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21st of May, 1940
Most of the Belgian army was caught up in the city of Antwerp. A few German divisions were fighting there, ensuring Belgium could not reinforce Brussels. The armies from the Netherlands were now ready to fight once more, however, and several corps now joined the battle against the Belgian city. Brussels was falling from the grasp of the Belgians, and more forces from the Netherlands were now joining the battle.
22nd of May, 1940
Upon facing many fresh divisions, the Belgians are finally forced to give up their capital city to the militia horde. The huge Belgian army in Antwerp, however, was resisting all German attempts to penetrate its defensive lines. The Germans begun a different plan: to surround the city. The regions around Antwerp were lightly defended, so this was not expected to be difficult.
29th of May, 1940
With the city of Antwerp completely surrounded, the German attack on the city was expected to be swiftly over. The Dutch forces in the southern islands were faltering. Things were looking bad for France.
3rd of June, 1940
The fall of Antwerp and the defeat of the Dutch occurred concurrently. French defenses along the Belgian border were very inadequate, and the Germans were ready to begin the invasion of France.
5th of June, 1940
France rushed to deploy divisions along the border. To the north, Dunkirk was under German fire, whilst assaults elsewhere in France were about to take place.
13th June, 1940
The Germans, succeeding in Dunkirk and Calais, very quickly began to push towards Paris. Several rivers stood in the way of a quick victory, but French defenses were so inadequate that this was not expected to be a significant barrier. To the centre of the new front, the French were holding barely, and to the east, the Maginot Line still stood in the way.
3rd of July, 1940
The Germans, after very bloody river fighting, came to the borders of Paris.
The capital of France was about to be attacked.
Most of the Belgian army was caught up in the city of Antwerp. A few German divisions were fighting there, ensuring Belgium could not reinforce Brussels. The armies from the Netherlands were now ready to fight once more, however, and several corps now joined the battle against the Belgian city. Brussels was falling from the grasp of the Belgians, and more forces from the Netherlands were now joining the battle.
22nd of May, 1940
Upon facing many fresh divisions, the Belgians are finally forced to give up their capital city to the militia horde. The huge Belgian army in Antwerp, however, was resisting all German attempts to penetrate its defensive lines. The Germans begun a different plan: to surround the city. The regions around Antwerp were lightly defended, so this was not expected to be difficult.
29th of May, 1940
With the city of Antwerp completely surrounded, the German attack on the city was expected to be swiftly over. The Dutch forces in the southern islands were faltering. Things were looking bad for France.
3rd of June, 1940
The fall of Antwerp and the defeat of the Dutch occurred concurrently. French defenses along the Belgian border were very inadequate, and the Germans were ready to begin the invasion of France.
5th of June, 1940
France rushed to deploy divisions along the border. To the north, Dunkirk was under German fire, whilst assaults elsewhere in France were about to take place.
13th June, 1940
The Germans, succeeding in Dunkirk and Calais, very quickly began to push towards Paris. Several rivers stood in the way of a quick victory, but French defenses were so inadequate that this was not expected to be a significant barrier. To the centre of the new front, the French were holding barely, and to the east, the Maginot Line still stood in the way.
3rd of July, 1940
The Germans, after very bloody river fighting, came to the borders of Paris.
The capital of France was about to be attacked.
I'm wondering how bad French infantry divisions must be in order to be defeated by German militias...
Well, judging from the screenshots it is more a case of "quantity has a quality of its own". There are entire militia corps on the front facing only 1 French infantry division. And militia is not that terrible in such scenario. IT'll be interesting to see how German manpower will hold up in Russia.
Yeah, I'm curious too about his casualties, would love to see a run down on some of the battles to see how bad it is. I have to say, this, if anything, proves just how nerfed France and Poland are by the vanilla game. Am glad that I modded their forces on my HPP and BlackICE modded files to be more capable and reflective of real life.
They're always a pushover though, since they rarely get over 500 thousand men in total by 1940. AI builds battleships and tactical bombers instead of infantry and tanks :\
Yeah, it was a case of total numerical superiority. In Russia I won't have that for long of course.
To be honest, I'm just skimming through the western front, so I don't actually have any data about battles. I'll certainly show such things in the war against the Soviets though, but I didn't think France would be interesting enough since it's a guaranteed win anyway.
I agree; France and Poland are very weak in vanilla, even on very hard it's not too difficult.
What I did for BlackICE and HPP was to simply edit all the divisions for Poland and France to have historical loadouts in terms of what gear they had by 1940, both in terms of upgrades, and anti-tank support. As it stands right now, a player would need the 5-6 weeks to actually defeat either nation (if they don't just VP rush), while taking a realistic amount of casualties, and the AI can actually have trouble in both. Makes for a much more interesting early war, as well as much more interesting time playing either country.
The war's a bit of a grinder so far, but you are achieving your objectives. Like others, I look forward to seeing how well this strategy works when you invade the Home of the Human Wave. 
Would that work in vanilla too, I wonder?
Thanks. Update hopefully coming tonight!The war's a bit of a grinder so far, but you are achieving your objectives. Like others, I look forward to seeing how well this strategy works when you invade the Home of the Human Wave.
4th of July, 1940
The attack on Paris begun today. On both sides of the city, German forces were also attempting to break out into the regions to the sides of Paris, allowing for a larger front for the numerically superior Germans. Almost all offensive operations by Germany were stopped, as France would no doubt be bringing in all the reinforcements it could and Germany needed to commit to this battle with all of its strength.
21st of July, 1940
The battle of Paris was over, although significant German casualties were attained.
This wasattributed to the large number of German divisions fighting.
Almost immediately, German divisions begun attacking the French forces retreating from Paris. To the north, cities such as Cherbourg begun to fall to the advancing militia.
3rd of August, 1940
Realising their victory would be unattainable, the French government finally agreed to surrender. Italy, now no longer under threat of French attack along its shared border, declared war on the Allies; the Mediterranean was about to become a new front in the war.
26th of November, 1940
After having spent several months reorganising its military, Germany was now ready to conduct more offensive operations. Italy had recently declared war on Greece, attacking through Albania. Italy was doing extremely well here, and had many redundant divisions. A two-front attack on Yugoslavia, Germany thought, would be an easy war. Germany did not want to commit a large part of its army to anything at this point in time, because war was looming with the Soviets and they needed to be ready if Stalin might launch a surprise attack himself.
A force made up of corps specially trained for fast and light fighting was sent to Yugoslavia.
Germany immediately declared war.
3rd of December, 1940
Italy was sending many troops to attack Yugoslavia, so its attack on Greece was temporarily halted.
Hungary, a new Axis member, joined Italy and Germany and declared war on the Allies, with its several hundred thousand strong army being mobilised to fight Yugoslavia too.
28th of January, 1941
Slowed by the cold and the terrain, the Axis forces nevertheless had made very significant gains in Yugoslavia. Hungarian forces poured into the capital, Belgrade, as Germany reached the port of Split. Yugoslavia, like France and Poland before it, surrendered at last to the militia horde. Germany's attention could now be wholly diverted to the Soviet Union, where an attack was imminent.
The attack on Paris begun today. On both sides of the city, German forces were also attempting to break out into the regions to the sides of Paris, allowing for a larger front for the numerically superior Germans. Almost all offensive operations by Germany were stopped, as France would no doubt be bringing in all the reinforcements it could and Germany needed to commit to this battle with all of its strength.
21st of July, 1940
The battle of Paris was over, although significant German casualties were attained.
This wasattributed to the large number of German divisions fighting.
Almost immediately, German divisions begun attacking the French forces retreating from Paris. To the north, cities such as Cherbourg begun to fall to the advancing militia.
3rd of August, 1940
Realising their victory would be unattainable, the French government finally agreed to surrender. Italy, now no longer under threat of French attack along its shared border, declared war on the Allies; the Mediterranean was about to become a new front in the war.
26th of November, 1940
After having spent several months reorganising its military, Germany was now ready to conduct more offensive operations. Italy had recently declared war on Greece, attacking through Albania. Italy was doing extremely well here, and had many redundant divisions. A two-front attack on Yugoslavia, Germany thought, would be an easy war. Germany did not want to commit a large part of its army to anything at this point in time, because war was looming with the Soviets and they needed to be ready if Stalin might launch a surprise attack himself.
A force made up of corps specially trained for fast and light fighting was sent to Yugoslavia.
Germany immediately declared war.
3rd of December, 1940
Italy was sending many troops to attack Yugoslavia, so its attack on Greece was temporarily halted.
Hungary, a new Axis member, joined Italy and Germany and declared war on the Allies, with its several hundred thousand strong army being mobilised to fight Yugoslavia too.
28th of January, 1941
Slowed by the cold and the terrain, the Axis forces nevertheless had made very significant gains in Yugoslavia. Hungarian forces poured into the capital, Belgrade, as Germany reached the port of Split. Yugoslavia, like France and Poland before it, surrendered at last to the militia horde. Germany's attention could now be wholly diverted to the Soviet Union, where an attack was imminent.
That was a truly massive battle of Paris! With Continental Europese subdued we all anxiously await the onset of the true test of Rohm's volksarmee
Okay, the commercials and the trailers are over! Time to settle in with that oversized bucket of popcorn and gallon-sized cup of soda and watch the main show. Maestro, raise the curtains and let's enjoy the epic showdown!
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1st of June, 1941
It was finally time for Germany to meet its match and invade the Soviet Union. Germany had spent the previous months preparing for their invasion, and had amassed a giant army. The order of battle (OOB) in the east is below.
Key:
P = Panzer (armoured) corps
VO = Verteidigung Ost (Defence East) corps
A = Auslaendisch (Foreign/Expeditionary) corps
OB Ost (1835k)
Heeresgruppe D (500k)
9. Armee (139k)
XII. Korps
IX. Korps
XI. Korps
LI. Korps
2. Armee (170k)
VI. Korps [P]
XXX. Korps
XIII. Korps [P]
XIX. Korps
4. Armee (177k)
VII. Korps
XXXVIII. Korps [P]
VII. Korps
XXXVII. Korps [P]
Heeresgruppe I (535k)
3. Armee (131k)
XXIX. Korps [P]
XXV. Korps
LII. Korps
7. Armee (177k)
III. Korps [VO]
X. Korps [P]
VIII. Korps [P]
XX. Korps
1. Armee (134k)
V. Korps [VO]
XXXV. Korps
LIV. Korps [P]
17. Armee (83k)
XLVI. Korps [VO]
XIV. Korps
Heeresgruppe F (526k)
6. Armee (172k)
XXXI. Korps [P]
XXXIX. Korps [P]
XXII. Korps
L. Korps
5. Armee (167k)
XXI. Korps
IV. Korps [VO]
XLIII. Korps [VO]
XLV. Korps [VO]
8. Armee (180k)
VI. Korps [VO]
I. Korps [VO]
II. Korps [VO]
XLIV. Korps [VO]
Heeresgruppe H (226k)
16. Armee (82k)
XLI. Korps [A]
XLII. Korps [A]
15. Armee (142k)
XL. Korps [A]
XXXII. Korps [A]
XXXIV. Korps [A]
XXXIII. Korps [A]
Note that OB Ost includes several anti-partisan groups that were not added above, so numbers may not add up entirely.
On the German-Soviet border, the following army groups were stationed:
Heeresgruppe H was located in Finland, where the forces whom previously had attacked Yugoslavia were now located. The 15th army was stationed in Karelia:
Whilst the 16th Army was stationed in northern Finland.
Due to the lack of air bases in southern Poland, most of Germany's airforce was located in northern Poland, and northern German cities such as Koenigsberg and Memel. This meant that, at least for the early part of the war, Germany would likely find it more difficult to advance in the southern part of the main front than to the north.
Germany would be pursuing a strategy in which it would attempt to push towards natural defenses, such as cities and rivers, and hold these with specially-created eastern defensive corps. Offensives would be slow-moving but difficult to stop. Only one offensive could realistically occur concurrently, since so many militia divisions would be required with each push; since militia already are so slow, the harsh weather of the Soviet Union would force them to almost come to a standstill when advancing into enemy territory, giving them ample time to react - encirclements and breakthrough/spearhead style attacks simply will not work. During the summer, it may be possible for several offensives to occur concurrently but this is still unlikely.
During the first several months, the Soviet Union was expected to be in disarray as it unpreparedly faces the German army, and for this reason, these principles will not be adhered to whilst Germany's advantage remains, and Germany will create a unified offensive along its entire front in the early months of the war.
It was finally time for Germany to meet its match and invade the Soviet Union. Germany had spent the previous months preparing for their invasion, and had amassed a giant army. The order of battle (OOB) in the east is below.
Key:
P = Panzer (armoured) corps
VO = Verteidigung Ost (Defence East) corps
A = Auslaendisch (Foreign/Expeditionary) corps
OB Ost (1835k)
Heeresgruppe D (500k)
9. Armee (139k)
XII. Korps
IX. Korps
XI. Korps
LI. Korps
2. Armee (170k)
VI. Korps [P]
XXX. Korps
XIII. Korps [P]
XIX. Korps
4. Armee (177k)
VII. Korps
XXXVIII. Korps [P]
VII. Korps
XXXVII. Korps [P]
Heeresgruppe I (535k)
3. Armee (131k)
XXIX. Korps [P]
XXV. Korps
LII. Korps
7. Armee (177k)
III. Korps [VO]
X. Korps [P]
VIII. Korps [P]
XX. Korps
1. Armee (134k)
V. Korps [VO]
XXXV. Korps
LIV. Korps [P]
17. Armee (83k)
XLVI. Korps [VO]
XIV. Korps
Heeresgruppe F (526k)
6. Armee (172k)
XXXI. Korps [P]
XXXIX. Korps [P]
XXII. Korps
L. Korps
5. Armee (167k)
XXI. Korps
IV. Korps [VO]
XLIII. Korps [VO]
XLV. Korps [VO]
8. Armee (180k)
VI. Korps [VO]
I. Korps [VO]
II. Korps [VO]
XLIV. Korps [VO]
Heeresgruppe H (226k)
16. Armee (82k)
XLI. Korps [A]
XLII. Korps [A]
15. Armee (142k)
XL. Korps [A]
XXXII. Korps [A]
XXXIV. Korps [A]
XXXIII. Korps [A]
Note that OB Ost includes several anti-partisan groups that were not added above, so numbers may not add up entirely.
On the German-Soviet border, the following army groups were stationed:
Heeresgruppe H was located in Finland, where the forces whom previously had attacked Yugoslavia were now located. The 15th army was stationed in Karelia:
Whilst the 16th Army was stationed in northern Finland.
Due to the lack of air bases in southern Poland, most of Germany's airforce was located in northern Poland, and northern German cities such as Koenigsberg and Memel. This meant that, at least for the early part of the war, Germany would likely find it more difficult to advance in the southern part of the main front than to the north.
Germany would be pursuing a strategy in which it would attempt to push towards natural defenses, such as cities and rivers, and hold these with specially-created eastern defensive corps. Offensives would be slow-moving but difficult to stop. Only one offensive could realistically occur concurrently, since so many militia divisions would be required with each push; since militia already are so slow, the harsh weather of the Soviet Union would force them to almost come to a standstill when advancing into enemy territory, giving them ample time to react - encirclements and breakthrough/spearhead style attacks simply will not work. During the summer, it may be possible for several offensives to occur concurrently but this is still unlikely.
During the first several months, the Soviet Union was expected to be in disarray as it unpreparedly faces the German army, and for this reason, these principles will not be adhered to whilst Germany's advantage remains, and Germany will create a unified offensive along its entire front in the early months of the war.
Looking good, as long as the militia can hold their own against the enemy. The Finnish border doesn't seem as heavily defended on the Soviet side as it sometimes is, but that is a lot of tankdivisions facing them.
How is Italy doing in the Med and Africa, anything interesting?
How is Italy doing in the Med and Africa, anything interesting?
it is such a crazy idea it might even work... btw, how did TDM start a new AAR and I did not know about it? :O
Yeah, I was a bit surprised to see the Finnish border being so lightly defended by the Soviets. I might even be able to reach Leningrad with my forces there.
If Italy did anything truly interesting, I'd show it
For the moment, it's the usual back and forth attacks around Alexandria, getting slowly pushed back by the Iraqi divisions.
To be fair, it's a relatively new AAR
There's no way this is going to work, the soviets will attrition me far before I attrition them, but I'll die trying!
It'll be interesting to see how far you can push into the Soviet Union before their manpower advantage (and the fact that they have actual divisions instead of militia) comes into play.
Or he could advance to easily defensible positions, fortify them, and then let Soviets waste their strength on those fortifications.
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