France vs Germany in HOI4

[keynes2.0]

A decent French-German balance and a decent German-Russian balance should be possible because the Germans only got access to a lot of resources after the fall of France. They looted France itself for a lot of resources and they got a lot of allies who provided more resources and troops. Germany was slow to put the squeeze on it's own population so these foreign economic contributions were important. I doubt that Germany would be able to coerce the Balkans or Sweden without it's victory over France and Italy wasn't interested in a real war with the French. And Germany needs to keep troops in the east while it's fighting France.

So two different balances are possible. Germany should be balanced properly against France alone, stronger but not too strong. Germany with access to allied resources and forces should be balanced against the Soviets.

 

[Dinglehoff]

Which resources did Germany take from France that made such a big difference and how?

 

[keynes2.0]

The coal supplies Alsace-Lorraine, the rolling stock of the rail systems, the rationing of French agriculture to create a surplus for Germany, existing french stocks of oil and the world's largest gold reserves were all pretty important. Not war winning on their own but absolutely crucial when bundled with the other extra-national resources only available for Germany after France fell.

 

[amalric de g.]

Which resources did Germany take from France that made such a big difference and how?

1. Ironmines in Alsace-Lorraine. Before that, germany relied heavily on swedish ore.
2. Other rare materials.
3. french tanks 3-4 brigades worth. 297 SOMUA S-35 and hundreds of other tanks, the Marder I is a rebuild R35.
4. a lot of french artillery pieces.
5. the french weapon industrie.
6. the french farmlands feeding the Wehrmacht.
7. France had to pay 20 Million Reichsmark per day.
8. 1,5 million french-germans in Alsace-Lorraine.
9. thousands of trucks and 300 halftracks.

 

[Klausewitz]

The coal supplies Alsace-Lorraine, the rolling stock of the rail systems, the rationing of French agriculture to create a surplus for Germany, existing french stocks of oil and the world's largest gold reserves were all pretty important. Not war winning on their own but absolutely crucial when bundled with the other extra-national resources only available for Germany after France fell.

Are you sure coal played any role?!
Since if anything a constant of European politics was that Germany had coal and France had iron and both needed the stuff of the other.

 

[TheRomanRuler]

1. Ironmines in Alsace-Lorraine. Before that, germany relied heavily on swedish ore.
2. Other rare materials.
3. french tanks 3-4 brigades worth. 297 SOMUA S-35 and hundreds of other tanks, the Marder I is a rebuild R35.
4. a lot of french artillery pieces.
5. the french weapon industrie.
6. the french farmlands feeding the Wehrmacht.
7. France had to pay 20 Million Reichsmark per day.
8. 1,5 million french-germans in Alsace-Lorraine.
9. thousands of trucks and 300 halftracks.

7. This one i just don`t believe

 

[keynes2.0]

Are you sure coal played any role?!
Since if anything a constant of European politics was that Germany had coal and France had iron and both needed the stuff of the other.

Well if your demands are rapidly expanding it helps to already have production then need to expand your production.

 

[amalric de g.]

7. This one i just don`t believe

The cost of the occupation were claimed by France, which had 20 million Reichsmark to pay daily. The deliberately calculated too high by the Germans manning costs accounted for the greatest burdens for the French state budget, which faced no corresponding tax revenue. https://www.dhm.de/lemo/kapitel/der-zweite-weltkrieg/kriegsverlauf/besatzungsregime-in-frankreich.html

I translated it with google, so sorry for grammar. The original is in german, it´s from a side called lemo living online museum its the online site of:
writer Arnulf Scriba
© Deutsches Historisches Museum, Berlin
20. August 2014

 

[ClothCoat]

Every WW2 game suffers the same problem - trying to replicate remotely similar outcomes AND starting conditions both. If Germany does NOT steamroll France, they have no way of making any ground in the USSR, and the game falls apart. Do you nerf France? Do you buff Germany? Do you simply let the Axis be significantly weaker and not care? My opinion is you actually be historically honest and it works itself out. If you make France historically accurate, but a human player is (hopefully) not going to fail the way France's high command did, the result of course is France lasts longer and holds off Germany better, possibly so far as a ww1 type of stalemate. Historically, France had a huge manpower dilemma following ww1 and lacked Germany's production, so falling eventually is "realistic" even if it's not 2 months. So, you end up with a game where France doesn't fall until at least 1941 or maybe longer. Problem? I disagree. If France isn't led foolishly and holds off Germany at least for a while, then Italy arguably shouldn't be fools either, and should not need Germany to hold their hand as they repeatedly blunder in Africa and the Balkans. So what if France outperforms history and holds Germany off for a while, if Italy outperforms history and conquers the Mediterranean?

Just add in a "railroad" option that gives some sort of eu4 lucky nation bonus to Germany for a few years, and forces traditional alliance setups, and possibly nerfs France and Italy ahistorically so that they fail all the same, and make this an option only, and I assume we're all happy?

Is it possible to just have the generals for France have awful stats and to give Germany leaders with much better stats? That way the in an AI fight Germany should crush them but if the player control France they should be able to realistically hold off Germany as France if they are competant. The Axis failing in France was a real risk they faced in WW2 so it should be a real risk they face in HOI4. If Germany fails then the game is going to be an equally interesting Allies vs Comintern scramble for Germany, Italy, and Eastern Europe, (I'm assuming Russia would invade if Germany fails in France) followed by the aftermath.

 

[Had a dad]

digging up a thread from 9 months ago is not a way to get on my xmas card list

necro'd thread closed