How to Be Mediocre at Hearts of Iron III

[DensleyBlair]

It seems you're making good gains - though it does seem that France want to be invaded...

That said, having allies on all the French fronts would be good for you, I imagine.

 

[Jagdpnzr]

You wanna see mediocre? Ill show you mediocre! Watch as we perfectly implement the Monty Python "RUN AWAY" doctrine.
Signed,
French AI

 

[Gen. Marshall]

How bad is stacking? I hope it's not too bad, since some of my troops in Poland have become grouped together in a giant mass.

It's not that bad if you have one division too much, but the penalty increases quickly. For every division you have above the limit, all of your divisions will get a 10% combat penalty. I think the limit is 5 divisions (HQs count as divisions!), so when you have 8 divisions in a province, all will be at 70% efficiency. It's even worse for air wings, where the stacking limit is 1 air wing - which means that you shouldn't put more than 4 wings in a group. A group of 6 wings will perform worse than one of 5 wings!

Usually, the French and Belgian AI have problems with stacking, as they tend to put a lot of HQs and low-org divisions in one province, resulting in a -50% efficiency for those divisions that can fight. But this doesn't seem to be the problem right now (Seriously - what the hell are they doing? Your game is very unusual, homydog!).

 

[Ikarases]

Tracked. Maybe I´ll help you a little or maybe I´ll giggle to your actions in the corner

 

[red_KLG]

Usually, the French and Belgian AI have problems with stacking, as they tend to put a lot of HQs and low-org divisions in one province, resulting in a -50% efficiency for those divisions that can fight. But this doesn't seem to be the problem right now (Seriously - what the hell are they doing? Your game is very unusual, homydog!).

It is pure vanilla, no expansions.

Nice AAR though :happy: :happy:

 

[homy_dog34]

Good advances by both you and Japan. What do you plan to do after the defeat of France and Poland?

Uh, plan? I honestly don't even have a plan for an attack on Britain right now. I've got time, though.

Wow, so much for the Maginot Line! Those impressive fortifications don't help much when you don't have any troops manning them!

Pretty embarrassing AI blunder, to be honest. I'm sure you'll take it, though.

Yeah, it's really weird, but I'm not complaining. I think all of those troops were guarding the border with Belgium, for some reason.

It seems you're making good gains - though it does seem that France want to be invaded...

That said, having allies on all the French fronts would be good for you, I imagine.

Yes, it really helps take the burden off of me.

You wanna see mediocre? Ill show you mediocre! Watch as we perfectly implement the Monty Python "RUN AWAY" doctrine.
Signed,
French AI

I love Monty Python! Just don't tell the killer joke.

It's not that bad if you have one division too much, but the penalty increases quickly. For every division you have above the limit, all of your divisions will get a 10% combat penalty. I think the limit is 5 divisions (HQs count as divisions!), so when you have 8 divisions in a province, all will be at 70% efficiency. It's even worse for air wings, where the stacking limit is 1 air wing - which means that you shouldn't put more than 4 wings in a group. A group of 6 wings will perform worse than one of 5 wings!

Usually, the French and Belgian AI have problems with stacking, as they tend to put a lot of HQs and low-org divisions in one province, resulting in a -50% efficiency for those divisions that can fight. But this doesn't seem to be the problem right now (Seriously - what the hell are they doing? Your game is very unusual, homydog!).

Yeah, um, I might have kinda stacked like 15 units into a single province at multiple moments during the game. Oh well.

Tracked. Maybe I´ll help you a little or maybe I´ll giggle to your actions in the corner

Eh, either way. It's not like I'm any good at following advice in the first place.

It is pure vanilla, no expansions.

Nice AAR though :happy: :happy:

Thank you!

 

[homy_dog34]

How to Be Mediocre at Hearts of Iron III Part 4

Hey guys. Late update, I know. But it's still the weekend, right?
Anyways, let's hop into things, shall we?

2 July, 1939
First, I finish off the Jutland Peninsula in Denmark, and I also call Italy into the war.

Spain is called in as well. There are now 3 hostile enemies on France's borders.

21 July, 1939
Spain has made some advances into France, but are being repulsed now.
Italy has not moved on inch since declaring war. Oh well, those forts are rather troublesome.

Poland is feeling the heat.
I am steadily advancing, and Hungary is just waltzing into Poland's open flank.

22 July, 1939
I win Warsaw after a small battle.
Poland is not resisting much any more. It seems they don't have much fight left in them.

23 July, 1939
After I finish off Poland, they choose to become a government in exile.
Don't know why. Who wouldn't want to be German?

After that, it's time to redeploy my troops on the Eastern front. Don't worry, I realize how slow it is to move regularly, and I strategically redeploy them.
It's rather different from HoI2, but I think I like this way better.

28 July, 1939
Denmark has but a few a provinces left.
However, Norway joins in. Will it be enough to save Denmark?

17 August, 1939
Finally, after a battle lasting several months, I arrive on Denmark's main island.
Seriously, I lost a lot of men here. Then again, so did Sweden. I did have double their causalities though.

1 September, 1939
I win the battle of Copenhagen, making up for my earlier losses.
The Netherlands also join the allies. I will have to move my troops up there to stop any advancements.

2 September, 1939
Surprisingly, Denmark surrenders.
I choose to just annex them. After all, they do border me.

8 October, 1939
I have now almost fully occupied the Netherlands.
Also, I have advanced into Sweden a good ways. Soon, I may have another surrender event.

21 October, 1939
I decide to also attack Luxembourg. Can't hurt, right?

25 October, 1939
I win the battle of Brussels. Belgium is a tough nut to crack. Hopefully, I can defeat their armies soon.
They are really wearing me down.

6 November, 1939
I ask Portugal to join the war effort.
They agree, of course.
Though, I can't help but wonder if they will be more of a help or a hindrance.

11 November, 1939
Finally, here's a screenshot of Africa.
Spain has made some gains in the West, and Italy and Ethiopia are doing well in the East.
I don't think they'll last that long if South Africa joins the war, though.

That's all this time. Thanks for reading.​

 

[Avindian]

I just noticed something -- how is the USA in the war already?

 

[DensleyBlair]

That's one large German blob. Is there any sort of War Score, as per CK/EU/Vicky? I can't seem to find it in your pictures - that said, I wouldn't know where to look anyhow - and wondered of there was any concrete way to tell how the war was going?

Really entertaining as always.

 

[Gen. Marshall]

That's one large German blob. Is there any sort of War Score, as per CK/EU/Vicky? I can't seem to find it in your pictures - that said, I wouldn't know where to look anyhow - and wondered of there was any concrete way to tell how the war was going?

Really entertaining as always.

There's the VP system, which isn't as realistic as the warscore system, but yields more satisfying results in most cases.
In short, whenever a certain number of important provinces (VPs) of a country are captured, the country will surrender. So homy_dog will most likely conquer Sweden as soon as he captures Stockholm.

 

[MrQwerty]

It took you two-and-a-half months to conquer Denmark. The Nazis did it in 24 hours. Mediocre .

Nevertheless, the continent is yours to control, as long as you can keep the British in check .

 

[misterbean]

It took you two-and-a-half months to conquer Denmark. The Nazis did it in 24 hours. Mediocre .

yeah, but they did it without Swedish back-up against them ;-)

Just in case it helps, you may want to look at my tutorial AAR (link in my sig). It was written 2 expansions down the line, but the first couple of chapters are mostly about the basics anyway, so they could be helpful as long as you remember the tutorial wasn't written with vanilla HOI3 in mind.

 

[BarrosRodrigues]

I wished to say this earlier but did not had time to do it: despite this is your very first attempt at a HOI3 game I have to say that thus far it is (very) far from mediocre. I read most of your previous "How to Be Completely Mediocre at Playing Your Own Mod" AAR and despite not knowing a thing about EU3 that did not seemed mediocre at all to me.
Having said this you really need to raise that officer ratio, IMO a very high officer ratio is the next best thing after having an army. Even if your army has super-duper weapons due to high technology it can be beaten easily if the officer ratio is too low, on the other hand even with previous generation weapons if you have an officer ratio close to 200% you will likely steamroll everyone. I would do my best to keep my weapons up to date and the officer ratio near 200% no matter what.

 

[homy_dog34]

I just noticed something -- how is the USA in the war already?

They joined the allies due to my unscrupulous use of diplomacy.

That's one large German blob. Is there any sort of War Score, as per CK/EU/Vicky? I can't seem to find it in your pictures - that said, I wouldn't know where to look anyhow - and wondered of there was any concrete way to tell how the war was going?

Really entertaining as always.

Nah, there is surrender progress, though. Basically, you have to capture major cities.

There's the VP system, which isn't as realistic as the warscore system, but yields more satisfying results in most cases.
In short, whenever a certain number of important provinces (VPs) of a country are captured, the country will surrender. So homy_dog will most likely conquer Sweden as soon as he captures Stockholm.

Yep, exactly right!

It took you two-and-a-half months to conquer Denmark. The Nazis did it in 24 hours. Mediocre .

Nevertheless, the continent is yours to control, as long as you can keep the British in check .

Yeah, those Brits are gonna be a pain. Good thing they don't land troops here much.

yeah, but they did it without Swedish back-up against them ;-)

Just in case it helps, you may want to look at my tutorial AAR (link in my sig). It was written 2 expansions down the line, but the first couple of chapters are mostly about the basics anyway, so they could be helpful as long as you remember the tutorial wasn't written with vanilla HOI3 in mind.

Alright, I'll take a look at it if I can remember. I'm sure I'll get some use out of it.

I wished to say this earlier but did not had time to do it: despite this is your very first attempt at a HOI3 game I have to say that thus far it is (very) far from mediocre. I read most of your previous "How to Be Completely Mediocre at Playing Your Own Mod" AAR and despite not knowing a thing about EU3 that did not seemed mediocre at all to me.
Having said this you really need to raise that officer ratio, IMO a very high officer ratio is the next best thing after having an army. Even if your army has super-duper weapons due to high technology it can be beaten easily if the officer ratio is too low, on the other hand even with previous generation weapons if you have an officer ratio close to 200% you will likely steamroll everyone. I would do my best to keep my weapons up to date and the officer ratio near 200% no matter what.

OK, thanks! I think I'll be steadily investing in officers from now on. You'll see the change in the screenshots.

 

[homy_dog34]

How to Be Mediocre at Hearts of Iron III Part 5

Hey everyone, time for yet another update. I don't got much to say, except I might have an update again either tomorrow or Monday, since I have no school then.
Anyways, let's start off.

11 November, 1939
First, I take Joseph Goebbels as my Minister of Security, giving me some nice leadership bonus.

13 November, 1939
Next, Switzerland joins the Allies. To combat them, I move all the troops I had lying around the Soviet border to Switzerland.
Switzerland is a horrible place to attack. They have a lot of forts and mountains, making it near impenetrable from the North..

14 November, 1939
I win the decisive battle of Eupen, wherein France suffers way more causalities than me.

15 November, 1939
South Africa joins the Allies.
Also, Japan is making decent progress in China and Indochina.

23 November, 1939
I win the battles of Luxembourg and Stockholm.
Sweden surrenders soon afterwards, while Luxembourg still has one more province.

26 November, 1939
I win the battle of Bitburg, killing a few regiments and annexing Luxembourg.

29 November, 1939
I win the battle of Namur. Belgium is conquered now.
Unfortunately, they won't surrender due to their colonies in the Congo.

31 December, 1939
In other news, I suffer the wort moment of the war, by far.
I lose 9,000 men to the enemy's 1000, and fail in my assault on Metz.
I will have to try a different strategy.

1 January, 1940
Greece attacks Italy, and takes over Albania.
Smart. Now we will have to attack them either amphibiously or through Yugoslavia.
Also, Japan is still progressing well in Asia.

11 January, 1940
I create a puppet state in Iceland, since I have no navy to defend it.
I also create a pocket around a French regiment in Switzerland.

21 January, 1940
Another 2 regiments are surrounded in Switzerland after a another German victory.

25 February, 1940
Norway is annexed and progress is started on Finland. It's tough moving through these forests.
Liberia joins the allies.

11 March, 1940
I am attempting to create a pocket around some troops in the Maginot Line.
I only need one more province to do it.

23 March, 1940
The pocket is successfully created, but it will take a while before I can actually defeat these troops.
For now, they will just have to stay boxed in.

3 April, 1940
Finland surrenders. I now own all of Scandinavia.

17 April, 1940
I enclose 3 French regiments with the capture of St. Die.
They are soon defeated, and captured.

12 May, 1940
With the capture of Bern, Switzerland surrenders.
Now France and Britain stand alone in Western Europe.

That's it for now. Until next time...​

 

[Gen. Marshall]

Oh no.... You are doomed!
Well, not really doomed, but when France surrenders and Vichy is created, the bit of land the Italians have captured above Vichy will stay in their hands - and be awfully isolated. And make for ugly borders.

EDIT: Never mind. The French will surrender to Italy, and Vichy will never be created.
(The nation that holds the most enemy provinces is the one that will recieve all uncaptured provinces)

 

[Ikarases]

Heh, Iceland!

I can´t help myself but Yunnan is looking really weird. How come?

Oh no.... You are doomed!
Well, not really doomed, but when France surrenders and Vichy is created, the bit of land the Italians have captured above Vichy will stay in their hands - and be awfully isolated. And make for ugly borders.

EDIT: Never mind. The French will surrender to Italy, and Vichy will never be created.
(The nation that holds the most enemy provinces is the one that will recieve all uncaptured provinces)

Or maybe he could do a trick with changing the "controller" tags of VP provinces to Germany. Having France conquered by Italy while he´s done the dirty work is kind of meh.

 

[Gen. Marshall]

changing the "controller" tags of VP provinces to Germany

That's a common mistake. It's not about who controls most VP provinces, but just who controls most captured provinces overall. And changing +/- 50 province ownerships from ITA to GER is no easy task....

 

[DensleyBlair]

It amuses me that the Finns and the Swedes refuse to surrender. Seems a bit foolish considering their entire respective territories are occupied... (What also amused me was the picture in which Finland was shown not surrendering, captioned with 'Finland Surrenders' )

Another solid update.

 

[Ikarases]

That's a common mistake. It's not about who controls most VP provinces, but just who controls most captured provinces overall. And changing +/- 50 province ownerships from ITA to GER is no easy task....

This is HoI, one always learns something new...

So be it, let the Italy conquer France!