F 14 Campaign scenario observations

[Volcano Man]

Good point Rick, a game / match is only as fun as the opponent you play it with. The "win at all costs" personality is not exactly the most enjoyable person to wargame with. :(

Yes that seems to be the case. But I'd surely rather approach this game with this movement and not attack Mons directly. This movement by 1st Army seems like the only logical approach, and why not? Elements from 2nd Army can still take the BEF in flank and cover any gap with 1st Army.

With all due respect, I think you might be a little too timid of the BEF. Are they powerful? Certainly, without a doubt they are, yes. They aren't mythical though, and whether you engage them on the Canal du Centre or not, you will still run into them again along another canal or river between there and Paris. The sooner you engage them the better, you can't just keep avoiding them / running from them.

As I mentioned before too, the Germans (and French) - by design - are almost Borg like (pardon the Star Trek reference). The Germans can replace losses with relative ease, as long as they are well supplied and in good order. On the other hand, in the early campaign (not the late campaign) the BEF recovers no losses. What you kill is gone for good until the late (Race to the Sea) campaign when they start receiving recovery. If the Germans lose 20 men in a single shot of rifles, and the British unit loses only 5, well, you are chipping away at them slowly and at some point many of their units will become a non factor as their fire gets reduced with increasing losses. Press home an assault and even at 3:1 losses you are making your impression felt. The no replacement / recovery is a game abstraction sure, but it is a necessary abstraction to represent the historical truth: the BEF was a powerful yet finite resource of professional soldiers. So, you need to start chipping away at them as soon as possible or I think you will run into problems later (if you are playing a human). I can't imagine what a full strength BEF will be able to accomplish by the end of the campaign -- the allied player will just let you have their full weight at the end and all that avoiding and dancing around them will be for naught. :eek1:

So, my advice to German commanders is, do not totally subscribe to the mythical hype of the BEF, they are not invincible. Historically von Kluck kept after the BEF and never let up: he never game them more than a brief moment of respite and by the 1st Battle of the Marne, the BEF was chipped away and fatigued to the point that they weren't much of a factor (until they could rest again for the 1st Battle of the Aisne).

I still say the best strategy is to do what was historical: attack through Tournai with HKK.2 and II.AK, and attack the BEF at the Canal du Centre to bloody both the Germans and the British. HKK.2 and II.AK continues to push around the flank, forcing the BEF to withdraw or get trapped at Maubeuges (if they stay on their position on the canal). So, either way the move to the west to Tournai, which was historical with the HKK.2 and II.AK) will force them to withdraw -- that part is inevitable. The difference is, you are not engaging them where, you can at least destroy (or at least badly maul) three or four British infantry battalions in the Mons bend alone (Nimy). But that opportunity is lost if you avoid them. Oh well, I just want to offer up "the other side of the coin". Still bypassing them is a good and valid strategy to be sure, but I just want to offer up why you would do the alternative (attack the BEF).

Speaking of which, if you are at Tournai on the 24th, the BEF gets released in full on that day so it looks like there are no issues here and that my initial concern of getting behind they BEF before they are released is not valid. So other than a few broken rail lines here and there to prevent "rail blitz", I don't think I need to do anything to that area. That is good to know -- and we can all breathe a sigh of relief! ;)

:soap: