1914_1106_01: The Turning Tide (3rd Invasion) - FWWC 03 Serbia '14
4 - 0 - 0
| Rating: | 9.64 (5) |
| Games Played: | 4 |
| SM: | 10 |
| Turns: | 319 |
| Type: | Stock |
| First Side: | Central Powers |
| Second Side: | Allied Powers |
Northwest Serbia, 6th November 1914:
After the second Austro-Hungarian invasion of Serbia sputtered to a halt in the last week of September, both sides dug in and trench warfare ensued that was extremely detrimental to the Serbian side. For the entire month of October, the Serbian line was bombarded with artillery, to which the Serbians had minimal or no reply due to lack of ammunition. The Serbian Army had completely exhausted its ammunition supplies and pleaded with France and Russia for more.
Both sides spent the month of October replacing losses, but the Serbians could not match the replacement rate of the Austro-Hungarians; the latter pulling in massive amounts of replacements from their "march" formations and fresh recruits, while Serbia had a much smaller pool of manpower and their replacements were further limited due to the near constant bombardments that inflicted additional losses. For the Austro-Hungarians, despite having lost a staggering 50% of their strength from the first and second invasions, by November Potiorek's armies were back to 90% strength, were reinforced by additional heavy artillery, and were fully prepared for a third offensive.
A week before the third invasion commenced, the Serbian 2. Army suddenly withdrew from the Macva Peninsula to superior positions at the foot of Mount Cer to the south. The plan of attack then was for the 5.Armee to smash through the new Serbian positions at the foot of Mount Cer, and for 6.Armee to launch another full scale frontal assault from Gucevo Ridge and Mount Jagodnja, this time with an extremely powerful flanking maneuver through Ljubovija.
The Serbian Army, already stretched to the breaking point by the previous two hard fought invasions and a near complete lack of supply, had but one hope: to fight a delaying action towards the Kolubara River and, if need be, to the hills southeast of Beograd around Arandjelovac, in hopes of surviving long enough to receive the much anticipated surge of supplies from the allies through Salonika. With the arrival of long awaited supplies and ammunition, the Serbians might be able to counter attack and snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
[Size: large]
*See the notes document for information on scenario design decisions and historical notes.
After the second Austro-Hungarian invasion of Serbia sputtered to a halt in the last week of September, both sides dug in and trench warfare ensued that was extremely detrimental to the Serbian side. For the entire month of October, the Serbian line was bombarded with artillery, to which the Serbians had minimal or no reply due to lack of ammunition. The Serbian Army had completely exhausted its ammunition supplies and pleaded with France and Russia for more.
Both sides spent the month of October replacing losses, but the Serbians could not match the replacement rate of the Austro-Hungarians; the latter pulling in massive amounts of replacements from their "march" formations and fresh recruits, while Serbia had a much smaller pool of manpower and their replacements were further limited due to the near constant bombardments that inflicted additional losses. For the Austro-Hungarians, despite having lost a staggering 50% of their strength from the first and second invasions, by November Potiorek's armies were back to 90% strength, were reinforced by additional heavy artillery, and were fully prepared for a third offensive.
A week before the third invasion commenced, the Serbian 2. Army suddenly withdrew from the Macva Peninsula to superior positions at the foot of Mount Cer to the south. The plan of attack then was for the 5.Armee to smash through the new Serbian positions at the foot of Mount Cer, and for 6.Armee to launch another full scale frontal assault from Gucevo Ridge and Mount Jagodnja, this time with an extremely powerful flanking maneuver through Ljubovija.
The Serbian Army, already stretched to the breaking point by the previous two hard fought invasions and a near complete lack of supply, had but one hope: to fight a delaying action towards the Kolubara River and, if need be, to the hills southeast of Beograd around Arandjelovac, in hopes of surviving long enough to receive the much anticipated surge of supplies from the allies through Salonika. With the arrival of long awaited supplies and ammunition, the Serbians might be able to counter attack and snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
[Size: large]
*See the notes document for information on scenario design decisions and historical notes.
| Player Voting Stats | ||
|---|---|---|
| Member | Balance | Enjoyment |
 Sgt Jasper |
Well Balanced | 10 |
 Ricky B |
Well Balanced | 8 |
 Volcano Man |
Well Balanced | 10 |
 jonnymacbrown |
Well Balanced | 7 |
 Mr Grumpy |
Well Balanced | 9 |
| Gaming Records | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Side Player | 2nd Side Player | Result | Score | ||||||
|
 |
Mr Grumpy | vs. | Blitz Shadow Player |  |
|
Central Powers Major Victory | 135 | 15 |
|
 |
Volcano Man | vs. | Blitz Shadow Player | |
|
Central Powers Major Victory | 135 | 15 |
|
 |
Ricky B | vs. | tquinn |  |
|
Central Powers Major Victory | 135 | 15 |
|
 |
Sgt Jasper | vs. | jonnymacbrown |  |
|
Central Powers Major Victory | 135 | 15 |
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Tip: Serbs have to hold at first, then give up the fortified line slowly. At some point they should then fight a delaying action, avoiding situations where the A-H gets to attack in a set-piece fashion.
Serbs must trade space for time, and try to maintain even parity on losses at least, but ideally a lower of level of losses versus the A-H's. Then at the end, Serbs can give up all objectives except for the final defense line, and historically be able to launch a just-in-time counter offensive beginning in December. Very tricky!