F 14 Campaign scenario observations

[Volcano Man]

Another idea is simply not to withdraw the two Corps from the right flank for the Eastern Front. (Ludendorf did not request them.) The improved Russian mobilization capability made the stationing of three regular and one reserve Corps plus some Landwehr pn East Prussia a bare minimum, I should think.

Yes, good point, that is another idea for a "what if" campaign variant.

Von Moltke took it upon himself to send even more troops to the east, which turned out to be a very bad decision to say the least. In his defense, things were looking quite grim in the east when he made the decision to send those additional forces that way (he simply lost his nerve), but by the time they arrive the Russian 2nd Army was already destroyed and, although they participated in the fight against the Russian 1st Army, they were probably overkill at that point.

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Any BEF commander who would leave that practically impregnable position @ Mons to go on the offensive to attack German 1st Army would have to be a candidate for the loony bin. Ed, you have to allow a player there to be an idiot.

Well, I don't believe you are seeing the whole picture here, which is probably my fault for the very broad reply I made earlier about the BEF "being able to counter attack". I do not mean that the BEF would launch an all out offensive to the north as that would be quite foolish as you say. What I meant was, if the BEF was released early on then it would certainly not commit itself (human or AI) piecemeal to any German attack that develops on a historical basis against them, they would simply rush EVERYTHING to the canal bank and hold, thus making it utterly impossible for the Germans to make the slightest impression on them there. If it was left completely up in the air with no fixed units then the German migrant move to the west would be the ONLY viable option. So essentially, the BEF's fixed status is largely to the German's benefit of making a historical attack against them while they are committed piecemeal, thereby allowing the Germans to bloody them a bit at start (our neighborhood Mons vets can show you how to bloody the BEF there).

But, to prevent this from devolving into a discussion on what everyone feels is a necessary change to the stock campaign, I will make this final clarification:

I did not mean to imply that the Germans would or should not be able to go west IF I make any changes in the first update. I think it is a perfectly valid choice for the Germans to be able to do this and I don't mean to say that "moving west" is gamey. The choice itself is not gamey, the Germans intended to advance as far west as possible after all, and the only sure way they can actually get the BEF to keep withdrawing is by constantly threatening their flank (this is all historical). What I do consider gamey is IF the Germans are able to dance around the BEF in such a way that they can transplant the entire 1.Armee behind them in full force before they are released. IF that is the case, and this has yet to be proven, then some minor changes are in order for me to correct it, plain and simple. But again, absolutely nothing has been proven in this regard yet.

As it stands, the choice by the German commander to move around the BEF does come with known consequences, so that is a good thing. To me, as long as there is a pro / con relationship to the a-historical choice at start then it promotes a good situation. As it currently stands, if the Germans decide to "go west" immediately then:

*The BEF remains untouched and at full strength to cause serious trouble once they do get released

*The Germans spend valuable time moving west

*A huge gap forms between 1.Armee and 2.Armee, which is what the allies want to encourage at all times

*Any western move by the 2.Armee to cover the forming gap means that the French 5e Armee will not be pressed very hard (which is bad), and if need be they can send this army's arriving 18e CA to the west

*The allies have ample amount of stuff to send west to delay the Germans: the BEF 2nd, 3rd, 5th Cavalry Brigades, French Corps de Cavalerie (which did in fact move that direction almost immediately)

So, again, I am not looking at tying the German's hands on being able to move west, I haven't even made a single change. I am merely keeping an open mind on the possibility of adding a few more restrictions to prevent the gamey behavior described above, because just taking off the gloves and releasing the BEF earlier is not the way to go. Have no fear, other than me adding in a few congestion markers and possibly breaking a rail line here and there, I will not be doing any *drastic changes* to the campaign; I leave the drastic changes in the community's capable hands to make their own special variants.

Anyway, I just wanted to dispel any fears I might have inadvertently caused in my excitement to discuss the campaign. Perhaps I should not have said anything to begin with, but I was just excited to discuss it. :eek1: