Just caught up very nice but albeit a bit confusing. You should try to improve the sudetenland though while you can. And for some reason the republicans always get thrased by the fascist spain.
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Part VIII
The War Ministry buzzed with activity. Most of the officers inside found their Christmas vacations cut short. There had been some grumbling at first about the abrupt end to their leave. The words had subsided in a few hours, partly because the men were too busy to do anything but mostly because they were all aware of the importance of the job and the need to complete it quickly. The fact that the President, the Army Chief of Staff, the head of the General Staff, and the Foreign Minister worked beside them certainly didn't hurt their attitude either.
"No, no, no," Field Marshal Machnik shouted as a young clerk hastily conscripted from the Foreign Office placed a stack of manuals on armored warfare in a crate intended for the Republican Minister of Armaments. "Put those in that crate there, by General Krejci." The clerk nodded and walked away, dropping the books in a crate by Major Stavrick that would be shipped to Inspector General of Artillery.
Kamil Krofta tried and failed to suppress a laugh as Machnik chased after the hapless clerk again. He turned to Edvard Benes, continuing their conversation. "So, Mr. President, the diplomatic groundwork is now set. The crates can be shipped through Romanian territory and they will transport them to Valencia. Within two weeks, all this material will be in Madrid."
"Has the Polish ambassador stopped complaining yet?" Benes asked.
"Yes, once I showed him how this shipment, less than 500,000 pounds stirling, compares with the five million pounds in aid we've donated to the Polish army."
Behind them, there came a loud crash as a crate containing a dozen Czech submachine guns and their schematics opened from the bottom and the contents fell to the ground.
"I'm surprised how little work we needed to put this together," Benes said, ignoring the clean-up of the submachine guns. "I expected complaints from everyone but the devil's grandmother. Instead, the Poles and the Romanians agreed to it without much fuss. The National Assembly agreed to fund the shipment with only a few dissenting voices."
"Well, Edvard, most people have come around to the view that the Republicans are in a losing struggle, what with Josef Kalfus' report being leaked to the press."
"Yes," Benes said, with a thin smile on his face, "shameful business that."
For once, Luis was glad for the cool weather and his thin uniform. The agony of long marches in the middle of the summer would remain with him for the rest of his life, only slightly dulled with time. This march, however, was almost pleasant. Moving through Republican territory, the long line of infantry halted briefly at supply depots for food, rather than having to carry it with them. A few horses had been provided to carry the soldiers' gear. Equipped only with his rifle, a shovel, some ammunition, and a few smaller items, Luis felt like he could walk all the way to Moscow.
The good feelings died with the sound of approaching aircraft. Without even looking at the sky, Luis shouted 'scatter' to his men and raced for the side of the road. He dove into the long grass and only then looked up. He saw the approaching form of three bi-planes. The aircraft, probably He-51's of the Fascist Condor Legion, dove at the rapidly fleeing force of Republican soldiers. At a height of a few hundred meters, the three bombers pulled up and released a pair of bombs each, none exploding near Luis' platoon. The aircraft turned around and came at the Republican unit from another direction. A few men, either new recruits or fools, stood and began to fire at the dive bombers with their rifles without any effect. The He-51's opened up with their machine guns, strafing the infantry regiment. After only a single pass, the aircraft broke off and flew north. Five minutes later, the regiment was on the road once more to Tortosa, with a few men left behind to care for the dead and wounded.
The next few days followed the same pattern: long, relatively easy marches broken up by brief attack runs by Nationalist aircraft. Colonel Lopez continued to urge the men to march on, reading them more and more reports of an overwhelming Nationalist army closing on the small garrison in Tortosa. He also reminded them of the havoc defenders could inflict on attackers making river crossings. The second thought spurred the men to greater heights than the first; they had participated in the disastrous attacks on Lleida and were eager for revenge. They had also suffered of privation throughout the winter and would soon have a visible enemy in front of them.
On the night of the ninth, Luis' regiment stopped in front of a bridge leading into Tortosa. There was talk of skirmishing along the Ebro River; the Republican reinforcements had clearly arrived just in the knick of time. As Luis' platoon sat beside a fire, devouring their dinners, he noticed a number of men working on the bridge late into the night. Luis saw several other men standing beside them, armed with submachine guns, guarding the workers. He then realized the identity of the strangers: a Durruti Work Gang complete with guards.
The soldiers sacked out immediately after dinner, knowing that the next few days would be long and difficult. Luis lay quiet for several hours before slipping out of his bedding. He made his way through the camp without a sound. He walked past a sentry from another battalion, a man who wouldn't recognize him. Luis approached a smaller camp that lay beside the bridge, a lone guard standing vigilantly in darkness.
"Who goes there?" the guard inquired.
"A sergent from the regiment there," Luis replied, pointing at the encampment. He pulled one of his precious cigarettes from one of his belt pouches. "You have a light? Can't smoke near the sentries and I don't want to wake anyone up inside."
The guard visibly relaxed and shook his head. "Sorry, I never touch the things."
"Oh well, thanks." Luis began to leave, but stopped mid-turn. "By the way, have you..." Luis lunged at the man in the middle of the sentence. The guard couldn't even manage a shout of distress before the Republican sergent slammed him into the ground, knocking the wind out of him. The sentry blacked out as Luis punched him in the face.
Shaking his fist in pain, Luis walked through the camp, rousing the prisoners in their tent. "Get out of here," he said, his face shielded by darkness.
Glancing at one another, the dozen men fled down the river, one of them quietly whispering 'vaya con Dios' as he raced past the sergent. The job done, Luis casually walked back to the camp. The guard and the prisoners wouldn't be able to identify him and Colonel Lopez wouldn't stop the entire regiment for an investigation. He'd have to keep a low profile for a few weeks, but the upcoming fighting would probably make everyone forget about the incident. Returning to his blankets, Luis fell asleep, satisfied despite the promise of combat tomorrow.
With the early thaw, General Franco launched his spring offensive on March 1st, 1938. Two armies, totaling 34 divisions, larger than the entire Republican field army, marched from Pamplona and Lleida intending to attack the two divisions stationed in Tortosa. While the river crossing would severely increase Nationalist losses, the region was lightly defended compared to Zaragoza. It was also more distant from the Republican reserves in Madrid. Spies and aerial recon warned General Miaja over the impending attack. He shifted two divisions from Zaragoza into Tortosa and received permission from the Republican government to transport up to five divisions from the Madrid garrison to Tortosa as well.
Nationalist air units attempted to delay the Republican reinforcements, but they arrived just before the Nationalist offensive struck. With four divisions and all the supplies General Miaja could scrape together, the Republicans managed to inflict heavy losses on the Nationalist assaults across the Ebro River. With the promise of more reinforcements from the capital, the Republican units gave ground only slowly and forced the Nationalists to pay deeply for every meter. To Nationalist units fresh from easy victories in the north, this stubborn resistance came as a shock. With overwhelming numerical superiority, however, they forced the Republican units back from the Ebro and brought up reinforcements of their own. The 18th Division, a weak Republican division on the right flank, shattered under an attack by six Nationalist militia divisions. The Nationalist Pamplona Army proceeded to advance rapidly around the Republican flank.
With imminent victory in their eyes, the appearance of five fresh Republican divisions came as a shock to the Pamplona Army. Several Nationalist divisions were battered within a few short days of fighting and the rest of the army retreated in disorder as the Republicans cut their supply line. General Emilio Mola, in overall command of the attack, sent the entire Pamplona force from the field, recognizing that the units were beaten. He concentrated his hopes of victory on the 19 divisions from Lleida. As March ended, the battle in Tortosa continued to rage, the ultimate victor unclear.
Excerpt from Wars of the Iberian Penninsula: 1789-1945
"Thank you for coming so quickly, gentlemen," President Benes said in a grave voice to his cabinet and top military officers. "We face a dire situation and we need a response within a few hours. Mr. Krofta, would you care to give us a briefing of the situation, please?"
"Of course, Mr. President," the Foreign Minister said as he rose from his seat. "Two days ago, Adolf Hitler invited Kurt von Schuschnigg to his retreat in Bavaria to discuss Austro-German relations. At the meeting, Herr Hitler delivered what was in effect an ultimatium: accede to German occupation or face an invasion. The Austrian Chancellor refused and called a plebiscite, but Nazi sympathizers began rioting throughout Austria and the Wehrmacht mobilized on the border. We've received numerous calls from the Austria ambassador, begging for our support."
"Gentlemen, if we give the Austrians full diplomatic support, it's possible that we and the rest of the Little Entente will end up in a war with Nazi Germany. Field Marshal Machnik, what is the state of our defenses?"
"Mr. President, this is our current defense plan, updated on March 12th with the addition of the 14th Division," the Field Marshal stated as he pointed to a map resting on an easel nearby.
"As you can see," Machnik continued, "we have light defensive forces stationed along the Sudeten Line with heavier forces garrisoning the weaker fortresses in Slavkov and Troppau. A mobile reserve is stationed in Prague, ready to reinforce any beleaguered portion of the defensive line or support our allies if the need arises."
"Field Marshal," said the Prime Minister, speaking for the first time, "in your estimation, are we ready for war?"
"No sir," the Field Marshal replied immediately. "At the end of the year, I would be confident about our ability to repel a Nazi attack, but at this point, no, we would be hard pressed to wage a successful war against Germany."
"And if we abandon our ally?" Benes asked. "How prepared will we be then? Will our other allies continue to support us?"
"That's a question for the Foreign Ministry, sir," Machnik stated.
"Yes, it is," Krofta said, taking the floor. "I doubt the Poles would stay with us, the Romanians, however, would most likely remain with us. Our diplomatic envoys to Yugoslavia and Hungaria, which are attempting to get them to join the Little Entente, would certainly be met with failure. The Hungarians may even ally themselves with Germany."
"Very well, gentlemen, our course of action is clear: we will stand with our ally in her hour of need." There was reluctant agreement from the rest of the men in the room. None of them wanted this war, but they knew they had no choice. The nations of Eastern Europe had bound themselves together; it was too late to escape now. "Mr. Krofta, please arrange a telephone conversation with the Chancellor of Austria, I will tell him of our decision myself. Field Marshal Machnik, put the military on alert and mobilize the reserves..."
Anschluss
January 6th 1938, Prague
The War Ministry buzzed with activity. Most of the officers inside found their Christmas vacations cut short. There had been some grumbling at first about the abrupt end to their leave. The words had subsided in a few hours, partly because the men were too busy to do anything but mostly because they were all aware of the importance of the job and the need to complete it quickly. The fact that the President, the Army Chief of Staff, the head of the General Staff, and the Foreign Minister worked beside them certainly didn't hurt their attitude either.
"No, no, no," Field Marshal Machnik shouted as a young clerk hastily conscripted from the Foreign Office placed a stack of manuals on armored warfare in a crate intended for the Republican Minister of Armaments. "Put those in that crate there, by General Krejci." The clerk nodded and walked away, dropping the books in a crate by Major Stavrick that would be shipped to Inspector General of Artillery.
Kamil Krofta tried and failed to suppress a laugh as Machnik chased after the hapless clerk again. He turned to Edvard Benes, continuing their conversation. "So, Mr. President, the diplomatic groundwork is now set. The crates can be shipped through Romanian territory and they will transport them to Valencia. Within two weeks, all this material will be in Madrid."
"Has the Polish ambassador stopped complaining yet?" Benes asked.
"Yes, once I showed him how this shipment, less than 500,000 pounds stirling, compares with the five million pounds in aid we've donated to the Polish army."
Behind them, there came a loud crash as a crate containing a dozen Czech submachine guns and their schematics opened from the bottom and the contents fell to the ground.
"I'm surprised how little work we needed to put this together," Benes said, ignoring the clean-up of the submachine guns. "I expected complaints from everyone but the devil's grandmother. Instead, the Poles and the Romanians agreed to it without much fuss. The National Assembly agreed to fund the shipment with only a few dissenting voices."
"Well, Edvard, most people have come around to the view that the Republicans are in a losing struggle, what with Josef Kalfus' report being leaked to the press."
"Yes," Benes said, with a thin smile on his face, "shameful business that."
--------------------------------
March 5th 1938, Zaragoza
For once, Luis was glad for the cool weather and his thin uniform. The agony of long marches in the middle of the summer would remain with him for the rest of his life, only slightly dulled with time. This march, however, was almost pleasant. Moving through Republican territory, the long line of infantry halted briefly at supply depots for food, rather than having to carry it with them. A few horses had been provided to carry the soldiers' gear. Equipped only with his rifle, a shovel, some ammunition, and a few smaller items, Luis felt like he could walk all the way to Moscow.
The good feelings died with the sound of approaching aircraft. Without even looking at the sky, Luis shouted 'scatter' to his men and raced for the side of the road. He dove into the long grass and only then looked up. He saw the approaching form of three bi-planes. The aircraft, probably He-51's of the Fascist Condor Legion, dove at the rapidly fleeing force of Republican soldiers. At a height of a few hundred meters, the three bombers pulled up and released a pair of bombs each, none exploding near Luis' platoon. The aircraft turned around and came at the Republican unit from another direction. A few men, either new recruits or fools, stood and began to fire at the dive bombers with their rifles without any effect. The He-51's opened up with their machine guns, strafing the infantry regiment. After only a single pass, the aircraft broke off and flew north. Five minutes later, the regiment was on the road once more to Tortosa, with a few men left behind to care for the dead and wounded.
The next few days followed the same pattern: long, relatively easy marches broken up by brief attack runs by Nationalist aircraft. Colonel Lopez continued to urge the men to march on, reading them more and more reports of an overwhelming Nationalist army closing on the small garrison in Tortosa. He also reminded them of the havoc defenders could inflict on attackers making river crossings. The second thought spurred the men to greater heights than the first; they had participated in the disastrous attacks on Lleida and were eager for revenge. They had also suffered of privation throughout the winter and would soon have a visible enemy in front of them.
On the night of the ninth, Luis' regiment stopped in front of a bridge leading into Tortosa. There was talk of skirmishing along the Ebro River; the Republican reinforcements had clearly arrived just in the knick of time. As Luis' platoon sat beside a fire, devouring their dinners, he noticed a number of men working on the bridge late into the night. Luis saw several other men standing beside them, armed with submachine guns, guarding the workers. He then realized the identity of the strangers: a Durruti Work Gang complete with guards.
The soldiers sacked out immediately after dinner, knowing that the next few days would be long and difficult. Luis lay quiet for several hours before slipping out of his bedding. He made his way through the camp without a sound. He walked past a sentry from another battalion, a man who wouldn't recognize him. Luis approached a smaller camp that lay beside the bridge, a lone guard standing vigilantly in darkness.
"Who goes there?" the guard inquired.
"A sergent from the regiment there," Luis replied, pointing at the encampment. He pulled one of his precious cigarettes from one of his belt pouches. "You have a light? Can't smoke near the sentries and I don't want to wake anyone up inside."
The guard visibly relaxed and shook his head. "Sorry, I never touch the things."
"Oh well, thanks." Luis began to leave, but stopped mid-turn. "By the way, have you..." Luis lunged at the man in the middle of the sentence. The guard couldn't even manage a shout of distress before the Republican sergent slammed him into the ground, knocking the wind out of him. The sentry blacked out as Luis punched him in the face.
Shaking his fist in pain, Luis walked through the camp, rousing the prisoners in their tent. "Get out of here," he said, his face shielded by darkness.
Glancing at one another, the dozen men fled down the river, one of them quietly whispering 'vaya con Dios' as he raced past the sergent. The job done, Luis casually walked back to the camp. The guard and the prisoners wouldn't be able to identify him and Colonel Lopez wouldn't stop the entire regiment for an investigation. He'd have to keep a low profile for a few weeks, but the upcoming fighting would probably make everyone forget about the incident. Returning to his blankets, Luis fell asleep, satisfied despite the promise of combat tomorrow.
--------------------------------
With the early thaw, General Franco launched his spring offensive on March 1st, 1938. Two armies, totaling 34 divisions, larger than the entire Republican field army, marched from Pamplona and Lleida intending to attack the two divisions stationed in Tortosa. While the river crossing would severely increase Nationalist losses, the region was lightly defended compared to Zaragoza. It was also more distant from the Republican reserves in Madrid. Spies and aerial recon warned General Miaja over the impending attack. He shifted two divisions from Zaragoza into Tortosa and received permission from the Republican government to transport up to five divisions from the Madrid garrison to Tortosa as well.
Battle of Tortosa, March 1938
Nationalist air units attempted to delay the Republican reinforcements, but they arrived just before the Nationalist offensive struck. With four divisions and all the supplies General Miaja could scrape together, the Republicans managed to inflict heavy losses on the Nationalist assaults across the Ebro River. With the promise of more reinforcements from the capital, the Republican units gave ground only slowly and forced the Nationalists to pay deeply for every meter. To Nationalist units fresh from easy victories in the north, this stubborn resistance came as a shock. With overwhelming numerical superiority, however, they forced the Republican units back from the Ebro and brought up reinforcements of their own. The 18th Division, a weak Republican division on the right flank, shattered under an attack by six Nationalist militia divisions. The Nationalist Pamplona Army proceeded to advance rapidly around the Republican flank.
With imminent victory in their eyes, the appearance of five fresh Republican divisions came as a shock to the Pamplona Army. Several Nationalist divisions were battered within a few short days of fighting and the rest of the army retreated in disorder as the Republicans cut their supply line. General Emilio Mola, in overall command of the attack, sent the entire Pamplona force from the field, recognizing that the units were beaten. He concentrated his hopes of victory on the 19 divisions from Lleida. As March ended, the battle in Tortosa continued to rage, the ultimate victor unclear.
Battle of Tortosa at the End of March, 1938
Excerpt from Wars of the Iberian Penninsula: 1789-1945
--------------------------------
March 26th 1938, Prague
"Thank you for coming so quickly, gentlemen," President Benes said in a grave voice to his cabinet and top military officers. "We face a dire situation and we need a response within a few hours. Mr. Krofta, would you care to give us a briefing of the situation, please?"
"Of course, Mr. President," the Foreign Minister said as he rose from his seat. "Two days ago, Adolf Hitler invited Kurt von Schuschnigg to his retreat in Bavaria to discuss Austro-German relations. At the meeting, Herr Hitler delivered what was in effect an ultimatium: accede to German occupation or face an invasion. The Austrian Chancellor refused and called a plebiscite, but Nazi sympathizers began rioting throughout Austria and the Wehrmacht mobilized on the border. We've received numerous calls from the Austria ambassador, begging for our support."
"Gentlemen, if we give the Austrians full diplomatic support, it's possible that we and the rest of the Little Entente will end up in a war with Nazi Germany. Field Marshal Machnik, what is the state of our defenses?"
"Mr. President, this is our current defense plan, updated on March 12th with the addition of the 14th Division," the Field Marshal stated as he pointed to a map resting on an easel nearby.
"As you can see," Machnik continued, "we have light defensive forces stationed along the Sudeten Line with heavier forces garrisoning the weaker fortresses in Slavkov and Troppau. A mobile reserve is stationed in Prague, ready to reinforce any beleaguered portion of the defensive line or support our allies if the need arises."
"Field Marshal," said the Prime Minister, speaking for the first time, "in your estimation, are we ready for war?"
"No sir," the Field Marshal replied immediately. "At the end of the year, I would be confident about our ability to repel a Nazi attack, but at this point, no, we would be hard pressed to wage a successful war against Germany."
"And if we abandon our ally?" Benes asked. "How prepared will we be then? Will our other allies continue to support us?"
"That's a question for the Foreign Ministry, sir," Machnik stated.
"Yes, it is," Krofta said, taking the floor. "I doubt the Poles would stay with us, the Romanians, however, would most likely remain with us. Our diplomatic envoys to Yugoslavia and Hungaria, which are attempting to get them to join the Little Entente, would certainly be met with failure. The Hungarians may even ally themselves with Germany."
"Very well, gentlemen, our course of action is clear: we will stand with our ally in her hour of need." There was reluctant agreement from the rest of the men in the room. None of them wanted this war, but they knew they had no choice. The nations of Eastern Europe had bound themselves together; it was too late to escape now. "Mr. Krofta, please arrange a telephone conversation with the Chancellor of Austria, I will tell him of our decision myself. Field Marshal Machnik, put the military on alert and mobilize the reserves..."
billy bob said:
Thanks for reading, but which parts are confusing? Is it the references to the Spanish Civil War or am I too vague in putting game terms (dissent, tech tranfers, etc) in a more fictional setting?
I'm impressed that Tortosa's held on as long as it did with 34 attacking Nationalist divisions. Do they have full manpower? I know it's a mountain province across a river so that must hurt a lot too. I hope the Republicans hold on myself, for Luis' sake. 
Mettermrck said:I'm impressed that Tortosa's held on as long as it did with 34 attacking Nationalist divisions. Do they have full manpower? I know it's a mountain province across a river so that must hurt a lot too. I hope the Republicans hold on myself, for Luis' sake.
Yeah, I had been watching them, waiting for the Anschluss event to trigger. I see the 34 divisions hit, I figure they'll collapse immediately (~35% dissent, three of the four divisions militia) and then they surprise me by holding out long enough for reinforcements to arrive (3 militia and 2 regular IIRC) even with the Nationalists bombing them daily.
Acesand8s1003 said:
The first. It is very good though. I played a czech game today and ill manage level 9 along sudetenland, and 4 along extended sudetenland including slovak capitol.
Acesand8s1003 said:
Don't have HoI, although I had a quick go a while back and just didnt know where to start. Might have to try my luck again when HoI2 comes out
Mini-AAR Conclusion
Sorry for the delay. I've had some major stuff to do for classes and I've had some trouble with my events. I wrote most of my events after the game started and apparently you need to write them before you start it. So, most of my events refuse to fire. Well, a lesson for next time.
The traditional Little Entente consisted of Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, and Romania and was designed to combat a resurgent Hapsburg monarchy or a revanchist Hungary, which, as you can see in HOI, has a number of claims on its neighbors.
ARR:
Anyway, I played until September 1938. German declined to declare war on me over the Anschluss. If Czechoslovakia stands up to Germany and Germany doesn't declare war, then there is no Sudetenland event. Instead, Czechoslovakia gets the option to invite Yugoslavia and Hungary into its alliance via an event. Yugoslavia joined, Hungary refused.
In September, Germany instead has an event where it 'urges' Czechoslovakia to break up its alliance. Czechoslovakia can get rid of Yugoslavia/Hungary, the entire alliance, or refuse to the demands. The third option leads directly to war which is the one I planned on taking. Unfortunately, that was one of the events that refused to fire. I was going to wait for Danzig or War, but German kept asking Austria for territory and Austria was giving in. I kept reloading, they kept giving up, which just didn't fit with the scenario I had in mind. So, in late September, loaded as Germany, and just DOW'd Czechoslovakia.
Well, that's when things started to go sour. Most of Europe (including the Soviet Union) got sphere of influence events and DOW'd Germany. I invited Bulgaria into the Entente and they agreed, only to get the sphere of influence event, DOW Germany, leave my alliance, and join the Allies. Somehow, they were no longer at war with Germany anymore. The UK went with 'Declare War' in the Sphere of Influence event three times or so, yet never was at war with Germany. Eventually, they declared war on Germany as part of the Allies. Yugoslavia got the Sphere of Influence event, DOW'd Germany and left the Entente and joined the Allies. The Soviet Union also joined the Allies before I could get them to join my alliance.
At this point I decided to stop the AAR. Things had just gotten too crazy in the game and most of my alliance had abandoned me for the Allies (which I thought was impossible). I kept playing though, to see how the game played out.
A number of Soviet units were sent as exp. units to France. The French, naturally, didn't do anything. So, the Germans concentrated everything at myself, Poland, and Austria. The Germans advanced almost to Warsaw when the Romanians sent a bunch of exp. units. The Polish AI managed to push the Germans all the way back to the Oder River and took East Prussia. In Austria, Germany pushed to Wien and I committed all my reserves. A good dozen German divisions were encircled in Wien after I pushed south from the Sudeten Line. The Germans regrouped and pushed back to Wien. I tried to stop them, but my units got pushed back and Germany annexed Austria. Fortunately, about 10 Austrian divisions were left in Czechoslovakia under three high skill generals. I disbanded the units to re-equip my battered units and used the generals to replace my 1 skill Lt. Generals.
Before my units could regain their org, something like 30 German divisions struck Bratislava, facing 11 of my divisions with v. low org (~15). I immediately retreated and Germany advanced north, cutting off the Czechs from the Slovaks. They continued to attack into Poland and the Oder defense line was broken. The Germans surrounded most of the Polish field army and advanced on Warsaw again.
The Germans pushed up to the Vistula then began to attack me once more. There was a climatic battle at Troppau, with most of my army (something like 20 divisions in lvl 5 fortresses) against 40-something German divisions. The battle raged for a few weeks...until the Germans won. With only a few divisions available, Slakov fell to a small German attack. Prague and Plzen were essentially defenseless, a few divisions and no fortresses and several dozen German divisions preparing to attack. So, I did the only thing I could, I broke out.
Romania was too far away to reach, Austria had been annexed, and Poland was battling in Warsaw. The only option was France. I used up the last part of my manpower to reinforce my brigaded infantry and my armor. I attacked Wurzburg, only one province from the Maginot Line. The two division garrison fell quickly and I immediately attacked the next province while the battered divisions (most in the low teens strength wise) followed up. The next province fell after a long fight and the battered units arrived just before the Germans re-took Wurzburg. My units walked into France, giving them 30 divisions, though most needed reinforcements severely. I don't know if they would go to France if I got annexed, but at least it certainly guarenteed France wouldn't fall.
That's when I stopped. My last VP province fell and I expected imminent annexation. Poland lost Warsaw and Romania lost most its army, so imagine it will fall after, unless the USSR had the strength to defeat the Germans before then.
As for my general impressions, it was one of the better games I'd played. I think the Entente and Germany were about equal in strength and I held them off for about two years. In the end, I was simply overpowered. I wasn't able to research enough tech and keep up in the arms race. Poland did very well with Romanian support and Austria is very defensible with all its rivers and mountains. All in all, the multiple alliance structure of HOI2 should be very promising, if the problem of allies leaving the alliance for the major ones doesn't occur. That's what made this game disappointing. I'm also looking forward to making a battle scenario where Poland, Austria, and Czechoslovakia can just fight Germany.
Sorry for the delay. I've had some major stuff to do for classes and I've had some trouble with my events. I wrote most of my events after the game started and apparently you need to write them before you start it. So, most of my events refuse to fire. Well, a lesson for next time.
billy bob said:
The traditional Little Entente consisted of Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, and Romania and was designed to combat a resurgent Hapsburg monarchy or a revanchist Hungary, which, as you can see in HOI, has a number of claims on its neighbors.
ARR:
Anyway, I played until September 1938. German declined to declare war on me over the Anschluss. If Czechoslovakia stands up to Germany and Germany doesn't declare war, then there is no Sudetenland event. Instead, Czechoslovakia gets the option to invite Yugoslavia and Hungary into its alliance via an event. Yugoslavia joined, Hungary refused.
In September, Germany instead has an event where it 'urges' Czechoslovakia to break up its alliance. Czechoslovakia can get rid of Yugoslavia/Hungary, the entire alliance, or refuse to the demands. The third option leads directly to war which is the one I planned on taking. Unfortunately, that was one of the events that refused to fire. I was going to wait for Danzig or War, but German kept asking Austria for territory and Austria was giving in. I kept reloading, they kept giving up, which just didn't fit with the scenario I had in mind. So, in late September, loaded as Germany, and just DOW'd Czechoslovakia.
Well, that's when things started to go sour. Most of Europe (including the Soviet Union) got sphere of influence events and DOW'd Germany. I invited Bulgaria into the Entente and they agreed, only to get the sphere of influence event, DOW Germany, leave my alliance, and join the Allies. Somehow, they were no longer at war with Germany anymore. The UK went with 'Declare War' in the Sphere of Influence event three times or so, yet never was at war with Germany. Eventually, they declared war on Germany as part of the Allies. Yugoslavia got the Sphere of Influence event, DOW'd Germany and left the Entente and joined the Allies. The Soviet Union also joined the Allies before I could get them to join my alliance.
At this point I decided to stop the AAR. Things had just gotten too crazy in the game and most of my alliance had abandoned me for the Allies (which I thought was impossible). I kept playing though, to see how the game played out.
A number of Soviet units were sent as exp. units to France. The French, naturally, didn't do anything. So, the Germans concentrated everything at myself, Poland, and Austria. The Germans advanced almost to Warsaw when the Romanians sent a bunch of exp. units. The Polish AI managed to push the Germans all the way back to the Oder River and took East Prussia. In Austria, Germany pushed to Wien and I committed all my reserves. A good dozen German divisions were encircled in Wien after I pushed south from the Sudeten Line. The Germans regrouped and pushed back to Wien. I tried to stop them, but my units got pushed back and Germany annexed Austria. Fortunately, about 10 Austrian divisions were left in Czechoslovakia under three high skill generals. I disbanded the units to re-equip my battered units and used the generals to replace my 1 skill Lt. Generals.
Before my units could regain their org, something like 30 German divisions struck Bratislava, facing 11 of my divisions with v. low org (~15). I immediately retreated and Germany advanced north, cutting off the Czechs from the Slovaks. They continued to attack into Poland and the Oder defense line was broken. The Germans surrounded most of the Polish field army and advanced on Warsaw again.
German Plans
Czech. Counterattack
The Germans pushed up to the Vistula then began to attack me once more. There was a climatic battle at Troppau, with most of my army (something like 20 divisions in lvl 5 fortresses) against 40-something German divisions. The battle raged for a few weeks...until the Germans won. With only a few divisions available, Slakov fell to a small German attack. Prague and Plzen were essentially defenseless, a few divisions and no fortresses and several dozen German divisions preparing to attack. So, I did the only thing I could, I broke out.
Romania was too far away to reach, Austria had been annexed, and Poland was battling in Warsaw. The only option was France. I used up the last part of my manpower to reinforce my brigaded infantry and my armor. I attacked Wurzburg, only one province from the Maginot Line. The two division garrison fell quickly and I immediately attacked the next province while the battered divisions (most in the low teens strength wise) followed up. The next province fell after a long fight and the battered units arrived just before the Germans re-took Wurzburg. My units walked into France, giving them 30 divisions, though most needed reinforcements severely. I don't know if they would go to France if I got annexed, but at least it certainly guarenteed France wouldn't fall.
That's when I stopped. My last VP province fell and I expected imminent annexation. Poland lost Warsaw and Romania lost most its army, so imagine it will fall after, unless the USSR had the strength to defeat the Germans before then.
As for my general impressions, it was one of the better games I'd played. I think the Entente and Germany were about equal in strength and I held them off for about two years. In the end, I was simply overpowered. I wasn't able to research enough tech and keep up in the arms race. Poland did very well with Romanian support and Austria is very defensible with all its rivers and mountains. All in all, the multiple alliance structure of HOI2 should be very promising, if the problem of allies leaving the alliance for the major ones doesn't occur. That's what made this game disappointing. I'm also looking forward to making a battle scenario where Poland, Austria, and Czechoslovakia can just fight Germany.
It's a shame to see the story end so soon as I was enjoying it immensely. Still, the war sounds like a hardfought challenge and must've been interesting to play out. I agree that I can't wait for HOI2's multi alliance structure. It makes alternate alliance systems possible and will really flesh out the diplomatic system of the game. Great job sir! Your writing was excellent and I do hope you do another AAR soon.
Mettermrck said:It's a shame to see the story end so soon as I was enjoying it immensely. Still, the war sounds like a hardfought challenge and must've been interesting to play out. I agree that I can't wait for HOI2's multi alliance structure. It makes alternate alliance systems possible and will really flesh out the diplomatic system of the game. Great job sir! Your writing was excellent and I do hope you do another AAR soon.
Thanks for reading and I really appreciate your comments. Seeing the entire plot of the AAR go to hell with the chaos of the spheres of influence just destroyed my ambition. Maybe if I'd gone with a more narrative approach, like what you're doing with your current American AAR, I'd have kept going, but I just didn't feel up to it with the character approach. I'm disappointed that the AAR didn't work out in the end, but I think I learned a lot for the next one.
Good job. Sorry bout ze events. I plan on doing an Italy aar with the rome protacals developing into an allaince with Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria. Austria refused the protacals. Where are the alliance files?
Dam it was good, specially the Spanish Civil war. From my modding I have gotten about 303 or 324 (not sure) IC out of al the balkans.
billy bob said:
To make the alliance, I took the USSR, Tannu Tuva, and Inner Mongolia (or Outer, whichever one the Soviet's have as a puppet state) out of the Comintern alliance in the main scenario folder. I then put Czechoslovakia (put Italy first to make it alliance leader), Austria, Romania, and Poland in the Comintern.
Are you doing it as an event or just putting them all in initially? If you put them in initially, you might get problems with the Ethopian-Italian War. If your allies are at war with Ethiopia too, you might start triggering the Sphere of Influence events, which ruined my game. Someone more experienced in modding should be able to give you a better answer on that issue though.
Acesand8s1003 said:
Ok. Hopefully someone makes a mod ,making you able to choose alliances/ disable spheres.
Morpheus506 said:I remember hearing they're on to something like that... I think it was called HoI2
I know! Do you like follow me or sometin?