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Germany Tutorial: Take 2.

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SSmith said:
I'm still amazed by the level of detail and the effort that must go into creating these chapters! Great work!

On the subject of special forces, I have sometimes attached engineers to mountain divisions. Any thoughts on that combination?
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I'm just guessing here, but in some cases (like Switzerland's mountaintop forts or against the Czech Sudetenland) that might actually work. Never tried it, though. how do they do in practice compared to standard mountaineers?
 
If I'd actually been playing this game for the last 2 years instead of testing I might be better placed to say what works and what doesn't... I suppose my thinking was that the mountaineers were naturally good in difficult terrain types and adding engineers for river crossings and assaulting fortifications would extend their scope as specialist units.
 
I might run a test later today. Fascinating stuff, this. I'll let you know.

By the way, folks. I've finished writing up the next chapter. To celebrate my return to AARdom, you can expect a double-sized chapter spanning the whole length of 1938 later today! With my sincerely humble thanks for your continued clamoring for my return.
 
Chapter 16: 1938.

For the UK, France and Germany, 1938 is a decisive year in their pre-war build-up. By the end of the year, you should be able to determine whether you will have enough ground-, air- and/or naval forces for the coming struggle.

As a reminder, we will need at least 18 infantry divisions guarding France (which we have), a back-up force in case things don’t stay quiet on the Western Front (which we are building), and at least 26 divisions to invade Poland. Why 26? Simple. There will be 26 provinces bordering Poland (including East Prussia and Slovakia, which doesn’t exist yet). The make-up of these forces will, of course, depend wholely on your chosen strategy and doctrine.
In a perfect situation, we need at least 3 fighter groups in the west to guard against Allied bombing (check) and 2 or 3 to insure air superiority in Poland. We will need plenty of bombers to support our advance (building) in Poland and preferably 1 bomber wing in the west, just to be certain.
For Germany, strictly speaking, we don’t need much in the way of a navy prior to 1940. Some subs to keep the Allies hopping are, of course, useful (we already have more than the RL Germans did in 1939).

hoi32.png

The year starts off with a bang. The Munich treaty will hand over all of Czechoslovakia’s, heavily fortified, provinces. Their first line of defense will fall into our laps without a shot being fired. Just like Austria, these will be considered German core provinces.
Like the Anschluss, it will gain us dissent and threat, as well as some IC and Leadership. Make sure the game is saved before you click the decision. Sometimes, the czechs choose to fight. Since we don’t want any early wars, if they refuse to hand the Sudetenland over to us, simply reload and try again.

hoi33.png

The sudetenland fortresses are ours now.​

Go to the production screen and transfer all IC to CG to get rid of the dissent ASAP.
Wait one day and transfer LS as follows: research: 24.01, espionage: 2.11 (provided you still have over 50 extra spies), diplomacy: 2.05, officers: everything else.

As things turn back to normal, 2 more CV techs are done. Keep them prioritised.
On the 7th my dissent was gone. Adjust the IC sliders.

hoi35.png

At some point early in februari, we can invite Romania into the Axis. However, this is impossible. Several factors have to be satisfied: they will need to loose Bessarabia to the Soviets and (maybe) Transylvania to Hungary.
However, they don’t have to be in the Axis to get the benefits of their Oil Refinery once the war starts. Just close enough. We can safely stop influencing them and begin influencing Bulgaria. Keep a close eye on the diplomatic triangle from time to time. When Romania start slipping away, go back to influencing them until they’re back in the fold.

On the 20th, our first panzer divsision comes off the line. Deploy it to I. Panzerkorps and give it a panzer general before starting a new panzer division in the production queu.
The two battlecruisers will get finished now as well. Start building a new battleship (our second), as well as our first carrier. Make sure the checkbox marked “add CAGs” is checked, as in the following screenshot.

hoi36.png

On the 21st, 2 interceptors are done. Add one to IV. Fliegerkorps and set the other one down in Wien as “V. fliegerkorps”. After we take Czechoslovakia, this fighter group will be transfered to Prague (Praha as it is called in the game) to guard the UK’s favorite strat bombing target of Leipzig. Add this one to Heeresgruppe A and start work on 2 new interceptors.

A few days later, our industrial production research bears fruit. We should now have enough IC saved up from various sources to start work on a new mountaineer division. Some of the provinces east of Krakow, a Polish VP province, have hilly terrain. They will be instrumental in securing the east wing of our advance on Krakow.

A new tactical bomber will get added to Luftflotte III. Start building a new one right away.

Our first mountaineer division will come off the line at the end of march. Deploy it in Dresden. Give it a new corps HQ called “I. Gebirgsjägerkorps” and attach it to the 4. Armee, which will be the southern wing of our invasion force. There are some excellent commando leaders in the German officer pool. Give Dietl control of the division and Schörner control of the corps HQ (he will have to be promoted to Lieutenant General first).
Start a new panzer division, leaving supplies in the red.
Around the same time we will get a new dive bomber. Deploy it in Breslau, call it “Stuka 2” and attach it to heeresgruppe A. this is our fourth dive bomber. Start a new one.
Sometime in early april a bunch of infrastructure works are finished. Start a new armour division and transfer the rest of the wasted IC to supplies.
A few days later, we get a new interceptor for the V. Fliegerkorps.

On the 5th of May, our escort carrier is done. Deploy it in Stettin and rename it Weserflotte.

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Find the 1. Trägergruppe and right-click Stettin. We can now give it an order to “rebase to carrier”.

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Select the Kriegsmarine and detach KMS Emden (a light cruiser)and two level-2 destroyers into a seperate squadron. Rebase them to Stettin. Once they arrive there, combine them with KMS Weser. These will be the escorts for our troop transports.
Start work on a motorised division before unpauzing.

hoi38.png

I’m showing you this just to make sure we’re all still on the same page. (note our resources stockpiling nicely).

Two weeks later, we get a new mtn division. Attach it to I. Gebirgsjägerkorps and give it a commando general (my choice was Student, historically a paratrooper general).
On the 1st of June, our CV techs get another bump. This time, they are up-to-date (1938 being researched). Leave them at the bottom of the research queu. We have to much going on to keep prioritising them ahead of time and besides, we wouldn’t have the spare IC to build one anyway. We just went from 1918 tech to 1938 tech in 3 years time, all because of our consistent prioritising of the technology.
In July, the second panzer division is done. Attach it to II. Panzerkorps and give it a panzer general. Start a new motorised division (2 mot/ 2 TD, remember?) and transfer the rest of the IC to supplies.

After our 3 latest subs come off the line (you know the drill by now, deployment in Kiel, renaming them “V. Unterseebootflotte”), use the IC to start a motorised division in stead. We really need to start focusing on our ground forcces by now and these take over 200 days to finish.
Interceptors will go to the V. Fliegerkorps and 2 more can be added to the queu.

On the 20th, our education research finishes. End the research, wait one day, use the extra LS to get research up to 25.01. keep spies and diplo at their previous levels and transfer the rest of the LS to officers.

On 2nd of august, we get another interceptor. Set it down in Berlin as the “VI. Fliegerkorps” and rebase I. Fliegerkorps to Koningsberg. Attach the new fighters to Heeresgruppe A.
We still have 2 more interceptors in the queu, so we can safely start work on yet another motorised division. Transfer the rest of the IC to supplies.

On the 15th, our 3rd panzer division is done. Attach it to III. Panzerkorps and give it a panzer general. Start work on a new motorised division. Use the rest for added supply production.

One day later, our very first battleship (KMS Bismarck) is commisioned. Attach it to the kriegsmarine. Now would be an excellent time to start work on our troop transports. You can find them in the fleet tab of the production screen at the bottom. Start building one and use the rest on supplies.

Our 5th CAS will get added to Stuka 2 and we can start work on a new CAS.

Late august, yet another batch of infra works finishes. Use the IC to start work on a 2nd transport ship.

In september we get a new infantry divsion. Attach it to III. Armeekorps in Köln and assign it a log wizard. Start work on a new infantry division.

hoi310.png

Our operational level organisation gets done on the 18th. Check the new date. Spring of 1941. This means we will have 1944 doctrine 3 years ahead of time, just in time for operation Barbarossa. I Love it when a plan comes together! So by all means keep it prioritised!

Our third mountaineer division is ready on the 19th of september. Add it to the Gebirgsjägerkorps and start a new infantry division.

One week later Multi-Role fighter gets researched. As I said before, these are most useful against enemy bombers, carriers and for air superiority missions on the far reaches of our bases’ range.

We get a new panzer on the same day. Add it to the IV. Panzerkorps and give it a panzer general. In it’s place, we will start a transport ship and an infantry division.

A new decision opens up on the 1st of October. The first Vienna Award gives us all Czech territory as German cores while Slovakia will become our puppet.

A puppet always has the same type of government as the parent country and its own army. While not very useful, it does save us the trouble of having to police the place. Any surpluss resources past a certain point will be send to the overlord. Supply chains run uninterupted through puppet territory. Beyond that, it allows us to come at Poland from three sides.
As before, use all IC to reduce dissent as fast as possible. After one day, use the extra LS to get our research slider to 27.01.

hoi312o.png

This is it, boys and girls. This little decision on the part of the UK makes World War II inevitable. Past this point, there is no return. Within less than a year, we will be at war until the end.

hoi329.png

Stop influencing Bulgaria and influence Hungary in stead to get them within Axis distance in days. As it turns out, on the 5th of October (in my game; dates may vary here) I can enlist Hungary into the Axis. Whatever else happens, our southern border is, for the time being anyway, fully secure. Keep an eye on the date when you can send a new diplomatic envoy to Hungary. As soon as you can, stop influencing them. Take a look at the diplomatic triangle. Belgium, Netherlands, Sweden and Norway all have interesting strategic resources and they are all close enough to the Allies to provide UK with their benefits. I chose to influence Sweden, hoping to get them far enough away from the top triangle before the balloon goes up.
You must decide who to influence. These things are not set in stone and you may find another nation more useful or more dangerous. If you’re not sure, post a screenshot of your diplo triangle and I’ll try to advice you.

A few days later, dissent is gone. Adjust the sliders and use the extra IC to start work on a new Light Cruiser, a Destroyer and an infantry division.

hoi315.png

Take the time to look at this picture. It is a perfect example of the importance of physical proximity (as well as the use of spies) in diplomatic affairs.
France, our neighbour, and eternal nemesis, has realised just how dangerous we’ve become. At 78.9, it would only take one slip on our part to have declare war on us. At a neutrality of 0%, they can DoW anyone they want.
Across the Channel, the UK seems to have fully fallen for our ruse. Thanks to the excellent spywork in the SU, the leader of the Allies considers Stalin a bigger menace to world peace than us. With a neutrality of 15%, they should be running at the best peacetime laws: war economy and three-year draft. Beware, however, that we are only trailing the Soviets by about 1.5 threat.
On the other side of the big pond, the only nation on earth we should really fear, the US, is barely aware of our rearmament. They still think we adhere to the Versailles treaty, and seem content to let things be as they might.

Now that Praha is ours, we can redeploy the V. Fliegerkorps from Vienna to the airbase in the former Czech capital.
The rest of the year is fairly quiet. We will see 2 new panzers (one for I. Panzerkorps ande the other for II. Panzerkorps) and a tact bomber for Luftflotte IV. For each of the panzers start an infantry division, while for the tactical bomber, we will start a new tac bomber and an infantry division.

hoi330.png

We will also receive 2 new interceptors for VI. Fliegerkorps. Start one interceptor and one MR.

Near the end of November, we get a new motorised division. This one will go to the II. Panzerkorps and will receive a panzer general. We can start 2 new infantry divisions.
Let the game run. Near the end of December, the research of mobile warfare is done, giving us access to the Spearhead Doctrine. This tech will reduce the combat width of our armour brigades of all type by 1, meaning we can fit more tanks into the same battle than would otherwise be possible. More on combat width in the next chapter. Even though it is 1940 tech, start the research now and prioritise it to make sure we will get it’s benefits in time for the invasion of the Low Countries and France.

As a New Year’s Eve present, we get the last infantry division for the III. Armeekorps. Start a new one right away.
You can now send 1 division each from the III. Armeekorps to the four final Siegfriedline provinces, guarding Luxemburg, Belgium and the south of the Netherlands. This is mainly a precaution to guard against any surprises there.

Ok, people. This is it for now. Enjoy the last peaceful New Year in the game. By this time next year, all the world will know the name Germany!
 
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misterbean said:
For the UK, France and Germany, 1938 is a decisive year in their pre-war build-up. By the end of the year, you should be able to determine wether you will have enough ground-, air- and/or naval forces for the coming struggle.
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'whether', not 'wether'.
Other than that it was a great chapter. I'm looking forward to seeing if you can beat Poland in under two weeks with your preparations.
 
alhoward said:
'whether', not 'wether'.
Other than that it was a great chapter. I'm looking forward to seeing if you can beat Poland in under two weeks with your preparations.
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my personal record is six days, but that was against an unmobilised Poland.
 
The Polish AI isn't very good at assessing threats. You would think they would at least mobilize in response to a fully mobilized Nazi Germany amassing troops on their borders.
 
Its the whole "unless the AI builds Radar, they can't see more than one province into your territory, so keep them a province back to 'hide' them from AI" trick. Though usually once Germany mobilizes other nations mobilize shortly after. Not always, though.
 
Could you clarify a few points about strategic resources? Do you know what constitutes close enough to benefit from a resource held by a neutral country? Also, who gets the benefit? Just the faction leader or the whole faction?

What size do you recommend for submarine groups? My tendency is to go for one or two flotillas max to reduce the risk of detection.
 
If you mouse over a nation's flag in the Diplomatic triangle, there's a tooltip to inform you if a nation is closely enough aligned. only the faction leader benefits from other nations' strategic resources.

As for submarine fleet sizes I usually group them in threes. Eventually, they will get found. they will get engaged by enemy planes or ships. at least this way there is a chance that some of them might get away. I'll test running them solo or in groups of 2, though. never too late to learn new tricks, is it?

The real trick against Poland is kind of gamey. If they are not mobilised, there is no need to mobilise the German army either. your weapons and doctrines are more advanced than theirs. Even unmobilised they are no match. just watch the French, though. your border divisions won't be mobilised either. And trust me, the French WILL mobilise ahead of time 99% of the time.
 
Does it generally favor the player to build non-reserves (as a major) in order to spring surprise attacks, or do the IC costs of the reserves outweigh the benefits of the regulars?
 
alhoward said:
Does it generally favor the player to build non-reserves (as a major) in order to spring surprise attacks, or do the IC costs of the reserves outweigh the benefits of the regulars?
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you have to pay a cost in consumer goods for every non-reserve divison you have during peace time, so reserves are better, as they cost less up front and don't make you pay as large a CG penalty.

also some laws mean your reserve units are nearly at full strength un mobalized
 
by your command!

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azedalis said:
Since it will be atleast a week till 2.06 Beta to be finalized or maybe 2 depending on how many people respond to it, what is your plans now that we have a beta?
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I spend most of the day at work thinking about that. Considering the fact that, AFAIK, 3.06 has a lot of AI improvements, I would need at least a couple of weeks getting familiar enough with it to speak my mind. This tutorial is apparently so popular (for which you have my humble thanks) that it would be a shame not to finish it.
besides, after my much too-long absence, I'm delighted to finally be at the brink of war.
So I will continue this AAR in 3.05. After all, the basics of combat and diplomacy, don't change. people come here to learn how to deal with the game. I plan to finish it off with a rundown on the things I will have learned by then that differentiate the 2 patches.
I really don't fancy Germany Tutorial Take Three, no matter how proud I sometimes am about Take Two.
So 3.05 it is.
 
wow, that was a marathon session. ;p I think I got lost a few times, as I have more than 26 divs in OKH (up to 32 now, will be have more than 40 if I keep building inf). But, I'm not so worried about that. Handling Poland and France is easy. It's the Soviets that scare me....

I'm really enjoying your AAR, but please keep the chapters to six months for sanity's sake :confused: , especially once the war starts (might want to do even less time then, like 3 mos.).
 
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