A few questions on playing Germany...

[gord96]

Hello all.

After owning DH for a several years I am finally trying the play as Germany. I am using the Mixed Mod, which pretty much uses the vanilla DH Full campaign. I just had a few questions if you don't mind.

1) When I attack Poland, does France attack me right away? I was wondering if the game simulates that there really wasn't much happening on the Western Front during the invasion of Poland.

2) Does one need to worry about North Africa? I really don't want to worry about sending troops there, curious if I am missing much by avoiding the area all together?

3) Can Italy hold its own? I am curious if Italy can hold its own or do I am to station a lot of troops there to prevent an allied invasion.

Thanks for any info. Not sure why I took so long to try playing Germany. So far from 1933, it has been an interesting game gearing up for war.

Thanks again.

 

[vcgetdown]

Hello all.

After owning DH for a several years I am finally trying the play as Germany. I am using the Mixed Mod, which pretty much uses the vanilla DH Full campaign. I just had a few questions if you don't mind.

1) When I attack Poland, does France attack me right away? I was wondering if the game simulates that there really wasn't much happening on the Western Front during the invasion of Poland.

2) Does one need to worry about North Africa? I really don't want to worry about sending troops there, curious if I am missing much by avoiding the area all together?

3) Can Italy hold its own? I am curious if Italy can hold its own or do I am to station a lot of troops there to prevent an allied invasion.

Thanks for any info. Not sure why I took so long to try playing Germany. So far from 1933, it has been an interesting game gearing up for war.

Thanks again.

1) France will attack, you will have to set an, if anything, a-historically large force there to convince them not to.
2 and 3) There is very little to lose abandoning north africa, but: Italy, if left on it's own, will try and fail to hold it losing massive amounts of divisions. While this could be considered gamey, if you take control of italy, and manually force them to garrison their beaches/islands and use the rest of their army for barbarosa, it makes it way easier. Holding north africa only forces you to have a huge portion of your military dedicated to holding it from the british, and holding it has little gains.

 

[gord96]

thanks vcgetdown! I wasn't aware I was given the option to control Italy's military. I may have to do that.

Thanks again!

 

[parnis]

thanks vcgetdown! I wasn't aware I was given the option to control Italy's military. I may have to do that.

Thanks again!

You can take over any of your allies armed forces. Go to them on the Diplomacy page and select "Assume Military Control". If it's active, it always works and costs nothing. You can give up military control at any time. You don't get to control their economy, though.

 

[euromellows]

On the other hand, only a few armoured or motorised divisions from Germany could make all the difference in North Africa. Especially if you entice Spain into the war by capturing Gibraltar. While I agree the war is either won or lost in Russia, sealing off the Mediterranean can buy peace of mind about the British/American threat. I'd recommend releasing the Arab Federation as a puppet as well, not only will it drastically improve Italy's TC but it is a (small) source of manpower and infantry divisions. Egypt and the Suez Canal can be indefinitely held off from allied assault with careful placement and a fortification or two: if you're not able to knock Russia out of the war in the first year, this will give you a good chance to win the long war. (If you're really ambitious you could capture Baku through northern Iraq/Persia - but don't be tempted to use it as a breakout point, just stick to holding Baku and leave the war of maneuver in Europe).

 

[Red Roo]

North Africa can actually be pretty helpful when you commit some troops, given that you capture Gibraltar along with the Suez Canal, you can guarantee naval supremacy and therefore safe troop transport and beachheads around the Mediterranean (just make sure to take Malta, the last surviving bastion of defense for any stranded Allied fleets). If you hold them on the Egyptian/Sudan border, you can move into the middle east and secure precious oil reserves, and pull a schlieffen plan on the USSR, invading the Caucus (dat oil, son!), through Turkey/Iran.

 

[Eugenioso]

Hello all.

After owning DH for a several years I am finally trying the play as Germany. I am using the Mixed Mod, which pretty much uses the vanilla DH Full campaign. I just had a few questions if you don't mind.

1) When I attack Poland, does France attack me right away? I was wondering if the game simulates that there really wasn't much happening on the Western Front during the invasion of Poland.

2) Does one need to worry about North Africa? I really don't want to worry about sending troops there, curious if I am missing much by avoiding the area all together?

3) Can Italy hold its own? I am curious if Italy can hold its own or do I am to station a lot of troops there to prevent an allied invasion.

Thanks for any info. Not sure why I took so long to try playing Germany. So far from 1933, it has been an interesting game gearing up for war.

Thanks again.

Italy is crap, and it never realizes it. If left to their own devices, they will mess every single invasion they try, with perhaps not so much f/upness against greece. I personally sometimes purposefully not ally the italians and DOW them, so that i can use their not too low IC and MP for much better aims.

 

[unmerged(49948)]

2) It is worth it if you can take Gibraltar and Suez, even taking one of them will help. I've had a couple campaigns where Ger/Italy actually took North Africa and then some (myself or AI)...but eventually the US will land and you can't stop them while also fighting in Europe/Russia. But while you are building up for barbarossa send some help to Africa.

3.) Italy is pathetic and can't hold its own. At somepoint you will be sending your troops to bail them out...probably on multiple occasions.

Also making sure Nationalist Spain wins will help both of these points. If you have Africa ambitions try and ally with them, I haven't played as Germany in awhile but you can get them as an ally.

 

[gord96]

Thanks again guys. You have given me some stuff to think about. Mainly, do I even bother to ally with Italy? It seems like it might be better off just to invade them? If so, when should one invade them?

If I do decide to go after Gibraltar, is airborne assault the way to go? I haven't used airborne troops before.

On a different note I have browsed the threads on here and saw that there is a few different opinions on air defence? So far in 1938 I have 8 units of interceptors. Should I build more? Should I build AA guns? Worth getting them all to level 10?

Also, I have 108 Inf divs. Is that enough for the 'start' of WW2? I am still working on getting some more MOT divs (i only have 3 right now) and some armour (zero so far).

Thanks again guys.

 

[Eugenioso]

Right after France falls is a good chance to invade them.

Curiously enough, there was a planned operation Felix that would have sent paratroopers to capture gibraltar. Ahistorically, i would conquer Spain and portugal, and just landrush it.

Interceptors have bonuses against bombers, and they cost less, while fighters have more range and are more versatile, but they are a little bit worse than interceptors. For my money, stick with INT. Yes, you need more. I get at least 16, and sometimes more. AA guns are good for provinces that have no AA, so the AI that tries to bomb them will suffer at least some losses to their wings. Radar and AA and airports are a good combination. If you can, get lvl 10 but only on big cities or very IC heavy ones.

108 divs is ok, but you need to get some more MOT and ARM divs. a third of those will guard your flank against france and brit landings, and grinding the poles down is the complete opposite of what you want. I heavily suggest a restart.

 

[gord96]

Thanks Eugenioso!

Appreciate the info. I should have more armour by the time the war starts so I will see how it plays out.

Another question. It's now Sept 1939, and wondering how I can increase my relations with the SU? To fire the Rib/Mot Pact, I need to have at least -50 relations with them. But I am at -190. I am assuming that is how I get the decision to invade Poland. I also haven't been offered any alliance with Italy yet.

Thanks!

 

[Eugenioso]

first time players will find that they make many mistakes. regulars usually follow the heavily event driven start all the way to '39 and can set themselves up from the very start. You can invade poland through DOW if you dont have the event, but it is much much better to get the M/R pact, and for the relations, simply trade with them to increase them (does that still work) or influence them constantly.

 

[IGGEL]

Not sure about SU, but Italy will join the Axis once you are well into invading France.

 

[gord96]

I edited the event so I could trigger the pact. it would take years to get my relations to -50.

Overran Poland easy. Now to the west! What's the best place to attack? I have 3 armored corps (9 divisions) and 2 MOT corps (6 divisions). Hope that's enough! Also have 130 INF divs now.

 

[Eugenioso]

If you can do it, you deserve an award. Since your ARM and MOT are so few (ive never heard of anyone having more tanks than MOT, TBH), i suggest smaller encirclements at first to sap away the enemy strength. Also, because of your low numbers, ignore netherlands for now. What about your airforce?

Question: this would be an interesting aar to watch. Could you do one?

 

[unmerged(49948)]

There are a lot of perfectionists on this forum...you can invade France and trigger vichy with around 150 inf, probably less without worry. It just might take a bit longer. I've invaded France on normal or hard with similar army stats before. Bottom line is the allies aren't in any shape to fight a land campaign at this juncture. And if your doctrines are up to date you don't need superior numbers. Tanks/Mot are more important for Barbarossa. Portugal is another ally that you can get, but if you haven't been influencing them up to this point its probably unlikely. You have until Barbarossa at the latest to ally with them.

For Garrison troops on the atlantic wall I usually liberate Flanders or Wallonia. It only takes up a couple of provinces (so its not too much of an eyesore for your empire). If you release them as a puppet they pump out up-to-date infantry. And they have like 20-25 IC I think with only a couple provinces. Also after you invade France and before you start Barbarossa you can invade norway and Denmark...then I love to annex Sweden and liberate Scandanavia. They're probably a bit overpowered in the game, but they can easily produce 70 infantry divisions within 2-3 years, in provinces that don't bring you much IC and are a hassle to garrison (Allied amphibious assualts, low infrastructure).

 

[Lucifer]

If you can do it, you deserve an award. Since your ARM and MOT are so few (ive never heard of anyone having more tanks than MOT, TBH), i suggest smaller encirclements at first to sap away the enemy strength. Also, because of your low numbers, ignore netherlands for now. What about your airforce?

I did it in my AAR with 133 divisions (including 9 MOT+7LArm) versus 139 French divisions (176 including the Benelux) in my ongoing AAR.
What you want to be sure is that any pocket will stay unsupplied (beware the relocation of the capitals and the harbors).

 

[Eugenioso]

yes and you did good, like most other players i guess, but damn this guy is a rookie! soviets soldiers during stalingrad had a bigger survival chance!

EDIT: WHERE THE EFF IS THE NEXT CHAPTER? WHAT HAPPENS TO RUSSIA? AARCHTUNG!

 

[gord96]

Was stonewalled on the border (of course because of the big forts) as well as in Belgium, so I attacked the Netherlands and they crumbled quite quickly. I then shot down the coast and took Paris. Once I was behind them the AI started send troops back and then I was able to breakthrough in Belgium. The 'Armistice' event fired shortly there after.

Now not sure what to do. I was thinking of invading Italy. I could also do the Denmark/Norway thing too. I am trying to get as much MOT and ARM out as I can for Barbarossa. I am NOT looking forward to that. The thing that is holding me off with Italy is they are fighting the British in Africa. If I take all of Italy can I annex them or do I have to take some African victory locations. Of course if I attack Italy then the British will overrun them quite quickly and I could probably annex them anyways.

I am putting a garrison in each 'beach' province to prevent invasion. Not sure if this is needed, but I don't want to leave any openings.

 

[parnis]

Although I don't play Germany, I would assume it is very necessary to garrison the beaches; I bet the UK AI starts trying landings all over the place. But IMO, Garrison divisions are not the best for this because they self-destruct instead of retreating. You'd think they'd be right for beaches and fortifications, but they are not. Garrison divisions are best for holding down provinces with high dissent and defending one-province islands. Use militia or infantry for beaches, I'd say.