Chapter 38: Munich and Vienna.
We’re back as the UK, and we continue to secure peace by preparing for war. Cookie for the people that know what reference that is.
Anyway, now that we have plenty of IC, I start construction our latest generation of carrier, along with its CAGs and 6 infantry divisions.
In June, I change the spy missions in Germany. I include “Covert operations” as one of them. Covert Operations cumulates covert ops points in the target country. These points can then be used for a variety of purposes, from sabotaging their infrastructure in a couple of provinces to improving infrastructure in other provinces so that you will move faster to performing a coup. I have never tried that last one on Germany, because I suspect they are more or less immune to it, but the other missions will come in handy when we begin the eventual liberation of Europe, and I will go into more details at that point.
I also change my armaments minister because we are not getting enough resources to fuel our economy. I am to blame for this, really. I should have kept trade on manual, but I don’t want to deal with it. In HOI 3, we can let the AI do the stuff we don’t feel like doing, so I might as well make use of it.
The Spanish civil war ends with a Republican victory, which just about ensures a neutral Spain. That is perfect, because the German AI doesn’t invade Spain to get to Gibraltar, like a human player might. The only way for the Axis to get to the Rock now, is through paradrops or via a naval invasion. The first is extremely unlikely because neither Germany nor Italy have the range for it, unless they get military access to Spain or Vichy Africa first. The second one would take a long enough time that I can sick both Home Fleet and the Mediteranean Fleet on them.
That is a small weight off my mind, because in TFH, Nationalist Spain can potentially join the Axis. The prospects are extremely unlikely, but given the right circumstances it would be possible. With a Republican win, those odds go down the drain after a German and Italian intervention, and because Republican Spain is the wrong ideology.
The Munich agreement is somewhat different in the current version of the game for the UK. You now have the option of opposing the treaty to cede the Sudetenland to Germany. Choosing this option would start the war a year earlier, and makes for an attractive alternate history, but let’s read the fine print first, shall we?
What happens is that Czechoslovakia and France would DoW Germany. Paradoxically enough, UK would stay out of the war until they enter it manually by also DoWing Germany, making themselves the aggressors.
If you want to try this option, you’re going to have to change your build-up. You will need to focus more on your land forces than I have been doing. Germany’s army is not quite the ultimate powerhouse it will be by 1940, but, then again, neither is France ready for war at this stage in the game. Czechoslovakia will put up a brave defense, but will, in all likelyhood, be fully occupied. Note that this does deny the Germans from using the full Czech MP, LS and IC, so it might be a way to weaken them.
The most damaging factor, however, is that this option increases the Neutrality of the US and the Commonwealth, thus delaying US entry into the war (barring Japanese Pearl Harbour) and reducing the likelyhood of the other Commonwealth nations entering the war.
Still, if you want to, this gives you the option to actually put a stop to appeasement right there and then and I have read AARs that use this option to great effect. Just keep in mind that the game is weighted towards a historical path.
Edited to add: It was rightfully brought to my attention that there is something else that is not explicitly brought to your attention when you oppose the treaty. You also suffer a 24 point hit to your NU. This means that it will be almost impossible to get the best wartime laws on the outbreak of war against Germany.
So let's recap: the Czechs will still fall within the month. France will be alone until you join the war. you will be considered the aggressor. The Commonwealth and the US will hate you. You will suffer a crippling hit to your NU.
I will go for “Peace In Our Time”. The increased party popularity and organisation all but ensures a Conservative victory in the 1940 elections, and will eventually allow us to censor the press and limit civil liberties during the war. Note that, if you go this route, you will have no choice to oppose the first Vienna Award (the full annexation of Czechoslovakia and the creation of the Slovak puppet) later on, and all but locks you into a historical path.
HMS Ark Royal is deployed in december, 1938.
Because we are entering 1939 now, I will show you all my new research for those of you who want to play along.
Airborne Infantry are always handy. They can do things and go places that no other land unit can. In fact, they are so overpowered, that it is a known exploit to abuse their airdrop ability to mass drop on all of the enemy’s VPs at once, forcing an immediate surrender. If you have read Multiplayer AARs or played Multiplayer games, you will know that most, if not all of them, limit their usage through house rules. My own personal house rule is that I will use them to secure islands or ports or to close encirclements. I will use them to drop on partisans if there’s no other way to get to them in time. I will use them to add a third “province” to a hard fight, thereby adding more frontage to the battle. But that’s it. I will not drop them on Berlin to steal all of Germany’s resources out from under them.
Read that last sentence again, and think about it. If you grab an enemy’s capital, their resource pools are
teleported to your own capital and added to your own resource pools. This includes fuel, oil and supplies. Overpowered? Oh, yeah, in the right hands, they most definitively can be.
Note: I will add Jungle Warfare Equipment as well to fight the Japanese in Asia, but this is not an urgent tech. We will need it by 1941, though, so keep that in mind in case I forget to mention it in the future.
1940 ASW will be ready in a couple of days, a full year ahead of time. Both Small Warship Radar and Large Warship Radar give your ships better spotting chances to find enemy surface ships.
Carriers are up-to-date and radar is being researched. All is well.
Again, there’s only a limited use for Strategic planes in this playthrough. You can get some excellent mileage out of them in later techs, but I prefer to focus on planes that I will use just about daily and that require less micromanagement to keep them alive.
Fighter techs, of course, are always kept up-to-date.
Combat Medicine and First Aid. One will reduce battle casualties, the other one will reduce attrition.
Land Doctrines are almost all up-to-date.
Again, the UK’s massive Leadership pool allows me to make full use of the advantage offered by the Royal Navy. If I had to make a choice, I would go for the Carrier doctrine, along with the destroyer doctrines. I always research Fire Control, Commander Decision Making, Spotting and Basing for all nations with naval aspirations.
In the Carrier Doctrines, the Naval Underway Replenishment tech is only useful if you perform the “sortie” mission a lot, which is a defensive mission,, and to help keep the doctrine "theory" up. With a navy like the UK’s, I like to be more offensive minded.
The RAF Coastal Command Group is ready. I have based them in Portsmouth, where they will be of great use bombing enemy ships trying to cross the Channel. German subs that have been damaged, will use the shortest route to a safe base for repairs. Until the fall of France, that means that they will be trying to get through the Channel. This allows for a one-two punch between my destroyers + carriers on the one hand and the Naval Bombers on the other, guided by the radars on either side of the Channel, while protected by my own fighters.
It is 1939, so I am going to put spare IC into upgrades, so that I can be reasonably sure that all my armed forces will be up-to-date when the war starts in September. Just a quick reminder: ships upgrade their anti-air, radar and ASW only after being deployed. Especially my destroyers will need a lot of time get their equipment in order.
March, ’39. Germany has used the “First Vienna Award” decision, which opens the UK to guarantee Poland’s independence. This is probably your last chance to change history, but, by this point, why would you bow out of the war alltogether, right?
This is it. War is now only months away. Will we be ready, or will Germany be able to perform an early Sealion and catch us with our pants down? Come back next time, and find out. See you then!