Empire Crumbling: A Hapsburg Eclipse AAR

[BanzaiCat]

Sorry about the hiatus - I was out of town for a week at a conference, which was great fun but put me behind at work, so last week was spent trying to catch up and make headway. I didn't have a lot of time for games unfortunately and pretty much devoted all my spare time to the podcast. In any case, here we go again!

Turn 009

Headline Phase:
Drina Campaign
On November 16, 1914, a well-equipped Austro-Hungarian army pushed Serbian forces from the Drina River line and captured the town of Lazarevac, outflanking the Serbs. This forced the Serbs to abandon Belgrade; however, Field Marshal Putnik planned an offensive against the exhausted Central Powers.

Event Resolution Phase:
Conduct this Serbian Battle
The only difference between miscellaneous and Serbian battles is, I cannot use my Resources markers to affect the die roll.

So us Austrians are facing the Serbs...let's see how my armies do! With a Battle Value of 3, I'll need a 4 or higher on one six-sided die to win this one.



Rolled 5, total 5

...and that's another Victory! I place the marker in the Victories spot on the game board. That'll give us a bit more breathing room.

Army Movement Phase:

- Polish
- Italian

Only the Polish Front moves this turn as the Italian Front isn't on the board yet.



Loyalty Adjustment Phase:
Czech

So the most rebellions of all three groups is rolled for this Turn. Figures.

Rolled 1d6 : 3

...yep, so much for that; the 3 is below their National Loyalty Rating of 4. The Czechs are getting upset about something in this game, and their Loyalty Marker moves one space further towards open revolt.



In fact, one more failed roll and they WILL be in revolt. The effect of this is twofold - there's a political and military effect.

With regards to politics, if any one Loyalty marker moves into the Revolt space, and is still there during the National Will phase, it counts as a defeat when calculating National Will. If all three Nationalities' markers are in the Revolt space, the game ends immediately due to 'ethnic collapse.'

And with regards to the military, each Revolt result will cause a -1 DRM to a particular track. For example, if the Czechs go into Revolt, they'll give a -1 DRM to all my offensives against the Polish and Carpathian Fronts. Not a good thing. Due to the above political rules, there can be two Revolts in effect at the same time and therefore two DRM subtractions from different fronts, but there can't be three Revolts (since that would end the game immediately due to too much Hapsburg partying and not enough trying to appease the masses).

Action Phase: 2

Since the Poles are in Tarnow (space 2) of the Polish Front track, they're not only two away from the capital, but they're also occupying a Strategic Site. I have to push them out. I'll spend my first Action on trying to do exactly that.

Rolled 1d6 : 6

Yes! We aced the attack and the Poles are sent retreating back to Krasnik (space 3). BUH BYE!



With my second Action, I have to try to increase Czech support. I prefer to be nice and do it through friendliness and free hugs rather than military oppression and a bunch of cancelled Czechs.



Rolled 1d6 : 2

I guess I deserved that failure after that awful, awful joke. The Czechs remain firmly near revolt...will the next turn bring collapse of their support?

Even if it does, I could still spend an Action to try to increase their support, just as I tried (and failed) here.

Kaiserschlact Phase:
Only occurs after the Kaiserschlact Event happens.

Fortress Reduction Phase:
Only occurs if it is behind the Carpathian Front.

National Will Phase: +1
Number of Victories: 2 (+2)
Number of Defeats: 1 (-1)
Number of Strategic Sites Occupied: 0
Total National Will: +1

We're finally in positive numbers for our National Will. Overall, the people are still supportive of the regime and the war effort, even though the Czechs are Prague-ably going to go into revolt soon...at least, if I cannot turn it around. We'll have to see what the next turn brings.

[Airborne Rifles]

With my second Action, I have to try to increase Czech support. I prefer to be nice and do it through friendliness and free hugs rather than military oppression and a bunch of cancelled Czechs.

Very nice. I imagine those Czechs are Hungary for independence!

[Staggerwing]

Easy now- The Anti-pun League probably doesn't have much patience Romanian. They'll be Balkan at all these puns.