Free France Ideas?

[Zardnaar]

Last week of the holidays and I weant a quickl speed 5 type game and I was thinking of playing France, deliberately losing and then playing as Free France. I did a quick test and discovere dhte hard way I really want to improve the Infrastructure in Brazzaville your capital.

My basic idea is a small elite infantry army backed up with a few bombers and a 2-3 carrier fleet. IN the lead up to the war tranfers as many resources as I can out of France proper to 4 provinces in Africa, Noumea and New Caledonia in the pacific. By that I mean IC, infrastructure, convoy transports etc.

Another trick I noticed compared to vanilla HoI2 is that once Franc efalls you keep your tech teams until the finish what they are researching so infilration assault and other 1941/42 techs can be researched with those teams.


The goal is to liberate France proper with a Free French D-Day which could be hard if the USSR AI faceplants.

That is my basic idea I estimate I will have around 20-30 base IC, 2 tech teams + allied blue prints which should be enough for some infantry, tac bombers and a fleet perhaps prebuilt before France falls ( 2-3 Carriers 98% complete, finish building them after France falls).

Any ideas?

 

[Pang Bingxun]

It will be 14 free base ic and thus only one tech team. Also you get enough free resources for 20 effective ic, 80 free supplies a day and 20 free oil a day. All that comes at the expense of the UK.

 

[Zardnaar]

I know but one can build a few factories as France.

 

[Pang Bingxun]

Building them in france means you will lose them. And building in nonnational provinces does not appear to be such a bright idea.

 

[Zardnaar]

Building them in france means you will lose them. And building in nonnational provinces does not appear to be such a bright idea.

I noticed this in Africa, you get less IC than mainland France? Still got over 20 IC doing this.

 

[Pang Bingxun]

You only get 40% of what you get in national provinces. Ministers and ideas influence this. France does start with an idea that increases the figure a bit.

 

[Mr_B0narpte]

A potential strategy is - after Vichy is triggered - prepare an attack on Vichy France & once that is secured go for the rest of France. Using spies to raise their belligerence should suffice to be able to declare war. Their coast line should be weakly defended in 1941/42; but of course it depends on how the Germany & Italy AIs respond. It might be wise to - after landing successfully in southern France - to give one province to the UK or USA, just so that AI might actually send units to help with your attack inland. After Germany's defeat I imagine those provinces under UK/US control will be given to France (or if not they can be edited back).

But of course the preparation stage is key, and as far as I'm aware, triggering Vichy means France looses most/all of its air force and army; and much of its navy. As you said, I would rush infra in the Congo capital and also build a naval base in the Congo too (helps increase ESE globally alongside all coast line under your control) - assuming you can't keep much of the military units you build pre-Vichy, I'd just focus on IC spamming in the Congo. I'd do this even given the fact you'll only extract 40-55% of the IC from those lands.

You could go full extreme, and disband the entire French military from 1936, as - AFAIK - you'll keep all their manpower after Vichy. It also means that virtually all available IC can go into developing the Congo. I'd focus research solely on industry; infantry and land doctrines - as after Vichy your best bet is to spam infantry & transport ships and rely on the UK/US navies.

 

[Pang Bingxun]

Am not convinced that building factories outside of france proper is the way to go. One thing that should happen before the war is to build up Infrastructure und factories in france proper so that once you have retaken it it will give you high yields.

Another thing to happen before the war(or at least before vichy is close to be triggered) is to stockpile lots of money. Less than 30000 $ is probably too little, better have 60000 $ or even 90000$ to be safe. You may need to import resources etc., but also research and other expenses may require proper deficit spending. Be aware of the high $/icd-ratio france has due to free markets and its first idea. Once france proper is being taken it needs to be repaired fast, this will require proper $ reserves.

It may make sense to build quite some ships till they are 99.9% done and finish them once vichy triggered. Similar might be done about airplanes, but there the case is somewhat unclear as ic for reinforcing them will be limited. A few Int1940 might help to defend your ground troops. What you should have is 1 or 2 HQ to be finished a day or two after Vichy.

Once Vichy has triggered you should very soon spend 100% of your ic on building Inf1941-Art1940, in fact it might be convenient to start building them before Vichy to accumulate highly valued gearing bonus. Every unit finished early can be disbanded for maximum retaining of manpower.

When Barbarossa starts your navy should leave port and begin the invasion of france proper, preferably starting with vichy owned provinces. By the time you reach german owned provinces germany should have the bulk of its troops deep in russia because the war there is a few weeks old.

Waiting any longer seems almost like suicide because it will set back your research a lot. You may cover a year of research by starting expensive projects a few days before your base ic drops below 120(or 140 or 160 or 180). But waiting any longer will make you a third-class power which takes years to recover from. Also it leaves you too much at the mercy of your allies. Getting France proper back ASAP is the way to go.

A potential strategy is - after Vichy is triggered - prepare an attack on Vichy France & once that is secured go for the rest of France. Using spies to raise their belligerence should suffice to be able to declare war.

I wonder whether free france can have enough espionage spending as that spending is limited to 10% of the amount of money earned with 100% of effective ic on consumer goods. I formulated it is way because money from unused manpower will be relevant, in fact it might be crucial.

 

[Zardnaar]

A potential strategy is - after Vichy is triggered - prepare an attack on Vichy France & once that is secured go for the rest of France. Using spies to raise their belligerence should suffice to be able to declare war. Their coast line should be weakly defended in 1941/42; but of course it depends on how the Germany & Italy AIs respond. It might be wise to - after landing successfully in southern France - to give one province to the UK or USA, just so that AI might actually send units to help with your attack inland. After Germany's defeat I imagine those provinces under UK/US control will be given to France (or if not they can be edited back).

But of course the preparation stage is key, and as far as I'm aware, triggering Vichy means France looses most/all of its air force and army; and much of its navy. As you said, I would rush infra in the Congo capital and also build a naval base in the Congo too (helps increase ESE globally alongside all coast line under your control) - assuming you can't keep much of the military units you build pre-Vichy, I'd just focus on IC spamming in the Congo. I'd do this even given the fact you'll only extract 40-55% of the IC from those lands.

You could go full extreme, and disband the entire French military from 1936, as - AFAIK - you'll keep all their manpower after Vichy. It also means that virtually all available IC can go into developing the Congo. I'd focus research solely on industry; infantry and land doctrines - as after Vichy your best bet is to spam infantry & transport ships and rely on the UK/US navies.

I have thought of disbanding but France falls September 1939.

Hell France falls November 1939 if you just keep the starting units.

 

[Pang Bingxun]

Maybe it is best to aim for the best fight possible in 1940. That way you keep your full reserach as long as possible and the losses inflicted to germany may reduce its strenght at Barbarossa by say 20 divisions. This will severely help in retaking france later. The higher french manpowerlosses in 1940 however are only a minor concern as you will lack the ic to mobilize all your manpower in timely fashion as free france.

 

[Zardnaar]

Maybe it is best to aim for the best fight possible in 1940. That way you keep your full reserach as long as possible and the losses inflicted to germany may reduce its strenght at Barbarossa by say 20 divisions. This will severely help in retaking france later. The higher french manpowerlosses in 1940 however are only a minor concern as you will lack the ic to mobilize all your manpower in timely fashion as free france.

Yeah I have a X1 line of infantry and X1 marines running as free france.

I can also build some carriers and have some infantry lines for gearing bonuses to holfd the lie in 1940, I can disband them and elt France fall that way I suppose. Have a 99% complete HQ unit and a couple of carriers as well.

 

[Mr_B0narpte]

Yes that 99% idea is a great one, but as the IC will drop for France significantly for Vichy, I still think there'd be sufficient IC for developing infrastructure and factories.

Developing France itself would be a great idea if it can be re-taken quickly - straight after Barbarossa would indeed be the best time if rushing is the goal. If expecting a long war, then infra rushing in the Congo to dramatically improve the ESE there would be the best alternative.

However for rushing, I'd go completely for as many units as possible as IC allows, then sleeping/funding once at 99% - so then France could end up completing 30+ infantry parallels one-by-one after Vichy is created (plus a small but modern navy for protection). Taken to the extreme, there would be no production for any infrastructure or factories, purely for as much military as possible.

 

[Pang Bingxun]

so then France could end up completing 30+ infantry parallels one-by-one after Vichy is created

The problem with this is that this absorbs 360+ manpower, you will have 30+ divisions less at the front. The 99+% approach is great for high icd items, for infantry it is a bad idea.

 

[Mr_B0narpte]

The problem with this is that this absorbs 360+ manpower, you will have 30+ divisions less at the front. The 99+% approach is great for high icd items, for infantry it is a bad idea.

It can be done in the minimum time needed to mitigate this (i.e the parallels beginning early/mid 1939)

 

[Commander666]

... triggering Vichy means France looses most/all of its air force and army; and much of its navy.

In the one game where I monitored Vichy AI and France AI after Vichy fired, I was very surprised to notice that the existing navies had exactly doubled - with Free France and Vichy France having identical. So CV Bearn became two CV Bearns (one to each side) and so on. Not sure if that still happens in v1.10 or what France gets if player controls it.

 

[Pang Bingxun]

It can be done in the minimum time needed to mitigate this (i.e the parallels beginning early/mid 1939)

This means that you have 30+ less divisions when it counts between Danzig and Vichy. Infantry is cheap enough to be build with only 14 base ic. Free france enjoy good sliders, some ministers good for building Inf-Art and it may even utilize small arms assembly line. With 30% gearing bonus you can recuit one Inf1941-Art every 36 days, for 3 lines that will be 30 divisions within a year. Given that tc is limited that might be enough.