Looking for EP '14 Clash of Empires opponents

[ComradeP]

I'd like to play the scenario from both sides, to see how the battle develops.

I'll probably write a DAR/AAR as well.

I'm looking for both a Central Powers side and a Russian side opponent.

I'd prefer to play with the following gentlemen's rules to make sure the design decisions have a good chance of working as intended according to the design document:

-The Russian 1st and 2nd Army don't directly support eachother, except for a corps or so from either/both armies to maintain contact, until they either advance in a converging manner into East Prussia or until one of them is in big trouble. I expect that with normal play, this is what happens naturally considering how far the armies are apart. This is also suggested in the design document.

-A cavalry raid by a division is fine, but for both sides moving (say) single cavalry units well into the enemy rear to capture objectives in a gamey manner, knowing that they probably won't be defended as both sides don't have rear area forces can cause problems. Again, I expect that the battle will evolve normally and that it won't be a problem, but I wanted to mention this as it can be a problem in such wide open scenarios with limited numbers of units. A surprise flanking move into enemy territory is legit and a good strategy, some cavalry unit way outside HQ range popping up 50 kilometres in your rear is just annoying. This being WWI, units are big but there are fewer of them compared to WWII and they're concentrated in certain areas.

-The Central Powers player doesn't attack 1st Army while it's Fixed in a manner that exploits its Fixed state due to there seemingly being no T-releases for infantry formations unless I missed them. It's up to the Russian player to make sure his troops are not caught of balance prior to being Fixed, but it helps if both sides use common sense to make sure the Fixed state feels natural. As before, I expect this to happen in any case, I just wanted to mention it as 1st Army becoming Fixed and randomly unfixing is an important part of the scenario, which can be exploited by someone who knows when it happens.

From how I interpret it, these are the things the design document suggest we avoid to make sure all the design decisions work as intended.

Feel free to suggest other houserules.

[jonnymacbrown]

I'd like to play the scenario from both sides, to see how the battle develops.

I'll probably write a DAR/AAR as well.

I'm looking for both a Central Powers side and a Russian side opponent.

I'd prefer to play with the following gentlemen's rules to make sure the design decisions have a good chance of working as intended according to the design document:

-The Russian 1st and 2nd Army don't directly support eachother, except for a corps or so from either/both armies to maintain contact, until they either advance in a converging manner into East Prussia or until one of them is in big trouble. I expect that with normal play, this is what happens naturally considering how far the armies are apart. This is also suggested in the design document.

-A cavalry raid by a division is fine, but for both sides moving (say) single cavalry units well into the enemy rear to capture objectives in a gamey manner, knowing that they probably won't be defended as both sides don't have rear area forces can cause problems. Again, I expect that the battle will evolve normally and that it won't be a problem, but I wanted to mention this as it can be a problem in such wide open scenarios with limited numbers of units. A surprise flanking move into enemy territory is legit and a good strategy, some cavalry unit way outside HQ range popping up 50 kilometres in your rear is just annoying. This being WWI, units are big but there are fewer of them compared to WWII and they're concentrated in certain areas.

-The Central Powers player doesn't attack 1st Army while it's Fixed in a manner that exploits its Fixed state due to there seemingly being no T-releases for infantry formations unless I missed them. It's up to the Russian player to make sure his troops are not caught of balance prior to being Fixed, but it helps if both sides use common sense to make sure the Fixed state feels natural. As before, I expect this to happen in any case, I just wanted to mention it as 1st Army becoming Fixed and randomly unfixing is an important part of the scenario, which can be exploited by someone who knows when it happens.

From how I interpret it, these are the things the design document suggest we avoid to make sure all the design decisions work as intended.

Feel free to suggest other houserules.

Ok I'll take Hindenburg if you still want someone. jonny
BTW you can't shift Russian units from one army to the other; it is prohibited.

[ComradeP]

Thanks for picking up the German glove!

If by "shift" you mean phyiscally move them over: that's what my first suggested gentleman rule implied. If by shift you mean: attach them, that is indeed prohibited by design as far as I can see. Geographically speaking, 1st Army will stay north/east of the Masurian Lakes (fortress Boyen might be a better reference point) and 2nd Army south of it with the exception of a situation where they meet up somewhere in East Prussia, west of the Masurian Lakes in the case of a successful advance.

When attacking, I'll also just assume the map's western end is actually at about the edge of the Tannenberg scenario, which removes the problem for you of having to hold 110 kilometres of the Vistula/Drewenz riverbank with 8 units.

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Any takers for the Russian side?

[jonnymacbrown]

Thanks for picking up the German glove!

If by "shift" you mean phyiscally move them over: that's what my first suggested gentleman rule implied. If by shift you mean: attach them, that is indeed prohibited by design as far as I can see. Geographically speaking, 1st Army will stay north/east of the Masurian Lakes (fortress Boyen might be a better reference point) and 2nd Army south of it with the exception of a situation where they meet up somewhere in East Prussia, west of the Masurian Lakes in the case of a successful advance.

When attacking, I'll also just assume the map's western end is actually at about the edge of the Tannenberg scenario, which removes the problem for you of having to hold 110 kilometres of the Vistula riverbank with 8 units.

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I think you should feel free to ride where ever you want with those Cossacks. Also if you want to march any 1st Army units west, again, feel free to do do. You should have complete and unhindered operational command Comrade!