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In any event I don't think they ever had a heavy tank project, which is a fairly reasonable move given Polish doctrine and requirements. In OTL at least, in this exciting TL they make more sense!
Oh everyone in HOI4 has a heavy tank design program option. Custom political trees and choices no, but standardized tank builds yes! Not that you'd want a heavy tank in the game itself...really you want a suped up medium tank that does everything perfectly or super light tanks so they can get to Moscow in under a week.
Everyone rushing to join the Asian League was not a development I was anticipating, but in these parts anticipation is a mug’s game. I think the best we can hope to get out of any of this is that in years to come we get a treasure trove of wacky Nixon-style ‘Il Duce in China’ stories.
Interesting! Another AAR to catch up on and read up. Always good to see HOI4 stuff and Poland to boot. I certainly have no bias towards the country, despite my own ongoing AAR - None at all
Ok, time to turn once again to Poland’s effort to help the Allies out because their own country is a secure and peaceful haven! Didn’t think I’d be saying that at the start of 1940 in this ATL when I began the game.
Yes, Greece is very greedy and very stupid in HOI4. In my democratic Germany game, as I had finally managed to unify most European countries into an alliance against communism, Greece declared war on Turkey, also a pact member. I kicked them out, they joined the allies, and we were in a war with the british and Greeks. Face palm.
Even in an "ahistorical" game I am pleased to see that the historical behavior of every country demanding an impractical and ineffective strategic bombing force remains constant.
Might have been quicker to just invade the Czechs, would honestly have been sensible in this ATL particularly as Poland did have some halfway-legitimate quarrels over territory ("legitimate" being a relative term here, compared to what else is going on...).
My thoughts are I’m safer with them as a neutral buffer. And in RP terms, my in game Polish government is a bit nicer than the OTL one was at that time.
Not how I was expecting the game to become a true global war, but I'll take it! I'm not sure how much help, if any, the Asian League will be for Italy, but it is going to turn Asia into a real meat-grinder now.
Also nice to see the Poles finally enter the fray, even if it's just a few divisions. Hopefully they can be decisive in taking northern Italy which will cripple the European Axis if nothing else.
I'm also liking nuclearslurpee's suggestion of attacking the Czechs, Poland has a decent amount of issues with them, and we could get some more alt-hist to throw on the fire!
I'm so mixed on this AAR, the Iranians have already been crushed into dust by the Allied steamroller, but Nationalist China can still be saved! I'm rooting for China to win the day and crush Puyi, but that might be a bit far fetched.
I for one welcome our new British overlords who are clearly working for the common interest...by taking over the entire planet's fuel supply and killing anyone who doesn't like them.
It does seem incredibly on-brand for Italy that even though the war is called the British-Italian War they ended up in the Asian League, relegated to a supporting role even in their own war. While the Far East is looking a tad tricky it is reassuring to see the forces of good triumphing in the Middle East and Europe, this is unusual in a Bullfilter work as normally it is the baddies who win.
Best I can tell - sort of. The Poles had a project for a ~25 tonne medium tank that got as far as a single wooden mockup by September 1939. Given the tendency of all tank projects to gain weight and the deeply imaginative Polish tank naming scheme (weight of tank in tonnes then a P for Polish) then by late 1940 they might have ended up with a 27P medium tank. Maybe. Or they'd have gone for the rival, far lighter, design which was probably more buildable by Polish industry.
In any event I don't think they ever had a heavy tank project, which is a fairly reasonable move given Polish doctrine and requirements. In OTL at least, in this exciting TL they make more sense!
Oh everyone in HOI4 has a heavy tank design program option. Custom political trees and choices no, but standardized tank builds yes! Not that you'd want a heavy tank in the game itself...really you want a suped up medium tank that does everything perfectly or super light tanks so they can get to Moscow in under a week.
Everyone rushing to join the Asian League was not a development I was anticipating, but in these parts anticipation is a mug’s game. I think the best we can hope to get out of any of this is that in years to come we get a treasure trove of wacky Nixon-style ‘Il Duce in China’ stories.
Interesting! Another AAR to catch up on and read up. Always good to see HOI4 stuff and Poland to boot. I certainly have no bias towards the country, despite my own ongoing AAR - None at all
If anyone invades somewhere they didn't go historically, and there isn't a path for it in the decision tree, then the game offers no help with quelling dissent and rebellion so yes, I'd imagine all these british gains are going to start a bunch of revolts.
I think that's what they think a heavy tank is, yes. Mind you by the end of the tech tree, a medium modern tank is essentially a mainline battle tank also.
Another masterful update with the White Eagle finally spreading her wings, with what is probably a very confused expeditionary force fighting in Italy.
The Anglo-French offensive into western Iraq was making progress by mid-May 1939, as Iran attempted an attack against Allied troops stationed in Kuwait.
And in south-eastern Iran, the Iranians were now trying to counter-attack early gains by the forces of the British Raj, aided by a French armoured division.
Poland’s second armoured division had begun training and the recently developed first Polish heavy tank would now be used to provide a little extra punch, once industry could be geared up accordingly.
It was at this stage on the morning of May 23 that alignments among the warring parties across the globe started to coalesce more in the Merry Merry Month of Mayhem. The big news for the Allies was Italy siding with Imperial Kwantung and the Asian League. This then caused a familiar cascading effect, dragging the Allies into the Chinese conflict, while Iran and Iraq also sided with this Fascist grouping. It culminated in China joining the Allies at 0900hr on the 26th.
Factoring in the participation of the Mutual Assistance Bloc (against whom not all the Allies were as yet at war), the picture was a little more balanced. Poland had yet to contribute anything to the war effort.
More than half their military factories were churning out tanks of one sort or another (the light 7TP Mk1 and the heavy 27TP main battle tank), while a new fighter model had been developed and was being produced in limited numbers. The heavy tank line in particular would take some time to ramp up to greater efficiency.
On 9 June, Poland formed its 3rd Army in the south, commanded by General Marian Kukiel, a defensive specialist. He had responsibility for the border with Czechoslovakia, Romania and the southern border sector with the USR. 1st Army had the central USR sector, including the nascent mechanised corps, while the 2nd Army looked after the north.
Poland decided it was time to start contributing more practically to the Allied cause and start to give units and generals some combat experience. The initial contribution would be a corps of four infantry divisions from the 3rd Army on the Czech border, which embarked on their long train trip on 20 December.
The first Polish combat engagement of the war began at 0700hr on 30 December 1939, where they had plugged a gap in the line west of Milan. Despite being low on organisation, they eventually won the encounter on the night of 1 January 1940.
Yes, Greece is very greedy and very stupid in HOI4. In my democratic Germany game, as I had finally managed to unify most European countries into an alliance against communism, Greece declared war on Turkey, also a pact member. I kicked them out, they joined the allies, and we were in a war with the british and Greeks. Face palm.
If anyone invades somewhere they didn't go historically, and there isn't a path for it in the decision tree, then the game offers no help with quelling dissent and rebellion so yes, I'd imagine all these british gains are going to start a bunch of revolts.
I think that's what they think a heavy tank is, yes. Mind you by the end of the tech tree, a medium modern tank is essentially a mainline battle tank also.
Another masterful update with the White Eagle finally spreading her wings, with what is probably a very confused expeditionary force fighting in Italy.
Thank you very much for those kind words. As for Italy, all they had to do was reverse the words in the National Anthem! And consider it a down-payment in case the USR ever gets tricksy ...
Or we can get our men back from Italy, if they're still stuck there. And the Allies seems to be sending an awful lot of troops to Central and East Asia.
Chapter Five – It’s Getting Serious (January – June 1940)
=======
The Italian Job (7-30 January 1940)
As the fighting continued in Italy and now raged in northern Greece after their ill-advised entry into the war, Poland sent another four divisions to the Italian front: their entire mobile corps.
A Free India revolt broke out on 10 January, embracing large areas in Iran, Pakistan, southern India and Burma. The Rebels soon joined the Asian League. Meanwhile, the UK had fully eliminated Italy’s possessions in East Africa.
The next Polish combat experience was comfortably defeating an Italian attack across the river on Piedmont from Milan on 15 January.
The latest tranche of entrained reinforcements disembarked in Turin on the afternoon of the 16th. A breakdown of the current equipment holdings in the light tank (still waiting for most of their heavy tanks) and motorised divisions is shown.
With these extra divisions in the theatre, a new army HQ was created to command them the following day (and later, the occasional force attack would be used in coming months). General Lucjan Źeligowski took charge of the new Polish Expeditionary Force, as the Italians mounted counter-attacks against the leading edge of the Allied advance near La Spezia.
With Plan East almost completed, Poland had switched over to standardisation and modernisation as the army engaged in actual combat operations, with air base expansions the next project begun.
On the equipment front, it was decided that the mobile divisions should get some artillery support that could keep up with them, with some SP artillery based on the 7TP chassis being researched.
While the new units made their way to the front in Piedmont, the four divisions already there joined an existing German attack on Milan on the morning of 24 January after an attempted spoiling attack from the east by the Italians was heavily repulsed. By that night, one division was in contact and three more in reserve. The attack would be won by 0800hr the following morning.
Milan was occupied by the Germans on 29 January. The Italians tried to counter-attack but with four Polish and one French division in reserve, the gain was held.
The month ended with the Poles exploiting north-west into Lombardy from Milan with two divisions in an attack that eventually succeeded on the morning of 4 February, while the Germans began attacking to the east from Milan.
=======
A Widening War (February-March 1940)
The effects of Poland’s Four Year Plan expired on 4 February 1940 [yes, four-and-a-bit game years gone already, dear readAARs]. A few days later, word came that the war had escalated again – but in an ostensibly good way, with the Mexican Republic joining the Allies and their war effort (or one of them, anyway).
As Polish battlefield experience grew, it helped the army advance its doctrine research, with armoured operations becoming a development focus in February 1940.
More generally, the war situation in China remained fluid, but it seemed Nationalist China was now back on the offensive in the north-east, having regained some ground in recent months. Fighting remained intense on both fronts there. And after a month of fighting, the British seemed to be getting on top of the Indian Revolt.
The war with Italy proceeded well enough in terms of progress on the ground.
Back on the home front in Poland, the SP Arty research was completed on 3 March and soon some production effort was being directed to this new capability.
The Moscow Peace Treaty was signed by Finland and the Soviet Union on 12 March 1940, ending the Winter War in return for some territorial concessions. [Does this sound familiar?] No Winter War in this time line.
By mid-March, Poland’s engagement in Italy had been quite successful, with fewer than 2,500 men (and no doubt an amount of equipment) lost in combat so far.
Édouard Daladier resigned as Prime Minister of France on 21 March and was succeeded by Paul Reynaud.
Significant news came on 21 March when the Japanese People’s Republic chose Mao over Trotsky when they joined the MAB. Just as the Chinese looked to have been cut off in the north-east, while the British opened up a new front in south-west Sinkiang having apparently quickly defeated the Free India movement.
As the Allies seemed to shift their zones of control around in north-west Italy, they made progress as they fanned out from Milan and reaching the south of Bolgona.
=======
W-what Happened There? (1 April – 16 June 1940)
On 1 April, the Poles leading the advance in the north saw an opportunity to close off a large force of Italian divisions by striking north towards Bolzano and joining up with the Yugoslavs.
This succeeded by the 5th, with eight Italian divisions trapped as some of them tried to break out through Venice.
Germany invaded the neutral countries of Denmark and Norway in Operation Weserübung on 9 April, opening the Norwegian Campaign. The British Royal Navy attempted to attack elements of the German fleet off Norway. Vidkun Quisling proclaimed a new collaborationist regime in Norway. The German invasion of Denmark lasted for about six hours, before that country capitulates.
Greece was in trouble by 11 April, as the British had landed in the Peloponnese. The only minor consolation for the Greeks was that they hadn’t been attacked by Turkey. Yet, anyway.
On 13 April, the Poles were trying to get across the Po River north of Bologna, with the support of a single Yugoslav divisions, but with three divisions dug in, the Italians were proving difficult to dislodge.
The Italian pocket was being closed up by 3 May while the assault over the Po was soaking up thousands of casualties. The latter would be discontinued on the morning of the 11th, with the attempted river crossing having cost an undue number of casualties, becoming Poland’s first defeat of the war.
The Battle of France began on 10 May as German forces invaded the Low Countries. With the resignation of Neville Chamberlain, Winston Churchill becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. On 13 May Winston Churchill, in his first address as Prime Minister, told the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, "I have nothing to offer you but blood, toil, tears and sweat." The same day, German armies opened a 60-mile (97 km) wide breach in the Maginot Line at Sedan, France.
Map of German panzer divisions attacking The Netherlands, Belgium and France, May 1940.
Very glad this joker was shot back in 1936!
Of more concern, the Italians had made sudden counter-attack progress on the southern bank of the Po, having retaken La Spezia and Genoa against hardly any Allied resistance. Other than a couple of Yugoslav divisions, the French and Germans seemed to have almost completely abandoned the front.
A strange diplomatic cable arrived on 14 May, announcing that Pakistan (who nobody in Warsaw had heard of to this point) had joined the war against Free India (who already seemed to have been defeated) and then capitulated. Heads were scratched before everyone got on with the job.
In the east, China had reopened the north-eastern corridor, but an apparent Japanese invasion of eastern China seemed to have opened a dangerous new front for Poland’s Chinese allies, as the British made progress in Sinkiang.
Despite the problems to their west, the Poles renewed their river crossing attempt north of Bologna: perhaps it would divert the Italians a bit.
Eight days later, the bridgehead over the Po had been secured and the northern Italian pocket almost eliminated, but the Italian offensive had not only retaken all their territory up to the border but had actually crossed into French territory at one point. This triggered a redeployment of three [edit: not 13] more Polish divisions to the Italian front from the 3rd Army as concerns grew of a collapse.
Poland’s mobile units were finally ready for an attack on Bologna which was launched late on 29 May from their Po bridgehead.
The Dunkirk evacuation, which began on 26 May, ended on 4 June. The British and French navies, together with large numbers of civilian vessels from various nations, complete evacuating 300,000 troops from Dunkirk, France to England.
British troops line up on the beach at Dunkirk to await evacuation.
Winston Churchill told the House of Commons, "We shall not flag or fail. We shall fight on the beaches... on the landing grounds... in the fields and the streets.... We shall never surrender."
As the Italians got another division into Bologna to decrease the odds of the attack there, a new one was mounted to its east on the night of 2 June. Both attacks remained in the balance.
The second attack was eventually called off, but victory finally came in Bologna on 14 June, followed by a very successful defence against an Italian counter-attack on the evening of the 16th. The Yugoslav-held territory north of the Po was holding strong, but to the west the Italian offensive was still advancing.
Italy declared war on France and the United Kingdom. U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt denounced Italy's actions with his "Stab in the Back" speech during the graduation ceremonies of the University of Virginia. Canada declared war on Italy, the Norwegian Army surrendered to Germany and the French government fled to Tours. On 13 June, Paris was declared an open city.
The Soviets occupied the Baltic States, starting with Lithuania, from 15-17 June. Philippe Pétain became Prime Minister of France on 17 June and immediately asked Germany for peace terms.
The next day, Winston Churchill told the House of Commons: "The Battle of France is over. The Battle of Britain is about to begin... if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, This was their finest hour." The same day General Charles de Gaulle, de facto leader of the Free French Forces, made his first broadcast appeal over Radio Londres from London, rallying the French Resistance, calling on all French people to continue the fight against Nazi Germany: "France has lost a battle. But France has not lost the war."
Trotsky really calm, communists favours Mao over him (although I think it's weird move from stricte practical perspective). Mexico in allies may help counter Maoist Japan (I guess we can call it her now like that) in Pacific.
Looks like Italy and Greece wanted to Ribentropp-Molotov Yugoslavia and Albania, but Allies answered.
War mostly takes place in Asia. I don't even know if we can call it World War really.
You know chaps I think we're suffering from a lack of focus. Not sure we want to get sucked into the grinder of the bitter Chinese-Chinese war (which is not technically a Civil War because.. reasons). I know everyone is flitting around like excited butterflies as the multiple wars spread and overlap, but how about we just pick one theatre and go for it? Those Poles seem to have the right idea, focus on Italy and try to get the job done there.
Nice seeing the Poles finally getting in on the action. When the war began, I feared they would just be bystanders. Even with the one defeat there, they are doing quite well for themselves and the allies.
Curious seeing the Soviets just watching from the sidelines. That cannot last much longer.
Nice seeing the Poles finally getting in on the action. When the war began, I feared they would just be bystanders. Even with the one defeat there, they are doing quite well for themselves and the allies.
Curious seeing the Soviets just watching from the sidelines. That cannot last much longer.
This is still baby's first nutcase compared to the various truly insane (and strangely, always Italian) HOI4 AARs. Although lads of tour was a good attempt at a British version.
It's why the alt-history empire options are so powerful. Austria Hungary has cores on the entire old empire and Germany, the Roman and Byzantine Empires have gigantic cores over most of Europe and the Middle east respectively. Greater Germania has the German Reich circa 1914 plus all the way eastwards to and including modern Ukraine.
Imperial Federation mixed with the Anglo-French Union is of course the most broken. Pretty much every continent is completely cored with that mix, except South America. King Edward ends up ruling the world, and Queen Wallis the entirety of North America.
A Free India revolt broke out on 10 January, embracing large areas in Iran, Pakistan, southern India and Burma. The Rebels soon joined the Asian League. Meanwhile, the UK had fully eliminated Italy’s possessions in East Africa.
Huh...I have never seen such a huge Indian revolt. Usually its just all or parts of India, but it seems they've dragged Pakistan and Iran with them this time. Interesting! Well, for a few weeks anyway...
The effects of Poland’s Four Year Plan expired on 4 February 1940 [yes, four-and-a-bit game years gone already, dear readAARs]. A few days later, word came that the war had escalated again – but in an ostensibly good way, with the Mexican Republic joining the Allies and their war effort (or one of them, anyway).
Significant news came on 21 March when the Japanese People’s Republic chose Mao over Trotsky when they joined the MAB. Just as the Chinese looked to have been cut off in the north-east, while the British opened up a new front in south-west Sinkiang having apparently quickly defeated the Free India movement.
Is Trotsky's great world order still just the Soviet Union or has he suffered breakaways? Is America sitting on the sidelines providing lend-lease to everyone and banking its money in Cayman unnumbered accounts? Is France depending on the Marie Sklodowska Legion for its defense? Thank your, our brave provider of the real truth.
In Poland, recent discoveries had allowed work to begin on a radar network for eastern Poland. The first installation had been deployed at Nowogródek, with another just commenced in Lwów.
Poland’s second armoured division had begun training and the recently developed first Polish heavy tank would now be used to provide a little extra punch, once industry could be geared up accordingly.
The big news for the Allies was Italy siding with Imperial Kwantung and the Asian League. This then caused a familiar cascading effect, dragging the Allies into the Chinese conflict, while Iran and Iraq also sided with this Fascist grouping. It culminated in China joining the Allies at 0900hr on the 26th.
This might actually be a smart move by Benito, for once. He was facing overwhelming odds, but now, at a stroke, he's diverting a lot of British, French, and apparently even German, resources to the Far East.
I do find it hilarious that at this point it's called the Manchu-Albanian war!
More than half their military factories were churning out tanks of one sort or another (the light 7TP Mk1 and the heavy 27TP main battle tank), while a new fighter model had been developed and was being produced in limited numbers. The heavy tank line in particular would take some time to ramp up to greater efficiency.
My concern here is that you may need more factories supplying the basic equipment for your infantry formations, particularly if you get involved in any heavy fighting and need to replenish significant losses.
It was probably better to have the Spanish fighting each other. The Republicans might have joined Trotsky or Mao if they'd won, but now the Nationalists could end up throwing in their lot with Mussolini and Puyi.
There was more diplomatic lunacy on 16 December, when Greece got greedy and declared war on Albania, even though the Allies had made (recently slowed) progress against Italy in the north and Albania was part of the Allies. Interestingly, Greece joined the MAB with Communist China rather than the Fascist Asian League, which Italy had aligned with.
That does seem just a little bit crazy from the Greeks, doesn't it? And what is the 'Kingdom of Greece' doing choosing Mao?
My favourite bit of AI insanity was playing Italy, with Bulgaria as my faction buddy. Bulgaria only goes and starts a war with Germany... and this is when I'm standing back-to-back with the Germans, both of us trying desperately to hold off the Allies (and in Germany's case, the Soviets as well). I could only cut Bulgaria loose!
Poland decided it was time to start contributing more practically to the Allied cause and start to give units and generals some combat experience. The initial contribution would be a corps of four infantry divisions from the 3rd Army on the Czech border, which embarked on their long train trip on 20 December.
The first Polish combat engagement of the war began at 0700hr on 30 December 1939, where they had plugged a gap in the line west of Milan. Despite being low on organisation, they eventually won the encounter on the night of 1 January 1940.
The Italian spoiling attack would be defeated by 5 January and the attack on Milan won on the morning of 7 January. Poland had begun its more serious involvement in the proto-World War Two on a bright enough note.
Another wacky update that was fun to read, and I'm glad to see Poland getting more active. They could prove decisive in Italy, especially as there's some sort of breakout towards France. I will say I'm glad the Italians have not just collapsed but instead have some fight in them.
A strange diplomatic cable arrived on 14 May, announcing that Pakistan (who nobody in Warsaw had heard of to this point) had joined the war against Free India (who already seemed to have been defeated) and then capitulated. Heads were scratched before everyone got on with the job.
Another wacky update that was fun to read, and I'm glad to see Poland getting more active. They could prove decisive in Italy, especially as there's some sort of breakout towards France. I will say I'm glad the Italians have not just collapsed but instead have some fight in them.
It is impossible for the Italians to collapse as their generalship cannot possibly get any worse than it was at the start of things.
Historically, the Italian rank and file soldiers usually gave a strong account of themselves, but their generals consistently did the wrong things which led to the reputation for Italian ineptitude at war-fighting, a reputation only enhanced by Mussolini's own tendency to overcommit for poor reasons at best.
