• We have updated our Community Code of Conduct. Please read through the new rules for the forum that are an integral part of Paradox Interactive’s User Agreement.
Perhaps you could ask some skilled AI programmers on this forum to help you make the US (or British) ai a bit more... intelligent ;) You know, make it attempt another landing, build more airpower, the right divisions etc.
 
Merlowe - They can still reverse the situation by a huge margin till someone invades their mainland. And even then there's much chance a human player could reverse the trend.

PrawnStar - Nevertheless it is good material for me to make fun of the AI.

Enewald - It isn't for me either, at least for now.

henryjai - They were really in an awkward position since Midway, but this is really an unhonourable end for the IJN.

Deus - Thanks, and more you shall receive. In due time, though :(

Winner - I think that everything that could be done has already been implemented in some modification :) I cannot blame the AI for acting like an AI afterall. Also WiF was not programmed for the 1944 scenario, but for the 1936 only. The combat system and the other tweaks, and the Challenge difficulty still make things difficult however.

Horribly late update.
 
Last edited:
Cabinet Meeting January 1945

0000 January 1st 1945
Kremlin, Moscow, Soviet Union

047b-SOVCabinet.jpg

The Man of Steel sat in a comfortable chair on top of a large round table. He was nominally a Comrade just like the others, yet it was clear that he occupied a far higher rank and that no one was to question him.

The advent of a new year made no exception, instead now more than ever was his word to be executed, as the latest defeats in the battleground had him lose his renewed faith in the STAVKA, and he was now again strenghtening his personal command over military matters, with just mediocre results.

"Comrade Zhukov, one word: Cracow"

Stalin spelt Cracow as if he was swallowing poison, but it was rather Zhukov who was about to face impeding wrath from Stalin. He was one of the few that could afford the luxury of criticizing Stalin without ending up in meatballs, but with the stinging defeat at Cracow he was no longer sure about his appeal. All the others stared at the pitiful Zhukov just like a crowd would stare, full of commiseration, at a sentenced to death.

"Comrade Stalin, we have thoroughly studied the Wehrmacht 1944 late-summer offensive. Our Operation Bagration culminated to a standstill in the borders of prewar Poland, with the fatal exception of the Prezmysl-Cracow salient. Capturing Stryj was a focal point of our strategy as it would have secured a safe springboard for our forces agains Romania and then Heeresgruppe Mitte. I have to say we were in a favourable condition to cut off and destroy at least fifty Wehrmacht divisions, but the new German elastic defense policy, along with stiffened resistance, slowly grinded our offensive to a halt and turned our troops to the defensive.

The front was full of German holes however, and we were ready to exploit it. Little did we know however that they had on purpose amassed a large part of their last, precious equipment South of Stryj to try and attempt an offensive. This would become a battle of annihilation much like glorious Stalingrad; however, the importance of keeping Stryj was such that we employed at the end almost one hundred divisions, leaving us unable to exploit the German weakness in other points of the frontline.

We knew that German stockpiles and manpower were tremendously low; therefore we were determined to believe that, even if they had won their offensive in Stryj, they would have been stripped of their last reserves and unable to pose any major threat to our forces: that is exactly what we planned to achieve in Operation Bagration.

The battle of Stryj has been a standstill with an even number of thousands of casualties for both sides. We had very few troops in our rearguards however, and a few Wehrmacht divisions quickly sweeped deep through our lines and seized vital territory all around Stryj. So fast was their advance that we have been unable to call sufficient troops from other zones of the frontline; it was too risky to disengage our troops in Stryj from the pursuing Germans without paying a terrible price in terms of casualties and proficiency and readiness. It is safe to assume therefore, that the German checkmate, when we really lacked the power to do anything, is precisely when they started attacking our few troops in our rearguards.

With the Stryj salient then becoming a pocket, our troops were left unsupplied and we simply have nowhere as many transport planes able to carry sufficient supplies for one million men. The whole Luftwaffe was also concentrated in the region and it was extremely risky to carry out missions in daylight.

We tried an attempt to relieve the Stryj pocket on August 30th."

"I know the rest of the story, comrade Zhukov: stop your gibberish. And listen to me carefully.

Due to the woeful incompetence demonstrated by you and your Staff, by my military advisors, due to the cowardice of our frontline troops and that of our officiers, I would strip you all of your power. However I also have to say that you, Zhukov, have masterminded several excellent propositions for the Soviet military, mainly your logistical success in the defense of Moscow, and the glorious defense of Stalingrad.

I will make that one failure does not overshadow ten successes, but I want you to orchestrate the final blow that strikes and destroys the last German bulwark of resistance. I want you to conduct offensive operations aimed to capture Helsinki and Warsaw and either Budapest or Bucharest by the end of the next year."

"But with the current state of our Armed Forces, I regret to say that this is unlikely to happen and--"

"Silence, and listen to me!

I reckon that, with one hundred less divisions, it is now much more difficult to orchestrate an offensive. But the Germans cannot replace their losses as fast as we can, and by Spring of this year I will be confident of the fact that you will be able to exploit this advantage (and it will be better for you if you do so!). Since we failed to envelop and destroy Heeresgruppe Mitte, and with our reduced ability to conduct offensive operations on a large scale, I want you to focus on one Heeresgruppe, that is Heeresgruppe Nord.

I want to encircle it completely, however. To do so we must focus on getting Warsaw and then pushing North until we reach Danzig. Once we possess northern Poland and have destroyed a large portion of the Wehrmacht, I want you to head South and force either Romania or Hungary out of the war. Once these objectives are met, the Germans will have most likely called back their troops on Finnish soil thus making Finland another easy target.

The elimination of Finland and either Romania and Hungary from the war, the encirclement and destruction of at least one Heeresgruppe are your objectives that you must meet by the end of 1945. With these conditions, in 1946 I want you to knock Bulgaria out of the war, invade Yugoslavia, Greece, Italy, France, and at last strike deep into the heart of the Reich: Germany itself."

"May I humbly ask why not thrust into the industrial-rich Germany once we reach Warsaw already?"

"THat is a reasonable question. We will use our airforce to bomb German industry. I want the treacherous Germans to pay the most humiliating defeat they have ever suffered. I want them to pay up to their last man and drop of blood. I want them stripped of all their conquests and allies first, and then I want Germany and then Berlin itself besieged from the four cardinal directions, even from Denmark! We will be able to do what the Allied scum has promised to do and then declined to do. They want us to do most of the hard work? Fine, let us take Europe and we'll take it! I thought we would have been forced to a race to Berlin against the Americans, but since they are now out of Europe, we're in no hurry.

Zhukov! I still have faith in you. Don't fail me twice."​
 
Last edited:
Zhukov is dead...except if a human take the URSS
 
I like the update - good reasoning of why the AI made such a horrible mistake. I sometimes do it myself when I score some major victory in my games ;)

Winner - I think that everything that could be done has already been implemented in some modification I cannot blame the AI for acting like an AI afterall. Also WiF was not programmed for the 1944 scenario, but for the 1936 only. The combat system and the other tweaks, and the Challenge difficulty still make things difficult however.

Well, the mod is excellent, I wasn't questioning that. I know that 1944 scenario still has the old AI.

What I meant was that the Allied AI will now probably do nothing. They'll occasionally bomb you, but they won't attempt new landings.

The question is what would have happened if D-Day had failed. I think the Allies would, few years later, attempt another landing.

I thought a minor AI tweak could encourage the AI to be more challenging opponent.
 
He was one of the few that could afford the luxury of criticizing Stalin without ending up in meatballs

Hahahaha. perfectly put :rofl: :rofl:
 
Shh, let him carry on. Nothing's better for Germany now than an incompetent leader in Russia ;)
 
General_Hoth - I could not imagine playing this against a human :)

Deus - Thanks, I'm just doing this because it is the New Year. I thought it would be nice to give a sarcastic, semi-formal review of fictional cabinet meetings among my foes. At start I thought I would retain the cold formal style but also insert a lighter tone and more evident nonsense (eg. "Comrade Stalin, we have as many men as they have bullets, so here's the plan: throw in our men till they run out of bullets!" "And what if they can kill two people with one bullet?" "Then we're screwed, comrade") then I opted for a more subtle sarcasm.

Winner - You are right, the Allies will probably sit in their isles of safety till I come knocking at their door. I'm no expert when it comes to AI however.

Enewald - Devising a plan B implies a chance of failure of plan A and uncle Joe does not like this word :)

SeleucidRex - I could have said worse but it was better not to :)

Merlowe, Winner - Perhaps my agents are contaminating Russian stockpiles of vodka with hallucinogenic substances :)

Karri - Thank you.

Update to come. Gameplay, this time.
 
Dawn of a new Year

0000 January 6th 1945
Intelligence Department, Berlin, Germany

The first significant news of 1945 was good news.​

048-1-Tech.jpg

Guderian was short of live action in Soviet Russia in these harsh Winter months. He had a preference for Summer where his tanks would roll again, but not without a new, advanced logistical system devised by him and his staff.​

048-2-NewTech.jpg

He would pass the dull task of researching in Winter to another commander, von Manstein, who would instead work on a better use of Germany's manpower by improving frontline's Hospital System.​

0000 January 7th 1945
Reichstag, Berlin, Germany

Speer started to like Winter.​

048-3-Luftwaffe.jpg

Two of the three Fighter squadrons rolled off German factories and were now ready for deployment. Most importantly, it freed up precious spare Industrial output.​

048-4-Garrison.jpg

The third and last Fighter squadron would see the light on January 27th, due to previous British sabotage. Orders were given to raise three Garrison divisions. They would be allocated in France, freeing up several mobile divisions that could be used for more lucrative tasks.​

0000 January 13th 1945
Intelligence Department, Berlin, Germany

The trail of good news did not end here as Werner Heisenberg announced he had finished his work on Advanced Encryption Devices.​

048-5-ADD.jpg

He was now tasked to research into the secrets of Nuclear Fuel Analysis. Even if Germany could not still afford such an expensive project, no one wanted to lag behind in such delicate technology however.​

0500 January 20th 1945
Diplomatic Offices, Reichstag, Berlin

"Please take a seat, sir."

Christian Günther was quite nervous. History showed that when von Ribbentrop knocked at your door, it was never to bring good news. Nevertheless, his diplomatic aplomb helped him conceal his doubts.

"To what shall I pay the honour of being invited here?"

"Let me put it bluntly, gentleman. As you may know, my Country has been in a state of war for nearly six years. Whichever the cause, a war of such proportions does not admit neutrality."

Günther was quite relieved. "How on Earth they think we can ever join their Alliance?" he thought, and soon after hastily said "With all respect, but my government will most likely retain his path of neutrality; moreover, we have little to gain and--"

"And who said I am proposing an alliance?"

The Swedish foreign minister now shattered in fear.

"We have already decided who our friends and our foes are. You have had enough time to choose. Please start looking for another job."​

048-6-WaronSweden.jpg

Günther had little time to react as two guards brought him out of the room. Sweden was now at war with Germany.​

0600 January 20th 1945
Copenhagen, Denmark

"Julius, the boring stuff is done. Now it's over to you."

Julius Ringel could not wait better words. Forty-four divisions stationed in Copenhagen were under his command, waiting for a formal declaration of war to be made, ready to cross the channel separating the Swedish country from Denmark.​

048-7-Malmo.jpg

At 0600 one Cavalry division sustained 44:1 ratio for several hours. They had however the advantage of fortifications, defending from a channel, and cold temperature.​

048-8-Stockholm.jpg

In the meantime, three divisions under Lt. Gen. Bornemann were poised to strike at Stockholm, devoid of troops. An Airforce of sort was also present in the city.​

0600 January 22nd 1945
Malmö, Sweden

Ringel encountered stiff resistance with three divisions now opposing him, and had made virtually no progress in two days.​

048-9-Malmo2.jpg

But the Swedish lacked one thing Ringel had.​

048-10-LuftwaffeMalmo.jpg

Three hours were enough to achieve sustantial damage to Swedish lines of communications. Luftwaffe bombers had rested well and were more than eager to drop bombs on their targets.​
 
Dawn of a new Year
continued​

0000 January 23rd 1945
Stockholm, Sweden

Bornemann arrived at Stockholm and it was declared to be under Finnish possession. Von Ribbentrop would deal with such minor nuisances and bickering between 'allies' later when Sweden would be pacified.​

048-11-Stockholm.jpg

The capture of Stockholm anyways showed that the Swedish possessed only four divisions in their most vital zone of the Country.​

1100 January 23rd 1945
Malmö, Sweden

Pounded by German aircraft, the three Swedish divisions were being left with fewer choices as the hours passed.​

048-12-Malmo.jpg

Still, they were suprisingly holding against overwhelming odds.​

1400 January 23rd 1945
Coast of Stockholm

This was not entirely good news, but it still gave the Kriegsmarine a chance to prove herself effective in combat.​

048-13-Coast.jpg

The Swedish navy, albeit old, was quite capable of delivering a certain degree of damage to the aging Kriegsmarine. Germany would lose two U-boot flotillas and several ships damaged, while Sweden would pay with the loss of two Battleships, HMS Sverige and HMS Gustav, and the Light Cruiser HMS Gotland.​

048-14-Fleet.jpg

The Baltic Fleet was actually withdrawing from combat despite being the clear winner, but the Swedish decided to chase them nonetheless. Except that the battle outcome showed that the Germans should be chasing them and not vice versa. The battleship HMS Victoria paid this courageous act dearly.​

0900 January 25th 1945
Malmö, Sweden

After five days of bitter resistance, the Swedish divisions had to fall back in face of overwhelming superiority.​

048-15-MalmoWin.jpg

Not only superiority they faced; German bombers now switched from bombing roads and rail lines to bombing men and equipment, to much terror of the Sweden, who were unaware of the existance of Anti-Air of any sort.​

048-16-LuftwaffeBomb.jpg

The Swedish retreat was among much confusion and haste. Only two hours were sufficient to almost completely destroy one Swedish division.​

0000 January 27th 1945
Reichstag, Berlin, Germany

Speer did really like January. This day marked the last of the Fighter squadrons, Jagdgeschwader 70, being rolled out the factories.​

048-17-LufwaffeBuilt.jpg

All three squadrons would now be deployed in the Eastern front, and the spare production resulting from the completion of the squadron was equally allocated to supplies, consumer goods, and upgrades.​

048-18-LuftwaffeDeployed.jpg

Lt. Gen. Schwuss would have the honour of leading three new Fighter squadrons now stationing in Königsberg, and some of the most modern in the world.​

2300 January 27th 1945
Karlskrona, Sweden

Out of three divisions, one was destroyed by the Luftwaffe, the other two would soon face the same fate, but not before being encircled and cut off from their mainland Sweden.​

048-19-KarlskronaEncircle.jpg

Up to this point most of the damage has been done by the Luftwaffe, with the Army merely acting as suppressive fire. Thirteen hours later, some hundred survivors was everything left of twenty thousand men.​

048-20-Advance.jpg

While the Luftwaffe was making short work of the little Army Sweden had, German troops were advancing all abroad the Country. Oslo was to be linked with German troops, anyways elsewhere the only word was 'North', and the most intriguing actions German troops would now experience against the Swedish was several days of march through tenacious resistance put up mainly from Swedish forests and snow.

Everything was indeed going according to plan.​
 
And then it shall be time for the finns... :)
Christian Günther, I first thought it was the swiss ambassador, but it turned out to be the swedish one. :p
 
Nice work with combined arms....In all of my games as Germany, I have never invaded Sweden....I don't know why.....but I think next time I shall!!

KLorberau
 
It is an amazing thing you pulled off thus far on all fronts, simply superb. I guess the weak spots for allied invasions are greece , the balkans of the south of france. try to defend those beaches and you should be alright.
In the East i would strike into the plains of the ukraine in the summer and capture those rich lands instead of an offensive in the nord or centre. Use your airforce to destroy as much soviets as possible.
All the best