The Third German Empire (My first AAR / Big pictures)

Chapter 1: Getting the overview of the Reich
1 January 1936 - 1 March 1936
At first look the country seems far from organized or prepared for any type of conflict.
Therefore the first task of our Glorious nations government is to organize every aspect of our nation


A country far from ready to lead Europe into liberation and victory

Meet the government:


"Our nation is crawling with enemy spies. A small investment into counter spionage is required" - Wilhelm Canaris (Head of Intelligence)


Foreign spies could turn into a serious problem if we don't get this situation under control

"Let's alocate some of our countries best engineers into research. No war can be won with sticks and stones" - Ludwig Beck (Chief of staff)

"We have some obsolete technologies that need improvement in order to stay one step in front of our enemies" - Rudolf HeB (Head of government)




"I'm not that smart, so in order to reorganize our armies, fleets and navies, let's stack them up to 1 bunch and take it from there" - Adolf Hitler (Head of state)


Armies heading to Berlin for reorganization - Let's hope our enemies don't decide to attack us now

"While our armies are on the move, let me show you what we are currently building" - Rudolf HeB (Head of government)

"We are building a few ships in order to survive in a "possible"*cof* war with the allies" - Eeich Raeder (Chief of Navy)

"The rest is just national infrastructure improvements in order to improve our supply chains and movement" - Wilhelm Frick (Minister of Security)



"Our Luftwaffe has been organized. It is a pretty small force, but with some small investments it should be able to defend our airspace" - Hermann Goering (Chief of the Air Force)

An overview of the Luftwaffe and its commanders:



"Our fleets have also been organized Mr. H. We have formed 1 big fleet that should make our enemies tremble. In case this should fail, we have a stealth fleet under our sleeve *muhahaha*" - Erich Raeder (Chief of the Navy)



"I have bad news Mr. H, we don't have any transport ships, therefore our army in Königsberg can't be moved to Berlin. But don't worry we have assigned our best leader to command them" - Werner von Fritsch (Chief of the Army)



"Have the Armies arrived in Berlin? NEIN!? Well then let's focus a bit on the future. What needs inmediate improvement?" - Mr. H (Head of State)

"Let's build some Coastal fortifications in Kiel, the rest of places aren't necessary to fortify. "If"*cof,when,cof* we invade Denmark, pass to the rest of our ports will be blocked" - Wilhelm Frick (Minister of Security)

"I want another Interceptor corpse!" Mj. General Felmy (I. Fliegerkorps)



"Our armies have been organized and spread around the border with Poland and France with a few units in Munich. Do you require a detailed report?" - Werner von Fritsch (Chief of Army)

"No, we are dangerously close to the thread picture limit, so I'll trust you've done a good job" - Mr. H (Head of State)

"What I do want is a LOT of AA guns to protect our people against the foreign bombers, just build a bunch. But remember, we still focus on upgrades!" - Mr. H


A "bunch" as requested by Mr. H

"We have also added the building of factories in Berlin, Cologne, Stuttgart and Dresden, in order to be able to satisfy your belligerent needs Mr. H" - Werner Von Blomberg (Armaments Minister)

"Here is an overview of our armies current possitions Mr. H" - Wilhelm Frick (Minister of Security)



"We also bring the current situation of the war in Ethiopia. The outcome of this might determine our willingness to cooperate with Italy" - Konstantin von Neurath (Foreign Minister)

Thank you Gen. Marshall. I bought AoD because at the time they said it was going to be the final HOI2 expansion (LIE! ). Of course in between I owned Doomsday.
I actually tried HOI3 as soon as the demo came out, but the HQ system was too difficult for such a dummy as me . And after a few months when I finally understood it, it seemed so hard to reorganize armies in big nations. HOI3 is an amazing game, but the whole HQ system is just to hard for me
After that I went on to EU3 and finally CK2.

Chapter 2: The spread of Fascism
1 March 1936 - 1 September 1936

With a somewhat better organized nation, it is now possible to start preparing for our rise to the top. Unfortunately this is hard due to the repeated Great War demonstrations that keep on happening as a protest to our lack of troops in Cologne.



Therefore on March 14, 1936 Mr. H orders the VII. Armeekorps stationed in Saarbrücken, under the command of General Brandt F.W. to move into the demilitarized province of Cologne. This marks the beginning of Germany taking active actions against the sanctions instated after The Great War.


The glorious VII. Armeekorps march into the Rhineland



"This is just the first step in the process of restoring our great nations pride" - Mr. H (Head of State)

On March 28^th our national intelligence brings results for the first time, having captured and killed a group of polish intelligence operatives in Berlin. This results in an increase of funding for the Intelligence agency headed by Wilhelm Canaris.

On the very same day Ethiopia abdicates to Italy, making this the first fascist victory of our time and successfully bringing fascism into the horn of Africa.



"Here are the Estimated loses during the Italy-Ethiopia War, as you requested Mr. H" - Konstantin von Neurath (Foreign Minister)



"Nationalist China has annexed the warlords of Yunnan into their territory. Our sources tell us that they are trying to unify the country again" - Konstantin von Neurath (Foreign Minister)



Germany knew that if it was going to fight a war it needed to expand it's fleet in order to protect it's coast from foreign invations. Mr. H ordered the production of a Bismarck-class battleship equipped with the latest technology. In less than 2 years this magnificent ship would be ready to lead the main German fleet into battle.




Current German Kriegsmarine (means fleet of awesomeness in German, paraphrasing of course )

"Our army needs to start training new recruits, order the immediate training of new infantry units with their respective Headquarters and tanks" - Mr. H




Current production line

"We were right in our assumptions about China, they have now annexed Guangxi Clique within a day of the declaration of war" - Rudolf HeB (Head of Government)



On July 17^th Francisco Franco y Bahamonde declared war on the Spanish Government in an attempt to spread fascism into the Iberian Peninsula.



Mr. H sent resources and men to support the cause



"Now that the Navy and army are being expanded, we need to look towards the sky for improvements .... NEIN! not God! I mean the Airforce dummies!!!!" - Mr H

A further expansion of the Luftwaffe was ordered with a whole new group of Interceptors to protect the German Skies.



As of the 1. September 1936 I. Fliegerkorps was assigned a finished interceptor unit while the 1. Flotte got a new top-of-the-line Submarine.




The situation in Spain also seems to be going smoothly in our favour:

Berlin - 1 September 1936​

Chapter 3: Anti-Comintern Pact
1 September 1936 - 1 September 1937

By September 1936, Germany was busy expanding its armed forces in a race to beat the allies. Unsatisfied with the current expansion of the Air force, Mr. H. ordered the construction of 4 divisions of Junkers Ju89 (for long range targets) and 4 Junkers Ju87B Stucka (for close air support during combat). He also ordered the production of a large transport ship fleet in order to transport military personnel overseas.



In the end of 1936 the Anti Communist International agreement was signed, with the goal of bringing the 3 biggest fascist powers (Germany, Italy and Japan) closer together. This not only deteriorated the relations with The Soviet Union, but also indirectly with China, as it was a step away from supporting China, to standing with Japan.




In the early days of 1937 Mr. H. surprised everyone ordering the further construction of 2 naval vessels: A small light cruiser and a large submarine (the first of it's kind):



No one objected, because of general awareness of how weak the German fleet was in comparison to the rest of the European powers.

On the first of July 1937, news arrived that Franco's forces had finished capturing all of Spain and were now in full control of this nation. This was the second military victory for Fascism, and with the return of the Condor Legion, a lot of equipment had been properly tested in the battlefield to our advantage.



The Spanish victory gave the Japanese government the necessary push to embark into a war against a country much bigger than themselves: China. So just 3 days after the Spanish victory, Japan officially declared war upon China.



China's response was to immediately annex the territories of Shanxi and Sinkiang. That way they could fight as a unified country.



As we reached the 1^st of September 1937, Mr. H asked for a status report on the armies and main fleet. Here is the overview handed over by Ludwig Beck (Chief of Staff):



Konstantin von Neurath and Wilhelm Canaris (Foreign Minister and Head of Intelligence respectively) also handed in a detailed report of how the situation was going in Asia, and the losses and inflicted losses of each nation since 1936.


Japan seems to be advancing into the Chinese territory



For each killed Japanese soldier, 7 chinese have died. This shows the Japanese supremacy in the asian battlefield.
It is also possible to see that although Nationalist Spain was victorious, it came at a great price.

Berlin - 1 September 1937​

sidenote: Today is my birthday

Chapter 4: The Anschluss
1 September 1937 - 1 September 1938

The victory in Iberia gave the German government the push required to further invest in their military.
The first mandate was to order the training of 5 units of Garrison that in an event of war would have to protect the coasts from amphibious invasions and maintain order over conquered territory. There was a great discussion among the Army leaders if this units should be equipped with Anti Aircraft Guns, or have special police training. But the fear of foreign bombardment was far larger than the fear of tumultuous uprising, so it was decided on the first.



Meanwhile in the mists of the war in China, the nation of Mengkukuo (with the support of Japan) declare their independence on the 16^th of April.


Current situation in China




New government

One of the things the Condor Legion had learned is that German Bombers were easy pray to enemy fighters. With this in mind them government ordered a fighter attachment to go with every bomber unit



At the end of 1937 the first 5 units of Motorized infantry were ordered. Equipped with Anti Tank Artillery, their objective would be to break the enemy lines by aiming at their moving forts (Tanks).



A number of issues arose relating to minister Werner von Blomberg, but Mr. H thought that it was enough pain having to replace 1 minister a few months earlier, and therefore asked Werner to stay in office.



Taking another step away from China and towards Japans side, Germany went on to Recognize Manchukuo as a legal and autonomous nation.



On March 10, 1938 Mr. H ordered the union between Germany and Austria be fulfilled by uniting both nation. Most nation saw this as an Annexation and an act of aggression, but for Germany it gave benefits, such as suddenly having a larger army and territory.






The German Kriegsmarine also got a new flagship, the Bismark, a big, modern and intimidating Battleship.



With a larger Industrial Capacity, the build of new tanks and infantries that would focus on speed (Blitzkrieg) were ordered into production and training.



On the 1^st of September 1938 each Ministry handed in it's anual report. Here are a few important things:


Current political map of Europe


Japan has made a fast advance into inner China



The losses in the Chinese war are now of half a million men.

Berlin -1 September 1938​

Thank you
Seems difficult. The German -Austrian relations were at 200 (thanks to a substantial money investment in influencing them ). Seemed like the Union was unavoidable

Chapter 5: The Munich Agreement
1 September 1938 - 1 March 1939

In an attempt to avoid the now plausible war from happening, The Allies had a meeting with German leaders, were Sudetenland was given to the Germans. Sudetenland was mainly populated by Germans and therefore it seemed like a fair Agreement. The Agreement was signed on the 30^th of September 1938 (without Czechoslovakian consent of course), and the Czech had no choice but to give up the territory. The German Army had increased in size in the last 3 years, and was now an intimidating force of power.



As a result of the succesful annexation of Sudetenland, Mr. H ordered the production of 5 heavy infantry divisions, in case we encountered some forts on our way to victory.



Thanks to significant improvements, Germany started the production of their first Carrier that was meant to fight alongside the Bismarck and would be ready for battle in 2-4 years.



6 months after the last report, Mr. H asked for a new status report on the current situation in the World from the different Ministers.


German territory as of 1 of March. The Army, which has grown exponentially is the German pride


Current situation in China


Chinese war is getting close to 1 million KIA

No one knows what will happen next, but one thing is sure: War is coming. They all know it. Time to gear up!

Berlin - 1 March 1939​

Chapter 6: What leads to war
1 March 1939 - 30 August 1939

After the annexation of Sudetenland, Germany took up a very offensive and expansionist position. They were willing to push it to the limit and the only thing that could stop their annexation of further territory was a declaration of war by a strong alliance.

On the 15 of March 1939 Mr. H made a secret agreement where they partitioned the remains of what had once been the glorious Czechoslovakia. This looked like a smart move at the time because it seemed wiser to have a large Hungarian ally than a small Slovakian puppet.
And just like that the 2 nations were allied like 2 decades before, in the brink of another great war.
Hopefully this time they were better prepared.



Within 2 weeks, Germany threatened Lithuania with an invasion if they didn't give Memel to it's rightful owner. The Lithuanian government agreed, fearing a German occupation.



With a war right around the corner, and a fleet that wouldn't be able to have control over a large portion of the sea, 4 Dornier Do217 were ordered for patrolling the seas.



We had the loss of another minister on May 3, 1939:



2 Destroyers were ordered into production in a last minute attempt to strenghten the Navy.



Mr. H was afraid that if they invaded Poland and the Soviet Union interfered, Germany would end up fighting a war in 2 fronts, that could be it's doom. Therefore he cleverly made a secret agreement with the Soviets in which they partitioned the territories in between them.



On August the 30^th of 1939, Germany sent an ultimatum to Poland, demanding Danzig. This was a dangerous decision because Polandd was under British and French protection. Believing that the allies would come to their rescue, the Polish government rejected the ultimatum, and war was declared.




Current diplomatic map of Europe


Although Germany has expanded greatly since 1936, they are behind the Soviets in the path to victory.


The Axis currently ranking last in victory points


The Axis Armies, not big in numbers, but what counts is quality


The German fleet, a small force that will focus on protecting it's coasts


The German air force will finally get to proove it's Aerial Supremacy. If it doesn't, then our AA defenses will shoot the Allies to the ground


Polish Front, the day of the declaration of war


French Front. Hopefully this one will remain quiet until the end of the invasion of Poland

What will happen now? Will the German army be able to take the Allies or will the war come to a still like 20 years ago? Will the Soviets be true to their agreement, or will greed take over in order to invade the German Sovereign State? Which side will the rest of the nations take? How will the Italian, Spanish, Japanese, US and other nations react?
Only time will tell...

Chapter 7: Case White
30 August 1939 - 1 January 1940

Early in the morning of the 30th of August, the German armed forces started the Case White Operation. The goal of this Operation was to occupy all of Poland in about 1 month (depending on different factors).



At 0500 the German armies started advancing into Poland, while half of the Luftwaffe bombed the retreating Polish armies. The German fleet was also sent to cover the coastline outside

The early days of the war it was clear that the allied Air Forces were slightly stronger than the luftwaffe. Therefore 50 new AAA guns were ordered.




First naval Battle against the polish fleet. They are no match against our glorious fleet.


It's expensive to go on a bombing spree in France

Torun was the province where the polish put up the greatest resistance. Took one week and 7k German lives, but we finally destroyed them:



By the 20th of September Warsaw was overrun and Case White was almost complete:



On September 25, 1939 Case White was succesfully completed and the annexation of Poland was declared.



We give the Soviet what we had promised, to avoid giving them an excuse to attack us.



The allied bombing and the rebuilding of Poland have pilled up to a long list of repairs necessary in our provinces:




Current German-Soviet border

New headquarters are ordered to support the increasing number of German troops.



The German interceptors have problems covering the vast German territory, so 4 new fighters are ordered into production:



Troops have started being redeployed from the polish front to the French front in order to prepare for an invasion.



The 17th of November the Soviets declared war on Finland.



On December 19, 1939 we had our first great defeat. Our submarine fleet was patrolling the North Sea in order to attack convoys, and engaged the British Navy. The results were disastrous, and left Germany with a reduced submarine fleet of 1 outdated and 1 newer submarine:



The French boarder is awfully quiet so a large scale artillery bombardment was set into motion in the last days of 1939.



An army is also being prepared for the invasion of Scandinavia:



As of January 1, 1940, the European borders look really quiet when you take into consideration that the 3 most powerful European nations are at war.

Political and diplomatic maps of Europe:




Germany has lost 41k men, and killed 245k men

The first 4 months of war have been a success, but have also exposed flaws in the German plan, as their weak Navy and low air defenses. As a new year dawns Germany faces many new challenges. Poland was conquered in under a month, so the German troops are confident that they can take on any nation in Europe. Will The Third German Empire prevail against it's enemies, or will it fall as it did 3 decades ago?

Berlin - 1 January 1940​

Gen. Marshall said:

The Russians, don't forget the Russians!

Click to expand...

Oh yes!

Sorry, forgot to include the Soviets

Sidenotes:
1. Happy thanksgiving to all you guys that celebrate it (so much to be grateful for )
2. My last screenshots for this chapter came out damaged, but I'll try to remember and explain what happened. I'm sorry.

Chapter 8: Operation Weser-Exercise
1 January 1940 - 1 July 1940

As we were preparing for an offensive in France and another one in Scandinavia, we tried to keep the allies busy by constantly bombarding them with our artillery.



4 newer submarines where also ordered to replace the destroyed.



On the 20^th of February we find the perfect excuse to invade Scandinavia.



New infantry units start training, because we currently are unable to cover all of our borders.



On April 1, 1940 Operation Weser-Exercise is set into motion.



Denmark, the first target seems easy and we are confident about taking it in less than a week.



As expected, Denmark surrenders pretty fast.



Instead of goind through the sea to Norway, as everyone is expecting, we declare war on Sweden.



2 armies advance from Copenhagen, in order to capture Malmö, Oslo and Karlstad. Simultaniously another army is sent to land in Stockholm and work their way to Falun.



Thing go differently than expected and we are obligated to focus our efforts on Sweden, before we move on to Norway.



New troops are also ordered to keep control of the conquered territory.



On May 6, 1940, the annexation of Sweden is complete. Now our troops march for Norway.



One army is sent to northern Norway, a second to Oslo and a third stays in Sweden to protect from Norwegian armies getting in.

Shortly after, Norway surrenders, and all of Scandinavia falls into German hands.

During the course of Operation Weser-Exercise the German fleet destroys most of the Scandinavian fleet. It may not be a match against the British fleet, but in Scandinavia our fleet rules the seas.



July 1, 1940 arrives and Europe is once again silent. Everyone is preparing for the biggest challenge for Germany in the last 5 years: The invasion of France. The German army may be superior, but it is currently small in numbers. Will this be a problem for the Germans, or will they Blitz through France in a few weeks? Let's hope for the best.

Berlin - 1 July 1940​

Chapter 9: Operation Croissant
1 July 1940 - 3 October 1940

After the invasion of Scandinavia, Germany turned their eyes against France. Armies where redeployed to the Western front and an Operation was set into motion. Operation Croissant.

The plan was to take Belgium, Holland and Luxembourg in order to avoid the highly fortified German-French border. The time of completion was set to be before the end of the year (6 months).

Step 1 was the invasion of Netherlands. It was a pretty easy victory and took only 10 days to complete:



During this invasion, the last modern German submarine was destroyed, leaving us with just 1 outdated submarine.

Step 2 was the invasion of Luxembourg. This was completed in 5 days. The French immediately started a large scale offensive to regain Luxembourg. Troops in both sides started moving westwards.



Step 3 was the invasion of Belgium. By completing this step we would meet our biggest and greatest challenge: Facing the French in a frontal battle.



The Battle for Luxembourg was by far the greatest French offensive at that point, and although we won it it came at a great cost:



An uprising appeared in Stockholm, so General Rommel (stationed in Oslo) was sent to deal with the problem:



A Super Heavy Battleship was set into production, with the unavoidable naval battle against the U.K. in mind.



On the 20th of July, step 3 was completed (Invasion of Belgium) and the final step was set into motion (Invasion of France). Germany got had their biggest defeat while trying to capture the heavily fortified province of Metz.



From here on the German advance started loosing momentum, thanks to the constant Allied bombing of our troops. On August the 27th we reached our greatest advance, and things started going badly.



In the opposite side of Germany, Romania was force to cede Transylvania to our Hungarian Allies. Germany was trying to turn Hungary into a stronger European power, as it once had been.




Rommel easily defeated the Swedish rebels:



By the 3rd of October, 1940, Germany was loosing ground in the Coastal Area of France, almost forcing them back to the Belgian border. Metz Was captured at a high cost, and Germany couldn't advance due to the high numbers of french troops.



New units are impossible to produce at this point due to the high quantity of reinforcements and province repairs needed.

The current plan is to let the troops rest and recover organization and see if an offensive is possible at that point.

Germany has already lost a quarter million men, the situation is worsening and seems scarily familiar.



Will the Germans get through this hard period, or will the war come to a halt causing yet another great German defeat? Or even worse, will the French push the Germans all the way to Berlin? Whatever happens, a lot of German mothers are praying for the best back at home.

Temporary Military HQ for Operation Croissant, Cologne - 3 October 1940​

Chapter 10: The Fall of Paris
3 October 1940 - 1 January 1941

In the first week of October, the German troops where given a week to rest and reorganize. Meanwhile the Cabinet met in the Temporary Military HQ for Operation Croissant, in Cologne to discuss what needed to be done. It was clear that the initial timeplan for the invasion of France had been very optimistic, and that more time was needed. A plan was drafted:

1. First priority was to recover the lost territories in the french coast (Amiens, Diepe, Le Havre).
2. Meanwhile, the rest of the forces would cause a distraction so that French troops were moved away from Paris.
3. Before the new year Paris had to be in German hands or the Operation would be deemed a failure and abandoned.

On 8 October Germany started setting this new plan into motion. The German troops had regained some organization, and began the offensive.



During the first couple of weeks the plan went well. France redeployed troops to Chaumont, while Germany advanced towards Paris.




Our troops where unable to occupy Chaumont but that wasn't important, or the goal of this part of the Operation.





New recruits where set into production, in order to cover the now defenseless Soviet border.



In the beginning of December German Armies reached Le Havre.



At the same time France started an offensive to capture Compiegne. The Army saw this as a chance to capture Paris, and instead of reinforcing Compiegne, it sent a Strong army to capture Paris.



On Christmas eve, an offensive was set into motion to recapture Compiegne, and Operation Croissant would finally be able to continue as planned.



By 1 January, 1941 German troops were moving into Compiegne, and a new battleplan was ready to be set into motion.



By 1941, Germany was furthest in the Victory progress. But the Axis where still far from beating the Allies.




Although the Luftwaffe is well equipped, the Ally Air force easily outnumber them and this has proven to be a problem. Operation Croissant is taking a lot more time than expected, while the German-Soviet border is unprotected. If the Soviets declare war on us before we capture France, we would end up fighting in 2 fronts, which would be the doom of our Empire. Right now it's a race against time. France needs to be captured fast and at whatever cost.

Temporary Military HQ for Operation Croissant, Cologne - 1 January 1941​

Chapter 11: Second Armistice at Compiègne
1 January 1941 - 2 April 1941

After the Fall of Paris, France left much weaker. It's main headquarters had been captured and it was just a matter of time before they surrendered.

The British RAF had shown their superiority in technology by constantly defeating the German Luftwaffe. The biggest loss was the one of a Long Range Bomber. A new one was ordered immediately.



New units that could fight through the winter (in case of a war with the Soviets) were also ordered.



On January 14, Germany began an offensive to capture the province of Troyes. Having control of 3 neighboring provinces, a victory seemed very plausible.



The Kriegsmarine started missions to protect the coast between Britain and Germany. The first encounter was with Netherlands fleet which was easily destroyed.



On January 21, another offensive was set into motion to capture Chaumont simultaneously.



Radars were set into production to help German planes in their fight for the skies.



France started an offensive to recapture Paris. Mr. H, that was supervising the offensive from the Headquarters in Cologne ordered Paris to be reinforced with 24 whole divisions stationed in the neighboring provinces. Paris was ordered to hold out at whatever cost.



The offensive was slowly advancing in Troyes and (at a high cost), 33 French divisions were retreating.



On February 23, 1941 France surrendered and the German Cabinet traveled to Compiegne, to sign the Second Armistice at Compiègne. This was a symbolic gesture to the rest of the world that Germany had gotten their revenge.

A pro-German government was established in Southern France, and Operation Croissant was concluded.



Italy was offered to join our alliance, and thank to good relations, they accepted. The plan was for them to capture the British African colonies, and in that way weaken the allies.



Germany prepared to try an amphibious assault on the UK. Unfortunately the Kriegsmarine encountered the British Navy and the results were catastrophic. Germany sunk 9 smaller British ships, and lost 6 including it's flagship the "Bismarck". The Kriegsmarine was forced to retreat to the port of Rotterdam.



The assault on the UK was cancelled and instead, preparations for Operation Felix were set into motion.




Political map of Europe. Italy had previously conquered Albania and Greece. They have captured Malta and are invading Egypt.


Diplomatic map of Europe

Germany had yet another victory. Drunk with optimism they are preparing for a top secret mission: "Operation Felix". Will the Germans succeed once again, or will the Soviets take a chance in the unprotected border and invade Germany, while we are busy on the opposite front?

Berlin - 2 April 1941​