Yay, yet another Soviet AAR. How can I make this one different from the rest? Hmmm, how about an AAR of a LAN game versus two other human players on a demi-custom-made geopolitical world map where the single largest empire is Equatorial Africa, in various styles on four different levels? Yep, sounds good. And ambitious.
Right, so an explanation of the basic game mechanics is in order. I played the Soviet Union against an alliance of human-controlled Germany and Britain. Since my play style is relatively minimalist, don’t expect to see more than four hundred or so divisions, if even that many, involved at any one time. We had a free reign to conquer whatever we want (except each other, and limited to two nations at a time) until April 1, 1942. At that date, the campaign truly started as the Soviet Union began its war on the Berlin-London Axis. Also, there was no espionage against other human players as using spies against other humans is simply tedious. Puppets were allowed, but without any military control. The difficulty was normal/aggressive; however, though “normal” was slightly modded: the AI had bonii of 10% to industry and resources, 15% to manpower and a penalty of 1000% to espionage in an effort to stop those bastards from inundating us with spies. Also, there was no tech team or full IC take over. Other game changes included different land and air doctrine trees (nicked from CORE and further modded), expanded industry and naval doctrine trees (stolen from the DD Tech Tree and Naval Combat Improvement mod and further modded), the Community Leaders/Ministers Improvement Project, bits and bobs lifted off of The Epsilon Project, the inclusion of DAIM (modded to fit with the changed tech trees) as well as many, many other changes I’ve personally made (including the addition of 80+ tech teams, many of which have made an appearance in HIP). One particularly important change was this:
Code:
# Reinforce cost
0.5 # was .8
# Reinforce time
2.5 # was .5
# Upgrade cost
0.25 # was .5
# Upgrade time
1.0 # was .5
Secondly, an explanation of the AAR mechanics is needed. There will ideally be four different styles in use throughout this AAR focusing on different levels of the game. One level is that of the LAN itself—it will literally be about me and my mates as we try to outwit each other on the battlefield and perhaps eating chips and pizza in between, complete with pictures (and which will be greatly limited by memory). Another level is that of the reports and orders going through STAVKA either to Stalin or to the Front commanders; these orders and reports will probably be most common before or after major operations. The third level is that of the generals and politicians, and will be similar to Great Ambitions in style, though perhaps with more character development. The final level is a narrative of a group of individual soldiers of the 205. Motostrelkovaya Diviziya (who, honestly, didn't have a great amount to do before 1942 so updates for these guys will be relatively rare until war breaks out between Germany/England and the Soviet Union). I have two hopes, the first is that there’ll be something here for (almost) everyone and the second is that I’ll actually be able to tie these four threads together effectively to be able to present the whole story.
On top of all this, the guy who played Germany is Discomb and he will occasionally post his own comments on this game, so that you more or less get both sides of the story, which should be interesting once we actually have at. Whenever he posts, his post will be the update of the day, and will thus take the place of any update I might've posted otherwise. I'll post the first update later today, and I expect the AAR to be updated every other day.
So, yeah. Triple Table of Contents ftw. It will fill up, don't worry.
Table of Contents
The LANGenerals, Politicians and STAVKA Reports
The Soldiers
The Invasion of Turkey Begins
Within the Foreign Ministry
The Invasion of Persia
Having Reached Erzurum
War Comes to Teheran
Battle at Van
Kuznetsov as Theater Commander
Vacietis is also Theater Commander
Kuznetsov Sees Ghosts of Cannae
The Bosporus!
Fighting in Central Northern Turkey
A Battle for Hamadan
Within the Foreign Ministry
The Invasion of Persia
Having Reached Erzurum
War Comes to Teheran
Battle at Van
Kuznetsov as Theater Commander
Vacietis is also Theater Commander
Kuznetsov Sees Ghosts of Cannae
The Bosporus!
Fighting in Central Northern Turkey
A Battle for Hamadan
Turks Counterattacking at Ankara
Hamadan, Again
The Black Sea Fleet Sails Out
Assaulting Istanbul
Naval Battle!
The Beginning of the Reduction of Turkish Forces in the South
Godamnit, Hamadan!
What the Hell, Greece?
"Has the World Gone Apeshit?"
Another Battle for Teheran
Battle for Mersin
Persia Has Surrendered!
Invading Romania
A Change of Roles: Defending Istanbul for Once!
The Invasion of Latvia
Istanbul is Getting Annoying
Hamadan, Again
The Black Sea Fleet Sails Out
Assaulting Istanbul
Naval Battle!
The Beginning of the Reduction of Turkish Forces in the South
Godamnit, Hamadan!
What the Hell, Greece?
"Has the World Gone Apeshit?"
Another Battle for Teheran
Battle for Mersin
Persia Has Surrendered!
Invading Romania
A Change of Roles: Defending Istanbul for Once!
The Invasion of Latvia
Istanbul is Getting Annoying
Rushing Toward Kaunas
In Mersin at Last!
Invading Estonia
Battle of Tallinn
Declaring War on Iraq, or WTF PERSIA!
Kuznetsov Goes to Moscow
In Mersin at Last!
Invading Estonia
Battle of Tallinn
Declaring War on Iraq, or WTF PERSIA!
Kuznetsov Goes to Moscow
The Invasion of Iraq, At Last
The Battle for Baghdad
A Focus on Germany
A Larger Picture
The Battle for Hillah
Another Meeting with Stalin
Invading Finland
Pushing Into Finland
The End of Finland
A Surprise Enemy
The Invasion of Manchuria
Good News From the Far East
A Shock Pushing into Manchuria
Voroshilov Evacuates Manchuria
New Year's Eve!
Reinforcements Arrive
Problems in Manchuria
All Alone...
Reinforcements Arrive!
The Plan Still Not Implemented
Discomb Update #3: Natural Failure QuotaThe Battle for Baghdad
A Focus on Germany
A Larger Picture
The Battle for Hillah
Another Meeting with Stalin
Invading Finland
Pushing Into Finland
The End of Finland
A Surprise Enemy
The Invasion of Manchuria
Good News From the Far East
A Shock Pushing into Manchuria
Voroshilov Evacuates Manchuria
New Year's Eve!
Reinforcements Arrive
Problems in Manchuria
All Alone...
Reinforcements Arrive!
The Plan Still Not Implemented
Vasilevskij on the Move
Zhukov Strikes Southward
Shapkin in Trouble
Manchurian Defenses Unraveling
Pushing into Manchuria, Again
Discomb Update #4: All the Ghosts of MozambiqueZhukov Strikes Southward
Shapkin in Trouble
Manchurian Defenses Unraveling
Pushing into Manchuria, Again
End of the First LAN, Overview of the Initiation of the Second
Discomb Update #5: What is an OOB?
My Glorious Army
Between Two Worlds
The First Day, in the Air
The Invasion of Lithuania
German Counterattack at Suwalki
The Battle for Istanbul
The Isolation of Mazirbe
Continued Operations in Lithuania
Irrelevant Mini-AAR: My Journey Home
The South Under Threat
Vasilevskij Overviews the Entire Front
Presenting the Situation to Stalin
Council of Fronts
Defending Chisinev
The Opening Moves are Nearly Done
Oh Shit
Emergency STAVKA Meeting
The First Day, in the Air
The Invasion of Lithuania
German Counterattack at Suwalki
The Battle for Istanbul
The Isolation of Mazirbe
Continued Operations in Lithuania
Irrelevant Mini-AAR: My Journey Home
The South Under Threat
Vasilevskij Overviews the Entire Front
Presenting the Situation to Stalin
Council of Fronts
Defending Chisinev
The Opening Moves are Nearly Done
Oh Shit
Emergency STAVKA Meeting
The Face of Battle
Courage Has No Nationality, Part 1
Courage Has No Nationality, Part 2
The Crescendo of Assault
Courage Has No Nationality, Part 1
Courage Has No Nationality, Part 2
The Crescendo of Assault
Dictations, Part 1
Dictations, Part 2
Dictations, Part 3
Encirclement!
Frantic Efforts
Lost Victories
Fortunes of War
Dictations, Part 2
Dictations, Part 3
Encirclement!
Frantic Efforts
Lost Victories
Fortunes of War
Events Are Moving Apace
Hotbed of Chaos and Slaughter
Mounting Pressure
A Very Busy Day
The Turn, Finally
Puzzles and Ruminations
Fury of Beatings
The Quickening Beat of Climax
Pockets and Distractions
Adversity and Enemy Armor
Victory in RigaHotbed of Chaos and Slaughter
Mounting Pressure
A Very Busy Day
The Turn, Finally
Puzzles and Ruminations
Fury of Beatings
The Quickening Beat of Climax
Pockets and Distractions
Adversity and Enemy Armor
My Strategic Critique (It's More of a Ramble)
Discomb's Update #6: Strategic Critique
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