Nerd Rage - Poland subjugates the world (or not)

Trench Rifleman said:

This is nice! I can't say anything more, it's just good!

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Excellent. :happy:

Lord Curlyton said:

That will be interesting, surely. Good luck! Did you rush Agriculture so you could have some spare MP to replace losses? And do you plan to spread your HARM out so you get armor bonus everywhere or are you going to concentrate to punch a massive hole?

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I just kept Agriculture up to date. The gains from it aren't so great that it'd be worth rushing, and I can't really afford to lock Leadership in researching ahead of time anyway. But even so, with the flow of recruits from Germany, I've managed to gather a small reserve of manpower, so I should be good. I'll definitely be going for a Schwerpunkt. Just like in real life, you have to destroy the Red Army, or there's no victory in Russia...



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Yesterday I said I'd make a detailed overview of the situation directly before the war with SU, so here it is. Status as of 24th May 1942.



First off, techs:


I've only taken screenshots of the sections that actually contain something and are relevant. Air and naval doctrines, for example, matter a lot, but their tabs are completely empty right now...


Practicals are as you might expect. Great armour practical, good aircraft carriers, small and medium aircraft, rather low infantry, artillery and destroyers, and surprisingly high air combat experience. Ground combat can't even compare... Bombing those rebels gives one hell of a lot xp, it seems.




I have to say, making a complete view of your entire production and research queues lets you notice things you wouldn't think of otherwise. Or maybe it's just stepping away from the game for a while, so your brain can forget the right here, right now of combat, and take things in perspective. It really surprised me.

First off, the carriers are actually going to be finished somewhere in early 1944. This is really late. But when I think about it, I couldn't start the production much earlier, I had to get some additional ground troops and upgrade the tanks. These things took a lot of IC and there was no way I could do without them. Second, I can cancel the construction of forts, aside from the one in Vilnius. Every point of IC counts, and these fortifications won't be completed in any reasonable time. Either what I have now will suffice, or I won't get the chance to finish them anyway.





These are the things currently being researched. Or rather, will be researched when I reallocate the Leadership to technology, as I'm currently using almost all of it for officer training. At any rate though, the medium tank and infantry techs are somewhat late, considering that it's the end of May already. Unfortunately, I had to build a reserve of spies for gathering military intel in SU, and now I'm training officers, so these will have to wait a bit. As a matter of fact though, I can safely drop any research on medium tanks. The techs themselves will be done in September, or maybe even later (remember, the research is paused for now). When brigades finish the upgrades, it will be January 1943, or even February. By this time, the war will have already been decided. And once it ends, I won't be using medium tanks again, as there is absolutely no point to it - breakthrough forces will be fine with heavy tanks only, and fast exploitation units will need light armour. Same thing applies to some, or even most of, land doctrines. When the war with SU is over, my army will be so strong thanks to leaders and experience, that units of the western Allies will get stomped even if I my doctrines are somewhat outdated.




Right. Time to finally review the armed forces themselves. Going from top to bottom:

With relatively small Soviet forces present at the northern border, only the three-corps Army Pomorze was assigned to protect this section. Together with the fortifications built in mostly difficult terrain, these units should be perfectly sufficient.


The spearhead: Armoured Group Maczek, and Army Wołyń, which provides infantry support. After the war with Germany, I got the terminology sorted out. Infantry corps are now actually named so, instead of just "corps", medium and now heavy tank corps became proper Armoured Corps, while light tank units assumed the old Armoured Cavalry designation, as their role is in fact similar to traditional cavalry.


Here's the area I'm not entirely sure of. Soviet AI is not very daring, so I have a realistic hope the thin line of Army Kraków will be enough to discourage the Bolsheviks from crossing the river, but you can never know...


An overview of the navy and air force. Both are currently rather small, but this should change in the next eighteen months, as I won't need to expand the army any further. Right now, my navy consists of one battlefleet of four large aircraft carriers and eight destroyer squadrons, and one transport group of six flotillas. The carriers are all of the most basic floating deck model available, while the destroyers are somewhat less outdated. And thanks to British generosity, the newer ones have almost state of the art engines... which is all that destroyers really need, so they can be considered up to date. :laugh: Seriously though, I'll have to bring their AA guns up to speed, and perhaps upgrade the main weapons a notch or two as well. Only two carriers have their aircraft complements, but that's ok, this war won't be seeing a lot of fleet actions. The air force is somewhat more diverse, with fighters, tactical bombers and even a newly formed naval bomber squadron. All will need significant expanding, though.



Finally, the plan for the coming war. My opening move will traditionally be a double breakthrough and an encirclement, followed by a push towards Crimea. Hopefully I'll be able to pierce clean through the Soviet defence in Ukraine and release my light tanks into the open, so they can rush to the Black Sea coast unhindered, before the Soviets guarding the former Romanian border can relocate. This should allow for destroying a large portion of the Red Army in one go and let me proceed to victory points without meeting significant opposition.



Whew. The AAR has once again caught up with the game. Time to get some war done.

Next episode: Operation Hexenhammer!

Where? :unsure:

Lord Curlyton said:

hexen hammer

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Ahhh, good ol' days... I didn't have a sufficiently powerful rig to run Hexen back then, even if I'd bought the game. :laugh:

throwback

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So far it feels more like

rather than obliterating ze enemies with mighty hammer blows, hehe.


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"Now we are here, to finish the job started two decades ago", as Sabaton would sing. The time has come to face the other of Poland's mortal foes, the Soviet Union.

This didn't go very fast, as I had to make my way through stacks upon stacks of Red Army, but the encirclement is completed without obstacles. As SU apparently fields 2+2 units, the pocket contains 25 infantry divisions, plus 3 tank and guards divisions, by my count. Not a bad start.




Sadly, the Soviets finally manage to break through in Finland. Considering that they must've started attacking right after I loaded the game, I'd guess I witnessed one of the AI lockups during the last two years. Which is kind of strange, as I'm almost sure I had at least one break in that time, and the AI should've unjammed on loading the game then. Unless the war started AFTER I defeated Germany... I'll check it later.




The carriers meet their first real catch. Unfortunately, nothing came of it. Even though I gave chase through several sea zones, my CAGs were unable to land even one killing blow - all the more frustrating that one of the hostile destroyer squadrons was brought down to 1% hull.




The area of Dunaivtsi was plagues by Soviet pinning attacks. A large stack of my units was unable to move for several days, as wave after wave of Soviet divisions maniacally launched themselves at my men, paying no heed to their own disorganisation or losses. It was more annoying than effective, since I was able to complete the encirclement anyway, but still... annoying. Well, that's what you get when your axis of attack is one province wide...




Meanwhile, several units managed to slip by my left flank and progress rather far into my territory. I was, however, able to contain and destroy them. Originally there were more Soviets here, about 8 divisions, but I made sure to keep the exit blocked all the time, so I guess they got overrun.




The encirclement is completed again. The Soviets fought rather vigorously and gave me some trouble, but I was able to keep the pocket closed. The battle for Odessa took a long time, as I only had heavy tanks in position to carry out the attack - the 5th Infantry Corps, siege specialists, were on the wrong side of the river at that time, additionally separated by a wall of Soviet units, and only managed to cross when the fighting was almost over. Shame. Still, by my estimation, another 25 divisions were eliminated. It's a bit underwhelming, as I hoped for more, but I won't be picky.




In the meantime, I took the opportunity to surround a Guards division. Of course, my three forward tank divisions immediately come under rather heavy attack. The middle division will be in trouble, if all are broken, but they have plenty of organisation, so they should hold until I'm done with the Guards; then I'll fall them back.




...or not. Distracted by the encirclement around Odessa, I forgot about this fight and only remembered when a report on a lost battle popped up. Gen. Kleeberg's division needed less than 24 hours to get to the other province, but their comrades in Zhashkiv couldn't hold even for 6, and the Soviets arrived only a moment later. ARRRRGH. Ardis, you stupid, dumb retard... Why did I do this? I KNEW this was going to end like this, the moment I saw the Soviet attack... Why did I maintain the encirclement? If anything, playing Poland has taught me caution; I don't have a lot of units, so I have to conserve them, don't put them in unnecessary danger, only perform moves that will ensure there's no risk... Sigh. Guess I didn't heed my lessons well enough. And what for - some stupid Guards division... Geez, I'm so mad at myself.




To make matters worse, the Soviets have gotten extremely aggressive and are pushing my weary divisions hard. I have no choice but to fall back.




Ahh, Mr. Burhardt-Bukacki has finally gained the Battlemaster. Good, he can return to his old position, replacing the previous (temporary, as he stepped in so Bukacki can learn the trait) commander-in-chief. This comes at a rather appropriate time, I guess - someone has to take the blame for that last failure... Seriously though, it's fun to have someone with Battlemaster in a theatre HQ, providing an army-wide bonus (I've always envied Germans for that). His Logistics Wizard should help too, as I'm starting to experience supply problems now and then. Now I just have to send my Army Group commander to a frontline unit, so he can learn Battlemaster too...




The Red Army is mercilessly pressing on. My units are exhausted and unable to contain the counterattack. The Reds are getting dangerously close to actually breaking through the front...







Next episode: Fortress Warsaw

Last time we left off on a slightly dramatic note. While the majority of my forces were engaged around Odessa, the Red Army shifted a great number of units from Finland and, presumably, the borders of the Baltic States, and initiated a powerful counteroffensive in the area protected by Army Wołyń. Its divisions, disorganised after the recent fights, were unable to offer significant resistance and were thrown back (and to think I was supposed to do the throwing...). The Soviets were at the border of Poland itself. At the same time, they attacked aggressively along the rest southern front, disrupting my efforts to regroup.



There indeed was little I could do... except ATTACK!



After losing that armoured division, I wanted blood. AI blood. Electrons? Well, nevermind. I was in a mood that called for greasing tank tracks with the guts of enemies. Luckily, what I wanted was also the only sensible thing to do. Enduring frequent Soviet sallies, I managed to gather two armoured corps, the light tank divisions, and three infantry corps at the small foothold cutting into Soviet-controlled territory. This was not the ideal deployment and I didn't like that the left wing only consisted of the 1st Armoured Corps, and not even all of it (one division straggled far behind, harassed by rabid attacks), plus some infantry to support it, but I couldn't get anything more there, as the huge Soviet bulge prevented any kind of rapid relocation. And it expanded by the hour. So I hoped the powerful strike on my right wing will throw the Red Army off balance enough for my left flank to get through and connect. I must admit I had a moment of doubt there... Even though I've just destroyed some 60 divisions, there seemed to be even more Soviets than at the beginning. I wasn't entirely certain my forces would be enough. The same thing added to the thrill, though - finally an actual threat... If it worked, victory would be all the sweeter.



The plan was dubbed Fortress Warsaw, as the general setup kind of reminded me of the Battle of Warsaw in 1920:

The Soviets have pushed deep and gained a lot of ground, they will receive a powerful counterstrike in their left wing by elite units, and once again they will be prevented from taking Warsaw. Nevermind that they are a tad further away this time.



Uh... where did THEY come from? Ok, the situation isn't critical. I have stockpiles in the cut off area, so I'll be able to continue the advance, and there are forces in position to restore the connection. No reason for alarm.



General Kleeberg has a tendency of getting into highly unfavourable fights. Karma, or what... This battle will be quite different from the last one, however. Rifles and molotov cocktails are inadequate arguments against heavy tanks, and even when nearly broken, the division will still be able to see off its assailants.






With the situation safely stabilised, I'll end the update. More next episode!

Ikarases said:

Nice progress. But they'll have 60 divisions ready to go to war in a month

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Divisions?? They'd better start building themselves a new Moscow, they're gonna need it soon.

Trench Rifleman said:

Pretty good, but I'm not really convinced, that you will survive in the long run. If anything, at least you're going to go out in a blaze of glory

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You doubt in me? Wonderful! Victory will be all the more satisfying.

siempie78 said:

Don't worry, it will eventually. I've decided it has to be continued, with some surprises.

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Ah, that's good to hear. The outrageous adventures of Kościałkowski and Śmigły had high entertainment value. Good luck to you too, then.


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Now that the Soviet incursion into Polish land has been separated from the rest of the red horde, it's time to... well, accept them into the fold, of course. I bet that's why they were in such a hurry to get to Poland; they were fed up with uncle Joe's "benevolent" rule and wanted to switch sides. Right?



It appears the radio range of my sole army group HQ is becoming insufficient. Funny, I didn't think I'd ever need two army groups. I still don't have so many troops that it'd require two AGs to fit them all, but the units are becoming separated by such a distance that it's only reasonable to split the command.



The small pocket has been eliminated and I'm pushing the rest of the cut-off Soviets before me. At the same time, their comrades on the other side are pushing my rearguard. I'm going faster, though.



It's always funny to do an invasion of Sweden as Poland. It's like getting back at them for 1655. :laugh: But seriously, guys, no hard feelings - I just want your tungsten.



So, the Swedes are attacking across a strait, while the defenders basically have one ancient militia brigade. I have a feeling this is going to take a lot of time to resolve...


So, not only are the Soviets trying to dislodge me in order to overrun my retreating division, but they are also brazenly supporting their attack with shipborne artillery? Well, my navy is on hand to teach them a little respect...



In late October, the pocket is eliminated. There is only mopping up left. However, during the six months of fighting, I've burned through my manpower reserve and have gotten into the negative again. I was quietly hoping I could avoid it this time... Oh well. It shouldn't get very bad; certainly not nearly as critical, as in Germany.



A week later, it's all done. By my rough estimation, 30 to 40 divisions were removed in this encirclement. When the war is over, I'll have to load up some earlier saves and tag switch to the USSR; I'm really curious about the real figures.



Oh for crying out loud, now they are surrounded?? Sigh... Ok. We have a supply convoy to Odessa, so they are fine. Just need to reconnect with the rest of the front. Annoying Soviets...



The beginning of November signals the end of the Swedish campaign and I can finally get my hands on precious tungsten. I wish I did it a year ago. I was considering it back then, but my fleet was too weak for an invasion by sea, and I somehow didn't figure out I could go through Norway. A real shame; +15% hard attack would've been highly useful in these early months. Still, better late than never.



Funny how this plan remains completely relevant even after the operation it was it was drawn for is finished. The Soviets pushed me back more than I thought... not that it helped them. Well, one more time then.



Time to call an end to the advance. The weather is preventing any kind of rapid movement, so I'm not getting anywhere even if I tried, and further attempts at encirclements will be unsuccessful. I guess I'll spread my heavy armour around for the coming months, and steadily push along the whole front so the winter period doesn't go to waste.

Trench Rifleman said:

I don't know... You might conquer the Soviets, but if your manpower will continue like this, then you're close to getting screwed. Still, you will be able to conquer all of Europe and part of Asia. The real work will start, if you will invade the U.S

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I'm not really concerned about manpower. In that department, I was dangerously close to breaking point in Germany. Here, it's nothing but a minor annoyance, more for my sense of aesthetics than any practical reason. And when Mother Russia is mine, I won't have to worry about it ever again. Now, the US - that's the tricky part, isn't it. If I manage to get a foothold, I should be fine. But actually getting it... I feel that the US Navy is looking at me, grinning, and holding a "come at us, bro!" poster.

Baltasar said:

Wouldn't it be wiser to retreat to a defensible line from where to start the next encirclement? The Russians will creep after you and you'll have the advantage. Besides, it'd allow for some more recruits to bolster your forces.

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Lord Curlyton said:

I don't know if I'd retreat so much as try to use those nice river positions that a slow and steady advance (I believe that's the Dnieper, right?) can bring. Then settle in and let some MP recover, and let the Russians bleed themselves over river penalties.

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I believe there's no need stop, let alone retreat now. With that last encirclement, I've pretty much broken the Red Army's back and they won't be able to give me any more trouble. It's just a matter of eliminating what's left of them and taking the VPs.

However, I'd appreciate advice on another matter: what to do with the USSR? I'm obviously taking the industrialised, western part of the country, that's a no-brainer. But what about the rest? Should I annex the entire SU, or spare myself the trouble of hunting Siberian rebels and puppet them?