Help me defend as Poland..

[pdstanbridge]

I've tried this several times since the latest patch. Poland is exponentially more difficult. I basically want to defend successfully, and stay alive. Where would you start, what types of divisions would you build? I will be following a reasonably historical path up to a point of course. But do you focus on forts or factories? Do you join Allies or go it alone? So many questions...

 

[a_sophist]

If your goal is simply to survive, go Communist, as the Soviets will provide a great meat shield on the borders. At that point you could stick with the default templates and be fine. If you go Allied it's unlikely that you'll get help in time, so the strategies are more or less the same as being independent (peace conference issues aside). While there are a couple valid ways of playing, the things I find most useful are cheap piercing (support AA/AT), and a little bit of CAS. As far as template, 20 width pure infantry with support is enough, especially if you're smart about where you choose to defend (in forests, behind rivers, etc.). Doctrine wise Superior Firepower and Grand Battleplan are both viable depending on the support companies/artillery you want to use, and my personal preference is GBP Assault.

 

[Ironside121]

Joining the Soviets or Germans doesn't exactly help too much because the AI is trash and quite often only defends their own borders. The Allies will actually send you divisions sometimes if they can get them through to the port. It's the way the AI works, nations like the UK and USA open up their fronts through other people, very rarely do the Germans and Soviets.

 

[a_sophist]

Joining the Soviets or Germans doesn't exactly help too much because the AI is trash and quite often only defends their own borders. The Allies will actually send you divisions sometimes if they can get them through to the port. It's the way the AI works, nations like the UK and USA open up their fronts through other people, very rarely do the Germans and Soviets.

Interesting, are you talking about being in the Axis/Comintern or just having the government? In my experience (about 2 or 3 times) if I'm in the Comintern by the time Danzig or War starts the Soviets rush their units to the German/Polish borders.

 

[Ironside121]

Interesting, are you talking about being in the Axis/Comintern or just having the government? In my experience (about 2 or 3 times) if I'm in the Comintern by the time Danzig or War starts the Soviets rush their units to the German/Polish borders.

Hmm maybe they've changed the AI up a bit or I got very unlucky in the three playthroughs I tried. The Soviets absolutely refused to send me men, I was agitated as hell

 

[CplKatie]

Hmm maybe they've changed the AI up a bit or I got very unlucky in the three playthroughs I tried. The Soviets absolutely refused to send me men, I was agitated as hell

Were they called into the war? If the war starts via a decision sometimes allies don't auto join unless you call them.

 

[Ironside121]

Were they called into the war? If the war starts via a decision sometimes allies don't auto join unless you call them.

That is the kinda obvious thing I'd miss might give it another go if it was something this silly that I missed.

 

[Meglok]

I've tried this several times since the latest patch. Poland is exponentially more difficult. I basically want to defend successfully, and stay alive. Where would you start, what types of divisions would you build? I will be following a reasonably historical path up to a point of course. But do you focus on forts or factories? Do you join Allies or go it alone? So many questions...

If you want to live either go fascist or communist. Almost impossible in 1.4.2 to survive as democratic. Which is historical, Poland was a speed bump to Germany.

Or wait for 1.5 and see what is possible then.

 

[TheMeInTeam]

If you want to live either go fascist or communist. Almost impossible in 1.4.2 to survive as democratic. Which is historical, Poland was a speed bump to Germany.

Or wait for 1.5 and see what is possible then.

It's not even close to impossible. It's certainly challenging compared to usual SP fare.



If I were to do it over I wouldn't join allies, though this route did get me the Bearer of Artillery achievement (stayed non-aligned but joined allies) when USSR attacked Iran.

 

[pdstanbridge]

Thanks for the replies. I have tried joining the communists before 1.4.2 and they didn't send any troops my way at all. They were called into the war but they refused to help. Allies will help but only if they can get men into Danzig, and then it's only really a few basic divisions. Not that much help, as most appear to get stuck in the straights as they are being sent. The most success I have had is by defending the best terrain, behind rivers. It means there is a fairly small pocket of land which the Germsns struggle to cross, but that also means Polish forces are surrounded and lack factories. It's a sizable comprimise, but it does cause significant German casualties.

Would AA be enough to stop the panzers do you think?

 

[klinkvon13]

Clearly very feasible https://crusaderping.wordpress.com/...conferences-oddities-hearts-of-iron-iv-1-4-2/

Dont be fooled by the colors, Poland faction goes from Germany to Turkey. If it were not for a very broken peace conference system, Poland would be much stronger since it was instrumental in both Axis and USSR defeat.

The idea of surviving as Poland by joining USSR or Axis is just an historical nonsense!

 

[CplKatie]

That is the kinda obvious thing I'd miss might give it another go if it was something this silly that I missed.

There also may be an issue with the NAP they sign with each other. You may be able to call through that but auto calls don't fire cause of it. You may need to score the alliance before the NAP is agreed to.

 

[jccrafter9000]

I say first create a fallback line connecting Lodz and Warsaw. Then just defend. Build forts and some more divisions while you are at it.