The IIIrd Romanian Kingdom - mod 33 AAR

[Crush3r]

THE THIRD ROMANIAN KINGDOM

I'm playing Romania using mod 33 in the 1938 scenario.

CHAPTER I - Intro

The world is becoming increasingly unstable, Germany is pushing for it's territories to be returned, the Japanese are getting more aggressive by the minute, Stalin is cementing his grip on the Soviet Union and Hungary is trying to asskiss the Germans for support in retaking the territories lost at Trianon.

Out of these perils to world stability, none is more worrying for us than Hungary, as it claims quite a large chunk of this country.

But first let's begin with the basics. Here is a self-made mouse-drawn map of Romania in the interbellic period (based on a Meyers Geographischer Handatlas printed in 1928):

And the main industrial areas (our Rhine-Ruhr), Constanţa port, and the four main airports, out of which only Bucureşti and Constanţa are fully fit to serve RRAF (Royal Romanian Air Force) missions (for your information, in this timeline, Romania did not do the administrative reform by which the counties were replaced by much larger „ţinuturi”):

[Crush3r]

CHAPTER II - Things begin to heat up

The Hungarian menace is more dangerous than ever, and King Carol II, consulting with the ever more influential General Antonescu, decides it's time to call for a new tactic: preemptive strike.

The plan went just as intended, the major powers didn't intervene, as they were to hooked on the Treaty of Munich (no ingame sceenies yet, because I forgot to do any until the peace treaty):

The numbers represent the stages of Operation Full Moon (Operaţiunea Lună Plină). The last stage (Győr province in-game) was postponed until after the Hungarians rejected the peace offer, however, when they saw their last 8 divisions being slaughtered, they decided to accept it. I'll also be needing their divisions afterwards, because of the future Axis-Comintern war.

From the journal of private Petre Tomescu: „After the hard battles that ensued that day, the dust finally settled in Budapest, all of it was under our control. I then participated in what might be called the repetition of events in 1919, when, as my father told me before going to war, we climbed the Hungarian Parliament Building, took down their flag, and replaced it with a pair of «opinci» and a «ceaun» with «mămăligă», however, this time we also placed a large banner on which it was written «De la Nistru pân' la Tisa», to show them just what we had in mind.”

The be clear on the subject, an opinc is a type of shoe worn in rural communities, a ceaun is a large pot and mămăligă is polenta. „De la Nistru pân' la Tisa” means From the Dniester to the Tisa, the first verse of „Doina” by Mihai Eminescu, our national poet.

The new borders, Hungary is a puppet thus preventing the Vienna Diktat from firing:

[Crush3r]

CHAPTER III - Boiling point

For the greater good of our nation (and our survival), we enter the Axis, and bring our puppets in it too:

The partitioning of Czechoslovakia meant that we were awarded territories, namely South Ruthenia a.k.a. North Maramureş. The borderline would be roughly on the Latoriţa (Latorica in czech) river (this is impossible with HoI 2 province system, so i'll get Presov). The county residence would be Mukačevo, however I could not find a Romanian equivalent for it, so I'm asking YOU, the members of this forum to vote out of 4 options (name, IPA, translation - format):

a. Mocaceu [mo.ka'ʧeǔ]
b. Mocăceşti [mo.kə'ʧeʃtʲ]
c. Târgul Mucăi ['tɨr.gul 'mu.kəǐ] (Muca's Market)
d. Muceul-pe-Latoriţa [mu'ʧe.ul pe 'la.to.ri.ʦa] (Muceu-on-Latoriţa)

Somehow, our entry into the Axis provoked Germany to attack Denmark. Poland entered the Allies, but not much more (ignore Hungarian Presov for now):

Denmark is completely annexed:

The Yugos join the Axis:

Our new claims and national territories:

Bulgarian claims on the Quadrilateral make them potential enemies - spies indicate low risk:

Starting mod 33 with 1938 scenario means some basic research is left out, but because all nations suffer, I'm not going to cheat. Now I'm researching how to build bases (in 1939!):

The situation in China, the Nats have annexed Guanxi, but are being slaughtered by the Japs:

The 7th of July 1939 is considered by many historians the birth date of the IIIrd Romanian Kingdom. This is the day when, the highest ranking officials in Romania had a secret meeting in Bârlad. Everybody knew that Poland was the next target for Germany and that the Soviet Union is probably going to get attacked sometime in the future as an ideological enemy. So the primary goal was this:

The secondary goal was simple: surpass the primary goal.

[Demoking]

Good start and good luck.

edit: Oh, wow, where'd that update come from?

[General_Grant]

I can see much embitions there. Interesting start, but i didnt know it was possible to start in 1938 with Mod 33

Have you modded it yourself?

However this seem promising- good luck!

[Crush3r]

Demoking : thanks for the vote of confidence, and I had to split the post, too many pics.

Gen_Grant: At the end of the loading sequence (when you start the standard scenarios) an error message appears, just ignore and it will be just fine.

[Užičkibombarder]

Good luck.

[Fernando Torres]

Damn! Another AAR with our french mod33
Just ask for translating Good luck!

[Jape]

mod 33 does seem to be popular, and I'm watchnig this with interest

[rcduggan]

some of the pictures dont work. other than that, looks coool. always good to see a mod33 aar. good lukc

[Crush3r]

Užičkibombarder: 10x
Fernando Torres: while, I'm not a big fan of french, it's easy to read being a latin language
Jape: well, so many events, so many possibilities
rcduggan: temporarily fixed that, but imageshack is giving me problems, maybe I should look for another hosting site.....

I'll be updating in a few hours. Coming up next: Danzig or War!

EDIT: Please vote for the romanianized name of Mukacevo (Chapter 3 for details). This is where the post-war boundaries treaty will be signed.

[Crush3r]

CHAPTER IV - Danzig or War

Germany is trying to get us on her side, maybe in support of a Polish invasion. This is very welcomed as I don't have to do an extra slider move, professional army +1:

On the 30th of April 1939, the Polish Government categorically refused the German ultimatum. If it is war, so be it:

World War II, as many historians say, has started with this declaration of war. Soon our armies are fighting their first battles:

Our planes have started bombing the Krakow region to slow down any possible attacks on very undefended Slovakia. These planes have, up to now, only done one raid, against retreating Danish troops in Copenhagen, although it was the raid that annihilated those units:

Yugoslavia has broken the Pact of Steel! Things look good for opportunistic Romania and Hungary:

Air battles above Cracovia (Krakow) - the Germans soon captured it, denying the Poles an airbase and flak artillery:

Pounding units in Zamosc:

The war in East Asia ends, just when the war in Poland is about to end. The Japanese have decided that total occupation is the best choice. The Allies will have a moster on their hands:

In an epic tone: Curious about Romania's gains in the Polish War, about the political intrigue needed to keep them, and about the new slider changes? Don't miss the next installment of the IIIrd Romanian Kingdom!

Author's notes: I don't think I'll be able to build anything more than an airbase until the war with the Soviets starts. I have many upgrades to do, and I also need reinforcements.

And please vote for Mukačevo's new name (Ch. III for details), it will be featured in the next chapter!

[Guangxi]

do you plan on giving Hungary a corridor to the sea?
anyway, this looks promising. Especially since you have germany on your side when Bulgaria demands south dobrudja.

[Fernando Torres]

I vote for the b

[Crush3r]

Guangxi: It would be interresting to crate a Magyar-Croatian confederation, but, I have no idea how fluid the German advance will be. Hungary only has 8 divisions, and I can only spare 4.
1940 will be a hot one:
The war with the Yugos
The Soviets asking for Bessarabia (I am not going to give in if the event forces you out of the Axis, but I am if it doesn't, I don't want an early East Front)
The Bulgarians will claim Constanţa (actually, their claim does not include Constanţa, which is actually in the Tulcea province), I am going to war with them. This means that all wars with the Allies and Comintern (so my ass will be saved if I go to war with Russia) will be over and I (temporarily) quit the Axis.

Fernando Torres: This is my fave too, but it's close, and I'm waiting for at least 3 votes.

EDIT: Scratch that. Voting closes at 00:00 GMT+3 (GMT+2+DST), or 21:00 GMT, no matter how many votes. Currently Mocăceşti is leading by one vote. Chapter V and VI are ready to be copy pasted onto the forums.

[Hardraade]

Sounds like a great start. Good luck in 1940.

[Crush3r]

CHAPTER V – The Treaty of Mocăceşti

On the 5th of October 1939, a historic treaty was signed in Mocăceşti, the residential capital of Latoriţa county. In this treaty Germany recognised Romanian sovereignty over the occupied territories in the Polish War. Romania also recognised German sovereignty over Poland proper:

This move was actually pre-planned. 2 days before the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact was proposed, both sides struck a deal, by which it was stated that the territories to be incorporated in the Soviet Union and captured by Germany was to be given to the Soviet Union, but nothing about German allies. The plan worked and Stalin was furious. He took a copy of the pact and hit Molotov on the head with it, but the state of the Soviet Army was not good, so he abstained from attacking.

In order to appease the population and to recieve more money from consumer goods, we moved one step closer to a free market:

In the period immediatly following the partitioning, 30% of Ukrainians in the Romanian occupied territories emigrated to the USSR, but double that number of Poles fled to here, because of German and Russian opression. The result was an increase of 200 manpower and now the area that I captured has a Polish majority instrad of an Ukrainian one.

[Crush3r]

CHAPTER VI – Adultery and Royality

This is our beloved king, our faithful leader, our great supreme commander, our „îndrumător” and so on:

But besides that, he is known rather for his romantic misadventures than for any leadership skills, Carol (Romanian for "Charles") was first married in Odessa, Ukraine, 31 August 1918, in contravention of royal law, to Joanna Marie Valentina Lambrino, ("Zizi" Lambrino) (1898–1953), daughter of a Romanian general; they had one son, Mircea Gregor Carol Lambrino, and the marriage was annulled by decision of the Ilfov Tribunal in 1919. He next married, in Athens, Greece, (10 March 1921), Princess Helen of Greece and Denmark (who was known in Romania as Crown Princess Elena), but the marriage soon collapsed in the wake of the king's affair with Elena "Magda" Lupescu (1895?–1977), the Roman Catholic daughter of a Jewish pharmacist and his Roman Catholic wife. Magda Lupescu had formerly been the wife of Army officer Ion Tâmpenu. As a result of the scandal, he renounced his right to the throne in December 1925 in favour of his son by Crown Princess Elena, Michael (Mihai), who became King in July 1927. Helena divorced Carol in 1928. Carol also had a son and a daughter by his mistress Maria Martini, a high-school student. Returning to the country unexpectedly on 7 June 1930, he became king. Through all these adventures, he became known above all as a playboy king. Purported eyewitnesses even claim him to have gone with a famous prostitute, Foamea Neagră, from the Crucea de piatră district.

On the night the Axis won the war in Poland, Carol was found sleeping with a prostitute, by a member of the royal family. Only his position of power prevented the news from leaking.

Din ciclul: Mă iubeşte femeile…

[Masked Pickle]

Hey! If you had decided to be agressive with Soviet Union, you will never give them Bessarabia...And Antonescu will never be at power...

[Crush3r]

CHAPTER VII - Uncle Joe

The man that rules the biggest country in the world with an iron fist: Iosif Visarionovici Stalin

Although, nominally a communist leader, his rule was more akin to Hitler's in Germany. One of his best allies at the moment was Mao Tse Dung in China. He also believed in a system like the one Stalin instated in the Soviet Union. But unfortunately for him, Mao was executed on the 12th of November 1939 by the Japanese, ending his ambitions for China:

During this time, I was catching up the technological gap caused by starting in 1938:

The statistics on Soviet forces were getting ever more grim:

A rapid industrialization plan was instated, draining funds, 'till we were almost bankrupt, but it allowed us to have 3 techteams:

Meanwhile, Germany declared war on Norway:

Situation on the West Front:

Bad naval losses for Germany. An advisory commission has been set up by our government to improve naval strategy for our brothers in arms:

The Soviet Union has dared to challenge our rightful ownership of Bessarabia. We categorically refuse to be bullied! Let them come if they dare:

I'm going to have my hand full with them, until the Bulgarians claim the Quadrilateral. NOTE: I'm still fighting alongside the Axis against the allies, but the war with the Reds is fought only by me.