• We have updated our Community Code of Conduct. Please read through the new rules for the forum that are an integral part of Paradox Interactive’s User Agreement.
Beautiful stuff as usual, rob. I'm definitely looking forward to the next update.

There's a lot of nice statistical stuff that I'm betting a lot of viewers don't actually know, and it's great that you can combine the mechanical and story into one beautifully presented package. This update really shows how even on the harder difficulty settings, America is a real beast industrially and especially research-wise. I've almost never seen the bomb actually get developed and used, so I'm looking forward to your continued development of one! I myself have never gotten around to finishing development of it (since I accidentally beat both Germany and the USSR in my USA game by mid 1943, about 3 months before finishing the nuclear bomb tech finished and I rarely rush it as heavily with other countries), so I totally share your curiosity on that front.
 
It is interesting that you seem to be doing a northern Europe strategy. When you started this AAR, I was inspired to play a similar scenario, build up a mighty Germany then switch to USA. I went with a southern Europe strategy and found that the soft underbelly was very soft indeed, until it wasn't. Great job and good luck.
 
Excellent update, love the detail! Oh, and a nice little picture of Mr. Manhattan from the Watchman, haha.

I would recommend hammering Japan first, probably easier of the two and Pacific more to American strengths (navy and air), get your combat practical up, easier to get teched up on mechanized warfare doctrines then can fight the german hordes one on one better by say 1944-5. Perhaps instead of Finland or Caucasus, talk about overstretching supply lines and hard to defend, go for Denmark.
Some bonuses to such a move:

- Easy to enter, easy to withdraw from.
- easy to supply
- Narrow peninsula means a narrow front to funnel germans into a killing zone, every battle you can have naval support, and with english, norwegian air bases, achieve air superiority and bomb the Germans on the move.
- Chance to build practicals and test the german army strength without major commitment or major risk.
- denmark provides excellent airbases to bomb german heartland and if it falls, plans can easily retreat to norway to be safe.
Interesting thoughts Berlichingen. Your points about Denmark are well taken. The biggest advantage I see is closer access to the heart of Germany (versus a landing in say Normandy). In the end, my choice is going to come down to availability of Level 10 ports (note the plural) and access to areas supported with good infrastructure. In my next update you'll see how much supply I anticipate being required for the forces I'm assembling for Overlord. It's daunting to say the least.

As for Japan, I won't be neglecting the Pacific theatre at all and plan to be operating in both the Pacific and Europe simultaneously. Right now, I'm anxiously awaiting the completion of a large batch of CAGs (some coming this year in 1942). Once those are available my effort against the IJN will step-up considerably. Oh...as for Dr. Manhattan...he seemed to perfectly encapsulate the intricacies of HOI3 Research mechanics. I'm a huge Watchmen fan...and I'll also say that a naked, blue-glowing, empty-eyed freak looked kinda cool on there. :)

Another excellent update
Thanks PvtPrivate, the last update was a rather belated response to your earlier questions about Research. I hope that did the trick.

Quite agree. I really feel like I'm reading a professionally done strategy guide. This is just beautiful.
what you're seeing is a man geeking out on Hearts of Iron...lol But I'm glad my obsessive/compulsive disorder results in something interesting. Very happy to see you returning once again AP.

There's a lot of nice statistical stuff that I'm betting a lot of viewers don't actually know, and it's great that you can combine the mechanical and story into one beautifully presented package. This update really shows how even on the harder difficulty settings, America is a real beast industrially and especially research-wise. I've almost never seen the bomb actually get developed and used, so I'm looking forward to your continued development of one! I myself have never gotten around to finishing development of it (since I accidentally beat both Germany and the USSR in my USA game by mid 1943, about 3 months before finishing the nuclear bomb tech finished and I rarely rush it as heavily with other countries), so I totally share your curiosity on that front.
I envision a future atomic bomb chapter....oh man, the graphic potential of that subject is just epic....lol We'll see. I'm not sure if I'll use the bomb or not, but I'm definitely going to build one (or 5..or 10 :) ). I can't claim to have mastered the mechanics of Research in HOI3. More than anything, I'm floating stuff like this out there to illicit responses from others that may know more. I suspect the mechanics were designed to be intentionally obscure which is really a good thing...perhaps it would not be not as long-legged of a game if you can dissect every detail and gain advantage by gaming those details. Thanks Saithis, your support means a lot to me.

It is interesting that you seem to be doing a northern Europe strategy. When you started this AAR, I was inspired to play a similar scenario, build up a mighty Germany then switch to USA. I went with a southern Europe strategy and found that the soft underbelly was very soft indeed, until it wasn't. Great job and good luck.
I'm tempted to do both tommylotto...both soft-underbelly and hard-shelled top. I'm feeling my way through playing the USA and don't feel the same super-confidence I feel playing other countries which I've played many times and with which I am much more comfortable. Expect mistakes...and I kind of think it'll make the AAR more interesting.

@robw963:A great AAR! Your graphical presentation is awesome and I have already learned a number of things. I will follow this AAR to the end.
Thank you Charles Reeps! I'm glad you're picking up on some of the "lesson" stuff. Be aware though, I can't claim that every detail or fact is entirely accurate. I do my best to test, and check and read and learn each fact...but it's a very dense game and I'm sure I miss (or misunderstand) some things. Feel free to chime in if you discover such things.

The next update is in the works...hoping to be able to share by mid-week or so.
 
Last edited:
The graphics in this AAR are bloody brilliant... and I despair of ever bothering to pick up an writAAR banner again after reading this! If only I could work in Photoshop or Illustrator...

A few questions. Could you get a complete formula for research, to include how the practicals and experience affect the time? I get the basic formula, but am not entirely clear on how either the penalties (for researching ahead) or bonus/malus (for praticals and doctrine) work into it.
 
A few questions. Could you get a complete formula for research, to include how the practicals and experience affect the time? I get the basic formula, but am not entirely clear on how either the penalties (for researching ahead) or bonus/malus (for praticals and doctrine) work into it.
I have the same questions Wraith11B. I'm working on a formula but I don't feel like it's close (or right) yet. The complication, of course, is that since your practical level is factored into the equation, and practical levels are literally constantly being changed (by builds, by completed research projects, by the turn of the month, etc.) you're trying to hit a moving target. I suspect the designers have intentionally made the mechanics here elusive. Gone are the days where we could use handy research calculators in HOI2. And maybe that's a good thing. I will work up something though and share it when I feel like it's polished enough to roll out.
 
ARMOR and ARMORED INFANTRY

title_9.png


LUCKYSTRIKE.png

Lucky Strike Goes to War!

AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Prior to the war, Lucky Strike cigarettes were identifiable by their green box. When the war arrived, the copper-based green dye became too precious to be used for anything other than war related production. Lucky Strike was forced to change their packaging to white and turned the problem into a successful promotional campaign declaring Lucky Strike Goes to War! My grandfather, while working for a New York City advertising firm, was the mastermind behind the whole advertising campaign and it launched his long career.


INDIA060242.png

CRISIS IN INDIA:
The battered British Empire, having already lost Egypt, The Suez Canal, Palestine and Iraq, is now threatened in India. Burma has already fallen to the Japanese and now, freshly reinforced and rested, Japan makes a strong thrust into Eastern India with 10 divisions, a mixture of infantry, cavalry and mountain troops. A thin defensive line made up of British troops supported by Nepalese troops is all that is avaialable to prevent Japan from pouring into India. We may need to intervene to prevent a complete disaster.


NORWAY060242.png

MEANWHILE IN NORWAY:
On a more positive note, The American Expeditionary Force in Norway (led by General Dwight D. Eisenhower) has successfully corralled the Germans into a pocket in the middle wilderness of Norway along the Swedish border. Without a source of supply, they are doomed. It won't be long before the combined German/Italian invasion force is forced to surrender. An auspicious beginning for the US Army.


motorized_upgrade.png

BUILDING OUR ARMORED DIVISIONS:
Having completed Mechanized Infantry Research back in the end of January 1942, we now begin the process of churning out Mechanized Infantry brigades (what we'll call Armored Infantry) to complement our 40 existing Armor brigades. Some will be created by upgrading existing Motorized Infantry brigades but most will be built from scratch to create a total of 44 Armored Infantry brigades. This will require building 4 additional Armor brigades to match Armored Infantry 1:1.


MECHcorps.png

ARMORED CORPS:
With 88 mobiles brigades (44 Arm Inf + 44 ARM), we aim to create 4 Armored Corps for the eventual invasion of continental Europe. With an eye towards supply/fuel conservation, we'll limit the inclusion of support brigades to only a few per Corps (support brigades tend to be supply/fuel hogs). Simultaneously, this build strategy will help conserve officers as well (the ratio of officers to manpower in support brigades is much higher). Also note that the 2 x Arm Inf + 2 x ARM division composition results in a softness of 42% which allows us to achieve the combined arms bonus of +10 combat efficiency maximizing the effectiveness of the formation.


INFcorps.png

INFANTRY CORPS:
To support these 4 Armored Corps, we will need even more infantry formations. Infantry is particularly efficient from a logistical standpoint and we intend to create 3 Infantry Corps for every 2 Armored Corps resulting in a mixed Army level formation. Infantry will be important to hold ground while the mobile divisions thrust through enemy lines and create encirclements.


ARMIES.png

ARMY LOGISTICS:
The diagram above illustrates the composition of a typical ARMY formation comprised of both Armor and Infantry Corps. For the invasion, we envision the creation of 2 of these Armies (another may be added later). Note the following points:
• Total unmodified supply consumption for this entire Army type is 119.01 supplies + 130 fuel for a total consumption of 249.01 supply units per day.
• At this moment in time (June 1942), our logistical technologies allow bringing through a Level 10 port only 61.8 supply units per day. We would need to capture 4 Level ports just to supply 1 Army.
• To help reduce overall supply unit consumption, we'll place Logisitics Wizard (LW) commanders into all Corps, Army and Army Group positions. The result is a 46% savings in supply unit need bringing the number of required Level 10 ports to supply an Army down to 2. Much better. And much more achievable.


ports.png

NAVAL BASE EFFICIENCY:
To improve the logistical problem outlined above, we're going to have to research the Basing technology found under the Naval Doctrines tab. Notice that we will complete Basing Level 2 on June 25th which will allow us to increase Level 10 port supply capacity from 61.8 up to 73.8. A significant increase. We'll continue to research the Basing technology beyond Level 2 which can only improve our combat capability and allow even more troops to be poured into Europe when the day arrives.


MECHARMterrain.png

ONE ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATION:
A significant reason to fill out our Armored Corps with Armored Infantry is that Armored Infantry suffers lower penalties for combat in various types of terrain. Europe is blessed with excellent infrastructure, but it also covered with a lot of challenging terrain conditions such as forests, rivers, dense urban areas, hills, mountains and marshes. Using Armored Infantry will help us be more effective (or less ineffective) in these challenging terrain types. The Sherman tank (our primary Main Battle Tank) is generally endowed with good mobility, but we'll be glad to have Armored Infantry along for the ride when we strike at Axis held cities.

did-you-know1.png

Source: M4 Sherman wiki


footer.png
 
Last edited:
Britain cannot hold their own, can they? ._.
 
Britain cannot hold their own, can they? ._.
haha....I know right? Must I do EVERYTHING?

The British are limping badly in this game. Their loss of Suez makes supplying India and the Far East much more difficult and I suspect that German U-Boats have been ravaging their convoys as well. During the Norway campaign I didn't see a single British vessel or air unit although, weirdly, I've seen a fair number of British fleets operating in the South Pacific (they even sank a Japanese Battleship). Other than that, I'm pretty much on my own...BUT...I did see a fairly strong Australian push up the Malay peninsula...so maybe there's some hope.
 
You haven't disappointed me yet! Sucks about the Brits. I hope you don't get too overextended.

Interesting facts about the Sherman, a highly under rated tank in retrospect. The big guns and heavy armor of the later panzerkampfwagons are all scary and all, but the reliability, ease of repair, maintenance , and production that makes the Sherman the superior system. A panther or tiger might win a skirmish or even a battle but the Sherman won campaigns and the war. Whats the point of having all these scary tanks if yo can only have a few dozen in a division and half of them break down before they can even get to the fight?

Strange seeing a rocket sight in India, well maybe not I've never played Britian. Do you have any test sites yourself, it would be cool to see american rockets/missiles, but that probably stretches your IC and research too far.
 
Last edited:
Great update! The way it's shaping up this should be required reading for those wishing to understand the game.

As for the lackluster UK performance, I think you need to ignore the problem in India. It won't cause the fall of the UK and will only serve to sidetrack you; plus, the more JAP forces there equals less forces against your main thrust. Just my opinion. Keep 'em coming!
 
Strange seeing a rocket sight in India, well maybe not I've never played Britian.


Not really, seen it a couple of times...not sure why it happens...What did confuse me once was the Germans building on on the west wall once, completly making me wonder. However I had been playing with the .lua files at the time...although not to that end.
 
I guess basically there are two options for scripting the AI: it either builds in fixed places (which is a very bad idea) or it uses some randomization, which will have some unexpected results. The UK building Rocket Test Sites in India could be avoided by including a condition for building on the same continent as your capital but I can't really think of anything that could prohibit building it one province behind the West Wall. (Front provinces can be excluded, but that's pretty much it.)

And again, kudos for the detailed graphics! :)
 
I think it would be well worth your time/budget to build some more support brigades, mostly arty imo. Maybe 1 corp per army could be a specialized with 3-5 engineer brigades to spear head any river assaults. Although it may not be possible, its seems with every update your "to do" list gets bigger and bigger.

But it would be cool to have a nice mix,arty and at for your inf. Maybe AAA for you defensive division in the pacific, and a mix of sp art and tank destroyers for your armor. SP rockets would be cool but they might eat up too many supplies.
 
Another jaw-dropping detailed post sir, nicely done! Now, onto the war take the fight to dem Nazis and a dem Japs and show them whos boss! :laugh:
That's the plan! :D I'm trying to plan this thing to death so that when it comes down to the actual fight it's pretty much a foregone conclusion. That's a reflection of how I like playing this game....plan, plan, plan, plan....and then oh yeah fight. I'm glad you're hanging with me. I realize it's not for everyone.

Interesting facts about the Sherman, a highly under rated tank in retrospect. The big guns and heavy armor of the later panzerkampfwagons are all scary and all, but the reliability, ease of repair, maintenance , and production that makes the Sherman the superior system. A panther or tiger might win a skirmish or even a battle but the Sherman won campaigns and the war. Whats the point of having all these scary tanks if yo can only have a few dozen in a division and half of them break down before they can even get to the fight?

Strange seeing a rocket sight in India, well maybe not I've never played Britian. Do you have any test sites yourself, it would be cool to see american rockets/missiles, but that probably stretches your IC and research too far.
I agree about the Sherman. It's not a pretty machine...it wasn't even all that great (truthfully it was a mediocre combat tank) but it achieved the goal. The genius of the design laid in it's clever re-use of components from the M3 Lee which dramatically streamlined its development and deployment while at the same time introducing some advanced concepts like a gyroscopic gun leveler. It was also really well designed from the perspective of transporting it overseas. Shermans could basically fit into a crate and therefore could be more easily packed and transported on Liberty ships.That's a big deal when you're trying to deliver 50,000 tanks overseas (remember, neither the Russians or the Germans had to worry about shipping their tanks overseas). They were specifically designed to fit well onto railroad cars, drive over regular bridges and considering that the design was made in 1940, it had reasonable performance characteristics. All that said, they were still death traps. I know the Brits hated them and the Germans laughed at them.

I'm not a big fan of strategic rockets in Hearts of Iron. I can sort of see their use when playing as Germany or the UK given their proximity to each other, but for the US they'd probably be a waste. Even when I play as Germany I rarely build them. If and when I intend to deliver the bomb, it'll be done the old-fashioned way: by plane. I do have a rocket test facility in Florida. Maybe I'll make a Disney World installment out of that...haha.

Paradox needs to hire this guy to make a proper manual. Each chapter amazes.
haha...i dunno about that (but thank you). I think the manual is actually pretty darn good but I'll admit it doesn't answer every question. I'm not sure it could and remain reasonably brief (if you consider 89 pages brief) or coherant. There's just so much detail to cover. I have a huge advantage here in that I'm describing my analysis and and planning related to the specifics of the situation in which I find myself. It would all be different if I were starting from scratch in 1936...or if I were playing the UK or Poland...or whatever other infinite variation you can come up with. If anything, I hope to show how to adapt a play-style to the circumstances at hand and have some fun at the same time.

As for the lackluster UK performance, I think you need to ignore the problem in India. It won't cause the fall of the UK and will only serve to sidetrack you; plus, the more JAP forces there equals less forces against your main thrust. Just my opinion. Keep 'em coming!
I think you might be right...I hammed it up a little bit to add some drama. However, if I take this whole Saving the World role-play seriously, I should be jumping to the rescue of everyone on the allied side. If I don't help the UK...but help Norway, wouldn't that be a little inconsistent? We'll see...I kinda hate the idea of just letting the Japanese waltz unmolested into India.

Not really, seen it a couple of times...not sure why it happens...What did confuse me once was the Germans building on on the west wall once, completly making me wonder. However I had been playing with the .lua files at the time...although not to that end.
Every time I mess with LUAs I find myself getting in more trouble than its worth and creating really weird results...I kind of gave up on it.

I guess basically there are two options for scripting the AI: it either builds in fixed places (which is a very bad idea) or it uses some randomization, which will have some unexpected results. The UK building Rocket Test Sites in India could be avoided by including a condition for building on the same continent as your capital but I can't really think of anything that could prohibit building it one province behind the West Wall. (Front provinces can be excluded, but that's pretty much it.)
But I'm very glad to know there are guys out there like you that know more about LUAs than me.

I think it would be well worth your time/budget to build some more support brigades, mostly arty imo. Maybe 1 corp per army could be a specialized with 3-5 engineer brigades to spear head any river assaults. Although it may not be possible, its seems with every update your "to do" list gets bigger and bigger. But it would be cool to have a nice mix,arty and at for your inf. Maybe AAA for you defensive division in the pacific, and a mix of sp art and tank destroyers for your armor. SP rockets would be cool but they might eat up too many supplies.
Normally, I'd do just that. But this time I'm going to avoid a lot of support brigades because of their disproportionate supply and officer consumption. Artillery brigades are supply hogs, slow down the units they're attached to and are vulnerable to air attack. Instead I'm biasing towards being able to deploy more infantry. Germany has a huge army. To fight them I'll need to deliver a huge army as well. (I hope I made my reasoning clear...if not poke me again and I'll try and explain better).
 
Well done son!

The update is great, and I'll jump the "write manuals for Paradox" bandwagon. I think what we all mean is that paradox, like many companies, underestimate the value of graphical presentation in instructional use.

This is odd. The advertising buisiness got the importance of graphics ages ago. The germans made cartoon type manuals to help the conscript soldiers learn their trade. (compare the Tigerviebel to a manual and you'll get the idea) To this day there are many german training videos on you tube.