Inevitable Defeat - Slovakia '44

[Andre Massena]

Kind of weird to realize you went through some major life changes when the militia division that was ordered three years ago in real time has finally arrived. Good news it seems to have arrived a little bit earlier than originally projected! Bad news is it still needs to organize and the war has arrived on Slovakia's doorstep...

Unfortunately I can't see the old pictures from photobucket

 

[TheButterflyComposer]

I fear we are moving into the 'playing with food' AAR catergory.

 

[GeneralUrist]

See? We're not totally passive! We can make our own armies!
-The Slovaks, moments before getting steamrolled.

 

[nuclearslurpee]

Seconds later, in Bratisalva.

Perfect.

"You have also been appointed commander of the 1st Hranicni Oblast."

Wait a second here. "Oblast"...isn't this a Russian and/or Soviet term? What's going...

Article 47

Article 74.

Arti-Cle? Pronounced "Arti-Kul"? Abbreviated "AK"?

Oblast? AK-47? AK-74? Oh God, the worst has come to pass. The British are too late, Slovakia is firmly in Soviet hands through some duplicitous act of espionage, subterfuge, and perhaps general incompetence across the board. All is lost!

 

[Rifal]

Some Militia is all well and good (actually its not very well or good but Slovakia cant afford to be picky at this time) but what about those WWI tanks that were gonna give us the long awaited Central Powers breakthrough on the Western Front?

 

[El Pip]

*Screamy GIF*

That is the only sensible reaction, I'm mildly surprised we got this far without this response being more common.

Good contingency! Very Slovakian: appears on paper to be far more than it is in actuality! What a juicy irony it would be if the one thing they were able to produce (not bad with artillery and AT under the circumstances, even if the ground-holders are only militia) should be ready just in time to be shattered in their first combat because of a lack of time to organise. Organisation not being the strong suit of this regime or ‘nation’. Lendvay certainly has a job of work ahead of him.

Lendvay was entirely correct to be suspicious about his promotion, he has been given a difficult job. At least he isn't a pencil-pit sharpener, that's a really difficult job, especially as the snakes flatly refuse to help.

I can say nothing about the militia that isn't a spolier, so I will let the updates do the talking.

A very brave attack ... with the awaited consequences ... and he should be glad he didnt have higher moral or he would have continued the senseless assault.

At this point Slovakia continuing to fight at all is fairly senseless, yet they do persist.

Kind of weird to realize you went through some major life changes when the militia division that was ordered three years ago in real time has finally arrived. Good news it seems to have arrived a little bit earlier than originally projected! Bad news is it still needs to organize and the war has arrived on Slovakia's doorstep...

Unfortunately I can't see the old pictures from photobucket

As Pruzinsky boasted, Slovak industry has come good just when the nation needed it!

I think it's because Slovkia occasionally saves up enough materials to run industry at full pelt, before dropping back down to half capacity again. (Rounding up on resource generation?) So it got built a little faster than the predicated date.

And yes the pictures are all sadly blurry, something else on my list of things to fix at some point.

I fear we are moving into the 'playing with food' AAR catergory.

This is the AI we are talking about, a quick decisive strike was never really on the cards.

See? We're not totally passive! We can make our own armies!
-The Slovaks, moments before getting steamrolled.

At least they tried, one last defiant achievenment before being crushed and almost completely forgotten.

Perfect.

I confess I was pleased with that idea.

Wait a second here. "Oblast"...isn't this a Russian and/or Soviet term? What's going...

Arti-Cle? Pronounced "Arti-Kul"? Abbreviated "AK"?

Oblast? AK-47? AK-74? Oh God, the worst has come to pass. The British are too late, Slovakia is firmly in Soviet hands through some duplicitous act of espionage, subterfuge, and perhaps general incompetence across the board. All is lost!

That is an impressively inaccurate leap of logic from a very shaky base. Have you considered a job in the German Abwehr analysis department? My only concern is that you may be over-qualified for the job.

Some Militia is all well and good (actually its not very well or good but Slovakia cant afford to be picky at this time) but what about those WWI tanks that were gonna give us the long awaited Central Powers breakthrough on the Western Front?

Alas Slovak research has not managed the (very slight) improvement over estimates that the Slovak fire and smoke factories have. The first tank tech is still due to finish research in June 1945, it could be argued that is a tad too late.

 

[El Pip]

30th January 1945

We return to the Supreme Command Shed were Tuka and Tiso are receiving the latest military briefing. You could ask what they have done to deserve such a punishment, but the answer is far too long to recount here.

"This urgent news isn't about an attack on Bratislava, so what is it?" Tiso asked impatiently.

"How did you know?" General Kubela asked.

"The lack of bombing, shell fire, invading troops." Tiso sighed.

Kubela and Malar exchanged admiring glances, with a new found respect for their Supreme Vodca's military brain.

"The British have attacked the 1st (Still not Thawed Out) Division." Kubela announced.

The British are attacking over river into a fortified province, yet still seem confident. Given who they are fighting against can you blame them?​

"General Turanec believes he can hold them off." Malar continued.

Now it was Tiso and Tuka's turn to exchange glances, but there's were more of utter doubt.

"The British attack is confused and disorganised." Kubela explained.

"Because they are attacking a fortified river?" Tuka asked.

"Because their commander is no general and that division was disbanded 6 months ago." Von Killinger joined the conversation.

"And we are sure this will help?" Tiso asked.

The cabinet nodded.


Slightly later that day, after lunch, the Slovak Cabinet are discussing Foreign Policy. Specifically why, as a German puppet, there was no point Slovakia having any Foreign Policies. This vital meeting was interrupted by a messenger from the General Staff.

General Kubela read the message and looked smug.

Hard to argue with that sort of result (apart from the worryingly unfavourable casualty rate, and the fact the defending force is now strangely larger). However when you are Slovakia so cannot be picky about such things. ​

"As predicted General Turanec has prevailed." Malar just managed to out smug his superior.

"And there were no other factors?" Tiso asked.

Malar and Turanec looked shifty.

"No additional reinforcements?" Tuka probed.

"The German 165th Infantry Division may have arrived." Kubela conceded.

"The lost heroes of Holland!" Baron Von Killinger removed his hat.

"The lost heroes who died back in August last year?" Tiso asked.

"They had the honour of dying a truly pointless death for the Fuhrer." Von Killinger nodded reverentially.

"So we actually won because of Zombie Germans?" Tiso asked.

"Again?" Tuka demanded.

Malar and Turanec sadly nodded.

--
Notes:
Rudnicki was one of those brave and well travelled Polish officers who ended up abducted by Stalin and then formed into "Anders Army" and marched the long way round to North Africa and then into Italy. The whole story is genuinely slightly mad.

There is the minor detail that he never commanded a division in the war because he was too junior. But as he is commanding a unit (45th Infantry Division) which had been stripped to the bone for D-day and would be disbanded by August 1944 I guess it averages out?

In Samorin the German 165th did turn up as a reinforcement. That unit was a reserve formation that was disbanded (coincidentally also in August 1944) and used to form 70th Division in Holland, a division that was destroyed/surrendered when the Canadians captured Walcheren in late 1944. Hence more Zombies.

 

[Bullfilter]

World War Z continues its predictable (indeed Inevitable) end for Slovakia: a forgotten and irrelevant footnote to a very sad chapter in world history. Sharpen the pencils and envenom the snakes (if such a thing is possible): the pit will soon have its old masters as its new inmates.

 

[Wraith11B]

World War Z continues its predictable (indeed Inevitable) end for Slovakia: a forgotten and irrelevant footnote to a very sad chapter in world history. Sharpen the pencils and envenom the snakes (if such a thing is possible): the pit will soon have its old masters as its new inmates.

But the Allies are the humane ones! They don't go for such things!

 

[Bullfilter]

But the Allies are the humane ones! They don't go for such things!

I think the locals will do it off their own bat. Perhaps the Czechs *spit* will throw them in.

 

[Surt]

Yes you can see its a Ghost division by it having no trucks, all British divisions are motorised. So this is the 2nd British division on the Slovak front or are there more now?

 

[Wraith11B]

I popped into the Slovakian section during some of my save game editing planning, and this is what the Bratislava HQ wanted from the Slovakian economy:

I don't know if that nation could actually man even a twelfth of that much!

 

[Andre Massena]

Oh god, is this going to be the defense of Paris all over again?

Is the 1st division still going back to Bratislava?

 

[El Pip]

World War Z continues its predictable (indeed Inevitable) end for Slovakia: a forgotten and irrelevant footnote to a very sad chapter in world history. Sharpen the pencils and envenom the snakes (if such a thing is possible): the pit will soon have its old masters as its new inmates.

A trifle harsh. If nothing else (2nd) (Slovakian Brackets) Division will be remembered for their defence of Paris, an act of defiance which caused most of the major landmarks in the city to be destroyed. It's not a very positive reason to be remembered, but many would say notoriety is better than obscurity.

But the Allies are the humane ones! They don't go for such things!

Split the difference and put snakes in their prison cell at Nuremberg.

I think the locals will do it off their own bat. Perhaps the Czechs *spit* will throw them in.

T&T remained fairly popular with actual Slovaks purely because they weren't *spit* Czechs, so no local uprising. T&T will be locked up long before any actual Czechs turn up, so I think they will be spared the pit. But not the consequences of their actions.

Yes you can see its a Ghost division by it having no trucks, all British divisions are motorised. So this is the 2nd British division on the Slovak front or are there more now?

There are a fair few Allied division on the Slovako-Austrian front, I may include a bit of an overview in the future if I can find a decent shot of them.

But yes, another Paradoxian triumph in failing to motorise the British divisions in the scenario and thus missing the one over-arching British objective for their infantry that was maintained for the entire war - Motorise everything, steel not flesh.

I popped into the Slovakian section during some of my save game editing planning, and this is what the Bratislava HQ wanted from the Slovakian economy:

I don't know if that nation could actually man even a twelfth of that much!

First off, what's the cross symbol between the fighters and multi-role? I don't recognise it.

Second, say 3,000 a brigade and it's barely 1.1 million men. Slovak Population was 3.5 to 4 million (all the Vienna awards,etc really screw up statistics). So conscript every single man old enough to hold a gun, no exceptions, and maybe you could do it.

Thirdly - Pah! Amateurs. T&T were asked for this;

6 million men, a bit under twice the total population of the country! You can say many things and T&T's General Staff, but they do not lack for ambition.

Oh god, is this going to be the defense of Paris all over again?

Is the 1st division still going back to Bratislava?

Maybe and Yes, in that order.

 

[Surt]

I don't recon it either but it could be some one-engine bomber.
The requests are not unreasonable ... it is what would be needed to keep Bratislava safe ... for a few months until nothing else of the axis remains and then ... <the end (with a Bratisalvan dialect)>

 

[Bullfilter]

I’ve never seen it in the game, but according to NATO military symbology, the perpendicular line down the middle is meant to represent ‘motorised’. But the game uses those two black dots, presumably wheels, instead.

 

[Wraith11B]

Sorry, I have loaded my personal APP-6A counter mod into the game, which means that anything with a line down the middle is motorized, which on an infantry background means motorized infantry. I prefer mine to others as looking for those little black half-dots on the bottom is a chore.

 

[Bullfilter]

Sorry, I have loaded my personal APP-6A counter mod into the game, which means that anything with a line down the middle is motorized, which on an infantry background means motorized infantry. I prefer mine to others as looking for those little black half-dots on the bottom is a chore.

And your notation is by the NATO book. Though Sweden has never been part of NATO.

 

[El Pip]

I don't recon it either but it could be some one-engine bomber.
The requests are not unreasonable ... it is what would be needed to keep Bratislava safe ... for a few months until nothing else of the axis remains and then ... <the end (with a Bratisalvan dialect)>

The sudden appearance of a fresh, fully equipped army of 6 million men would definitely keep Bratislava safe for more than a few months. Though I think all it does is drag the war out long enough for the first atom bomb to hit Slovakia and not Japan. Which at least would get the T&T regime remember, though again not in a good way.

I’ve never seen it in the game, but according to NATO military symbology, the perpendicular line down the middle is meant to represent ‘motorised’. But the game uses those two black dots, presumably wheels, instead.

Sorry, I have loaded my personal APP-6A counter mod into the game, which means that anything with a line down the middle is motorized, which on an infantry background means motorized infantry. I prefer mine to others as looking for those little black half-dots on the bottom is a chore.

And your notation is by the NATO book. Though Sweden has never been part of NATO.

Excellent detective work from @Bullfilter and good to have it confirmed from the responsible party.

On that note we just need one more post then we will be at the bottom of the page and we can return to Bratislava at the top of a new page. Any volunteers?

 

[Bullfilter]

Excellent detective work from @Bullfilter and good to have it confirmed from the responsible party.

On that note we just need one more post then we will be at the bottom of the page and we can return to Bratislava at the top of a new page. Any volunteers?

I’ll volunteer.