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unmerged(151240)

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Aug 10, 2009
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  • Crusader Kings II
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“Poland will refuse to cede Danzig,” Hitler looked his Chief of Staff in the eye, “Tomorrow, it will be war!”

It was 3rd September 1939. Poland didn’t have a choice, but the real question was, did Germany? One by one, Germany found herself isolated. At first, she recognized only two arch enemies – the United Kingdom and France. But one by one the European countries entered the fold. Denmark. Holland. Belgium. Finland. Sweden. Norway. Switzerland. Finally, the USA. Einkreisung! Encirclement!

The United States. That staggering behemoth of an industrial titan was a fearsome enemy. They had beaten the German Empire in 1918. They could very well do so again. The Atlantic was large, but Hitler wondered if it was large enough. He had no doubt that German ingenuity and courage would prevail against the Americans, the British, the French - individually. But all of them together? And they weren’t even their greatest foe. That dubious distinction lies only with the hated ideologues in the USSR. Yes ... hate. Hitler hated them with all his heart.

The enemy was on all sides. Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark in the north. Greece in the south. France, Switzerland, the UK and the US in the West. They had all mobilised for war. But the true enemy were slit eyes in the tall grass -the Soviets.

One must bide his time, and choose his enemies well.

With an eye on eventual conquest of the Soviet Union, Hitler made a pact with the Devil - the Molotov Ribbentrop non-aggression pact between two natural enemies. Can the Cobra truly truly extend an olive branch to the Serpent? It was unnatural, but it was necessary. What it bought was time. Time to eliminate his foes on the soil of Europe, and strike when the Soviets when they least expect.

Hitler couldn’t help but smile. The Molotov Ribbentrop Pact was just one of his many machinations.

Italy came easily enough to his fold. His personal friendship with Mussolini made sure of that. Their troops, although with obsolescent equipment, have at least some experience from Ethiopia, and will likely do well against France and Greece.

Patient diplomacy for the past 2 ½ years have yielded results. First, the Nationalists in Spain easily fell under the fold of the Axis. The Spanish won’t even have to raise a rifle to tie up entire French Corps as the poor fools fruitlessly defend their western borders against an enemy that won't march. But Hitler won’t call his Spanish friends to arms. No. That would just give the British and the Americans a cassus belli to crush his weak allies, and open a wide open front in the West. A dog's bark is usually more fearsome than its bite.

Next Hitler made sure that the Turks were well and truly within the fold of the Axis. Eventually, Stalin will need to keep his caucasus troops in the caucasus, and the Turks will do just fine.

Then, of course, there were the Romanians and the Yugoslavians – willing allies for the Axis. The Yugoslavians will check the Greeks in the south, while the Romanians will open a southern front for the Polish.

And the Persians, though not comrades in arms, were friendly, and a long standing trade agreement, though expensive, had enabled Hitler to have a considerable stockpile of refined oil.

004alliesandaxis2.jpg


Yes, Germany is encircled, but so is Poland and France locked in the same potential of a two front war. But Germany, modern, ready, vengeful Germany, of all the nations in the world, is the only one capable of attacking at all fronts – and Hitler intends to do just that!

He will simultaneously demolish the Poles and the Swiss, and engage the British in North Africa.

Then he will demolish France, tear down Denmark and grab the black riches of the Middle East.

He will smash the Norwegians and the Swedes from the sky and from the sea.
When there is nothing left but the mosquitoes across the channel, he will ambush and siege the Soviet heartland. Once the Red Army’s cities crumble, UK cannot possibly stand for long. Once German flags flutter on the streets of London, US cannot but sue for peace.

“Yes ...” Hitler thought to himself, smiling, “War ... is good.”
 
Hi all, this is my first AAR. I am looking forward to all your comments, suggestions and criticisms.

I got HOI3 on the day it was released on Gamersgate and I think, for all its flaws, its potentials shines above all. However my first game as the Brits was not too fun - I rapidly lost interest as the Axis gained ally after ally (I was not familiar with the diplomacy system), and during the blitzkrieg, the Italians were making as short work of the French in fortified positions as the Germans were of the Polish.

Then I read all the threads about the spamming allies and thought it would be a challenging game to incorporate this 'bug' into the game!

So, to summarize this AAR, I started the game in 1936, but for the AAR, I've fast forwarded to 3rd Sept 1939, just before I made the decision to demand Danzig.

Difficulty Normal
No reloads
Ver 1.1c hotfix
I intend to cheat to preserve some (admittedly personal) historical flavor. If I do so I will write it in the AAR. For instance, I intend to remove Finland from the allies so that the Finnish war with the Soviets will fire. I don't see anything wrong with this as I expect the Fins to rapidly enter the Allies after this.

By 3rd Sept 1939, the Allies consisted of:
1) UK
2) France
3) USA
4) Norway & Sweden
5) Finland & Greece
7) Denmark
8) Belgium & Netherlands (why can't we call them Holland?) & Luxemburg
9) Switzerland!!!!
10) Ireland!!!
11)Canada, Australia, NZ
12) Other countries (South Africa, Siam, Mexico, Liberia, Colombia, Paraguay)

But anticipating this, I had persuaded the following countries to join the Axis (in this order)
1) Spain (nationalists won) - to tie up the French troops at the right border. I had no intention of calling them to arms I have nightmares of US troops utterly destroying the Spanish and marching their tanks across the iberian peninsula to France)
2) Turkey - this is so that the USSR has another front
3) Yugoslavia and Hungary
4) Italy

My plan is to destroy the Soviet Union, take London, and amphibiously attack the USA.

Lets see what happens!
 
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Sounds like it'll be a nice busy war on all fronts. Fun times for all. :D
 
1) Spain (nationalists won) - to tie up the French troops at the right border. I had no intention of calling them to arms I have nightmares of US troops utterly destroying the Spanish and marching their tanks across the iberian peninsula to France)

They will most likely DOW the allies when you enter the war, even if you don't call them to arms. Well a little more excitement, more shores for the Wehrmacht to defend:)
I'm going to follow this AAR.
 
I started the game in 1986, but for the AAR, I've fast forwarded to 3rd Sept 1939

Fast forwarded or rewound? :D

Still should be interesting to how your encirclement turns out!
 
Thanks for all the support! One of the so called advantages of being surrounded on all sides is that transfer of troops is extremely efficient from one front to another. Of course you probably don't have to do that unless you're surrounded on all sides ....

Lordban - Yup! Will see more of Hungrytler to come!
Myth, Exterous - 1986 .... How embarrassing!!!! Honest mistake ... I meant 1936 of course .... ah well ....
EviFishtank - Yup. Hope for all out action!
Zaku - That would defeat the purspose of not calling them to arms according to the manual doesn't it (to keep all the spoils to oneself)? :-\ Well, whatever shall be shall be .... My experience with AI nations so far in Paradox games are that they are singularly useless ....
 
Battleplans

Chapter 1: Battleplans

The action would be more than a hundred miles away, but the mood in Berlin HQ was just as tense. As expected, bolstered by the false promises of support by her numerous Allies, Poland refused to cede Danzig. Now all arrayed against the Germans, mobilised for war.

Hitler had both hands on the table, his head hung down, fixed on the map laid out in front of him, his aides, Fritz Bagerlein, Chief of staff and Werner Von Fritsch, Chief of Army, at his side. The Fuhrer's eyes ran from province to province as if in a trance, then rose up and met Von Fritsch's, "Let's run through this one last time."

002troopdeployment3sept.jpg


Von Fritsch acknowledged the Fuhrer and said, "Against Poland," he waved his hand over the right side of the map, "Von Rundstedt in Armeegruppe B, and Kesselring in Armeegruppe A, in each 2 panzer divisions, 2 motorized divisions and 3 Korps of 3 infanterie divisions, 26 in all, will attack, supported by the Polish border Armee, 10 infanterie divisions.

"Against the Swiss, Ulex in Armeegruppe C, supported by the Gerbigsjager Armeekorps.

"In the north, our 2 Fallschrimjager divisions will hold the fortifications against Denmark with a 2nd line Infanterie Korps.

"Rommel leads the Afrika Korps Kampgruffe in North Afrika, subordinate to the Italian command there. 1 Panzer division, 3 Infanterie division

002troopdeployment23sep.jpg


"We will hold the line against the French arrayed in their Maginot line with the French Border Armee - 5 Armeekorps, 15 divisions in all, with 3 divisions as reserve.

"Against the lowlands, our 2nd line infanterie divisions, with the SS Waffen Kampgruffe as reserve."

"Will those hold?" Bagerlein asked.

"No," Von Fritsch replied, "But where they extend into the fatherland, the SS Waffen will smash them."

Hitler nodded, even though he was no more satisfied than before, "And the plan?"

003battleplan3sept39.jpg


Von Frisch explained it all again, "Armeegruppe A and Armeegruppe B will carve up Poland. We expect the Soviets to move in within a week of hostilities. Armeegruppe C will break into France through Switzerland. Rommel will outflank the British while our Italian friends hold the frontline.

"We expect Poland to fall within 2 weeks. after which, Armeegruppe B will initiate the invasion of Denmark while Armeegruppe A, with Armeegruppe C, will envelope and destroy the Maginot line salient in a double pincer movement."

"Are you certain, Fuhrer," Bayerlein began, "That we should leave Paris and all the French cities till the last?"

The reply was quick, "We are waging total war gentlemen. The objective is the utter annihilation of all resistance. We must not just put our men in their streets, we must crush them utterly," He paused for breath, "Very well, it is the appointed time. Give the command."

Von Fritsch nodded and waved his had - a runner left the room to make the neccessary communications. The second World War had begun.

Hitler smiled, satisfied, "It is a good plan gentlemen. I have full faith in our men."
 
Your forces arrayed against Poland seem... few. I wouldn't be surprised if Poland took a lot longer than was planned.

Let's see what your army's made off before passing judgement, though :)
 
No choice :(, All the surrounding countries have mobilized for war, including Switzerland, Denmark, Netherlands, Belgium .... They are all in the Allies, and will come for my throat as soon as war starts.

To keep to a self imposed time line, I had to put militia on the border against the lowlands (but with a panzer division and 3 regular divisions as reserve for the lowland troops that break through). I also wanted to take advantage of the Swiss weakness especially since I can depend on the Italians to buy some time after I outflank the French maginot line and sardinia line and unhinge their defenses.

At least, that's the plan .... :D
 
Certainly ambitious. You don't have as much shield and sword as sword, sword and another sword just for good measure. :p
 
I don't think you should have much of a problem despite the odds. Poland falls relatively fast and Italy and Spain help you with france. Scandinavia can get annoying because of bad infrastructure though. Be careful when it comes time to invade the americas, I once sent a transport fleet undefended and they were all sunk by the USN! I made the same mistake twice and lost 1/2 another transport fleet to the combined navies of Argentina and Brazil! :eek:o:eek:o:eek:o
 
Chapter 2.1: The Invasion of Poland

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It was the 10th of September when the war began. The 'crack' of rifles was heard along the entire front, but the grumble of tank tracks and the thunder of tank cannon fire was heard only in Lubliniec and Poznan. The might of the wehrmacht in the Polish border was concentrated at a point and smashed like a spear into the shields of Polish defense.

The massed defenders, expecting a general push into Danzig, would be disappointed. The objective was a double pincer envelopement of the entire Poznan salient. This would be established from the south by the Panzer and Panzergrenadiere Korps of the elite Armeegruppe A. Guderian led the 1st Light Panzer Division, which formed the tip of the spear. From the north, the 1st Infanterie Armeekorps, with attached engineer brigades, was tasked to lay siege and take Warsaw while elements of the East Prussian Border Korps protected its flanks. Once taken, this would form the northern arm of the pincer movement which, once completed, would effectively halve Poland, prevent retreat, resupply and expediting demolition of all troops trapped in the Poznan salient by Armeegruppe B.

005initialmovespolishfr.jpg


The fall of Warsaw is expected to precipitate transfer of the government to Krakow - outside of the expected massive envelopement. This was sane (naturally their commanders would be out of danger), but would doom the entire Poznan salient by severing all lines of supply. Krakow was near the border and could be easily taken, after which, the Polish high command was expected to transfer to Lwow. HQ was quite confident that the Polish command would be immediately threatened by the advancing Hungarians. Unconditional surrender could not be far off.

When battle started, even the German high command was surprised at the slaughter. The Poles were brave, but did not stand a chance. Their armour, deployed near Danzig, was bypassed by both the armoured columns of Armeegruppe A and B. The Polish Infantry simply had no defense against the German tanks, composed of the fewer PzKpfw III and the advanced Type IV Light Battle tanks, which shrugged off even direct hits from Polish obsolescent anti tank rifles.

The Luftlotte I and III squadrons (each 200 Tactical bombers of advanced design) and the new Stuka I squadron (newly researched CAS bombers, 200 in total) devastated the Polish defenses despite the heroic efforts of the Polish interceptors. Disappointingly, despite their superior training and equipment, 300 Bf-109E interceptors failed to achieve dominance over the Polish skies.

Nevertheless, a combination of massed bombing and direct assault had, by the 12th of September, pierced through Polish lines, and through this hole poured the motorized panzergrenadier divisions followed by exploitation by elements of the 2nd and 3rd Infanterie A Armeekorps. In the North, the Polish began a desperate defense of Warsaw, but was slowly but surely buckling under a terrible combination of relentless artillery fire and German Pionere assault.

* * * * *

Simultaneous with the envelopement of the Poznan salient was the assault on Switzerland. Like their Polish allies, the Swiss were completely unprepared for a decisive armoured thrust. The outcome would be familiar: blitzkrieg! Breakthrough was acheived by the panzer and motorized divisions, and through the hole created, followed the infanterie divisions of Armeegruppe C.

The Swiss were disadvantaged in another manner. In trying to defend the entire length of their borders against Germany and Italy, they only succeeded in defending nothing. In addition, their divisions may not have completed mobilization as their troops, even entrenched in their fortifications in the Alps, withered under overwhelming German artillery and direct assaults by the Gerbigsjager divisions.

By 12th September, the armoured spearhead had joined up with the Italians from the south. They were only 400 km away from the Swiss capital of Bern.

006armeegruppecswedishf.jpg


* * * * *

Success was similarly found in North Afrika. The desert, though unkind eventually to machinery, allowed Rommel to sweep aside the British infantry before him and commence a flanking encirclement of the frontline British infantry.

008afrikakorpsnorthafri.jpg


Unless the British kept a reserve, further progress towards Cairo was almost certain - and after that, the Suez canal and Middle Eastern Oil.

* * * * *

While the eastern front heavily breathed the exertions of war, the western front collectively held their breaths. German troops stationed in their fortifications stared across no mans land at the impregnable fortifications of the Maginot line. A thin line of regular infantry faced the French line in the south, and a thinner line of 2nd line infantry faced the Netherlands and Belgium armies in the north.

If the French at all wanted to seize Germany by the throat, there was no better time. If the Germans must retreat along the entire front, then so be it. They will perform a fighting withdrawal and buy the time needed for Polish capitulation. If however, the French could only manage a local breakthrough, the Germans will counter-attack aggressively with the mighty Waffen SS panzer and motorized divisions and infantry korps.

008westernfront12sep.jpg


Yet despite a potentially treacherous Western Front, objective evidence points to initial overwhelming German success. It was quite clear to the German high command that all was going according to plan ...

Until they were outlflanked where they least expected in the two fronts that mattered the most.