Hello folks, some background: I'm quite a strategy enthusiastic and a lover of complex games. So I took my purse, got myself a copy of HOI3 in my favourite game store. I read the manual on my way home from work and during installation. When I fired the game for the first time it just took me a
glimpse to decide: This needs some serious delving in. So I went to bed to recover from my impression.
Seriously: I fiddled around with some minors to get into the game, waiting for 1.2 and occasionally peeking into combat by starting a game with Italy.
Now weekend brought the first insights to an emerging war:
The choice was not hard to make: Once the leading clique had settled into power, eliminating any inner dissenters their minds turned to "bigger pictures". For they had to do so: Resting satisfied on their achievements they would soon have turned against each other, so great was their lust for power, revenge and maliciousness.
What spoilt them is hard to tell but it is said that war changes people in the way they think and act.
Some might have had great opportunities in the former Kaiserreich, but the Great War spoilt those chances when the young German Republic emerged. Some just could find their place in the new order, some were traumatised by their war experiences and some had tried to survive the Great Depression ever wondering who was to be the scape goat.
But we need not think of their psyche - all we should do is witness another great war unfolding.
It is 1936 - January 1st and time is again frozen - like it is always on certain historic dates. The cabinet convenes and decides on the new policies. There is no common line, but the leading figure soon dissolves the heterogenous community with one of his feared outbreaks.
Between articulations unheard before, participants of the meeting recalled some information later on:
"....picture! A great picture! We need a masterpiece and I shall forge this masterpiece...."
"....nobody! NOBODY shall get into my way - I have a vision, a dream..... of DESSTINY!"
"And thus we shall field the army, that mirrors Germany's GREATNESS. An army bigger than ever seen before. With tanks! Planes! Ships! U-Boote! Big plans! Marching! Campfires! We will develop new cunning materials, weapons, new officers, bigger soldiers. Yes, and of course der small little things that make people invisible - whatsdername?...."
In short: The plan to build 30 Infanteriekorps, 3 Panzerkorps, CAS, Submarines and stuff like that to have a decent war was immediately implemented.
A cunning and malicious foreign policy was devised to blind other nations and lead them to believe that Germany would pose no serious threat. The soon outbreak of the Spanish Civil War worked towards this cause.
"Italy has declared war on republican Spain, mein Führer."
"Well, well, let them teach this bolschewik scum manners. I have already ordered to support our Spanish brethren!"
It is unclear whether this order had been taken care of as the daily business continued as usual and there was no decline in supplies reported.
The nationalist made a bold move in trying to unite their separated parts of the country. They seemed to gain the advantage.
The German army staff reviewed the development daily in the beginning assisted by a new intel device:
"Whats der thing here?"
"This, general, is a receiver. Electromagnetic waves will be converted in this device into light and this projector generates the picture of a map"
A map of Spain emerges on the wall. Several counters appear representing divisions of the two Spanish factions. The picture however is unstable and loses focus from time to time.
"Ah well - a new support for our agents in Spain. I like it. It seems our tech investments actually pay off!"
"Ahh, er, in fact we do not know where those radio waves originate from. We just received them and then Krüger had this idea of attaching a spectral...."
"Spare me - so this might as well be a hostile plot to deceive us? Nah..." *crashing noise* "... good riddance to it!"
"Now, whats der cause you have begged for my attention?"
"General, we are very concerned about the global weather development on the oceans. It seems we are nearing a climatic catastrophe. We were not able to find a single clear spot on the known world - nor did any foreign source do so - this is a major threat to worldwide shipping..."
"Nah, don't bother - those clouds will conceal our fleets and submarines - just see that you develop a decent sonar system!"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note:
Now this report actually takes up my first impressions. The game has been developing to some strange traces. I'll try to work them in and comment the flaws and strangenesses in some humourous form. Yeah - well kind of.
The telemetric device actually bases on an issue where I could see the armies in Spain when zooming in. Might be the Italy in Axis-faction thing but then again, they vanished when zooming out. (And yes I know they should do so - but they were only visible near max. zoom.)
The weather thing of course is well known. I might continue this but don't expect to find a diary like AAR. I'll rather create some episodes in different settings.
glimpse to decide: This needs some serious delving in. So I went to bed to recover from my impression.
Seriously: I fiddled around with some minors to get into the game, waiting for 1.2 and occasionally peeking into combat by starting a game with Italy.
Now weekend brought the first insights to an emerging war:
The choice was not hard to make: Once the leading clique had settled into power, eliminating any inner dissenters their minds turned to "bigger pictures". For they had to do so: Resting satisfied on their achievements they would soon have turned against each other, so great was their lust for power, revenge and maliciousness.
What spoilt them is hard to tell but it is said that war changes people in the way they think and act.
Some might have had great opportunities in the former Kaiserreich, but the Great War spoilt those chances when the young German Republic emerged. Some just could find their place in the new order, some were traumatised by their war experiences and some had tried to survive the Great Depression ever wondering who was to be the scape goat.
But we need not think of their psyche - all we should do is witness another great war unfolding.
It is 1936 - January 1st and time is again frozen - like it is always on certain historic dates. The cabinet convenes and decides on the new policies. There is no common line, but the leading figure soon dissolves the heterogenous community with one of his feared outbreaks.
Between articulations unheard before, participants of the meeting recalled some information later on:
"....picture! A great picture! We need a masterpiece and I shall forge this masterpiece...."
"....nobody! NOBODY shall get into my way - I have a vision, a dream..... of DESSTINY!"
"And thus we shall field the army, that mirrors Germany's GREATNESS. An army bigger than ever seen before. With tanks! Planes! Ships! U-Boote! Big plans! Marching! Campfires! We will develop new cunning materials, weapons, new officers, bigger soldiers. Yes, and of course der small little things that make people invisible - whatsdername?...."
In short: The plan to build 30 Infanteriekorps, 3 Panzerkorps, CAS, Submarines and stuff like that to have a decent war was immediately implemented.
A cunning and malicious foreign policy was devised to blind other nations and lead them to believe that Germany would pose no serious threat. The soon outbreak of the Spanish Civil War worked towards this cause.
"Italy has declared war on republican Spain, mein Führer."
"Well, well, let them teach this bolschewik scum manners. I have already ordered to support our Spanish brethren!"
It is unclear whether this order had been taken care of as the daily business continued as usual and there was no decline in supplies reported.
The nationalist made a bold move in trying to unite their separated parts of the country. They seemed to gain the advantage.
The German army staff reviewed the development daily in the beginning assisted by a new intel device:
"Whats der thing here?"
"This, general, is a receiver. Electromagnetic waves will be converted in this device into light and this projector generates the picture of a map"
A map of Spain emerges on the wall. Several counters appear representing divisions of the two Spanish factions. The picture however is unstable and loses focus from time to time.
"Ah well - a new support for our agents in Spain. I like it. It seems our tech investments actually pay off!"
"Ahh, er, in fact we do not know where those radio waves originate from. We just received them and then Krüger had this idea of attaching a spectral...."
"Spare me - so this might as well be a hostile plot to deceive us? Nah..." *crashing noise* "... good riddance to it!"
"Now, whats der cause you have begged for my attention?"
"General, we are very concerned about the global weather development on the oceans. It seems we are nearing a climatic catastrophe. We were not able to find a single clear spot on the known world - nor did any foreign source do so - this is a major threat to worldwide shipping..."
"Nah, don't bother - those clouds will conceal our fleets and submarines - just see that you develop a decent sonar system!"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note:
Now this report actually takes up my first impressions. The game has been developing to some strange traces. I'll try to work them in and comment the flaws and strangenesses in some humourous form. Yeah - well kind of.
The telemetric device actually bases on an issue where I could see the armies in Spain when zooming in. Might be the Italy in Axis-faction thing but then again, they vanished when zooming out. (And yes I know they should do so - but they were only visible near max. zoom.)
The weather thing of course is well known. I might continue this but don't expect to find a diary like AAR. I'll rather create some episodes in different settings.
