Imperial Hearts (Pt. 4 Austrian Image Heavy Mega campaign)

[EmperorofMordor]

Well, the sins of the father must not be visited on the children, after all... go, DANDOLO! Redeem your family name by crushing the vile Fascists and Communists!

Dandolo family honor is non-existent. Down with the blood of Enerico!

 

[TheAnguishedOne]

Love the modernization of the political parties, and the new focus trees sound great. I don't even know which paths to root for...

 

[HIMDogson]

Dandolo family honor is non-existent. Down with the blood of Enerico!

Look man, sometimes it's hard to admit, but we need a monster to fight monsters. The Eastern Romans have fallen to the Fascist scourge, and who better to fight them than Dandolo?

 

[EmperorofMordor]

Look man, sometimes it's hard to admit, but we need a monster to fight monsters. The Eastern Romans have fallen to the Fascist scourge, and who better to fight them than Dandolo?

Hrm...I suppose he could make a good Churchill-esqe wartime leader, but after than he needs to go before his family destroys another Rome!

 

[zenphoenix]

It seems like a bad idea to let another Dandolo near the capitol of a Roman successor state. I mean, we all know what happened last time... and if you don't, just ask SirDippingsauce

Yeah, I might be to blame for that @dragoon9105. Somehow my megacampaign, despite having eradicated the Dandolo family from existence before it existed along with almost every single Italian, triggered him so hard that he had to write a really long and graphic description in his signature about me killing Dandolo.

Also, for fans of my megacampaign I now really want to include a Dandolo character somewhere.

Look man, sometimes it's hard to admit, but we need a monster to fight monsters. The Eastern Romans have fallen to the Fascist scourge, and who better to fight them than Dandolo?

The Ottomans, Mehmet II, and their giant anti-Theodosian cannon.

 

[Skyhascheese]

subbed!

 

[dragoon9105]

Chapter 2: Anons from Heaven

(The Mcdunn Dam one of the many Empire wide projects initiated by the KSKP)
​

Upon taking office the KSKP majority in the senate quickly got to work continuing Imperial Infrastructure projects that had been for the most part put on hold since 1930. Proposed by Empress Octavia and reiterated by Chancellor Dandolo a new set projects landed on the senate floor, most of them focused around modernizing the Holy Roman Empire's now rather dated power grid.

Under the Octavian system the Reichsrat had only ceremonial power and so the Bill landed in the house mostly as a formality. However between the Red's and Blues over 60% of the House was for the Idea and it passed regardless. Once it landed in the Senate it was also passed almost immediately albiet with some groaning for the Liberals who felt that such massive ego projects would be best done another time. Upon signing the Law, Octavia gave an address over the Radio, calling for the Holy Roman Empire to not only govern the world but to become an 'Empire of Industry', one that could eclipse the Axis without ever firing a shot.
​

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In the following year the Government surplus halved and much of that funding went into expanding Civilian Industry and Infrastructure across the Empire. In Early 37' another reform passed with the focus being on Austria's roadway system which was only half completed since Octavia's original proposal.

(The Bayern-Österreich Autobahn one of several highways in the Empire)
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For the better part of 1936 and and years before it the Economy had begun to stagnate mostly in part to another major recession as well as the pressures of increasing population and Modernizing Colonies sucking industry out of the Mother Country. For the most part the 36 and 37 reforms took Jobs out of Industry and into state work, combined with heavy subsidies, had given the economy a swift kick though many in Austria were beginning to be fearful the government was shifting far too quickly into a command economy and that the Government was only going to drown itself as it's projects continued to grow more grandiose and unnecessary.

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In part to ease these fears Octavia appointed Alexander White, a wealthy Californian capitalist and industrialist to the Imperial Council. White was interested in a career in politics back home in California and had hoped a few years on the Council could increase his notoriety enough to try take an election from the Californian Establishment. There was another reason why white was on the Council however, the source of his fortune, American and Californian Oil which the economies of the world were growing more hungry for by the day. Having White meant access to American Oil, something that would be critical going forward.

​

White proposed that Pannonia, a relatively rural area of the Empire was ideal for Industrialization, with easy access to the Danube steel and other raw materials could easily be shipped from the surrounding areas and then the goods could be easily shipped out the same way the Raw materials came in. Pannonia of course was also the Breadbasket of the Empire so a compromise was made to cluster Industry along the River to save space and also increase productivity. Seeing success Military factories and other industrialists followed suit on a new 'Concentrated' Industry plan, which left most of the countryside open for residential living or farming with Industry concentrated into much tighter, high efficiency complexes.

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In Mid 1937 Octavia formalized the scientific award system started over a century ago. The So called "Giselbert' Awards were each named after a Kaiser from the old days. Unlike the Nobel prizes give out from Scandinavia the Giselbert Awards were only to be given to citizens of the Empire and included military pursuits as well as cultural and scientific.

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One such award, the 'Matthias' award was offered for whomever could propose a new Fighter for the Austrian airforce. Previous IF-100's while monoplanes were slow and out of date, held only 7.62 weapons as armament and tended to break down often. Octavia's new demand for a design was for a fighter that held speed and armament at levels acceptable to be the new Imperial Air Superiority fighter.

(The DB-109A)
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From Bavaria came the DB-109, a good looking fighter that Deutchland-Braun promised could house two 20 meter canons in it's wings. It was also fast and unlike other aircraft designed to maintain high speed flight and also achieve it through a superior climb and dive rate. The 109A however was a new and somewhat unproven design from an unproven company meaning many of the testing commision were skeptical.

(The IF-112)
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The second major proposal was the Imperial-Fritz Fighter 112, An upgraded version of the IF100 with a superior engine and better armament. IF was also a well entrenched Austrian Defense company which allowed Edwardo Fritz, to make several bold claims such as the Aircraft being capable of housing a 37mm Anti Aircraft Cannon and be more maneuverable than a biplane.

(The Fe-50 the 'Dead Horse' of the Competition)
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The Ferrari Aeronautical branch also proposed a fighter, the Fe-50, however the Fe-50 was plagued with problems mostly stemming from it's outdated engine. The Aircraft during testing was outsped by both the IF-112 and the DB-109 and though it was more maneuverable than either at slow speeds it was simply not what the Empire was looking for. The Winner ultimately would be the DB-109 and the DB company was told to keep a continuous production of the aircraft in two different models, A for interception and B for general air supremacy.

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On the ground another choice was being made. The current Austrian Military was still currently using armored vehicles that dated back to the early 1920's. After enough petitioning from the Military leadership a new Tank for service with Austrian Armored divisions was offered up for production.

(Picture of a Testing model of the the LPz-35)
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The LPz-35 was adopted wholesale by the Austrian Military, while not as armored as it's heavier great war cousins it was faster, more reliable and came in several variants that allowed it to carry a variety of armament. Holy Roman Armored doctrine would be shaped in years to come mainly around the LPz-35 as it would be the best tank divisions would have access to until heavier models later in the war.

​

As promised now over a year ago Chancellor Dondolo opened a dialogue with the Republic of Scandinavia and it's president Erik Skirstag. The Focus was naturally rising tensions between the Soviet Union and Greater Albion, both of whom desired Scandinavian Steel and other resources. Dondolo promised that should the Fledging country ever come under attack the Holy Roman Empire would rush to it's aid.

(February 11th 1938, Chancellor Dandolo and President Erik Skirstag about to sign the Copenhagen Defense Agreement)
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With Scandinavia in place, the Democracies of the Holy Roman League could breath a bit more easy. Though for the Axis the walls were now closing in, protecting the Scandinavians was a clear sign that the Empire was going to need to be dealt with soon, lest the Axis find themselves completly fenced in.

​

 

[EmperorofMordor]

Go Austria go!

 

[dragoon9105]

So I didn't realize how short HOI4 can be in comparison to HOI3 and DH, So short that I finished the entire campaign (1936-1949) in a day. Guess I can't complain since now I can play some Kaiserreich and don't have to worry about the patch breaking the AAR save.

It seems like a bad idea to let another Dandolo near the capitol of a Roman successor state. I mean, we all know what happened last time... and if you don't, just ask SirDippingsauce

Well, the sins of the father must not be visited on the children, after all... go, DANDOLO! Redeem your family name by crushing the vile Fascists and Communists!

Look man, sometimes it's hard to admit, but we need a monster to fight monsters. The Eastern Romans have fallen to the Fascist scourge, and who better to fight them than Dandolo?

Guys Guys Guys, The Dandolo Family from 910 till now in TTL has been no more than the occasional Grand Mayors of Venice, so the only one destroying any romes around here will be me, or those damn commies, Besides I like the Italians better when they aren't revolting after all how can anyone call themselves an Empire without Italy? Danubian Federation is great and all, but theres just something Magical about having that 'Empire' on the map

 

[zenphoenix]

Great summary of your industrialization programs. Nice to see a HOI AAR focus on something other than war.

Seeing as you're already finished playing through HOI4, will the update schedule remain the same or will we see it speed up?

 

[HIMDogson]

Not asking you to spoil anything, but did the enemies of the Empire give you a good fight?

 

[dragoon9105]

Great summary of your industrialization programs. Nice to see a HOI AAR focus on something other than war.

Seeing as you're already finished playing through HOI4, will the update schedule remain the same or will we see it speed up?

Ck2 I was always around 300 years ahead of the AAR and did updates every day. I'll probably keep it at 1 every other day or go back to 1 every day since I'm off from University for a few weeks.

Not asking you to spoil anything, but did the enemies of the Empire give you a good fight?

Lets just say it had the potential to be a Worst Case Scenario and I intentionally made things harder on myself as much as possible, My test game taught me that If I want the army to behave properly I have to command it myself so things ended up being easier in some areas and harder in others. From what I've seen of the AI, If I wasn't at the Helm the Empire would have crumbled.

My test game had the Chinese Theatre there end up being like the Soviet one in our timeline, with the Germans(Me) advancing up to a few Key cities, A massive bloodbath ensuing and finally a pushback that lost me thousands of miles of territory. Couple dozen nukes and Learning how to properly use armored divisions sort of fixed that issue though.

 

[zenphoenix]

Ck2 I was always around 300 years ahead of the AAR and did updates every day. I'll probably keep it at 1 every other day or go back to 1 every day since I'm off from University for a few weeks.



Lets just say it had the potential to be a Worst Case Scenario and I intentionally made things harder on myself as much as possible, My test game taught me that If I want the army to behave properly I have to command it myself so things ended up being easier in some areas and harder in others. From what I've s It would have crumbled.

My test game had the Chinese Theatre there end up being like Soviet one in our timeline, with the Germans(Me) advancing up to a few Key cities, A massive bloodbath ensuing and finally a pushback that lost me thousands of miles of territory. Couple dozen nukes and Learning how to properly use armored divisions sort of fixed that issue though.

The solution to every problem involving China: throw a lot of nukes at it until it dies.

 

[TheAnguishedOne]

The Holy Roman Empire is putting in good work with industry. The desire to be the Empire of Industry ought to be easily accomplished with this rate.

The campaign is just 13 years? Wow, I thought it was longer.

 

[zenphoenix]

I'm actually surprised you finished so quickly. Even for HOI4 AARs I usually hear that players take a while to get to 1949. Meanwhile I'm here grinding it out in the logistical nightmare that is 1941 in HOI3. Will you think about playing further along in HOI4 until the engine starts breaking down, or will you move on?

Well, if you're thinking of stretching it out, I would recommend adding in a few character-based updates. While your AAR is already very well-written, it could be made much better if you had some short stories focusing on a couple characters. We could see what Octavia is thinking as she goes about her daily life, or maybe Dandolo as he's handling the machinations of government. We could even focus on the point of view of the average HRE citizen or some random person from another country to give us a new view on things. It would help to flesh out your world a lot so it won't just be several long updates of "x did this, this happened, y caused this, etc" (no offense). Hearts of Iron, because of its really short timeline, is actually a great place to do this (besides CKII of course).

 

[dragoon9105]

Chapter 3: Fools rush in

(Last meeting of the Holy Roman dominated World Council)
​

By 1938 the World Council which had been intended to be a new Holy Roman means to keep peace in the world had drifted into irrelevance. Outside of passing several naval treaties and a ban on chemical weapons following Imperial-Mexican War any decrees made in the council that the Empire disagreed with were often overturned. The Axis, simply ignored them entirely and the entire organization had slowly become as influence as a local newspaper while still being a major diplomatic expense. On the next Scheduled meeting in the summer of 1938 Octavia announced a final dissolution of the world council and the creation of the Pan-Imperial Congress which would be it's effective and far more conservative replacement.

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Scheduled each Fall, starting in 1938 the New Imperial Congress would meet and be made up of Holy Roman Dominions, colonies and allied countries and conduct matters more intimate than simple treaties. While the Senate existed and Austrian Colonies held representation within it, the Congress would allow for Empire wide policies to be enacted, not just ones that affected the mother country.

Chancellor Dondolo following his success in Scandinavia was appointed to be the head of the 1938 Congress where he steered the direction firmly towards the Empire instead of it's Allies and economic partners. The original Ferdinandian Dominion system despite only being a few decades old was beginning to show it's age, there were barely any firm policies in place for law, education and trade within the dominion which mean often the default lied in old colonial charters, some dating back to the 1600's.​

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The first matter was Education, which also benefited Dondolo's domestic agenda. Each dominion as well as the Holy Roman Empire itself had completly diffrent systems of education. The Empire funded education for children up to the age of 16 but often no further meanwhile California and Japan both had referendums pending for the creation of several 'State Universities' which would provide federal funded education up to the degree level. More degrees would amplify another problem in that there was no standard recognized Empire wide, degrees earned in California, Japan or Lindi often were worthless outside the country. Similarly a Holy Roman degree from a private university might not be recognized in America.

(Albert Hoffenberg and Chancellor Dandolo shaking hands after Hoffenburg's appointment to first Chair of the IAC, President Ezra Rothstein of Israel stands in the middle)​

The ultimate focus of the Imperial Congress would set mandatory minimum levels of education investment, forcing all Dominion members to fund education up to the age of 16. A series of official Imperial Universities were created alongside the Imperial Academic Council (IAC) whose academic leadership would set standards in regards to degrees as well as offer 'Theoretically' uniform education across the entire Empire. Dondolo also agreed to propose Californian style university funding to the Senate which would provide State aid for those pursuing Math, Engineering and Science degrees. Though there were skeptics about the Empire's new Initiative as while the Chancellor preached prosperity to the Empire as a whole Anti Fascist and Communist Propaganda was seething into every aspect of life back at home.

With nothing much to report and extra incentive from the Imperial minded government, Media across the Empire had begun producing what was quickly being labeled as 'Octavian Propaganda'. Anti Fascist and Anti Communist Propaganda found itself into newspaper and magazines and movies such as 'The Celtic Menace' were rushed out of production and into theatres across the empire. It was no coincidence that such a rise was occurring before the 1938 elections and afterwards things had died down for a bit, though not completly.​

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Militarily the Imperial Navy was also going through heavy modernization just as the Air Force had. Thoughout the Holy Roman Empire's entire history the focus remained always on the Importance of the Capital ship. now the Admiralty was split, between bigger and better battleships which had guns capable of reaching further inland or new American and Japanese styled Aircraft carriers that could promise to give the navy one thing it sorely lacked, diversity. Ultimately like many Naval decisions in recent history, Politics interfered and not knowing any better, Bigger and fancier looking battleships were chosen to be the focus of the Navy and the Super-Heavy 'Royal' Class Battleship complete with it's 17' guns was chosen for production over conversion of some of the older dreadnaughts into carriers despite the massive drain of the Empire's Oil and Steel reserves.

Meanwhile armor companies were now looking to make improvements in regards to the LPz.35. However Great War Era tanks were still being phased out across the board mostly due to limited production of the Lpz35 and Austrian Military leadership saw no reason to introduce a replacement so soon. Eventually General Herman Richter, the foremost promoter of newer mobile warfare tactics sidelined his superiors and put in requires for improved, heavier variants of the LPZ.35 that could sustain anti tank rifle fire for 'testing' purposes.​

(The Pz.39 an improved Version of the 35 Model with a superior armament and slightly better armor
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Skoda seeing the opportunity presented to them did all they could to impress and introduced the new Pz.38 an up armored version of the Pz35 with superior weaponry and internal equipment. The more traditional Austrian Military leadership shot down the proposal stating that for a Light tank the Pz35 was enough. Next year Skoda made the proposal again, this time however completly replacing the turret as well as replacing the old riveted design with a welded one. This new Pz39 was proposed as Medium Tank that could fill the role of the Outdated heavy tanks while still being able to keep up with Troop Transports. This time the Generals accepted after seeing the performance of the L/60 gun and the general speed of the tank, Skoda was told to equip the Pz39 with the L/60 Gun and to begin production, Orders would follow for revised Lpz.35's with Welded hulls to enter production in limited numbers as well.

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As 1938 drew to a close military buildups in Finland and Southeast Asia were starting to become commonplace. As the Holy Roman Empire continued to make it's intent to deal with the Axis known a pre emptive strike was quickly becoming the only alternative, realizing this the Republics of India and Scandinavia formally asked for increased protections and assurances from the Empire. Empress Octavia of course accepted which did nothing for relations with China and Russia.

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With world tension now rising rapidly the 1939 Congress that year was focused primarily on the Military defense of the Holy Roman Empire and it's allies. To state his intent Chancellor Dondolo stated during his address that "The Holy Roman Empire and it's Partners must become the Arsenal of Democracy, For while not all peoples under her protection can be considered free, There are those that seek not to advance the world, but to keep it in darkness" A firm statement that now reassured Austria's new allies she would protect them, though whether anyone truly knew exactly what was boiling behind the curtain is unknown.

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The Congress, alongside Empress Octavia, officially organized the Imperial Luftwaffe as well as the Imperial Navy into proper branches of the Armed forces alongside the army. Dated systems from the Colonial Era that favored the nobility and those that could purchase officer commissions were tossed away in favor of a more educated admiralty. For the Air Force it was a major win as now it was no longer bound by the more conservative admiralty and generals for newer models of infrastructure and aircraft. Many older naval officers however quit in protest of the new meritocracy stating that the old system made the Empire the premier naval power of the world, and by removing the last bastion of noble hierarchy within the armed forces the Monarchy was setting itself up to fall.

(The Edo Incident 1940)
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On February 27th 1940 an Imperial Transport ship exploded in Edo harbor killing two hundred and making the port unusable for months as well as severely damaging the Battleship Bohemian Pride. Upon investigation to the explosion Japanese officials discovered that the source cause wasn't accidental and had likely been the result of sabotage. Three days after the explosion the Imperial Cruiser 'Luminous' opened fire on a suspected Chinese submarine. Only to find out too late that it was a Passenger ferry. By March 18th Chinese Union bombers were sighted over Port Arthur, where one was shot down and another forced to land.

​

A week later on the 27th the Chinese Union State issued a formal declaration of war and advanced into Northern Manchuria and into the Himalayas. Twelve hours later a similar declaration was made by the Eastern Roman Republic, both stating that they 'Intended to End German Aggression'.

Perhaps caring less of appearances Joseph Stalin took his opportunity and announced his final intent to Socialize Scandinavia and ordered an advance into Sweden. Meanwhile word from the North German Union and Greater Albion remained quiet outside pledges to send equipment and volunteers to aid the Greeks and Chinese in their struggles.
​

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The Holy Roman Empire meanwhile received pledges from Canada and Templar Republic for aid against the Chinese. Israel which was being invaded by the Eastern Roman Republic also pledged to aid the Holy Roman Empire, despite it's own situation.

(Empress Octavia announcing the Holy Roman Empire's declaration of war)
​

The Holy Roman Empire was now at war and for the second time in 50 years the fate of the entire world Hung in the balance.

​

 

[dragoon9105]

The solution to every problem involving China: throw a lot of nukes at it until it dies.

Thats my solution to every problem

The Holy Roman Empire is putting in good work with industry. The desire to be the Empire of Industry ought to be easily accomplished with this rate.

The campaign is just 13 years? Wow, I thought it was longer.

Yea, HOI IV is pretty short, Paradox had the forethought with this one to let you play past the end date though so thats nice.

I'm actually surprised you finished so quickly. Even for HOI4 AARs I usually hear that players take a while to get to 1949. Meanwhile I'm here grinding it out in the logistical nightmare that is 1941 in HOI3. Will you think about playing further along in HOI4 until the engine starts breaking down, or will you move on?

Well, if you're thinking of stretching it out, I would recommend adding in a few character-based updates. While your AAR is already very well-written, it could be made much better if you had some short stories focusing on a couple characters. We could see what Octavia is thinking as she goes about her daily life, or maybe Dandolo as he's handling the machinations of government. We could even focus on the point of view of the average HRE citizen or some random person from another country to give us a new view on things. It would help to flesh out your world a lot so it won't just be several long updates of "x did this, this happened, y caused this, etc" (no offense). Hearts of Iron, because of its really short timeline, is actually a great place to do this (besides CKII of course).

Think I might take you up on that Idea, if only to add variety and make things feel less rushed. And well I play in 10-12 hour Sprints, and HOI IV is a new toy so, easy to burn ridiculous amounts of time on.

 

[zenphoenix]

It's time to start the war! As you finished the game in about a day you shouldn't have that much difficulty, but at least it'll be interesting to see how everybody reacts to it. Can we get a quick rundown on who is on each side?

 

[TheAnguishedOne]

And it begins! The Edo Incident is a fair reason to go to war. With your own strength and all your allies by your side, I'm confident you'll win. Now it's just a matter of time and what you gain from this.

 

[HIMDogson]

If K had any art skills, I would make a propaganda poster showing a double headed eagle crushing a lightning bolt in one talon and a red star in the other.