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Next month's session played through, will start screenshot editing and writing up. Some replies to comments on the last chapter I hadn't responded to yet:
All in all a very good month. The front line is mostly stable, with some quite hopeful episodes.
Yes, not too bad, with hopes the still-arriving reinforcements (the ones in the north do have a long way to travel through fairly poor infra once off the Trans-Siberian Railway) will bring the Japanese to a halt, before we can start to roll them back.
The objectives given, and troops allocated, look like they should do the trick. The big issue in the far east is definitely getting the supplies there, and until you secure a port on the Pacific coast, supplying the troops will get more expensive and more patchy as they move east.
Yes, the only Pacific port at the moment is in Kamchatka - not much use! In the meantime, I'll just have to do my best with supply tech improvements and not over-crowding the Far East with more units than can be effectively supplies. Small spoiler: perhaps investing in a little infrastructure improvement may help - a northern branch line for the the T-S Railway? I'm sure @Surt will approve! ;)
Loving the spy-game. Keeping a full 10 spies in Japan definitely requires a lot of investment, but when you're actively fighting them it's a nice thing to have, and you seem to be able to afford it.
Yes, prosecuting it quite hard. Manchukuo is proving a bit of a handful too!
Only 7.46 Leadership on officer training. And you're keeping up with demand? In my game, Officer training is at 12 Leadership, and I'm barely keeping up with losses, if you add in new units, my officer ratio is actually going down since the GPW started.

Oh now it makes sense... You suffered fewer losses in a month than I suffered in 10 days... In 'Odin's world, the Red Army is suffering ca. 24-25.000 casualties every 10 days, at least in the first month of the GPW... and that's not counting POWs... That really puts things into perspective... Those numbers are definitely favourable, you can take those kinds of losses for a long time, and the casualty ratio is significantly in your favour.
I'm sure AI USSR would have had similar issues in the GPW against Germany until the French knocked them out: if it hadn't been for that, in this game I think the Soviets would have been toast without that continuous First Front.
I couldn't help but notice your supplies stockpile is over 50.000. That's really healthy. If you need a temporary boost in IC for something else (like a nuclear reactor) you could probably cut back a bit on supply production until it reaches about 30.000, in my experience that still gives you a decent buffer against the up- and downswings of the supply system, and your troops should remain in supply (unless the Infrastructure can't keep up which is a different problem entirely).
The stockpile wasn't as large as it seemed: even with a lot of IC invested - well over the 'needed' amount - I was getting daily swings of more than -3,000 and occasional 'supply will run out in 20 days' warnings! And that's before I start egging the AI commanders onto the offensive. I'm hoping the completion of SR movement east will decrease the drain somewhat (SR is supply intensive, I believe). But I've never been much of a supply expert - I do heed it, it's just that I only partly/fuzzily understand the HOI3 supply mechanics.:confused:
Glad you got your computer issues somewhat sorted.
I now have! The session I played on this game last night was on the PC: it turned out the only further fix I needed was to install the podcat.exe! I'd never needed/used it before (as the old set-up on Win7 PC and Win10 laptop had worked fine without it). I'd heard of it before; read up a bit yesterday on basic HOI3 in Win10 crash treatment; saw it was the logical next step; and was able to find it easily due to @Surt 's very helpful link to the HOI3 Megathread in their signature line! Thanks man!! :cool::)

I did a long test run at high speed and AI control on an old Talking Turkey save file that worked perfectly, then this month-long run without the slightest hitch. All is now good, it seems. :)
Just keeping on having an open corridor to a Pacific port would have to do for now but I'm worried that might be lost as well
It's close to lost, reliant on whether the Japanese keep advancing north/east up there. You'll see how they go in the next update.

@Surt: had already responded to the posts about supply, and there will be more info produced at the end of the next chapter. Happy at that point to take any additional advice from all readers who may have a better practical understanding of the supply system than me, and any simple/standard actions that can be taken to reduce demand and operate more efficiently. It's a big operation now to be conducting at the end of a very long supply line, especially when the AI has most of the day-to-day control on the ground and in the air.
 
SR is VERY supply extensive, that's my belief as well
Yeah, I’m hoping it calms down when the redeployments finish up. But the Axis threw me a bit of a curve ball in August, so we’ll still be chewing through them for a while yet.
 
I'm hoping the completion of SR movement east will decrease the drain somewhat (SR is supply intensive, I believe)
SR is VERY supply extensive, that's my belief as well
Yeah, I’m hoping it calms down when the redeployments finish up. But the Axis threw me a bit of a curve ball in August, so we’ll still be chewing through them for a while yet.
My recollection is that SR isn't spply-intensive, per se, but the rapid pace at which your units redeploy is faster than the supply system can transport supplies across the map to those units, which leads to a few weird behaviors: supplies will be sent out towards those units, only to arrive long after those units have left the province the supplies were sent to; SR units may tend to eat supplies along the way designated for other units; and finally, the combination of supplies being sent out to nowhere and "out-of-supply" units being SRed inflates supply demands quite a lot, plus you get random upswings when un-consumed supply "packets" return back to your capital.

Basically, SR plays havoc with the supply system but doesn't increase your actual supply needs, it just looks like it because your logistics people all died of conniptions when you clicked the SR button.
 
Basically, SR plays havoc with the supply system but doesn't increase your actual supply needs, it just looks like it because your logistics people all died of conniptions when you clicked the SR button.
I've seen that in action more than once... SR really messes with the already fragile HOI3 supply system, I couldn't have put that better myself.
 
I've seen that in action more than once... SR really messes with the already fragile HOI3 supply system, I couldn't have put that better myself.
I really feel like the HoI3 supply system is accidentally the most realistic system in the game, just because in all of its fragility, inscrutability, and generally chaotic nature, it accidentally models the fact that IRL logistics were hardly optimal either, what with all this mobile, mechanized warfare being fought that no one was properly prepared for.
 
I really feel like the HoI3 supply system is accidentally the most realistic system in the game, just because in all of its fragility, inscrutability, and generally chaotic nature, it accidentally models the fact that IRL logistics were hardly optimal either, what with all this mobile, mechanized warfare being fought that no one was properly prepared for.

We've covered paradox production of hoi before but yeah...competence and random genius is usually accidental here.
 
SR is VERY supply extensive, that's my belief as well
Yeah, I’m hoping it calms down when the redeployments finish up. But the Axis threw me a bit of a curve ball in August, so we’ll still be chewing through them for a while yet.
My recollection is that SR isn't spply-intensive, per se, but the rapid pace at which your units redeploy is faster than the supply system can transport supplies across the map to those units, which leads to a few weird behaviors: supplies will be sent out towards those units, only to arrive long after those units have left the province the supplies were sent to; SR units may tend to eat supplies along the way designated for other units; and finally, the combination of supplies being sent out to nowhere and "out-of-supply" units being SRed inflates supply demands quite a lot, plus you get random upswings when un-consumed supply "packets" return back to your capital.

Basically, SR plays havoc with the supply system but doesn't increase your actual supply needs, it just looks like it because your logistics people all died of conniptions when you clicked the SR button.
I've seen that in action more than once... SR really messes with the already fragile HOI3 supply system, I couldn't have put that better myself.
I really feel like the HoI3 supply system is accidentally the most realistic system in the game, just because in all of its fragility, inscrutability, and generally chaotic nature, it accidentally models the fact that IRL logistics were hardly optimal either, what with all this mobile, mechanized warfare being fought that no one was properly prepared for.
We've covered paradox production of hoi before but yeah...competence and random genius is usually accidental here.
I don't actually mind the supply system being a bit chunky and unfathomable either - adds to the mystery of war. ;) The next chapter (which I've completed and am about to post) has a bit more data on the current supply situation in this game at this time. Whether it does anything to aid understanding (mine or your) remains to be seen! :D
 
Chapter 6 – August 1944
Chapter 6 – August 1944

AuthAAR’s Notes: The PC version of the game performed perfectly for this play-through with the addition of the podcat.exe file, so looks like all is well again on that front. I’m doing something a little different with the battle reports on the summary maps now, to make the flow of action a little easier to follow visually (I hope) but without adding text to the boxes. I have the box outline and an arrow in the colour of the attacker (blue for friendly, red for enemy: NATO style even though I know it’s the USSR), with the little battle icon showing who won (or neutral orange for a battle still in progress).

******
1. Persia

The first surprise of the month came not in the Far East – but to the south of the Caucasus. At 2100 hr on 1 August 1944, Persia had – most unwisely – decided to not only join the Axis but to declare war on the USSR! The Japanese may have liked this small second front being opened, but Persia would be isolated. Stalin went in for his slice of the action, hoping to conquer it whole before the Allies could get their greasy hands on its oil fields. And having some Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean ports with direct land links to the Motherland would be a great bonus in years to come, if it could be managed.

LCyndR.jpg

Initial moves ordered by the (AI) Caucasus Theatre Commander, 1 August 1944. Seem fair enough.

Theatre control for the Caucasus was immediately set to manual. The Western Front HQ was set to full AI, given the direction to use aggressive tactics, an attacking stance and an air offensive in prosecuting the war. All air units were assigned to Front HQ, with the three armies (4th, 13th and 19th) reorganised somewhat and a few reasonably nearby divisions added. 4th Army would remain a reserve formation, with no units assigned (it already was). The larger 13th Army had the bulk of the divisions (15 in three full corps), to the west of the Caspian Sea, while 19th Army had eight divisions in two corps to its east – and it seemed they faced the bulk of the Persian Army. All Persian VP cities were set as AI Front HQ objectives.

n6HLRL.jpg

By 18 August, good progress had been made with no opposition in the west, while Soviet forces had flanked the Persian defences in the east. Western Front HQ had (quite logically I suppose, though at some cost in time and supplies) sent a good number of forces around the top of the Caspian Sea to reinforce 19th Army. [Had I been running them, I think I just would have added them to the western offensive and driven to Tehran, the oilfields and other VP cities, but it’s the AI’s war here, so …]

yZUhNH.jpg

By 20 August, the first VP objective – Tabriz – was almost surrounded and its fall imminent. No Persian units had appeared in that sector to contest the advance.

In the eastern sector, the first battle of the campaign was fought and won in Sabzevar between 21-24 August as 19th Army now sought to roll up the Persian line from the east.

L1qtUr.jpg

Tabriz was fully surrounded in the early hours of 24 August and taken by 1st Guards Division at 2200 hr that night. Persian surrender progress went to 18.6% (14.3% of VPs vs 76.7% NU).

Three days later, another attack was launched by 19th Army at the next province to the west of Sabzevar, at Gonbad e Kavus. It was again no pushover, with fighting still going by the end of 31 August.

qoZYMf.jpg

Operations in Persia – August 1944.

******

2. Far East Land Combat - Northern Sector

The month opened with fighting still going on in Tjung, at the far north of the line. The Soviet defenders held, the Japanese being defeated with heavy losses on 1 August. Further south, the enemy renewed their attack on the key stronghold of Stanovoe Nagore, being defeated also with heavy losses on 5 August after two days of fighting. Both battles had uncontested Japanese air support, being out of range of the nearest Soviet fighters in Irkutsk.

By late on 6 August, while a number of reinforcing units had made it to the front in the north, many were still in transit, especially to 6th Army.

NqCYT2.jpg

The first new air base was ready on 9 August and was placed in Mutina. It was hoped it was far enough back (and shielded by mountains) to be relatively safe, without being too far back from the front for the shorter range fighters and CAS to be effective. [At this point I waited to see if the AI army HQs would order aircraft forward quickly by themselves.]

vsQmzY.jpg

Mutina was straight away made a 15th Army defensive objective – just in case. An expansion of the air base was immediately ordered and placed at the top of the production queue, as it would soon be busy.

The Japanese had occupied Lensk earlier in the month after a victory there in late July. A Soviet counter-attack began on 7 August, ending in a convincing Soviet victory after four days of fighting that killed over 1,300 enemy soldiers. Japanese air strikes on the attackers in Arylakh from 9-10 August were not enough to prevent the heartening Soviet victory.

But the Japanese had started their own attack on the exposed province of Njuja at the same time. They claimed victory there on 8 August, once again aided by heavy air support. However, Soviet reinforcements were on the way: they were not yet ready to give up the province.

With the AI HQs showing no signs of sending aircraft forward to Mutina yet and Japanese air support causing heavy casualties in the north, three groups were ordered to rebase there on 10 August. [Temporarily detached, transferred, then put back under 15th Army command.]

ncvMEX.jpg

Another new mechanised division was deployed – to 6th Army – on 14 August.

Jvatkh.jpg

After a few days of quiet, on 18 August another Japanese attack went in on Tjung, once again with Japanese air support. They would keep the missions up uninterrupted until 23 August: Tjung was too far north for the fighters newly based in Mutina to intercept. Despite this, the Soviets would win once again by 22 August, though they were now in a severely weakened state.

jvXvnC.jpg

The Mutina air base was designed to provide fighter cover from the edge of Irkutsk’s operational radius to the south. With Jakustk having been lost in earlier fighting, the second new air base on order would need to be placed further north again to cover that end of the line.

On 19 August, the Japanese had made another attempt, with fresh troops, to dislodge the still-weary garrison in Stanovoe Nagore. At this time, it seemed all the Japanese air units were being used in Tjung. Despite this, the Soviets were forced to retreat on 22 August. The fight for the province was not yet over, however, as once more Soviet reinforcements were on their way.

NM7KeQ.jpg

Operational summary, Soviet Far East – Northern Sector, 1-21 August 1944.

******

The third battle for Tjung in August proved the decisive one. Badly degraded after the last attack, which had finished earlier on 22 August, the Japanese assaulted yet again with new units a few hours later. This time, no resistance was offerred, with the defenders retreating without a fight early on the 23rd. Successive Japanese air attacks from 18-23 August had killed around 3,000 Soviet defenders from a number of divisions – a horrendous toll.

With another division slipping in on 23 before the Japanese could occupy it, Njuja was again being fought over. With Japanese air support swapping from Tjung to Njuja the next day, the Soviets lost again on 24 August, though casualties were relatively light on both sides.

Three days later, Japanese attention once again fell on Stanovoe Nagore: the Soviets seemed determined to hold it and another defensive force had been sent in. Their unprepared positions were attacked on 27 August, again with Japanese air support striking early on 28 August. But this time, the battle was in range of Mutina and the Soviet fighters there rose to their duty.

Ff1KLt.jpg

The Japanese TAC had no fighter escorts. Their first raid hit home, but they took some damage in a night dogfight. They returned at 0900 hr, but this time were savaged, abandoning their ground attack. No more enemy aircraft were spotted for the rest of the month. The third battle of the month for Stanovoe Nagore was won by the Soviets at 2300 hr on 31 August, after four days of heavy fighting: and how sweet it was!

This victory was followed up by dual Soviet attacks on Sorgo and Artemovskij beginning on 29 August. They were both still in progress by 2300 hr on 31 August.

5jecu4.jpg

Operational summary, Soviet Far East – Northern Sector, 22-31 August 1944.

******

3. Far East Land Combat - Southern Sector

Soviet and Mongolian forces began an attack on 7 August from Taryacin, which they had retaken the month before, on Tsetserlig. As before, in the southern sector in was the Soviets with heavy air superiority, launching uncontested ground strikes on the Japanese. After relatively light fighting, the Comintern troops were victorious on 8 August. Many more enemy troops were killed from the air than on the ground.

A new mechanised division was allocated to 15th Army on 10 August, to help strengthen the garrison near Irkutsk, which seemed rather thinly held, though it had not been put under recent pressure.

ACLYL7.jpg

By 12 August, new Japanese formations had occupied Testserlig before the Comintern troops could advance into it. Indeed, they began their own attack on Taryacin, where the defenders were still somewhat disorganised from the battle that had finished just four days before.

Despite ferocious Soviet air raids on the two provinces the attack was being launched from (Dzhirgalanta and Ubur Khangaiin) on 12 and 13 August, between them killing well over 2,000 Japanese troops, 235 SD was forced to retreat from Taryacin at 0800 hr on 13 August.

The 4th Mongolian Militia Division was left to defend by themselves – and without Soviet air support, which ceased with the retreat of 235 SD. [Poor form, HQ 1st Army! o_O] Thus abandoned, they resisted gallantly until 1300 hr on 15 August (with no report of their casualties, of course). A few more Soviet air raids were launched on Dzhirgalanta and Ubur Khangaiin on 20 August long after they had retreated (not quite sure why).

235 SD arrived in the temporary Mongolian capital of Uliastay at 1400 hr on 25 August. At least the city was heavily garrisoned by then (still set as a defensive objective for the Mongolians and 1st Army) and should be in no immediate peril.

2Q5SlX.jpg

Operational summary, Soviet Far East – Southern Sector, 1-31 August 1944.

******

4. Far East - Naval Operations

The 10th Sub Squadron (I renamed them all from ‘Navy’ to make them a bit easier to track on the outliner) finished its refit on 16 August and was sent out to plug the last gap in the patrol zones west east of the Japanese mainland.

JTTb6D.jpg

And they sunk their first convoy on 17 August, before they were even a quarter of their way to their patrol zone! Good work, lads. This marked an up-tick in convoy sinkings, with only one before 17 August and another five from then (including 10th SS’s success), giving a total of six for the month (one less than in July).

******

5. Diplomatic and Intelligence

A check was made early in the month to re-send the lend-lease request to the US to hopefully get a new workable route open. But the last diplomatic team required until 7 August to return from its mission cancelling the old request for Vladivostok.

A small trade with Cuba was approved on 19 August – only noted here for its diplomatic influence effect [I tend to accept all fair ones with neutral powers for those reasons].

3f2Od3.jpg

On 26 August, it was decided to counter the influence being exerted by both the Axis and Allies on Nationalist China: the USSR could not afford for them to fall into either camp. The required leadership effort was taken from spy and officer training.

0VwgHB.jpg

While Molotov was at it, he added an initial war goal for Persia to bring it into the Communist orbit. [The next one will be role-played to puppet it rather than conquer.]

The spy war in Japan during August was very successful: no Soviet agents were caught and three Kempeitai teams were eliminated, with four added during the month, leaving them with four teams – one more than they had started with. But it had forced them to presumably divert more effort into counter-espionage at no further cost to the USSR.

It was a different story in Manchukuo, where four Soviet spy teams were eliminated for three Manchurian ones, who added two during the month to finish with three, one fewer than they started with. Presumably they had less capacity to replace them than the Japanese and there had also been no more Manchurian ‘stooge’ interventions in Japan, either.

The USSR had replaced all their losses in Manchukuo, finishing with 10 each there and in Japan, another 10 at home and eight in reserve – the same as at the beginning of the month, with four replacements produced to exactly offset the Manchurian losses (38 agents in total). A total of 14 foreign spies (all comers) had been caught in the USSR during the month, three more than in July.

xGVeaR.jpg

By the end of the month, the three countries being actively influenced by the USSR were Spain, Turkey and Nationalist China. Sweden was still aligning itself towards the Comintern.

bzmvMW.jpg

And yes, the indolent and forgetful bureaucrats in Molotov’s Foreign Ministry had indeed forgotten to put in the new request to the US for a lend-lease resumption! After some swearing and cursing, the request was sent off last thing on 31 August – and was soon agreed to! It would take a few days for the new receiving point to be determined and the aid to (hopefully) start flowing. Well away from any likely Japanese interference!

3BR6CR.jpg


******

6. Research and Production

Light tank research was brought fully up to date on 12 August with new guns. Noting that an eventual invasion of the Japanese Home Islands would almost certainly be necessary, the USSR began to develop a marine infantry capability.

NVrOYr.jpg

On 19 August, the fifth level of developmentat Irkutsk air base was completed and level six begun straight away, again remaining near the top of the production queue.

At a top secret meeting in Moscow on 21 August, the go-ahead was given for the building of the USSR’s first nuclear reactor. It would be a massive undertaking, absorbing fully a fifth of all Soviet industrial output. It would take until early April 1945 to complete and was given the highest of all priorities, many other projects having to be shuffled ‘below the line’ to make way for it. Project ‘First Lightning’ (Первая молния) had officially begun.

f5WFhb.jpg

A welcome boost to research efficiency through improved education came on 25 August. To follow up the development of marine infantry, research began on purpose-built landing craft designs. Following that, at least some introductory study of invasion tactics would be undertaken.

MyFxVY.jpg

Better infantry AT weapons were brought out on 28 August, which brought the infantry up to current world standards as well (and would increase the upgrade bill once more). The rather backward Soviet aircraft industry would be further modernised with better designs, aimed to eventually allow the use of airborne search radars. Without such advances, the Soviet Air Force could not be expected to compete effectively with the more modern aircraft designs of the leading Allied nations.

JRtLTB.jpg

The next day brought better infantry warfare doctrine, boosting the organisation of all such units. The priority was shifted to doing the same for fighter crews – another area that had been neglected to date and was at pre-WW2 standards (well behind TAC and CAS pilot training, for some reason).

fDspbO.jpg

As August ended, secret and other infrastructure projects dominated the top of the Soviet production queue. The nuclear reactor and rocket test site alone absorbed almost 90 IC. Upgrades currently took another 55, supply almost 80 and around 19 for consumer goods. The table below shows which items remained in production (full or partial effort) and which would remain below the line until IC was freed up – or lend-lease received from the US.

PVPGyU.jpg


******

7. Logistics

With the opening of the new air base in Mutina, it was decided soon after to start construction of a branch line for the Trans-Siberian Railway, to go through Oka up to Mutina. This might be extended later if another air base was built further north. Again, the project went into the ‘top half’ of the production queue.

XZWODt.jpg

Infrastructure map view.

And [as previously promised to readAARs], a study was made of currently supply conditions in the Far East at the end of August. Supply was generally good across the front (hardly any ‘unit in poor supply’ notifications are received, as a rule). Current supply holdings and throughput at five key sites are shown below. In general, local stockpiles of supplies and fuel seem quite high. The tenuous supply link to Kamchatka across the north remains in place for now.

qQrn8h.jpg

One question: I’m not currently shipping in any additional supplies through Petropavlovsk: I’d assumed it wasn’t necessary with the line still open to Moscow and the convoys would be very long and prone to Japanese interdiction. Is that right, or would there be any value in making the effort (there are spare convoys and escorts available if necessary)?

The supply situation in Persia seemed to be all ‘in the green’. Though of course operations there would be chewing through more supplies for some time to come.

******

8. Global Summaries

As we have seen above, for the first time the USSR was able to largely hold the line in the Far East while making good progress on the new front in Persia. Only Taryacin in the south was lost to Japanese territorial encroachment during August 1944.

pqey1m.jpg

Total recorded losses to land combat (including in Persia) for battles in which the Soviets were involved were 4,620 against 7,617 Axis soldiers killed. Soviet losses from air raids were greater, at 5,572; they inflicted 4,177 on the enemy. Total monthly combat losses for the USSR were therefore 10,192, with the Axis losing 11,794 men.

******

In South East Asia, little changed, except for some British advances in Borneo and by the French-led Allies in Indo-China.

xJ1a1r.jpg

The Allies seemed to again be gaining a little more than they were losing in Indo-China. A good little second front at least to distract the enemy.

MIijxf.jpg


******

In Australasia and New Guinea, there had also been little change.

whAZty.jpg

A closer look at the Australian state of Victoria showed the Japanese attack towards Melbourne seemed to have been halted for now. The heavy air support now available out of Geelong may have something to do with that (nine TAC wings plus fighter escorts). And another front-line Australian division was on its way from the west.

z8kDyx.jpg

And the US had made a little progress in the Central Pacific, retaking Midway and Jarvis Islands.

Jj1MIl.jpg
 
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Holding the line against the Japanese with virtually no losses - perhaps a sign of the tide just beginning to ebb?
 
We don't yet have any troops that hold the one province way to Kamchatka, right? That might be doubly more important if USA starts sending aid through Pacific.

Sending convoys around the world (it can be shorter once we take Iran, but still) would be a very difficult way of supplying there. Japanese will sink them all.

The way we're going is great though. Contesting (and taking control of) the skies, finally holding our ground, bleeding them more then they bleed us; it all seems like the tide has turned.
 
The first new air base was ready on 9 August and was placed in Mutina. It was hoped it was far enough back (and shielded by mountains) to be relatively safe, without being too far back from the front for the shorter range fighters and CAS to be effective. [At this point I waited to see if the AI army HQs would order aircraft forward quickly by themselves.]

Don't know how it works here but in HOI4 you can just attach air wings to specific armies and they'll move with them if the airfields keep up. Not very useful for defence but for a huge invasion across all fronts, better.
 
Holding the line against the Japanese with virtually no losses - perhaps a sign of the tide just beginning to ebb?
I’m thinking so. They’ve been checked a bit in other theatres, too. And I haven’t reported the details, but a lot of their navy also seems to have been sunk by late 1944, just no carriers.
We don't yet have any troops that hold the one province way to Kamchatka, right? That might be doubly more important if USA starts sending aid through Pacific.

Sending convoys around the world (it can be shorter once we take Iran, but still) would be a very difficult way of supplying there. Japanese will sink them all.

The way we're going is great though. Contesting (and taking control of) the skies, finally holding our ground, bleeding them more then they bleed us; it all seems like the tide has turned.
No, not holding that northern passage - and I’m running the risk of leaving things to the AI there! :eek:

Yeah, I’m just not keen for convoys to Kamchatka. The naval base there may need to be abandoned if it’s cut off. :confused:

Yes, I thought that was a very solid month all round. I was particularly pleased with the interception of that Japanese bombing mission. If I can just get some fighter coverage in the far north too, that will become a lot easier to hold as well.
Don't know how it works here but in HOI4 you can just attach air wings to specific armies and they'll move with them if the airfields keep up. Not very useful for defence but for a huge invasion across all fronts, better.
They do the same theoretically in HOI3, and the AI has moved them around a bit - just not quickly enough here for my liking ;) - not with hundreds and even thousands being killed from the air unopposed. They might have done it in time, but this is a game using the AI, not a test of it per se, so I will intervene a bit to help things on their way.
 
Now the US gets moving? We better get to Tokyo before them...
 
Now the US gets moving? We better get to Tokyo before them...
:D I know, amazing isn’t it? Two small flea specks they may not be able to hold, but the way the US AI often plays, it seems like D Day! ;) Well, you did see I’m already looking to develop nukes, rockets, marines and landing craft! :)
 
The first surprise of the month came not in the Far East – but to the south of the Caucasus. At 2100 hr on 1 August 1944, Persia had – most unwisely – decided to not only join the Axis but to declare war on the USSR! The Japanese may have liked this small second front being opened, but Persia would be isolated. Stalin went in for his slice of the action, hoping to conquer it whole before the Allies could get their greasy hands on its oil fields. And having some Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean ports with direct land links to the Motherland would be a great bonus in years to come, if it could be managed.
Bullfilter AARs and invading Persia, name a more iconic duo. :p

After a few days of quiet, on 18 August another Japanese attack went in on Tjung, once again with Japanese air support. They would keep the missions up uninterrupted until 23 August: Tjung was too far north for the fighters newly based in Mutina to intercept. Despite this, the Soviets would win once again by 22 August, though they were now in a severely weakened state
Seems like the construction of new air bases is simply not enough to meet the needs of the front. I think we need to invest in MR-fighters with their longer range if we plan to counter the Japanese bombers. If we have any MRs in other theaters, this is a good time to reallocate them - by Stavka directive!

The 4th Mongolian Militia Division was left to defend by themselves – and without Soviet air support, which ceased with the retreat of 235 SD. [Poor form, HQ 1st Army! o_O]
"Not one step back!" for thee, not for me! :confused:

On 26 August, it was decided to counter the influence being exerted by both the Axis and Allies on Nationalist China: the USSR could not afford for them to fall into either camp. The required leadership effort was taken from spy and officer training.
In my opinion this is a waste of valuable, sorely-needed LP in other areas. As long as the Axis and Allies are fighting each other to influence China, we don't have to, quite simply. And as a readAAR, of course, I wouldn't mind if the coming WW3 featured a Chinese theater to complicate things, but that's an out-of-game consideration. :p

Light tank research was brought fully up to date on 12 August with new guns. Noting that an eventual invasion of the Japanese Home Islands would almost certainly be necessary, the USSR began to develop a marine infantry capability.
I'm not sure why we're bothering with light tank production. By 1943, the only reason we even built those was because the factories couldn't build anything bigger, and now that we're in a period of relative peace and stability (Japanese and Persian annoyances aside), we should be retooling our lines to build usefulweapons, not persisting in the construction of inferior light tanks that can no longer stand on the battlefield.

And [as previously promised to readAARs], a study was made of currently supply conditions in the Far East at the end of August. Supply was generally good across the front (hardly any ‘unit in poor supply’ notifications are received, as a rule). Current supply holdings and throughput at five key sites are shown below. In general, local stockpiles of supplies and fuel seem quite high. The tenuous supply link to Kamchatka across the north remains in place for now.
So seems like the main reason for demand fluctuations is just the logisiticians getting screwy when we SR entire armies at once, rather than any actual need. Good to know, I suppose.

One question: I’m not currently shipping in any additional supplies through Petropavlovsk: I’d assumed it wasn’t necessary with the line still open to Moscow and the convoys would be very long and prone to Japanese interdiction. Is that right, or would there be any value in making the effort (there are spare convoys and escorts available if necessary)?
There would probably not be any value in it. Not only would your supply line be open to raiders, but I believe the way the HoI3 supply system works those supplies would just be shipped back to Moscow, and only then sent to the fronts (in HoI3, all units in a contiguous controlled land area are supplied from a single hub, so supplies shipped to any other location have to be shipped back to that hub before going anywhere useful.

That said, I do also recall that you can ship supplies along the coast of a coastal area to help move the supply chain along, so a convoy from Leningrad or Sevastopol to Petropavlovsk may fall under those rules and work as intended. It could be worth checking out just for information's sake, but I don't know how you'd track those supplies as they arrive. In any case, we've got no need right now, and the Japanese would love to chip at our NU by sinking convoys, so I'd say we'd better not bother at this time.
 
Bullfilter AARs and invading Persia, name a more iconic duo. :p
haha! To be fair, I’d had no (immediate, anyway) intention of attacking them: they have brought this fate on themselves! :D And RL USSR & GB had the idea way before I did. ;) Having opened the door by actually joining the Axis and declaring war though ... well, what else is a tyrant trying to export the world revolution against a dominant Allied UN meant to do? :D
If we have any MRs in other theaters, this is a good time to reallocate them - by Stavka directive!
That’s a very good idea - I’ll have a look next time I’m on.
In my opinion this is a waste of valuable, sorely-needed LP in other areas. As long as the Axis and Allies are fighting each other to influence China, we don't have to, quite simply. And as a readAAR, of course, I wouldn't mind if the coming WW3 featured a Chinese theater to complicate things, but that's an out-of-game consideration. :p
Fair points, but if one side pulls out, as often happens, and I’m not tracking/remembering to check their position, they could wind up in one of the camps. If the Axis, that’s bad for me, as I’m playing as a second rate, weakened USSR. If the Allies ... well, I just can’t let more large neutral countries fall into their hands, especially as they are sitting on 12 victory objectives and most of the world in their pocket already. I’d really like them in the Comintern (which in game effect would be like having them as an allied Communist China). Looked at in another way, they’re one of the last major-minor powers up for grabs (along with Turkey and Spain). And there could still be a China theatre - to balance an Allied Indo-China etc.
I'm not sure why we're bothering with light tank production.
All AI hangover - that’s one of their old projects. I won’t be producing any more, nor doing any more research on them. I guess it’s more to upgrade the ones in the existing inventory.
So seems like the main reason for demand fluctuations is just the logisiticians getting screwy when we SR entire armies at once, rather than any actual need. Good to know, I suppose
OK, if that’s the case then, I’ll have another look once the big SR moves (in Persia now too at the AI’s instigation) are done and see what happens. I’m hoping for a significant drop off in supply demand at that point.
There would probably not be any value in it. Not only would your supply line be open to raiders, but I believe the way the HoI3 supply system works those supplies would just be shipped back to Moscow, and only then sent to the fronts (in HoI3, all units in a contiguous controlled land area are supplied from a single hub, so supplies shipped to any other location have to be shipped back to that hub before going anywhere useful.
Well that would be pretty pointless! Especially as I assume there is that little bit of wastage every time it travels through a province in either direction (ie the cost of moving it, etc).
In any case, we've got no need right now, and the Japanese would love to chip at our NU by sinking convoys, so I'd say we'd better not bother at this time.
I’ll keep to my original plan of not bothering - except as an outside chance if it’s cut off, but even then it doesn’t sound cost effective.

Thanks for the very helpful ideas/discussion. :)
 
Well that would be pretty pointless! Especially as I assume there is that little bit of wastage every time it travels through a province in either direction (ie the cost of moving it, etc).
You assume correctly. One of the supply techs reduces this, but I can never remember which is which.

I’ll keep to my original plan of not bothering - except as an outside chance if it’s cut off, but even then it doesn’t sound cost effective.
If it gets cut off and you have troops in the cut-off region, the AI will automatically create a supply convoy to keep them supplied unless you turn off the AI control over convoys. In which case you don't have any reason to worry about it yourself unless the IJN starts sinking too many convoys.
 
Bullfilter AARs and invading Persia, name a more iconic duo. :p

I'm not sure why we're bothering with light tank production. By 1943, the only reason we even built those was because the factories couldn't build anything bigger, and now that we're in a period of relative peace and stability (Japanese and Persian annoyances aside), we should be retooling our lines to build usefulweapons, not persisting in the construction of inferior light tanks that can no longer stand on the battlefield.

Well, even light tanks, if they overcome the enemy's Piercing, can do quite a bit of damage to unprotected infantry, and cause havoc in their rear areas. There is still significant use for them on the battlefield, especially with mechanized forces. Now, that might be less of an issue when the AI is taking care of things, but it's definitely something to bear in mind.

Also, a more iconic duo might be Turkey cozying up with the Soviet Union, but that might just be this board.
 
Well, even light tanks, if they overcome the enemy's Piercing, can do quite a bit of damage to unprotected infantry, and cause havoc in their rear areas. There is still significant use for them on the battlefield, especially with mechanized forces. Now, that might be less of an issue when the AI is taking care of things, but it's definitely something to bear in mind.

Also, a more iconic duo might be Turkey cozying up with the Soviet Union, but that might just be this board.
Re the light tanks: I’ll use what I’ve got, for sure. But as a former tankie (tanker in the US, but that always sounds like a fuel transport to me ;) ) a medium is the least we can do. :D

Re Turkey and the USSR: it’s happening again in this game, it seems. Turkey is getting closer and as at end August, only the USSR was influencing them! :D:D:D