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Are there enough leaders for both the Army, Airforce and Navy should you want to build a lot of things?

What's your manpower like?
 
Sexy Aussie Dress Uniforms - you know it broski.

It's the knee-length socks that do it, methinks. :p

Nice to see an Aussie carrier so early on. Sparring with the Japanese should get a whole lot more fun now!

I'm impressed with the forces you mustered for Europe. Bit of a shame, though, that your probing action cost you 1,300 dead. But at least the Germans paid at least as dearly.

Now what does the (European) future hold? Pre-empt the Germans and violate Dutch neutrality? That might give you a pathway to the Ruhr, so coveted by the British...
 
It's the knee-length socks that do it, methinks. :p

Nice to see an Aussie carrier so early on. Sparring with the Japanese should get a whole lot more fun now!

I'm impressed with the forces you mustered for Europe. Bit of a shame, though, that your probing action cost you 1,300 dead. But at least the Germans paid at least as dearly.

Now what does the (European) future hold? Pre-empt the Germans and violate Dutch neutrality? That might give you a pathway to the Ruhr, so coveted by the British...

Why not try and land in Denmark and try to hold the Faaborg? That'd give the Aussies a good defensive position and an opprotunity to do some real damage to the Axis. You could even try and destroy the Kreigsmarine with the RAN!
 
Are there enough leaders for both the Army, Airforce and Navy should you want to build a lot of things?

What's your manpower like?

Army is the area most likely to see leader shortages, should I decide to build it up. I have adequate air generals and admirals for the time being.

Aussies' got about 220 spare manpower without calling up the reserves (something I will be putting off as long as possible, to ensure I can benefit from any held territory).

It's the knee-length socks that do it, methinks. :p

Nice to see an Aussie carrier so early on. Sparring with the Japanese should get a whole lot more fun now!

I'm impressed with the forces you mustered for Europe. Bit of a shame, though, that your probing action cost you 1,300 dead. But at least the Germans paid at least as dearly.

Now what does the (European) future hold? Pre-empt the Germans and violate Dutch neutrality? That might give you a pathway to the Ruhr, so coveted by the British...

I certainly hope the Carrier will contribute, I've had to focus a lot of my resources into the navy to make her worthwhile as a ship, but she's still very primitive. The main reason for building her was to give my transports in the Med cover and to simultaneously increase my light aircraft and carrier practicals for the construction of a more modern ship.

1,300 dead was worth it to evaluate how my troops matched up against the Germans! Shrewdly, I'll blame any defeats on the British. ;)

My neutrality is still very high despite attempts to lower it - the Great Peace Demonstration really ballsed up my plans. Still, you'll see what I have planned.

Why not try and land in Denmark and try to hold the Faaborg? That'd give the Aussies a good defensive position and an opprotunity to do some real damage to the Axis. You could even try and destroy the Kreigsmarine with the RAN!

While I've considered the option, it's a very high risk manoeuvre based on my initial playtest. The Kriegsmarine is no pushover and the British Navy and RAF are terrible at offering support in my experience. Denmark is within range of the Luftwaffe who like to pound my defences with everything they've got. I'd also considered moving to ensure that Belgium does not fall to the Germans and to reinforce the Maginot. Strikes against Italy are also a strong move, to rob her of her Mediterranean holdings and free up the French Alpine Line by drawing Italian units south.

In the end, my decision will likely depend on what the AI does, especially Sweden. If the Swedes reject German military access, they will likely join the Allies and I will probably have to move into Sjælland to ensure that the Germans don't run rampant all over Scandinavia.


In any case, I've played another few updates worth of game and I'll try to write something up soon!
 
CK2 demo and RL kept me busy, but here we go.

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Chapter 2.2 - Dark Spring

In 1940, new elections had begun. John J. Curtin once again won a majority of the votes; no one was surprised, the economic recovery over the last three years had been nothing short of miraculous, and his handling of Australia's defence concerns and the war were considered to be excellent. With the new war ongoing, the Cabinet had seen slight adjustments to a more favourable wartime method.

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The inclusion of Francesco Piscitelli was a highly contentious one given the likelihood of war between Britain and Italy, but Curtin's choice had been a strategic one and he was prepared to replace him should war between the two mediterranean powers break out. In the meantime, his ability to produce propaganda for the war effort was unmatched by anyone in Australia, and it was hoped he could make a great contribution to Australian war efforts here and abroad.

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The Soviets were not finished with their wars of aggression and conquest - Eastern Europe was now Stalin's playground.[/i]​

The Soviet Union in early march declared war on Finland. Stalin's regime boasted loudly how Finland rightfully belonged to the Soviet Union and had been a part of Russia in antiquity. The Red Army moved to assault Finland across the entire front, but victory would not come so easily for the Soviet war machine. The Finnish were well-trainned, numerous and determined to defend their homeland.

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The Japanese had pushed back the Ma Clique with ease and now threatened Tibet itself. Soon the Chinese Empire would be reforged under the Crysanthemum Throne's watchful eye.

Japanese Imperialists had seen great success in East Asia. With the KMT's defeat in Eastern China, the west was slowly falling. The Guangxi and Yunnan cliques had been unable to resist the might of the Kwangtung Army - it seemed now that the Ma Clique would be the next to fall. It was only a matter of time before Japan's domination over China was complete.

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Hitler's successes continued to grow as a dark curtain fell over Eastern Europe. Bulgaria, under the reign of Prime Minister Bogdan Filov, had signed the Tripartite Pact and joined the Axis Alliance. Romania, Greece and Yugoslavia were now completely surrounded by hostile states and the British had very little in the way of spare troops. Discussion was bandied about a potential invasion of Eastern Europe, but that would certainly bring Italy into the war and Neville Chamberlain hoped to keep the peace with them while dealing with Hitler. British Military Command maintained that all her reserves were needed to respond or possibly pre-empt the Germans in the Low Countries and Scandinavia. Virtually no reserves were left for the Mediterranean Theatre.

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March 17th 1940 saw the surrender of the Ma Clique. It seemed that China's last hope of victory was now crushed completely. The Empire of Japan was all but unstoppable, and the British Empire was beginning to tremble at the thought of facing her in battle. The Chinese collaboration government was exporting all of her excess resources to the Japanese Islands and the mighty Kwangtung Army was now free to redistribute its forces to the borderlands. Worse still, the British now had to defend the Chinese border in Burma against potential Japanese attack.

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Just a day later on March 18th, the Finnish were forced to surrender. Although they had lasted nearly a month, the Red Army had come in far greater force than was predicted and the weather had been good throughout March, enabling them to establish armoured breakthroughs under air cover. The Finns had no response and despite best efforts, were forced to fall back on every front. In spite of Soviet success in terms of land gained, the Red Army had lost 3 men for every fallen Finn and the Soviet Command was worried of how great the casualties would be if the war continued, even for Russia's immense manpower pool. The Soviets offered a compromise and, knowing their situation was hopeless, the Finnish agreed. Rather than integrating Finland as a component Republic as it had in the Baltics, Finland would become a client state of the Comintern, retaining her own government and laws, but without self-determination in the areas of defence and international politics. She would also have to pay regular tithes to their Soviet overlords in the form of raw materials for the Red Army's industrial backing.

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The USSR was emboldened by the successful victory over Finland, in spite of the great casualties sustained. Flexing their muscle once more, they turned to Romania, the isolated state to their south, and boldly demanded the border territories of Bessarabia. The Soviets were not content with their gains so far and would restore as much of the former Russian Empire's greatness as possible.

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Bessarabia was not worth enough to the Romanians, who feared invasion from the Hungarians and Bulgarians if it dared to resist. Hoping to negotiate in the face of superior firepower, the Romanians permitted the Soviet occupation of Bessarabia and retreated without contest. Stalin had made gain after gain, and Australian Command had no doubt that Hitler would be looking east with envious and concerned eyes in spite of the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact. Australian command believed the next blow would fall on Denmark, due to its German populations and strategic position at the mouth of the Baltic. British command disagreed and believed the hammerblow would come at Belgium. Approval to move into Denmark was denied by the Royal Navy, who would not support such an operation within range of the Luftwaffe.

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Australia, it turned out, was right. Field Marshall Cyril Bingham-White was furious and in a dispatch to the British Command, he demanded that the 3rd Australian Army Corps be dispatched from Dunkerque to reinforce the Danish lines before a German breakthrough could be made.

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The situation on the Danish Front was grim.

The Danish were not mobilized for war and had not expected a hostile invasion of their country without any form of negotiations or warning. Large numbers of German armour had been moved north in secret and the Danish were outnumbered 2 to 1 on the front lines. There was little they could do to resist such an assault and the government knew it. Although the British insisted they would send immediate reinforcements, the Danes were staring down the barrel of a gun too large for them to handle.

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Hitler had almost immediately offered them favourable peace terms and, rather than see their country devastated by war, the Danes agreed. Forming a kind of German puppet state, they nominally fell under German jurisdiction but were well treated compared to the Polish occupation. Most Germans liked the Danes, although the Danes did not often feel so positive about the Germans following the conquest. Only a tiny fraction of the Danish population volunteered for service in the German military, despite sharing a common ethnic background.

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Chamberlain recognized that the Germans were making a play for Scandinavia and that this theatre had become the initial point of combat. It was believed Hitler was planning to strike against Norway and to use the bases there to threaten Britain with widespread u-boat strikes and a marauding surface fleet. British intelligence had identified two separate battleships operating in Skagerrak and the Royal Navy was concerned to strike so far out. Britain went to Norway first and peacefully requested access to her ports and permission to station a garrison at Oslo. They were refused.

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Unknown to the British, the Germans were doing the same in Sweden. Faced with potential invasion and a loss of the vast income Sweden was gaining by selling her iron to a steel-hungry Germany, the Swedes capitulated and permitted access to Germany. At the end of March, the Germans were almost ready to earn a victory in the Scandinavian Campaign of 1940.

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The eyes of the world returned to Eastern Europe. The Romanians, unable to accept the disgusting loss of Bessarabia to the Soviets, were up in arms. Elements of the Romanian military supported by right-wing autocrats staged a widespread coup and began to publically court the fascists of Central Europe. It seemed the Axis had found a new friend.

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Romania's membership came at a high price. The Hungarians would not align herself to Romania so long as the vast territory of Transylvania remained outside of her hands. Hungary demanded the return of Transylvania, a demand which Romanians were furious about. The Italians and Germans, however, supported the Hungarian demand, insisting that it was her ancestral territory more than the Romanians'. After some negotiation, the territory demanded was reduced and Romania agreed, knowing she had little choice. The alternative was to sacrifice herself to the Soviets, at least this way she retained her political sovereignty.

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Roughly half of Transylvania had been conceded to the Kingdom of Hungary.

Australia had been painfully forced to watch the incident from France, as British command eagerly refused to support Australia into Denmark or Eastern Europe. Australian command was sure that the Italians would join the war soon, and that Britain needed to strike first to win. Cyril Bingham-White ordered the withdrawal of the ANZAC Expeditionary Army into Southern France, to serve as a strategic reserve. Britain was displeased, wanting the Australians to be available for the seemingly inevitable Belgium Campaign, but Bingham-White believed the large French-British-Belgian army would be adequate to stem the German tide. After some arguing, the British agreed to support Australia's as a flexible reserve for whichever front needed her most. At the start of April, Australian forces were ready for anything.

Mar 1940-Apr 1940 Casualties:
Australian Air Force casualties:
~Est 2 Hawker Hurricanes lost
~Est 3 Short Sunderlands lost
German Navy casualties:
2 Kriegsmarine merchants sunk
Germany Air Force casualties:
~Est 5 Messerschmitt 109s lost​
 
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Things going pretty historically except that the Soviets won the Finnish war much easier, and China's still insane.

British high command seems so indecisive.
 
What exactly caused the Australian aviation casualties?
 
Poor Finns. I guess the White Death must not've been nearly as active this time around!
 
Things going pretty historically except that the Soviets won the Finnish war much easier, and China's still insane.

British high command seems so indecisive.

Pretty much. British high command at this point was indecisive because I was indecisive as a player. I had considered going into Denmark but my reasons for not doing so were actually less about the casualties and more about other concerns...

What exactly caused the Australian aviation casualties?

Continued sub-hunting over the North Sea. Occasionally it sees us have brief clashes in the air although I've taken to retreating as soon as I notice the battle.

Poor Finns. I guess the White Death must not've been nearly as active this time around!

He must have been off farming instead of sniping Reds. :(

The scene is set and you get to pick your fight... Norway? France? Africa? Somewhere else? Looking forward to the next update!

Only time will tell! Well, time and an update by me...but first I have CK work to do!
 
The damn sexy Aussie uniforms are turning me gay! I demand an end to this! :p
 
It's blow after blow against the Allies and the British Commonwealth. If I read it right, Norway hasn't been invaded yet by the Hun, but surely that won't be for long. Basically, a lost cause.

The situation in Eastern Europe - well, the best thing I can come up with is that, with Finland now a Soviet client, the odds are a bit longer for the Germans, so hopefully they'll bog down quicker in the East (when that war inevitably comes) and you can sweep in from the West. Or the South. Methinks you might be more inclined towards Churchill's preferred strategy of attacking the soft underbelly of Europe. :)

The situation in China is nearly unbearable. India is so much more vulnerable to Japan than it ever was in real life. Painful. But at least the war on the seas should be more even-sided from the beginning, what with the Aussie carrier(s) available.

A question about your deployment to the south of France: won't the Italians only join the fray once France is already on the ropes? In other words, am I right in thinking you can't do anything about Italian aggression (by aggressively counter-invading Italy across the Alps) until the point that you basically have to abandon France anyway (it could turn into a Benny-Hill-type chase: the Aussies chase after the fleeing Italians, the retreating French are hot on the heels of the Aussies, while the German Panzers are doing unspeakable things to the French in the rear*)?

Maybe you have a more, erm, 'forward-leaning' strategy towards the Italians? Is your neutrality low enough to declare war on them? In fact, can you even declare war, being part of (but not the leader of) the Allies?

*I apologize for this truly horrible monstrosity. I'm a sucker for bad taste. ;)
 
I once had such a situation in North Africa: italy gobbling up French territory, UK gobbling up Libya, German panzers gobbling up Egypt.
lots of fun.
theoretically, if neutrality is low enough, Australia can DoW Italy, but I'd check on UK forces in Egypt first.
 
I'm surprised that Finland went Comintern rather than just ceding the demanded territory - a new option in HPP, I take it. Does Finland "retaining its own government and laws" mean that it's still Social Conservative, or just that the Soviets puppeted them, but didn't annex them outright?

How's the Australian Navy looking re: transport and resupply capability? If you've got enough ships, I'd say DoW Italy and grab Sardinia/Libya from them. Perhaps from there you could take Sicily and start working your way up the Italian Peninsula - or just dig out a beachhead and let the British AI suffer the majority of the losses.
 
How's the Australian Navy looking re: transport and resupply capability? If you've got enough ships, I'd say DoW Italy and grab Sardinia/Libya from them. Perhaps from there you could take Sicily and start working your way up the Italian Peninsula - or just dig out a beachhead and let the British AI suffer the majority of the losses.

I support this idea, but you should also consider the Japanese threat and leave some reserves to tackle an amphibious landing.
 
I like the new Avatar.

Thanks!

The damn sexy Aussie uniforms are turning me gay! I demand an end to this! :p

Hm, clearly I must find more pictures of sexy Aussie men in uniform. :p

It's blow after blow against the Allies and the British Commonwealth. If I read it right, Norway hasn't been invaded yet by the Hun, but surely that won't be for long. Basically, a lost cause.

The situation in Eastern Europe - well, the best thing I can come up with is that, with Finland now a Soviet client, the odds are a bit longer for the Germans, so hopefully they'll bog down quicker in the East (when that war inevitably comes) and you can sweep in from the West. Or the South. Methinks you might be more inclined towards Churchill's preferred strategy of attacking the soft underbelly of Europe. :)

The situation in China is nearly unbearable. India is so much more vulnerable to Japan than it ever was in real life. Painful. But at least the war on the seas should be more even-sided from the beginning, what with the Aussie carrier(s) available.

A question about your deployment to the south of France: won't the Italians only join the fray once France is already on the ropes? In other words, am I right in thinking you can't do anything about Italian aggression (by aggressively counter-invading Italy across the Alps) until the point that you basically have to abandon France anyway (it could turn into a Benny-Hill-type chase: the Aussies chase after the fleeing Italians, the retreating French are hot on the heels of the Aussies, while the German Panzers are doing unspeakable things to the French in the rear*)?

Maybe you have a more, erm, 'forward-leaning' strategy towards the Italians? Is your neutrality low enough to declare war on them? In fact, can you even declare war, being part of (but not the leader of) the Allies?

*I apologize for this truly horrible monstrosity. I'm a sucker for bad taste. ;)

You're correct that they haven't been invaded. Germany currently seems busy in other places, oddly, but if they turn their attention seriously towards Norway, there's nothing I can do to save them without Britain's help. Finland does improve the odds of the Soviet Union beating Germany, but it also has to be questioned whether or not that's a good thing! HPP USSR is a beast once it gains momentum. The Chinese situation does make my life miserable, especially with the Japanese invading Tibet. It won't be long before the entirety of India is vulnerable. I need mountain divisions!

Regarding Southern France: Italy will join sometime in mid-1940 if they don't think the odds are overwhelmingly against them, but Germany doesn't always have to be winning by then. If Germany is clearly losing, I've seen Italy stay neutral to avoid getting stomped by the Allies. My neutrality is not low enough to declare war on most countries (almost enough for Japan, but not nearly enough for Italy, Spain, etc.)

I once had such a situation in North Africa: italy gobbling up French territory, UK gobbling up Libya, German panzers gobbling up Egypt.
lots of fun.
theoretically, if neutrality is low enough, Australia can DoW Italy, but I'd check on UK forces in Egypt first.

I've seen it as well, although thankfully HPP has usually been a little less Benny Hill for me. This game has been no exception so far!

I'm surprised that Finland went Comintern rather than just ceding the demanded territory - a new option in HPP, I take it. Does Finland "retaining its own government and laws" mean that it's still Social Conservative, or just that the Soviets puppeted them, but didn't annex them outright?

How's the Australian Navy looking re: transport and resupply capability? If you've got enough ships, I'd say DoW Italy and grab Sardinia/Libya from them. Perhaps from there you could take Sicily and start working your way up the Italian Peninsula - or just dig out a beachhead and let the British AI suffer the majority of the losses.

I don't actually recall what happened now, but I do know Finland had lost a lot more than it did historically before the peace was made. The USSR may have rejected the peace deal, or Finland may have refused to offer it, I'm not sure. In any case, the truce never happened and I've never played Finland/USSR in HPP to find out the details. I assume they retained the same government as a puppet.

I support this idea, but you should also consider the Japanese threat and leave some reserves to tackle an amphibious landing.

Regarding this to all curious, I've already played ahead to the point where I've decided what action to take, so unfortunately your advice isn't one I can take. I can say that I'm not going for anything world shocking just yet as I do need reserves and evacuation capacity in the event of early war with Japan. Australia is responsible for the defence of British East Asia, after all!
 
Sorry about the delay, life is super hectic and CK2 coming out hasn't helped my free time!

I'll try and have an update tonight. :)
 
Don't worry , its understandable
 
Sorry about the delay, life is super hectic and CK2 coming out hasn't helped my free time!

I'll try and have an update tonight. :)

Yaaay! I missed your sneaky attempts to turn me into a homosexual. On a more serious note, I think that you should be prepared to take an offensive posture in the Pacific, maybe even trying to take Formosa or rescue the Philippines