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Introduction

Bullfilter

Old Boardgame Grognard
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Aug 31, 2008
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The time has come for another 'summer project': the long-mooted sequel to Quick & Dirty Part 1, which dealt with the French fight for survival and victory (see France: A Quick and Dirty HOI3 AAR). That AAR ended in March 1944 with an Allied World Order victory and the Soviet Union limping through to a stalemate win in the west (Finland and most of Romania being its only real gains) and a deep incursion by Japan in the Far East. Most of Europe was united under the Allied UN banner.

After this, all countries that could be were liberated as democratic Allied puppets and every option in the standard game for decolonisation that could be taken was, but leaving them all under the Allied banner. See this chapter from Q&D1 for the details:
France: A Quick and Dirty HOI3 AAR – 1936 Start - Last Chapter

Here is a brief summary though for those who may not wish to go back for all the detail:

New Map of Europe

Western Poland is back, but the Soviets still occupy a small chunk (one province) of central Poland – and all of Eastern Poland, which they absorbed under the Nazi-Soviet Pact in 1939. Finland remains a government-in-exile, its territory occupied by the Soviet Union.

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A Post-Colonial World

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Indo-China was liberated, even though it is significantly occupied by Japan.

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Here are the current members of the United Nations of the Democratic World Order.

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And the map of the world as at 21 March 1944.

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******
In Moscow, Josef Stalin contemplated the capitalist-imperialist ‘New Democratic World Order’. And he didn’t like what he saw. He would dearly love to see a new Communist World Order to replace these bourgeois United Nations. The Comintern is destined to grow and replace the Allies. Even if it takes years to achieve. But first there is still a war to be won against the Fascist Japanese. He would see how the Allies were placed after that – and maybe strike if they did not appear ready.

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******
That brings us to the present. I will play now as the Soviet Union, starting way behind the French-led Allies who have already achieved their 12 victory conditions and control virtually all of Europe. The USSR has been under AI control since January 1936. They had a significant German incursion until France defeated them and still face a major Japanese occupation of the Soviet Far East.

This AAR will take the same no-frills, no-narrative, no-character, no-additional-pictures approach of France: Quick and Dirty. Except now trying to undo all of de Gaulle’s good work and see if the Axis can be fully defeated and a dominant Allied faction can be wound back.

This time though, the game is being played as an AAR vehicle, so I can capture screen shots as I go, rather than relying on old game saves and a hazy memory. To keep the same quick flavour though, it will be kept to a month a chapter, no matter how much action takes place. Most combat will be recounted in summary form, but significant or indicative battles will be covered in a little more detail.

In terms of play, Soviet land combat will be largely run by the AI, with human control at either the Theatre or (where things are more active) Army Group/Front level. Air units will be allocated to AI control. This should make the Soviet task even harder (and the game quicker to play). Navies will be human-controlled when in combat and all non-combat aspects will also be human controlled (tech, production, intel, diplomacy etc).

The only real broad objectives are as stated above: roll back the Japanese occupation of the Soviet Far East, then start to gain victory conditions and see if Allied supremacy can be wound back. No specific game end-date in mind as yet, but it won't go forever. One thing I'm taking up is the rapid (as possible) development of nuclear weapons as an in-game challenge. Soviet research in that area remains pretty basic (can't build a research reactor yet).

The first new chapter will be posted soon.
 
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You, my very dear and good friend, have - I fear - a truly severe (I might say runaway) case of the insidious condition known as MAD - Multiple AAR disorder (ICD-10 code prefix PDX - numeral depending on precise variant).

And we are blessed because of it :)
 
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You, my very dear and good friend, have - I fear - a truly severe (I might say runaway) case of the insidious condition known as MAD - Multiple AAR disorder (ICD-10 code prefix PDX - numeral depending on precise variant).

And we are blessed because of it :)
:D Yep, you got that right! And thank you, my friend :)
 
Chapter 1 – 21-31 March 1944
Chapter 1 – 21-31 March 1944

Note: The rest of March and all of April have been played through so far. I’ll be editing in retrospect after playing sessions that are as long as I can manage them to try for game AI continuity.

Initial Setup

This is where the victory conditions were when I changed from France to the Soviet Union at 1100hr on 21 March 1944. Lots of work to do.

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Training laws changed from Basic to Advanced Training. A compromise for slightly better starting experience vs not wanting to slow recruiting time too much.

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Here is the general position in the Far East.

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And the initial Far Eastern Theatre setup – just the one Front (Army Group) under command, four garrison divisions and air assets (not shown). Defensive stance set on land, offensive in the air and at sea.

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Here's Europe, where Finland and most of Romania (with French patches) are occupied by the USSR.

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Diplomatically, only Mongolia and Sinkiang are in the Comintern, while the Soviets are influencing Republican Spain (not a bad idea).

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The production queue had five mech divisions on the way, a HArm and paratroop division, four interceptor wings, a TAC wing, four transports … and a battleship! Of note, I also discovered 30+ IC going on lend-lease to France and the UK – that was quickly stopped! There is meant to be lend-lease coming from the US, but it is routed through Vladivostok, which of course occupied by the Japanese … and it seems I can’t create a new route. Still, that extra 30 IC sure helps bring production up to speed.

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The inherited leadership distribution and AI research plan is shown here. I have selected an assortment of the areas I consider to be key research priorities and where they stand at present. Infantry gear isn’t too bad, but I want all the 1944 level 6 techs under research ASAP. That will have a big impact on the upgrade budget, but it’s vital. Light and medium tank research is also pretty reasonable, as are heavy tanks. With Germany now out of the war, that may not be a key immediate priority, but later, perhaps against the Allies …

Light aircraft research is a bit behind the times – that will need to be improved later for tangling with the Allies. The important industrial, supply and other key support lines are looking good. I need to keep the nuclear research going – Civil 1 is currently being researched and that’s just too slow for my purposes.

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Some of those research topics are going to be terminated when they’re done while I fill up my key ones – especially the naval ones, which I may want eventually, but for now are a bit of a luxury.

In doctrine research I’m really only interested in two at the moment: land and air. Land is pretty good, though I’ll have to get around to getting Superior Firepower fixed when I get the chance. Air is a bit tardy and I’d rather more focus on Fighter Pilot and Ground Crew Training, TAC Ground Crew as well. CAS is more advanced.

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The new management means a review of the Soviet Ministry and a range of changes. And the part of Romania we currently occupy will be ‘liberated’ to join the Comintern as a puppet. Of interest, the PNC fills every appointment, despite being run by the Comintern, commanding only 4% of the political share and being entitled to no Cabinet positions! Ah well, will let that one go.

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Intel is looking pretty rubbish – only one agent survives in another country: Bulgaria. I switch the priority there to counter-espionage and cancel all other priorities for other countries to see how that goes.

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This is a general indication of how the Theatre commands are set up. Four in the west (Europe and Central Asia). All of these are left under AI control for now (so I can largely ignore them) and the AI is also given control over Unit Reorganisation.

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And here is the Far Eastern Theatre as inherited, with the FE Front below it controlling three armies.

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******
Initial Orders

The FE Theatre and Front HQs were both put under human control. First up, 1ya Armiya is put under AI control, given Ulaanbaatar and Mildigun as objectives and switched to an attacking stance. Ambitious perhaps before the reinforcements from Europe are to hand, but I want to have a bit of an experiment with the AI (which Ive never used much).

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15th Army is given some attacking objectives further north and is also set to attacking stance.

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The 6th Army is still way to the west: it is set to strategic redeployment to the east plus a prepare stance and army objective near FE Front HQ – and it hoped its two corps (12th and 28th Mech) will follow.

The Baltic Front (three armies under command) is next allocated to FE Theatre HQ command and given Oka (FE Theatre’s current location) as an objective. I hope the rest will follow but will see what happens, as an experiment, expecting some SR to begin.

All air wings under FE Theatre are transferred roughly evenly to the direct command of the AI-controlled 1ya Armiya and 15th Army HQs to see what they’ll do with them. A few more wings in the west are also transferred to their command – I’ll let the AI deploy them as it sees fit.

As the game is restarted at 1100 hr on 21 March, there is one Soviet attack already under way. We’ll have a look at that to see what’s happening. It’s looking pretty good and already has a Soviet air mission supporting the attack.

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And at 1200 hr, a new Soviet attack is launched by the AI on Santu – but the chances of success there look poor.

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In keeping with the vibe of this Soviet campaign, at 1400 hr a first war goal is set for Japan: to install Communism. Next will be puppeting, then after that Stalin will see what territorial claims might be added. Nationalist China is being influenced by both the Axis (seems to be self-initiated) and the Allies (by Germany, no less). And at 1600 hr, the UK asks for lend-lease to be reopened. Hah, no chance of that happening, Winston. :p

On 22 March, Spain seeks a trade deal – which is accepted, to help that influence a little more. We need more pact partners for the Comintern and Spain would be excellent.

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By 23 March, there were nine wings based in Irkutsk, which has a repair capacity of only three. Something might have to be done about that in due course, if the AI keeps throwing them in there. Six air strikes in support of the attack on Petrovsk Zabaykal'skiy between 21-23 March killed a total of 410 Axis troops.

24 March sees Tibet start to align itself towards the Comintern – well done, Comrades! Every little bit helps.

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More CAS pilot training is completed on 25 March. It is replaced by a theory tech (other than the supply/civil defence ones, an area we all normally avoid): but I decide to give Nuclear Physics Research a shake, just to add something to that area which needs a real boost if we are to get a Soviet nuclear weapon.

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Later that day, Switzerland also starts to align towards us. The true cause slowly gains strength.

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Tactical Air Command gets a doctrinal boost on 27 March, with research effort being put next into Infantry Small Arms.

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On 30 March, the Transcaucasus Front (two armies) is also transferred to FE Theatre. It also gets an SR order to Oka in the east and a defensive objective for it too. We’ll see if the AI does anything with that.

******

Monthly Summaries

Far East – Combat. J
ust three battles were resolved during the nine-day period to the end of the month, results as shown below. Japan made more advances in net terms than the Soviets. The victory in Petrovsk Zabaykal'skiy was a heartening one.

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South East Asia. Japan’s holdings in the region are widespread. The main enemy advances have come in the recently independent Indo-China, where the French have started to give their Indo-Chinese puppets control over some regular forces there, as the nascent Ind-Chinese army begins to build.

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South Pacific. Current Japanese lodgements in New Guinea, Australia and New Zealand are shown below.

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Naval. One Japanese convoy each was sunk by Soviet subs on 21 and 23 March.

******

Diplomacy. A number of newly liberated countries began to mobilise during the last part of the month. Not sure the Albanian army will actually be a strong boost for the Allies despite their ambitious announcement, but there you go! Romania should however eventually provide a modest but welcome boost to Comintern military capability.

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Intelligence. From 21-28 March, 11 foreign spies (all from Allied countries) were neutralised (one of the Bulgarian ones may have actually been by our agents in Bulgaria). The Soviets lost two in Bulgaria, on 28 and 29 March. There was one left (two new ones must have been added during the period), leaving one in operation and no Bulgarian counterespionage agents left. All missions were removed for this last agent and the sending priority for Bulgaria zeroed. We’ll assemble a full complement of ten agents before sending them in against another target, be it Bulgaria or elsewhere.

******

Endnote: So ends the first Chapter of the new AAR. Each one will cover a month at a time. This one was only nine days, but included all that setting-up info.
 
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I wonder how well this new world order of the allies will mobilise to help out their Pacific partners under Japanese attack? After all, they did so well in Europe (even managed to get Russia to pay for bits of it apparently) but now it's completely aI controlled.

Russia on the other hand has a hard road ahead. It would probably be best served taking over as much of Asia as possible from Japan and then figuring out how to crack the superpowered allied horde later.
 
Another @Bullfilter special: this makes what, like four or five AARs that you're working on? I get that this one is clearly an easier ask (no frills and basically just gameplay), but for sure can't wait to see how you manage all of this!
 
I wonder how well this new world order of the allies will mobilise to help out their Pacific partners under Japanese attack? After all, they did so well in Europe (even managed to get Russia to pay for bits of it apparently) but now it's completely aI controlled.

Russia on the other hand has a hard road ahead. It would probably be best served taking over as much of Asia as possible from Japan and then figuring out how to crack the superpowered allied horde later.
I’m hoping the more fragmented nature of the Allied set up makes it a little easier to tangle with - but now they have Germany and Italy, full-strength France, UK and USA on their side, plus all the old and new minors. I’m interested to see how they go! Part of making it a real challenge - that and letting the AI run much of it.

You’re right I’m sure about the Japan-first strategy, which is what I decided on. Will see if we can indeed build an Asian sphere of influence first. If nothing else it will be a @Eurasia -style AI experiment conducted initially in the East.
Another @Bullfilter special: this makes what, like four or five AARs that you're working on? I get that this one is clearly an easier ask (no frills and basically just gameplay), but for sure can't wait to see how you manage all of this!
Four at the moment. Yes, a bit extreme I know, but like Q&D1, I’m hoping I can get it done fairly quickly. Doing it now as I’d been meaning to for ages and the readership of the others can be slow over this period. But I’ll still progress the others, though inevitably there will be a little extra delay (not much I hope).
 
Poor ANZACs - their governments seem to be helpless against the Japanese menace. It is your Soviet duty to rescue them!
 
Poor ANZACs - their governments seem to be helpless against the Japanese menace. It is your Soviet duty to rescue them!
Alas, my reach is not that long at the moment ... but where are all the Allies? Twiddling their thumbs right now, I suspect. :rolleyes: And they have no excuse now with Germany and Italy out of the picture.
 
You’re right I’m sure about the Japan-first strategy, which is what I decided on. Will see if we can indeed build an Asian sphere of influence first. If nothing else it will be a @Eurasia -style AI experiment conducted initially in the East.

If nothing else it's insight into what the russians should/could do in Turkey AAR...

Love that the first responder is stnylan again. Actually read the first post a few minutes after it was posted and waited to see if he would.
 
Some of us were dealing with an oversized kid in beast mode... :oops::(

Fortunately, it also means nothing self-initiated, so time to read and catch up! :D:cool:
 
Chapter 2 – April 1944
Chapter 2 – April 1944

Far East – Land Combat

Given the situation and the amount of time it would take reinforcements to arrive from the west, both 1ya and 15th Armies reverted to defensive stances first thing on 1 April.

After a few early skirmishes, the first large battle of the month in the east started with a Japanese attack on Romanovka on 2 April and lasted until 10 April, when 24 SD was finally driven off, the Soviets forced to retreat though the Japanese suffered the heavier casualties. The trend of large battles in the central sector would continue in following days, where most Japanese pressure was being exerted.

As that battle was ending, to its south 187 SD began an attack on a Japanese marine division that had slipped into Petrovsk Zabaykal’skiy, before the Soviets could secure it following their victory in late March. The Soviets were once again victorious, inflicting heavy casualties on the Japanese defenders after four days of fighting.

In the north of the front, 26 and 39 SDs came under heavy attack in Ust’ Maja in the early hours of 11 April by three Japanese infantry divisions. After almost five days of bitter defence, the Soviets retreated north, losing around 1,400 men but inflicting almost 2,000 casualties on the attackers.

One of the new mechanised divisions (standard AI template) finished production on 11 April and was deployed that night, being allocated to 39th Corps in 15th Army. It would of course take some time to work up to full organisation.

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An epic battle broke out in Chita on 12 April as the fighting in nearby Petrovsk Zabaykal’skiy continued. 188 SD, outnumbered more than four-to-one (attacked by four divisions; 36,000 vs 8,000 soldiers) but dug in and with a river on one flank, fought the enemy to a standstill in just under two days, losing around 200 men to the enemy’s 800: a stirring victory.

A day after their victory in Petrovsk Zabaykal’skiy, 187 SD had secured the province. But they were attacked before they could entrench by a Japanese division on 15 April. The attackers were joined by two more divisions by the time the second battle of the month in the province had ended nearly three days later. Badly outnumbered by then, 187 SD was forced back out, both sides suffering heavy casualties.

A feature of this battle was a ground attack by a single Japanese CAS wing early that morning, which cauised 52 Soviet casualties. The Japanese returned at midday, to be met by two Soviet INT wings which drove them off with heavy damage.

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As the the fighters returned to base, it was noticed that Irkutsk (the main air base serving the central sector) now had 14 wings deployed. A program of expansions (three serial builds) was commenced to boost its repair capacity.

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More pressure was exerted in the central sector with a Japanese attack on Mogoca starting at 1300 hr on 17 April, ten hours before Petrovsk Zabaykal’skiy was lost. Here, 17 SD was under attack by three Japanese infantry division – one of them the Konoeshidan (Guards) Division. Despite the odds and being attacked from three directions, they were dug in behind a river and put up a good fight. They held out for nearly six days before having to withdraw from what had become an exposed salient, giving as good as they got in terms of casualties. By that time, they were outnumbered five-to-one as other Japanese units had joined in.

The intense Japanese pressure on the central sector went on, with a second attack on Chita beginning mid-morning on 18 April. Three Japanese divisions began a shock attack on 188 SD, which remained well organised after its earlier successful defence. Alas, in a similar tale to other attacks, a single division could not hold out in the long term, when so heavily outnumbered: a fourth Japanese division had joined the attack by the time the retreat was sounded exactly three days later on 21 April.

The only major battle that occurred on the south of the line came on 19 April, when 123 SD was attacked by two Japanese marine divisions in Ubur Khangaiin. After three days of fighting, the Soviets were driven off with heavy casualties.

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Battles and territorial changes, Soviet Far East, April 1944.
In summary, six major battles during April had seen the Soviets win two and lose four, losing 6,890 men to 8,297 Japanese troops killed (including a few skirmishes, but not air attacks).

The rest of the month saw the Japanese largely following these victories up – advances tended to take quite some time given the terrain and distances involved.

Taking a closer look at the Central/Lake Baikal sector it can be seen the Japanese offensive has forced a general withdrawal to the east of Lake Baikal – with some units in danger of isolation. But to the north, by midnight on 30 April, 1ya Armiya commander General Egorov had just ordered a two-division attack on the vacant Bukacaca. It is a three-week approach march, so they are not due to arrive before 19 May. The Japanese may well have occupied it by then.

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Central/Lake Baikal Sector as at 2300 hr 30 April 1944.

******
Far East - Naval Operations

The first FE Theatre commander Marshal Karpezo heard of a small fleet (1 x CA, 2 x CL) being sent to the east was when it reported on 1 April that it had engaged a Japanese fleet (1 x CV, 1 x BB, 1 x CA, 1 x DD) off Truro Shoal in the South China Sea. By the time they had escaped they were lucky to all still be afloat. Their command was transferred to FE Theatre as they attempted to complete their risky dash to Petropavlovsk Kamcackij.

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But they did eventually limp into port and by 5 April, all the surface ships were harbouring in port and joined into a single fleet under Admiral Kuznetsov, with those ships that needed it undergoing repairs.

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Between 5 and 13 April, Soviet submarines sank six Japanese convoys in the waters around Japan.

But on 16 April, one of the very active Soviet sub flotillas was caught by a Japanese carrier and destroyer task force east of Tokyo. It was sunk by carrier planes before it could escape.

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******
Research

During the month, a number of research projects were completed. Improving Research Efficiency and Education were top new priorities, as was better equipment and tactics and training for the infantry – the mainstay of the Red Army.

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******
International Relations

Sweden was the next country to make moves to become closer to the Comintern (though the drift calculation seems out – compared to the countries influencing it – unless the residual effect of Germany as an Axis influencer rather than a now Allied one is a bit bugged).

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Alas, on 7 April Tibet ceased its alignment towards the Comintern, as did Switzerland four days later. Maybe some more influencing effort (though not necessarily towards those countries) will be generated later, once Soviet research priorities have been realigned and the leadership can be spared.

On 15 July, a cheeky German request for lend-lease was rejected: they have very short memories!

******
Europe

As peace settles in Europe, the (entirely AI-led) Soviet forces have largely settled into their new positions. Polish forces are very light along that border, but the Germans have a considerable presence in the north, on the border with East Prussia.

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Northern Finland is still not fully settled, with Allied (Norwegian, British and German units under Norwegian command) still moving back to their own territory. Sweden has guarded their frontier closely.

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Romania remains a mess, and probably will for a long time yet. The newly re-raised Romanian Army is small and under-gunned as yet.

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A range of Soviet units is in transit east: the AI wasn’t moving any of the subordinate units, so strategic movement orders had to be manually given to all divisions and HQs, before giving control back to the AI (at Front/Army Group level for now).

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******
Other Theatres

There has been a turn-around in Indo-China during April, with French and now a few British divisions having advanced up to the approaching Japanese and indeed pushing them back in a few locations.

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The situation in the rest of South East Asia, New Guinea and the Pacific is unchanged. In Australia, the Japanese have continued to push inland in New South Wales (NSW) and Queensland. But in New Zealand, much territory has been regained.

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The US Marines had arrived to retake Christchurch – it seems they and their Japanese counterparts are the only front line units there. The rest are NZ HQs.

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If nothing else it's insight into what the russians should/could do in Turkey AAR...

Love that the first responder is stnylan again. Actually read the first post a few minutes after it was posted and waited to see if he would.
I wish I could make them do it in TT ... and we know @stnylan will very rarely fail to be the fastest gunslinger in town! :)
Some of us were dealing with an oversized kid in beast mode... :oops::(

Fortunately, it also means nothing self-initiated, so time to read and catch up! :D:cool:
Sounds rather draining! :eek: My oversized kids are at home for the holiday season, but they're in their mid-twenties and thankfully don't do beast mode much anymore. ;) :D And here's some more to catch up on. Thankfully not too much. Turkey next ...
 
One hopes that Irkutsk will hold - but even if it does not there is still considerable space to trade.
 
There has been a turn-around in Indo-China during April, with French and now a few British divisions having advanced up to the approaching Japanese and indeed pushing them back in a few locations.

Mm. Not sure whether it's good or not that the Allied AI is still competent. At least this means they aren't going to hit you immediatly?
 
Here's Europe, where Finland and most of Romania (with French patches) are occupied by the USSR.
That border gore would drive me crazy, can’t you just mod in 2 separate countries in Romania (maybe there’s Moldova in game files?) and give one to allies keeping the other? Why doesn’t the game take care if it?
This is where the victory conditions were when I changed from France to the Soviet Union at 1100hr on 21 March 1944. Lots of work to do.
There's like 4 of them that can be done without fighting the Allies. The rest will be difficult.

Diplomatically, only Mongolia and Sinkiang are in the Comintern, while the Soviets are influencing Republican Spain (not a bad idea).
Turkey can be added there as İstanbul in Comintern control is a victory condition as well.

Light and medium tank research is also pretty reasonable, as are heavy tanks.
I tend to eschew medium tank research as a compromise, for hard-hitting I use heavies and for exploitation I use lights. I only research the engines of mediums so that my TDs and SP artillery is also fast (and the game should've made the heavy engine count for that).

After some aero engines, you can also research medical evacuation which gives a nice 10% bonus to the morale of all kinds of troops, keep that in mind for the near future as well.

Education and the mechanical computation device can be researched as well. Electronic computation device is already on time so that's a great thing.

And the part of Romania we currently occupy will be ‘liberated’ to join the Comintern as a puppet.
This solves half the problem, but please give the French exclaves to either Romania or other neighboring countries :D

Tactical Air Command gets a doctrinal boost on 27 March, with research effort being put next into Infantry Small Arms.
Night fighting equipment is also useful here

During the month, a number of research projects were completed. Improving Research Efficiency and Education were top new priorities, as was better equipment and tactics and training for the infantry – the mainstay of the Red Army.
Great!

A range of Soviet units is in transit east: the AI wasn’t moving any of the subordinate units, so strategic movement orders had to be manually given to all divisions and HQs, before giving control back to the AI (at Front/Army Group level for now).
This is a nightmare clickfest to do, and they take forever to move all the way. I wish you patience and mental fortitude to not break your PC :)

Nice to have this AAR, I'm enjoying it already, thanks :D
 
That border gore would drive me crazy, can’t you just mod in 2 separate countries in Romania (maybe there’s Moldova in game files?) and give one to allies keeping the other? Why doesn’t the game take care if it?

It is exactly what the french would do if they could though, at least in that time period. Hold as many tiny bits as possible, keep the country as divided as possible, frustrate the potential future enemy with as many defensive traps as possible and thoroughly mess up the map so no one knows who owns what and they can thus take even more if they want (see german zones of countrol after ww1).
 
It is exactly what the french would do if they could though, at least in that time period. Hold as many tiny bits as possible, keep the country as divided as possible, frustrate the potential future enemy with as many defensive traps as possible and thoroughly mess up the map so no one knows who owns what and they can thus take even more if they want (see german zones of countrol after ww1).
Sounds very realistic indeed when you say it like that :)
 
Sounds very realistic indeed when you say it like that :)

When I saw it, it really does look like a literal portrait of what (at least officially) are the decided borders. This probably isn't the case in actuality but a future proof kind of plan nonetheless