Gonna guess that Bulgaria goes Warsaw Pact and Romania goes to the Soviets. All round, a very good showing for the Allies!
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A much better post-war world than the original outcome, for sure. Though I would imagine that if this were the case, the likelihood of an actual confrontation between East and West would be higher because of the paranoia from the Soviets about how close to Moscow the Allies are. I'd imagine that the Berlin situation would be inverted (or in this case, non-existent) since they weren't there to control it!
Yeah, there's literally no right for the Soviets to occupy any territory, as they never once stepped near German territory. In this universe, the Soviets were losing massively and only survived because France and the allies fought their way to Berlin and Warsaw.
It increasingly looks like Romania is lost - for the time being - to the Allied cause. Bulgaria, at least, is coming under the influence of the Warsaw Pact.
Great to see the Yanks finally take an interest in the South Pacific.
Great to see the Yanks finally take an interest in the South Pacific.
Don't want no eastern bloc. Dont want no Warsaw pact. Damn Ruskies stealing our Balkans. It's ours to mess with, not yours!
(I should say that given Russia and England's long history of football fighting plus the recent nerve gas attacks haven' made for a very nice atmosphere right now. Arsenal vs Moscow is going to be a bloodbath....
).
(I should say that given Russia and England's long history of football fighting plus the recent nerve gas attacks haven' made for a very nice atmosphere right now. Arsenal vs Moscow is going to be a bloodbath....
).
I do like Draza Mihailovic - as Armaments minister he will build tanks so that as Chief of Staff and Army he can use them to form a static defensive line. I don't think he actually knows what a tank is, are you sure he isn't Slovakian?
In the circumstances that is the best you could hope for in Europe, given the way Paradox screwed you over on the surrender event you were never going to get all of Eastern Europe, even if you probably should have.
As others have said the US getting involved in the defence of Australia and New Zealand is a positive, the question is will the AI be able to shift from defence to an island hopping attack?
Hold your horses. We don' know in what way they'l be active yet. And active doesn' imply results either.
You will see how accurate your guesses are very soon!
It was getting very tense in-game at this point too: the races are close and blows becoming even closer to reality!
Quite right. But Joe Steel will catch what he can. And to be fair, until they decided to opt into the war (which they did of their own volition, though after a long wait) that was the factor that allowed France the opportunity to go on the offensive. Up until that point, the German line in front of me was just a wall of super-stacks!
Again, the Balkans Race is about to be run to its conclusion. For this heat, anyway!
As for the US: as in Europe, they do just a little, a little too late - or both. But better than nowt! Indeed, this is why France has formed a Warsaw Pact for itself - one can almost imagine Poniatowski in charge of that small but at least free chunk of Poland.Don't want no eastern bloc. Dont want no Warsaw pact. Damn Ruskies stealing our Balkans. It's ours to mess with, not yours!
(I should say that given Russia and England's long history of football fighting plus the recent nerve gas attacks haven' made for a very nice atmosphere right now. Arsenal vs Moscow is going to be a bloodbath....
Well, the Japanese AI was happy to island hop, as was the US at first: since then - zilch! Nada! No big fleet actions I could tell, either. Ah well, 'tis what it is!
I think TBC has the right of it there: they've become a bit active, yes, but off a low base.
All: Next episode up very soon. Some questions will be answered but new ones asked!
Episode 35: 11 to 14 March 1944
Episode 35: 11 to 14 March 1944
Preamble
Can the Allies take both countries to attain the magical 12 conditions to secure a new Allied World Order and victory? Or will they fall just short, meaning a choice of difficult or even ‘Unthinkable’ options:
To find out, you must read on. Note, at this stage, I didn’t even really know about tagging and probably would have avoided it if I had known about it. This is important in the game context, as the UK, not France, is the Allies' titular leader, so I could not seek to invite Greece to join the Allies, even if/when their neutrality was low enough and an external threat high enough to warrant it. More on that further down.
Introduction
So, this episode covers three save points in quick succession as the race for control of those last two Balkan countries goes down to the wire. We’ll also keep tabs on any developments in the Asia-Pacific, though not too much is happening there.
We resume just two days after the last update, with both French and Soviet forces on the outskirts of the new Bulgarian capital of Varna – each hoping to bring the country into its sphere of interest. The Allies seem to be winning that race, but the Soviets are ahead in the rush to conquer Romania.
11 March 1944
The commander of the 42nd Cuirassée Division reports he has just entered Varna – the Bulgarians will surrender: to the Allies! Hourra! The Soviets were on the outskirts at the time, but have now turned back to the Soviet-occupied zone of eastern Romania.
The new government is installed, enrols in “Le Pacte de Varsovie”, declares war on its former Axis cohorts and duly acknowledges the Soviet Union to be the greatest threat to its sovereignty. Vergil Dimov heads the new government - he will be a busy man!
In Romania, the Soviets occupy Poiesti and have Bucharest almost surrounded. But the Allies still race to Slatina first, before the Soviets can cut that approach off too. They must at least try to get to Bucharest, or the Soviets will gain the objective, dashing Allied hopes of a quick victory.
This is the current situation in Europe. With Bulgaria the latest French puppet state to join the Allies, Romania is now a patchwork quilt of Allied, Soviet and Romanian zones. Whichever bloc secures the Romanian surrender will also gain the remaining Romanian-held territories. A tense race indeed.
The battle for Lae continues, with the odds very gradually shifting in Japan’s favour.
And here is a comprehensive view of the victory conditions as they stand with the liberation of Bulgaria. For the first time, the Allies have 51% of the available VPs. Just that one tantalising objective short of my pre-arranged victory target!
12 March 1944
The general situation in Romania: French armour has made great time, closing in on Bucharest - which still stands! Elsewhere, Allied units try to occupy as much other Romanian territory as possible – it may become important later …
Taking a closer look, we see the Soviets have a H Arm division already attacking Bucharest – curses! While the French 1st Armd joins in, they remain in reserve while the Soviet General Anikuskin leads the attack. After all this time, the Allies and the Soviets are actually cooperating in an attack on an Axis unit – the last of their strongholds in Europe!
And in a final act of bastardry, the Romanians send their air force to bomb the French in Slatina – maybe they deserve to go under the Soviet yoke, instead of joining the free peoples of Europe in the Warsaw Pact. We can see from the make-up of the French division how it got there so quickly – it was built for speed!
And in Lae, the US 4th ‘Iron Horse’ MOT Div continues to fight on, under very slowly deteriorating circumstances.
14 March 1944
So close! The French enter Bucharest … just a few minutes after the Soviets! Stalin enforces a conquest on the Romanians and absorbs its remaining territory into the Soviet Union. The Soviets thus secure the victory condition for the Comintern, leaving the Allies just short of their objective. So long a chase, and it came down to just a few minutes.
The political map of Europe on the fall of Romania. This is Victory in Europe against the Axis. A great day, but tinged with some disappointment for de Gaulle and the Allies.
The diplomatic map tells the tale: the Allies and the French-led “Pacte de Varsovie” reigns supreme in most of Europe. The list of French puppet states now includes Germany, Italy, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Slovakia and Bulgaria. Romania has mainly gone to the Comintern bloc except for some French-occupied zones scattered throughout. Finland remains under Soviet occupation, but is technically still at war as a Government-in-exile, now basing itself out of Tokyo (although the game quaintly now marks *Ethiopia as the European Axis lead - itself twice-conquered, a former puppet of a government now part of the Allies, and a Government-in-exile! Go figure) .
In Indo-China, the Japanese drift south, like a slowly rising flood peak. A third division is there somewhere, but temporarily out of sight for now.
The battle for Lae grinds on, slowly getting worse for the Australian-commanded US division.
While in Eastern Australia, the Japanese continue to expand outwards, though are not yet directly threatening the new capital in Melbourne.
There has been little or no change in the Soviet Far East, Central pacific, South East Asia or New Zealand.
What Next?
So, where did I go from here (bearing in mind this game was finished at the end of 2016)? I mentioned three choices at the beginning of the episode. The French Government at this point simply wanted to end the war – Greece only had to join the Allies to put it over the line. But France was in no position to action this simple request.
Greek neutrality was now low enough that it was less than their main threat (the Soviets, of course). And they are already almost completely aligned to the Allies. But because they were never attacked by the Axis, they never joined!
So, option one, offering them an alliance (eg entry into the Warsaw Pact) is “impossible”!
The other – well, possible, but France would really rather not.
So - war with the Soviets?
It would seem not! I'm not familiar enough with this aspect to know whether it is because a guarantee of independence by the Allies has been made, or because we are all still at war with the Axis. But at the moment, war with the Soviets isn't even an option. It really is Unthinkable. For now, anyway. Foiled again!
So that leaves grinding out the War in the Pacific against Japan! A daunting proposition. Especially with a very sluggish US and the UK run by an AI (no matter how helpful it has been so far).
You will need to wait until the next instalment for plans to secure that last victory condition!
Preamble
Can the Allies take both countries to attain the magical 12 conditions to secure a new Allied World Order and victory? Or will they fall just short, meaning a choice of difficult or even ‘Unthinkable’ options:
- War with the Soviets to wrest Romania back into Allied control, if Stalin gets there first.
- Declaring war on Greece, a pro-Allied democracy that has sat out the whole war as a neutral power – this would be anathema to French values in this game.
- Eschewing either of these options, having to fight and defeat Japan to get the 12th victory condition.
To find out, you must read on.
Note, at this stage, I didn’t even really know about tagging and probably would have avoided it if I had known about it. This is important in the game context, as the UK, not France, is the Allies' titular leader, so I could not seek to invite Greece to join the Allies, even if/when their neutrality was low enough and an external threat high enough to warrant it. More on that further down.Introduction
So, this episode covers three save points in quick succession as the race for control of those last two Balkan countries goes down to the wire. We’ll also keep tabs on any developments in the Asia-Pacific, though not too much is happening there.
We resume just two days after the last update, with both French and Soviet forces on the outskirts of the new Bulgarian capital of Varna – each hoping to bring the country into its sphere of interest. The Allies seem to be winning that race, but the Soviets are ahead in the rush to conquer Romania.
11 March 1944
The commander of the 42nd Cuirassée Division reports he has just entered Varna – the Bulgarians will surrender: to the Allies! Hourra! The Soviets were on the outskirts at the time, but have now turned back to the Soviet-occupied zone of eastern Romania.
The new government is installed, enrols in “Le Pacte de Varsovie”, declares war on its former Axis cohorts and duly acknowledges the Soviet Union to be the greatest threat to its sovereignty. Vergil Dimov heads the new government - he will be a busy man!
In Romania, the Soviets occupy Poiesti and have Bucharest almost surrounded. But the Allies still race to Slatina first, before the Soviets can cut that approach off too. They must at least try to get to Bucharest, or the Soviets will gain the objective, dashing Allied hopes of a quick victory.
The battle for Lae continues, with the odds very gradually shifting in Japan’s favour.
And here is a comprehensive view of the victory conditions as they stand with the liberation of Bulgaria. For the first time, the Allies have 51% of the available VPs. Just that one tantalising objective short of my pre-arranged victory target!
12 March 1944
The general situation in Romania: French armour has made great time, closing in on Bucharest - which still stands! Elsewhere, Allied units try to occupy as much other Romanian territory as possible – it may become important later …
Taking a closer look, we see the Soviets have a H Arm division already attacking Bucharest – curses! While the French 1st Armd joins in, they remain in reserve while the Soviet General Anikuskin leads the attack. After all this time, the Allies and the Soviets are actually cooperating in an attack on an Axis unit – the last of their strongholds in Europe!
And in a final act of bastardry, the Romanians send their air force to bomb the French in Slatina – maybe they deserve to go under the Soviet yoke, instead of joining the free peoples of Europe in the Warsaw Pact. We can see from the make-up of the French division how it got there so quickly – it was built for speed!
And in Lae, the US 4th ‘Iron Horse’ MOT Div continues to fight on, under very slowly deteriorating circumstances.
14 March 1944
So close! The French enter Bucharest … just a few minutes after the Soviets! Stalin enforces a conquest on the Romanians and absorbs its remaining territory into the Soviet Union. The Soviets thus secure the victory condition for the Comintern, leaving the Allies just short of their objective. So long a chase, and it came down to just a few minutes.
The political map of Europe on the fall of Romania. This is Victory in Europe against the Axis. A great day, but tinged with some disappointment for de Gaulle and the Allies.
The diplomatic map tells the tale: the Allies and the French-led “Pacte de Varsovie” reigns supreme in most of Europe. The list of French puppet states now includes Germany, Italy, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Slovakia and Bulgaria. Romania has mainly gone to the Comintern bloc except for some French-occupied zones scattered throughout. Finland remains under Soviet occupation, but is technically still at war as a Government-in-exile, now basing itself out of Tokyo (although the game quaintly now marks *Ethiopia as the European Axis lead - itself twice-conquered, a former puppet of a government now part of the Allies, and a Government-in-exile! Go figure
) .
In Indo-China, the Japanese drift south, like a slowly rising flood peak. A third division is there somewhere, but temporarily out of sight for now.
The battle for Lae grinds on, slowly getting worse for the Australian-commanded US division.
What Next?
So, where did I go from here (bearing in mind this game was finished at the end of 2016)? I mentioned three choices at the beginning of the episode. The French Government at this point simply wanted to end the war – Greece only had to join the Allies to put it over the line. But France was in no position to action this simple request.
Greek neutrality was now low enough that it was less than their main threat (the Soviets, of course). And they are already almost completely aligned to the Allies. But because they were never attacked by the Axis, they never joined!
So, option one, offering them an alliance (eg entry into the Warsaw Pact) is “impossible”!
The other – well, possible, but France would really rather not.
So - war with the Soviets?
It would seem not! I'm not familiar enough with this aspect to know whether it is because a guarantee of independence by the Allies has been made, or because we are all still at war with the Axis. But at the moment, war with the Soviets isn't even an option. It really is Unthinkable. For now, anyway. Foiled again!
So that leaves grinding out the War in the Pacific against Japan! A daunting proposition. Especially with a very sluggish US and the UK run by an AI (no matter how helpful it has been so far).
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The good news for France here is that their job in the Pacific is much easier than that of the USA in OTL. So long as French Indochina remains French, there ought to be a suitable base from which to launch the thrust towards the Japanese home islands!
Were I playing as France here, I'd take back the northern half of the colony, then make landings at Hainan and Taiwan. That should be sufficiently close to launch the invasion of Japan proper! While, of course, the Royal and US Navies do the bulk of the naval heavy lifting to keep the formidable IJN at bay - or better, in bay!
Were I playing as France here, I'd take back the northern half of the colony, then make landings at Hainan and Taiwan. That should be sufficiently close to launch the invasion of Japan proper! While, of course, the Royal and US Navies do the bulk of the naval heavy lifting to keep the formidable IJN at bay - or better, in bay!
Can this new French Far East Expeditionary Corps avoid the ignominious fate of it's OTL counterpart? Probably yes, but let us see how it works out once the AI has had it's say.
I must also mention the excellent shoulder insignia of the FFEEC - "Extreme Orient", makes it all sound very exciting.
I must also mention the excellent shoulder insignia of the FFEEC - "Extreme Orient", makes it all sound very exciting.
Guarantees of Independence don't affect faction members if another faction member declares war upon a nation... found this out myself when [REDACTED]. So, you could have gone through and pummeled the Soviets, but it would have been very hard. I don't think that the German AI conducted very many encirclements to destroy enemy troops, so I'd imagine that there are still loads of Soviet units.
I’m still trying to figure out what is stopping the declaration then - something is. Could it be still having troops on Soviet territory? There’s no message or mouse over to explain the greyed out DoW box.
The game is long over, but I would like find out for future reference. I may have to dig a bit.
Experiment performed: must have been a troops thing. Was getting lend-lease, so cancelled that but still no option. I think it may have been German stragglers (now Allied-French puppets) taking their time to march out of Russia. "Looks like Operation Unthinkable is back on the menu, boys!"
Episode 36: 17 March 1944
Episode 36: 17 March 1944
Authors Note: I am heading away for a few days this weekend, so am just getting this quick update out now and will resume the story after the weekend.
We resume just three days after the last update, with France's options currently rather constrained - though they may start to free up. In the main, action at the moment is concentrating on getting forces reorganised and repositioned in Europe. Many troops, including those of the new (former-Axis and now Allied) powers, especially Germany, are taking quite a while to get out of Russia and back to friendly territory. Their presence in Soviet territory is constraining Allied diplomatic options.
Europe
Europe is a mass of units in motion. Many are catching up from depth positions, where the rapidity of the recent advance has left them behind. Others are forces from new ‘Warsaw Pact’ Allies who are still repositioning from the old front lines.
In East Prussia and Poland, national objectives have been set along the border with the Soviet Union. Much of the remaining German Army, either under their own colours or lent to Poland as Expeditionary Forces, are making their way to frontline positions. They may be called upon to fight the old foe again.
A more detailed look at the gathering border force in East Prussia. The Soviets are doing the same!
And in Poland – still way short of a solid defence.
Hungarian border objectives and dispositions.
And a quick look at movements in southern Hungary and occupied Romania. Looks like there could still be a few orders left over from the last days of the race to Bucharest!
And orders for Bulgaria and the Greek border. A force is being assembled – just in case it is needed! All options are being kept open.
Some depth objectives for Greece are set for the Allies not under French command. Again, just in case de Gaulle gets impatient …
A closer look at border dispositions and jumping off objectives for Allies. Two French battle and transport fleets are sitting in Marseille and Taranto, but no troops have been loaded yet.
Asia-Pacific
No appreciable changes in the Soviet Far East, South East Asia (excepting Indo-China), the Central Pacific, New Zealand or Australia.
But the Japanese seep ever southward in Indo-China …
… while the battle for Lae drags on, getting slowly worse for the defenders.
Authors Note: I am heading away for a few days this weekend, so am just getting this quick update out now and will resume the story after the weekend.
We resume just three days after the last update, with France's options currently rather constrained - though they may start to free up. In the main, action at the moment is concentrating on getting forces reorganised and repositioned in Europe. Many troops, including those of the new (former-Axis and now Allied) powers, especially Germany, are taking quite a while to get out of Russia and back to friendly territory. Their presence in Soviet territory is constraining Allied diplomatic options.
Europe
Europe is a mass of units in motion. Many are catching up from depth positions, where the rapidity of the recent advance has left them behind. Others are forces from new ‘Warsaw Pact’ Allies who are still repositioning from the old front lines.
In East Prussia and Poland, national objectives have been set along the border with the Soviet Union. Much of the remaining German Army, either under their own colours or lent to Poland as Expeditionary Forces, are making their way to frontline positions. They may be called upon to fight the old foe again.
A more detailed look at the gathering border force in East Prussia. The Soviets are doing the same!
And in Poland – still way short of a solid defence.
Hungarian border objectives and dispositions.
And a quick look at movements in southern Hungary and occupied Romania. Looks like there could still be a few orders left over from the last days of the race to Bucharest!
And orders for Bulgaria and the Greek border. A force is being assembled – just in case it is needed! All options are being kept open.
Some depth objectives for Greece are set for the Allies not under French command. Again, just in case de Gaulle gets impatient …
A closer look at border dispositions and jumping off objectives for Allies. Two French battle and transport fleets are sitting in Marseille and Taranto, but no troops have been loaded yet.
Asia-Pacific
No appreciable changes in the Soviet Far East, South East Asia (excepting Indo-China), the Central Pacific, New Zealand or Australia.
But the Japanese seep ever southward in Indo-China …
… while the battle for Lae drags on, getting slowly worse for the defenders.
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I'm guessing that in an almost Guadalcanal-style situation, the US Navy has once again put forces ashore and then promptly withdrawn from the fight. Not the best showing, Squids.