The Flashman Report

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”.

Hey, I’m playing by the OOB rules. Just like you all told me to.

@Eggman:

@Flashman:

The other armies march slowly west, ignoring the fast trains heading straight for the front lines…

I never thought I’d read a Flashman post with this kind of statement in it.

FRANCE

Time for a rematch. France doesn’t beat about the bush, and flings every available man in France into the Burgundy mincing machine.

This time France has: 17 infantry & 11 artillery
Germany has 1 fighter, 9 infantry & 6 artillery

Despite the Germans having air supremacy, France grinds the invaders down to just 2 units for the loss of 12. France is saved!

The damaged BB limps home to Toulon for repairs, where it is met by 2 transports delivering the Portuguese army to Marseilles.

A new air corps is formed in West Paris.

BRITAIN

Africa finally sees some action as the UK moves in to contest 2 German held tts.

The Canadian Corps tools into Burgundy and, to the cheers of the watching French, shoots down a Fokker.

Four transports in SZ 8 bridge 8 UK units into Picardy to take over this sector from the French. Two fighters fly over the channel from London to join them.

The Egyptian army captures Jerusalem by beating the token Turkish defender.

After consultation with the Dog of War, the UK discovers that it is perfectly legal to land an infantry in Albania to activate that country, and it does so, grabbing the 2 IPCs to the annoyance of Italy. Four Albanian ruffians are drafted into the makeshift local militia. The British eastern fleet is now concentrated in SZ 17, poised to move on the Adriatic.

The PEF holds its ground, while a fighter and a stack of ground units “arrive in India from Australia”. These last include another new edition as by now I’ve run out of UK infantry. I decide that the Revised units are a better colour match than MB so this is another old game represented in the new.

TURKEY

The Ottomen now go on the offensive, storming into Sevastopol while the Russians are looking the other way. Bulgaria reignites the Balkan wars by marching into Belgrade, the third power to do so this game. Turkey is even confident enough to form an air force. The stand off in Persia continues.

ITALY

Even with a large Austrian army in the north, Italy has the opportunity to make the Central Powers weep. Three units from Piedmont march into Burgundy and deliver the coup de gras to a German infantry, last survivor of the Great Alpine army. France can start harvesting the vines again.

Italy then takes advantage of the Austrians earlier ignorance of the rules, sending its army of Albanian cut-throats straight into undefended Trieste.

Rules question here: if Italy had sent the fleet against SZ 18 this turn, would the capture of Trieste have neutralized the Austrian minefield? I suspect that in order to be deactivated the control must be from the start of the turn.

The Italian Africa corps marches in to contest the Belgian Congo.

Italy also now builds its first fighter squadron.

USA

Builds some more luxury pleasure barges, and some artillery pieces - “for the war in Mexico” according to Woodrow. Meanwhile 4 fully laden Ocean liners, a battleship and a cruiser are “on maneuvers” in SZ 7. In fact they’re waiting a ruling on exactly what is is they can and cannot do, and why the hell they’re allowed to sail to Europe when the President has expressly promised they would never do so.

Some observations:

It looks pretty hopeless for the Central Powers. They have to get a move on before the Americans turn up, but this means attacking before they’re really ready, and in tts closer to Allied production centres.

The laborious land movement and configuration of German tts holds up Germany from bringing its full power to bear, and as I predicted the CPs suffer from this much more than the Allies who can zip around by sea.

Another factor against the CPS is the number of turns the western Allies have between them; when America arrives it could be 4 to 1 versus Germany on the western front.

Africa would be livened up no end with the addition of Askaris; it really is a sideshow, and one that sees very little conflict; more a game of musical chairs. So far not one unit has been eliminated in African skirmishes (I can’t call them battles).

Can Germany win without the damned trains?

Like hell, says I.

If the fleet in SZ 2 is unmolested it can offload 2 Canadians in Brest/Picardy on turn 1.

@DarthShizNit:

Wait, Canada can get to Burgundy on turn 2?

It seems the income goes to Italy. Only when Britain liberated a Portuguese colony Kreighund said that the UK gets the money.

I’m just getting more and more confused….

@ossel:

@Flashman:

After consultation with the Dog of War, the UK discovers that it is perfectly legal to land an infantry in Albania to activate that country, and it does so, grabbing the 2 IPCs to the annoyance of Italy.

Not so fast. This isn’t really spelled out well in the rules (what is?), but I’m 99% sure when a ‘friendly’ power activates an aligned neutral, that power doesn’t get any sort of increase in IPC income…The only case where activating (and conquering) a minor power results in an IPC increase is when it’s activated in defense of a hostile attack.

Here’s an example from Larry’s France writeup:

Instead, the convoy heads for Portugal, where upon arrival it unloads its infantry. Portugal, being a capital of a minor aligned power (aligned with France actually), places 3 infantry and 1 artillery on the map. In the same way that Serbia used Russian pieces, Portugal will use French pieces.

He makes no mention of France’s IPC income going up.

So would I, but I think the official rule is otherwise.

TURN THE THIRD (PART ONE)

AUSTRIA

Brutally puts down the Albanian occupation of Trieste. Budapest is stripped of defences in order to attack in Galicia; the plan nearly dislodges the Russians, but a single defender hangs on. The battle for Tuscany begins with 25 units assaulting 22 Italian defenders, resulting in heavy casualties on both sides.

RUSSIA

Moves into Prussia and Budapest by defeating token defences. Romania is left with a single defender as the Southern Front is sent to the relief of Sevastopol, which remains contested after some myopic Russian marksmanship.

GERMANY

The Lorraine army is pulled back to Alsace to be joined with a new force marching through from Munich. As usual, a single Milton Bradley Youth Corps unit is left in Loraine to face the entire French army. A failed attempt to regain the Congo results in the first African theatre casualty. Prussia is easily retaken. A small force descends from the Alps to capture Piedmont, something the CPs regret not doing before.

Germany’s main effort is in Poland, where the fighter flown in from Galicia helps a large artillery stack knock holes in the Russian defences.

FRANCE

A moderate force recaptures Lorraine, but the main Burgundy army waits for reinforcements from Paris. Two new fighters give France plenty of option next turn.

The Mediterranean BB assaults the Austrian fleet, going down after sinking the cruiser and damaging the Hapsburg flagship.

A transport brings the last Portugueser to Marseilles, from which the other two depart for Canada (yes, just 2 spaces away!)

BRITAIN

Makes no fewer than 5 attacks this round. In Africa, the Congo is recaptured, but the Germans hold out in FEA.

The BMF finally finishes off the Austrian navy. The Syrian desert is captured, and another assault from India finally takes Persia.

The major effort however is in Belgium. An amphibious assault from England of 8 units, and a drive from Picardy by the B.E.F. adds Belgium’s 2 IPCs to the UK cash income (I think…)

The 2nd and 3rd Canadian corps file onto two French transports.

At one point I had 3 AA Revised British infantry on the board include the mob zone.

I find I’m spending up to half the game time exchanging and hunting for chips; there must be a better way of dealing with this…

It’s mainly caused by a simple lack of single unit chips, but the following occurred to me:

Have a different colour chip for each unit type:

infantry - white/yellow(5)
artillery - red/brown(5)
tanks - grey/black(5)
fighters - light blue/dark blue(5)

Then, since every army MUST include an infantry, you could stack a nation’s entire force in one pile, with the appropriate foot soldier on top.

I suppose ultimately you could do away with non-infantry units altogether; its a question of saving space in a game where you can have up to 8 nations stacking in contested land areas, which tend to be smaller the more important and crowded they’re likely to be.

Probably use grey and red next game.

N.B. IL - The Haitian Dreadnought was sunk by an American Cruiser disguised as the Love Boat.