My question to the developpers : will France begin the game, in 1936, with the huge reserve of WW1-era FT-17 infantry tanks it historically had ?
In the end of the First World War, the Entente put their focus away from tanks, and instead favored swarms of small, light armored vehicles. 4000 FT-17s were built in France and in America, and after the war, it was widely exported. Among others, Poland, Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia recieved a number of them.
France kept a huge reserve of them, close to 2000 tanks. They served as training tanks, and were intended to be used by reserve units in case of war. That happened in 1939, when more than 500 of them were sent to newly created units, and in 1940, 550 more were put back in service during a desperate counter-attack against the German invasion. Germany, in the end, captured 1700 FT-17s. They were used in training role, anti-partisan duties, and some of them were used in combat in 1944 against the Western Allies in France. Vichy France had a few of them in Africa, that fought in Operation Torch.
German soldiers with a captured FT-17 tank
On all terrains where they were used, they were slaughtered by superior tanks, being hopelessly outdated. However, their presence on the battlefield was a reality, and, due to the numbers used, a thousand of them on frontline duty in 1939/40, far from anecdotal.
Hearts of Iron IV has a reserve system for outdated material, and a base Tank unit representing World War One-era armor. France will start the game with the challenges it historically faced : an unwillingness to go to war, and a rigid doctrinal thought, the latter being representend in-game by a debuff, leaving her ill-equipped to face the rising threat of the Third Reich.
Therefore, it should only be fair to give France the vast reserve of aging material it historically maintained, so troops can be trained with them, reserve units can be formed using them, and Allies can be provided with them. Of course, they probably won't have much success against Panzer IIIs and M11/39 tanks, but it would be a really nice addition to the flavour of the game to being a campaign as France in 1936, and see in your reserve materials tabs the old winners of World War One, waiting to be awaken once more.
In the end of the First World War, the Entente put their focus away from tanks, and instead favored swarms of small, light armored vehicles. 4000 FT-17s were built in France and in America, and after the war, it was widely exported. Among others, Poland, Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia recieved a number of them.
France kept a huge reserve of them, close to 2000 tanks. They served as training tanks, and were intended to be used by reserve units in case of war. That happened in 1939, when more than 500 of them were sent to newly created units, and in 1940, 550 more were put back in service during a desperate counter-attack against the German invasion. Germany, in the end, captured 1700 FT-17s. They were used in training role, anti-partisan duties, and some of them were used in combat in 1944 against the Western Allies in France. Vichy France had a few of them in Africa, that fought in Operation Torch.
German soldiers with a captured FT-17 tank
On all terrains where they were used, they were slaughtered by superior tanks, being hopelessly outdated. However, their presence on the battlefield was a reality, and, due to the numbers used, a thousand of them on frontline duty in 1939/40, far from anecdotal.
Hearts of Iron IV has a reserve system for outdated material, and a base Tank unit representing World War One-era armor. France will start the game with the challenges it historically faced : an unwillingness to go to war, and a rigid doctrinal thought, the latter being representend in-game by a debuff, leaving her ill-equipped to face the rising threat of the Third Reich.
Therefore, it should only be fair to give France the vast reserve of aging material it historically maintained, so troops can be trained with them, reserve units can be formed using them, and Allies can be provided with them. Of course, they probably won't have much success against Panzer IIIs and M11/39 tanks, but it would be a really nice addition to the flavour of the game to being a campaign as France in 1936, and see in your reserve materials tabs the old winners of World War One, waiting to be awaken once more.
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