Polish Victory, Polish Defeat - an AAR

[marxianTJ]

Polish Victory; Polish Defeat
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A Case Study AAR with Poland.

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Rules, Stipulations, et al.:
Difficulty: Normal
Gamemode: HOI3, TFH
Mods: None
Start Date: 1 Jan, 1936.
Format: Pictures and Musings, with more detailed reports once the war starts.
No wars prior to September 1, 1939.
No coup attempts.
No purposefully tanking my economy to enact “prepare for war” decision.
No TAG switching to coup myself.
No joining the Axis or Comintern.
No starving my army of supplies.

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Background, Synopsis, and Objectives:
I've played a few games as Poland in my time and they've always been very testy affairs, I will therefore endeavor to cobble together a strategy whereby Poland can withstand the German onslaught in 1939 reasonably well. I realize other players in the past have performed similar exploits, and even conquered Germany outright. I also realize that in 2010 a very interesting AAR was undertaken to suss out the details of Semper Fi – but much has changed since then. Should I fail in this particular AAR I may attempt to correct whatever mistakes were made or to further optimize things with the help of suggestions provided here. I am also downright terrible in the math department, so if I should make any errors when talking about numbers and related details behind my decision making, feel free to correct me. This will be less of a “look what I can do” sort of affair and more of a “watch me try to figure this out” type-thing. I don't mean to replace some of the wonderful "guide" type AARs here either, but there will be some questions brought up here that have bothered me for a while too.

The format of this AAR will be my thoughts on how to go about building up Poland to survive, theory crafting for the first few entries with some tidbits dropped in for flavor. I may be a bit more detailed than is common now, so that should anyone try to follow suit in their own games, or improve upon what they see here, they would be free to do so with a fairly detailed example. Once the fighting begins it will be more detailed on each engagement and we may invent a few fictional characters if I have the time.

Begun: 01.08.2018


Table of Contents:
1: Poland's Historical Situation: Polish Victory, Polish Defeat - an AAR
2: Of National Unity and Neutrality: Polish Victory, Polish Defeat - an AAR
3: Politics, Leadership, and Technology: Polish Victory, Polish Defeat - an AAR
4: Intelligence Services Rundown: Polish Victory, Polish Defeat - an AAR
5: The Armed Forces of Poland: Polish Victory, Polish Defeat - an AAR
6: January-March, the Beginning: Polish Victory, Polish Defeat - an AAR
7: To OOB or not to OOB?: Polish Victory, Polish Defeat - an AAR
8: The end of 1936: Polish Victory, Polish Defeat - an AAR
9: To 1939!: Polish Victory, Polish Defeat - an AAR
10: The Hunt for Manpower: Polish Victory, Polish Defeat - an AAR
11: September, 1939 Pt. 1: Polish Victory, Polish Defeat - an AAR
12: September, Part 2: Polish Victory, Polish Defeat - an AAR
13: October Part 1: Polish Victory, Polish Defeat - an AAR
14: October Part 2: Polish Victory, Polish Defeat - an AAR
15: Winter Preparedness: Polish Victory, Polish Defeat - an AAR
16: November, 1939: Polish Victory, Polish Defeat - an AAR
17: December, 1939: Polish Victory, Polish Defeat - an AAR
18: January, 1940: Polish Victory, Polish Defeat - an AAR
19: February, 1940: Polish Victory, Polish Defeat - an AAR
20: Waiting, 1940: Polish Victory, Polish Defeat - an AAR
21: 1941: Polish Victory, Polish Defeat - an AAR
22: 1942: The Darkness: Polish Victory, Polish Defeat - an AAR

 

[Bullfilter]

This sounds very interesting - I’ve tried a few times to survive with Poland (as a member of the Allies, that is) and failed with each one. I also recall reading that AAR you mention. My current AAR ‘light’ on France recounts my similar quest to do this with France.

When I’m done with that and my Turkey project, I might try Poland (the land of my father) again, so will be following your considerations and experiences to see how you fare. Subbed. Good luck against the Hun!

 

[marxianTJ]

Poland's Historical Situation in 1936​

Historical Context:

Poland, officially the Polish Republic, but often called the Second Polish Republic, was reborn in 1918 after the Great War. In the interim, Poland had a difficult existence: it was involved in economic and military conflicts with Germany (and Weimar Germany), Soviet Ukraine, Polish Communist revolutionaries, Czechoslovakia, Lithuania, and there was an uprising in Silesia, but most importantly it fought a large war with the also recently created Soviet Union; managing not only to win decisively, when all hope seemed lost, but gained significant amounts of territory from the USSR when hostilities ended. Several other regional conflicts occurred as well, which, although the most ardent Polish nationalists were not fully satisfied with the frontiers of Poland, the nation had grown to become the 6th largest in Europe by land mass. There were other problems endemic to the Polish Republic besides regional conflict and tensions with their two very large neighbors to the East and West; fully 1/3rd of the citizens of Poland were not, strictly speaking, Polish. Large Polish populations also existed outside of the borders of Poland, for example, the popular apocryphal anecdote that more Poles lived in Chicago than lived in Warsaw (some less prone to hyperbole claim the number of Chicagoans of Polish descent merely outnumber the Poles living in all other Polish cities excepting Warsaw). Particularly in the territory gained from the USSR in the Polish-Soviet war, the population was heavily non-Polish - Soviet Propaganda in later years played up the fact that Nikita Khrushchev's parents were in fact Polish citizens during this period.

Geography of Poland:

The primary problem of Poland's geography is that it is very flat, with the majority of the country consisting of open plains, excepting in the South West where forests and hills are more present, and the North East, where there are marshes and forests as well. Although there are several important rivers, the Vistula, Bug, Oder, and Warta in particular when talking about the West, which could lend themselves to the defense of Poland, but they aren't perfectly laid out for such activities.

The Politics of Poland:

Poland had initially been a parliamentary democracy, it was also notably one of the first nations to grant universal female sufferage, in 1918. There were an array of political parties ranging from right-wing and socialist groups, to smaller ethnic and religious parties and clubs: many such groups had representation in the parliament. In 1926 however, after a series of political scandals, the hero of the Polish Soviet War, and first president, Josef Pilsudski seized power, and after a series of manipulated elections and a more authoritarian constitution were promulgated, Poland's nascent, relatively inclusive, democracy ceased to be. Pilsudski would die in 1935, thus in 1936, power was held by Felicjan Sławoj Składkowski, a former doctor and general in the Polish army, who was a compromise candidate essentially after the death of Pilsudski, and the President Ignacy Mościcki, a former chemist who had met Pilsudski in the Polish Socialist Party years before, who was elevated to the Presidency after Pilsudski refused the office after his Coup d'etat. Yet, despite all of the political wrangling on the surface, defacto power, in 1936, resided in the hands of Edward Rydz-Śmigły, Marshal of Poland, also a hero of the Polish Soviet war, and Polish Legion of the Great War. Opponents of the regime and many international observers (particularly those in the Soviet Union) began to refer, openly, to the government as "Pilsudki's Colonels."


It is with this historical baggage that the young Second Republic waded into 1936, a time of economic and political turmoil the world over.

 

[marxianTJ]

@Bullfilter Welcome aboard I've been reading your French AAR as well - I played France quite a lot several years ago - they were one of my favorite nations to play in hoi2 Very different from the ways I've tried to handle it before so mimicry is on the agenda there too! lol.

 

[marxianTJ]

Problems of National Unity and Neutrality​

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Despite the above mentioned ethnic turmoil of the 1930s Poland begins the scenario with 69.998 National Unity. This is a boon to our efforts, as all of the very best laws require 70 unity - this can be achieved almost over night! However, our nation is not as ready to gird itself with the hard realities of war as it was in the 1920s, and thus our neutrality is 75. This will take a concerted effort to reduce.

-=for reference one can raise one's national unity quite rapidly by utilizing ministers who increase national unity changes and reducing, if able, one's press laws to Free Press, and by attempting to ensure one's cabinet is made up of the proper political party(ies) in conjunction with spies raising national unity - none of this is necessary for Poland so long as I don't get hammered by some event that reduces my NU greatly =-

A Discussion of Neutrality

It would make intuitive sense for Germany to be the focus of our threat raising campaign to also reduce the neutrality of various neighbors, however our government is of the paternal autocrat type, and will perhaps be less threatened by Germany than nations with other government types. Is it ideal then to reduce our neutrality by way of raising the threat of the USSR?

Is a Poland-induced reduction of Germany's neutrality an important strategic foreign policy consideration?


A test case:

After sending spies to Germany to increase threat for six months I've determined that:

We'll be able to enact any/all of the desired policies by September 1, 1936 with the neutrality of various states being:
Poland: 58, France: 64, USSR: 68, USA: 99, Germany: 48

Raising threat on the USSR (in another test) however gave some interesting results:

The neutrality of Poland fell nearly equally in response to threat from Germany as to threat from the USSR – in fact Polish citizens find the Red Menace slightly less threatening! This could be that my spies were simply being caught slightly more often, and as a result gave less neutrality reduction OR it could also be that the German AI's behavior grants slightly better performance when raising threat. In any case, the fact that Germany's political party is closer to our ruling party than the USSR's appears to not matter at all for Poland.

Various nation's neutrality:
France: 76, UK: 86, USSR: 79, USA: 99, Germany: 39.

Thus it can be determined that raising threat on the USSR, who ostensibly should be a better target given their opposing government type, is not only slightly less effective than raising threat on Germany (a difference of being able to enact certain policies by a few days), but is also counterproductive as it reduces the fighting capability of any potential allies, while making Germany stronger.

Thus the first decision of this AAR is made!

We will do our level best to make all the world aware of the threat of Nazi Germany!

 

[stnylan]

Looks interesting with some nice background info.

 

[marxianTJ]

Internal Politics, Leadership, and Technology: January 1936
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There are no changes available to Poland's government worth making save one, and that is to install a man of the people, Janusz Radziwill, who will grant us 5% more leadership. We will not be subject to elections prior to the war, though other useful ministers may appear and will be reviewed when the time comes. In our timeline, the Polish government had not yet solidified into this state in 1936, as the upper echelons of the government were still reeling from the death of Marshal Pilsudski. Interestingly too, our ruling party has 0 popularity or support, a unique situation!

For some interesting historical information Janusz Radziwill was a nobleman, a Prince in fact, who was politically active in the Kingdom of Poland, as well as the Second Republic, as a Conservative. He was a supporter of Marshal Pilsudski, and was for a time the Polish Foreign Minister, as well as the Polish envoy to the United Kingdom. After 1935, he was named to the Polish Senate, which had attempted to make itself a proper legislative body within Poland, but was kept mostly under the thumb of the dictatorship and made subordinate to its desires. Although a supporter of the government, he was openly critical of some of its excesses such as arresting political opponents and general censorship of the press. After the war he would return to Poland, find that most of his property had been confiscated, and was arrested and interrogated several times both during and after the war. He would die of natural causes in Warsaw, Poland in 1967.

(President of Poland Ignacy Mościcki (left), Warsaw, 10 November 1936, awarding the Marshal's buława to Edward Rydz-Śmigły)

Leadership and Technology:

Poland's leadership is 9.36, but after adding Mr. Radziwill, it will be 9.76. Thus we can research 10 projects at once roughly speaking. How should this leadership be spent?

- It is obvious that the "big 5" that is to say: Agriculture, Education, Industrial Production, Industrial Efficiency, and Supply Production should all be considered in depth.

Agriculture:
The first instance of agriculture research takes 144 days (~4.8 months) and will grant us 3.8 MP per year at 3 year draft or an extra 1.4 at volunteer army. That would possibly net us an additional 11 MP in the lead up to the war at 3 year draft. If we research the second instance it increases to 4.8 more MP per year at 3 year draft or 2.4 more MP per year at volunteer army. All told it seems that it is not worth it to research agriculture at all. Assuming we start with 3 year draft from day one (impossible) we would have 55 MP per year. With 2 additional tech cycles of agriculture, we would have 63.6 MP per year for a difference of 8.6 MP per year, or a total of 25.8 MP total over the course of the whole prewar build up. We expend 10% of our available LS for ~575 days to gain ~6% more MP. Even though it seems inefficient, we're so starved for MP I think it makes sense to shake hands with the devil here and say it's worth it.

Education:
If we research education, it will raise our leadership total to 10.08, but will take ~300 days to research. Thus we would burn 300 days of 1 leadership to gain .32 leadership. In order for that .32 leadership to make up the deficit we incur by researching it, it will have to provide us with one leadership over the course of 300 equivalent days so roughly 900 days. That makes this a poor choice for research, as it is probable that hostilities will break out *prior* to our being able to profit significantly from the research. -=In actuality we would begin to profit sometime in early-ish 1939, and even then the extra .32 won't be enough to contribute 1 leadership point worth of research during that period, the 1938 tech would be an even worse investment for us=-

Industrial Production:
Poland begins the game with 37 IC available for production. This can be rapidly increased to 61 IC available for production within the first 1/3rd of 1936 through the establishment of War Economy policies. If we were to research Industrial Production we would gain 1 IC after 2 cycles of the tech (Poland starts out woefully behind), 2 additional IC after 3 cycles of the tech, or 3 additional IC after 4 cycles of the tech. Each cycle takes roughly 200 days. So we would be spending 10% of our leadership over the course of 800 days to increase our IC by 3 (5%). It's patently obvious that this is a poor investment of leadership for Poland. The first tech cycle grants us no benefit whatsoever besides being able to research Engineer brigades. Perhaps that is a viable option. But teching into Industrial Production any further is a clear waste, excepting related technologies that it may open up for research.

Industrial Efficiency:
Without a doubt, making the production we do have more efficient is a potentially valuable asset. The increased theory, which will also benefit Agriculture and Supply production too will also be useful. This tech will take ~4 cycles to reach 1936 levels (roughly less than 800 days).

Supply Production:
With the emphasis being on reducing supply need to 0 or as close to 0 as possible, it is advisable to research this tech regardless of its cost as it could allow us to use more of our 61 IC more gainfully than producing supplies. The actually supply needs of our armed forces will be examined in more depth later, but it is assumed that this tech will be necessary to research.


And so, of our roughly 10 Leadership points, we have earmarked 3 of them for research into the big 5, and they will likely remain engaged in that study for quite some time. As for how the rest will be dispensed, that will be saved for a later date once we set out to building our glorious armed forces.

 

[stnylan]

Good analysis of hte leadership situation.

 

[marxianTJ]

Polish Intelligence Services, Jan 1936
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(Insignia of Today's Polish Intelligence Services - I can't find any old insignias)

Missions:
The Mission of Poland's Intelligence services will be manifold. The first and most important objective is to make the world aware of just how big and scary Germany has become. Their second objective, will be to steal as much technology as possible from the lackadaisical Western Allies in France and the United Kingdom. They almost must work to increase the national unity of Poland as a whole in the homeland. However, our ability to train spies for so many missions is hamstrung by our lack of ability to train large amounts of spies quickly.

For each point of leadership invested into spy training, we net .15 spies per day. Thus by investing *all* of our leadership into spy production we produce roughly 1.4 spies per day. To attain the bare minimum of spies required for all of our missions (38) that would require 27 days, of utilizing roughly 10 leadership that is to say, 270 leadership days worth of our country's great minds.

However, if we instead stuck only to researching the 3 of the big 5 techs from day one, and invested roughly 6 leadership into spy production to produce the bare minimum required, it would take roughly 37 days, or 222 leadership days. If we instead reduced this to 3 leadership only, and researched more things, it would take 114 days, or 342 leadership days. So it appears the sweet spot is to invest heavily in spies for the first few months, while also researching 3 techs that are essential to our economy and survival. It has also been decided to scrap the idea of sending any spies at all to the United Kingdom to further reduce the amount of time that our country's great minds spend working in espionage.

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Fun historical fact:

Polish intelligence services of the prewar period were divided into many different sections, but ultimately acquitted themselves well, playing a key role in cracking the enigma code, warning France of the impending invasion of the low countries in 1940, as well as pivotal intelligence relating to Operation Torch in 1942 in North Africa and the invasion of the Caucus in the USSR, among many other important things. All told fully 43% of *all* intelligence reports received by the UK's intelligence service in World War 2 were provided by Polish agents.

 

[stnylan]

Yes, the achievements of Polish intelligence have been cruelly under-rated.

 

[Bullfilter]

Good initial analysis. I’m thinking your initial military research will concentrate first on infantry equipment and doctrines relevant to how you plan to defend the initial onslaught.

As for other arms (that you plan to produce domestically) I’ll be interested to see what you plan and therefore what you research. Artillery? AT? Armour? Provincial Heavy AA, or fighters (though you may go for licenses instead)? All depends on the defensive plan - looking forward to it.

 

[marxianTJ]

The Armed Forces of Poland, 1936.
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(Polish Air Force Roundel)
The Air Force:
The Polish Air Force consists of 3 squadrons of air craft, 2 of the interceptor type, and 1 of the tactical bomber type. Both are considered to be tier 1, although some upgrades are possible, as our air force is perhaps the only part of our whole armed forces which are up to date, or approaching up to date, modern technology.



It is however, sadly unlikely that we will be able to produce even a single air craft in the coming years as they cost 19.74 IC and 27.04 IC respectively (INT/TAC) thus to produce a single interceptor squadron would absorb nearly a third of our highest possible industrial output. Our finest air generla is General Heller, a Tank Buster, who is skill 1.

The Navy:
The Polish Navy consists of 2 squadrons of ships, one Destroyer squadron, and 1 Submarine Squadron. The Destroyers are considered type 2, but our technologies are not up 1936, and our Submarines are virtually the same as were seen during the Great War. It is impossible for us to produce a larger navy, nor is it possible to make up for how derelict our technological and industrial capabilities are with respect to the navy. Our finest Admiral is Smirski, a Superior Tactician, with a rank of 1 skill.

(Poland's Army/War flag of the interwar period)

The Polish Army:
Our Army is quite substantive consisting of 6 mountain brigades, 13 cavalry brigades, and 111 infantry brigades. Our finest generals are General Rola-Zimmerski, a Battle Master, and General Prich, an Old Guard, Logistics Wizard; both generals are ranked skill 3. The vast majority of our industrial capacity will be put into bolstering the army, however there are many important considerations with regards to the army.

Firstly, should war come, our entire army requires 325 manpower to come up to a full compliment. Presently, we only have 278 M.P. available for use. So it is absolutely essential for us to increase our monthly manpower growth as rapidly as possible. Though it is often possible to create lots of cheap reserves by way of utilizing an all volunteer force, such a luxury cannot be afforded to Poland, as all formations made after Jan 1, 1936, will be a net drain on our manpower reserves and will likely never come up to full strength, nor would there be replacements available for those who should fall.

As such 4 plans have been created to govern the essential growth of our land armies.

They have been named.... alphabetically.

Plan A).

Plan A calls for the creation of Artillery and Anti-tank brigades, and for them to be attached to every available infantry formation, with several formations not having an anti-tank compliment at all, and instead being 2xINF, 2xART formations, while also raising small amounts of new infantry brigades. To produce a full compliment this would require the production of 117 gun brigades, in addition to whatever we made new. To produce such a compliment, assuming 1/3rd of all eventual divisions have AT guns (it is thought this may be a better number as it is unlikely that any army we fight will have so many tanks as to require more AT guns) the full cost of these would be: 43 IC for the AT guns, and ~142 IC for the ART. These will take approximately 148 days to produce, and thus this plan is slated to take ~450 days. In reality it may take less time due to practical gain, or slightly more due to us not being able to utilize *all* of our IC for production. All production later down the line will be new whole divisions of 2xINF, and 2 complimentary gun brigades. Due to the likelihood that we would eventually form more divisions than could be adequately manned by the Polish people, emphasis would be laid on the training of these formations and as such would slow production somewhat. As such, the production time and IC cost of this plan will increase exponentially with higher draft laws and training standards - but should still be doable before war would break out.

Plan B.)

Plan B incorporates most of Plan A. However, after the initial series of guns are produced, we would instead not produce any new infantry formations, and instead rely on militia. Militia cost far less manpower to produce, and also drain our officer pool less. So, we could ultimately produce more units before running ourselves out of available manpower, resulting in a larger, more articulate force. We also would not need to emphasize training nearly as much as in Plan A - which would produce a smaller more elite force. This would add at least 4 additional techs to our research queue - which isn't huge.

Plan C.)

Plan C is radically different from the preceding plans and calls for a static defense of Poland. Wherein, we would attempt to form a static defense of our Western Rivers and utilize forts and engineers to plug any gaps between rivers, or in especially important objectives. The force here would need to be as elite as possible, as much of our IC would go into fort production and greatly reduce the quantity of Polish citizens under arms. In any case, some artillery production would still take place. This would only require 1-3 additional techs over Plan A. The cost of a single fort is 8.25 IC for ~295 days (~2,434 IC days). For comparison, a single fort could also be turned into ~9 artillery brigades, but the fort also costs us no manpower. Likewise, the fort's benefits would also be lost to us forever should we lose the fortified area to the enemy. It is a risky plan.

Plan D.)

Plan D is a radical gambit. It is assumed any force we face will not field large numbers of tanks against us. As such, we could potentially utilize armor of our own to obtain a decisive advantage. Be it in the form of light or medium tanks, or tank destroyers. This would help our manpower situation as well as in those battles which occur against forces that cannot pierce us (no tanks, no AT of any kind) would greatly reduce causalities suffered by our forces. It appears, due to the lower piercing rate of light tanks, that they are the inferior choice to TDs, which are also slightly cheaper, despite their reduced soft attack values over light tanks. A mixed force would ultimately make the most sense - though it would add quite a lot to our research requirements, unless we were able to procure production licenses from abroad. The IC cost and research cost are astronomical in comparison to other plans, excepting plan C.


Field Marshal Rydz-Śmigły has instructed the national production statistics bureau to conduct a series of studies in this direction. Particularly the statisticians will need to account for several variables such as reduced cost as our workers gain skill in production, and increased costs of units as we draft more Polish citizens.

 

[ThaHoward]

I'll follow this, best of luck against the Germans and Soviets

 

[Bullfilter]

Even if you don’t go the “full Maginot” option, you will need some forts to protects gaps in the river lines. That German Luftwaffe will hammer you too - if not fighters to counter it, then ...? It is a wicked problem.

 

[marxianTJ]

@Bullfilter

Things are gonna get hectic, because there are *lots* of plans that look like good solid options, the problem is the 10 LS and 61 IC and the absolute necessity to spend most of the game at 3 year draft to even be able to fully field a slightly larger army and somehow trying to squeeze officer ratio considerations in there It's gonna be rough no matter what. In that 2010 AAR he discusses the possibility of making an air force, but I don't think that's possible at all. There is just so much of Poland to defend and so few military aged poles to do it with expending 30% of our IC to get a single air unit that likely wont last more than 2-3 weeks... that's a tough pill to swallow. I think, unfortunately, I'll have rely on the UK.... Oh dear...

@ThaHoward

Welcome aboard hopefully I can give you some fun or at least schadenfreude

 

[marxianTJ]

So Let It Be Done: The Game Begins
​

With all of our various considerations undertaken, and a few studies showing the relative improbability of assured success of all the military plans, Pilsudki's associates gathered and decided to formulate a compromise... Though they know full-well that compromises in the military realm often mean insufficiency in the end, but it is unavoidable fact that Poland's resources are simply that to begin with.




January - February Report:

- Diplomatically, we began aligning towards the allies. If we are to ever acquire heavier hardware, we shall have to purchase some from the UK or France.
- On January second, we stepped our economy up to Full Mobilization. This allows for us to produce 3 forts, 5 AT, 5 ART, and 1 2xINF division presently.
- In trade we have resolved to do the following: Poland has 75 relations with much of the world... in particular the USA. The USA will be our primary trade partner, and we kicked off that relationship by selling them 15 units of fuel in exchange for 7.3$. We also sold some energy to various states that offered, because the income from selling our energy is inconsequential compared to our oil money.

(Actually a Soviet Oil refinery, but they probably had similar design ideas)

-=This isn't necessarily *totally* ahistorical, as Poland *did* have oil fields in their territory in 1936, they were in the East of the country, in what is now Ukraine. Their oil refining facility was, according to some Polish sources from the period, one of, if not *the*, largest oil refinery in continental Europe, it employed 3,000 people. The oil refinery was operated by the Polish State, and interestingly, after Poland's defeat in WW2, this refinery facility went to the USSR, not Germany.=-

On February 5th, our citizens protested a bit about the rigged nature of elections in Poland, but at the end of the affair they all decided to go home quietly and nobody seemed to carry any lasting discontent forward (dodged bullet #1).

On February 9th, Civil War broke out in Spain.
-=In our timeline, Poland was the 3rd largest arms supplier to the Spanish Republic, after the USSR and Mexico. Poland had no qualms with flouting the French and UK's blockade. ~3,000 Poles also fought *with* the Republicans as international volunteers, and continued their fight well through World War 2 as members of the resistance in various nations, the French Army, and various arms of Poland's own army. They were not embraced by the Polish government, and many of them were stripped of their citizenship for being Communists and for openly having participated in the Spanish Civil War.=-

On February 20th, we begin turning our spies in France to search for technology.

As of March 1st, our trade program was over. Poland has a net income of $1.25, +20 Energy, +50 Metal, and +38 rares.
12th of March, our Spy program ends and we turn over to research completely:
Agriculture, Industrial Efficiency, Supply Production, Small Arms, Anti-tank techs 1-2, Infantry Warfare, Delay Doctrine, Operational Level.

On April first, we end up gaining 5 dissent due to the actions of a wayward minister....

April 8th the Government, perhaps as a smokescreen to distract from their wayward minister, announce a 1 year draft, and set the economy on a war footing.

But with so much production coming into line, the Marshal of Poland asks that an in-depth look be taken at the Polish military's current state of affairs.

 

[marxianTJ]

Army Organization and Poland
​

Poland's OOB, much like the rest of the world's is a mess. Now we have our ideal 61 IC, but we're spending 5.31 of it on consumer goods, and 3.69 of it in producing supplies so our army doesn't starve. How can this best be reduced?

2 options and 1 certain action seem the most straightforward.

Firstly, moving absolutely all of our forces to Warsaw will eliminate the supply tax for moving said supplies throughout Poland, this is absolutely necessary and has been accomplished by April 1.

However, which of our two options are better for Poland's economy?

1.) A full OOB, loaded out with Logistics Wizards in every possible command.

2.) An OOB consisting of 1 Theater Command, with a Logistics Wizard in charge, overseeing *all* other divisions and formations, with all remaining logistics wizards distributed throughout the individual divisions.

Results:

Case 1: Reductions in Consumer Goods Requirement + Reductions in Supply need = 2.5 IC saved

Case 2: Reductions in CGR + Reducation of Supply need = 4.08 IC saved. (It's all in the saved consumer goods).

Thus, our unfortunate Field Marshal shall have quite a lot of paperwork in the coming years...

-=Yes, this is thoroughly gamey and ahistorical, but so is having 6% of your economy going strictly towards the maintenance of your officer corps. I figure Germany's myriad advantages more than offset this excess=-

This will be reexamined later, to determine if there is a breaking point, where it becomes more efficient to have a full OOB as opposed to just a single theater command.

 

[stnylan]

Poland never has enough of anything

 

[racebear75]

That sounds interesting here, subbed, of course.

 

[markkur]

Subbed. I like this idea very much.