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THe Portuguese cavalry appears to the bewildered South Africans to be everywhere at once. The British activity is a clear indication that the free range the Portuguese have hitherto enjoyed -because you've worked hard doing it is coming to an end. rap up the Dutch East Indies and South Africa. You could do with knocking out Hong Kong which is the last naval base the British have in the Far East. You've been building for a defense of the homeland. I think you're about to have that fight.

I've been VERY satisfied by how the cavalry acts as a sort of poor-man's armored unit, with the ability to be everywhere whenever we need to cut off retreat. But yes, I am worried about how my "poor man's" army might fare when up against an organized invasion or whatever. The advantage I have is that they can really only expect to succeed if they invade Lisbon directly, which I hope I have defended well enough to prevent that. I'm also, as you note, worried about how Hong Kong can foil my overall plans. That's their long-distance naval base, which can still serve them in various ways. Until it's gone, I can't guarantee I'm safe. Once it is gone, India really becomes their furthest base of operations and I'll start to feel more safe in the East Indies (still within range, but harder for them to operate effectively).

Yes, the end of the Netherlands is coming :)

Indeed. They've got ALOT of territory, though. Like hunting goldfish with a stick. Or something. lol

Love the image of the engorged and disinterested sharks!!

I might have concentrated more effort to reducing the South African situation in order to derive a "peace" dividend by subduing that enemy and freeing troops to maraud elsewhere. Have fun in the Antilles - I hear it's wonderful this time of the year!!

Thanks! The story of the sharks is somewhat ripped off from the true story of the sunk USS Indianapolis, I think, or else maybe some of the warships sunk by the Japanese early in WW II (like the ones who ended up at the Bridge on the River Kwai). Can't remember for sure. As for S. Africa, once I was able to turn my attention there, I've moved just about everyone I can spare to that theatre. It's a long-term project, but it's definitely my priority now.

Looks like the allies are beginning a counter-attack... if they take the açores I'd expect a landing on the mainland soon after...

Fortunately, I was able to keep them out of the Azores. As with my own adventures, I think they found it's difficult to invade defended islands (in Macao, too).

I'm slowing down a bit in my updates. Not sure how long before the next one here -- probably about 4-7 days from today (but very possibly sooner -- I do that sometimes). Do you feel the narrative scenes add very much to the story? I'm just curious, as it does take more effort, but I have fun doing it when I have time. I'll still probably have about 3-5 scenes of historybook in between each narrative. Is that a good ratio?

Thanks again, everybody, for your feedback! Any new readers?

Rensslaer
 
Once you have taken the Dutch East Indies, troops will be availableto take back to Macao and swamp Hong Kong. Then Australia and New Zealand will be open for annexation. I'm curious about your research program and the numbers of troops, ships and aircraft Portugal currently supports and is planning to build. Could you enlighten us?
 
To reply to your query: I do enjoy the narrative scenes but I am really in it for the game play updates. I like a ratio of 5 (or so) game play updates to every 1 of the story telling installments.

BTW - it was the USS Indianapolis that was the subject of a "sinking" shark attack story. Eerily recounted (though somewhat inaccurately) by Capt. Quint in the movie Jaws.
 
Good progress, especially in South Africa. As far as the Carribean/South America goes, is there a plan behind your seemingly random invasions, or is it purely opportunistic? And isn't it pretty risky to send transports there? Those British warships can't all be in Britain or the Far East...
 
Nice to see Portugal still going strong!!! And i must admit i don't read the narrative scenes, i prefer the gameplay. But that's just me.
Like your strategies so far, your doing extremely well against the allies, has the US entered the war yet?
And i would also like to see your production screen and so on.
 
Once you have taken the Dutch East Indies, troops will be availableto take back to Macao and swamp Hong Kong. Then Australia and New Zealand will be open for annexation. I'm curious about your research program and the numbers of troops, ships and aircraft Portugal currently supports and is planning to build. Could you enlighten us?

I should do a sort of catch-up update on economy and research -- things I've avoided in favor of combat in recent updates.

To reply to your query: I do enjoy the narrative scenes but I am really in it for the game play updates. I like a ratio of 5 (or so) game play updates to every 1 of the story telling installments.

BTW - it was the USS Indianapolis that was the subject of a "sinking" shark attack story. Eerily recounted (though somewhat inaccurately) by Capt. Quint in the movie Jaws.

Fair enough (about the updates) -- everyone has their tastes! I quite understand. I think the 5:1 is about how I've been managing. I guess I need to update the index, huh? Ahh, yes, Jaws. I do remember that. But I've also read the book about the Indianapolis, too -- great read, if tragic.

Good progress, especially in South Africa. As far as the Carribean/South America goes, is there a plan behind your seemingly random invasions, or is it purely opportunistic? And isn't it pretty risky to send transports there? Those British warships can't all be in Britain or the Far East...

Thanks! No real plan -- pure opportunism. I attack where there appear to be no defenders. It's been risky for me to send transports anywhere, and I've been really lucky. With only 3 or 4 warship units, I don't have much choice. I'm building more, I think... :)

I believe the plan is "base control". Deny the UK bases, and their ships can't do much outside sitting in the British Isles. Problem is that the British Empire is far too big.

Indeed. Base control and denial. The Empire is big, but as Chief Ragusa notes... it's getting smaller! :D

Nice to see Portugal still going strong!!! And i must admit i don't read the narrative scenes, i prefer the gameplay. But that's just me.
Like your strategies so far, your doing extremely well against the allies, has the US entered the war yet?
And i would also like to see your production screen and so on.

Quite understand -- thank you! No USA yet. I'll do that production screen next update, I think.

Awesome! I'm sure we all want more of everything, Rensslaer.

Thanks! And Welcome, Nightingale! I'm always impressed and humbled when a member makes their 1st or 2nd post on the Forum in my AAR! :)

All right... I'll try to get this updated today or tomorrow. Focus on behind-the-scenes stuff, and maybe a little combat. Not sure yet.

And for anyone who is interested, I've started a NEW HOI 3 AAR -- Semper Fi with the Historical Plausibility Project (HPP) mod. It's called Kriegsgefahr, and is.... I hope you can say it's a unique Germany AAR (which has to be beyond remarkable, with so many German AARs). I'm certainly not aware of anyone else who has done an AAR with this particular goal in mind (remaining at peace!), but if they have I'd love to get a link or at least some hints where to find it so I can read it.

Thanks again, everybody!

Rensslaer
 
Some of you have been asking about the status of my Production and Research, so here you are!

In June, 1940, my 50 IC is devoted toward producing mainly Supplies, on the right side, and a variety of long-term production targets on the left. I have a cavalry division in the works, but other priorities push it out frequently (most of my targets for producing units having been met). I’m producing a replacement troop transport, a new light cruiser, submarines (our previous subron having been sunk), and some convoy ships to contribute to our growing merchant empire, and to fill in the gaps where we’ve lost ships (we lose about 5-10 convoy ships – around 1 unit – per month, to Allied warships plying our trade routes).

June1940Production.jpg


That Me-109 fighter wing has been in the production queue for quite some time. It will become available one of these days. The progress now predicts October of this year – just 5 months from now – but this fighter wing routinely gets pushed back because of other priorities of the moment.

The surplus Supplies – as I may have mentioned – have become a great bargaining chip, bringing in Money which we can spend to help our other stockpiles.

There’s not much Research going on. We have barely more than 4 total Leadership points, and only 3.5 of those are available for Research itself. We’re close to having the technology to produce our own Heavy Cruiser – something that will be a good backup for our Light Cruiser under production. Agriculture improvements will add to our Manpower totals, which are pretty low. Industrial Production is always in the short list, as we really have to find some way to build more stuff in the short amount of time we have to prepare for whatever may come next.

July1940Research.jpg


The two Infantry techs will help us to keep the few units we have out in the field effective. Our Infantry is already outclassed, and to accomplish anything we either have to be unopposed, or we must achieve some sort of local superiority, ganging up on our targets, or using a revolving combat method – use up a unit’s Organization and then retreat and send in another unit to continue wearing down the enemy. Fortunately, we’ve become rather accomplished at these tactics.

You’ll recall we were recently adventuring in South America and the Caribbean! We landed at Dutch Paramaribo, but the British had a division defending Guyana, and so we pulled our 4th Cavalry out and sent it to capture Barbados, which it did, but…

21June1940Reinforce.jpg


The enemy on St. Vincent was harrying our invasion. Again, because of the aforestated disadvantage in one-on-one combat, our cavalry was being badly depleted by the enemy infantry in raiding boats, and so we sent our transport to grab a garrison division from the Cape Verde Islands, off West Africa.

Now, it could be challenged that this is robbing Peter to pay Paul, because the British are surely keeping an eye on such targets, just as they were in the Azores, and such might be an accurate assessment. But Portugal’s worldwide quantum leap into significance has not been accomplished except by the most unorthodox of techniques, and so this “seat of our pants” catch-as-catch-can method has served in the past. And it’s all we have, so we continue to use it! :D

I tried sending my transports to sea, to see if they would stop the raiding between islands. This was a forlorn hope, and the British raiding boats – many of which were surely faster than my poorly armed transports – continued to ravage my cavalry. And so…

30June1940Barbados.jpg


The beleaguered cavalry was pulled out of Barbados, with casualties of 509 to the enemy’s 200, while the reinforcing 14th Division of garrison troops was slipped into Barbados before the enemy could advance. Meanwhile, the British had finally succeeded in reaching Paramaribo, and reclaiming it for the Allies.

I revel in being a pest to these Allies, and so I follow the adage, “Dance like a butterfly, sting like a bee.” Using my freedom of the seas, I land the 4th Cavalry briefly in the northwest corner of British Guyana, far enough from the British troops, who had vacated their defensive positions to take Paramaribo, so that they could not reach us. Then, I quickly departed and landed them in undefended Dutch Curacao, rich with Oilfields which I could sure use!

5July1940Caribbean.jpg


Taking most of the month of July to rest and recuperate, the 4th Cavalry defended Curacao until it appeared no counterstroke would be forthcoming. By this time, the 14th Garrison had been fairly well worn down, itself. General Bastos’ cavalry took to the sea again, landing this time at St. Lucia, where they used their own raiding boats – built as a hobby-project in Curacao – to mount cross channel raids against St. Vincent! The British, finding these attacks annoying, but effective, ceased their attacks against Barbados and settled into defensive positions.

25July1940StLucie.jpg


It remained to be seen how long this game of thievery would remain successful in the Caribbean.

In South Africa, we had been remarkably successful in cutting off various formations of South African troops. One such attempt was shown to be overreaching, as the enemy, coming out of Bechuanaland in the north, pinched the advancing cavalry between two forces at Kimberley, and they were forced to retreat.

24June1940Kimberley.jpg


One of the surrounded South African divisions, at Karasburg, was also the subject of a rescue attempt in late June, where militia attacked from the rear of the 1st Cavalry. To make matters worse, reinforcements being landed on the west coast were interfered with by the appearance, again, of the South African cruiser squadron, forcing the transports to flee with some loss.

In the south, even, a landing meant to head off the retreat of South African units from their capital of Capetown was intercepted by a destroyer flotilla, and that landing, too, had to be abandoned.

24June1940SAfrica.jpg


The 1st Cavalry found themselves outmatched at Upington, and were forced almost at once to abandon their assault upon the militia at Karasburg. Worse, toward the end of July, they were increasingly squeezed out of Upington, and were forced to consider an actual retreat.

In mid-July, the attempt to encircle Capetown had been caught up short by an offensive flanking attack from the potential pocket itself. General Azevedo sought to rectify this and free up the encirclement attempt, by attacking with his outnumbered force from the north.

16July1940Capetown.jpg


This was seen, in some circles, as almost a move of desperation, as the advance in South Africa that had seemed so rapid and sure was seeming to unravel through a series of unfortunate circumstances. The landing on the south coast would have clenched everything, cutting South African army units off not just from each other, but many of them would have been forced to rely upon the long Egypt-Sudan-Rift Valley corridor for supply, but that critical invasion was aborted.

In the end, in the last week of July, the 1st Cavalry was forced to retreat, Upington was retaken, and the pocket at Karasburg was freed. At least temporarily. The gambit in the south, meant to stop the attack out of Capetown, had not succeeded. At least not yet. Commanders on the ground, and at home, were beginning to be concerned.

24July1940SAfrica-1.jpg


On the west coast, at Walvis Bay, a concerted effort was made to reduce the pocket of surrounded South African infantry there. This, too, could be seen as an act of desperation – the Portuguese had been waiting for the enemy to languish and lose strength, but now there was fear of a possible turnabout, and it was decided the pocket would need to be reduced, now or perhaps never.

Even at home, seriously concerning signs were seen….

19July1940Portugal.jpg


After a remarkably good month – yet again – of sinking British convoy ships in July, the naval reconnaissance Condors of the 1st Bombardment Wing were forced to respond to the approach of an enemy air formation, populated with naval bombers (long-range Sunderlands) and carrier aircraft.

None of the British aircraft were particularly dangerous in air-to-air combat, and this was a fortunate thing, as the Condors would have been easy targets. But they were sufficiently thick to prevent location of the enemy carrier group for attack by any means – not that the Portuguese had much with which to attack in the first place.

But this raised a heated debate amongst the Portuguese general staff. Why were British carriers steaming south at all? To attack whom? Was this encounter connected to the attempt against the Azores? Could this presage an attack upon Lisbon itself? An invasion, even?

July1940Production.jpg


No conclusive answers were to be had, for the British carriers receded, and no more sign of them was seen by the end of July 1940. But action was taken which seemed prudent in light of this latest scare. Infantry and garrison troops were ordered recruited from Portugal’s small recruitment pool, and they were given top priority over everything else, since they could be expected to be ready for action before the light cruiser or any other useful weapons, and those individual naval or air assets would do little against the enemy’s might anyway.

The infantry could. If need be.
 
that was an impressive set of manouvres in the Carribbean. I'd forgotten just how pinched your IC & leadership situation is & as you say you've just got to constantly re-prioritise according to circumstances. Not so sure about the value of the CA though - I found them, at least pre-SF, very quick to get themselves sunk.
 
Lots of "floating," not too much "stinging" this session! You really need critical mass in South Africa! That theater has to be closed with dispatch; then you can move on to expand the empire. Have any of your conquests increased your research ability? What about spying on enemies and trading with allies for techs?
 
Do you get anything from the islands in the Caribbeans? Or do you take them so that the British can't base their fleet there?
 
Brilliant AAR! Just read up on this. I do think that building so much MIL and CAV is maybe not optimal with such a low manpower. Shouldn't you go for licensed German INF + ART and maybe a light tank division instead?
 
Looks like you've managed to stabilise the carabean, so that won't be a problem for while.

However south Africa is starting a counter-attack, so you should use some free troops from either north africa, or even indonesia to finish the south africans.


Also i am proud to present to you " The Cyan Blue Cookie of Awesomeness" for this wonderfuly written AAR.You may put it on your signature/profile, or just chose to ignore it altogether. ;)

Congratulations
 
Kind of dumstruck that the ai is actually defending South Africa reasonably intelligently. First it prevented you landing, which would have finished the country off and mounting a lifting of beseiged units. I think some cruisers to finish off the south african navy would have been better built before more infantry.

You do need to find a new avenue of attack on south africa. Your doctrines will fall further behind the clock, if you can't secure more IC quickly.
 
Things are hanging in the balance, it seems. If the British had the wherewithal to coordinate an invasion of the Portuguese mainland with a counterstroke in South Africa, you'd be done for, surely. You're doing an admirable job of achieving much with little, but you definitely don't have the forces to face two crises at once.

Luckily for you, I don't expect the AI to press you that way just yet. :)

More troops are always good, regardless of whether you'll use them offensively or defensively. Looking forward to seeing them in action.
 
It would be wiser to steal enemy convoys than sink them. Bad game mechanics. :p

We need that Pirate mod! :D

that was an impressive set of manouvres in the Carribbean. I'd forgotten just how pinched your IC & leadership situation is & as you say you've just got to constantly re-prioritise according to circumstances. Not so sure about the value of the CA though - I found them, at least pre-SF, very quick to get themselves sunk.

Thanks! Yeah, I'm not doing alot of research right now. And I'm an expert at re-prioritizing! :D Interesting to hear about CAs. They've got to be better than CLs though, yes?

Lots of "floating," not too much "stinging" this session! You really need critical mass in South Africa! That theater has to be closed with dispatch; then you can move on to expand the empire. Have any of your conquests increased your research ability? What about spying on enemies and trading with allies for techs?

I agree -- there's more action to come. Watch for it! :)

Do you get anything from the islands in the Caribbeans? Or do you take them so that the British can't base their fleet there?

Well, it was mainly bases and territory. But the major thing we got there was Curacao, where the Dutch oilfields were.

Brilliant AAR! Just read up on this. I do think that building so much MIL and CAV is maybe not optimal with such a low manpower. Shouldn't you go for licensed German INF + ART and maybe a light tank division instead?

Thanks, De Spinoza! Welcome! No, the Cav and Mil (and Gar) are not optimal, but I have to work with what I have. It takes alot longer to produce regular infantry, and so I used the cheap stuff earlier -- Mil/Gar as a replacement for Infantry, and Cav as a replacement for light tanks. Now that I'm better established and have a little breathing room, I can build the more expensive and steadfast regular Infantry. When I got scared about the possibility of an imminent invasion, I went back to the cheap stuff that I could build quickly, but you may find that I change my mind about that later. I also don't have alot of money, so I need to hold off on Licenses for major stuff that I definitely can't do on my own.

Looks like you've managed to stabilise the carabean, so that won't be a problem for while.

However south Africa is starting a counter-attack, so you should use some free troops from either north africa, or even indonesia to finish the south africans.

Also i am proud to present to you " The Cyan Blue Cookie of Awesomeness" for this wonderfuly written AAR.You may put it on your signature/profile, or just chose to ignore it altogether. ;)

Congratulations

Thank you, Poloport! :) I'm honored! I'll see if I can put up your cookie somewhere, and put Lord Strange's back. My sig has changed alot lately.

Kind of dumstruck that the ai is actually defending South Africa reasonably intelligently. First it prevented you landing, which would have finished the country off and mounting a lifting of beseiged units. I think some cruisers to finish off the south african navy would have been better built before more infantry.

You do need to find a new avenue of attack on south africa. Your doctrines will fall further behind the clock, if you can't secure more IC quickly.

I was actually quite impressed with the AI, going all the way back to the Beta. Yes, of course it has problems, and if I do something wholly unconventional I'm going to hopelessly confuse it -- and this is why I've been able to be so successful. But South Africa is the closest thing the AI has seen to a conventional battleground, and so it's doing okay. I have to struggle, and work a little harder! :) You're right -- I have a limited window for success here. And my allies will have to do my heavy lifting and keep the Allies off my back in the "provinces". :D

Things are hanging in the balance, it seems. If the British had the wherewithal to coordinate an invasion of the Portuguese mainland with a counterstroke in South Africa, you'd be done for, surely. You're doing an admirable job of achieving much with little, but you definitely don't have the forces to face two crises at once.

Luckily for you, I don't expect the AI to press you that way just yet. :)

More troops are always good, regardless of whether you'll use them offensively or defensively. Looking forward to seeing them in action.

Thanks! Yes, it looks like it could go either way. I'm hoping, obviously, they don't press me. But -- back in the moment, anyway -- I couldn't be that sure.