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I love the blow-by-blow writing. almost like Saving Private Heinz on the Danzig beaches:D
about getting clobbered by the Polish Air Force: you might be facing UK Hurricanes on loan. for what it's worth, though, RL Polish Air Force did put quite a dent in the Luftwaffe early on (contrary to popular myth about getting destroyed on the ground). Have you tried bombing their home base behind their back? this could force them to rebase.
 
thanks for reading!

have no fear. despite current setbacks, I've always found German Generals usually manage to pull it through due to superior skills. (though that last screenshot looked bad)

Thanks - well, it could have been worse. The night also worked against the Polish interceptors attacking me, so damage was minimal.

i'm pretty sure the aggresive/defensive ai settings just affect if they are attacking territory or defending it. i dunno though. mine is always set to aggresive :D on format: its fine and dandy. no problems.

Thanks for the feedback! I am not so sure what the Aggressive / Defensive / Passive stance is all about either, so I also just use Aggressive :D

why would you use the AI for anything? They are only good for wasting and being dumb

Well, I am not using the AI as such - 'stance' is just a setting. I still try to manually control where each wing goes and which type of mission. But it is a lot of micromanagement.

about getting clobbered by the Polish Air Force: you might be facing UK Hurricanes on loan. Have you tried bombing their home base behind their back? this could force them to rebase.

I don't think so - if you look at the pics, I am up against Polish bombers, not even interceptors or multi-role :eek: I am considering runway cratering of course, but I figured that the optimal strategy would be to get air superiority first and then crater the runways. That way the bombers doing the runway cratering will suffer less I imagine?

Awesome AAR! Will follow it : )

Thanks! And welcome onboard - glad to have you with us! :)

I love the blow-by-blow writing. almost like Saving Private Heinz on the Danzig beaches:D

Thanks! Glad you like it ;)


Setting the Pace of the AAR
Since yesterday's updates I have been thinking a lot about the pace of the AAR. The current layout and style of the AAR is very much influenced by the "diary" I keep while playing, where - at least during the fighting - write down maneuvres and battles hour-by-hour. That makes it fairly easy to post a summary in a similar format but I am worried that at the current pace I will spend ten times more time writing than actually playing. I have 10 years of World War II ahead of me and I can hardly write an episode about every single day of the war. That would be a never-ending project.

So, I have decided that during military campaigns I will skip past all the minor stuff in the ground war and stick with just the overall progress of the war and any significant battles. As far as diplomacy, espionage and the air and naval war goes, I will probably summarise my gameplay experiences in specific updates.

I hope this is not disappointing to those who have come to like the level of detail in the AAR, but I feel this is the best solution to keep the AAR going.

Thanks to everyone for reading and particularly for commenting! :)
 
"Thanks for the feedback! I am not so sure what the Aggressive / Defensive / Passive stance is all about either, so I also just use Aggressive"

The settings determine how much the units Strength and Organization can drop before disengaging.

Aggressive - Organisation & Strength can go down to 5% before retreat

Defensive - Organisation & Strength can go down to 30% before retreat

Passive - Organisation & Strength can go down to 60% before retreat

I got this info from another thread burried deep here. I wish I could give creadit to the poster.

Oh, by the way subscribed!
 
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Episode 16

Fall Weiss - Race to Warszawa


June 13 - June 20, 1938


As the war against Poland progresses and my spearheads thrust deeper into the countryside, it becomes increasingly difficult to maintain a coherent front. Not only are my panzers and motorised infantry units moving so fast that the infantry and HQ units cannot keep up or protect their flanks, but the Polish Army also commits to a sort of asymetrical warfare - using individual divisions here and there to cause mischief, block advances or threaten to cut off my forward units.

The Poles can hardly threaten the invasion with collapse but several times I realise that the strategy of just racing for the VP provinces as quickly as possible results in a very chaotic campaign. Poland is not large enough for big encirclements (or maybe I am just impatient) and although the Poles are not using "defend in depth" tactics it does cause problems to my blitzing units that they often encounter stray divisions far behind the front that cause unexpected skirmishes, which slow down the advance because of the attack delay penalty. In this campaign, simply smashing a hole in the Polish lines and then blitzing through did not work because the Polish AI continued to shift forces from north to south via the centre of the country, where they ran into the German armour and motorised infantry.


Poland Brings the War to Germany
At midnight on June 13, Polish forces capture the German province of Scheidemühl on the northwest section of the front between Poznan and Danzig. They instantly retreated back into Poland and I only managed to pin them in a counterattack for two hours. At 2 pm that same day, another Polish force captured another German province in the same sector - Woldenberg - and because I was stupid enough to use my infantry in Answald in the counterattack against Schneidemühl earlier, I now suffer the attack penalty and cannot counterattack Woldenberg for another five days!

AAR156.jpg

The Battle Map on June 15 at 01:00 hrs.

On June 14, at 6 am it looks like Polish armour is driving towards the Baltic Coast in an attempt to once again cut off the Königsberg enclave from the rest of Germany. At that time I haven't got any reserves to throw them back because my nearest infantry division was deployed only a few days ago and practically has no organisation yet.

At 7 am on June 15, Scheidemühl is firmly back on German hands. Major General Volkmann's 57. Infanterie-Division rests after the attack but on June 18 at 5 am they are back on the offensive and begin an attack into the flank of the Polish armour advancing from Naklo nad Notecia into Stolp. An hour later, the German 56. Infanterie-Division in Answald finally manage to recapture Woldenberg on the border (from which the Polish forces had also retreated quickly after capturing it), restoring all lost German territory in the sector to Germany. Meanwhile, Volkmann's fight lasts 13 hours and at 6 pm the Poles are driven back. Naklo nad Notecia finally falls to Volkmann's infantry at midnight on June 20.


Drive on Poznan
Due south of this sector I have a few infantry divisions in Reppen and Sorau staring across the border into a lightly defended Koscian and completely undefended Leszno. I decide to put the pressure on the Poles and on June 13 at 3 am I attack both provinces. The attack only lasts 27 hours and on June 14 at 6 am the Polish fall back. At the same time they evacuate their forces from Gostyn south of Koscian and pull back to defend the airfield at Slupca, southeast of Poznan. Koscian falls to the German advance on June 16 at 4 pm.

AAR161.jpg

The Battle Map on June 16 at 19:00 hrs.

By June 17 undefended Leszno has fallen and we are preparing to move into Gostyn, when at 3 am the Poles also decide to pull back from Ostrow Wielkopolski due south of Slupca and northeast of Breslau. My 62. Infanterie-Division in Rawicz under the engineer major general Förster decides to harrash the Polish retreat but the skirmish lasts less than an hour with fewer than 10 killed.

I am gradually surrounding Poznan but when I try to enter Slupca at 2 pm on June 18, Jacob's 63. Infanterie-Division attacking from Gostyn encounters resistance from a Polish infantry division. Three hours later, at 5 pm, von Förster's 58. Infanterie-Division attacks Poznan itself, which is defended by a Polish HQ and an infantry division. Two hours later the attack is joined from the north as the 56. Infanterie-Division recaptures Woldenberg without firing a shot. Meanwhile, the battle for the important airfield in Slupca lasts until June 19. At 2 am Jacob's infantry breaks the Polish defenders into a full retreat. By the end of the day on June 20, the fight for Poznan itself is still going strong...


Encirclement and Assault on Krakow
On June 13, Höpner's 80. Infanterie-Division (mot.) captures the province of Lubliniec at 10 am, thus securing Model's left flank on his advance towards Katowice to encircle Krakow. At this moment several other motorised infantry divisions and armoured divisions are in Falkenberg or very close to the border and over the next few days I mistakenly send them all into Poland and have them spread out in a wide fan in an attempt to gobble up as much of Poland as quickly as possible.

Busch's 77. Infanterie-Division (mot.) attacks towards Zloczew while von Kortzfleisch's 78. Infanterie-Division (mot.) heads north into Wielun and von Hanneken's 79. Infanteire-Division (mot.) attacks northeast into Klobuck. The attacks proceed well and by June 15 at 3 am von Kortzfleisch breaks the Polish HQ opposing him into a full retreat. During the battle he has only lost 2 of this own men but inflicted 116 enemy casualties! Clearly, HQs are not meant to fight unsupported. :p

AAR164.jpg

The Battle Map on June 18 at 14:00 hrs.

Rushing to capture Poland is a mistake, however, as I realise when the 1., 2. and 6. Panzer-Divisions reach the front in Klobuck. To avoid micromanagement and issuing "forward" orders one province at a time and thinking that the area behind the front would be clear of enemies, I had set the path of advance for all three panzer divisions four or five provinces ahead and just let them roll on. Now, together with von Hanneken's motorised infantry they crush the Polish defence in Klobuck south of Lodz in an hour - and then four of my fastest mobile units receives the 112 hour attack delay penalty! :mad:

AAR157.jpg

It only took one poor Polish division to cause four good German divisions the attack delay penalty...

By June 13 at 11 am, von Hubicki's 9. Panzer-Division captures Busko-Zdroj northeast of Krakow. Across the river he sees an HQ unit of the Polish Army trying to escape the soon-to-be Krakow Pocket, so I order an attack in an attempt to pin the HQ down, while Model approaches from the west. Unfortunately, the pin does not work as the Poles disengage within an hour. The 9. Panzer-Division moves across the river and by June 14 at 6 am they have captured Wloszczowa directly north of Krakow. At that time another weak Polish HQ unit tries to escape but 22 hours later realise that it is in vain. By that time they have suffered 144 casualties while the 9. Panzer-Division has not suffered a single casualty! On June 15 at 2 am, Model's 5. Panzer-Division finally captures Katowice, cutting off the Krakow Pocket from the rest of Poland, and repulses another brief attempt to break out.

An hour later, Polish infantry in Gorelice try to attack from the southwest to relieve the besieged city. Alas, they run straight into two of my motorised divisions from von Bock's new motorised corps that was added to the OOB a few days before the invasion of Czeschoslovakia. They are now rested and easily resist the Polish attack.

In the evening, however, something rather demoralising happens: all my motorised infantry south and southeast of Krakow run out of fuel and cannot move! :( I was counting on these divisions to squeze the Krakow Pocket and eventually capture the city itself. Now I don't know how long I will have to wait for the supply train to catch up. None of my forward units further north seem to have supply problems, so I suspect that the problem in this case is that I have concentrated too much mobile force in one place?

So, at 10 pm on June 15 I do what I would normally never do: I let Model's 5. Panzer-Division attack alone, into urban territory, across a river, at night! :rolleyes:

I am pleased to see that despite an attack penalty of more than 200%, Model's attack is still 16% efficient! ;)

AAR158.jpg


I am, of course, relying on the fact that Krakow is garrisoned by two HQ units who have both suffered recent defeats and at 1 am on June 16 after just three hours the battle for Krakow is over. Neither side took any casualties and Model calmly rolls his panzers into the defeated city.


Detour to Lwow and the Polish Southern Offensive
Von Mackensen's 8. Panzer-Division continued all the way to Lwow unopposed, which was captured on June 16 at 4 pm. Unfortunately, by this time the Polish forces moving south that I had previously ignored were not only conquering eastern Slovakia but also started a siege of Kosice 15 hours earlier. My police division is holding out but probably won't for long, so I dispatch 8. Panzer-Division to the south to cut the besieging forces' landline to Warszawa. But my own landline back to other German forces is long and thin and I am in danger of getting cut off. Will the encircler become the encircled?

AAR160.jpg

8. Panzer-Division racing south after the conquest of Lwow

On June 18 at 11 pm, von Sodenstern's 81. Infanterie-Division has refueled south of Krakow and raced to Krynica, thereby attacking the Polish besiegers of Kosice in the back. At midnight on June 19 the Poles break off the siege and retreat. At this time von Mackensen's 8. Panzer-Division captures Drohobycz and is only 17 hours away from creating a pocket in which the Polish infantry will be trapped. Things are looking good when all of a sudden I spot another Polish unit moving down from the north to recapture Lwow and cut off my armour. I should have known that the AI would not sit still when I left a VP unguarded... :rolleyes:

AAR165.jpg

The Battle Map on June 19 at 02:00 hrs.

Three hours later, at 5 am, Kosice is once again under siege - this time from Polish armour (the ones that moved out from Warszawa) and von Mackensen won't be able to relieve the city with a flanking attack for another 14 hours...

At 6 pm the 8. Panzer-Division completes the encirclement of the Przemysl Pocket and immediately attacks south against the Polish armour to relieve Kosice, which after a three-hour battle runs for the hills (literally ;))

As June 20 nears the end the situation is stable but several Polish units are closing in on my thin lines and could easily recapture Lwow and open up an escape route from the Przemysl Pocket.


The 7. Panzer-Division's Blitz to Warszawa
While most of my armour and motorised forces are commited to battle either northwest or southeast of Krakow in the days of June 13 - June 20, the 7. Panzer-Division continued its blitz north to the outskirts of Warszawa. By 21:00 hrs on June 13, the 7. Panzer-Division captures the province of Staszow. Enemy infantry is retreating into Kielce, so to avoid a fight and continue the blitz I move the panzers north up along the river to a crossing further upstream. I leave the encirclement of Krakow to the 9. and 5. Panzer-Divisions under von Hubicki and Model.

AAR159.jpg


At midnight on June 15, the 7. Panzer-Division establishes a bridgehead on the west bank of the river in Ostowiec and true to its purpose and mindless of the danger the brave panzertruppen continue to blitz north - despite supply difficulties further back in the rear as well as an enemy HQ hiding in the swamps to the east...

About the same time as Model begins his assault on Krakow, Nehring has driven several hundred kilometers further north and captured Pulawy - just one province south of Warszawa! I must say that for the purpose of blitzing, the 2 light armour + 2 armoured car brigades is a winner! :D

The 7. Panzer-Division continues and after a brief fight with two Polish HQ units it captures Warka just south of Warszawa on June 16 at 2 pm. In the days that follow, the 76. Infanterie-Division (mot.) under von Falkenhorst and the 3. Panzer-Division under Geyr von Schweppenburg catches up and all three divisions prepare to attack Warszawa from the south just as soon as the 7. Panzer-Division is rid of its attack delay penalty again on June 21.

In the days up to this, I have moved all five of the new infantry divisions in Königsberg to new defensive positions along the border of the enclave, while the rested divisions were moved towards the centre for an attack south towards Warszawa, so I could attack the capital from the north and the south simultaneously. On June 17 at 9 am, two infantry divisions attack Ostroleka to clear the way for other divisions who can then "leapfrog" and attack Warszawa.

AAR162.jpg


The battle ends in German victory at 9 pm, clearing the way for more forces to assault Warszawa from the north on June 21.

AAR167.jpg

The Battle Map on June 20 at 23:00 hrs.


Up Next: Warszawa Under Siege!
 
thanks for reading!

The settings determine how much the units Strength and Organization can drop before disengaging.

Aggressive - Organisation & Strength can go down to 5% before retreat

Defensive - Organisation & Strength can go down to 30% before retreat

Passive - Organisation & Strength can go down to 60% before retreat

I got this info from another thread burried deep here. I wish I could give creadit to the poster.

Oh, by the way subscribed!

Thanks Darklighter! That is really usefull knowledge and makes sense looking back at how my game develops. And thanks for subscribing! :)

Great update, I like the way you write : )

Thanks a lot! I must say, it took me more than 5 hours to do the last update and I am not pleased with the result. In my opinion, it is terribly confusing both to write and to read text that is organised by geography rather than chronology, so from now on I will try to go back to a more chronological format. But I am glad you still like it! ;)

Enjoying this AAR, hope we get an update soon

Thank you and thanks for reading! This past week real life (i.e. work) caught up with me and I have been getting troublesome e-mails about my image hosting at photobucket that I had to figure out. For a while I could not understand whether I had to switch services to continue having pictures in my aar but hopefully that is sorted out now.

I only have a few hours before I have to be somewhere tonight but I will upload a new episode before that - about the war in the Atlantic - and then get back to the main story hopefully tomorrow.

Thanks to all readers and commenters and have a nice weekend!
 
Aaarrrgghh!!

looking forward to it.

I am really sorry, but the rather long update I have just spent 1½ hours to prepare managed to delete itself when I was submitting it - and I don't have a backup so I'll have to retype everything tomorrow! :mad:

Man, I hate Paradox's system for not being able to back up while writing!

Sorry guys, next update tomorrow - I promise!
 
I am really sorry, but the rather long update I have just spent 1½ hours to prepare managed to delete itself when I was submitting it - and I don't have a backup so I'll have to retype everything tomorrow! :mad:

Man, I hate Paradox's system for not being able to back up while writing!

Sorry guys, next update tomorrow - I promise!

You can prepare your post in your favorite text editor...
 
it sucks when that happens, but c'est la vie. (or, in plain English, these things happen). we'll be here tomorrow.
 
Episode 17

The War in the Atlantic


June 13 - December 31, 1938


U-boat.jpg


My first two submarine squadrons reached their stations in the Atlantic Ocean on June 13, marking the beginning of my offensive in the war at sea. Because the war has started somewhat sooner than I had planned :rolleyes: I had only two squadrons ready but another 8 would roll off the production lines on June 23 and be operational and sent to sea by mid-July.

I was very excited to test how submarines would fare in Hoi3 because I had read complaints by players that they were everything from too powerful to not powerful enough. Back in Hoi2 the general consensus seemed to be that submarines were a hassle, too much micromanagement if you were to avoid getting your subs sunk and that with the huge stockpiles allowed in that version of the game a historic recreation of the war in the Atlantic and the threat to the United Kingdom was simply not possible.

A famous test by blue Emu contradicted this somewhat, but even blue Emu had to use what I would call huge numbers of submarines, rotating them continuously, to produce a significant impact in the war.

Having only 10 submarine squadrons, I was prepared to see only limited results, having to keep a third of them on 'reserve' orders in port and also over time having to replace a significant number of them due to the anti-submarine warfare (ASW) efforts of the Royal Navy.

Italy also joined in the war against Allied shipping as soon as the war broke out in Europe. In the last half of 1938 they lost a singe of their 12 submarine squadrons. I cannot determine the precise impact of Italian submarines and naval bombers because I do not know how many Allied convoys pass through the Med and I don't know how well the AI uses forces for convoy raiding. But Italy could, potentially, have achieved results similar to mine.


Sea Wolves Rule Beneath the Waves
At the start of the game, the United Kingdom had 80 available transports and 71 available escorts. Just before the outbreak of the war in May 1938 that number was 377 available transports and 71 available escorts. Oddly enough, despite the increase in numbers and presumably a greater number of trades that need maintaining in 1938, the UK did not have any practicals in May 1938 that could decrease time and IC spent on building new transports and escorts.

But I suspect that the United Kingdom alone must have had a total of 600+ transports by the time war breaks out in Europe on June 1 1938.

At this time my subs had most of the 1937 and 1938 techs and doctrines but nothing researched ahead of time.

sinkingship.jpg


In the 5½ months from June 13 to December 31 1938, German submarines sank a total of 760 Allied transports and 60 Allied escorts = a total of 820 Allied ships.

I'll just say that again: 760 transports and 60 escorts in 5½ months.

My losses in that same time period? None. Not a single squadron.

Twice in 5½ months my submarines were engaged -accidentally I suspect - by the Royal Navy. In both cases I had a positioning of 95% versus the Royal Navy's approximately 10% positioning. This meant that in both cases I could easily outdistance most of the enemy fleet and escape with my submarine squadron reduced to about 40 str/org and retreat to repairs in a safe port.

The rest of my submarine squadrons were at sea 24/7 for 5½ months. I simply gave them the convoy raiding order and assigned them each a zone creating a net covering the ocean southwest and west of the UK and France.


Annihilation of the Allied Merchant Fleet
I must admit, I was surprised at the efficiency of submarines in Hoi3 and the lack of an efficient response from the Royal Navy. Both problems need some serious addressing from the game developers to create a better game balance.

This is a list of how many Allied transports and escorts were sunk in 1938:

June - 28 transports, 5 escorts
July - 107 transports, 25 escorts
August - 155 transports, 11 escorts
September - 141 transports, 0 escorts
October - 158 transports, 9 escorts
November - 119 transports, 0 escorts
December - 52 transports, 0 escorts

sinkingship2nd.gif


The varying numbers reflect different conflicts against members of the Allies throughout the rest of 1938 as well as an intelligent reaction by the AI; once a sea zone becomes too 'hot' to pass through due to losses, the AI will actively try to divert the convoys around it - taking a longer route to avoid the most dangerous areas. This is something I like about the Hoi3 system - but it does not offset the fact that convoys are too easily spotted and sunk and the Royal Navy and other Allied navies are not at all pursuing ASW tasks it seems. :rolleyes:


Submarines for Strategic Warfare
I haven't been able to detect how much of an impact these enormous losses have had on Allied National Unity due to the Strategic Warfare factor. My spies seem to report greatly varying levels of National Unity in the UK and France and I also suspect that the Allies have been using the Intelligence system to boost National Unity.

Likewise, the decimation of the Allied merchant fleet had by the end of 1938 in no way significantly impacted the IC of the United Kingdom. As 1939 progresses, this may change but at the moment the stockpiles that the UK created in 1936-1938 are still vast and could keep them going for several years, I suspect.

So, are submarines still worthless in a strategic context? Absolutely not.

First of all, I have a strong suspicion that many of the Allied forces overseas are greatly lacking supplies by New Year 1939. But more importantly, the loss of 820 ships represents a huge loss of IC investment for the Allies. I have no idea how many of the transports and escorts the Allies will try to replace but if the AI prioritises keeping up supply levels overseas then these losses could potentially halt most other Allied production for a considerable time.

Take a look at these numbers. In 1936 a Type IX submarine squadron cost me 4.52 IC for 319 days. Thus, my ten squadrons (minus a minor discount from practicals on the last 8 squadrons) have cost me: 10 x 4.52 x 319 = 14,418.80 IC days.

Constructing a transport costs 2 IC for 100 days and an escort costs 4 IC for 240 days. Thus, replacing 760 convoy transports and 60 convoy escorts is going to cost: (760 x 2 x 100) + (60 x 4 x 240) = 209,600 IC days!! :eek:

I haven't calculated how many armoured divisions or tactical bomber wings that is but for my modest investment I have inflicted losses measured in IC days that are 14.54 times higher than my own investment!! :wacko:


Submarine Warfare - An Easy Rise to Stardom
Another grossly unbalanced feature of submarine warfare and convoy raiding in Hoi3 is that every time a submarine squadron attacks a convoy, the commander gets experience and rises in skill and experience.

U-boatcrew.jpg


These are the commanders I have used in my 10 squadron submarine fleet in 1938, their starting skill and their end skill and how much experience they have for gaining another skill point:

Commander Sobe - start skill 1, end skill 6 (99%)
Commander Wolf - start skill 2, end skill 6 (82%)
Commander Claasen - start skill 1, end skill 5 (67%)
Commander Marschall - start skill 4, end skill 5 (84%)
Rear Adm. Saalwächter - start skill 4, end skill 6 (82%)
Commander Densch - start skill 3, end skill 7 (86%)
Commander Lütjens - start skill 3, end skill 5 (77%)
Commander Warzecha - start skill 4, end skill 6 (91%)
Commander Assman - start skill 2, end skill 6 (75%)
Commander von Nordeck - start skill 3, end skill 5 (77%)

Because I in 1938 did not have enough Sea Wolves for all the squadrons, I also used other types of commanders and as you can see they perform outstandingly well also. Even if you, as a player, want to go for a surface Kriegsmarine rather than submarine warfare, building a few submarines and letting them raid convoys for half a year seems like an absurdly easy (gamey) way of getting a handful of naval officers to very high skill level. :rolleyes:


Submarine Warfare in 1939
On January 1 1939 I withdrew all my submarines to port. I was actually afraid that the Allied supply situation overseas could become so bad that it could ruin the game. The lack of transports effectively keeps the UK from supplying landings in Europe and quite possibly the forces in Africa are also in bad shape. So to keep the game interesting I withdrew for the time being.


Up Next: Back to Fall Weiss!
 
Take a look at these numbers. In 1936 a Type IX submarine squadron cost me 4.52 IC for 319 days. Thus, my ten squadrons (minus a minor discount from practicals on the last 8 squadrons) have cost me: 10 x 4.52 x 319 = 14,418.80 IC days.

Constructing a transport costs 2 IC for 100 days and an escort costs 4 IC for 240 days. Thus, replacing 760 convoy transports and 60 convoy escorts is going to cost: (760 x 2 x 100) + (60 x 4 x 240) = 209,600 IC days!! :eek:

Don't you get 10 escorts and 10 transports per build? Bringing the total number of sunken IC days closer to 20,000, which seems more reasonable.
 
thanks for reading!

Don't you get 10 escorts and 10 transports per build? Bringing the total number of sunken IC days closer to 20,000, which seems more reasonable.

That would indeed be more reasonable and I seem to recall that in Hoi2 at least you got 10 transports/escorts per build. But I haven't constructed any myself yet in Hoi3 so I don't know for sure.

Still, even if they are cheaper, I think convoy raiding in Hoi3 is too easy. Killing the entire Allied merchant fleet in less than six months is a broken mechanic if you ask me.

I know some fans of history will argue that in the real WWII Germany's sub fleet did seriously threaten the UK etc. But in Hoi3 the results are not shortages at home but shortages of supplies and fuel in theatres that ought to be somewhat selfsufficient (like India and the Middle East).
 
happy days are here again

IIRC, 1 build of transports or convoys equals 10 ships. still, it is safe to say you could ruin UK with it. especially since you're at war so early, it may take the US longer to join the Allies.
an interesting first-hand look at submarine operations. well worth the wait.
 
Yes, very interesting update for sure, maybe it is worth it to build some subs in hoi3 since they were almost useless in hoi2

not if you "cruizerged" them...18 type IX in a fleet, 3 fleets... the RN still has nightmares about it:p

edit: which, in HOI3, I'm glad is almost impossible to do. subs were not designed for that sort of thing. back OT, next year, commander-dx will have Donitz...God help them.
 
Remember to vote in AARland Choice Awards today!

I just filled out my votes. Remember that you can too but today is last chance!

Favorite Narrative AAR, HOI3:

Couldn't find any narrative aars that I felt should be nominated. Most of the ones listed as narratives are - in my view - more gameplay reference-like in nature. :(

Favorite Comedy AAR, HOI3: Yes I would, and some spam too if you'd be so kind. A Terribly British HOI3 AAR by C'est Moi.

It is a dead aar, unfortuntately, but some of the funniest stuff I have read here in the aar forums :D

Favorite History-Book AAR, HOI3: Rank and File: A Clerk's War by Uriah.

An impressive work with fantastic detail and wonderful illustrations!

Favorite Gameplay AAR, HOI3: To The Last Man! by Ian Clacher.

Awesome story of how to turn the 1944 scenario around!


It was tempting to put Explorations in Strategy and Imperio Novo for awards also, but I chose the ones above because less known writaars deserve some recognition, I feel.