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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.

I have to take enough Belgian provinces before the French start to mobilize. With their undermanned divisions, I can right now attack even provinces that are guarded with a dozen of divisions.

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.

Thank you. :) Taking considerable forces from the German-Polish border to France is something I would only consider as a last resort. The Polish can, after all, join the Allies at any time as their interventionism slider is sufficient enough for this. I will, however, take a small number of divisions away from Poland, but only for beach protecting tasks in the Netherlands. Any divisions from Poland would arrive either way too late if my plan is successful.
 
Thank you for this fine AAR.
Till now, I never considered taking Eupen from Belgium.
I will try this right now!

You're welcome. :)

I just finalized the precise outline of my army movements ingame ... and it could perhaps become the greatest catastrophe and humiliation ever seen. :(
 
Part XXXVIII: Defining Strategy Update

Welcome to the pivotal moments of this AAR. The German forces are about to enter the fields of Flanders. The following weeks will perhaps not decide if I win -- but they will certainly decide if I lose. Should I fail here, I will fail the whole game. I gamble for high stakes -- so I won't waste time, because this time comes a wall of text first and then the pictures:

Strategical Situation and Approach

Our armies in the Netherlands have performed according to our expectations, not to say that they even performed slightly better than that. The quick defeat of the Netherlands allowed us the luxury to take some days of rest in order to increase our organisation for the most important offensive that will start shortly. The Dutch government has, in the meantime, capitulated and we inherited a unit of old transport ships, but this only as a side note. It is now the 28th of July, 1939, and the attack will begin as soon as I unpause the game.

Not only the fact that the Belgians have put their army under full French command, but also the overall situation dictates that we view Belgium and France as one entity during this stage. Consider Belgium as French territory. It is not an option to aim specifically at the fall of Belgium first and then prepare for a main offensive against the French mainland. Such a strategy would inevitably allow the French to form some serious defensive positions in North France in expectation of such a separate operation, leading to static warfare; and as history teaches us, static warfare means doom, especially if one is surrounded by potential enemies like in Germany's case who could backstab us at any time. Therefore, there will be only one joint operation that deals with both France and Belgium at the same time. Peeling France like an apple by systematically eliminating all obstacles in our way would be utterly wrong. The majority of the obstacles in our way can very well stay in our way if we can sidle through them. No, in order to succeed we have to stab the core of the apple with a sharp needle -- or in this case, with two sharp needles, quick and hard; but more on that soon.

According to our spies, the number of French divisions is on an all-time high. The French command roughly 117 infantry divisions, two armour and one HQ division. We, on the other side, have only 105 divisions on the Western Front, and for the second stage of Case Yellow only 69 divisions will be available at all. However, on the brighter side, the number of our armour divisions amounts to twelve, and of our HQ divisions to three, which gives us the obligatory speed edge over France that is necessary for the kind of maneuver warfare we need right now.

Our scheme with Luxembourg also seems to work. The French are diverting dozens of their divisions away from North France to Alsace-Lorraine, and I am very certain that they will try some kind of adventure by starting at least a small invasion of South Germany through Luxembourg, which I will allow, as explained in one of the previous updates. Everything which clears our main operational area -- the region around the Atlantic Coast in Belgium and North France -- out of French divisions is welcome and appreciated. An integral part of the strategy for this stage will be therefore an attempt to divert the attention of even more French divisions to places outside our operational area. All combined this will hopefully help to even the odds at least temporarily.

Another issue that favours us immensely is the (presumably) desolate state of the French army. As of the 28th of July, 1939, France still did not mobilise. Only two year conscription laws are in force. Therefore, the numerous reserve units that every major power possesses are without reinforcements. Some French divisons can't actually be called "divisions" at all, as they are just shadows that desperately need the strength boost that comes with the mobilisation events.

Paris is the key. If Paris falls, the French Republic will also fall, even if gazillions of French divisions in Alsace-Lorraine, South Germany or other places where our diversionary tactics work successfully remain unbeaten and undefeated. The Fall of France event will fire as soon as we control Paris and thirty-five percent of French territory. Seizing French territory will be not difficult at all after we take Paris -- because Paris is the gate to numerous undefended French provinces. The French will never be able to form a coherent Front line against us if we occupy Paris due to its central position and due to the subsequent confusion and lack of resources and supplies after taking the French capital in a lightning attack. Starting from Paris, we could advance into any possible direction without any resistance and literally farm French provinces before we meet the French in Compiègne ...

The Air Force won't play an important role in my strategy and will only have a supplementary role. I can hardly predict if the airports in the Benelux states will be of any use considering the speed of the campaign. If everything goes well, then the Air Force probably wouldn't have replenished their organisation from the rebasements that are necessary in order to bring Paris and North France into the range of our planes.

Remaining Objectives

  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.

Specific Strategy for Stage II of Case Yellow

darkesthour201106272115.jpg


The main campaign against Belgium and North France must be concluded with the capture of Paris, and therefore I tasked von Manstein, von Rundstedt, von Kluge and Guderian -- our finest and most excellent leaders -- to take the city directly with our fast armour and HQ corps. Both spearheads will operate independently from each other, increasing the chances that at least one spearhead reaches the outskirts of Paris. We expect an initial delay as they first have to battle some French divisions in Bruges and Antwerpen and must take some Belgian provinces, but at least one spearhead should after this proceed quite fast. If we have luck, the French only left North France with four divisions per province at a max. If we don't have luck, then we will simply increase our recklesness and throw everything we have at the French to clear a path to Paris as fast as possible with our infantry divisions. Failure is not an option.

darkesthour201106272117.jpg


Our infantry corps under the command of von Reichenau, von Witzleben and List will of course provide some battle support and keep a supply route open so that our spearheads won't run out of fuel. However, the amount of combat support they provide will inevitably dwindle the closer we come to Paris as we are forced to leave corps at some point behind to secure aforementioned supply routes. The area our supplies will run through is contained by the provinces of Dieppe, Chateau Thierry, Laon and Lille, and therefore our infantry will stop here, so only two corps could support from Dieppe and Chateau Thierry an attack on Paris.

darkesthour201106272117.jpg


Of course, one province -- Lille -- is missing. Field Marshal von Küchler will guard this province, but before doing this, he is taked with clearing all the provinces in the "pocket" from possible hostile French divisions. I purposefully decided to let him marsh with the Middelburg spearhead first until Amiens so that if some French divisions are stationed in Calais they will be automatically destroyed by him due to the "encirclement" of the province. He will then marsh straight to Lille.

darkesthour201106272118.jpg


And now to our distraction maneuvers. All infantry divisions and the remaining HQ from Maastricht and Eupen will give the French a good incent to direct their attention at East Belgium rather than at our two totally harmless and good-natured spearheads.

The twelve infantry divisions from Eupen will harass the seven French divisions in Liege. By not attacking with an overwhelmingly strong force we protract the length of the battle. Not only that long battles are good just because they keep the French divisions busy with minor affairs rather than with important ones (like protecting their capital) -- also, long battles where the defender has a chance of winning usually prompt the AI to reinforce their provinces with even more divisions. I would be so glad if the French reinforce Liege with additional divisions that I wouldn't even mind to lose the battle. :) But in case that we win in Liege, only one six division corps will occupy the province, the other will stay behind in Eupen as it is only supporting the Battle of Liege. We will surround Luxembourg in Saarbrücken, Eupen, Liege and Arlon with five six division corps in total. On one side, by placing only such light defenses in each Belgian province, we pretend to be a good target for any passing French divisions that would otherwise hurry to Paris, and if we have luck, we will be attacked. On the other side, by having so many divisions spread around Luxembourg, we can at any time put an end to a possible French invasion into South Germany if the French go too far -- Luxembourg would be attacked from at least four different directions, thus occupying the province within days and cutting any French divisions in South Germany off from vital supplies.

The stack in Maastricht has not only the task to distract, but should also see if a total occupation of Belgium is possible. Therefore, one infantry corps is marching to Arlon, and another to Mons. The third infantry corps and the HQ are only ordered to enter Namur as I will decide later, depending on the situation, where these units will go. By withholding these divisions for now we strengthen our ability to respond flexibly towards any French surprises.

darkesthour201106272114.jpg


A final overview of all movements. The Polish are still calm and tame, so I decided to order the one division corps commanded by Rommel in Opava to Amsterdam to have some coast guards in case of a French or British invasion attempt in the middle of my offensive. The AI in Darkest Hour really likes such nasty small-scale invasions.

--------------------------------------------------​

Hopefully my save won't be damaged on the day I wish to continue the game ... :eek:o

... OK, I'll make a backup of it at once. :D Even if this means to ensure the execution of my own self-made downfall. :( I just hope that I will be able to bring myself to unpause. I have this weird gut feeling all the time.
 
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Either way, it will be fun to watch :p

I know. I count myself to the people who criminally enjoy any AAR where the player fails utterly. :D :(

Yes, please do not withhold any details from us :D

I hope you're pleased. ;)

Excellent AAR, very well written, with lots of interesting ideas about the game, exciting plot...
I enjoyed reading this...
THANK YOU K W

You're welcome. :) But I actually have to thank you. Feedback of any kind, and especially such positive one, really is a motivator when writing updates.
 
The strategy indeed seems sound...but hopefully it works. What is stranger though that the Polish AI does not attack from the province in between Gleiwitz and Tesin...(can't read it, there are too many divs on it :p) into undefended german lands...

Good luck ;)

Tim
 
I still have some questions about your conquest of the Netherlands:
1. Why didn't you accept the peace offer? Were the Netherlands speaking for all Allies? They shouldn't since they were attacked before they were allied and are only one member among many.A very very small member too.
2. Your 20% war IC penalty, could that be due to you attacking the Netherlands prematurely, being an aggressor? Ie. might it not apply if you wait for Danzig?
 
Can't wait the main operation itself! :)

With luck, the next update will be online tomorrow.

The strategy indeed seems sound...but hopefully it works. What is stranger though that the Polish AI does not attack from the province in between Gleiwitz and Tesin...(can't read it, there are too many divs on it :p) into undefended german lands...

I'm not at war with Poland, therefore they do not advance into my territory. Yet.

And the province you mean is Kattwoitz/Katowice. ;)

Why did the French not mobilize yet?? You've invaded their neighbours, if this did not set off alarm bells in Paris, what would??

I have no idea. Really, if they don't mobilise during the next days, it must obviously be an AI bug, as the French AI is probably not designed to react to such an early attack. I mean, with some luck we will have defeated France and Poland with historical punctuality on the 6th of October! :D

1. Why didn't you accept the peace offer? Were the Netherlands speaking for all Allies? They shouldn't since they were attacked before they were allied and are only one member among many.A very very small member too.

With Amsterdam remaining in Dutch hands, and this mess in the Dutch East Indies, the map would have looked like abstract art. And I don't like abstract art. ;)

Really, it's not that of a strategical decision, but rather a decision of taste. I felt that accepting a peace with the Netherlands would be either way superfluous and actually bug using, because, as I said, the Netherlands joined the Allies in the very moment they proposed a peace to me. As a part of a major alliance, they would usually not be able to make this peace proposal, so I rejected as I considered them de facto a part of the Allies before.

2. Your 20% war IC penalty, could that be due to you attacking the Netherlands prematurely, being an aggressor? Ie. might it not apply if you wait for Danzig?

It doesn't seem very probable to me. I don't think the engine distinguishes between wars of aggression and defense, and nothing in the Danzig events points to a separate alteration of my IC modifier. It is probably hardcoded for Germany since one of the last patches.
 
The IC war penalty is some sort of hardcoded indeed (same goes for other nations, depends on difficulty as well I thought)

but isn't Poland allied with France and UK, after the UK guarantee?

Tim
 
Part XXXIX: July – August 1939

darkesthour201106302057.jpg


The time of reckoning has come. I unpause the game, and the offensive starts one hour later simultaneously on all parts of the Belgian front. For some reasons the engine claims that there are six divisions in Eupen -- of course, this is wrong, twelve infantry divisions are stationed there, and the second corps will enter the Battle of Liege shortly.

The overall situation looks good as far as I can judge from the various battle progresses. The French army is defeatable and my strategy could -- to my own surprise ;) -- perhaps work out as I intended. The French weakness that allows this is caused primarily by our successful diversionary tactics that give us in our area of operation numerical superiority above the French (in contrast to Alsace-Lorraine, for example, where the French are more numerous) and secondarily by the catastrophical stength of some French divisions due to France's refusal to mobilise, which will even lead to the destruction of several French divisions without any encirclements simply because the strengh drops to zero during the battles.

The first victory of Stage II is concluded just four hours later in Hasselt. Our eighteen divisions that are tasked with diversion and support for our spearheads advance as laid out in our plan.

f038.gif


To my greatest satisfaction, the French take the bait and indeed reinforce their positions in Liege by putting more divisions into the province. Thus, the battle will take longer and occupy more French units that could otherwise try to help the French defenders in Bruges and Antwerpen, where the French try to resist the advance of my spearheads. The Luftwaffe intervenes, however, in Liege as the French start to shift five additional divisions to Luxembourg so that we will have a free hand in case of an invasion of South Germany by freeing our one guard corps in Eupen from battle.

darkesthour201106302100.jpg


Breakthrough! Due to the low strengh of several divisions in Antwerpen, our spearhead in Eindhoven manages to defeat the French in Antwerpen already in the morning of the next day. I'm very happy, the chances that our plan succeeds have just considerably increased, as the worst thing that could have happened would have been a delay in the beginning of Stage II.

Our Middelburg spearhead unfortunately will still need some more time to take Bruges from the French. The French, although even there they lack some reinforcements, have placed their high-quality units in the province, which gives Field Marshal List a hard time.

darkesthour201106302105.jpg


On the next day, several things happen.

The French may be selectively weak, but are nevertheless able to withstand some parts of my Blitzkrieg strategy succesfully. It appears that the battle of Bruges will take, in contrast to the battle of Antwerpen, much longer as the French are constantly shifting relief divisions from Dunkirk to Bruges. The Luftwaffe does what it can, but Bruges will be regardless of my efforts a very bloody affair. If it wasn't such an important battle with one of my spearheads involved, I would have probably stopped the attack now, as I don't like uneconomical battles when playing Germany, even if they would ultimately result in victory. But, alas, we must have a backup in case that the other spearhead fails its mission, so I have to make a sacrifice here.

Also, as you can easily realize when looking on the screenshot, four French divisions entered the undefended province of Trier. Everyone works according to my plan -- the French indeed move divisions to South Germany instead to protect their capital. :cool:

Another important thing that prompted a direct reaction by me was the discovery of the five divisions in Lille that block the way to Paris and actually were on the way to Mons, presumably to prevent the impending catastrophe that France will face as soon as I conquer Paris. I prevented that any divisions could protect undefended Mons by ordering my reserve -- you possibly remember, the HQ and the six infantry divisions that were originally only tasked to stay in Namur -- to the province. The HQ quickly seized Mons before the French divisions from Lille could arrive. Ordering the reserve to Mons will also allow a stronger support for the Battle of Lille, because at the same time, our spearhead took Brussels and advances without any delay into Lille. The situation I devised in Lille is actually quite ingenious, because the French are not only attacked from Brussels by my spearhead, but also attack at the same time my lone HQ in Mons, which places the French divisions in distress. As soon as the slower twelve infantry divisions (the reserve and the initial units that were assigned to Mons) arrive in the province, the French will probably end their offense on Mons, but then it will be already too late, as I could then support the battle of Lille with thirteen additional divisions from Mons.

Today, after facing almost an ourtight rebellion in the House of Commons due to our devastating Blitz warfare, Neville Chamberlain tendered his resignation to King Geroge VI, which was accepted. Winston Churchill was appointed by the King as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. With the beginning of his premiership, the UK will be provided with several bonuses -- which is a little bit inconvenient for us, as we won't try Sea Lion before the defeat of the Soviet Union and the UK therefore remains a threat.

The German ambassador in Warsaw notified the German government that with this day the Piłsudski-Hitler pact of non-aggression regularly expired.

darkesthour201106302107.jpg


With the arrival of all slower corps in Brussels as well as Mons we initiate a full-scale attack against the French divisions in Lille, with the corps from Brussels directly attacking and the divisions from Mons supporting. The French only have some disorganised militia there -- Field Marshal von Rundstedt won't have any problems to heckle and defeat the French in no time.

The battle of Liege still goes on, the French have reinforced their positions to ten divisions which will make the battle even more protracted. Also, no news from Bruges, the French are still able to withstand the Wehrmacht's power.

darkesthour201106302108.jpg


In the morning hours of the 2nd of August the French militia in Lille is defeated and our spearhead moves into the province, albeit for some reasons (it's probably the weird behaviour of the DH engine, again) the province remains for a short time still in French hands.

According to my spies, the number of French divisions dropped from 117 to 104. The French refusal to mobilise is really lethal to the overall performance of the French army -- without even encircling or the heavy use of air force, I've destroyed around thirteen French divisions!

With the end of this update, we are way ahead of the deadlines as set by our operational timetable:

  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.

Rundstedt and Manstein are close -- on to Paris!
 
In the current patch Germany gets less of an IC penalty, so you're actually fighting with a disadvantage that no longer exists in the latest version.

In this case the new modifier probably only applies to a new game, as I did update the game with the latest patch. So I will just consider myself, as a form compensation, very manly because I play with this additional obstacle despite its removal by the latest patch. :D

The IC war penalty is some sort of hardcoded indeed (same goes for other nations, depends on difficulty as well I thought)

but isn't Poland allied with France and UK, after the UK guarantee?

Tim

No, this was changed in DH. If I would have fired the Danzig or War decision, a separate event would have fired for the UK with a great probability to enter the war on the side of Poland. But as I never fired the Danzig or War decision, Poland remains neutral until the AI decides to change this by joining the Allies.
 
Nice to see this aar moving again :). Things are looking good. Any thought to sliding a division into Amiens? This would help your situation in Brugges tremendously, but i'm sure you thought of this. I have learned alot of nifty strategic ideas from you. Appreciate your efforts. Keep it up KW.
 
Part XL: August 1939

darkesthour201107062352.jpg


Within 21 hours -- before the French can even blink -- we reach the suburbs of Paris with our HQ for a probing attack. The defenses of Paris (urban terrain guarded by one undermanned infantry division) are so ridiculously weak that I don't even bother to retreat von Rundstedt's HQ from battle.

For some reason, the French try to steal one of our blueprints just after they spotted our HQ before Paris. Providentially, they fail. Our investitions into the German intelligence network were apparently worthwile.

The battle of Bruges and the battle of Liege are still ongoing. I wish to do the job properly, so I order some additional support for the battle of Bruges by shifting one HQ and one infantry corps from Mons to Lille, that incidentally is, because of the delay of our Middelburg spearhead, undefended and would either way need some temporary guard divisions. Losing Lille would result in the encirclement of our units, so it's acceptable to stay in the province until the originally assigned infantry corps from the Middelburg spearhead arrives.

darkesthour201107062355.jpg


Seven hours later our armoured spearhead corps arrives in Chateau Thierry and opens the major offensive against the French capital. The battle of Paris has begun! If the French do not shift some divisions into the province, we will take the city already within the next few days. Paris is unfortunately just outside the range of the Luftwaffe -- I could probably rebase my air force to a Benelux airport, but I think that we will do well enough even without support from above, as still one infantry corps is marching to Chateau Thierry that can be used for a support attack mission.

darkesthour201107070002.jpg


The battle of Paris progresses according to my expectations, if not even better than expected, as we receive an encirclement battle event on the second day of the battle.

However, the French, who have walked right into my trap by exposing their Northern Flank due to my feints in other areas, try to make me pay by utilising their forces in areas were they have, temporarily, the upper hand. As soon as General Eicke's infantry corps takes Arlon and starts supporting the battle of Liege, the French start a counter-offensive against Eicke with more than a dozen of divisions from Luxembourg and Verdun; they will be later even joined by the four additional infantry divisions from Longwy. Despite being outnumbered more than 2:1, Eicke can persist the French onslaught for at least one week -- I guess. I hope that the French front will collapse after the surrender of Paris, so I don't retreat Eicke just yet from Arlon; I only order him to stop his support for the Battle of Liege to neutralise the negative battle modifier for an attacking army that is, anon, attacked at the same time.

darkesthour201107070003.jpg


Finally, our Middelburg spearhead breaks through in Bruges! The spearhead will proceed as I've originally planned, the only change due to the victory is a return order to the HQ that I've moved to Lille as support for the battle of Bruges. Apart from that, a new opportunity shows up: If we take Paris quickly, we will have, probably, the chance for a massive encirclement by taking Le Havre, thus trapping around ten French divisions into a Dunkirk-Calais-Amiens-Dieppe pocket. My spearhead could just blitz through this hypothetical pocket and destroy all French divisions in it. The French won't have even the slightest chance to evacuate if such an undertaking would be executed with the current speed of the campaign.

The next province on the route of our spearhead is Dunkirk which is only guarded by one garrison division -- at least it has full strength and no British are hiding there. :D

And after another assault battle event, the arrival of von Reichenau's infantry corps in Chateau Thierry and the subsequent support for the battle, and the end of the night defense bonus, the inevitable happens:

darkesthour201107070008.jpg


It is done. Midafternoon, on the 7th of August, 1939 -- after just 26 days since the beginning of World War II and the opening moves of Case Yellow -- Paris has fallen. I won't open the champagne yet, as the French capitulation will still take some time, but this is a milestone indeed. I'm overjoyed -- everything went better than expected, far better than expected! :) Just look at the timetable:

  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.

With Paris in German hands, it is only a question of a few weeks. The French have expectedly aborted their counter-attack on Arlon. The French front is likely to collapse as soon as I seize the resource depot (again, DH does not automatically award Paris to me for some mysterious reason, I have to wait again some hours before the province becomes grey). Encirclements are possible at the Atlantic Coast as well as in Germany by taking Le Havre and Luxembourg, respectively. I don't wish to talk big, but as the rest of Case Yellow seems to be a mop-up task I will spare you another interlude with a strategy update and just progress to the next stage of Case Yellow without interruption.

This concludes Stage II of Case Yellow.
 
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