Serbia shall live! Serbia '14 4th Invasion AAR - Central Powers conceded turn 150

[ComradeP]

I'll show the active areas of the front at the start of each day. Mostly the end of my 06:00, some at the start (screenshots taken at a later time).

Most objectives are timed ("limited"), they'll disappear after a certain turn. The owner at the end of that turn gets the points (or rather, if I hold them the Central Powers don't get points).

Day 2, 06:00 October 8th 1915. Normal conditions. Turn 8.

Screenshots were taken at the start of my turn.



The main Drina II Division front is quiet. There are 5 Landsturm Brigades crossing the Sava. 3 regular, 2 mountain.

On Ada Ciganlija / Zigeuner Insel (the 100 point objective with the pontoon bridge north of it in the central part of the map), the units of the Drina II Division that started there have pulled back as they were sitting ducks for the German MG's and field guns on the other bank. I need to hold the objective until the end of turn 13.

German 43. Reserve Division and 44. Reserve Divisions have moved to the island but can't capture the VH due to Serbian ZOCs. It's a bit cheap, but effective. The 26. Infanterie Division is moving up to the front from the rear.

The Drina II Division bridge engineers are packing up their bridge to the island, I was hoping I could preserve the bridge. It worked in the end, but the engineers took stiff losses.

It's worth noting that the 44. Reserve Division might be supposed to secure a beachhead across the Sava against a Disrupted unit in a bunker. In our case, the assaulting unit became Disrupted and I moved a border guard unit into the hex in two turns.

In Beograd, units of Austro-Hungarian 59. Infanterie Division are moving in from the north. Beograd has been reduced to rubble in its entirety. The 150 point VH is Kalemegdan fortress. Two naval gun units are positioned there at the start of the scenario, but the hex is very difficult to hold.  A-H 57. Infanterie Division is moving into Beograd from the north-west.

Most of the units in the Beograd area have yellow/red Fatigue from the bombardment the previous days. The Central Powers have some serious firepower in the area.

The new rule that gives siege guns improved performance against bunkers can really be felt.

Historically, the Serbians seems to have held it until turn 21, October 9th/10th. That's nearly impossible in the game. The 250 point objective in central Beograd is Konak Palace, which also has to be held until turn 21. That is unlikely as well.



Semendria Island has been evacuated, again to avoid being blasted to bits. The Danube I Division bridge engineers are packing up their pontoon bridge. The Semendria Island objective has to be held until turn 21, which won't happen due to the evacuation. Semendria town, the 100 point VP south of the island, needs to be held until turn 37. The town is reduced to rubble due to the Central Powers bombardment pre-scenario start.

The German III Armeekorps on the other side of the Danube, consisting of  25. Reserve Division and 6. Infanterie Division, is Fixed (repeatedly) until the 9th.

The Drina I Division faces Bavarian 11. Infanterie Division and 105. Infanterie Division, which start on Temesziget island (the central area with the town on the left and the marsh/forest on the right) with a river between them and the Drina I Division.

107. Infanterie Division lands on the island in front of the green border guard units.

X Reservekorps crosses the Danube in the north-eastern corner with 101. Infanterie Division and 103. Infanterie Division. The Branicevo Detachment is moving into position.

In terms of casualties, the fighting in Beograd is bloody. The Entente naval guns in Kalemegdan fortress sank a river boat and damaged another before being knocked out.