It seems to me that Stalin was concerned with the possibility of a two front war and therefore agreed to peace, there is a real possibility that the Japanese will face his revenge in the future. 
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coz1: Yep, the Manchurian war was irritating and the Japanese war was annoying. I was breaking that most important of military maxims--never get involved in a land war in Asia. I thought I could mitigate it my picking on a smaller power, but it went a bit wrong, and then Japan joined in
BritishImperial: Smash them in Siberia, sure, but that would get boring given the vastness of each single province. Whoo, conquering a province the size of France in a one day battle and two and a half month march!
General Jac: Hmm, possibly...revenge in the indeterminate future...
grayghost: Yep. Gained worthless territory, lost worthless territory. Mostly...
First comment day!
BritishImperial: Smash them in Siberia, sure, but that would get boring given the vastness of each single province. Whoo, conquering a province the size of France in a one day battle and two and a half month march!
General Jac: Hmm, possibly...revenge in the indeterminate future...
grayghost: Yep. Gained worthless territory, lost worthless territory. Mostly...
First comment day!
What was Litvinov's mistake, I wonder? I'm guessing he gave away something he shouldn't have in those three provinces, like Vladivostok or something. That's why you should always read before you sign.
o Yes, yes of course. Let me re-phrase then: "Now for the real question, why are you fighting the Germans in your soldiers dreams?" Clearly this epic war has transcended the physical and is now being fought on a host of different planes.
Myth said:
o Yes, yes of course. Let me re-phrase then: "Now for the real question, why are you fighting the Germans in your soldiers dreams?" Clearly this epic war has transcended the physical and is now being fought on a host of different planes.
Delex: There'll be a partial map posted with tomorrow's update, It'll show one province that changed hands--the other two none of us particularly care about
VILenin: Yes, reading before signing is a good idea, I'll keep that in mind in the future. As for the dreams, its Germany's way of getting revenge forty years on! Or maybe the war was just really horrible and people have nightmares about it
Second comment day! Tomorrow's update will be done by Discomb! Also, we have a new AAR going now--Like the Heroes, but Bad - A Joint German LAN AAR, check it out!
VILenin: Yes, reading before signing is a good idea, I'll keep that in mind in the future. As for the dreams, its Germany's way of getting revenge forty years on!
Or maybe the war was just really horrible and people have nightmares about it Second comment day! Tomorrow's update will be done by Discomb! Also, we have a new AAR going now--Like the Heroes, but Bad - A Joint German LAN AAR, check it out!
Discomb Update 4: All the Ghosts of Mozambique
Change of plans. Forget the Benelux. Italy is the next biggest conquest, and I had just the perfect plan. All my infantry were retreating from Spain to the Italian border, and they needed a good rest from all the campaigning in France and later the Iberian. 4 tank corps, however, strategically redeployed to Bulgaria and Romania, preparing for operation “DIE YUGOSLAVIA DIE”, very covertly named so as to confuse enemy spies should they come across this top secret file.
Me showing Myth my plans for the liberation of Yugoslavia.
The liberation went according to plan. There were very few setbacks and very soon I was on the border with Italy, eating their pizzas. However, I also had the random idea of taking out Hungary while my tanks were in the area. Oh what a terrible idea that was…
My displaying my less than awesome siege of Budapest with tank corps.
Yes, yes, mountains, urban province. My tanks practically… well… the official version is that they drove on vigorously and in fact ended up on the other side of where the city was marked on the map, because they could not believe that the crumpling dwellings of mud and dung were in fact the capitol city of a European nation. Realistically though, my tanks rammed fruitlessly against a brick wall and weren’t getting anywhere. I eventually had to pull back and lure the enemy out of the capitol to crush them elsewhere, and then resume the siege. It was unpleasant to the core and Myth laughed so hard that I could hear him through the wall. I don’t remember this actually, but I can clearly imagine that this would happen.
In fact to be perfectly honest I feel that Hungary (though to a lesser extent in comparison to Austria) is populated entirely by Satyrs and Centaurs. The former are (according to Myth) actually the product of Chinese-goat symbiosis. They were prosecuted and opted to migrate to Greece through India and the Arabs, who have no records of them because they slaughtered everyone on their way. They became joyous hedonistic forest dwellers as they could not stop celebrating the onslaught. The centaurs, on the other hand, were in fact the Mongol hordes, and there are records of them in many places. In any case, regardless of what Myth may think, Austria is full of them. You’ll see why in a moment.
This is the map of Europe prior to the liberation of Italy.
Everything went according to plan. The infantry pushed in from France, and the armor, driving in from the Yugoslavian border, cut off the entire Sudtirol region. Then we drove down the spine in uninterrupted victory. Now, rewind back to the part where I declared war on Italy. Guess who else declared war on me! AUSTRIA!!! And, well, Colombia, or someplace like, far away over there. Actually it may be Ecuador or Venezuela. The three of them routinely declare war on me when I play Germany, so take your pick.
Let’s be honest now, I didn’t think the Austrians would do it, it didn’t even begin crossing my mind. I simply had no troops to contain them. Hence, I hereby declare myself OWNED.
This is the map of Europe at the end of Italy’s liberation.
Austria, oh Austria. They occupied Czechoslovakia and a good chunk of other nations. They ran over Munchen and destroyed all 8 of my tactical bomber squadrons. They held on to a lot of territory that is mine, even after I had occupied the entirety of the original country of Austria. I spent a month (probably) running around catching all their runaway divisions. It was… unpleasant… *sigh*
Well that out of the way, I’m up for the invasion of the Benelux, and subsequently Poland. My brother should be preparing for his landings in Norway as well, so we won’t be giving a single province of Scandinavia to the soviets. That’s really it for my war plans. Sorry this update is a bit short, I’m low on humor today. I mean, I can go on about how much I like girls and sex. That’s always interesting, but slightly off topic.
Oh yeah, one last thing.
Change of plans. Forget the Benelux. Italy is the next biggest conquest, and I had just the perfect plan. All my infantry were retreating from Spain to the Italian border, and they needed a good rest from all the campaigning in France and later the Iberian. 4 tank corps, however, strategically redeployed to Bulgaria and Romania, preparing for operation “DIE YUGOSLAVIA DIE”, very covertly named so as to confuse enemy spies should they come across this top secret file.
Me showing Myth my plans for the liberation of Yugoslavia.
The liberation went according to plan. There were very few setbacks and very soon I was on the border with Italy, eating their pizzas. However, I also had the random idea of taking out Hungary while my tanks were in the area. Oh what a terrible idea that was…
My displaying my less than awesome siege of Budapest with tank corps.
Yes, yes, mountains, urban province. My tanks practically… well… the official version is that they drove on vigorously and in fact ended up on the other side of where the city was marked on the map, because they could not believe that the crumpling dwellings of mud and dung were in fact the capitol city of a European nation. Realistically though, my tanks rammed fruitlessly against a brick wall and weren’t getting anywhere. I eventually had to pull back and lure the enemy out of the capitol to crush them elsewhere, and then resume the siege. It was unpleasant to the core and Myth laughed so hard that I could hear him through the wall. I don’t remember this actually, but I can clearly imagine that this would happen.
In fact to be perfectly honest I feel that Hungary (though to a lesser extent in comparison to Austria) is populated entirely by Satyrs and Centaurs. The former are (according to Myth) actually the product of Chinese-goat symbiosis. They were prosecuted and opted to migrate to Greece through India and the Arabs, who have no records of them because they slaughtered everyone on their way. They became joyous hedonistic forest dwellers as they could not stop celebrating the onslaught. The centaurs, on the other hand, were in fact the Mongol hordes, and there are records of them in many places. In any case, regardless of what Myth may think, Austria is full of them. You’ll see why in a moment.
This is the map of Europe prior to the liberation of Italy.
Everything went according to plan. The infantry pushed in from France, and the armor, driving in from the Yugoslavian border, cut off the entire Sudtirol region. Then we drove down the spine in uninterrupted victory. Now, rewind back to the part where I declared war on Italy. Guess who else declared war on me! AUSTRIA!!! And, well, Colombia, or someplace like, far away over there. Actually it may be Ecuador or Venezuela. The three of them routinely declare war on me when I play Germany, so take your pick.
Let’s be honest now, I didn’t think the Austrians would do it, it didn’t even begin crossing my mind. I simply had no troops to contain them. Hence, I hereby declare myself OWNED.
This is the map of Europe at the end of Italy’s liberation.
Austria, oh Austria. They occupied Czechoslovakia and a good chunk of other nations. They ran over Munchen and destroyed all 8 of my tactical bomber squadrons. They held on to a lot of territory that is mine, even after I had occupied the entirety of the original country of Austria. I spent a month (probably) running around catching all their runaway divisions. It was… unpleasant… *sigh*
Well that out of the way, I’m up for the invasion of the Benelux, and subsequently Poland. My brother should be preparing for his landings in Norway as well, so we won’t be giving a single province of Scandinavia to the soviets. That’s really it for my war plans. Sorry this update is a bit short, I’m low on humor today. I mean, I can go on about how much I like girls and sex. That’s always interesting, but slightly off topic.
Oh yeah, one last thing.
Where did Austria get the balls, man? They must have thought you were overextended, which of course you were. Still and all, much like Myth's Japanese adventure, it will likely be headache rather than real worry.
Still and all, much like Myth's Japanese adventure, it will likely be headache rather than real worry.
ahahaha. you do make a pickle out of things, dontcha? still, it worked out alright in the end. i cant really remember this far back, but i couldnt remember myth having finland :wacko:
also, why has nobody taken the low countries or poland?
also, why has nobody taken the low countries or poland?
We had agreed to spare poland until August of 1939, when our armies would both be ready, and the whole country would become a giant race for territory.
*whistling sound*
You lost eight TB-flotillas? That'l teach you to place your airforces somewhere more secure next time, Im sure Myth loves seeing your airforce destroyed though, it will probably be easier for him to move his forces when your bombers are out of the picture.
You lost eight TB-flotillas? That'l teach you to place your airforces somewhere more secure next time, Im sure Myth loves seeing your airforce destroyed though, it will probably be easier for him to move his forces when your bombers are out of the picture.
coz1: Yep, he brought it under control after a bit of time. But it certainly made me laugh at him, just like the French invasion did
BritishImperial: As Discomb mentions in his update, he bypassed the Low Countries for the moment to attack the rest of the Balkans. As for Poland, we had an agreement over that as Discomb mentions, though you'll notice that I demanded and magically received eastern Poland somehow
General Jac: Yep, quite glad. He had a large enough air force by wartime as it was
First comment day!
BritishImperial: As Discomb mentions in his update, he bypassed the Low Countries for the moment to attack the rest of the Balkans. As for Poland, we had an agreement over that as Discomb mentions, though you'll notice that I demanded and magically received eastern Poland somehow
General Jac: Yep, quite glad. He had a large enough air force by wartime as it was
First comment day!
Myth said:BritishImperial: As Discomb mentions in his update, he bypassed the Low Countries for the moment to attack the rest of the Balkans. As for Poland, we had an agreement over that as Discomb mentions, though you'll notice that I demanded and magically received eastern Poland somehow
oops sorry, slight lack of reading on my part it seems
BritishImperial: No worries
Delex: Yep, Helsinki was Litvinov's slight mistake
Second comment day!
Delex: Yep, Helsinki was Litvinov's slight mistake
Second comment day!
Hey everyone, we'd just like to remind you that the AARland Choice Awards are still going on, with two weeks left until the deadline. We encourage everyone to vote for their favorite AARs, even if you only read the Hearts of Iron forums. This doesn't mean you should vote for Permanently Operating Factors, but please consider it.
This cycle of the awards is for Q1 of 2008, so the updates that should be considered for PoF are the following:
01. A Focus on Germany
02. A Larger Picture
03. The Battle for Hillah
04. Another Meeting with Stalin
05. Invading Finland
06. Pushing Into Finland
07. The End of Finland
08. A Surprise Enemy
09. The Invasion of Manchuria
10. Good News From the Far East
11. A Shock Pushing into Manchuria
12. Voroshilov Evacuates Manchuria
13. New Year's Eve
14. Reinforcements Arrive
15. Problems in Manchuria
16. All Alone
17. Reinforcements Arrive!
18. The Plan Still Not Implimented
19. Discomb Update #3: Natural Failure Quota (Discomb LAN Update)
20. Vasilevskij on the Move
21. Zhukov Strikes Southward
22. Shapkin in Trouble
23. Manchurian Defences Unraveling
24. Pushing Into Manchuria, Again
25. Working in the Fields (Soldier Update)
26. Japanese Presence at Last
27. Further Campaigning into Manchuria
28. Japan Strikes (Myth LAN Update)
Permanently Operating Factors probably fits best into the Narrative category, but it relies heavily on gameplay, so if you prefer another AAR's narrative to ours, feel free to still cast your votes for us in gameplay.
Once again, a big thank you to all our readers who have kept us going for, what, 8 months already? We appreciate your support immensely, and we won't disappoint you in the future, as the good parts are just about to start!
This cycle of the awards is for Q1 of 2008, so the updates that should be considered for PoF are the following:
01. A Focus on Germany
02. A Larger Picture
03. The Battle for Hillah
04. Another Meeting with Stalin
05. Invading Finland
06. Pushing Into Finland
07. The End of Finland
08. A Surprise Enemy
09. The Invasion of Manchuria
10. Good News From the Far East
11. A Shock Pushing into Manchuria
12. Voroshilov Evacuates Manchuria
13. New Year's Eve
14. Reinforcements Arrive
15. Problems in Manchuria
16. All Alone
17. Reinforcements Arrive!
18. The Plan Still Not Implimented
19. Discomb Update #3: Natural Failure Quota (Discomb LAN Update)
20. Vasilevskij on the Move
21. Zhukov Strikes Southward
22. Shapkin in Trouble
23. Manchurian Defences Unraveling
24. Pushing Into Manchuria, Again
25. Working in the Fields (Soldier Update)
26. Japanese Presence at Last
27. Further Campaigning into Manchuria
28. Japan Strikes (Myth LAN Update)
Permanently Operating Factors probably fits best into the Narrative category, but it relies heavily on gameplay, so if you prefer another AAR's narrative to ours, feel free to still cast your votes for us in gameplay.
Once again, a big thank you to all our readers who have kept us going for, what, 8 months already? We appreciate your support immensely, and we won't disappoint you in the future, as the good parts are just about to start!
As Discomb says, please vote in the AARland Choice Awards! Doesn't matter if you vote for POF or not, but just get out there and vote if you haven't already!
Also, update coming up!
Also, update coming up!
5 kilometers east of Vyshgorod
June 20, 1988
Arsenij was still sitting with Nikifor after the train had crossed the Dnepr River and began heading westward, his arms holding Nikifor’s trembling form. Nikifor had, in starts and stutters, warbled out his dream to Arsenij’s sympathetic ears. It had made Arsenij remember how Nikifor had suffered from similar nightmares, perhaps exactly that same one, during the war, more than forty years ago after that first major battle. Nikifor, however, had broken down and suffered a panic attack as he related the end of his dream to Arsenij, when he came out of the wheat fields to see a vast array of German defense works awaiting him. That was when Arsenij had to move quickly to comfort him, to draw his mind away from that paralyzing and traumatic scene.
It had partially worked; Nikifor was still suffering but much less so than half an hour previously. Arsenij looked out the window of the train, watching the landscape flash by. The war had not scarred this landscape brutally, there were no gaudy monuments to great victories, or mournful cemeteries filled with thousands upon thousands of dead, Soviet and German. Those belonged in other places, telling tales of other times, of nightmares like Nikifor’s. Arsenij’s hand absently rubbed Nikifor’s twitching shoulder as he became lost in his own thoughts. His own memory of events had died even before the war had ended as his links to the past had been destroyed. He was free of the nightmares that plagued Nikifor, and tens of thousands of other men, now old, just like him. He still recalled the events of the war, but without feeling save for a faint feeling of sorrow that it had to occur.
He could recall by name all the dead he had known before they parted, the list went on and on. Some he had known for years prior to the war, his original squadmates that the army had not been able to tear apart, whose presence had seemed indelible and permanent before they were ripped away. Others were transitory, of the stream of reinforcements who came from the east and were fed into the grinder, dying before they learned the skills needed to survive in the harsh months of war. Arsenij could not tell who the lucky ones were—those who died early and young, never knowing later horrors, those who survived to relive the war in their dreams as Nikifor did, or those who survived to become unfeeling automatons such as Arsenij. Arsenij bit his lip in thought, bending it back into his mouth with his teeth. His objective mind saw that each had their advantages and disadvantages and his lip curled in scorn at the language his mind was using.
Arsenij looked at Nikifor, who had ceased his shaking. Nikifor was looking in concern and confusion back at Arsenij, formulating a question Arsenij could read in his eyes. Smiling at Nikifor, Arsenij shook his head and looked out the window, looking southwest toward the far away battlegrounds of Romania and Ukraine. After the war he had heard of great deeds of bravery had been accomplished in the southern theater, yet he very much doubted that the south saw any fighting that even remotely resembled the north in intensity. The roll of battles in the north represented tens if not hundreds of thousands of dead, whole army corps shattered in the desperate fighting to attempt to hold the gray tide that was smashing its way eastward toward Moscow. Entire Fronts were placed upon the sacrificial altar so that the blood of men could quench the powerful hunger of the ancient carnage-craving god of war, Mars.
Arsenij sighed and bowed his head down, acknowledging the immense sacrifice made by the soldiers on both sides of the frontline during the war, seeing their friends slaughtered indiscriminately as Mars consumed the best and the worst of them, leaving only the mediocre behind to populate the world. Arsenij idly turned his mind to Bialystok, and wondered if the Soviet Union had managed to get rid of the myriad of tanks and other vehicles that had been destroyed there. It was the single largest mechanized graveyard in the entire world, he knew, even though he had personally seen only a sliver of the metallic carnage. That had been enough for him, he still had a burn scar on his leg from being thrown against a burning tank by the explosion of another tank nearby.
He looked back at Nikifor, to see that he had dozed off again. Arsenij bit his lip again, wondering whether Nikifor was dreaming again and whether he should be woken up, but Arsenij eventually opted against it. Instead, he gently disentangled his arms from Nikifor’s sleeping form and stood up. He would walk the length of the train again, stamping tickets and avoiding young ruffians like Zhukovlev, who had left the train with his buddies back at Chernigov, thankfully, before returning to sit with Nikifor some more. It was only several more hours until they reached Bialystok and the naturally unnatural grandiose Soviet remembrance of the battle and celebration of the victory.
June 20, 1988
Arsenij was still sitting with Nikifor after the train had crossed the Dnepr River and began heading westward, his arms holding Nikifor’s trembling form. Nikifor had, in starts and stutters, warbled out his dream to Arsenij’s sympathetic ears. It had made Arsenij remember how Nikifor had suffered from similar nightmares, perhaps exactly that same one, during the war, more than forty years ago after that first major battle. Nikifor, however, had broken down and suffered a panic attack as he related the end of his dream to Arsenij, when he came out of the wheat fields to see a vast array of German defense works awaiting him. That was when Arsenij had to move quickly to comfort him, to draw his mind away from that paralyzing and traumatic scene.
It had partially worked; Nikifor was still suffering but much less so than half an hour previously. Arsenij looked out the window of the train, watching the landscape flash by. The war had not scarred this landscape brutally, there were no gaudy monuments to great victories, or mournful cemeteries filled with thousands upon thousands of dead, Soviet and German. Those belonged in other places, telling tales of other times, of nightmares like Nikifor’s. Arsenij’s hand absently rubbed Nikifor’s twitching shoulder as he became lost in his own thoughts. His own memory of events had died even before the war had ended as his links to the past had been destroyed. He was free of the nightmares that plagued Nikifor, and tens of thousands of other men, now old, just like him. He still recalled the events of the war, but without feeling save for a faint feeling of sorrow that it had to occur.
He could recall by name all the dead he had known before they parted, the list went on and on. Some he had known for years prior to the war, his original squadmates that the army had not been able to tear apart, whose presence had seemed indelible and permanent before they were ripped away. Others were transitory, of the stream of reinforcements who came from the east and were fed into the grinder, dying before they learned the skills needed to survive in the harsh months of war. Arsenij could not tell who the lucky ones were—those who died early and young, never knowing later horrors, those who survived to relive the war in their dreams as Nikifor did, or those who survived to become unfeeling automatons such as Arsenij. Arsenij bit his lip in thought, bending it back into his mouth with his teeth. His objective mind saw that each had their advantages and disadvantages and his lip curled in scorn at the language his mind was using.
Arsenij looked at Nikifor, who had ceased his shaking. Nikifor was looking in concern and confusion back at Arsenij, formulating a question Arsenij could read in his eyes. Smiling at Nikifor, Arsenij shook his head and looked out the window, looking southwest toward the far away battlegrounds of Romania and Ukraine. After the war he had heard of great deeds of bravery had been accomplished in the southern theater, yet he very much doubted that the south saw any fighting that even remotely resembled the north in intensity. The roll of battles in the north represented tens if not hundreds of thousands of dead, whole army corps shattered in the desperate fighting to attempt to hold the gray tide that was smashing its way eastward toward Moscow. Entire Fronts were placed upon the sacrificial altar so that the blood of men could quench the powerful hunger of the ancient carnage-craving god of war, Mars.
Arsenij sighed and bowed his head down, acknowledging the immense sacrifice made by the soldiers on both sides of the frontline during the war, seeing their friends slaughtered indiscriminately as Mars consumed the best and the worst of them, leaving only the mediocre behind to populate the world. Arsenij idly turned his mind to Bialystok, and wondered if the Soviet Union had managed to get rid of the myriad of tanks and other vehicles that had been destroyed there. It was the single largest mechanized graveyard in the entire world, he knew, even though he had personally seen only a sliver of the metallic carnage. That had been enough for him, he still had a burn scar on his leg from being thrown against a burning tank by the explosion of another tank nearby.
He looked back at Nikifor, to see that he had dozed off again. Arsenij bit his lip again, wondering whether Nikifor was dreaming again and whether he should be woken up, but Arsenij eventually opted against it. Instead, he gently disentangled his arms from Nikifor’s sleeping form and stood up. He would walk the length of the train again, stamping tickets and avoiding young ruffians like Zhukovlev, who had left the train with his buddies back at Chernigov, thankfully, before returning to sit with Nikifor some more. It was only several more hours until they reached Bialystok and the naturally unnatural grandiose Soviet remembrance of the battle and celebration of the victory.
is this some kind of secret soviet weapon, wiping the memories of their veterans so that war seems ok?
Everyone deals with hardship in different ways. But both seemed to have lived through a near devastating time. In different ways, they both see that.