A Tragedy in Ten PAARts AmatAAR Italian MP AAR
Table of Contents:
Part I: Prologue - The Trains Run on Time
(this post; scroll down)
Part II: The Tragedy of Romania
Part III: The Tragedy of the Balkans
Part IV: The Tragedy of France
Part V: The Tragedy of Yugoslavia
Part VI: The Tragedy of Russia
Part VII: The Tragedy of Britain
Part VIII: The Comedy of America
Part IX: The Tragedy of Germany
Part X: The Tragedy of Italy
(this post; scroll down)
Part II: The Tragedy of Romania
Part III: The Tragedy of the Balkans
Part IV: The Tragedy of France
Part V: The Tragedy of Yugoslavia
Part VI: The Tragedy of Russia
Part VII: The Tragedy of Britain
Part VIII: The Comedy of America
Part IX: The Tragedy of Germany
Part X: The Tragedy of Italy
Hello all. Long-time fan/player and fan of Paradox games here. I have been having a great time with HOI IV so far. Other Paradox games require dedicated groups or friends/family to play MP, but improvements to and the length of HOI IV means that you can have a lot of fun in multiplayer pickup games. While some of these games do not get very far, some turn out to be very fun. This is the story of one such game which I had last week, playing as the fledgling Kingdom of Italy. It will be divided into 10 parts of varying length.
Disclaimer: I mainly play for fun and am very far from being a very good player. I no doubt made many mistakes as did other players. I hope that this AAR will be taken in the friendly/good-spirited nature which it is intended and that I won't be eaten up too badly by the forums here. Please remember that most of my comments will be from a combination of what I remember from playing and what I have gleaned from the periodic saves which I made (where most of the pictures will come from). This means that areas which I remember less or did not take saves of will be less well documented. It also means there will be few pictures from early on as I took less saves during this time (my apologies).
Please note that my account is liable to be
Also, to any readers who stumble into this thread, please provide feedback. I am always looking for ways to improve (although I can't guarantee I will always agree and follow it, I value it anyways ).
With that out of the way, and without further ado, I present to you:
Part I: Prologue: The Trains Run on Time
Italy in 1936 was a nation with a chip on its shoulder. It was a Great Power, but only barely so. It lacked many resources and was poorly industrialized. It had colonies, but Italy had been late to the Scramble for Africa, so they were poor. It had picked the winning side in World War I, but had come out of it with a "mutilated victory." Italy made some gains, but got much less than what it had been promised.
Revanchism stirred and under the charismatic leadership of Benito Mussolini, a new fascist movement grew. When Mussolini marched on Rome in 1922 at the front of his paramilitary "Blackshirts," King Victor Emmanuel III, instead of calling inn the army, appointed Mussolini Prime Minister. Soon Mussolini would effectively become dictator, known merely as Il Duce - "The Leader." He pledged to make Italy great once more. Italy was often mocked for its military inadequacy and inefficiency. Mussolini vowed to create a disciplined, martial country where the trains would run on time. He promised to build a new Roman Empire.
For the fascist symbol, Mussolini chose the fasces, or bundle of sticks. Once used by Roman officials, it represented the strength of unity. A single stick could be easily snapped, but a bundle of sticks would hold firm.
In 1936 Mussolini stood as Italy's undisputed ruler, ready to strike out into the world...
Rules
This MP game had few rules (and some were broken), but basically no coups or unwanted boosting, no space marines, historical factions (didn't quite turn out this way), no wars for minors until 1937 and for majors until 1938 other than through focuses.
Players: Portugal, Romania, SU, Germany, France, UK, Japan, France, USA
All majors were played. I believe there was another minor, but that they dropped out early. Portugal went Axis and Yugoslavia Comintern. Romania was also pro-Axis.
Build Plan
Italy is a fun major to play. Big enough to make a difference, but small enough to be focused and manageable. Since I expected war to break out early, I initially planned on abandoning Africa and focusing on defending Italy, largely with infantry and mountaineers. I set my doctrine to Superior Firepower and moved to quickly finish the war in Ethiopia (always fearful of potential Soviet assistance to the African nation). Emperor Haile Selassie's government was quickly toppled and a friendly regime installed.
Communist Expansion
In the late 1930's, Mussolini and other European leaders became greatly alarmed by communist expansion. The Kingdom of Yugoslavia, long a mishmash of ethnicities collapsed in on itself. Josip Broz Tito was able to fill the vacuum, by pitting forward a vision of universal communist brotherhood which would transcend old ethnic and religious tensions.
Italians looked on with horror as their neighbour, whom they had long had a frosty relationship with due to border disputes, fell to the evil, loathsome, godless communist oppressors. Going back to the days of Venice, large Italian communities had lived on the Adriatic Coast. They had long been the target of Italian Irredentism and many had clamoured for their inclusion into the kingdom since the unification of Italy. Now even many Croatians called out for Italian aid. Worse still, the new Communist state quickly pledged its loyalty to Joseph Stalin and the Comintern.
Mussolini sent submarines to patrol the Mediterranean, the Regia Marina to patrol the Adriatic, and moved troops to the eastern border. He forged closer ties with Germany and reasserted Italy's claims on Yugoslavia. He also moved to fortify his other borders.
Communist nations began to look outwards in their insidious plots to spread their vile ideology through revolution.
Mussolini vowed to fight back.
The Reign in Spain
While Italians looked east, the next communist move in the Mediterranean would strike to the west, in Spain. The increasingly unstable Spanish Republic was collapsing into anarchy. Anarchists, syndicalist radical socialists, and communists moved in to fill the void, no doubt under orders from Moscow.
In the midst of the chaos, the patriot General Francisco Franco managed to rally a counter-revolutionary alliance to save the nation. He brought together an alliance of the Catholic Church, the military, monarchists, industry, and Falangists (quasi-fascists). Mussolini sent crack Italian Alpine troops to aid Franco's forces. They feared meeting Soviet forces, but strangely, only ran into Spaniards.
Italian troops played key parts in the liberations of Valencia, Barcelona, and Madrid and soon the Republican forces were on the ropes. Soon after the defeat of the Spanish Republic, Franco declared a new "Spanish State" with himself as regent (the new country technically being a kingdom as a concession to monarchists, despite the royal family still being in exile). It was clearly based partly on the model of Mussolini's Italy.
Little did Mussolini know, this was only a brief hope spot in the many tragedies that would soon engulf Europe.
Well that's all for this chapter folks. Hope you all enjoyed reading as I did playing.
Next Time on Tragedy:
Part II: The Tragedy of Romania
Red Stars over Yugoslavia
King Carol’s Plan
A guarantee that was allowed but failed a guarantee that was disallowed but succeeded
"Protecting" Albania
The May-December Romance
Saving Private Greece
Romania joins the spirit world (Or why to beware communists bearing strings)
The Red Menace
Edited: A few minor fixes and added Table of Contents
Further Edit: moved table of contents and title to top
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