JTG, stop bullshitting us and post an update!
Pretty please
Maybe this weekend, since it's a three day one.
-
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.
Maybe this weekend, since it's a three day one.
I have extreme doubts about whether someone is still following this, but I will continue this AAR and the story. I will finish the work I've started some three months ago and I <PROMISE> I will post the update sometime during this week or during the weekend after my BJJ training. I sincerely apologize to those who were loyally following and I must admit that I cannot explain the long hiatus. It's been a huge blast and I hope it will be even bigger. Again, I apologize.
~Robert
~Robert
Last edited:
Nice, do we get a recap for us with damaged memories
I recommend reading the whole thing all over again. It's not much, especially with the short diary entries.
Last edited:
One thing sprung to my mind after I posted my last reply that being the dectructed city Vanilla was in. Do you really expect yourself to fare so bad? I mean, there are ways to push Germans back right after they declare war on you (no matter how suicidal is that for them). I know this is BICE, but just I don't believe it
One thing sprung to my mind after I posted my last reply that being the dectructed city Vanilla was in. Do you really expect yourself to fare so bad? I mean, there are ways to push Germans back right after they declare war on you (no matter how suicidal is that for them). I know this is BICE, but just I don't believe it
Danila* You're talking about Kiev and Rzhev? I clarified a few months ago that Barbarossa gives me a -75% hit to organisation until early December when the General Winter strategic effect kicks in for me. Even if I DO achieve local numerical superiority in some areas, the Germans and their allies will still outmatch me, even with equal doctrines, due to more organisation. I fully expect those cities to fall, but I doubt the Germans will muster up the strength to take Moscow. They will, undoubtedly, get close to the city, but taking it is out of the question. Then there is the Fall Blau decision which gives the Germans hefty bonuses during the spring and summer of 1942. Besides, I more or less have a preset defensive line for Barbarossa and the gameplay aspect isn't a focus for me, but what happens in-game has to somewhat fit in the story.
Also, to all: "The Front" concludes chapter three and chapter four will be named "Clockwork". It will take us straight to April 1940.
-75% ORG is a lot. I hate these fixed modifiers, as they take away the trustworthiness...
It sets the stage for a more challenging game. Stopping the Germans at the border and then successfully couterattacking right away would make the game dull, boring and nothing out of the ordinary and the AAR short.
The issue with this is that the game is balanced all around AI countries being pitted against themselves, not taking into account human intervention. Boy, you have to be a real newbie or a really terrible player to lose as any of the majors (I guess except for France, but that is nerfed on purpose in vanilla).
That's why I play minors almost exclusively; you just have too much of an advantage against the AI anyway, but I don't want to nerf myself deliberately, so that's why I play HPP exclusively as well
The issue with this is that the game is balanced all around AI countries being pitted against themselves, not taking into account human intervention. Boy, you have to be a real newbie or a really terrible player to lose as any of the majors (I guess except for France, but that is nerfed on purpose in vanilla).
That's why I play minors almost exclusively; you just have too much of an advantage against the AI anyway, but I don't want to nerf myself deliberately, so that's why I play HPP exclusively as well
We all have different tastes. That being said, I firmly believe that chapter four will come to life today, most likely within the next hour or two.
April 15, 1940
Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Exactly four months have passed since Danila sustained his wounds near the Mannerheim Line. The mortar shell that had landed merely meters away caused him great injury to his left leg, where he sustained a severed femoral artery and in consequence, the loss of one and a half liters of blood. Tolimin's quick thinking during the skirmish at Glubokoye, as it is now known within the ranks of the Soviet Union, undoubtedly saved the young man's life who was threatened by hypovolemic shock, albeit at a cost. The experienced doctor was skillfully shot in the head during the evacuation of the unconscious Danila. The bullet pierced the occipital bone of the skull, passed through the left hemisphere of the brain, and exited through the frontal bone, guaranteeing a quick, sudden, and painless death for the battalion "butcher", as he was jokingly called by his comrades. Tolimin was just one of many casualties the 2. Battalion suffered during the skirmish with the determined and skilled Finnish troops. Tolimin, Ulman, Semyon, Kolya and, of course, Danila were all part of a terrifying 60 per cent casualty rate that was sustained over the course of just a day. The latter four were only just wounded, but the staggering ammount of Soviet lives lost that day helped influence General Popov's (commander of 46. Rifle Corps) decision to pull the battered battalion off the front line and have it sent to Novgorod, once the capital of the medieval merchant Novgorod Republic, for rest and recuperation. The Finnish Mannerheim Line was eventually breached a month later and peace between the Republic of Finland and the Soviet Union was signed on the third of February, with the former ceding 10 per cent of its territory and close to 30 per cent of its economical assets to the already enormous and industrially powerful Soviet nation.
Danila's largely destroyed battalion spent its time in Novgorod mainly by licking its wound and visiting the many cultural and historical centers of the city. As educating as the time might have been, once the young man regained most of his health and conscience, his mind was set on one thing; his failure to report to Alistratov, the GRU agent who had come to him during the interrogation of the Swedish assassin. His failure to do so kept him in a state of minor panic and anxiety; he was constantly perturbed that a once in a life time opportunity slipped through his fingers, never again to be claimed. Until Alistratov himself visited the young man in the hospital in March, more than a month after hostilities between the Finns and the Soviets had ended. The agent gave clear orders that Danila was to report to the GRU in Moscow on the 15th of April.
So here he stands on the 15th of April next to the dull, lifeless, and colorless headquarters of the GRU on Grizodubovoy Street in Moscow. The young man was simultaneously engulfed by two opposite states as he stood and mustered up the strength and courage to walk through the black doors that served as the structure's entrance. Much to his bafflement, one part of him wanted to walk through those doors and listen to what Alistratov had to say, or perhaps, offer to him. The other part that was consistently nagging him from the interior of his body and mind wanted him to sprint away and take the next available train to Novgorod to rejoin his comrades in arms. After a moment of deep hesitation, Danila filled his lungs up to their maximum capacity with the filthy Moscovian air, exhaled, and walked towards the doors. He was briefly stopped by another moment of hesitation as he firmly grabbed the bronze knob, but made no note of it and started turning it clockwise. The heavy frame slowly moved as Danila forced it forward with the weight of his body and the strength in his arms. As the door was opened sufficiently enough, the young man slipped his slim build through the tight opening, and closed the entrance to the headquarters of one of the most secretive organisations to have ever existed in human history.
He was immediately processed by an extensive security screening and eventually passed through the checkpoint without major problems and entered a large hall with a patterend tile floor. He took a moment to study it, and as grotesque it may have seemed, he surely admired it. His brief episode was suddenly interrupted by a charming young lady who presented herself as Olga. The sight of a woman her age knocked Danila into a slight disbelief. This Olga was no more than 25 years old and her physical appearance seems to confirm that notion; no wrinkles, a slight use of cosmetics that underlined her natural beauty. As the quantity of the time taken by him to examine her increased, the more uncomfortable the young woman felt. It was only when she forcefully and intentionally cleared her throat that Danila stopped his observation of the woman. A succint moment of awkward silence followed afterwards, as if an interpersonal relationship between them had just been terminated. The young man's cheeks turned red from embarrasment and Olga, realising this, opened up for the second time, continuing her monologue.
"How can I help you?"
"I'm looking for a Dmitry Alistratov. Is he here?"
"Ah, you must be Comrade Morozov. I'll take you to his office."
A brief walk took the pair to the doors of Alistratov's office. Danila experienced his third moment of hesitation of the day and it took words of encouragement and comfort from Olga to get him through those brown, wooden doors. He reached for the handle and forced it counterclockwise this time and opened the door he long yearned to open, but never had the courage to do so. He stepped into the medium sized office and just as he was about to close the door, a draft of air forced it shut producing a large, echoing sound in consequence.
"I apologize."
"Don't worry about it. Sit down."
Danila slowly covered a distance of about four meters before sitting in a rather luxurious leather chair. He firmly placed his buttocks into the seat and waited for the agent to start speaking. It took the man a good thirty seconds before he did.
"I have an offer of employment for you."
"Employment, sir?"
"Maybe employment isn't the right word to use, but it certainly represents what I'm trying to say here."
"And what are you trying to say, sir?"
"I've looked over your file countless times and read Voronin's report about what happened in Leningrad that day. You were also recommended by someone."
"Recommended by who and for what?"
Danila's counter questions were started to wear down Alistratov, but the latter made absolutely sure that his irritation wasn't shown.
"To be honest, I expected naiveté, but you're still young and I forgive you. I need you for a mission and a dangerous one at that."
"I'm listening, sir."
"Good, because if you wouldn't have those ears now if you weren't."
Danila's curiosity was now filled by a sense of fear. He never expected that kind of an answer, especially from Alistratov who gives a first impression of a polite man, a man who wouldn't even take a fly's life away from it.
"I'm just toying with you, boy. This isn't the NKVD. In fact, Molotov's death has given us an opportunity and Stalin has given us a free hand in conducting operations around the world."
"And where do I fit in all of this? What's my part to play? What do I need to do?"
"Your mission will involve assassination. You're one of the best snipers in the Red Army and I firmly believe that only you can pull this off, especially when you consider the distance involved. Do you accept?"
"Will I be working on this by my own?"
"We already have two people training for this mission and a local contact. You joining makes it four people. Do. You. Accept?"
"I accept."
"Good. One last question."
"What is it, sir?"
"Have you ever been to the desert?"
"No, sir. Why?"
"Good. You're going to Ashgabat. The train's already been arranged by me and before you leave, I need to swear you to secrecy. Not one word of this to anyone and this conversation officially never happened."
Danila affirmatively nodded and left Alistratov's office, on his way to start a new and dangerous journey.
There we have it; the long awaited update. I hope it suffices; I think my creative skills have lost their touch during my hiatus. That said, I hope this was an enjoyable update for all of you.
Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Exactly four months have passed since Danila sustained his wounds near the Mannerheim Line. The mortar shell that had landed merely meters away caused him great injury to his left leg, where he sustained a severed femoral artery and in consequence, the loss of one and a half liters of blood. Tolimin's quick thinking during the skirmish at Glubokoye, as it is now known within the ranks of the Soviet Union, undoubtedly saved the young man's life who was threatened by hypovolemic shock, albeit at a cost. The experienced doctor was skillfully shot in the head during the evacuation of the unconscious Danila. The bullet pierced the occipital bone of the skull, passed through the left hemisphere of the brain, and exited through the frontal bone, guaranteeing a quick, sudden, and painless death for the battalion "butcher", as he was jokingly called by his comrades. Tolimin was just one of many casualties the 2. Battalion suffered during the skirmish with the determined and skilled Finnish troops. Tolimin, Ulman, Semyon, Kolya and, of course, Danila were all part of a terrifying 60 per cent casualty rate that was sustained over the course of just a day. The latter four were only just wounded, but the staggering ammount of Soviet lives lost that day helped influence General Popov's (commander of 46. Rifle Corps) decision to pull the battered battalion off the front line and have it sent to Novgorod, once the capital of the medieval merchant Novgorod Republic, for rest and recuperation. The Finnish Mannerheim Line was eventually breached a month later and peace between the Republic of Finland and the Soviet Union was signed on the third of February, with the former ceding 10 per cent of its territory and close to 30 per cent of its economical assets to the already enormous and industrially powerful Soviet nation.
Danila's largely destroyed battalion spent its time in Novgorod mainly by licking its wound and visiting the many cultural and historical centers of the city. As educating as the time might have been, once the young man regained most of his health and conscience, his mind was set on one thing; his failure to report to Alistratov, the GRU agent who had come to him during the interrogation of the Swedish assassin. His failure to do so kept him in a state of minor panic and anxiety; he was constantly perturbed that a once in a life time opportunity slipped through his fingers, never again to be claimed. Until Alistratov himself visited the young man in the hospital in March, more than a month after hostilities between the Finns and the Soviets had ended. The agent gave clear orders that Danila was to report to the GRU in Moscow on the 15th of April.
So here he stands on the 15th of April next to the dull, lifeless, and colorless headquarters of the GRU on Grizodubovoy Street in Moscow. The young man was simultaneously engulfed by two opposite states as he stood and mustered up the strength and courage to walk through the black doors that served as the structure's entrance. Much to his bafflement, one part of him wanted to walk through those doors and listen to what Alistratov had to say, or perhaps, offer to him. The other part that was consistently nagging him from the interior of his body and mind wanted him to sprint away and take the next available train to Novgorod to rejoin his comrades in arms. After a moment of deep hesitation, Danila filled his lungs up to their maximum capacity with the filthy Moscovian air, exhaled, and walked towards the doors. He was briefly stopped by another moment of hesitation as he firmly grabbed the bronze knob, but made no note of it and started turning it clockwise. The heavy frame slowly moved as Danila forced it forward with the weight of his body and the strength in his arms. As the door was opened sufficiently enough, the young man slipped his slim build through the tight opening, and closed the entrance to the headquarters of one of the most secretive organisations to have ever existed in human history.
He was immediately processed by an extensive security screening and eventually passed through the checkpoint without major problems and entered a large hall with a patterend tile floor. He took a moment to study it, and as grotesque it may have seemed, he surely admired it. His brief episode was suddenly interrupted by a charming young lady who presented herself as Olga. The sight of a woman her age knocked Danila into a slight disbelief. This Olga was no more than 25 years old and her physical appearance seems to confirm that notion; no wrinkles, a slight use of cosmetics that underlined her natural beauty. As the quantity of the time taken by him to examine her increased, the more uncomfortable the young woman felt. It was only when she forcefully and intentionally cleared her throat that Danila stopped his observation of the woman. A succint moment of awkward silence followed afterwards, as if an interpersonal relationship between them had just been terminated. The young man's cheeks turned red from embarrasment and Olga, realising this, opened up for the second time, continuing her monologue.
"How can I help you?"
"I'm looking for a Dmitry Alistratov. Is he here?"
"Ah, you must be Comrade Morozov. I'll take you to his office."
A brief walk took the pair to the doors of Alistratov's office. Danila experienced his third moment of hesitation of the day and it took words of encouragement and comfort from Olga to get him through those brown, wooden doors. He reached for the handle and forced it counterclockwise this time and opened the door he long yearned to open, but never had the courage to do so. He stepped into the medium sized office and just as he was about to close the door, a draft of air forced it shut producing a large, echoing sound in consequence.
"I apologize."
"Don't worry about it. Sit down."
Danila slowly covered a distance of about four meters before sitting in a rather luxurious leather chair. He firmly placed his buttocks into the seat and waited for the agent to start speaking. It took the man a good thirty seconds before he did.
"I have an offer of employment for you."
"Employment, sir?"
"Maybe employment isn't the right word to use, but it certainly represents what I'm trying to say here."
"And what are you trying to say, sir?"
"I've looked over your file countless times and read Voronin's report about what happened in Leningrad that day. You were also recommended by someone."
"Recommended by who and for what?"
Danila's counter questions were started to wear down Alistratov, but the latter made absolutely sure that his irritation wasn't shown.
"To be honest, I expected naiveté, but you're still young and I forgive you. I need you for a mission and a dangerous one at that."
"I'm listening, sir."
"Good, because if you wouldn't have those ears now if you weren't."
Danila's curiosity was now filled by a sense of fear. He never expected that kind of an answer, especially from Alistratov who gives a first impression of a polite man, a man who wouldn't even take a fly's life away from it.
"I'm just toying with you, boy. This isn't the NKVD. In fact, Molotov's death has given us an opportunity and Stalin has given us a free hand in conducting operations around the world."
"And where do I fit in all of this? What's my part to play? What do I need to do?"
"Your mission will involve assassination. You're one of the best snipers in the Red Army and I firmly believe that only you can pull this off, especially when you consider the distance involved. Do you accept?"
"Will I be working on this by my own?"
"We already have two people training for this mission and a local contact. You joining makes it four people. Do. You. Accept?"
"I accept."
"Good. One last question."
"What is it, sir?"
"Have you ever been to the desert?"
"No, sir. Why?"
"Good. You're going to Ashgabat. The train's already been arranged by me and before you leave, I need to swear you to secrecy. Not one word of this to anyone and this conversation officially never happened."
Danila affirmatively nodded and left Alistratov's office, on his way to start a new and dangerous journey.
There we have it; the long awaited update. I hope it suffices; I think my creative skills have lost their touch during my hiatus. That said, I hope this was an enjoyable update for all of you.
Hm, seems like Vanilla (hell, I can't stop calling him like that :sad is going to be transferred to the "Siberia of the South" or Caucasus, if you want. Who are they going to assassinate though?
is going to be transferred to the "Siberia of the South" or Caucasus, if you want. Who are they going to assassinate though?
Hm, seems like Vanilla (hell, I can't stop calling him like that :sad
Ashgabat is in Turkmenistan. :glare:
I've googled that before, I'm just saying that not all Soviet dissidents were forced to Siberia but also to Caucasus
I've googled that before, I'm just saying that not all Soviet dissidents were forced to Siberia but also to Caucasus
Are you assuming the main character is a dissident or that he's going to assassinate a dissident in the Caucasus? :blink:
Bang, neither of this. I merely named Caucasus in an unusual way
Now I'm really confused. What are you trying to say here? :huh: