OK, I've been around Paradox games for a while but have only just got my hands on HoI. Specifically the HoI2 Collection which I picked up on a multibuy with GalCiv 2 last week.
My first instinct was to try playing as Britain, but that turned out to be rather complicated. So I tried again as Germany - one of the threads on "which country to start as" suggested it was a good one as you only had to deal with one front at a time.
Unfortunately, as soon as I invaded Poland, the French came steaming across the Maginot line and were in Munich within a couple of weeks.
So I tried a third time, this time as Canada, which was suggested to be another good newbie one. I found this to be indeed the case: it's allowed me to get a little more used to the controls, send an expeditionary force over to help with the war while not putting my own country in too much danger.
The war shook out kinda oddly - the US opened a second front in late 1942, which meant that they'd beaten the Germans while the Soviets were still defending Moscow, while Japan knocked off China in record time and was halfway across India before the British could get troops there in sufficient numbers.
Anyway, I have a couple of questions.
1. Country like Canada with a very low IC. Is it worth building loads of factories at the start of the game? Each takes nearly a year to build, and I've no real concept of how many you'd need to make a substantial difference. As it is, everything I want to build takes so long that I couldn't get together anything more than a 5 or 6-division expeditionary force by 1943.
2. What's a reasonable size for a fleet? Again, assuming relatively low IC, what's the minimum you can get away with that will be able to successfully defend a transport fleet against subs and the like. First time I tried sailing an expeditionary force to Europe, I met two German Sub flotillas in mid-Atlantic and lost a BB, two CLs and 3 DDs - and all my transports. All I had left was 3 DDs and two CAs.
3. Same question - air wings. I sent two squadrons of Interceptor 3s to Malta, with instructions to patrol for air superiority if above 40%. They were wiped out to a man the first time they encountered the enemy. Was that just bad luck, or is 2 squadrons far too few?
4. Finally, for now, how does the whole "Free [national] Forces" thing work? When Poland capitulates, the Polish navy - such as it is - is given to the British, and when Belgium and Holland surrended, certain elements of their forces remain in being, and are transported to England. Yet in a game as Britain, I tried evacuating loads of French and Belgian troops but as soon as France surrendered they all disappeared.
Oh, and one more: in my current game, the reconstitued European countries have all been a bit random in how they assign their capitals: the capital of Denmark is Bornholm. Austria has Lech. Belgium's capital is still Brazzaville, the Netherlands is ruled from Jakarta, France from Cayenne. Is that normal?
My first instinct was to try playing as Britain, but that turned out to be rather complicated. So I tried again as Germany - one of the threads on "which country to start as" suggested it was a good one as you only had to deal with one front at a time.
Unfortunately, as soon as I invaded Poland, the French came steaming across the Maginot line and were in Munich within a couple of weeks.
So I tried a third time, this time as Canada, which was suggested to be another good newbie one. I found this to be indeed the case: it's allowed me to get a little more used to the controls, send an expeditionary force over to help with the war while not putting my own country in too much danger.
The war shook out kinda oddly - the US opened a second front in late 1942, which meant that they'd beaten the Germans while the Soviets were still defending Moscow, while Japan knocked off China in record time and was halfway across India before the British could get troops there in sufficient numbers.
Anyway, I have a couple of questions.
1. Country like Canada with a very low IC. Is it worth building loads of factories at the start of the game? Each takes nearly a year to build, and I've no real concept of how many you'd need to make a substantial difference. As it is, everything I want to build takes so long that I couldn't get together anything more than a 5 or 6-division expeditionary force by 1943.
2. What's a reasonable size for a fleet? Again, assuming relatively low IC, what's the minimum you can get away with that will be able to successfully defend a transport fleet against subs and the like. First time I tried sailing an expeditionary force to Europe, I met two German Sub flotillas in mid-Atlantic and lost a BB, two CLs and 3 DDs - and all my transports. All I had left was 3 DDs and two CAs.
3. Same question - air wings. I sent two squadrons of Interceptor 3s to Malta, with instructions to patrol for air superiority if above 40%. They were wiped out to a man the first time they encountered the enemy. Was that just bad luck, or is 2 squadrons far too few?
4. Finally, for now, how does the whole "Free [national] Forces" thing work? When Poland capitulates, the Polish navy - such as it is - is given to the British, and when Belgium and Holland surrended, certain elements of their forces remain in being, and are transported to England. Yet in a game as Britain, I tried evacuating loads of French and Belgian troops but as soon as France surrendered they all disappeared.
Oh, and one more: in my current game, the reconstitued European countries have all been a bit random in how they assign their capitals: the capital of Denmark is Bornholm. Austria has Lech. Belgium's capital is still Brazzaville, the Netherlands is ruled from Jakarta, France from Cayenne. Is that normal?
