The Fate of Europe
Amazingly when I load the game, before I even unpause it, the USSR surrender event is there. It is really unbelievable how lucky this is. The only thing I can think of is that the game checked the surrender checklist when the game was loaded. I happily accept the peace terms. The Soviet Union is defeated, now the full might of Germany can turn on the allies. There are no rebels in HOI, so Germany can safely move all its forces to the west.
France is lost; many Axis divisions were destroyed in its defense. Alarmingly Germany is unprotected. The bulk of the remaining Axis forces are now trapped in Spain, sandwiched between the British and Americans. Italy has lost over forty divisions in Africa and has no control over the North Africa anymore.
The Heer is racing towards France now but it will take them some time to get there. In the meantime construction begins on a few battleships, destroyers, and transports. Wonder why Germany would need them
.
A few mechanized divisions are the first to arrive and are moving around trying to block the British from entering Germany.
Much of Western Europe has been lost but the allies have faced limited to no opposition. The Panzerarmees are now arriving in France and led elements of the infantry are arriving in Germany. The time has come to push the allies back into the sea.
The British, Americans, and Canadians are simply no match for the battle hardened German soldiers. France is quickly taken back and the Heer is moving into Spain with the objective of retaking Gibraltar. Also Switzerland has foolishly given military access to France, allowing a few French divisions to escape. Switzerland will be annexed into the Reich for its breach of neutrality.
The Navy and Air force begin to upgrade their units to the newer models.
Just like in France the allies in Spain can only offer token resistance. Gibraltar is back in Axis hands. Sadly with the Suez being recaptured by the allies, the Mediterranean is still open. There is little else to do now but wait for the Navy and Air Force to finish with their upgrades. The invasion of the UK is next. To do this we will need a modern fleet supported by the air force.
While the Kreigsmarine continues to be strengthen the V1s were redeployed to northern France and used to target IC in lower England . They preformed exceptionally well, dropping British IC to zero in the provinces that were targeted. V2 technology finished recently and a few begin to be built. The only real advantage is they has increased range, though not significantly so.
As time goes on the Kreigmarine and the Luftwaffe have been fully upgraded and are ready for sea lion. In preparation the newly built V2s bombed British industries that were out of reach of the V1s, severely crippling their IC.
The Kriegsmarine sailed out to the coast of the UK. Allied planes began bombing the fleet but were quickly driven off by the Luftwaffe. The invasion force landed unopposed and destroyed no less than 21 enemy plane squadrons, air superiority has been achieved. More German troops were landed and are now moving to engage the main enemy presence in the UK.
The British fought hard but lost their island to the Reich, the UK is now under occupation. It is worth noting the invasion force was nearly destroyed because I forgot you had to manually set up supply convoys (funny how spoiled you get). Fortunately when I saw the dropping organization I realized the problem. Although the British are still in the game without their IC, resources, and manpower they pose little threat.
Germany is now the unquestioned master of Europe. Only one task remains, the invasion of the United States of America. However, the Reich isn’t prepared for such an ambitious task. The navy needs to be built up, significantly.
It takes time to build a navy, so until then; Germany will do a little warmongering. Denmark is the first country to be targeted and falls quickly. This puts us in an excellent position for the main target, Sweden. Germany is currently short on metals which, as a result, are hampering the economy. Sweden has an abundance of the valuable resource.
Sweden had a larger army than anticipated but it was no match for the Heer, it quickly fell and with it Sweden. The annexation of Sweden had results beyond my expectations. Germany’s resource pile is now maxed out on metal. With plenty of metal, German IC went from 847 to 1900. The stockpile won’t last long; it is much smaller than HOI 2 and 3. Even still with Sweden's metal producing areas brought into the fold, Germany is in a much better position.
As always, thanks for reading!
