Fox of the CAARpathians - Survival of the Trickiest?

[Tartan Spartan]

Romania 1936:

Our position is grim, we are poor, technologically unsophisticated and beset by potential enemies to all sides.

To the South and West lie the Irridentist states of Hungary and Bulgaria, whilst
the Red peril casts its covetous eyes on Besserabia. The rising powers of Germany and Italy demand our goods and allegiance whilst old friends are distant and declining......

The scene is set but the traps may yet be avoided, can Romania survive WW2?

[Daan]

First post!

Sounds interesting...will follow

[Tartan Spartan]

OK the plan,

1) Survival - losing is not an option, grandmothers will be sold to slavery before we even contemplate surrender

2) Growth - Long term shrinkage of our state is not acceptable, any territorial concessions will be temporary or compensated by growth in other directions

3) Conquest - the glorious yellowy brown of romania will be spread as far as possible


My limits, I will be running N/N 1.3b from 1936, no cheating and going with any events except perhaps the unholy alliance, which would really give me no options!

I will generally chose a fun risk over a boring dead certainty (unless the risk is of complete anihilation)

I am currently thinking over the following options so any advice is welcome

1) The fox - Ally w germany - up tech and industry, I think this allows me to face down hungarian claims, leaving me free to jump ships as I chose

2) The democrat - Join the allies & hold out with poland, hopefully annex bulgaria & hungary

3) The red front - Join the comintern - modernise for war in 42 and hope to survive with expansion into bulgaria, greece, hungary and yugoslavia on the rebound

4) The jackal - remain isolated and try and annex balkan neighbours when the guarantees run out

5) The pounder Keg - Relight the balkan powder keg and see if I can survive the consequences

[hobotnicajoe]

Will be an interesting AAR...

I personally vote for 5). I think Romania is pretty strong in the beginning, so you can come out victorious. On the other hand, I always wanted to do a campaign that starts with a 3rd Balkans War .

[Tartan Spartan]

I know option 5 is tempting, esp cos I start with a pretty nicely sized army (really too large for my starting IC) but I really dont want to be on the recieving end of an attack by a major power so will have to check out the guarantees

J

[Big Mac]

I agree sounds interesting....

I think for long term success you need a major to feed you blueprints. SU does not give them away or even sell (at least not cheaply), I learned this in a Turkey game when I joined their alliance. It just takes so long with only 2 - 3 tech teams.

I'd go a combo route, join an alliance for plans and then quit when your ready to pounce.

[Marchalk_Zjukov]

5 looks nice.

[Borna]

5) The pounder Keg - Relight the balkan powder keg and see if I can survive the consequences

go,go,go,go romania...............booooooommm

[Rensslaer]

Looks interesting, and I wish you the best!

My suggestion is for you to try Option 5... play it far enough to know if it will work.

If it works, let us know about it!

If not, either let us know about it anyway, or try allying with a major power.

I could enjoy an AAR where the hero gets ground to dust... so long as it's an interesting game!

Rensslaer

[Tskb18]

Excellent title.
i might recommend 4, as Powder Keg would definitely be an interesting BOOM! but since survival is imperative...
Anyway, best of luck!
(Insofar as the glorious yellowy brown of romania will be spread as far as possibe but not to the east.)

[lifeless]

why not do both? 5 and then 4! lol

[Earth's Savior]

Option 2 sounds good.

[El Pip]

I'd go for option 2 if you have patience, option 5 if you don't. The advantage of option 5 is it will be quick, if it all goes wrong you'll be dead long before '37 rolls around.

[Earth's Savior]

Can we see some screenshots?

[GeneralHannibal]

option 5 option 2

also, you could mod you national territories to make a true Greater Romania

[Tartan Spartan]

Part 1 - At the mercy of the tide

As I click my way through the start menu I feel it is time to start channeling the spirits of Romanian heros of the past, I feel Vlad (of the Impaling fame) Stefan Cel Mare (undefeated warrior king of ancient Moldavia) and Georghe Hagi (shortarse midfield genius of the mid nineties) are all looking over my shoulder urging me on to greater heights.


Initial Situation Jan 1st 1936

Military - According to my first look at the ledger I am a regional military powerhouse, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Greece & Hungary are all dwarfed by my large but rather primitive army, I even have some tanks, well armoured cars w a machine gun or two! The big problem is the russian bear, the largest army in the world has direct access to my soft underbelly

The 4th Army with my tank brigade, unfortunately its more of a Chocolate teapot than a weapon of war!

Economics - I have a fairly repectable IC of 33/30 with a slight resource deficiet except on the oil front

Ministers/Diplomacy - This is the really bad news, I have inherited a weak and vacilitating democracy which is unable to take command of its own destiny! Also no ministers are available for switching


Turning the situation into something workable looks to be something of a long term game.

[Tartan Spartan]

I have some shots of the 'action' to date, but having never done this before am not entirely sure how to include them, if anyone were able to send some tips I'll get on with it.

Any tips on photgraphing the ledger would also be welcomed.

[Tartan Spartan]

Part 2 - Sticking my oar in

Time for action

Given my limited scope for initial action my initial priority is peaceful growth, military effectiveness up and being able to pursue a more aggressive foreign policy.

My first move is to shift the DP +1 authoritarian, public opinion is all very well but I feel the need to lead my people to glory!

2nd it is time to prune my bloated military, I scuttle my navy (destroyer 1 + sub 1) and disband both my tank (it could be destroyed w a tin opener) and my three planes - hopefully this wont prove to be a mistake, but level 1 planes are pretty poor and i don't really have the spare ic or research to improve them.

I'm orienting my tech to industrial and infantry starting with machine tools and agriculture

Following my pruning I will only need to research these plus the odd land doctrines and artillary techs


I invest in extra IC for Constanta and Ploesti, unfortunately a beaurocratic error from my godlike finger means that in Bucuresti the railyards of the Gare du Nord are expanded instead of the industrial quarters!

As my troops march towards the capital and the command of my one log wiz I start the trades w all the 4 european powers which will hopefully smooth the beginning of my diplomatic charm offensive.

As I stockpile the cash history rolls onwards for the rest of the world

[hobotnicajoe]

As I click my way through the start menu I feel it is time to start channeling the spirits of Romanian heros of the past, I feel Vlad (of the Impaling fame) Stefan Cel Mare (undefeated warrior king of ancient Moldavia) and Georghe Hagi (shortarse midfield genius of the mid nineties) are all looking over my shoulder urging me on to greater heights. [...]

Cool intro!

[Big Mac]

Alright, so it begins!

I personally have a very hard time disbanding anything, though in this case I agree with the navy. The planes.....one tech level and you have something useful and in that part of the world for a few years.

Enough of my armchair quarterbacking, good start and can't wait to see where this will go.