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Sorry. ;) I don't wish to provoke a new rage, but I have to discuss something else with you, my readers, before I continue: I have a new screen with a higher resolution, 1920 x 1080. Darkest Hour looks very nice on it and everything runs very smoothly (due to my new PC one ingame day now only takes about a second -- yeah! :)). However, resizing pictures from 1920 x 1080 to 1280 x 800 looks indeed very ugly. As the forum apparently doesn't support the resize of pictures through BBcode, it is necessary to change the resolution of the screenshots. I'm a little bit worried that a lot of people won't read on if I make the pictures too big (or too small), so I would like to hear some opinions on this issue. I made a screenshot of my desktop -- ingame pictures would inevitably spoil ;) -- as an example. Both options exactly match the proportions of my screen:

Option 1: 1280 x 720

unbenanntwdw.jpg


Everything would be still visible, although much smaller, as the width of the pictures is reduced. It may be also necessary to come a little bit closer towards your monitor when trying to read the smaller characters. :D On the other side this option would ensure that the pictures don't bust the thread for people who have smaller screens and even reduce loading times.

Option 2: 1600 x 900

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A higher resolution of the pictures would obviously make everything larger and therefore easier to see, and I would also claim that the overall quality would increase, too. But I'm almost certain that at least a few people will encounter that their monitor is too small for pictures of such size -- or that their internet connection will condemn them to wait several minutes until one page of this thread is downloaded, considering that most of the updates would then consist of five monster screenshots.

Edit: I will also see if there is a viable alternative, as a compromise between both options, that would preserve the proportions. Any suggestions are welcome ...

Edit 2:

Option 3: 1440 x 810

unbenanntroa.jpg
 
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I have the same size resolution as you; I typically use 75% aspect ratio in Paint to edit my images. They all look great for me, but the decision is yours.

Now quit stalling and update :p
 
Now quit stalling and update :p

+1! :d:d:d

Scientists have just found out that if you update your AAR frequently you will live 15 years longer than those who do not update it.

Srsly.

I hope this isn't dead, has been a very insightful aar, alot of interesting ideas about the game, and considering i've been playing since hoi-1, it's really nice to gain new ways of looking at the game


go ahead this comunity needs ur AAr ^^

hope u will continue

You're all very demanding, I like that. ;) This AAR will continue (to the bitter end, I could add), but right now I'm preoccuppied with some very time-consuming real life affairs. However, I promise to update at least once until the end of this week, if this will make you happier. :)
 
Part XXXV: Initial Strategy Update

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Objectives

The France First Strategy was chosen with one supreme objective in mind: To take out France -- the main enemy in the West -- very quickly in order to allow a subsequent attack against the Soviet Union by 1940 or even 1939. France will be defeated by triggering the Vichy France event as soon as we capture Paris and control thirty-five percent of their national provinces. Of course, we have to battle through the Low Countries first before we can attack the French mainland as the Maginot Line is in Darkest Hour as lethal as before. The OKW therefore presents this operational schedule:

  1. Capture of Amsterdam until the 23rd of July, 1939.
  2. Total occupation of the Netherlands, including firm control of the Middelburg-Eindhoven-Maastricht line until the 30th of July, 1939.
  3. Capture of Brussels until the 16th of August, 1939.
  4. Launch of a first spearhead attack against Paris through Bruges until the 16th of August, 1939.
  5. Launch of a second spearhead attack against Paris through Brussels or Mons until the 23rd of August, 1939.
  6. Capture of Paris and total occupation of Belgium until the 30th of September, 1939.
  7. French capitulation until the 30th of October, 1939.

Strategy

Case Yellow is the plan that aims at the destruction of France. It is difficult to divide the operation into several stages -- like we did during the Spanish Civil War -- as the French and their allies will certainly have the ability to force some alterations to our plans and the application of some strategies is also not bound to a certain stage. I will therefore explain some general strategies I will use to defeat the French, and my detailed tactic for the first stage during the Netherlands campaign for the time being. The tactics for the subsequent stages of the operation will be revealed as soon as we approach these stages.

General Scheme of Things

The Luxembourg gap will probably cause the diversion of a huge part of the French forces to the area around the Maginot Line. The French will avariciously try to advance into the German mainland through undefended Luxembourg -- and I will allow this, to a certain degree, because the difficulty of the campaign as a whole lies primarily in the fact that the French have more units at their disposal than we have, which would normally make such an ambitious Case Yellow not possible. Therefore, I think that sacrificing Luxembourg and some other provinces is acceptable if it will help us to remove at least some of the French forces that guard the Franco-Belgian border. In contrast to France, Berlin is positioned not at the enemy's fingertips, while Paris is actually quite close to the front. A medium-sized French offensive into South Germany is not as devastating for me as a grand German offensive against Northern France and Paris for the French would be. Perhaps the French will also make some mistakes, which would give us the opportunity to cut them off and encircle them on our own soil. I expect that any French forces in Germany would either way collapse with the capture of Paris. The AI is sometimes too greedy after the sighting of undefended enemy provinces and advances a little bit unorganized, after all.

The Air Force will be used througout the campaign intensively -- not extensively. Due to the small size of the Air Force I can only focus my attention at one area. Parallel engagements would not be effective and would likely result in losses for me.

It is most imperative to capture Paris as quickly as possible. Everything else is secondary (therefore I'm, for example, willing to sacrifice Luxembourg and parts of South Germany, and the Luftwaffe will be always used in areas that are crucial in order to take Paris). A failure in this point would be a catastrophe and could very well lead to my downfall, as the war against France would probably continue into eternity, or at least into 1942 like during one of my test games. We will therefore use two armor corps, and they will have the honour to lead a lightning attack against Paris. I used this strategy before and it was, at least in the majority of cases, successful. Capturing Paris is so important that I'm actually inclined to storm against Paris without waiting for the slower infantry divisions that would protect the route towards Paris. Both spearheads will operate independently from each other to maximise the chance of success. The French are usually able to stop one spearhead, but fail to stop the other. By launching two parallel attacks we have, in a manner of speaking, one backup. I will elaborate on this further as soon as we finish the Netherlands campaign.

I don't plan to outflank the Maginot Line with an advance from Belgium to Switzerland. Occupying Northern France should be enough to trigger the Vichy France event. I just hope that the south part of the Siegfried Line will hold. With a combined attack the French could amass 18 divisions against just 12 of mine -- and the divisions in Baden are only of average quality, so shifting around some units from time to time may become necessary.

I won't speak about the Polish yet. Let sleeping dogs lie -- there is a realistic chance that they will stay out of the war.

Stage I - Netherlands Campaign

The Dutch have laughable forces, so there is no brilliant strategy here apart from attacking and defeating them. Actually, I have, with the exception of Groningen completely ignored the mere existence of Dutch forces and just thought about the desired outcome of this stage -- and that is the position of my forces at the Middelburg-Eindhoven-Maastricht line:

  • Middelburg: The nineteen divisions (one HQ division, six armor division, twelve infantry division) from Aachen will be moved here.
  • Eindhoven: The nineteen divisions (same composition) from Münster will be move here.
  • Maastricht: The twelve divisions from Cologne (all infantry) and the seven divisions from Wilhelmshaven (one HQ division and six infantry divisions) will be moved here.

The routes the particular corps will take are somewhat "creative", as you can see in the screenshot, in order to capture all Dutch provinces in Europe. However, the corps that are "travelling" from Münster to Eindhoven will, after visiting the lovely city of Arnhem, take a short break from sightseeing and pay a visit to the Dutch soldiers in Groningen which are in DH unfortunately not able to escape to Amsterdam like in HoI and Arma and will therefore enjoy the extraordinary gift of a special job offer -- as harvest hands in East Prussia. :)

The whole Axis Air Force is set to persisting Ground Support and Air Superiority missions above the Benelux region.

It's time to resume the game ...
 
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Part XXXVI: July 1939

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Our armies cross the border to the Netherlands in the early hours of the 16th of July. In Arnhem (26 German divisions vs. 3 Dutch divisions) and Nijmegen (12 German divisions vs. 3 Dutch divisions) we encounter some resistance by the Dutch army, but with our huge numerical superiority and the support of the Luftwaffe, any opposition is succesfully smashed within the first two days of the invasion. On the 17th of July, 1936 Belgium joins the Allies as a reaction to the liberation of our Germanic sister people from the yoke of democracy.

By the end of the first day of World War II, the provinces of Maastricht and Eindhoven have been captured.

darkesthour201106231505.jpg


"This morning the British Ambassador in Berlin handed the German Government a final note stating that, unless we heard from them by 11 o'clock that they were prepared at once to withdraw their troops from the Netherlands, a state of war would exist between us. I have to tell you now that no such undertaking has been received, and that consequently this country is at war with Germany." -- British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, joining the French declaration of war against Germany

Together with Britain and France, Belgium, Canada, South Africa, Australia and the minors New Zealand, Nepal and Egypt declared war against me. However, the Marquess of Linlithgow, the current governor-general and viceroy of India, refused to abide by the British declaration of war. The British Raj will therefore stay neutral during this war. Hungary continues to stay on our side. The French Declaration of War from the 18th of July, 1936 also decreased our belligerence to 9, which is very beneficial to us, as Poland's interventionism slider currently requires a belligerence of 39 in order to declare war on us without joining the Allies.

By the end of the second day Arnhem also comes under our control.

darkesthour201106231507.jpg


With the capture of Arnhem, we start the first encirclement battle of World War II by attacking the four Dutch divisions in Groningen with our fast HQ and armor in Arnhem. Another twelve infantry divisions are on their way to Arnhem.

darkesthour201106231507.jpg


The first report of the Luftwaffe on Allied troop concentrations in North France is expectedly disturbing. The French have apparently guarded the Franco-Belgian border heavily -- two French provinces are guarded by 31 divisions. Fortunately, our scheme with Luxembourg appears to be working out nicely, as a vast amount of French divisions is moving to the east, and I think they will continue to move there as I purposefully do not plan to attack Belgium yet.

darkesthour201106231513.jpg


It takes two days before the French make their first offensive move by capturing Luxembourg with four divisions and engaging some of our advancing divisions in the Netherlands with air strikes. The Belgians, on the other side, did until now nothing except to place their armed forces under French command, which is quite revealing ...

We retaliate by taking Nijmegen and Middelburg. Notice that Middelburg was captured with just one HQ division -- controlling the Maastricht-Eindhoven-Middelburg line is most important for the following moves. Additionaly, the twelve infantry divisions from Münster arrive in Arnhem and reinforce our offensive against the encircled enemy in Groningen. With a combined attack of 19 divisions and air superiority, there is not much hope for the Dutch.
 
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Finally, it's back!

Yeah, good to see more, my favorite aar :)

Keep going :)

Thank you.

It should be a crime to leave the AAR in such an exciting moment.

Well, it would have been more of a cliffhanger if the Soviets had declared war on me and I would have stopped updating for one month. :D

Anyway, glad to have this back, as I remember this was the AAR that made me choose DH in a grand Hoi2 vs DH battle.

As DH basically contains HoI 2 entirely, this was certainly not a bad decision, but thank you. ;)
 
Looks good so far, although the French are extra careful. Their army is big, so you will have to conduct several quick and decisive manoeuvres if you want to end the war quickly. Expect heavy resistance in the forested Belgian provinces.
 
Poland staying put, good news, you should be free to strip the front of divisions, though i expect that's part of the plan to trap the french via the Luxembourg gambit. Fear the French not, they dont' have any serious airpower, the luftwaffe will have them scrambling for cover. Keep it up. Your grand strategy is intriuging.
 
Part XXXVII: July 1939

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The battle of Groningen is concluded with a German victory, the Dutch divisions that were trapped in the province are destroyed. We will take Groningen quickly by just sending our HQ there, while the remaining divisions in Arnhem will immediately open the offensive against the Dutch capital of Amsterdam. In the meantime, Rotterdam was taken by our HQ from Wilhelmshaven.

darkesthour201106231518.jpg


The French try to punish me for my hasty course of action by attacking my lone HQ in Middelburg with six divisions. Normally, this would lead to defeat, but reinforcements in form of six armor and twelve infantry divisions are underway and will arrive in about two days. And another, very soothing conspicuity: The French divisions are all hopelessly undermanned, look at their pathetic orange strength columns. It could be luck, but perhaps with my surprise attack and the ongoing Blitzkrieg, a good chunk of the French army will be without any considerable strength to speak of. In this case this campaign could truly become a cakewalk as long as the French station their weak divisions in North France ...

But in this case I have to seal the deal before the French can mobilize their army. Currently, they have only two year conscription laws in force. :D I've literally catched them with their pants down. I just don't understand why they didn't mobilise until now.

darkesthour201106231521.jpg


The capture of Groningen and Amsterdam happens shortly after the French attack on Middelburg. I use my fast armor corps to capture Amsterdam, and all divisions that were starting from Muenster are afterwards ordered to their actual destination, Eindhoven. One division was trapped in Amsterdam and destroyed. The continental Netherlands are now entirely occupied, and our beloved Führer ordered the creation of the German Military Administration Netherlands that will take care of the various needs and desires of the Dutch population that were shamelessly ignored by Queen Wilhelmina and her government. :p

darkesthour201106231521.jpg


Just hours after the fall of the Netherlands the Dutch government, that fled to Batavia in the Dutch East Indies, cabled a peace proposal to Berlin -- and at the same time the Dutch have the glorious idea of joining the Allies. Well done! The Reich Chancellery rejects the peace proposal after observing several (totally spontaneous) demonstrations of Dutch citizens against Queen Wilhelmina and Prime Minister Gerbrandy.

darkesthour201106231523.jpg


The armor corps arrives in Middelburg and starts to protect our HQ. I don't even need the other twelve infantry divisions, within hours the French offensive collapses and leaves us undoubtedly in control of the Middelburg-Eindhoven-Maastricht line. Within the next days all our divisions will arive at their set destinations on this line.

The Netherlands campaign was quicker executed by our forces than we planned, which gives us a nice slack time for the rest of Case Yellow. On the administrative front of the campaign: My forces still need some reinforcements, but as I'm nurturing the reinforcement slider at 400 percent strength and only 138.6 manpower is needed by my army, this is merely a question of time. On the other hand, for some reason I have incurred a negative twenty percent wartime IC modifier. That is indeed not nice, as I actually expected quite the contrary if you read my earlier remarks in this direction -- I expected that my IC would rise with the beginning of the war (which would be anyway more plausible if we look at reality). Whatever, I can't change it, so I have to live with it.

This concludes Stage I of Case Yellow.
 
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