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Damn, that fascist may be on their last leg but now you have the commies to deal with. Red or black, they both threaten the free world.
going to be a interesting continuation against the Reds.

As much as I'd like to, I don't see fighting past the fall of the Axis. Even if the USA and UK joined in now it'd be fruitless, and Canada wouldn't have an Italy-sized enemy to fight.

The poor future NATO members will be so lonely...

Yeah, we'll have to have the HQ in Ottawa.

Oh , the soviets won , they will swarm Italy quite soon now ...

That's what I'm afraid of. I'll be playing more soon, but I have not seen past today's update.
 
Chapter Sixty-Eight - Fixing Europe's Future

Chapter Sixty-Eight - Fixing Europe's Future

The Cold War is gonna suck. The Soviets have everything from Vladivostock to Brest, and have met 10 Victory Conditions. Given the results in Spain, it's Vladivostock to Gibraltar. The best I can hope to do is take Italy for the Allies, and hope the UK and USA are happy they spent so much time on Korea/Manchukuo. That's like having your two star scorers get tossed fighting against the other team's pests. Pure genius.



Look, Italy is not so much a boot as it is a geeky sock with a hole in it up on the calf. But in Italia, Canada is the man! I hope.



Well, if I'm making progress with a couple divisions attacking Rome, time to ramp up the pressure.



They're down to twenty divisions. If 27 was 186,000 men, then the 20 remaining are probably under 140,000. The stacking penalty is under 70%.

The headline number wasn't going up, but the enemy were down to fifteen defending units.



My troops weren't anywhere near exhausted. Sure, I'd had to rotate guys out of the line, but barring a big attack from the north, Canada could keep this up far longer than Italy could. A minor attack on Civitavecchia cost Italy 300 men and Canada 40. That ain't it, boys.

The headline number keeps going down, but by now I was studiously ignoring that, and instead watching the defenders melt into the civilian population in Rome. The stacking penalty is under thirty percent, but the defenders are down to eleven divisions. That's maybe 80,000 guys, and not fresh at all.



Then, another one bit the dust.



Ask me again in a year how Liberated Netherlands feels. The important thing is that the eleven enemy units, all visible, are in terrible shape, and I'm piling in a maximium number of forces. My Marines are attacking across the river from the south.

The enemy stacking penalty is gone, but so is most of the enemy's power.



What matters isn't the ten defenders so much as the fact that only four are really combat-worthy.

Then there were eight.



Now there are only one and a half divisions in line who are ready to fight. The two in reserve won't matter if they don't make it to the front before the fight ends. Even if they do, it's a matter of time now before Rome is Canadian.

Then the defenders started melting away



By 6AM, they were gone.



Then the Brits decided to help.



Thanks, guys! Excellent timing! Fortunately, the Canadians took Rome, not the UK.



Rome has fallen, Italy's National Unity is down a bit, but there is still work to be done.

 
WOW! I think that means you forced 170,000 Italians to surrender. That's Stalingrad territory. Even if they were only garrison troops, that massive loss will take a long time, if ever, for Italy to recover.
Your goon enforcer took out the puck carrier, and now you have a 4-on-2 going back the other way. Don't blow this! SCOOOOORRREEE!!!!

P.S. Thanks.
 
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Nice job capturing Roma! Now the rest of the war will be climbing the sock of Italy... if the Ruskies don't beat you there. Milano or bust!

Thanks! Yeah, no idea how close the Russians are other than from the map overview. Presumably it'll take some time to cross the Alps.

WOW! I think that means you forced 170,000 Italians to surrender. That's Stalingrad territory. Even if they were only garrison troops, that massive loss will take a long time, if ever, for Italy to recover.
Your [strikethrough]goon[/strikethrough] enforcer took out the puck carrier, and now you have a 4-on-2 going back the other way. Don't blow this! SCOOOOORRREEE!!!!

P.S. How do you actually strike though text instead of having those fake tags?

I'll try to follow through. Strikethrough is [ s ] and then [ / s ]
 
You need to create some sort of event for Vichy joining the West when Italy falls.
 
Come on Canada go for the Gold!

You need to create some sort of event for Vichy joining the West when Italy falls.

Instead of East/West Germany it would be North/South France :)
 
Don't listen to what anyone else says about Russia- I think you've won this game :D
 
Isn't there an event to reunify France if both France and Vichy exist at the same time?

good job on Roma ! Now you can move North to avoid gatting a south/north Italy as well ...
 
At last Rome falls. The hypothetical cold war is going to be depressing at least for europe. As you said maybe US/UK will put more effort into Asia.

It's gonna be rough for the UK and Italy, about the only ones in Western Europe it looks like.

You need to create some sort of event for Vichy joining the West when Italy falls.

Apparently they get to be inside the Axis and outside of the Russian's sights.

Come on Canada go for the Gold!

Instead of East/West Germany it would be North/South France :)

France does look very odd now.

Don't listen to what anyone else says about Russia- I think you've won this game :D

Thanks, I agree!

Isn't there an event to reunify France if both France and Vichy exist at the same time?

good job on Roma ! Now you can move North to avoid gatting a south/north Italy as well ...

The event might be for an Allied France and not a Nazi puppet? I dunno. Thanks on Rome, and BTW - good call on the Russians, the big Bear moves with surprising speed.
 
Chapter Sixty-Nine - The Last Race

When Canada captured Rome, that reduced Italy's owned Victory Points from 41 out of 64, to 26 out of 64. This change confirms my earlier calculations.

Italy now has 60% of their important cities held, and a national unity of 81.8%, 72.6% surrender progress. If their unity falls below 81.25%, then I'll only need to take two 7 VP cities, and I can ignore one 7VP city and 5VP Bologna. So Milan, Venice and Genoa are the three 7VP cities, and I'm hoping I only need two of them. Presumably the loss of their capital will cause unity to degrade slowly [Ed - yeah, you keep thinking that], and the loss of two of the three remaining 7VP cities might do some damage as well [Ed - or, you know, not]. If not, then I'll need to capture any three cities, not just two of the big ones.

In any event, since the Capitol is now Milan, Genoa and Milan are the obvious targets.



I move my air force up. I move troops to Rome, then recall that Rome has no port. However, that's nothing compared to the stupidity of the USA/UK.



I was very tempted to put a "attack here" symbol north of that capitol, but that would be redundant.


Follow the spiders

Then, because all this wasn't pointless enough, the UK bombed me in Rome.



Granted, the planes left before I took the city, but sheesh, they had to see it was Canada, the ground had changed color and everything.

What I had not counted on at all was how close the Russians were to Venice. Taking Genoa and Milan wasn't the best plan, it was the only plan.



I have a good deal of rearranging to do after eliminating the 188,000 enemy troops which had been my focus for so long.



I dropped a port in Rome, figuring I'll still have one left (and two air fields), and when am I going to need these?

Then began one of the largest Canada vs Italy naval engagements of the war!



As the hours passed, the Italian navy took damage and ran away piecemeal.



Then we won, sinking a couple of ships.


Victory at Sea

I grab a good chunk of the Canadian army from Rome, and move up to grab Genoa. I land marines to the west and infantry to the east, neither encounter any opposition. The rest will remain aboard ships until I know where to land them.



Then there was another naval engagement after the landing. Either I didn't get a report or I neglected to get a screenshot.



I'm not sure, because there were several incidental combats here as we chased off semi-ghost divisions (one battle had 12 enemy).

As nice as it would be to wait for the garrison troops to flee, I have no idea how long that will take, and I think I can beat them.



I have one of my two marine divisions crossing overland, and two landing from the sea. The Italians, however, sacrifice two transports to ensure my defeat.



I gave up soon thereafter, losing 155 killing only 20. Genoa's fortifications were no help to me, either.

So I develop a new plan, dump my guys in the already-created port, and go get some more.



I'll surround Genoa, and kill the defenders, then race to Milan.

However, while I'm messing about, and haven't even launched a credible attack on Genoa, the Russians have taken Venice.


"You wanna go faster?"
 
I move my air force up. I move troops to Rome, then recall that Rome has no port. However, that's nothing compared to the stupidity of the USA/UK.

Rome doesn't have a port? That defies 1000 years of Paradox games. Rome has a port in EU:R, CK, EU, and Vicky (later versions too, of course), so someone goofed.
 

Follow the spiders

Then, because all this wasn't pointless enough, the UK bombed me in Rome.



Granted, the planes left before I took the city, but sheesh, they had to see it was Canada, the ground had changed color and everything.

The British AI must be really broken here. Abandoning Europe to Communism? Bombing Commonwealth troops in an already occupied Rome? Sending tens of thousands of troops on death marches across the Eurasian steppes!?

Good luck with WW3, InnoccentIII! Looks like we can only count on you! :p
 
As I see it, with Venice gone the Italians will surrender as soon as you take Genoa. Since you've got the bulk of the victory points, they'll surrender to you, no matter what the Soviets do.

Looks like the Cold War is going to be mostly an Asian affair. If the Allies can keep China sweet they've even got a chance of winning it. Furthermore, without the scads of Marshall aid that Europe got post-war it's looking pretty grim for the continentals (barring Italy, of course).
 
The british are surprisingly brilliant in this particular game ... well if they are leaving Genoa of their own , let them do it , occuparion will come sooner that way!
 
Rome doesn't have a port? That defies 1000 years of Paradox games. Rome has a port in EU:R, CK, EU, and Vicky (later versions too, of course), so someone goofed.

I think it has more to do with the scale? Though I could be wrong. Rome's port is in Civitavecchia (price some cruises :D ) but it's odd it can have another as well.

The British AI must be really broken here. Abandoning Europe to Communism? Bombing Commonwealth troops in an already occupied Rome? Sending tens of thousands of troops on death marches across the Eurasian steppes!?

Good luck with WW3, InnocentIII! Looks like we can only count on you! :p

We're in trouble then, I've still only got 150k ish guys, I think.

As I see it, with Venice gone the Italians will surrender as soon as you take Genoa. Since you've got the bulk of the victory points, they'll surrender to you, no matter what the Soviets do.

Looks like the Cold War is going to be mostly an Asian affair. If the Allies can keep China sweet they've even got a chance of winning it. Furthermore, without the scads of Marshall aid that Europe got post-war it's looking pretty grim for the continentals (barring Italy, of course).

Exactly right on the surrender, but I suppose the Marshall plan will result in an OP Italy and UK.

The british are surprisingly brilliant in this particular game ... well if they are leaving Genoa of their own , let them do it , occupation will come sooner that way!

Yeah, the UK was pure genius, at least the USA attacked more or less directly.
 
Chapter Seventy - The End

All good things must end - three score and ten is the allotted space for man - and apparently all my AARs must end with a massive screw-up!

Oh, yeah: Spoiler Alert!

Italy is the last of the three Axis powers not yet conquered, and she owns only Genoa (7VPs), Milan (7VP capitol) and Bologna (5VPs). I'm trying to take Genoa and Milan faster than the Rooskies take Bologna, although as has been noted, I've got enough Italian VPs in hand that only Canada can conquer the country.

I've grabbed troops from my front line to help in the race to Milan. I don't care anymore about losing Civitavecchia, and that's highly unlikely anyway.



The Axis bugged out of Genoa, which is convenient, so far as it goes, but they moved into my way!


just playing through

I bring my reinforcements up and advance around Genoa, toward Milan from two directions.


This won't take long

I think I'll beat the Russians to Milan without difficulty, unless the defenders line up all wrong (or the USSR brought armor).

We take Genoa quickly, which you'd expect since the defenders left, and we race to Milan.


Path of least resistance it is!

Hmm, what are the odds we'll have more naval combat. It's like the Marianas Turkey Shoot, a chance to pile up some numbers for our post-war stats!

I was wrong to think that National Unity was affected by having cities taken by the enemy.


What was I thinking?

So whoever takes the next city, wins! We call dibs.

I check out the supply situation and suffice it to say that there are no issues. Canada's supply will last longer than Italy's Italy.

All we catch at sea are three transports, and in a purely humanitarian move, none are sunk. In a move which is not the massive screw-up I promised, I apparently changed course with my marines to chase off an HQ unit, thus using up the attack of that unit for way too long.



So, undefended capitol, didly I can do about it for now. Not the exciting chase I was hoping for at all. Let's face it, Götterdämmerung is not an Italian bedtime story.

Then the screen updates.



That's more like it. We line up a few guys and see what there is to be seen.



We sank a destroyer flotilla that missed the memo about the war at sea being over. Adm. Guido shot at us first!

On land, the enemy knows what's what, and runs for Switzerland.


Let's hope we don't have to take Chiavenna

Then I remember I still have this air force thingy.



We kill 40 guys from the air, which is redundant, I know, but I paid for this stuff and I want to get my money's worth.



Australia offers me a trade agreement! Thanks, guys, I forgot where you were for a bit, there.

We kill another 90 guys with bombings, and so long as we're engaging in random acts of warfare


Why not?

To add some last moment drama, I get no victory message in Milan, but enemy soldiers are incoming!



Then, at 3pm March 8th 1944, we took the last Italian city needed to knock the last of the Axis Big Three out of the war!



So the enemy, of course, launched an attack on Foligno! Thanks for the hockey reference, guys.

I win, right?



Not as such. Apparently, Paradox works from an Iran-Turkey-Egypt view of Democracy.


Democracy sucks!

Italy gets her land back, and stays in the Axis! [Ed - the USSR would have had Venice anyway. Me - never talk to me again!]


To give thanks for the wonderful war: VOTE AXIS!

So, Hitler's wargoal was "Enforce Democrcy" in 1943 when the Italians surrendered?

This insanity costs Canada the Italian 57 VPs we had and pushes us way down the league tables.



We ought to be just shy of France, upper 70s, and the USSR would have 7VPs in Venice and a bit of land. Ah, well, it was my own fault, there was no game reason to add Enforce Democracy as a goal, it just seemed like what an Allied country would do. Obviously, the rule is don't Enforce Democracy right away, or the people, grateful for the opportunity to fight and die alongside the Nazis, will simply keep their Axis Overlords in power.

I'll wrap things up in a final chapter. This will take a bit as it's the last substantive chapter and I don't want to rush, so next Monday at the earliest. I won't be giving much advice to other players as the main thing I learned is that I'm not really in a position to give detailed advice. General advice, sure, and some specifics for Canada, but not the "build six X, reasearch this and not that" advice I'd hoped to do when I started. Canada needs a specific rotation of research well thought out in advance. As the USA and even when I played as Italy all I ever did was mash all the buttons. I didn't do much better as Canada.

I will say a couple things now, though. I'm absolutely certain I killed/captured way more guys than we have in our army! And Canada conquered more than I expected when I started. I'll have to stop by Ethiopia sometime, we're having it painted and then renting it out to the Italian Axis so they can reminisce.
 
I've spent several dinner hours reading this AAR. I've really enjoyed it and I arrive at the end of a long road where Canada (and hockey) reigns victorious -- err, does it? What the hell happened with imposing democracy?

Captain Canada: *postures over a defeated Italy* "Consider yourself to have received a damned good thrashing".
Italy: "So what happens now?"
Captain Canada: "Well we're going home to play hockey. You can decide your own future from here".
Italy: "Oh thanks. Well it was nice of you to drop by, but we'll be buddying up with our German cousins again if it's all the same to you".
 
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