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Console command to lift the fog of war is "debug fow".

If you don't have the right key on your keyboard to open it, hold ALT and type 21 on your numeral pad.
 
Nikolai II: Yeah, having a southern thrust would have been awesome. :p

Ah, but think of all the fun you had railing at incompetent commanders? :D

(And yes, I'm pretty sure there is some sort of nofog cheat)
 
Excellent AAR - my copy of HOI3 should arrive in the post tomorrow (although I'm not planning to start a game until the new patch - just a bit of tinkering to familiarise myself with things). I hadn't planned on starting my first game as Italy but this thread has got me wavering.
 
Lordban: Good to know. How about handsoff? :D

AreoHotah: Cheeky bastard, checking on up things like that. ;)

Nikolai II: True, it was pretty fun ranting and raving about their craven incompetence...oh, there I go again! :D

EvilFishtank: That's what we're here to find out! :D

IRD: Thanks! And play Italy. You know you want to! ;)

I'll have an update for tomorrow evening, folks, as we start the second chapter!
 
Lordban: You make it sound so obvious! :p

I'll have an update for tonight, guys.
 
It is more for when I get bored because nothing is going on other than research. And since I am not writing a very entertaining AAR I do not always need to pay attention to what I am doing. I can go watch japan get kicked out of china, then 3 years later come roaring back.:rofl:
 
You make it sound so obvious! :p

Nah, didn't say you should change settings for all messages to avoid pauses :p
 
Solid general principles of strategy you lay out. I'm looking forward to see A) how you manage to impose your will on the tools and AIs you have to work with and B) exactly what areas of geopolitical significance Italy is going to involve itself in.

Now, if I remember correctly, there are no VP provinces in Somalia, so as long as you can nudge some troops towards Addis Abeba, you should be able to retrieve the situation in Abyssinia and tie up that shameful war, right?
 
AreoHotah: True. That sounds fun too, I should try it some time. :D

Lordban: You're just showing off now. :p

Stuyvesant: We'll have to see how my hordes do in combat against real enemies when we get to that stage. As for where I'll be casting my eyes, we'll see. ;) And yeah, Abyssinia has only one VP, in Adis Abeba. Conquer that and the whole country goes. :p

Update coming up!
 
The Year of Development
Part 1: Shaking up the Generals, January 1937

With the end of the old year and the onset of the new, Mussolini knew that it was time to shake up his generals in Abyssinia. He had to inject some fresh blood into the struggle as he felt that certain commanders were not doing their duty. Furthermore, a particular small handful of men had to be made examples of, as Voltaire would say, pour encourager les autres. The Regio Esercito of the early 1930s may have been primarily a show army with all the incumbent weaknesses, but Mussolini was not about to allow it to become a showcase of persistent incompetence in the face of a minor African country! Things certainly had to change at the headquarters of the Armata del’AOI.

Two corps commanders, Lieutenant Generals Moizo and Bennati, were unceremoniously demoted to major generals and sent back to Italy in disgrace, stripped of any command. With complete justification, Mussolini was wary of employing them again for any reason. Such rough treatment was sure to be an encouragement to others not to share their miserable fate. With his two most incompetent subordinates gone, Grazioli may have been expected to try again and to perform better this time, but Mussolini had different plans for him. Instead, Grazioli was promoted from general to field marshal and relieved of direct command of the Armata dell’AOI. He was sent to Libya to take over the Tarabulus theater headquarters, under which the Armata dell’AOI fell, and which had been leaderless this entire time. Along with his old army, under his direct command was a single, but strong, infantry division at Tobruk. At Tarabulus, Grazioli would be able to focus on his strengths, particularly logistics, without distraction—a focus which could only aid his old command in Eritrea.

013-01-GrazioliatTarabulus.jpg

Grazioli was promoted up to the Tarabulus theater headquarters.

However, Mussolini went further than this still. In a direct effort to reduce the logistical needs of the Armata dell’AOI he reduced it in size by more than half. Every single remaining militia regiment was sent back to Ed for transport to Italy. This amounted to 22 regiments in all, comprising some sixty-six thousand men. Furthermore, of the regular infantry, twelve regiments would remain: four would be sent back to Italy. Finally, of the six corps headquarters, four would be dissolved. The two mountain brigades under Tellera stayed. All together some thirty regiment or regiment-sized units were dissolved or removed from Abyssinia. Ninety thousand mostly useless men were removed from its payroll and ceased to dilute its flow of supplies. The Armata dell’AOI was left with one army headquarters, two corps headquarters and seven divisions, six of infantry and one of mountaineer. In total, it numbered thirty thousand men.

013-02-WithdrawingHalftheArmy.jpg

The withdrawal of two thirds of the Armata dell’AOI to Ed and further to Italy.

The command of this truncated force went to General Grossi, a friend of Grazioli’s and with the same logistical talents. This harmony between theater and army level, and in particular its concentration of logistical acumen, was sure to work in the Italians’ favor. The decrease in manpower was certain to help as well, for only trained and competent soldiers were left in Africa Orientale Italien. Whatever disappointment Grossi may have felt at being handed a much reduced command was offset by the situation he was in: it was his chance to march into Adis Abeba. The glory of conquest was his for the taking, regardless of how small his command has shrunk.

013-03-GrossiatHQAOI.jpg

Grossi at the headquarters of the Armata dell’AOI.

Directly subordinate to Grossi were two corps commanders who were veterans of the Abyssinian campaign, being the fortunate two who were not demoted or had their commands dissolved. The first of these was Lieutenant General Gonzaga del Vodice. He was of the army old guard, much like Grazioli and Grossi and indeed many other of the older generals, but he had some skill. Furthermore, he had talent in the fields of defensive fighting as well as fortification assault. Under his command were the three stars of the Abyssinian campaign thus far: Tellera and his mountaineers and Nicolosi and Calcagno with their infantry divisions. Gonzago’s corps was spread thin, one division each at Kara K’ore, Fiche, and Dese.

013-04-GonzagadelVodice.jpg

Gonzaga del Vodice and his corps.

The other corps commander was Lieutenant General Pirzio Biroli. Also of the old guard, his main talents were in his tactical unpredictability, which could at times catch his opponents by surprise. The remaining four divisions of the Armata dell’AOI were under his command: one division each under Major Generals Castellano, Gandin, Silvestri and Barbasetti di Prun. These men, unlike the three divisional commanders of Gonzago’s corps, had barely seem combat in Abyssinia. The hope was that they were competent enough for their posts and would act as necessary to ensure victory. All four divisions of this corps were concentrated at Bahir Dar.

013-05-PirzioBiroli.jpg

Pirzio Biroli and his corps.

The operational dispositions Grossi inherited from Grazioli and his incompetent corps commanders. However, he entered his new command with a ‘can-do’ attitude and immediately began planning how to best take advantage of the resources he was left. This would mean taking full advantage of the incredible concentration of troops at Bahir Dar. It would become Grossi’s main offensive force.
 
Bold moves! Hopefully, the tip of the spear will now be able to strike the Ethiopians, no longer weighed down by all that unnecessary bulk from the militias.

Are you going to keep the blackshirts going, or are you going to disband their sorry asse... assets?
 
Some sense in Abyssinia, at last!

Time to end this war, and to end it with style. If Gonzaga del Vodice and Pirzio Biroli manage a quick capture of Addis Abeba with their much reduced but professional force, Italy's army won't leave completely humiliated.
 
Whoa! Il Duce steps up and makes sweeping changes! Total manpower will not win the war in this theater but a more delicate balance of tactics and leadership. Looks like we've got the right leaders there, lets see what our men can do, eh Il Duce? :D
 
Now, honestly, was promoting Graziloi a way of rewarding him, or getting him out of the way??:eek:

Good that things were shaken up though, hopefully this injects some good blood into Abyssinia.
 
This is one of the features that I appreciate very much in HoI3 -- that HQs and theater organization matter. I would not have, in your place, made the same moves (Grossi never seems to get anything but a reserve command somewhere), but I love it that we can have an update devoted to discussing which generals were assigned differing commands.

Nice update -- keep up the good work!

-- Beppo
 
A flurry of changes that will most likely result in the victory in Abyssinia that Italy MUST win. BTW, I think you were too soft on these foppish peacocks called generals... :mad:

Please update. :)
 
Stuyvesant: The Blackshirts don't really fit into Mussolini's vision of an expeditionary army. ;)

Lordban: Nope, not completely humiliated. Just mostly humiliated! :p

Jorath13: Exactly. Plus, if logistics break down then everything breaks down. By fixing logistics, everything gets fixed. :D

Maj. von Mauser: About Grazioli, yes. :D And injecting new blood is good
nods.gif


Beppo: Yeah, HoI3's awesome for that. Also, the Tarabulus HQ didn't have a leader the entire first year, which I think may have been part of the cause of the initial failure in Abyssinia. I'm still not entirely sure what levels of hierarchy give what bonuses but putting a logistics wizard into Tarabulus HQ could only be a good thing, I think. And with Grossi also being a logistics wizard, between the two of them they've got the logistics of the theater down pat.

cthulhu: Perhaps I was too soft. But I can't demote them any further than major general, and unless they end up being used at a time of great emergency and distinguish themselves as divisional leaders, their professional careers are now basically ruined. If they can't handle a couple divisions of Abyssinian militia, it'll be doubtful that they could hand any force that's even slightly more competent, which is to say anybody else. :p

I'll have an update for tomorrow morning!