Great War PBEM

[Scott F]

*bump*

Don't keep us waiting too long, Jimmy.

[Jimmywax]

Nothing much to report, pretty quite on all fronts. French cruisers and destroyers have continued to participate in the CSNavy's blockade of the Yankee's eastern shoreline. In the south of France at Marseilles, seasoned French Legionarres have arrived to help in the French people's crusade to fight back the Hun aggressor. With the thought of Sedan in mind, French soldiers will not be satisfied until they are marching through the streets of Berlin.

[Jimmywax]

[Jimmywax]

I see my game didn't attach to the first post.

[Scott F]

Britain Loses Two Dreadnoughts off China

A U-boat submersible, U-5, dispatched from the German enclave in China at Kiaochow Bay made quick work of two British dreadnoughts. The two British warships had suffered greatly from their failed engagements with German shore batteries manned by German garrisons and units within the enclave and were easy prey for the submersible, which quickly sent both of the ships to the bottom in short order. The destruction of these two British dreadnoughts, coupled with earlier losses as the British foolishly hurled themselves against the shore defenses at the Kiaochow Bay enclave, constitutes the destruction of the bulk, if not all, of the Pacific Squadron of the Royal Navy. Aside from a scattered few Entente vessels, the Pacific Ocean is now a Quadruple Alliance lake. Admiral von Spee, commander of the Pacific Squadron of the High Seas Fleet, is expected to put to sea next month with his two cruisers, Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, to mop up the remaining Entente naval forces in the western Pacific.

Adriatic and Aegean Naval Engagements Herald More Entente Defeats

In addition to the great victories achieved by U-5 in the Pacific, Austrian and Turkish naval forces have achieved similar victories in the Adriatic and Aegean Seas. In the Adriatic, the Austrian dreadnought Tegetthoff sortied from the Austrian naval base at Sarajevo, and made quick work of a British dreadnought attempting to block the Strait of Corfu. Believed to have been the battlecruiser HMS Indomitable, the British dreadnought proved to be anything but. In the Aegean Sea, the Turkish cruiser [i]Hamidieh[/b] engaged and sank a French cruiser, probably the Gloire.

Ominous Silence on Western, Eastern Fronts

Reports from both the western front with France and the eastern front with Russia over the past month. Field Marshal von Scottsendorff has declined to comment on the lack of activity in the war, despite calls from the Reichstag to "launch one great decisive attack" or offensive to knock France from the war. Despite the silence at the front, railroads across Germany and Austria-Hungary buzzed with activity as troops and large numbers of artillery pieces rushed along the rails, again highlighting the Field Marshal's promise to the Reichstag that "Germany and our allies will return to the offensive in short order; an offensive that will solve recent problems with oil shortages that have kept our ships and submersibles in port." The Oberste Heeresleitung (OHL), or Supreme Command, has reportedly been quite envious of the successful American offensive that broke the Confederate lines and captured Richmond, and it is quite possible that a move may be made very soon to capture Paris.

Germany and Austria Demand Rumania Expell Russian Troops

The German Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire have tendered a letter to the Rumanian monarch, demanding that he expell Russian troops from Rumanian soil at once, or "suffer the consequences." Rumania has been ambigiously neutral in the conflict, and the OHL reportedly has reason to believe that the Russians are moving troops into Rumania in preparation for some sort of surprise offensive, despite Rumania being officially neutral.

http://php.indiana.edu/~sfluhr/germany_december_1914.zip

[Scott F]

Also, a few administrative concerns... The file switch for the Spring of 1915 is coming up soon. This will occur at the start of the next German turn, so that everyone has a chance to play out their December of 1915 turn with the 1914 files. Thus, the file switch will occur after December (and for Jimmy, January) is over. I will run the delevent program and set up the next sequence of events. I am "tweaking" the scenario a bit, so depending on the amount of time that it takes to get back around to Germany, I may have a new version of the game ready for use with the new files (I've already made a few cosmetic graphic changes; but no changes to the rules or events as of yet).

[Case]

Imperial Court Press Statement

Today Czar Nicholas II responded to a petition sent to him by the group Western Russians Against Railroad Noise and Soldiers (WRARNS). The Czar wishes to assure all WRARNS members that their worries will soon be long gone, and in the meantime he hopes they will accept the following picture as a symbol of he and his family's concern for the well being of all their subjects.

[Case]

Here's the file:

[Scott F]

Yes, five days ago Hans says, "I will do it tommorrow night, for real this time."

*sigh and bump*

[Case]

Originally posted by Scott F
Yes, five days ago Hans says, "I will do it tommorrow night, for real this time."

It always seems to take him a while to play his turn

[JamesJKirk]

Well...

Why don't you just do his turn for him again, Scott?

And see, Case, I told you that my rule about tardiness would work better than yours (see previous page)!!

[Case]

It's now been a week - this is getting silly

[Scott F]

All is quiet on the American front.

http://php.indiana.edu/~sfluhr/1914_dec_usa.zip

[Scott F]

Greece and Albania Fall!

Preceded by an intense artillery bombardment, German, Austrian, and Turkish troops have advanced, occupying the rest of Greece and the British puppet state of Albania. Casualties have been high, but according to Field Marshal von Scottsendorff, they were well within limits. Athens fell quickly early in the operation. Durazzo, heavily defended and ringed with fortifications, fell later, after a lengthy artillery bombardment. A British destroyer in port was sunk by artillery fire while trying to evacuate some of the surviving British troops from the city as it fell. The Kaiser hailed the offensive as a great victory, proclaiming that it meant "one less front to fight on."

Troops Enter Rumania

After the refusal of the Rumanian government to cease harboring and expell the thousands of Russian soldiers which they are criminally and illegally allowing to stay within their borders, German, Bulgarian, Turkish, and Austrian troops have forded the Danube river and advanced to the outskirts of Bucharest. Several of the outer fortifications of the city have already fallen into the hands of the forces of the Quadruple Alliance. An ultimatum has been sent to the Rumanian government, demanding that they either force the Russians to withdraw or declare Bucharest to be an open city.

[Scott F]

File Change Time

With the onset of winter, Christmas comes to the Great War. The soldiers of all sides, weary of fighting and longing for home, climb out from their trenches under flags of truce to meet and share holiday greetings with their enemies. On the Roanoke Front, the Yankees and Rebs play football. In Champagne, the catholic Bavarians celebrate Christmas Day Mass with the French. In Flanders, the British and Germans play soccer. Along nearly every front, for a little over twenty four hours, the world is at peace. Soldiers celebrate the holidays with men from other nations, only to climb back in their trenches to resume fighting on December 26.

The carnage continues. 1914 was only the beginning.

We have reached the end of Part One of this scenario. Before playing your new turn, please run gw_multiplayer.bat and load Part Two of this scenario. It will not be necessary to refresh the event files within the save game itself, so it is unnecessary to drag it to delevent.exe.

Several minor cosmetic changes have been made to the files for the game (mostly graphic changes and I think one file change). These can be gotten here:

http://php.indiana.edu/~sfluhr/turtledove_v13b.zip