AMERICA Saves the World! - USA AAR HOI3 FtM 3.05

Preparing Ourselves for the Fight


EUROPEAN THEATRE STRATEGY:
While we wait for the reorganization of US land sea and air forces and for the completion of key production builds, I'll consider a number of strategic options in the European theatre. Germany's grip on mainland Europe is tight. Extensive coastal fortifications and air defenses exist (with more being constructed) along the entire Atlantic coast from the Spanish border all the way to Denmark supported by a string of airbases along its entire length. There's a temptation to attempt a landing now before Germany has time to redeploy the bulk of its land forces from newly conquered Russia back to the west, but the simple truth is I'm not prepared: not enough men and not nearly organized sufficiently. As such, the immediate course of action will be to stage men and material in Britain.

US B-17s will be redeployed to Britain to begin preparation for a strategic bombing campain of Germany's industrial centers. Unfortunately, the majority of Germany's production is located far out of range of our bombers along the Polish border and East Prussia. For the near term, I'll need to focus on what is within range and work towards technologies that improve bomber and fighter escort ranges. I'll deploy BB heavy surface action groups to secure vital supply lines and hold the Kriegsmarine at bay.

The British have gained the upper hand against the Italian Navy in the Mediterranean but the loss of Egypt (and the Suez Canal) have strained their ability to supply their vast empire (compounded by a sizable U-Boat presence in Bordeaux). Gibralter and Malta (still in British hands) are alarmingly poorly defended. I'll make a a point of reinforcing these 2 key positions since I can't rely upon the British AI to recognize their importance. Both will provide valuable support positions in any effort to land in Europe via the Mediterranean.

Thinking ahead, the following future invasion options to begin the liberation of Europe are available:
1. Vichy held North Africa: poorly defended, this region can provide a relatively secure staging point for further action in the Mediterranean. It lacks, however, a good, large harbor and will require that I declare war on "neutral" Vichy France. Its relative safety, though, makes this area a candidate for a landing sooner than most of the other options.
2. Southern France: also requiring a DOW on Vichy France, the large port at Marseilles makes for a tempting target.
3. Italy: a landing in the soft underbelly of the Axis near Rome not only provides access to some large ports but puts me closer to Germany and an opportunity to quickly knock the Italians out of the war.
4. Yugoslavia: this area is defended relatively lightly, although the lack of a large port makes this a less attractive landing area.
5. Greece: Athens makes a tempting target because of its large port. It's also relatively close to the oil resources at Ploesti but the terrain and infrastructure there would make operations less than ideal.
6. Suez Canal: Recapturing Suez would provide great relief to the UK but it's distance from Europe will relegate operations there to a more secondary nature.
7. Bordeaux: A highly tempting target due to its large harbor and relatively close proximity to the American east coast (shortening supply lines). Brest could also be considered for the same reasons.
8. North Coast of France: The proximity of the UK and the air cover would be provided make this a reasonable option and would allow for a quick thrust towards the liberation of Paris but the lack of deep water harbors make this option less viable.
9. Low Countries: possibly the best of the available options, landing(s) here would afford access to to both Antwerp and Amsterdam's large harbors. Air cover from the UK would be available (and plentiful) and its proximity to the Ruhr would allow for quicker entry into Germany itself.
10. German North Sea Coast: Kiel is a large harbor and offers an immediate means to strike at the heart of Germany. Its location, though, would require a large, heavily armored force to handle the Wehrmacht on its home soil.



WHY WE FIGHT:
In January of 1941, during President Roosevelt's State of the Union address to Congress, he outlined Four Essential Freedoms for all people of the world. The idealism and altruism of this declaration, while highly admirable, should also be seen in context with the fierce isolationist mindset of the majority of Americans at this point in time. This is the President appealing to the conscience of America. War is raging around the globe and the flags of tyranny and oppression are planting themselves over more and more lands. With the defeat of the Soviet Union, Britain is alone in Europe to stand up to Hitler. In Asia, the Empire of Japan rampages through China. The message is clear: it's up to us to Save the World from tyranny and ensure a prosperous future for not only ourselves but also for the entire global community. It's in this context that America goes to war by the end of that same year.
Listen to an excerpt from this speech HERE


FIRST BLOOD:
US forces in the Pacific are especially vulnerable during my regroup, reorganize and re-assign leadership initiative as the Japanese are aggressively prowling the waters around Guam and Wake Island. I lose a signficiant number of convoys and escorts during this process. I respond by deploying a Carrier Task Force based in Honolulu and led by Admiral Nimitz into the area. With only 10 CAGs, this is the most I can muster for now. First contact occurs on January 16, 1942 in the Shanto Sea located between the Phlippines and the coast of China. The results (against Admiral Yamamoto himself) are less than spectacular despite the fact that I outnumber them. I'm going to need to get more CAGs built as quickly as possible and improve my positioning techs if I want to achieve my goal of defeating the IJN.



ONE OF THE MANY:
Sgt. Wesley Slaymaker of Atkinson, Nebraska, having just been drafted, begins his long journey into the unknown. On the train bound for basic training, he scribbles out a postcard to family back home.


OFFICE OF STRATEGIC SERVICES (OSS)
Already I'm beginning to see signs of foreign espionage incursions into my research efforts so I install J. Edgar Hoover as the new Minister of Security. This will improve my efforts to hold off foreign spies domestically. My external espionage efforts, on the other hand, are woefully poor (the situation inherited from the AI has virtually no spies infiltrated into my enemies). To address this, the President establishes the Office for Strategic Services whose responsibilities will include infiltration of foreign powers, intelligence gathering, sabotage and commando activities in enemy occupied regions.

@ icedbecker2007, Saithis, Xenophon13
Thanks for the kind words guys. I'm happy to have you here.

Baltasar said:

Awesome graphics. What do you use to create them?

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I use Photoshop and Illustrator to make my graphics. I use IrfanView to create screen shots from the game. That's especially useful for creating a sequence of images to create animations. Notepad++ is helpful to create the markup. The bigger job is finding the source flavor images themselves. While Google Image searches are often a good start, it is rarely a solution in itself. I spend a lot of my time digging for juicy image sites which can be hard to find but with some patience and persistence can yield fantastic treasures.

ushrark said:

A real good source is http://ww2db.com/.

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no doubt a great resource which I've already added to my arsenal. (Thanks also to to Cybvep who mentioned the same collection). One thing I have great difficulty finding, however, are good, high resolution world war 2 era maps. Oh they're out there...but it just requires digging. Feel free to share if you stumble upon any of those. (both battle maps and geographical maps).

GrimReaper said:

Those images looks really hot. Subbed

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I'm glad to have you here

Warluster said:

I swear, those graphics just get better each update. Fantastic once again, rob.
As for landing zones, I would say a joint landing of North Africa closely followed by Egypt, linking up in Libya. Good for you and good for the Allies.

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I'm inclined to agree...although we'll see how things unfold by the time I'm prepared for some serious amphibious operations (which is going to take a bit). I'm secretly (shh) hoping that the German AI surprises me with some actual initiative and forces me to react. One thing I didn't mention in my last update was that Germany (oddly) declared war on Norway and then sat and did nothing. That did, however, create some chaos along the Finnish border which will be detailed when i next update.

Alfred Packer said:

Fantastic AAR Rob! The maps and graphics are just beautiful!

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Thanks AP! I'm a huge fan of graphic design from the interwar era carrying into the WW2 era and I'm attempting to use that aesthetic in this AAR. While there were a huge range of styles internationally, the American style (if there is one) communicates a naivety and optimism I find particularly enjoyable. That's the spirit I'm hoping to capture here.

A quick aside for all members and fans of AARland:

Voting for AARland Choice AwAARds 2012 (Round 2) is now open. The deadline for submitting your votes is August 1. This is your opportunity to show support for your favorite AAR writers and their works. Commenting and voting are the fuels which propel writers to create the content we all enjoy. This, in turn, helps promote the Paradox games we all love so do your part and show your support for the AARs you enjoy most! Be sure to check out the other AAR forums as well.

PrawnStar said:

Subbing, enjoyed the Poland AAR and I'm sure this will be just as good.

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There's a long, sad story behind the demise of WIELKOPOLSKA, but I've moved on and have long since dedicated myself to HOI3. I hope I can live up to your expectations with this one. I've been having my own little patriotic crisis with America, and maybe in some odd way this AAR is my attempt to exorcise those feelings.

TheKaspa said:

I'm afraid I'll follow just for the graphics!

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Whatever your reasons for being here, I'm happy to have you following. Who knows? I might even surprise you with something beyond just the graphics.

Saithis said:

Great update as usual, I'm loving the propaganda, even if I get a little sad every time I see Yamamoto demonized. Still, it doesn't seem like there's much in the way of America's mighty success even on Very Hard...I suppose you might have to free the world from Communism too.

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A little side note on those 3 propaganda images featuring Yamamoto, Mussolini and Hitler. The originals (one example HERE) used horrible images for each of those three so I took the time to substitute what I felt were better photos. Production quality for most American propaganda artwork of this era was remarkably high...this was a notable exception. But yeah you're right...it seems a little odd to single out Yamamoto out of the pantheon of much nastier Japanese politicians. I wonder if that quote is something Yamamoto even said! (i'm skeptical).

I'm currently working on the next installment and will update as soon as I can.

This might be tougher than we thought


NORWAY:
Germany (apparently with nothing else to do) declared war on Norway on December 2, 1941. Finland is well positioned to benefit most from a war with Norway and by January is well on its way to surrounding and destroying Norwegian forces along the Finnish border. An axis occupation of Norway has a few ramifications:

1. Provides Germany with protection of its northern flank helping to further secure Denmark.
2. Gives Germany access to the Heavy Water strategic resource.
3. Gives Germany more staging areas from which it can threaten the UK.
4. Protects approaches to Archanelsk and Murmansk.
5. On the other hand, will force Germany to protect even more coastline than it already has.

STRUGGLING IN THE PACIFIC:
Using Guam as a staging area for submarine anti-convoy operations, the US Navy encounters difficulty matching the IJN blow for blow in a war of attrition for the supply lines leading in and out of the South Pacific. Not only are US submarines being lost in the process, but the IJN is sinking a significant percentage of American supply shipping. This has the implications in the following ways:

1. Threatens US ability to supply and support China
2. Threatens US ability to reinforce and build up in Guam and Wake Island (key points in the Pacific Defense permiter).
3. Forces the US to increase production of replacement convoys and escorts.
4. Forces the US to improve technologies that will protect convoys and improve submarine capabilities.

Fortunately we have a good reserve of convoys available for replacements. Unfortunately, we're running out of escorts fast. I'm going to step up both convoy and escort production immediately. We're barely keeping up with convoy needs in the Pacific and there is currently very few convoys running in the Atlantic. Clearly this will delay any attempt to make a move in the European theatre until this deficiency is addressed.



FRONTAGE:
Before too much more time passes, and before I'm fully committed to the builds in my production queue, I'll take the time to more closely evaluate projected ground force composition for the struggle ahead. Of particular concern is ensuring that the division compostions acknowledge the game mechanic realities of Frontage. Prior to December 1, 1941, while I controlled Germany, I used blue emu's MECH RUSH strategy to compose German mobile divisions. Further, I utilized the binary infantry division format suggested in that same thread (2 x Inf brig + 2 x Art brig). Read more about that HERE.

A consequence (and advantage) of that approach is the relatively small frontage of each Infantry division. One of the biggest advantages afforded by using this strategy is the conservation and firepower maximization of manpower (Germany gets more powerful Infantry divisions and more of them). On the flip side, the heavy use of artillery increases supply demands for these same units and makes them more vulnerable to air attack. This is somewhat offset by the other aspect of this strategy which is the construction of mobile divisions that use no armor (other than the existing Lt. Armor brigades) and instead are comprised of 2x Mech Inf brigs + 2x Tank Destroyer brigs. These units use fewer supplies and fuel than traditional Armor based mobile divisions and still have respectable combat performance (ask the Russians). I'm seeking division compositions that match up well to the German units.


GROUND FORCE EVALUATION:
Evaluation of frontage alone isn't enough to ensure than I'm building the right kinds of units. There are other factors unique to playing America that need to get folded into the analysis such as:

1. Manpower efficiency
2. Leadership efficiency
3. Combat Performance
4. Supply and Fuel Usage
5. Utilization of existing units

The analysis diagrams above reassure me that my current build strategy, while not perfect, takes into account all of my major evaluation criteria. I'm putting a special emphasis on the conservation of Supplies and Fuel because my gut tells me this will be the single largest factor influencing my success (or failure) on far flung, foreign battlefields. I'll avoid liberal usage of artillery to conserve supplies. Generally speaking, usage of support brigades is also less efficient from a leadership standpoint. I'll likely centralize artillery at the Corps level. While not historically accurate, I believe this strategy will aid me in my overall effort to be more frugal with supplies. More powerful divisions do no good if I can't keep them supplied.