delay the big battle in the west. The Swiss army descends from the mountains and attacks the French in Burgundy head on.

In order to reinforce the front, Germany now attacks the lightly held Lorraine with the Ruhr-Belgian army, the Kiel army moving into its trenches.

In order to keep its main ally in the game, Germany also decides to gamble in the east by assaulting the Russians in Galicia. Prussia is denuded of defences (now consisting of a single Milton Bradley Hitler Jugend) and the Silesian army drives in from the north, accompanied by two new fighter squadrons.

African armies stand, fleet returns to home base. Three German armies were unable to attack this turn, owing to them not holding rail passes.

The Lorraine battle is up first, an easy conquest to back up the main attack.

Galicia is next to be fought. The Russian fighter is shot out of the sky in the world’s first air to air battle, and the German artillery is happy.
But disastrous rolling turns the move into a fiasco. The entrenched Russians inflict appalling casualties, leaving Germany with just an infantry and a fighter contesting Galicia, the other plane having to be taken as the last casualty. Still, Vienna has been given some breathing space.

Now for the big one:

France has: 1 fighter, 18 infantry & 5 artillery
Germany has 1 fighter, 17 infantry & 6 artillery

I have 36 dice. Milton! You there?

The two fighters circle each other warily for four turns, nobody getting so much as a scratch on their doping.

But the grey Ace finally downs his man, and the German artillery is ecstatic.

In the ensuing battle, Germany has the advantage by 12 hits to 8, and both sides settle in for a siege. The Kaiser won’t have to sue for peace just yet.

But he does fall to wondering about a strange prophecy written many years later by the wisest of sages which says that:

“Basically, without rail movement, Germany is screwed”.