Chronicles of Fail: A View from the (Caribbean) Sidelines

[Zorromorph]

Q: What in the world is this?

A: My first HoI3 AAR, in which I will catalog the major events of the war and also bits of the irrelevancy that is Haiti.


Q: Technical nonsense, already?

A: TFH, HPP mod v. 3.3.3.


Q: What kind of moron would be possessed to play as Haiti?

A: Only the finest kind! . In all seriousness I'm quite a noob to the game, and not very knowledgeable about WWII in general compared to many in the community, and want to learn more from the 'bottom up'. I become more engaged with things when I write about them, so I figured -- why not put it up here? I split the initial HPP nations into categories based on starting base IC. There are 88 nations in all. About 5% both by number and IC are puppets, which don't interest me. Undeveloped nations(less than 10 IC in the mod) are the next step up, 25 of them, over a quarter of the total number but only a little under 7% of the IC as we are dealing with the crap of the crap here. Haiti is a pretty average nation as they go, some are worse and some are better with a couple even having the potential to become developed nations if they play their cards right(i.e., Uruguay). Anyway, the goal is to move up to a somewhat more powerful nation with each playthrough, hopefully becoming considerably less incompetent and more experienced with the game by the time I reach the majors severals playthroughs from now. There will also be more detail as a matter of course in future AARs, since with a nation like Haiti there simply isn't all that much to do.

Q: Why should I read this?

A: Quite possibly you shouldn't. There are probably better things for you to do with your time. However I do thank in advance everyone who bothers to read my journey from Greater Suckdom to Slightly Less Great Suckdom, and hopefully I'll learn from the community along the way. There's quite a lot of things that can happen in HPP, which is one of the reasons I've chosen it as my mod of choice. Seeing how the war plays out from a near-outsider POV may be of interest to some along with Haiti's aims.


Q: What goals do you have?

A: I'll let the developments of the timeframe determine those organically, I don't preset them.


Q: What style of AAR should we expect?

A: I always play games realistically. This means no gamey stuff like, for example, those I've read about people deleting their entire army for modernization at game start as China or going on a nation-grabbing rampage as Poland to improve their starting position to survive the German invasion. This isn't meant to criticize those who like those kinds of stories, but I take the approach of 'what would I really do if in this position?'. That means knowing what was known at the time, i.e. as the game presents it, not using 20-20 historical hindsight. If I ever play as China, for example, I will play with the fact of tension with Japan but not knowing when/if something like the Marco Polo incident is going to happen. etc. You can also expect somewhat less screenshots and somewhat more writing about events than it seems is normal in this community.

Read at your own risk. You have been warned .

Up next, I'll take a look at Haiti's situation as 1936 dawns.

 

[Zorromorph]

Historical Background

Haiti takes it's name from the Arawak Indians, who called it 'Hayti' initially. It was a French colony, and a prosperous one, until a slave revolt in the late 18th century. By 1804 Haiti was fully independent. This was a failed experiment, and successful self-government never really took root. In 1844 the Dominican Republic, the eastern half of the island, split off as it's own nation. Chaos and instability continued to reign for several decades following this. From 1915 to 1934 the nation was occupied by United States Marines, but in the nearly two years since they left the situation has changed little. Haiti remains a very backward nation. The current repressive regime was formed out of a vicious power struggle after the US left.

Politics

Stenio Vincent rules the nation with a fairly brutal iron fist. He favors 'ostrich-brigade' style isolationism and is not concerned with anything happening beyond our borders to any great degree. Domestically he is focused on keeping what little money there is flowing to the greatest degree possible, which doesn't help new production initiatives. Security Minister Luis Dabtes Bellagarde is profoundly corrupt, even by Haiti's low standards, and his main job is to make sure Vincent stays in power by any means necessary. This has a negative effect in industry as well. Foreign Minister Albert Blanchet seeks simply to smooth over any international problems that might come up, emphasizing Haiti's isolationism by distancing the nation from aligning itself too closely from even those who share a similar ideological bent. Intelligence chief Sebastien de Arronde specializes in political information. Arronde is highly skilled in these matters, and naturally focuses on making sure no rival parties become too powerful. Chief of Staff Emilie Lescot heads up the army as well, and advocates Grand Battleplan or Superior Firepower as the doctrines of choice.

Vincent's Mouvement Conservateur National Haitien party enjoys a 47% popularity and similar organization, more than twice that of their closest rivals, the Conseil Militaire(21%). They have a useless armament minister but otherwhise no voice. Vincent's grip on power is very secure, at least at the moment.

Diplomacy

Haiti presently enjoys good or very good relations with all nations in the Americas, and has a non-aggression pact with the United States.

Intelligence

Haiti has four spies in service. Two are tasked with counter-intelligence inside our territory, with one each in Cuba and the Dominican Republic who are gathering general information only. This seems sensible, but Vincent directs the service to focus mostly on rooting out spies in our territory. The main facet of their current reports is that surprisingly both nations are reported to be much more unstable than we are.

Economy -- Resources

We have only enough crude oil to last until sometime in August of this year, and aren't producing any. This would be a problem if we had any need for fuel or even a need anticipated, but that is not the case. Energy is our most plentiful resource, a nine-month supply and we can't use even half of what we produce. Metals we have a nine-month supply of as well, but that is growing slowly. We'll have to produce more if the industrial sector is to be significantly expanded, or else find a way to trade for it. Rare materials is a bit lower(seven month cushion), but again we produce more than we use though not by as much as energy. There are no immediate concerns.

Haiti possesses no strategic resources of value to the modern global economy.

Economy -- Products

We've got a 100-day supply buffer for the miniscule armed forces, but would prefer to expand that. There's virtually no fuel but what crude is on hand is gradually being refined -- as mentioned we don't use any so it isn't a priority. Financially, there's a decent balance but little profit(0.27/day).

Army

Lescot, a highly inept officer but the highest-ranking in the army, has just been given the hilarious title of Field Marshal, taking command of the Haut Commandment d'Haiti as commanding officer of all ground forces from the capital at Port Au Prince. In other words, he is responsible for the headquarters and a single division composed of three reserve regiments of outdated garrison troops, a total of just over four thousand men. At full strength this number would swell only to about nine and a half thousand. The division itself is under the command of the less inept Lavaud, considered the best of the available leaders, such as they are. The current state of the officer corps is considered subpar.

These comprise the totality of Haiti's armed forces. There is no navy, nor any air force.

Geographic Overview

Infrastructure is decent throughout all three provinces, for which Haiti has the United States to thank. Port-au Prince itself has a decent naval base and a small air base, both of which are hilariously irrelevant as there is nothing to house in either location. Minimal anti-air capability is also there, along with what passes for the army. No land fortifications exist however.

INDUSTRIAL DIRECTIVES

Field Marshal Lescot has hilariously requested three light fighter wings and a light bomber wing. This is amusing for a couple of reasons, first of which being that we lack the know-how to build any such aircraft, and secondly because even if we could there's no reliable long-term source of fuel for them.

Vincent orders fortifications built around the capital, a visible sign that the current regime is here to stay. This task will occupy the nearly 90% of the manufacturing sector that is not occupied with improving the supply situation or producing necessities for the general public. Even so, it is just under the amount necessary to move the project forward at half speed.

INVESTMENT POLICY

Haiti's technological situation is marginally less backward than some undeveloped nations, thanks largely to the Americans. In terms of agriculture the picture is particularly good, current operations are only a few years out of date and this has led to a situation where there are actually nearly 30,000 able-bodied men available for military service. The education system has been dragged into the 20th century, but barely -- it is still more than two decades behind the standard of a fully modern country. Even supply logistics saw some growth.

Vincent's greates concern is seeing Haiti devolve into the kind of chaos that it has seen in the past. Not incidentally this eventuality would likely involve his government being cast aside, most likely violently. To prevent this, he envisions a modernization of the army, probably followed by an expansion of it. The weaponry being used is lightly better than it once was but still at least a decade antiquated, even for garrison troops. Worse, training and organizational matters are a couple of decades old at best. Any faction or nation with modern approaches would likely defeat his men easily.

A minimal investment in diplomatic and espionage necessities will be made, and a modest amount of training for new officers to improve the leadership of the army, but the top priority will be studying the matter of how to best go about forming a modern Infantry Division. Of secondary importance will be developing heavy weapons for use in Support Brigades to increase the effective firepower of the army.

Some voices suggest that perhaps the flagging economy should be given attention first, but Vincent has no intention of being the victim of a coup because he put private prosperity before public order. Security above all. About two-thirds of the best and brightest in the nation will be directed towards these military developments.

 

[Ikarases]

Invading Dominicans at 1 kilometer per hour would be hilarious

 

[Baltasar]

He'd lose the men on the way (running out of organization) before reaching any province, I guess.

 

[Zorromorph]

ROFL. At this point they are literally the only people Haiti could invade, as we lack the tech to build transport ships. An amusing scenario, if unlikely.

Edit: I checked, just for the fun of it. It would take a month to get there, 1kph would be great but the garrison division can actually make only 0.7 .

 

[Zorromorph]

1936

January 2 -- Vincent takes the next step to securing his hold on power, as his regime takes direct control of all press outlets. Nothing will be broadcast over Haitian airwaves of which he does not approve. Earlier, his government had been content to merely remove anyone promoting ideas contrary to the official line, but the actual ownership was left to the private sector.

January 18 -- The Army reports that they now have enough new officers to satisfy present needs. Minimal investment will continue as a hedge against probable larger future needs, but the personnel commitment to developing an improved army is increased to just over 90% now.

February 1 -- The US greets us with a trade offer. They want to give us energy, which we don't need, for money, and for us to do the leg work with the convoy. Umm, no thanks.

March 16 -- Unrest in Spain

March 24 -- Civil war breaks out in Spain.

April -- Multiple trade offers continue to be rejected. Haiti has enough for present industrial capabilities, and that's good enough for Stenio Vincent

April 30 -- For the first time this year at least, Haiti's forces detect a presence in Santiago, just across the Dominican Republic border. It's just a garrison regiment, but definitely something to keep an eye on in case they become aggressive.

May -- More trade offers from Spain, US, China are rejected. All want money for some thing or another. On the ninth, we have reached our goal of a six-month buffer of supplies, and a bit more effort can be shifted to the fortifications around the capital.

May 29 -- In other irrelevant, at least to Haitians, international news, Ethiopia surrendered to Italy today.

Very little happened in the summer. There was a bit of a brouhaha about the Olympics in Germany, but as with everything else Haiti stayed out of it.

September 9 -- After over eight months of intensive study, the Infantry Regiment plans are prepared. It won't be long until the support brigades are as well. While there are many other improvements that can and will need to be made to the Army's capabilities, this is a huge step forward. Vincent orders work on the capital's fortifications, which is about halfway complete, to be suspended for now as Haiti's first active-duty division, consisting of three infantry regiments, is to take precedence.

Improving the army is still his top priority, but general industrial advancement will be considered now as well. Classical Education Models will now be considered, in order to increase the number of educated personnel available and, therefore, accelerate the process of advancement.

November -- While the rest of the world seems to have gotten the hint, Peru chimes in with a couple of metals-for-money offers. These are rejected as a matter of course like before.

December 31 -- New Year's Eve brings the announcement that Support Brigades, which offer the potential to bring more heavy weapons to bear on hardened targets, can now be deployed. The government will now work on acquiring better small arms for our soldiers to improve their ability to damage any enemy.

 

[Zorromorph]

STATE OF AFFAIRS, 1937

International

The Spanish Civil War is nearly over. The Nationalists have divided the Republican forces in two, and are pressing three of the four cities they still hold(Barcelona, Valencia, and Sevilla) increasingly hard.

The Haitian public has few concerns about the state of things, but they do view the Empire of Japan as the most dangerous, twice as much so as any other nation. Even so, they are barely threatening enough to be worth discussing. Rounding out the top five are the Soviet Union, Nicaragua, Afghanistan, and the United Kingdom.

Of those, only Nicaragua is even in our neck of the woods. The intelligence division adds them to Cuba and the Dominican Republic on our list of potential agent destinations. It's uncertain whether this will do any good, however. Information coming in from our single agents in the latter two nations has been all of the map and sometimes flatly contradictory. At this point it's so unreliable as to be nearly useless.


The Dominican Border

Stenio Vincent is far from pleased with our neighbors to the east. Though they appear to be purely garrison troops, their buildup in Santiago now seems to outnumber the totality of the Haitian Army, such as it is. The new infantry division will not be ready for another several months, and while the people may not be worried about the Dominicans, the government would be foolish not to be.

Domestic Affairs

The snail's-pace attempts at advancing Haitian society continue. It has become clear that there is not even enough strength in the economy to avoid the gradual erosion of what little was learned during the past couple of decades. Expanding the capabilities of both the educational and manufacturing sectors is the only hope Haiti has of avoiding another slide into anarchy.

**Note: All have declined during the first year, some as much as 15%.

 

[Zorromorph]

1937

February -- Multiple trade offers, mostly from Japan, continue to pour in despite being universally rejected.

April 4 -- Classical Education Models are ready, and the next step is anticipated to be Compulsory Language studies. Meanwhile, this allows Haiti to invest in three new fields of research simultaneously, though the third will be at a fraction of the full speed. Military modernization and education continue to be the most important priorities, but the third 'partial' project will be the vital field of construction engineering. Without this, there is no hope of significantly expanding the nation's industrial capabilities.

May -- Vincent's popularity is plummeting in Haiti. This is not necessarily a huge problem, as the MCNH is still by far the most effective party in the country, but it does underscore the precariousness of his position. The new infantry brigades can't get here soon enough.

July 8 -- Barcelona and Valencia continue to hold out, but the rest of Spain is all Nationalist. Still the conflict rages on more than a year after it started. Meanwhile, Asia apparently is feeling left out as Japan is invading mainland China, and various other nations in the area mobilize their armies.

July 24 -- Four small Asian countries join the War on the side of China against Japan following the fall of Tianjin and Beiping. Haiti, naturally, couldn't care less about these developments.

August 2 -- A group of investors approach President Stenio Vincent with a choice opportunity. It will take most of the capital the government possesses, but if he agrees they will bring all of their talents to bear on our research tasks for the next year. This will improve, though marginally, the attempted modernization of Haiti.

Vincent turns them down flat. The price is too high -- he will not sacrifice his power for such baubles.

August 17 -- China wants money for the war effort in exchange for supplies. They get the usual flat refusal.

September 23 -- The first-ever Haitian Infantry Division is deployed near Port-au-Prince. President Vincent will sleep easier now. A significant impact on the need for daily supplies and common necessities will be felt by what few factories there are in the capital. Previously almost 90% of the effort could be spent on new production: that is now down to less than 70% under the best of circumstances. What available capacity is left will be used to train up a support brigade to complete the division and also to continue the suspended work on fortifying the city against any potential land assault. Major General Levelt, the only available leader with any significant capability in attacking operations, is tapped the lead the new division which will serve as the core of the Haitian Army from now on.

Supply production and new officer training will now receive another round of investment to build up the needed support for this expansion of the army. Progress on the construction engineering research will come nearly to a halt for the time being.

September 25 -- Japan has annexed Shanxi, securing their western front in the invasion of northern China. Both sides of the war continue to make supplies-for-money offers to Haiti in vain.

September 26 -- The People's Republic of China puts aside their war with the Republic to fight the Empire of Japan.

September 30 -- Improved small arms are now available to the army. Producing these weapons will take another marginal hit out of the factories, and the research teams will continue their work in this area.

October 8 -- The outcome has been obvious for a while, but it's official: the Republicans surrendered to the Nationalists in Spain. Vincent views the new regime with near-complete indifference.

October 9 -- The compulsory language curriculum is now in place, leading the education initiative to next invest in free libraries for children. This will allow for much faster progress in construction engineering, up to a little better than half speed, and also more effective tax-gathering will improve the Vincent regime's take from the private sector. This side effect pleases the President a great deal, it is said.

November 8 -- The Dominican Republic is approached about a non-aggression pact, but they aren't interested. This is unfortunate, and leaves open the possibility that tensions could rise in the future.

 

[Zorromorph]

STATE OF AFFAIRS, 1938

Asia

As it was last year, one part of the world is at war, the rest largely at peace. This time it's the far east. Japan has stalled at times, but has generally been able to hold the west against the PRC and Xibei San Ma while slowly acquiring territory in the northeast of China.

The Empire of Japan is now the most threatening nation in the world according to the man on the street. Following them are Germany, Japan's puppet Menjiang, the Soviet Union, and the US/UK. An additional agent was sent to Cuba, but it does not appear that this has significantly improved the accuracy of information coming out of the country -- at least, not enough to make it useful.


Domestic Affairs

Trained officers and supplies stored are both roughly half as inadequate as they were when the First Division entered service a few months ago. Most, but not all, of the improved weapons have been produced and distributed to the Army. Vincent's popularity has rebounded from a low of 23%, at which point he was only narrowly favored over some of the minor parties, to 40% at the moment which is nearly where it was last year so it seems to have been a road bump averted for him.

 

[Zorromorph]

1938

January 9 -- Austria is peacefully absorbed into Germany. They are now viewed as being a bit more dangerous but still not half the problem that the Japanese are.

January 30 -- An incident at Changfeung lake has apparently brought the Soviet Union into the war against Japan.

February 1 -- Support brigade is finished. This further increases the need for supplies and officers, and the requirements for daily necessities will now consume a full 30% of manufacturing capacity. The First Division is now complete.

February 4 -- Japan has declared victory against the Soviet Union. They did take a couple of provinces, but really all this is is a truce so they can focus on China.

March 4 -- Upgraded small arms have now been distributed to all of First Division.

April 7 -- Supply storage is back up to a six-month contingency as desired, allowing a bit more effort to go to the fortifications around the capital. They are still nearly a year away from completing the work.

April 16 -- The children's library project is finished, and has proven successful enough that we are going to expand it to work on making such independent learning more accessible to adults. Construction engineering development now proceeds at the maximum rate, and we are able to begin a fourth research initiative, though it will be at an extremely slow pace. Vincent wants to continue upgrading the army's capabilities and defensive support weapons will be up next for that spot.

April 20 -- While distracted by the Soviet Union, Japan was unprepared for an offensive by the PRC in the West. The surge reached it's fruition today as their puppet government in Mengiang capitulated to the united Chinese armies.

June 16 -- Another small arms increase will put First Division just six years out of date when they are all produced and distributed. The work on defensive support weapons will continue, and President Vincent has decreed that now is the time to start studying portable anti-tank weaponry. Probably it will be never be needed, but rather safe than sorry as they say.

July 2 -- The army has enough officers once again, and training of new ones is reduced to minimal levels.

July 25 -- Treaty of Munich is signed. The average Haitian doesn't buy Hitler's assurances, and considers Germany now nearly as dangerous as Japan. Neither registers as particularly important in grand scheme of things though, they are simply half a world away and a mere curiosity.

August 5 -- News of the day is that the long-awaited construction engineering project has been finished. Haiti now has the expertise necessary to directly expand the manufacturing sector. The next investigation will involve Great War Production Machinery to improve output there. There will be no immediate effect of this, as the fortifications around the capital are still several months away from being completed.

October 14 -- Germany officially recognizes the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo, a sign of friendliness between what are generally considered the two greatest threats to world peace. A symbolic act, but one that does not bode well.

October 15 -- The very next day, an alliance known as the 'Axis' was formed between Germany, Japan, and Manchukuo, each pledging themselves the defense of each other's common interests.

October 21 -- With the completion of the adult libraries initiative, Haiti has now doubled it's available pool of educated personnel in less than three years. Following up on this impressive achievement, a series of proposals aimed at furthering secondary education will be enacted. Despite this, Stenio Vincent's regime continues to have large valleys in popular support, presently just under 30%, a narrow plurality. It seems you just can't be an repressive dictator these days, even a somewhat benevolent one, without setting large parts of the populace against you.

November 14 -- The first serious disagreement in the MCNH, centering around wanting greater freedom in the press, was quickly ended by President Vincent but left the party a little weakened and fractured. Meanwhile, the latest round of weapons upgrades to the army has been completed.

December 10 -- An assassination attempt failed on an opposition leader, and accusations are flying. President Vincent ordered the First Division to handle the situation, that's what they were recruited and supplied for. No disorder will be tolerated.

 

[Zorromorph]

STATE OF AFFAIRS, 1939

Asia

Unchanged from a year ago is the fact that the focus is on the war in China. After the fall of Mengjiang in April, the fronts were very fluid for the next couple of months. Eventually Japan sorted things out and from June through the end of the year made mostly consistent progress. The lost territory has been all but regained, and it appears that the PRC is on it's last leg though they still have the waterways as their last hope of holding out. It has been very costly and little advancement in the south has happened.

Foreign Relations

Following the formation of the Axis the Haitian public holds both major members are equally problematic, Japan still a little ahead of Germany. Malaya and Iraq follow them, for reasons I cannot even pretend to guess at, with the UK and US rounding out the top five. We now have an agent in the US and a third agent in Cuba. Reports from that island are starting to get more accurate but still are only marginally useful. Overall though, it seems that Cuba is a little more advanced than Haiti in all respects: research, culture, industrial capability, resources, etc. The lone agent across the border into the Dominican Rep. has very little to say when they have anything to say at all. It is a matter of considerable annoyance that the service has not been more effective in getting additional assets in place there.


Domestic Affairs

The three agents inside our own borders have tasked with increasing their efforts to support the MCNH, given the volatile and unsatisfactory levels of support for the Vincent regime over the last year or two. It has been quite some time since any enemy agents were found, so either they are better than our assets(likely) or we aren't relevant enough for them to bother sending more assets here(another strong possibility), but in either case counterespionage is of limited use to the government at this point. Some minor and slowly fading unrest persists over the failed assassination, but it does not seem to be a major issue.

 

[Zorromorph]

1939

February 7 -- Basic fortifications complete around Port-au-Prince. There is much more that could be done, but is now obvious that the economy cannot move forward without a larger industrial sector. More factories are slated to be built, a process that will take years given the costs involved and limited production available.

March 9 -- New defensive support weapons are available, allowing Haiti's armed forces to delay an attacking enemy a bit longer, providing for better fields of fire as they approach. President Vincent has decreed that this is the time to begin studying matters of operational theory. It is of limited use to continue improving equipment and weapons if we don't know how to use them. Studies into adapting combat tactics to the changes that have taken place since the Great War two decades ago will now commence.

April -- It is a dangerous time for Stenio Vincent and the MCNH. They are now a minority party in terms of public popularity, with both the social liberals(22%) and the social democrats(18%) garnering more support than Vincent's 16% in recent months.

April 28 -- Improved secondary education is now in place. The next step in educational progress, which is now less than a decade behind the modern standard as Haiti drags itself kicking and screaming into the modern world, is the adoption of specialized classes for the most promising of it's students. A fifth concurrent development project is now possible, and the engineers will focus on more improvements in small arms for the army.

May 4 -- In a rather shocking development, the tiny country of Albania has kicked out the invading armies of much more powerful Italy. Reports are sketchy -- perhaps the Italians didn't take this battle seriously? Apparently they didn't want Germany to have all the fun, but this defeat is humiliating to be certain.

May 9 -- Offical celebrations of President Vincent's birthday provide at least a temporary distraction from the fact that most Haitians want him gone from power.

May 19 -- Great War production machinery has been finalized by the engineers. This is the first step towards getting more out of the existing factories, though it is not considered to be enough to make a noticeable difference by itself. Automation techniques will help as well, and they will be the next task.

May 26 -- Having returned in greater force, Italy accepted the surrender of Albania which it has now absorbed. In the end, they won only a three-week stay of execution.

July 3 -- The first anti-tank weapons are now ready for production. The rate of advancement has reached the point where new weapons are constantly being made for use by First Division.

September 3 -- War in Europe as Germany's demands are refused for the first time, by Poland. The people blame Germany for this, and are more concerned than before but have no conceits about direct Haitian involvement on any scale.

September 21 -- As Poland crumbles underneath the might of Germany from the west and the Soviet Union from the East, Italy is accepted into the Axis and so far the allies who pledged to fight with the Poles are nowhere to be seen on the battlefield.

September 27 -- The inevitable happens as Poland surrenders. They lasted just 24 days.

October 21 -- Some prominent voices have had the temerity to suggest that Haiti should be a democratic society in which the people rule themselves. Rabblerousers. This idea is of course shot down immediately, but adds to the trend that seems to be growing against President Vincent.

November 2 -- Specialized language curriculum is now completed, which both allows for another bump in the engineering and research progress but also completes the dragging of the educational system into the modern era. More improvements are possible, but are just over the horizon for now and further upgrades to the machinery used in factories will be studied next in an effort to improve output.

Mid-November -- A rare respite for the factories from producing new weapons and equipment as the Army is up to date again for the moment.

December 3 -- Smugglers from Yugoslavia ... what they were doing in Haiti is beyond my imagination, but anyway ... are caught and their cargo seized by the Vincent regime. Yugoslavia is decidedly irritated by this but they can do nothing about it given the situation in Europe, and the proceeds are safely deposited in the treasury.

December 6 -- While 'cold wars' dominate most of the major powers, the Soviet Union has declared hostilities against Finland.

 

[Zorromorph]

STATE OF AFFAIRS, 1940

Ongoing Conflicts

Virtually nothing changed in Asia as the 30s came to a close. Japan is either unwilling or unable to make further progress. They have taken significant territory in China but most of the country remains, Shanxi fell early but the PRC is still very much alive and kicking, despite seeming to be close to collapse on a couple of occasions.

Eastern Europe is the German's playground at the moment. There was a brief push by the French last October in their southern border with the Reich, but they made it only halfway to Stuttgart before being turned back and the current borders are unchanged from the original boundaries.

To the north in Scandinavia, small gains by Finland in the north were at least balanced by advances by the Soviet Union striking from the southeast. Overall though very little
has changed since the declaration of hostilities less than four weeks ago.

International Relations

A few months ago the intelligence service was instructed to stop putting agents into Cuba, as nearly half of the field agents are now there, a total of five. It appears Habana is training up a new infantry division, that our educational efforts have now slightly surpassed theirs, and that overall the strategy of their development teams has been overall quite similar though they are more advanced in training and combat doctrines. With the exception of national unity, we believe they are a stronger nation in most respects. We still known almost nothing about our lone neighbors, but hopefully more agents will be deployed their soon with Cuba removed as a potential destination. Disinterest in a non-aggression pact by the Dominican Republic continues.

Eight nations now register as international threats in the public eye to one degree or another. The two significant ones are Germany and the Soviet Union, no doubt due to their recent aggressive wars. Italy, Japan, and Manchukuo round out the list, but there are no concerns in our hemisphere.

Domestic Issues

Efforts of internal agents to raise the profile of the MCNH in Haiti have largely failed. The opposition has yet to coalesce around a single leader but the situation, though stable at the moment, remains somewhat precarious.

Meanwhile, construction of the new industrial sector in Port-au-Prince is proceeding, albeit painfully slowly. Completion is expected to still take well over three more years. It is hoped that the engineering teams hard at work will find ways to shorten that time. They are receiving 'forceful encouragement' from President Vincent's government. Several advances of various types are expected in the first half of the next year. It also appears that the last couple of months have changed matters on the educational front, and funding has been given to work on new theoretical approaches that appear promising. Studies in factory machinery have been tabled temporarily to allow for the necessary investment.

 

[Zorromorph]

1940

March 6 -- The first achievement of the year for the engineers is improved small arms for the Army. Once again the factories will get to work on producing the new weapons. Offensive support weapons will get another round of investment next.

March 9 -- Blueprints for initial improvements in implementing automation into Haiti's industrial efforts are finalized. At first it wasn't known how much this would really help, or in what areas. Eventually the reports came back that it looked like progress was being made on the industrial district faster than before, though only marginally. Still, any improvement was most welcome in that endeavor.

April 1 -- With Finland failing to stop a March offensive that saw Soviet troops reach the outskirst of Helsinki, they had little choice but to sign a truce.

April 20 -- Apparently having no wish to share Poland's grim fate, Denmark lays down it's arms and peacefully is absorbed into Germany.

May 2 -- Operational studies of the Great War are complete. Up next in theoretical military study is the Grand Battleplan Doctrine.

May 27 -- After a very brief conflict, both Belgium and Netherlands have been subjugated by Germany in the space of the last week. They have not stopped there, and troops are now pouring into northern France.

June 1 -- Luxembourg is absorbed as well.

June 8 -- Following an official ultimatum from the Soviet Union, Estonia and Latvia are peacefully dissolved but Lithuania refuses.

June 19 -- Resistance proved fruitless, and Lithuania was forcefully brought in line by the Red Army. More important to President Vincent, the latest round of weapon upgrades have now been fully distributed.

July 7 -- New defensive support weapons are ready for production. The Army has decided that now is the time to begin working on the firepower of the support brigade as well. Artillery weaponry is up next.

July 8 -- The very next day, a report on the latest educational theories was completed. This both brought Haiti back up to the modern standard in developing the brightest of its citizens, and opened up the possibility of a sixth concurrent research task. At the moment a two-pronged focus on military modernization and industry is set, and the latest project to be entertained will be more efficient manufacturing of supplies. Only about 9% of manufacturing presently is required for that purpose, but the Army will need to be expanded further eventually, and any gain can be directed towards other needs and is therefore quite worthwhile.

August 6 -- Romania joins the Axis.

August 26 -- Theoretical concepts of the grand battleplan are in place, and more practical scenarios will now be studied by the military.

September 22 -- Paris falls, and the French capital is moved to Brest.

October 12 -- Some fool has been spouting off about the poor performance of the War Dept. What War Dept? Don't you mean the Staying Out of the War Dept? Regardless, crucial resources will now need to be spent ensuring that dissent does not spiral out of control due to this nonsense.

October 26 -- France surrenders ... mostly. This leaves most simply wondering, what next?

November 8 -- Upgraded production machinery is now available to Haiti's factories. Task allocation must be improved next. However, the machinery is expected to make a huge difference, combined with a couple of earlier projects. Enough advances have been implemented to overcome to corrupting effect of some in the government, especially Security Minister Bellegarde. The effective manufacturing output has been significantly improved.

November 24 -- While Germany busied itself gobbling up Western Europe, Italy has been content to merely expand it's holding in Africa at the expense of France and the UK. No more apparently, as they have declared that defiant Greece is their next target.

December 6 -- In quite an unexpected move, British troops landed in Albania. The invasion of Greece was planned to be staged from there most likely, but all of that is up in the air as for the first time in the war the UK has sent in ground troops to the European mainland.

December 15 -- New offensive support weapons are finished, which not only triggers another round of upgrades for the support brigade but also opens up the possibility of mountain infantry specialized for such operations. Vincent is interested in having such a capability in the event the Dominicans need to be taught a lesson or two, and approves funding for the project.

December 21 -- Surging from the south, Greek troops enter Tirane. Clearly the Kingdom of Italy overreached here, and were either unwilling or unable to backup their threats. It's the first defeat, though quite a small one, for the Axis in some time.

 

[Zorromorph]

STATE OF AFFAIRS, 1941

The War in Asia

After very few changes in 1939, '40 proved more active. Beginning early in the year, a Chinese offensive took back many areas thought to be securely in Japanese control. Perhaps intending to save a little face and distance themselves somewhat from the situation, Japan established a puppet government(China-Nanjing). This did not seem to help much. The Axis cannot be pleased with their failure to defeat the alliance of smaller Asian powers.

The War in Europe

Most of Albania has been taken back from Italy, though the job has not been finished and there is some uncertainty. Most of the continent now lies under the direct control of Germany, and the Allies are apparently unable or unwilling to confront them directly so far. Russia has absorbed the Baltic states, but failed to do the same in Scandinavia.

The War in Africa

While Germany was rampaging through the French countryside, Italy was busy expanding it's colonial holdings to the south. At first this was successful. They achieved a moderate expansion from Libya in the north ...

but most of the gains made in the east, using Ethiopia as a base, have since been recaptured and then some by the United Kingdom. It seems clear that their strategy right now is to take out Italy's extended empire. So far, both in Albania and Africa, it is working -- but Germany remains unopposed.

International Status

Germany continues to the runaway favorite in terms of the most feared nation. Japan and the Soviet Union follow distantly, with the UK and Italy next thanks to their recent conflicts. A second agent is finally in place in the DR, not enough to give any important information, but at least it's something.


Domestic Status

Thanks to improved efficiency the ETA on the industrial district is now down to less than two years, several months ahead of the original estimates. Politically, the social liberals, joined more recently by the paternal autocrats, continue to put pressure on the government from various directions. President Stenio Vincent remains firm in his approach, but his grip on power does seem to be slowly weakening each year.

 

[KyrionMyrthar]

Liking this! Eagerly awaiting more.

So when are you going after the Dominican Republic?

 

[Zorromorph]

Thanks for saying so!

So when are you going after the Dominican Republic?

Almost certainly never. As an isolationist nation far away from the conflict, it's pretty certain Haiti will stay at peace. All the government really cares about is lining their pockets at the expense of the common man and preserving their grip on power.

 

[Zorromorph]

1941

January 2 -- Germany has decided to help the Italian effort in Greece, and Yugoslavia not only will pitch in but has also formally joined the Axis.

February 1 -- After a coup, Yugoslavia has revoked it's assistance and Axis membership. While defeated so far to the south, Italy took the opportunity to begin gobbling up chunks of the nation's territory in the chaos.

Mid-February -- Not wanting to be left out in the cold, Germany's troops reached the Yugoslav border and had taken Zagreb by month's end.

March 21 -- Having surged past Italy's relatively inept troops despite the 'head start' they were gifted, Germany accepted the surrender of Yugoslavia following less than two months of conflict. The most recent round of weapons has been distributed to the army in Haiti as well.

April 19 -- Facing the combined might of Italian, Bulgarian, and German armies, and with no further help coming from the Allies, short work was made of Greece's resistance as well.

May 2 -- Content with the security of Europe, Germany breaks their treaty with the Soviet Union and Operation Barbarossa in the east. Romania agrees to assist in the attack from the south.

May 3 -- Improved automation techniques have been developed for use in the factories. It has been decided next to work on the raw materials side of the economy, metals supplies have stabilized and more will be needed when the industrial district is finished. Surface mining method studies should aid in this matter.

June 2 -- Supply production methods have increased, allowing for a marginal but important reduction in the factory space required. Improvements in the logistics of resource flow is next up on the list to further enhance industrial efficiency.

June 7 -- Initial improvements in artillery weapons have been finalized. Anti-tank weapons will be the next priority.

October 16 -- 10 days after fall of Moskva, the Soviet Union surrenders to Germany. It seems nothing can stop the Reich.

December 3 -- In a shocking development, Egypt falls to Italy.

 

[Willum]

That was quick. I was about to blame the AI for being useless, then I remembered that Germany is AI too. Hard to see how this could get turned around, but then again something as strange as Germany winning the battle on the eastern front in six months and a bit might happen.

 

[Zorromorph]

I was about to blame the AI for being useless, then I remembered that Germany is AI too.

The resistable force meets the movable object!

I was surprised actually as in my test playthrough of this version, Germany never got involved in Greece/Yugoslavia, got it's first defeat in Norway, but still did well against Russia. Only problem is they refused peace, and after Russia was able to counterattack a couple years later, Hitler was assassinated in the July 20 'Valkyrie' plot and things went from suck to blow for them after that. The UK actually ended up owning most of Europe and a good part of SE Asia before all was said and done.