Hapsburg Eclipse (11)

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Going to attempt The Great Retreat this game. I've never done that before, but if it works, it will take Polish Front out of the game, which can only be a good thing.

  1. 08 Battle of Lodz, which is a win for a permanent +1 on Polish Front. Czech moves right. Action roll 5 to move Czech back.

  2. 13 Czechoslovak Legion. Czech 2 left. Spend two actions to put Resources into Western Front.

  3. 03 Battle of Cer. Stalemate. Carpathian back 1. Resources into Naval.

  4. 16 MacKensen Takes Command. Czech into revolt, first action roll 5 out of revolt. Second action roll 1 on Polish.

  5. 09 Battle of the Falkland Islands. Roll 2 for a Defeat. Hungarian advances. Spend 3 for resources into Eastern Front.

  6. 35 German Aid. Roll 4 on Carpathian for no effect.

  7. 07 Drina Campaign. Roll 4 for Victory. Czech triggers into Revolt. Roll 6 to move Czech back, roll 2 for no effect on Polish.

  8. 10 German 9th Army. Polish back one, no effect on Carpathian. NW 1.

  9. 06 Russian Cipher Cracked. Receive Radio Intercepts. Croat not triggered. Resource to Western Front.

  10. 15 Treaty of London. Two failures on Polish Front, got it back 1 space. Need to start paying attention to Carpathian.

  11. 18 Von Lettow-Vorbeck. Victory. Czech did not trigger, Carpathian back to Premzyl.

  12. 30 Nivelle Offensive. Victory. Hungarian does not trigger. Great Retreat is successful, Carpathians back to Przemisl.

  13. 22 Romania Joins Allies. Hungarian triggers. Carpathian back, Romanian back one.

  14. 27 Provisional Gov. Takes Charge. Italians do not advance. Add resource to Eastern Front.

  15. 04 Battle of Mons. Victory. Croat does not trigger. Push back Romanian but not Carpathian.

  16. 20 Strafexpedition. Czech in Revolt, fail all actions, NW -1.

  17. 24 Danube Flotilla Sails. Victory. Czech out of Revolt, Carpathians back 1.

  18. 19 Battle of Ctesiphon. Victory. Croat triggered into Revolt, roll 5 to remove Revolt. NW 1.

  19. 21 Brusilov Offensive. Spend 1 Radio Intercept to prevent Carpathian advance. Czech and Hungarian in Revolt. Hungarian back out of Revolt. NW 0.

  20. 25 Death of Franz Jpseph. Italians advance. Dangerous. Need to deal with the Italians.

  21. 02 Drive into Galicia. Hungarian into Revolt. And back out of Revolt. I need to deal with these soon.

  22. 12 Battle of Dogger Bank. Victory. Romanian offensive failed.

  23. 33 Battle of Passchendaele. Victory. Croat not triggered. Romanian back 1.

  24. 11 Putnik Reclaims Belgrade. Victory. Croat triggered. Italian back 2.

  25. 01 Second Army Out of Position. Fail everywhere. Need to start spending resources.

  26. 26 Fighting in the Trentino. Defeat. Carpathian advances to Budapest, spend a MacKensen…roll 4 with a +1 for Czech, that's a big fail. NW 1.

  27. 14 Gallipolli Campaign. Victory. Romanain pushed back. Getting hairy.

  28. 34 Hungarian Food Shortages. Hungarian in Revolt, this is all three, if I don't pass here I lose the game. Only one action…roll 1, need to employ German Staff Operation from Western Front, roll 4 and saved.

  29. 29 Ontranto Barrage. Defeat. This frees up resource in Naval. Romanian back to Debrecen. NW -1.

  30. 17 Bulgaria Joins the War. Place the Bulgarian Trench Line.

  31. 39 Diaz Takes Command. Romanian back 1, getting sketchy, need start beating these fronts back and getting stuff out of Revolt.

  32. 31 Kerensky Offensive. Romanian and Carpathian in their 2 spaces. Croat out of Revolt.

  33. 05 Battle of Tannenburg. Victory. German Aid to move Carpathian back 1.

  34. 43 Peace Feelers. Retreat Carpathian by 1. All in Revolt. Hungarian back out.

  35. 49 National Parliament Reconvened. I do not understand the effect "National readjustment is successful." Ok this means I can get all of the Revolts out for free. Very helpful

  36. 50 Czech Declaration of Independence. Spend an Aid to keep the Czechs out of Revolt.

  37. 37 Caporetto Offensive. Ugly, the Italians are on the move. Spend a Radio Intercept to cancel Italian advance. Croat Revolt, this is bad, Italians need a natural 6 to move back. I think I pretty much lost this game. Italians back 1 with help from MacKensen.

  38. 40 Toscani Armstice. Italians back 1. NW -4.

  39. 46 Dismissal of Conrad. Italian and Carpathian advance, cancel the Carpathian, Carpathians back, Italians back with some help from Mackensen. NW -1.

  40. 48 D'Esperey Breaks Out. Balkan advances into Vienna and that's the game. That one snuck up on me!

AAR

I played the revolts incorrectly two ways:

  1. The game ends instantly when all three are in Revolt. I played that they had to be out of Revolt at the end of the turn.
  2. Along with that, I played that ties lose when resolving adjustments, when in fact, ties and greater move loyalty to the right.

I'm figuring these more or less balance each other out.

The Balkan Front definitely blindsided me. Did not see that coming at all.

Some things I did well were:

  1. Stocking up on Resources early which let me amass enough wins to remove the Polish Front via The Great Retreat. I think this is critical, I can't imagine winning the game without this.

  2. Revolts don't have to be cleared immediately, but it is important as above to keep loyalty a bit to the right. I may still be missing important techniques for controlling Revolts.

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What to play next?

Deciding what to play next is always a tough call when faced with a closet full of games, all of which were purchased with intent to play. Here's one I'm dealing with the decision.

  • Something New: this means both something new to me and a game which has been published recently, within the last two or three years.
  • Something Classic: I've acquired a number of games properly considered "classic" which haven't yet been played. The current example would be PanzerGruppe Guderian.
  • Something Again: mastery requires constant practice, which means playing games many, many times to allow nuance to appear.
  • Something Vietnam: as I'm on a Vietnam binge. I don't have all the Vietnam games ever published, but I can say that I have a lot of them, and probably more than most people.
  • Something Obscure: as it's fun to poke around in the dustier corners of game design.
  • Something Different: break away from the same old publishers and try a game from one of the new kids on the block. Or, conversely, dip into legacy with a classic tried and true.
  • Something Light: once in a while it's nice to actually finish a game all the way through in one sitting, in an hour or two.
  • Something Heavy: if possible, it's nice to set up something big and complicated which can be left out for days or weeks or even months, for a leisurely stroll through a very large or long game.

There are surely many more ways to choose, but the above method keeps me busy enough, helps me get both breadth and depth into my play, and provides me with a sense of progress.

The odd man out

When there is an odd man out:

  • Have a solo game ready to play.
  • Keep score or advise on a game in progress.
  • Referee a game in progress.