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Defeat or Victory: A French AAR by the Numbers
Here are some interesting numbers (at least I thought so) they deal with the actual gameplay or the AAR itself. All numbers relating to gameplay are from right after the USSR was annexed.
1129 Land brigades (including expeditionary forces)
744 Available IC, 380 Base IC (France starts with 66 available IC)
719 VP controlled by France (Closest is the UK with 133)
257 Posted images (259 if you count this post
)
202 Real life days from start to finish
142 Allied divisions (Around 55 at the time of Germany's defeat)
102.5 Monthly manpower gain
79 Planes (40 Interceptors, 21 CAS, and 18 Tac)
47.89 Leadership
28 Saved game files
8 Highest skilled land leader (Koenig and de Gaulle)
5 Highest skilled air leader (d' Astier de la Vigerie)
3 Harm divisions for the entire length of the game
2 Remaining military leaders left without assignment (land)
Here are some interesting numbers (at least I thought so) they deal with the actual gameplay or the AAR itself. All numbers relating to gameplay are from right after the USSR was annexed.
1129 Land brigades (including expeditionary forces)
744 Available IC, 380 Base IC (France starts with 66 available IC)
719 VP controlled by France (Closest is the UK with 133)
257 Posted images (259 if you count this post
)202 Real life days from start to finish
142 Allied divisions (Around 55 at the time of Germany's defeat)
102.5 Monthly manpower gain
79 Planes (40 Interceptors, 21 CAS, and 18 Tac)
47.89 Leadership
28 Saved game files
8 Highest skilled land leader (Koenig and de Gaulle)
5 Highest skilled air leader (d' Astier de la Vigerie)
3 Harm divisions for the entire length of the game
2 Remaining military leaders left without assignment (land)
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Thank you. In hindsight I would have made a much greater attempt to build more Harm.
I went back and read my own AAR to see what could be done differently. It has been going on for so long and I learned so much since the start, I really forgot I was learning the game at the beginning. You will have to excuse the way I have written this. It is really set up to be notes. I’d like to try a French AAR again one day, so it’s written with than in mind.
Prewar
At the start my divisions were three infantry and one artillery. I think two infantry and two artillery would have been a better choice to help save on manpower.
The Maginot line was never attacked the entire game. It always had two divisions guarding it in every province. I’d like to know what the bare minimum would be to hold it. Some militia divisions on the line with a few regular infantry divisions in reserve could help save manpower and leaders.
A huge mistake was completely relying on my armored force to protect me from German panzers. I didn’t build a single AT brigade until after Germany was defeated. In the future at least one division per corps should have AT.
Prewar IC use should have been better managed. I built significant amount of CAS before and during the war, which was a waste as I couldn’t control the skies. More interceptors would have helped.
Axis
Spain was a learning experience as I almost lost my entire armored force to a minor power. At least I learned something from the experience. I never again stacked that many troops together in an advance, leaving the flanks completely undefended.
Speaking of Spain I still don’t know what I would do in a future game as France. Spain needed to be dealt with in one way or another, the risk they would join the Axis was too great. However I still don’t know if it would have been better just to puppet them/install new government. France was short on manpower and leadership most of the game and every bit counted. But I believe annexing Spain screwed up the British AI. Whenever British troops landed they were obsessed with Gibraltar. It wasn’t until 1947 that the British sent over a expeditionary force. The British may very well send more expeditionary forces to France without that direct land connection to Gibraltar.
When Germany declared war on Belgium and the Netherlands I moved in to support them. In the future I wouldn’t bother until after the Germans occupied them to ensure I would have proper supply lines when I do advance. Belgium ended up sending most their army to me anyways once I pulled out.
My strategy against Germany was to make encirclements and destroy their divisions. A mistake in that regard was not having enough mobile divisions to exploit the breakthroughs and not leaving units in reserve. Divisions held in reserve could have allowed for a much quicker advance.
The air force was without a doubt the biggest mistake I made in the AAR. Germany simply owned the sky and I could only contest it for a short while and that would result in heavy losses. I built CAS which simply sat unused during the war with Germany. I didn’t start using bombers to their full effect until after Germany was defeated. It also didn’t help that I was ignorant of the limit of planes that could be based at air bases, increasing the repair time for planes.
Not having heavy armor against the Germans was a nightmare. I would make every effort in another game to get my own heavy armor to counter the Germans.
Japan was a real push over. I do admit it could have been a terrible defeat. I gambled that I could land troops before the Imperial Japanese Navy could intercept. The gamble paid off but I could have lost a significant chunk of my army. In hindsight it was an incredibly stupid move.
Soviet Union
I completely underestimated the strength of the USSR. I was able to win because the AI wasn’t too smart. If the entire Red Army had been concentrated in Europe, it would have been a very interesting war.
Generally the war went well. I was able to much better utilize the air force which was a great learning experience that will prove useful for using air units in other future games. To make it simple, I learned that using bombers will give you victories in battles that normally you wouldn’t.
I was pleased with my OOB and the new way I organized my armor. I separated them into two groups. One had the big boys to breakthrough the line, the other had quick units to exploit those breakthroughs. It worked quote well against the Soviets.
The encirclement at Odessa was a huge victory that was able to trap over 100 Soviet divisions. I had forgotten however, that the encirclement at Odessa was only part one of a three part operation. The other two parts never had a chance as I underestimated the amount of troops I would need.
A big flaw in the war was my disregard for supplies. My forces were more often than not out of supplies. It was made much better when I pulled whole armies off the front lines.
There was a significant portion of the French army that wasn’t engaged in the war due to these supply problems. It might have been worth it to open up a third front somewhere; perhaps through Turkey or Persia, maybe both?
General
Manpower was a huge issue. Every effort must be made to acquire more and to conserve it. Planning out offensive and launching them effectively would have helped out with conserving manpower.
I was terrible at keeping divisions near their corps HQs. This needs to be improved as it costs combat efficiency.
Being able to contest the Luftwaffe is a must. I hate to think how many battles and manpower I lost because of Luftwaffe bombers.
Declaring war on Switzerland might also be beneficial. The Germans always left a large force to cover the Maginot Line. Extending the line would make them commit even more troops. I imagine those Swiss mountains would be easy to defend.
Concentrating on Italy first instead of Germany could be make things easier later in the war.
Conclusion
I had a lot of fun with this AAR. I half expected it to end with the Germans in Paris or at best, end in a stalemate. Let alone end in a total victory over the Axis and Comintern. I certainly accomplished my goal of learning to play HoI3. As I stated before when I started to read it from the beginning I did forget how little I knew. I’m definitely considering doing another French AAR, when I can’t say.
I’d like to thank everyone who read this AAR and who commented, you all made it a great first AAR. Special thanks to the people that offered advice, it really helped (most of it). See you around the forums.
Prewar
At the start my divisions were three infantry and one artillery. I think two infantry and two artillery would have been a better choice to help save on manpower.
The Maginot line was never attacked the entire game. It always had two divisions guarding it in every province. I’d like to know what the bare minimum would be to hold it. Some militia divisions on the line with a few regular infantry divisions in reserve could help save manpower and leaders.
A huge mistake was completely relying on my armored force to protect me from German panzers. I didn’t build a single AT brigade until after Germany was defeated. In the future at least one division per corps should have AT.
Prewar IC use should have been better managed. I built significant amount of CAS before and during the war, which was a waste as I couldn’t control the skies. More interceptors would have helped.
Axis
Spain was a learning experience as I almost lost my entire armored force to a minor power. At least I learned something from the experience. I never again stacked that many troops together in an advance, leaving the flanks completely undefended.
Speaking of Spain I still don’t know what I would do in a future game as France. Spain needed to be dealt with in one way or another, the risk they would join the Axis was too great. However I still don’t know if it would have been better just to puppet them/install new government. France was short on manpower and leadership most of the game and every bit counted. But I believe annexing Spain screwed up the British AI. Whenever British troops landed they were obsessed with Gibraltar. It wasn’t until 1947 that the British sent over a expeditionary force. The British may very well send more expeditionary forces to France without that direct land connection to Gibraltar.
When Germany declared war on Belgium and the Netherlands I moved in to support them. In the future I wouldn’t bother until after the Germans occupied them to ensure I would have proper supply lines when I do advance. Belgium ended up sending most their army to me anyways once I pulled out.
My strategy against Germany was to make encirclements and destroy their divisions. A mistake in that regard was not having enough mobile divisions to exploit the breakthroughs and not leaving units in reserve. Divisions held in reserve could have allowed for a much quicker advance.
The air force was without a doubt the biggest mistake I made in the AAR. Germany simply owned the sky and I could only contest it for a short while and that would result in heavy losses. I built CAS which simply sat unused during the war with Germany. I didn’t start using bombers to their full effect until after Germany was defeated. It also didn’t help that I was ignorant of the limit of planes that could be based at air bases, increasing the repair time for planes.
Not having heavy armor against the Germans was a nightmare. I would make every effort in another game to get my own heavy armor to counter the Germans.
Japan was a real push over. I do admit it could have been a terrible defeat. I gambled that I could land troops before the Imperial Japanese Navy could intercept. The gamble paid off but I could have lost a significant chunk of my army. In hindsight it was an incredibly stupid move.
Soviet Union
I completely underestimated the strength of the USSR. I was able to win because the AI wasn’t too smart. If the entire Red Army had been concentrated in Europe, it would have been a very interesting war.
Generally the war went well. I was able to much better utilize the air force which was a great learning experience that will prove useful for using air units in other future games. To make it simple, I learned that using bombers will give you victories in battles that normally you wouldn’t.
I was pleased with my OOB and the new way I organized my armor. I separated them into two groups. One had the big boys to breakthrough the line, the other had quick units to exploit those breakthroughs. It worked quote well against the Soviets.
The encirclement at Odessa was a huge victory that was able to trap over 100 Soviet divisions. I had forgotten however, that the encirclement at Odessa was only part one of a three part operation. The other two parts never had a chance as I underestimated the amount of troops I would need.
A big flaw in the war was my disregard for supplies. My forces were more often than not out of supplies. It was made much better when I pulled whole armies off the front lines.
There was a significant portion of the French army that wasn’t engaged in the war due to these supply problems. It might have been worth it to open up a third front somewhere; perhaps through Turkey or Persia, maybe both?
General
Manpower was a huge issue. Every effort must be made to acquire more and to conserve it. Planning out offensive and launching them effectively would have helped out with conserving manpower.
I was terrible at keeping divisions near their corps HQs. This needs to be improved as it costs combat efficiency.
Being able to contest the Luftwaffe is a must. I hate to think how many battles and manpower I lost because of Luftwaffe bombers.
Declaring war on Switzerland might also be beneficial. The Germans always left a large force to cover the Maginot Line. Extending the line would make them commit even more troops. I imagine those Swiss mountains would be easy to defend.
Concentrating on Italy first instead of Germany could be make things easier later in the war.
Conclusion
I had a lot of fun with this AAR. I half expected it to end with the Germans in Paris or at best, end in a stalemate. Let alone end in a total victory over the Axis and Comintern. I certainly accomplished my goal of learning to play HoI3. As I stated before when I started to read it from the beginning I did forget how little I knew. I’m definitely considering doing another French AAR, when I can’t say.
I’d like to thank everyone who read this AAR and who commented, you all made it a great first AAR. Special thanks to the people that offered advice, it really helped (most of it
). See you around the forums.
Im aswell doing a French campaign and i had to read this AAR for tips and tactics. I was thinking of building multi role planes but now i am convinced to just build many interceptors and bombers afterwards. the 2X inf 2X artillery 1x Anti tank is also something i defently will build up. (its 1938 and all i builded so far is forts and 3X inf + 1x Art and 3X Marines) but i will start a mass production of (2X inf 2X artillery 1x Anti-tank)
i will also take out Spain as u did for more IC. But i also wanna blitz Italy really fast, hopefully taking em out before they enter the Axis, but that seems to be a hard since its already 1938... But if i can decleare war against them before they enter the Axis iam pretty sure i can conquer them very fast.
This is my second try, last time i attacket Italy and Zhe Germans came down and crushed me and entered France throu the French-Italian Border (i will also give this border fully upgraded land forts so they cant steamrole this border
i will also take out Spain as u did for more IC. But i also wanna blitz Italy really fast, hopefully taking em out before they enter the Axis, but that seems to be a hard since its already 1938... But if i can decleare war against them before they enter the Axis iam pretty sure i can conquer them very fast.
This is my second try, last time i attacket Italy and Zhe Germans came down and crushed me and entered France throu the French-Italian Border (i will also give this border fully upgraded land forts so they cant steamrole this border
lol I would have too :blush:
I'm glad you can make use of my AARIm aswell doing a French campaign and i had to read this AAR for tips and tactics. I was thinking of building multi role planes but now i am convinced to just build many interceptors and bombers afterwards. the 2X inf 2X artillery 1x Anti tank is also something i defently will build up. (its 1938 and all i builded so far is forts and 3X inf + 1x Art and 3X Marines) but i will start a mass production of (2X inf 2X artillery 1x Anti-tank)
i will also take out Spain as u did for more IC. But i also wanna blitz Italy really fast, hopefully taking em out before they enter the Axis, but that seems to be a hard since its already 1938... But if i can decleare war against them before they enter the Axis iam pretty sure i can conquer them very fast.
This is my second try, last time i attacket Italy and Zhe Germans came down and crushed me and entered France throu the French-Italian Border (i will also give this border fully upgraded land forts so they cant steamrole this border
I would def build more interceptors early on and some air bases so they can repair faster. For the AT I meant something like 2 infantry, 2 or 1 AT per corps. You could even go 2 inf, 1 AT, 1 Art. The 2X inf 2X artillery 1x Anti tank you suggested would work once you can get 5 brigades per division.
It will take some speed as you said to knock out Italy before the war with Germany if it could be done it would be a great help. Good Luck!
lol I would have too :blush:
I'm glad you can make use of my AAR
It will take some speed as you said to knock out Italy before the war with Germany if it could be done it would be a great help. Good Luck!
Unfortunately the damn Italians joined Zhe Germanz before i could decleare war with them. on the bright side i can now decleare war on Spain, before world war 2 starts, im thinking of doing this fast before they can join Axis aswell so they don't go GIE, which would become a nightmare if they do.
i know that Italy also goes Crazy if i take Sicily, and would overstack south Italy to try invade not by using the Regia Marina, and that i can take advantage of since i don't need much to defend it (i once did this as UK, and the few divisons there got full experience very fast so i moved them to other places and got less esxperienced units there to get som more) a true elite practice range
Still i see this as extremly gamey, but i think that being gamey is allowed when i play France One thing that suprised me on my first game is how underestimated the French Navy is, it served me quite well against Regia marina and i'm surely gonna use it alot
I forgot to mention that but yes. I was able to beat the Regia Marina and the Kriegsmarine with the French starting navy. How much the UK helped I can't say. The Imperial Japanese Navy is the only thing you have to watch out for and that's only if your operating in the Pacific.One thing that suprised me on my first game is how underestimated the French Navy is, it served me quite well against Regia marina and i'm surely gonna use it alot
The war is in late 42 and i havent advanced anywhere within the mainland, the germans are around my border where ive build up land fortifications. they wonæt attack me and i dont stand a chance when i try to attack them :/ my intercepters gets beaten away so i need to build more and research more techs for them. havent builded much Armor only 4X (Armor x2 Mot X2), but now the US has entered the war and with the lend lease from them and UK i have about 280IC i can spend i think all this IC would go to building Heavy Armor and some interceptors currently i have around 600MP
Ive also beaten the italy out of North Africa, and taken Sicily (did it with me free Belguim Soldier ) and i have taken Albania aswell and the island south of Corsica (or what the name is? )
Vietnam has also gotten a small reinforcement with a few MIL and Inf so i have garrisoned the ports (Also currently building full Land forts and Coastal forts here). If Japan gets it they have the rares they need, if they dont manage to take it i guess they will have a big problem with fueling theyr IC
Since things go slowley in Europe i was wondering if i should Annex Japan first? to get that extra IC advantage, guess they have alot so i can get more Heavy Armor in paralell production
i think all this IC would go to building Heavy Armor and some interceptors currently i have around 600MPIve also beaten the italy out of North Africa, and taken Sicily (did it with me free Belguim Soldier
) and i have taken Albania aswell and the island south of Corsica (or what the name is? ) Vietnam has also gotten a small reinforcement with a few MIL and Inf so i have garrisoned the ports (Also currently building full Land forts and Coastal forts here). If Japan gets it they have the rares they need, if they dont manage to take it i guess they will have a big problem with fueling theyr IC
Since things go slowley in Europe i was wondering if i should Annex Japan first? to get that extra IC advantage, guess they have alot so i can get more Heavy Armor in paralell production