TutAARial, or How I learned to Stop Fearing Hearts of Iron 3 (Semper Fi)

NERFGEN: I'm pretty sure the 50 MP loss is from the combat.... took some heavy casualties. However, there isn't going to be a manpower problem as France.

Supeerme: I've already addressed this issue in previous posts.... They should be viewable again on January 2. From Part 3 onward, I'm using a different photobucket account.

I highly recommend SF... while i bought the game with SF, and never actually played it vanilla, from what I've read and deduced from the forums, it's much improved with SF...

Also, i'm going to try to get an update soon... been busy with work lately!

Ground War Part 5: Gaining Ground

Oct 31: Bridging Equipment Advance!



I also send 2 somewhat battered divisions (the 13th and 14th Infantry division) from Achern into Rastatt in order to extend our penetration even more. Hopefully they won’t be attacked, but if they are we should be able to get reinforcements to them soon. Fortunately Ratstatt is forested and bordered on 2 sides by rivers. This is why I want to take it quickly while it’s unoccupied so that we don’t have to fight for it!



We also win the battle of Pirmasens.



Luxembourg comes asking for supplies. I decide that we can spare the IC and approve the deal.



Nov. 1: With Saarlouis practically abandoned, I begin another attack. Hopefully we can take it quickly before it gets reinforced. In Baden-Baden, what was looking like a 90% victory for us with 2 armour divisions against an HQ brigade, it’s now down to 35%, now that 2 infantry divisions have arrived to reinforce. Fortunately, we do have reinforcements available to help punch through. I’ve also decided that our troops at Donaueschingen have been taking too much of a beating with a couple of divisions close to retreating, so I’m going to engage four divisions at Balingen to attack at Rottweil. This immediately forced the Germans to break off their attack and concentrate on defending.


(Attack on Rottweil)

Nov. 2: Our troops have taken Rastatt and were promptly attacked. However, the Germans realized the futility of their attack and withdrew.



We also quickly won the Battle of Rottweil, Baden Baden, and Villingen.



It seems like the Germans are retreating, but where? We’re going to push to Stuttgart in our southern flank to take the airfields, IC and fortifications there. The north is still up for grabs, but the big question arises…. Where are the British? Are they going to help us out?

Nov. 3: We just sent 4 infantry divisions from Sarreguemines to St. Wendel to help push in the north.

Nov. 4: This morning, we win the battle of Saarlouis! We arrive to be attacked by an HQ division!



Nov. 7: We notice that Bitburg is unoccupied so we send 6 divisions north. Bitburg is a fortified province with an airfield and anti-air guns. Our armoured division should arrive first, and if attacked, will be supported by 5 infantry divisions.



I also send 5 divisions from St. Wendel (2 light armour, 1 armour and 2 infantry) to take Morbach.



From St. Wendel, we don’t have to cross a river, and Morbach is plains which should allow our armour to take full advantage. Hopefully this fight will be swift.

Nov. 8: Engineer Assault Weapons Advance!



We take Morbach quickly! Only taking 66 casualties, while dealing 236.



Nov. 10: We managed to beat the Germans to Bitburg. The level 1 fort was damaged as was one of the factories, but this was a great win! We’ll rush 4 more infantry divisions from Saarlouis up to Aachen and then try to swing around to encircle some of the German forces moving north.



We’ve finally also won at Baden Baden.



We’ve been attacked at Rastatt, and from 2 directions yet. Thankfully we have plenty of troops to attack at Neuenkirchen, while forested, we don’t have to cross any rivers, therefore our attack is favoured by the terrain.



Nov. 12: We win the Battle of Balingen, losing 2661 troops, but killing 5876.



Nov. 14: The Germans disengage their attack on Rastatt, and we have taken Tubingen, but notice that we’ve vacated Balingen, fortunately, our armour isn’t far away and reoccupies the province…. And we’re also being attacked at Aachen, which we reached first. Fortunately the germans realize the futility of the attack and break off.



Nov. 15: We win at Neuenkirchen.



to be continued....

Impressive progress against the Germans. If you can get the British to join in... That would be fun! The war could be over early in 1940!

But even without any help from the BEF, it looks like you have the Germans on the ropes. Unless they can pull a lot of extra troops out of Poland, it's hard to see how they're going to push you out of the Vaterland.

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Stuyv: By now, they're finished with Poland, and I can't remember if they're done with Denmark yet, so more troops should be coming along soon.....

Was already fearing this AAR was death, so great to see a new update!!

Interesting read, as always.

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tim: not dead. just resting.

an updaaate...

The race is on.. will you eat up enough divisions before the bulk of the army arrives from the east? or will you be pushed back the pre war lines? ME wants MORE

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NERFGEN: more coming soon, but unfortunately, not at the pace that one would like. Hopefully I'll get another update up soon.

that's excellent!
are the germans at war against Netherlands and Belgium? they could have trouble holding the front ...

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Sprites: Germans aren't at war yet with Netherlands and Belgium. I jumped them right after they doWed on Poland.

Ground War Part 6: The Critical Juncture

Nov. 16: We lost the battle at Karlsruhe, which wasn’t really an attempt to take the province, It was an attempt to relieve the pressure at Rastatt.



We are again attacked at Baden-Baden.



We begin our assault on Stuttgart, primarily to get around the attackers of Baden-Baden. It should be a quick victory as the only defender of Stuttgart is an exhausted infantry division (led by the "Desert Fox" himself, Rommel).



We are also trying to extend our encirclement in the north attack Monchengladbach. The attack there goes well.



Nov. 17: We’re attacked at Morbach. This attack won’t last long, as we’re only attacked by one division – the 2nd Panzers. I send our infantry division blocking at Tuttlingen into an empty province at Stockach. Rommel's infantry division has retreated. The airfield and industrial centres at Stuttgart are almost ours!



Nov. 18: We’re attacked at Tubingen. This is pinning our divisions trying to enter Stuttgart in place.



To counter, we attack with 3 divisions of Marines from Balingen to Reutlingen. This causes the Germans to break off their attack of Tubingen.



However, this has given the Germans enough time to reinforce at Stuttgart. We attack Karlsruhe and that convinces the Germans to break off their attack of Baden-Baden.



Nov. 20: Canada Joins the Allies, and we win the battle at Monchengladbach



Nov. 23: The Germans break off their attack of Stockach, and we try to assault Reutlingen. We’re attacked at Monchengladbach, but fortunately, it’s by divisions inside the ring we’re trying to set up. We’ll attack from outside the ring on all sides in order to get this attack to cease.



Nov. 24: We're attacked by a single Panzer division at Morbach.... this is a pinning attempt rather than one actually intended to defeat us.



Nov. 25: We attack Koln after Germany ceases fire on Monchengladbach, and we’re also trying to take Karlsruhe from 3 sides. We get attacked at Neuenkirchen.



Nov. 26: We lose at Friedrichshafen and get attacked at Stockach, Morbach, Konstanz and St. Wendel.



The Germans are really bringing their reinforcements now, and I don’t know how much longer we can maintain this offensive. However, the Germans break off their attacks of Morbach and Konstanz.



Nov. 27: At 1am, we win Koln. Is this the Germans pulling back so they can hit us harder when we arrive? We attack from Mondbach to Hennef to try to complete the encirclement.

Nov. 28: It doesn’t look good at Hennef. We’re attacked again at Mondbach. We do win Duren, making the circle a little smaller. We call off the attack of Hennef and concentrate on defending at Mondbach. A new infantry divisions is ready for deployment in 22 Corps.

Nov. 29: We get attacked at Koln by at least 6 German and Slovakian divisions.



This is what we were afraid of. The German reinforcements are now here. We’re going to plan a staged withdrawal back to the Maginot Line.

Retreat is not always a loss. As mentioned before, we knew that this offensive was risky to say the least, and we learned several things not only about our troops, but about the game.

It seems that the British will not support us either on the ground or from the air unless we’re attacked, making a long push deep into German territory completely unsustainable. When playing as France, the goal has been to hold off the Germans until either a) they open a second front with the USSR, or b) there’s enough critical mass in terms of manpower in France and the Low Countries to stage a breakout.
Our troops performed extremely well, more than holding their own with the Germans. Unfortunately, with no reserves, or ability to penetrate behind their lines (with more and more German reinforcements coming from the east), we have no way of making this offensive more than a little sting. Without any significant air cover (we’ve lost all of our interceptors by now), our troops are particularly vulnerable on the ground.

There is a particular art to a tactical withdrawal, and in the south, we are in a good position to do it fairly cleanly. We can move our non-engaged troops back, and slowly disengage and move back units while others fight on to cover them. In the North, we have another story. With our failed encirclement, we can’t pull directly back.



We’re going to need to smash through the mostly encircled divisions, and as soon as those battles are won, the most westerly divisions pull back, covered by the ones further east. Hopefully we’ll be able to get enough rested troops settled at the Maginot Line ready to absorb the German push so that our weakened ones don’t get overwhelmed.

Are you planning on retreating to the maginotline, or the siegfriedline? Seems to me manning the old German fortifications you've conquered gives you another line of forts to defend before the actual fighting for the maginotline starts.

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tim: I'm going to head back to the Maginot Line. It's much more defensible than the Siegfried Line, and when I looked at how much the Germans had built up their defenses along the border, they're only at a level 2 (at most), as opposed to the level 10's on the French side. This way, I won't have to commit as many troops to their defense.

Your offensive fell a little short of setting a defensive line alone the Rhine or at least the northern part of it
Having never played France , is it normal to have lost your air force like this?

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Sprites: I don't know about "normal," but it was to be expected. Germany has much more leadership and IC and can really increase their tech levels for fighters that the French just can't keep up with, unless we decided to sacrifice the tech levels of our ground troops.....

Ground War Part 7: Withdrawal, part 1

Nov. 29: Three of the divisions in Mondchengladbach are ordered to attack through Duren, although the Germans will be able to vacate that province.



Those divisions will then attack through Duren to Trier, essentially surrounding those divisions there. Our divisions in Morbach also begin pulling back to St. Wendel and Neuenkirchen. In the south, I start sending unengaged divisions backwards to the Maginot Line. We “win” in Koln, and begin to pull back from there too.



Nov. 30: The germans disengage at Stockach, allowing those two divisions to rest. The Germans also disengage from Neuenkirchen.



Dec. 1: We lose at Pforzheim, which doesn’t cause much of a problem. This frees up some troops to be able to disengage.



Dec. 2: We win at Stuttgart. This is a fantastic opportunity. It means that the German troops will be in no position to attack as we retreat. Our moving to Duren has created a new battle, with a German unit getting there first.



Dec. 3: Early in the morning a second division joins the first at Duren. I also send the 52nd Infantry and 6th Light cavalry divisions to reinforce at St. Wendel, as they’re taking a beating there. We win at Duren, and hopefully this will help make our withdrawal in the north a bit more orderly.



I move 3 more divisions back from Balingen.



We lose at St. Wendel, and we get attacked at Mondchengladbach and Koln and Neuenkirchen and Tubingen.



Dec. 6:



At Morbach and Neuenkirchen, we’re under attack, but we still have an avenue back to our lines. We have two divisions serving to hold off the Germans at Monchengladbach and Koln. These 2 divisions may have to be sacrificed to keep the rest of the troops alive. The attack at Tubingen keeps us from being able to move those units back. Since the German units in Reutlingen are tired (low organization), I’m going to call off that attack, in order to make sure that our troops can defend better at Tubingen.



Another thing I’m going to do is ask Luxembourg and Belgium for transit rights, which is done through the diplomacy screen. In case our troops only have that single avenue of retreat, they’ll be able to retreat safely into those countries. Luckily, they both accept.



Dec. 7: The germans disengage at Neunkirchen.



I’m also sending the first motorized infantry division back. Their organization is very low and won’t be much help fending off any other German offensives.



The attack on Karlsruhe goes well. There’s only one division left that is defending. We will probably disengage just before we “win,” to make sure that we don’t get out of position by entering the province.



Dec. 8: We win Karlsruhe, and I’ll just make sure our troops don’t enter the province. I’ll begin sending troops back behind the line.



We lose at Mondchengladbach.



When the 3rd North African Infantry Division gets to Aachen, I’m going to send them into Bastogne and through Belgium.



Dec. 9: We lost Koln. It appears we’ve lost that division.



Dec. 11: We are attacked at Duren. Hopefully, we can hold on and take Trier before the pocket collapses. The Germans break off the attack at Tubingen. Now we can begin our full withdrawal from the southern pocket.



Dec. 12: We also start attacking at Kaiserslauten in order to take some pressure off Morbach. We win at Trier.



Hopefully this will allow us to pull back a little more smoothly in this area. We’re attacked at Balingen. But this attack doesn’t appear to be too much of a problem, as the Germans call it off quickly. We lose Aachen – the Germans beat the 3rd North African Division to it. That doesn’t bode well for that division. We’re also attacked again at Trier.



This is our last avenue for rescue for our divisions in Duren. We have to hold it.



I send all of our southern troops back behind the Maginot Line.



to be continued!