Last Man and Shilling - Semper Fi HPP AustraliAAR

Hi everybody, it's that time again!

Okay, so, really this time I do have a sort of excuse. You see, in my meddling modding, I made an oopsie. Specifically, an oopise that's been running for ages in-game and was a real hassle to sort out. See, when I transferred British units over to the colonies, I also made a transfer of tech levels, specifically around doctrines and occasionally certain techs where it made sense, representing the improvements made by the spreading of the officer corps/designs/scientists/blueprints from Britain into her former Dominions. Unfortunately, the side effect of the sloppy, hacky way I did this led to quite a few countries developing INSANE tech levels when I wasn't looking. Think Saudi Arabia with 1966 infantry divisions.

The good news is I think I've fixed everyone, the bad news is it took forever to fix it as I was very demotivated to dig through all those files. I'm back in the mood to update, though, so it's go time again for Australia and Pals. Forgive me! This update was a little rushed as a result but hopefully quality will improve as I go.

Q&A:

Wendell Wilkie 'came into power' in 1941 due to the election events triggering on inauguration day rather than election day. This is an artifact of the system I hadn't expected, so I wrote out the narrative of the near-collapse of the US government with Roosevelt's premature death to compensate for it AS WELL as to explain for some of the quirkiness in the USA's in-game behaviour (suffice it to say, they've been very isolationist and not very helpful).

As for supersized South Africa, that was the result of the peace treaty Hitler signed with them in order to ensure their neutrality - they got a few more British holdings tacked on and recognition as a premier regional power in Africa, while Hitler successfully weakened the British who had defied him.

On the SEA-China border, the situation was rapidly heating up. Now that the Japanese had regrouped, they comfortably outnumbered their ANZAC opposition, who were now far from home and low on supplies. Exhausted by the war so far, the 1st Infantry Division became the target of the largest counter-attack yet. Direct assault by 3 divisions of infantry with another 3 in support placed the defenders of Phôngsali in a tense situation. Although support soon arrived from the south in the form of a fresh and resupplied 3rd Division, Herring's men had been heavily battered by the assault.

The reorganized Japanese knew the terrain well, using local guides to strike at Australian supply lines. Ultimately, however, the excellent defensive qualities of the terrain drove back the first assault, and Herring declared it a victory despite some 2,500 casualties over the five-day battle. ANZAC did not have the numbers to win a war of attrition against the Japanese army, but they only needed to hold the line until relief arrived...

To the east, a concentrated force of Commonwealth troops were busy staging a breakthrough of their own. Marching along the Indochinese coast, the men of the Australasian 11th Infantry, supported by a handful of Commonwealth tanks from India and elements of several other divisions, had met with heavy resistance from Japanese Armour. The Imperial Army's resistance was stronger than anticipated in the light of the Soviet invasion from the north, but in spite of this the Australians soon made good progress. British personal anti-tank weapons had been designed against the much tougher European tank designs and soon made short work of the attempted Japanese counter-attack.

With the Japanese in flight, the Australasians were now marching on the border of China. Beyond lay the port facilities at Qinzhou, which could be essential to supporting any further push into China. Promised American reinforcements, however, had not yet arrived and it seemed as if the exhausted troops of Operation Typhoon would have to do the hard work themselves. With the border secure and Dougherty's position reinforced, they could now turn to northern Hanoi and the border towns, where Japanese troops stubbornly held out. Forcing them from the city would be a powerful statement, but it wouldn't be easy...

Meanwhile, the war at sea had not gone as quiet as the RAN had hoped. East of Indochina, the British submariners continued their good work, raiding and harassing Japanese and Chinese convoys in the hopes of shutting down her supply lines. Such attempts would, of course, not go unnoticed by the Japanese, who soon sent frigates armed with anti-submarine gear and sonar, supported by an undetermined number of heavier ships in order to protect the mission.

Caught unaware by the force, several subs were sunk by the Japanese from the 14th-16th, cut off from rescue and with little chance of rescue. Land-based bombers attempted to harass the force, but fighters from the IJN carriers Hiryu, Soryu and Ryujo had successfully driven off that idea. Nonetheless, some good came from their efforts as word soon spread that before she was lost, the HMS Thorn had successfully struck the IJN Naka with two torpedoes near her aft, causing severe damage which lead to the abandonment of the sinking vessel. Propaganda films across the Allied world would soon use HMS Thorn as an example of stubborn resistance again the Axis.


Meanwhile, the Chinese situation in the north was growing dire. News broke that Soviet troops had reached the heavily fortified line along the Great Wall, where Japanese and Chinese troops claimed they could hold against any attack, but morale was shaken and there were whispers of desertion amongst the Chinese Republic's forces, who saw the Soviets as liberators rather than conquerors.

Further east, the Japanese were struggling to contain the Soviet assaults on Port Arthur and Korea. Soviet tanks were now just 50 miles from Pyeongyang and the mountains of Northern Korea had hardly slowed their advance. It seemed that Japan's tenuous hold on its continental empire was now on the verge of collapse.

The Allied plan to break holdouts in Hanoi, however, was not going so smoothly. The Australian 10th Infantry had advanced as far north as Thai Nguyen in order to encircle and threaten the Japanese, but despite attacks from all sides, Yamashita's men were holding firm despite a lack of reinforcements.

The street battle in Northern Hanoi had now raged for over two weeks since the Australasian offensive had renewed. Australian infantry and commando units fought from street to street, clearing the city building by building, but for every gain came many bodies, and the struggle of how to take the rest of the city without heavy casualties loomed over the generals' minds. Despite bombardment by artillery and regular passes by bombers of the RAAF, the Japanese stubbornly held and often fought to the death, choosing to suicide with a grenade or leap from the rooftops rather than face the possibility of capture. Combined with stern resistance and even the occasional counter-attack, the Australians had advanced less than 200 yards by January 18th, leaving them with a long battle ahead.

In Iran, the advance was going well, if quietly. British troops had met little further resistance even from the Turkish units, who now seemed to withdraw from them rather than stand and fight. Although fearful of a trap, they continued to move onwards and the 3rd Cavalry Division soon found itself approaching the Caspian Sea, nearly ready to cut off the head of the Axis advance.

To the west, Inglis' light armoured brigade had secured the crossing of the Shatt al-Arab, which poured into the Persian Gulf. Now that they had pushed this far east, the critical oil facilities at Ahvaz had fallen into their control, securing a new source of fuel for the Allied war machine. Italian and Romanian troops held the port at Basra, but Kuwait still stood against the Axis as a free state. If they could find the resources to muster an offensive against the city and its critical ports, the Allies would hold all the keys to an offensive deep into the Axis-held Middle East.

Just a few days later, on the 20th of January, the 3rd Cavalry made it to the shores of the Caspian Sea. Although at risk of counter-attack, they had successfully cut off the Axis advance into Soviet Central Asia. With any luck, they could now starve the Caspian Pocket out and forge a united front with the Soviets in Asia.

The same morning, news reached Allied Command that the besieged city of Baku had finally fallen, its defenders unable to hold out without resupply from the motherland. Although the Soviets were tight-lipped about their dire supply situation, Allied Intelligence suggested that the Red Army only had enough fuel to continue operations for another year at most. Recapturing Baku or finding another way to get fuel to the Soviets was now of the utmost priority if the war in Europe was to be won.

In some parts of the world, news of the Axis victory at Baku was celebrated. Here in Brazil, a march by the Fascist Integralists overcomes Sao Paulo. Increasing violence and extremist right-wing movements in the country had pushed them further and further towards the brink, and many called for Brazil's entry into the war, to prove her superiority and strength. Their chance would come soon.

On January 22nd, tragedy erupted in the Brazilian town of Porto Alegre. The detonation of two bombs and attacks by mysterious masked men sent the country into a furious panic. Many blamed the socialists, still others blamed the Argentines, while some claimed it was the Allies, jealous and bitter for bringing them into the war. A seemingly concerned Getulio Vargas appeared before his people, dressed once again in his traditional military uniform. He spoke of treason and betrayal, and blamed the attacks on Urugayan communists who had spat upon the hand of peace Brazil had supposedly extended after the Cisplatine war. Brazil, he reasoned, could not stand for this insult, and demanded immediate compensation. His demands included the right of Brazilian troops to occupy land north of the Rio Negro River and full use of the port at Montevideo. Unsurprisingly, President Alfredo Baldomir was quick to reject Brazil's demands, and quickly pleaded to Argentina and the United States for assistance against their aggression. South America was on the brink of war.

Even as Commonwealth troops tightened the noose, the first counter-attacks came against the Caspian encirclement. German and Persian units both crashed into the 3rd Cavalry near the shores of the Caspian, and although cut off from supplies, they attacked with an unexpected ferocity. It seemed like the British would not be able to hold this point for long without help from the Soviets, who themselves were pushed far from the Allied front.

Then in the west, 2nd Cavalry were smashed with a powerful counterattack from Tehran, as German infantry and panzers met them on the front lines and caused devastating casualties to the lead elements. Any hopes for a quick resolution to the Persian campaign had now come to a swift and disappointing end...

[Note: I've totally lost track of casualty data at this point but I will attempt to restart it for future updates.]

Lamahorse said:

Great to see this great AAR is back!

It seems that it's only a matter of time before the USSR collapses! Only Captain America can save the world now!

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Thankee, lovely to see you back as well. Maybe this time I'll actually sit down and finish the damned thing.

Sir Garnet said:

-Snip-

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Glad to hear you're inspired by the Australians to take your own campaign. I'm afraid as far as insights into strategy go, Last Man and Shilling isn't necessarily that useful because of the meddling/modding I've done to represent the collapse of the British Empire a little more realistically. I found myself in test games that building a large army is definitely the most useful contribution to the Allies as manpower on the ground is what they lack (plenty of ships and planes to go around). I took a balanced approach in my own game as I thought it'd be more interesting, but as you say the firefighting is difficult even with a big army and there's just too much demand for your troops. Sounds like Spain was a blast!

As far as the AI goes, yes, the AI will compensate for you shifting troops around by moving troops of its own. What it will not do is do this intelligently - it will often overcompensate and send more troops than are required, or nowhere near enough troops, depending on how it's doing on other fronts. As an example, I've seen the Axis try and send upwards of 20 divisions into the Sudan before to counter an East African attack, even though their infrastructure and supply throughput was nowhere near good enough to support those numbers, leading to an ineffectual, supply-starved defense. It fares better in Europe, although I find it tends to underestimate my attacks and is too slow to send the level of reinforcements it needs for a large-scale invasion, but that might be my personal experience.

mosin_nagant said:

Is there any way to use them in vanilla, I mean, I just wanted to use them in the normal HoI3 TFH, is there any way where that could be possible?

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Ask the HPP on their forums explicitly what it is you want and they'll be able to help you out. It'll just be a case of only transferring certain folders.