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Crusader Kings III Available Now!
The realm rejoices as Paradox Interactive announces the launch of Crusader Kings III, the latest entry in the publisher’s grand strategy role-playing game franchise. Advisors may now jockey for positions of influence and adversaries should save their schemes for another day, because on this day Crusader Kings III can be purchased on Steam, the Paradox Store, and other major online retailers.
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary online, it's 'doozy'...
I look forward to the update. From your description, it sounds ambitious and packed with AARy goodness.
A quick look at the Production situation in mid-October, since I haven’t addressed this recently. Not a lot has changed, but you can sense my frantic scramble to build more Escorts and Convoy ships, because as you can see on the right there are many convoys which are not fully allocated for.
I also want future transportation capability (a new Transport), and more cavalry and garrisons to round out my troop strengths. There’s a Bf 109 license contract getting slowly funded for future needs.
All of my resource stockpiles are in good shape, as I’m now bringing in supplies of all of them from the East Indies and African captured territories.
Over the next two-week period, I’m going to deal with individual theatres one at a time. You’ll see two weeks in Africa, and then you’ll see two weeks in our other major theatre in Borneo, just so that you have some consistency and aren’t shifting constantly back and forth. This update covers, for the most part, the last half of October, 1939.
You’ll recall the 3rd Cavalry was pulled out of Dakar and sailed around Africa with the intent of landing at Abidjan. The attack against Accra by those French tanks from the African interior changed my plans, and I landed the cavalry at Lome in order to attack their flank.
As usual, the French broke off their attack when faced with a two-front battle. Then, this became an uneven fight, and it would be suicidal to continue attacking the French with cavalry. So I broke off contact, and loaded my cavalry back aboard the transports.
My infantry at Accra was hanging on by a thread, and so they were forced to retreat toward Lome. This would result in the surrender of Accra, except that my cavalry soon arrived to pick up the fight, alongside a remaining garrison. The British, faced with a full-strength cavalry divisions (well… two brigade strength, anyway), ended their attack upon us.
Noting their much reduced morale, it seemed prudent to try to dislodge them entirely. My cavalry (not the weakened garrison) launched an attack against Kumasi!
This battle was a spirited one – mounted horse cavalry against mounted motorised infantry – but it came to an end four days later with our cavalry having to withdraw. Their losses were smaller than our own, but our hopes had been that their morale would be sapped from these repeated attacks, and they would give up their unsupplied corner of the jungle. Our hopes were forlorn, for now, but we pledged to return to this battle.
In retrospect, air power might have turned the tide, there, but our two air wings were occupied in Borneo, which we shall get to in a moment. First, let’s look at the rest of Africa….
You’ll recall that, early on in our war, we took French Cameroun (formerly German Kameroon, until the Versailles Treaty). Our cavalry – the 2nd Cavalry, as it happens – has been beating its way through the central African bush for many weeks, and it’s finally emerging into some sort of civilisation, hitting first (around the 3rd week of October) the Belgian Congo, and now heading west so that by evening of the 29th of October (see inset), they have linked up with Portuguese Cabinda and have successfully cut off the French mountain division from overland contact with any Allied forces.
There is a small Belgian naval presence just south of them, but no help will be forthcoming from there, because they have their own problems. We’ve now cut off the coastal Belgian division from contact with its own capital, as well as from any supporting contact with units in the Congolese interior. The Belgian temporary capital, at Elisabethville, deep inside the Congo, is now cut off from reasonable possibilities of contact from outside civilization. Things are not well for Belgium!
In northwest Africa, you may recall that there was a French Marine division pushed out of Dakar into the desert. They’ve been sneaking their way south, since then, into the jungle, and now that Portuguese troops are less distracted than before, there has come to be a chase on!
Meanwhile, to the east, the 3rd Cavalry, having failed to dislodge Gen. Gott’s motorised infantry from Kumasi, has relocated to Abidjan, and is pressing north in an attempt to cut Gott off from his countrymen (and the French) completely! This mission has a fringe benefit of also placing the 3rd Cavalry in position to perhaps impact the French Marines’ flight, too. In any case, this is part of a process of both, pressing into the interior of colonial Africa, and cutting off those remaining Allied units from their supply and their ability to further affect the war.
On the 2nd of November, the Marines arrive in a position where they blunder into the Portuguese headquarters brigade (see inset), as it moves north to try to cut them off. A Portuguese garrison moves, quickly, to intervene from another direction, and the Marines are in a situation where they cannot possibly prevail.
You may notice the South African flag in the popup in the bottom left of the inset – our submarines continue to sink Allied shipping on a fairly regular basis. On the other hand, the Allies are also sinking Portuguese shipping.
Now… Back to the one major remaining theatre – the East Indies and South China Sea. I’m going to borrow an already-used screenshot from last update in order to provide context here.
Here, you can see that I have used the garrison division I borrowed from Hong Kong – the LAST of our defenders there! – to capture a province “at our back” near Kuching. This will allow us to retreat from Kuching if we lose the battle, thereby preserving our troops to fight another day.
They immediately re-embark. But instead of transporting them to Kuching, where they could aid in the defense of that province, I decide to use the gambit I’ve used so many times before in this game – I land them at Sibu, behind the British lines, and attack them on their flank!
You can see the multiple combat penalty applied, now, in their battle. Notice, also, that our infantry division has been forced to retreat from Kuching, thoroughly exhausted. Now they have someplace to return to, rather than being eliminated or having to be picked up by offshore transports (which I need elsewhere). A newly landed garrison “holds the fort” against the relentless British attack.
Now, our hopes are that the British will not want to continue the two-front battle at bad odds. However, they manage to bring a second infantry into the battle, from the north. Instead (or additionally), it’s our own defenders at Kuching who get flanked! And the mix is not good.
By the 24th of October, we’ve lost at Kuching – both of our defending units are now retreating back to the west, into the province we took as “insurance” for our retreat. I’ll pick them up later, after they’ve had time to recover, and bring them back into the fight.
Ack!
While we’re so busy trying to win this awesome struggle in Borneo, the French are sneaking around in Indochina, taking our conquests back! We lose Hanoi… Surely soon after we’ll lose Haiphong Harbour too. Well… We’ll just have to go back and get those provinces after we’ve settled things in Borneo.
Now, my purpose for having landed the 16th Division at Sibu is now lost – they were to flank the British, and convince them to give up their attack on Kuching. Having missed the mark on that (not a wasted effort – a good try, and besides I got some good licks in on the British while trying!), it’s time to pull them out and place them instead at Kuching, where they can defend against the British advance.
I know this seems a lot like “robbing Peter to pay Paul”, and you’re right! But it’s a necessary exercise. Without any one of these moves, I’d be losing right now. Remember, also, both of our bomber squadrons are actively employed here, and taking chunks out of the enemy. Things are still winnable!
Ack! Again!
Our transports are intercepted by two flotillas of Dutch destroyers!!!
Thank Heaven we have escorts with the transports! Our destroyers, remarkably, managed to get some good hits in on the Dutch, knocking one of their flotillas down to 62% (please forgive the sloppy editing – I accidentally chopped off the destroyers where it showed damage). Within the space of this 5 hour battle, our destroyers also managed to get additional damage against them! I know this because we actually won this battle:
(The Dutch get us back, though, with the loss of 2 convoy transports and an escort elsewhere in the Indian Ocean!)
Our transport fleet barely survives (obviously this is an exploit, of sorts, with my army unaffected by the loss of 86% of my transports!). But we manage to land our troops safely at Kuching, where they resist the British advance and preserve our important conquest still!
Whew! What a battle, so far!!!
I also want future transportation capability (a new Transport), and more cavalry and garrisons to round out my troop strengths. There’s a Bf 109 license contract getting slowly funded for future needs.
All of my resource stockpiles are in good shape, as I’m now bringing in supplies of all of them from the East Indies and African captured territories.
Over the next two-week period, I’m going to deal with individual theatres one at a time. You’ll see two weeks in Africa, and then you’ll see two weeks in our other major theatre in Borneo, just so that you have some consistency and aren’t shifting constantly back and forth. This update covers, for the most part, the last half of October, 1939.
You’ll recall the 3rd Cavalry was pulled out of Dakar and sailed around Africa with the intent of landing at Abidjan. The attack against Accra by those French tanks from the African interior changed my plans, and I landed the cavalry at Lome in order to attack their flank.
As usual, the French broke off their attack when faced with a two-front battle. Then, this became an uneven fight, and it would be suicidal to continue attacking the French with cavalry. So I broke off contact, and loaded my cavalry back aboard the transports.
My infantry at Accra was hanging on by a thread, and so they were forced to retreat toward Lome. This would result in the surrender of Accra, except that my cavalry soon arrived to pick up the fight, alongside a remaining garrison. The British, faced with a full-strength cavalry divisions (well… two brigade strength, anyway), ended their attack upon us.
Noting their much reduced morale, it seemed prudent to try to dislodge them entirely. My cavalry (not the weakened garrison) launched an attack against Kumasi!
This battle was a spirited one – mounted horse cavalry against mounted motorised infantry – but it came to an end four days later with our cavalry having to withdraw. Their losses were smaller than our own, but our hopes had been that their morale would be sapped from these repeated attacks, and they would give up their unsupplied corner of the jungle. Our hopes were forlorn, for now, but we pledged to return to this battle.
In retrospect, air power might have turned the tide, there, but our two air wings were occupied in Borneo, which we shall get to in a moment. First, let’s look at the rest of Africa….
You’ll recall that, early on in our war, we took French Cameroun (formerly German Kameroon, until the Versailles Treaty). Our cavalry – the 2nd Cavalry, as it happens – has been beating its way through the central African bush for many weeks, and it’s finally emerging into some sort of civilisation, hitting first (around the 3rd week of October) the Belgian Congo, and now heading west so that by evening of the 29th of October (see inset), they have linked up with Portuguese Cabinda and have successfully cut off the French mountain division from overland contact with any Allied forces.
There is a small Belgian naval presence just south of them, but no help will be forthcoming from there, because they have their own problems. We’ve now cut off the coastal Belgian division from contact with its own capital, as well as from any supporting contact with units in the Congolese interior. The Belgian temporary capital, at Elisabethville, deep inside the Congo, is now cut off from reasonable possibilities of contact from outside civilization. Things are not well for Belgium!
In northwest Africa, you may recall that there was a French Marine division pushed out of Dakar into the desert. They’ve been sneaking their way south, since then, into the jungle, and now that Portuguese troops are less distracted than before, there has come to be a chase on!
Meanwhile, to the east, the 3rd Cavalry, having failed to dislodge Gen. Gott’s motorised infantry from Kumasi, has relocated to Abidjan, and is pressing north in an attempt to cut Gott off from his countrymen (and the French) completely! This mission has a fringe benefit of also placing the 3rd Cavalry in position to perhaps impact the French Marines’ flight, too. In any case, this is part of a process of both, pressing into the interior of colonial Africa, and cutting off those remaining Allied units from their supply and their ability to further affect the war.
On the 2nd of November, the Marines arrive in a position where they blunder into the Portuguese headquarters brigade (see inset), as it moves north to try to cut them off. A Portuguese garrison moves, quickly, to intervene from another direction, and the Marines are in a situation where they cannot possibly prevail.
You may notice the South African flag in the popup in the bottom left of the inset – our submarines continue to sink Allied shipping on a fairly regular basis. On the other hand, the Allies are also sinking Portuguese shipping.
Now… Back to the one major remaining theatre – the East Indies and South China Sea. I’m going to borrow an already-used screenshot from last update in order to provide context here.
Here, you can see that I have used the garrison division I borrowed from Hong Kong – the LAST of our defenders there! – to capture a province “at our back” near Kuching. This will allow us to retreat from Kuching if we lose the battle, thereby preserving our troops to fight another day.
They immediately re-embark. But instead of transporting them to Kuching, where they could aid in the defense of that province, I decide to use the gambit I’ve used so many times before in this game – I land them at Sibu, behind the British lines, and attack them on their flank!
You can see the multiple combat penalty applied, now, in their battle. Notice, also, that our infantry division has been forced to retreat from Kuching, thoroughly exhausted. Now they have someplace to return to, rather than being eliminated or having to be picked up by offshore transports (which I need elsewhere). A newly landed garrison “holds the fort” against the relentless British attack.
Now, our hopes are that the British will not want to continue the two-front battle at bad odds. However, they manage to bring a second infantry into the battle, from the north. Instead (or additionally), it’s our own defenders at Kuching who get flanked! And the mix is not good.
By the 24th of October, we’ve lost at Kuching – both of our defending units are now retreating back to the west, into the province we took as “insurance” for our retreat. I’ll pick them up later, after they’ve had time to recover, and bring them back into the fight.
Ack!
While we’re so busy trying to win this awesome struggle in Borneo, the French are sneaking around in Indochina, taking our conquests back! We lose Hanoi… Surely soon after we’ll lose Haiphong Harbour too. Well… We’ll just have to go back and get those provinces after we’ve settled things in Borneo.
Now, my purpose for having landed the 16th Division at Sibu is now lost – they were to flank the British, and convince them to give up their attack on Kuching. Having missed the mark on that (not a wasted effort – a good try, and besides I got some good licks in on the British while trying!), it’s time to pull them out and place them instead at Kuching, where they can defend against the British advance.
I know this seems a lot like “robbing Peter to pay Paul”, and you’re right! But it’s a necessary exercise. Without any one of these moves, I’d be losing right now. Remember, also, both of our bomber squadrons are actively employed here, and taking chunks out of the enemy. Things are still winnable!
Ack! Again!
Our transports are intercepted by two flotillas of Dutch destroyers!!!
Thank Heaven we have escorts with the transports! Our destroyers, remarkably, managed to get some good hits in on the Dutch, knocking one of their flotillas down to 62% (please forgive the sloppy editing – I accidentally chopped off the destroyers where it showed damage). Within the space of this 5 hour battle, our destroyers also managed to get additional damage against them! I know this because we actually won this battle:
(The Dutch get us back, though, with the loss of 2 convoy transports and an escort elsewhere in the Indian Ocean!)
Our transport fleet barely survives (obviously this is an exploit, of sorts, with my army unaffected by the loss of 86% of my transports!). But we manage to land our troops safely at Kuching, where they resist the British advance and preserve our important conquest still!
Whew! What a battle, so far!!!
Would it not have been more sensible to gather every one of these three units at Kuching, concentrating enough force to prevent the Brits from retaking it and wait for them to run run out of supplies? Or are they supplied from another harbor on the island?
Wilst you could send troops to overrun French West Africa from Portugal thorough Spain and the Belgian Congo, though to do so would leave you e short of troop to oppose the British forces, who, let's face it, are the only effective resistance you've met.I'd still try it. Your forces depend on mobility and behind the lines landings. It's the only way you can maintain the intiative. You can't concentrate your forces and expect to win. You are pretty much committed to defending Kumasi with defensive bonuses from terrain., though your other division ought to be able to overrun the rest of British Borneo. Hopefully you can then hit the British after a failed assault on Kuching and cut off their supplies and degrade them from the air. Taking British Borneo provides a platform for the Dutch East Indies, though you want to go and take French Indochina.
British forces are pretty much rooted to Accra and Sierra Leone. The move, you move in. You have got bomber squadrons, but you'll use those to eliminate the British defenders in Sierra Leone, first.
You've got sizeable forces in Cabinda. these can threaten, from a captured Belgian Congo, the whole of the British east coast African possessions and offer a strike towards South Africa's resource rich provinces.
I'd like to see you try a move on France's Caribbean territories and the taking of french. British and Dutch Guyana. Not sure you have the brigades, transports and destroyers you'd need to mount the operation.
British forces are pretty much rooted to Accra and Sierra Leone. The move, you move in. You have got bomber squadrons, but you'll use those to eliminate the British defenders in Sierra Leone, first.
You've got sizeable forces in Cabinda. these can threaten, from a captured Belgian Congo, the whole of the British east coast African possessions and offer a strike towards South Africa's resource rich provinces.
I'd like to see you try a move on France's Caribbean territories and the taking of french. British and Dutch Guyana. Not sure you have the brigades, transports and destroyers you'd need to mount the operation.
Still doing well! I got a question though, in the pictures it shows you can pass one or more of the new laws to help your nation. Why havent you done this? You may have covered it in the past but I can't remember.
Edge of the seat stuff!
I think the Brits can actually draw supplies from the port the Netherlands owns to the south though
I think the Brits can actually draw supplies from the port the Netherlands owns to the south though
I know there is a general strategy of grab what you can, but is there a medium term goal for Portugal? Is there a hope of consolidating some of these gains? Or do the game mechanics take everything away as the larger Powers achieve their objectives?
Thanks for all your responses, guys! Great to know people are still paying attention, even after the long (2 month!) absence!
First, I have many places in this area I'm trying to maintain/defend at the same time as I'm trying to take others over. I wanted to guard against the British moving forward from Hong Kong and capturing Macao. I also wanted to guard against the capture of Saigon and Hanoi, but in the end I stripped all of these places in order to concentrate, so... Believe it or not, what you're seeing IS my full force concentrated at Kuching!
Secondly, I have extremely limited transport ability. For part of my time out there, I only had the one puny transport to move everybody around. Sometimes I had a second transport, dropping somebody off, but that guy couldn't stick around, or I'd cut off my long term ability to bring more reinforcements to the area from the west.
I don't know how they're being supplied. I kept expecting them to run out of supplies, and they never did. It's slightly possible they are getting supplies from the Dutch port on the other end of the island, but I've never been able to trace supply across allies' territory, and I doubt this could be it. The two remaining possibilities are 1) they just had alot of leftover internal supply reserves (possible), or 2) they had some stockpile of supplies up near Brunei, or so, in which case I would have just cut them off from that supply finally, and their reserve supply ticker has now started.
Okay, you made me look! It's recommending I enact Special Training Laws. But that would increase my training time by 20%, which more than counterbalances the benefit of better experience at deploy time. I need as many different divisions as I can right now, which is why I'm building 2-brigade divisions instead of 3-brigade strength. I need to spread out as much as I can, and I can't afford to have longer training times.
This process will be easier once the French stop moving around in SE Asia!! There is a middle-term plan, but I'm going to let you watch it unfold, rather than telling you in advance!
Thanks, everybody! I appreciate your consistent readership!
Any new readers?
Rensslaer
Well, I have 2 things working against that kind of strategic thinking.
First, I have many places in this area I'm trying to maintain/defend at the same time as I'm trying to take others over. I wanted to guard against the British moving forward from Hong Kong and capturing Macao. I also wanted to guard against the capture of Saigon and Hanoi, but in the end I stripped all of these places in order to concentrate, so... Believe it or not, what you're seeing IS my full force concentrated at Kuching!
Secondly, I have extremely limited transport ability. For part of my time out there, I only had the one puny transport to move everybody around. Sometimes I had a second transport, dropping somebody off, but that guy couldn't stick around, or I'd cut off my long term ability to bring more reinforcements to the area from the west.
I don't know how they're being supplied. I kept expecting them to run out of supplies, and they never did. It's slightly possible they are getting supplies from the Dutch port on the other end of the island, but I've never been able to trace supply across allies' territory, and I doubt this could be it. The two remaining possibilities are 1) they just had alot of leftover internal supply reserves (possible), or 2) they had some stockpile of supplies up near Brunei, or so, in which case I would have just cut them off from that supply finally, and their reserve supply ticker has now started.
Unfortunately, as I mentioned in the prior response just above, I cannot trace supply through Spain, and so I can't do what you suggest. Besides, Gibraltar is in the way. The British divisions, as far as I can tell, are rooted in place, and won't move. I need to gather enough force to assault them. I will take care of some of these other things soon, and you can enjoy watching!
I don't remember what law that was, exactly, but there are times when I disagree with the computer as to whether changing a law will improve my situation or not.
Okay, you made me look!
It's recommending I enact Special Training Laws. But that would increase my training time by 20%, which more than counterbalances the benefit of better experience at deploy time. I need as many different divisions as I can right now, which is why I'm building 2-brigade divisions instead of 3-brigade strength. I need to spread out as much as I can, and I can't afford to have longer training times.Yeah, you would think that. But I don't think it worked that way in v1.2. I think they fixed something in v1.3 to make it work, but this is way back when this happened. Thanks!
We're starting to transition into medium-term goals now. I've grabbed most of what I can take, and you'll now start to see me trying to consolidate, such as in Borneo.
This process will be easier once the French stop moving around in SE Asia!!
There is a middle-term plan, but I'm going to let you watch it unfold, rather than telling you in advance!Thanks, everybody! I appreciate your consistent readership!
Any new readers?
Rensslaer
Refresh my memory: in Brunei, are you trying to take territory (and/or resources there), or are you trying to destroy the British force? I know you have to juggle a great many priorities at any given moment, but it feels like you're overconcentrating on Borneo, with not much to show for it, while around you your other positions are collapsing (the Vietnam seesaw, for one).
Africa's looking pretty impressive, though, given the scarce number and relatively poor quality of the troops you have there.
Africa's looking pretty impressive, though, given the scarce number and relatively poor quality of the troops you have there.
Refresh my memory: in Brunei, are you trying to take territory (and/or resources there), or are you trying to destroy the British force? I know you have to juggle a great many priorities at any given moment, but it feels like you're overconcentrating on Borneo, with not much to show for it, while around you your other positions are collapsing (the Vietnam seesaw, for one).
Africa's looking pretty impressive, though, given the scarce number and relatively poor quality of the troops you have there.
Well, the goals are multiple in Borneo. One is something I've already achieved -- By taking their only port,bI've completely cut off the British from any ability to access the Oil resources in Borneo, which are piling up in the northern hills, waiting for me to come for them. Secondly, I want to destroy their divisions there, because they're in the way. Thirdly, of course, I want that oil!
So for this reason, and for the reason that I'm glutted with Rares already, and don't need Vietnam as much, is why I'm concentrated here, instead of there. I'll come back for Vietnam once things are settled in Borneo.
Thanks for reading!
Rensslaer
Sure enough, while Portugal was concentrating her forces to win the Battle of Kuching, the French colonials took back the port of Haiphong, near Hanoi. Meanwhile, the British doggedly pursued their counterattack to retake Kuching. We were dancing around, trying to prevent their victory, and our bombers continued to whittle away at the strength of the two British divisions, but they were wearing us away also.
The dance continued….
After retrieving the 12th Infantry Division from Biawak (west of Kuching), our navy redeployed their greatly reduced strength to Sibu, behind the British lines, hoping to be a wedge against British reoccupation and reconnection with their supply lines.
There was a chance… And we decided to try the chance, because we would lose nothing by doing so…
Our last attempt to flank the British and force them to give up their attack on Kuching was directed at the southernmost of their divisions. This time the pinprick attack of two demoralized but still potentially powerful brigades was directed against the northernmost British division, at Sarikei, and we succeed! This division drops out of the attack, which makes the southern division’s attack hopeless, and so they both cease their attack.
Kuching is saved!
For now. Combat ends… if only for a few hours. I’ll get to that in a minute. It galls us that this victory comes at the cost of Hanoi and Haiphong, in French Indochina. Oh well… Perhaps we will get to return once the British give in.
Once this oppressively monopolizing project is resolved, I have a bit of a breather to pay attention to more mundane matters of government. It’s been only 7 weeks still, since our war began! But already there are changes which need to be made in the cabinet.
I no longer need my Neutrality reduced, and so my Minister of Security changes to someone who improves my counterespionage. Now that we are flush with newfound resources from the East Indies and Africa, I have no use for an Armaments Minister who provides 5% extra resources, and so I choose Joe, erm… Joaõ Chagas, to boost my Supply production.
The addition of J.A. Silva Bastos as Chief of Staff improves my Manpower modifier, which I never felt a pressing need for before, but I’m soon going to be bumping up against those intense reinforcement requirements, plus new units. I’ll need Manpower soon enough.
Now… What am I to do with all these understrength units in Borneo? It just so happens that my FW 200 aircrews report the British are in very ragged shape. The southern division, at Serian, for instance, is actually weaker than my own infantry division which has just relocated from west of Kuching! So…
Within just a few hours – 11 to be exact – combined pressing from the 12th Infantry and our two airwings of bombers forces Gen. Pakenham-Walsh’s 5th Indian Division to flee northward. Our only chance of eventually defeating these Brits in detail is by concentrating them in one, isolated province. And so, Gen. Viera moves forward to try to occupy the vacated territory and press them northward.
Unfortunately, the 6th Indian Division commander, Gen. Pownall, understands exactly what we’re trying to do, and he intercepts with his slightly superior strength! Any hope for a quick resolution, here, is dashed. Our air squadrons continue their bombardments.
In the far west, in West Africa, our HQ and garrison troops force the French marines to recede further into the desert, abandoning their attempt to move into the southern jungles (though the graphic obscures the area, you see the two Portuguese units just north and northeast of Sierra Leone, and the French marines are retreating from the province just north of them).
The 3rd Cavalry, apparently not needed to deal with the marines, hooks northeast to get around Lake Volta and hopefully outflank both, the British motorised division and the French light armoured division with the same move. If they could make it all the way to Nigeria, these units would find themselves entirely cut off.
Reinforcements (a garrison division, returned west after having retreated from Accra) had been deployed to Abidjan, to take the place of the cavalry there. Gen. Gott attacked Accra again, desperate to escape, but he ended his assault quickly.
To the east, Gen. Barkworth-Wright attacked our HQ in Lagos from Oshogbo, but we quickly landed a garrison unit under Gen. Preto (borrowed, again, from Abidjan), east of Lagos, which pressed north. This attack was paltry, despite the multiple combat penalties, and so this battle, along with the Battle of Lagos, continued for a while.
This became an important battle, partly because it soon looked like action from Lagos might be necessary to prevent a bloodbath north of Lake Volta! The French armour had realised their peril, and were moving north as the 3rd Cavalry continued its trek across the northern jungles, just south of the Sahel Desert.
Back to Borneo, when the 2nd Infantry completed its retreat from Kuching, it was picked up by Portuguese naval transports. Rather than immediately being returned to battle, these infantry first made a stop to capture another escape route – two provinces, our first Dutch territory – in western Borneo. Then, they were returned to Kuching.
The 12th Infantry was being hard pressed by the 6th Indians at Sibu – less than 6 morale left – and so as soon as the 2nd Infantry arrived in Kuching, they attacked along with the garrison.
This did completely tip the balance in their long struggle with the 6th Indians, and by the 15th their strength was spent. All combat again ceased, and the migration of British colonial troops continued. Unfortunately, their choice brought them to mingle with the 5th Indians, also in retreat (in game terms, they unfortunately crossed each other, and foiled my hopes of consolidating them!).
Before we turn our attention to South Africa, in our next update, I want to give you an idea of what’s going on in France…
The French, at Paris, continue to doggedly hang on! But the Germans are slipping around behind the city, and there was some hope that they would actually surround the capital, forcing its surrender.
This, of course, matters to us, as it would solve our difficulties with the French armoured, north of Accra, but it would also prevent us from taking more French territory for ourselves, which was one of our war aims.
We’ll see how long the French hold out….
The dance continued….
After retrieving the 12th Infantry Division from Biawak (west of Kuching), our navy redeployed their greatly reduced strength to Sibu, behind the British lines, hoping to be a wedge against British reoccupation and reconnection with their supply lines.
There was a chance… And we decided to try the chance, because we would lose nothing by doing so…
Our last attempt to flank the British and force them to give up their attack on Kuching was directed at the southernmost of their divisions. This time the pinprick attack of two demoralized but still potentially powerful brigades was directed against the northernmost British division, at Sarikei, and we succeed! This division drops out of the attack, which makes the southern division’s attack hopeless, and so they both cease their attack.
Kuching is saved!
For now. Combat ends… if only for a few hours. I’ll get to that in a minute. It galls us that this victory comes at the cost of Hanoi and Haiphong, in French Indochina. Oh well… Perhaps we will get to return once the British give in.
Once this oppressively monopolizing project is resolved, I have a bit of a breather to pay attention to more mundane matters of government. It’s been only 7 weeks still, since our war began! But already there are changes which need to be made in the cabinet.
I no longer need my Neutrality reduced, and so my Minister of Security changes to someone who improves my counterespionage. Now that we are flush with newfound resources from the East Indies and Africa, I have no use for an Armaments Minister who provides 5% extra resources, and so I choose Joe, erm… Joaõ Chagas, to boost my Supply production.
The addition of J.A. Silva Bastos as Chief of Staff improves my Manpower modifier, which I never felt a pressing need for before, but I’m soon going to be bumping up against those intense reinforcement requirements, plus new units. I’ll need Manpower soon enough.
Now… What am I to do with all these understrength units in Borneo? It just so happens that my FW 200 aircrews report the British are in very ragged shape. The southern division, at Serian, for instance, is actually weaker than my own infantry division which has just relocated from west of Kuching! So…
Within just a few hours – 11 to be exact – combined pressing from the 12th Infantry and our two airwings of bombers forces Gen. Pakenham-Walsh’s 5th Indian Division to flee northward. Our only chance of eventually defeating these Brits in detail is by concentrating them in one, isolated province. And so, Gen. Viera moves forward to try to occupy the vacated territory and press them northward.
Unfortunately, the 6th Indian Division commander, Gen. Pownall, understands exactly what we’re trying to do, and he intercepts with his slightly superior strength! Any hope for a quick resolution, here, is dashed. Our air squadrons continue their bombardments.
In the far west, in West Africa, our HQ and garrison troops force the French marines to recede further into the desert, abandoning their attempt to move into the southern jungles (though the graphic obscures the area, you see the two Portuguese units just north and northeast of Sierra Leone, and the French marines are retreating from the province just north of them).
The 3rd Cavalry, apparently not needed to deal with the marines, hooks northeast to get around Lake Volta and hopefully outflank both, the British motorised division and the French light armoured division with the same move. If they could make it all the way to Nigeria, these units would find themselves entirely cut off.
Reinforcements (a garrison division, returned west after having retreated from Accra) had been deployed to Abidjan, to take the place of the cavalry there. Gen. Gott attacked Accra again, desperate to escape, but he ended his assault quickly.
To the east, Gen. Barkworth-Wright attacked our HQ in Lagos from Oshogbo, but we quickly landed a garrison unit under Gen. Preto (borrowed, again, from Abidjan), east of Lagos, which pressed north. This attack was paltry, despite the multiple combat penalties, and so this battle, along with the Battle of Lagos, continued for a while.
This became an important battle, partly because it soon looked like action from Lagos might be necessary to prevent a bloodbath north of Lake Volta! The French armour had realised their peril, and were moving north as the 3rd Cavalry continued its trek across the northern jungles, just south of the Sahel Desert.
Back to Borneo, when the 2nd Infantry completed its retreat from Kuching, it was picked up by Portuguese naval transports. Rather than immediately being returned to battle, these infantry first made a stop to capture another escape route – two provinces, our first Dutch territory – in western Borneo. Then, they were returned to Kuching.
The 12th Infantry was being hard pressed by the 6th Indians at Sibu – less than 6 morale left – and so as soon as the 2nd Infantry arrived in Kuching, they attacked along with the garrison.
This did completely tip the balance in their long struggle with the 6th Indians, and by the 15th their strength was spent. All combat again ceased, and the migration of British colonial troops continued. Unfortunately, their choice brought them to mingle with the 5th Indians, also in retreat (in game terms, they unfortunately crossed each other, and foiled my hopes of consolidating them!).
Before we turn our attention to South Africa, in our next update, I want to give you an idea of what’s going on in France…
The French, at Paris, continue to doggedly hang on! But the Germans are slipping around behind the city, and there was some hope that they would actually surround the capital, forcing its surrender.
This, of course, matters to us, as it would solve our difficulties with the French armoured, north of Accra, but it would also prevent us from taking more French territory for ourselves, which was one of our war aims.
We’ll see how long the French hold out….
Here's hoping you get more territory before France falls! Looks like the cat hasn't caught the mouse quite yet in the Far East or West Africa. KUTGW!
It would be nice to use those troops to fight another country though. Try and grab a little more land but I hope they surrender soon so you can beat up on the brits more.
Now that I've seen your rationale, I can certainly understand that you chose to focus on Borneo over Vietnam (and anyway, Western obsessions with Vietnam have a historically poor track record ).
Some nimble dancing around. I look forward to either the complete pacification of Borneo, or the fall of France, whichever comes earlier, as either event should free up some forces to deploy elsewhere. Should be fun to see what you tackle next.
).Some nimble dancing around. I look forward to either the complete pacification of Borneo, or the fall of France, whichever comes earlier, as either event should free up some forces to deploy elsewhere. Should be fun to see what you tackle next.
Nice to see a couple of new update, and although there have been some setbacks with the Allies bringing stronger and larger forces against you I still think the Portuguese military are doing very well. You have been able to keep the Allies under control and now that the Germans are about to take Paris, hopefully, the French forces will be removed from the frontlines and then you will have more forces available against the British, and then I am confident that you will be able to take back control on some of the frontlines where you are hard pressed at the moment...
STOP! COOKIE TIME