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unmerged(55118)

First Lieutenant
Mar 24, 2006
250
0
eastwindrain6ul.jpg


NOTE: This AAR is text heavy. If you are not prepared to read, go no further.

This is my second HoI2 AAR. My first one was Shadows of Destruction. I learned a lot writing Shadows and now I feel prepared to move forward. I am upping the difficulty/aggressiveness one notch in this game. In Shadows, I used a very armor heavy warfare style (60 armored divisions when I ended it in June 1942 as the Soviet line collapsed). In this game, I will be using a very infantry heavy warfare style as would be historical. I will try to bring armored divisions into play later in the game, but I dont anticipate fielding a truly large armored corps until 1941 at the earliest. At sea, I am going to go for a Carrier-centric doctrine similar to my German style. Diplomatically, I will be going for the Chinese first, then the Europeans. I doubt I will declare war on the Americans but rather wait for them.

In Shadows, I wrote in a conversational style. Every piece was written as if it was an actual conversation, radio broadcast, telegram, etc. I am going to be stepping away from that quite a bit. Although there will be conversations, the main perspective will be Third Person Omniscient. Each AAR piece will be the portrayal of an event or scene experienced by real or imaginary individuals as it relates to the story. It will be a much more Cinematic perspective than I used in Shadows. I will be keeping, however, the method of doing the whole AAR in-character and posting the game comments in a different color at the end. And I will be more generous with color images in this one too. The black and white style of Shadows got a little drab after a while.

Primary Objective:
Japanese conquest of all Chinese factions, European colonial possessions in Asia and Oceania, Australia, New Zealand, and Soviet Union territory from Caspian Sea to Pacific.

Secondary Objective:
Japanese conquest of West Coast of North America and Sub-Saharan Africa.


*** DISCLAIMER ***

I had this disclaimer in Shadows, but I have changed it slightly for this AAR.

History has been invariably written by the victors. In armed conflict from the dawn of civilization to today this has been undeniably true. This AAR is a story of the ahistorical success of Japanese Imperialism. As such, I will seriously portray the Imperial Japanese world view from a philosophically neutral perspective.

This will be fundamentally different from the good/evil portrayal of Japan in popular media and other AARs. It is easy to fall into this popular theme. It will also be fundamentally different from the portrayal of evil as fun, humorous, and overly simplistic. Hahahaha, I am evil. That is not me. In addition, Japan is often portrayed in a racist way which I will, of course, NOT emulate.

Instead, I will discuss in a serious manner the hypothetical lives of real people in history. These discussions will cover aspects of war modeled by the game. Such concepts include the justice of aggressive war (belligerence) and justice of comparative government philosophies (domestic sliders). These discussions will NOT include any of the subjects prohibited for discussion on the forum. Please do NOT bring such discussions into this thread as they are unwanted. And all that being said, it is fiction!

Now lets get down to business. Let the game begin!

Game Settings:
HoI2 v1.3b
Hard/Aggressive


Clarification: "East Wind, Rain" was the Japanese code for the start of the Pearl Harbor attacks
 
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The Dojo was silent. Wind blew softly in through the east entryway. It was cold and swirled up around Tojo's ankles.

"Do not focus on the blade", the Master's voice rang out. "Focus on the wind. Embrace the wind. Strike like the wind!"

Tojo leapt forward, his katana slicing through the air before crashing loudly against the Master's staff.

"Too slow. Again!"

Another crash. Tojo was becoming tired. He had fought all afternoon and into the dusk. The Master was relentless.

"Again!"

Tojo struck forward. Surprisingly, the Master moved to the side like a snake before spinning and slamming the staff into Tojo's calf. He groaned as his body shifted backward before falling like a rock upon the tatami.

"You have failed again. What have you learned?"

"I have learned nothing, Master."

"That is apparent. What is the lesson?"

"I do not know."

"Precisely!"

The Master knelt beside Tojo and spoke softly to him. "To strike is nothing without completion. Do not strike simply because you have the means or the desire. Strike quick and sure when the time is right, not simply when you can. To move is to commit. Once you commit to action you must follow through. When you strike forward, you leave yourself vulnerable to the side and rear. When you are tired, you cannot anticipate. You must meditate on this and return when you are confident once more. This is true of men and of nations. Look to the Chinese, moving in ten thousand directions at once. What has it brought them? Nothing!"

"Your words ring true. I shall return when I have accepted this wisdom into my heart, my Master."

"I wish you luck, apprentice. May the wind guide your path to the light of truth."


(Okamura Yasuji replaced as Head of Intelligence by Takasu Shiro)
(Machida Chuji replaced as Armaments Minister by Ogawa Gotaro)
(Standing Army +1)
(Cancelled Destroyer in Production)
(Sumimoto begins research on Basic Machine Tools)
(Kure Naval Yard begins research on Improved Air Carrier)
(Nakajima begins research on Basic Interceptor)
(Mitsubishi Jukogyo begins research on Early Tank)
(Mitsubishi Hikoki begins research on Basic Air Transport)
(Military Control of Manchuko released)
(Disbanded all brigade attachments except CAGs, Police, and Engineer)
(Disbanded all non-Interceptors)
(Disbanded all Cavalry)
(Disbanded all non-LV3 ships)
(All troops on Mainland evacuated to Japan)
 
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Joined! Superb start :)
 
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Despite what the people say below, I am not abandoning this AAR. Keep reading!
 
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Despite what the people say below, I am not abandoning this AAR. Keep reading!
 
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Seigneur_Vauban said:
Dont worry, I played through 6 years in my Shadows AAR. I would just rather start over right from the beginning than go further and then start over.

I am thinking USA at the moment. USA sounds nice. I would self-impose some conditions: like no movement towards interventionism. That way I cannot intervene early to protect France.
The USA? You'll have to work hard to make a USA game challenging against the AI. I really like your intro and think you'd write a brilliant Japanese AAR. If you're prepared to go with a mod, consider Historical Stony Road 2.07. That gets a Japan all sorts of new events and special national characteristics (especially for the navy), and can make for some very challenging games. The Historical Improvement Project has also done good work at making Japan unique, but you may find it a bit too easy.
 
In case you decide to go for Japan after all:
Playing as Japan you really shouldn't disband cavalry. As your only fast - moving troops, you really can make good use of them in China.
 
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Despite what the people say below, I am not abandoning this AAR. Keep reading!
 
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Seigneur_Vauban said:
Well, I may go Communist China for the challenge.

Actually, in the beginning you have like level 4-5 experienced troops, so it's fairly easy to get land early as the Commies.

Holding it against the counterattacks however... :rolleyes:
 
I would have liked a Japan AAR, but feel free to pick any country that feels good :)
 
Well, this is a funny story. So I learned that the reason I didn enjoy playing as Japan was because I had just gotten a new monitor and the settings were off. It was giving me a headache. When I changed the settings and played again, it was great! So I will be continuing this later tonight.
 
Great! :)
 
Seigneur_Vauban said:
Well, this is a funny story. So I learned that the reason I didn enjoy playing as Japan was because I had just gotten a new monitor and the settings were off. It was giving me a headache. When I changed the settings and played again, it was great! So I will be continuing this later tonight.

Glad to hear it.
I read through your previous AAR and I loved it, too bad you gave it up.
I can't wait to see how this one turns out.

-subscribed-
 
Looking real good. :)