Had Mark over yesterday for another attempt at Pursuit of Glory. It went pretty smoothly, and we got through the end of Turn 3, which is pretty much an extra turn, and last time we were on a script.
Mark took the Central Powers again, which is just as well, as I’m just not sure what they should do. Or, maybe, do first.
I went for the expected opening and went for the Russo-British Assault. Pretty standard, took Basra, attacked on the flank of the Turkish line in the Caucuses and knocked a unit out permanently, despite Turkish Withdrawal. Past that, things have not gone so well on the Russian front. The Turks got some good reinforcements in, and advanced in a couple places as well as extended the line into Azerbaijan before the Russians could do much. I used Enver Goes East at the beginning of the second turn, and the main attack that generated got good weather and knocked me out of Kars. However, between a blizzard and the assault, the second one knocked out the Stanke Bey unit.
That helped me zip a spare cavalry division into Trabzon, besieging the fort, and immediately focusing all Turkish attention there. The Turks were already in Kars, and the end of the second turn saw our first sieges (the Turks barely missed forcing my unit back out on the last round). Thankfully, Kars held out while Trabzon fell.
If I had been thinking I would probably have either SRed the division out, or SRed some reinforcements in on the first round of turn 3. But I was happy to let it be a diversion, as it gave me time to redress the situation on the rest of the front (including driving back into Kars). I have yet to get to clearing out Azerbaijan, but there are spare troops nearby, and the rest of the front looks stable now.
Also, thanks to Kitchner on turn 2 and Asquith/Lloyd George Coalition on 3, I was able to turn some spare British RPs into Russian ones and rebuild much of the army, which had been fading fast.
Meanwhile, the Turks also got busy in Palestine and attempted to Liberate Suez before I had done much with it. He didn’t quite clear the west bank of the Suez Canal, but I’ve had no luck with driving him out either. Thankfully, the Jihad level is still low enough to keep a revolt from breaking out, but I’ve got to kick him out soon.
Also, the initial troubles in Russia meant I’ve had no chance to get into Persia, so the Turks managed to grab everything of worth with their Persian Push.
Progress in Mesopotamia has been slow, as I haven’t had the forces to feel comfortable stringing myself out, but some Indian Army Reinforcements landed the Tigris Corps in Basra at the end of turn 3, and things may be about to start moving.
Right now the Jihad level is 3, the VPs are at… 12? (have to look again), and the Allied Powers have a good lead in getting to a Total War commitment (Mark was complaining of a poor turn 3 hand). Technically, he’s in the lead, but I get the idea he should be doing better from other reports. I’ll have to look at them again. We’ve transferred the setup to Vassal, and should be continuing the game by email.