FWWC - Adjustment to number of turns

[jim pfleck]

Comrade P,
Going back to your comments on the potential for whole armies to meet disaster and the replacement rates contributing to preventing disaster, I have a few comments that I think can deepen that discussion.
-The destruction of the Russian 2nd Army was in a situation very different than in the West. The whole army was extremely isolated even before the Germans turned both of tis flanks. It was far from supply (and had poor supply to begin with), and no flank protection, and lacked the sort of road and rail network in its rear that was found (I think) in northern France and Belgium. Hindenburg and Ludendorff spent the rest of the war trying to duplicate it, more or less, and failed. The flip side of this is that the Germans, even when well supplied, could only pursue so fast...

-French armies were much better lead and organized at all leadership levels in 1914 than the Russian 2nd Army, and were more flexible. They were mostly fighting in their won country and had better rear command communication and, I think better air recon. So even when beaten badly they were able to maintain enough cohesion to retreat in decent order.

-So, as you say, a decent player will not lead a whole army to destruction. Well, yes, I agree. Just as the decent French generals did not either. In my EP campaign I lost about a corps of 1st Army to overextension (that total coming from 3 corps) before I was able to extract myself, and that was part of the learning curve of fragile morale and I was playing to win and being reckless (I tend to favor force security in all games because my brain does not deal well with an armored Blitz or Napoleonic cavalry). The possibility is still there for disaster, depending on how even a decent player decides to play.

-Finally, regarding replacements. I just finished about 140 turns of the 190 turn Ypres Campaign and my French and British reserves were at 100% strength (some of my front line troops were at 40% or below---I had been rotating within brigades and divisions and managed to keep an operational reserve of a about 3 French inf divisions and a British infantry and cavalry division). In several posts, I have seen you talk about replacements and numbers. When I play, I tend to focus on fatigue management more than numbers management. And also on maintaining the number of MG and artillery units (and trying to keep their numbers high too). Sure, a larger battalion causes more damage via fire, but a disordered unit, regardless of size, is very vulnerable to melee and weak on the defense. So I tend to be less concerned with the size of battalions than the numbers. If they are out of line long enough to regain a lot of strength I think that represents that your position is strong overall anyways.... What do you think?

Anyhow, I have played one EP game to conclusion as the Russians (minor defeat), 2 Race to the Sea to about 140 turns each (won major victory as each side), and 140 turns of a Ypres (major victory). I am currently about 30 turns in to Lodz. I have played a mix of skill and experience levels but none of my opponents are "horrible."