King of Kings - An Iran HPP AAR

[TheButterflyComposer]

There is Option 3 of joining the Allies which would probably short-circuit any scripted war.

Actually...yes, that would probably protect you from the British and Soviets until the end of the war at the very earliest.

 

[SSmith]

Actually...yes, that would probably protect you from the British and Soviets until the end of the war at the very earliest.

That would be the safest option, if it could be pulled off, but it would probably leave Iran with very little to do.

 

[nuclearslurpee]

Human Wave was especially popular in the various Chinese states. This doctrine emphasized fitting as many infantry units as possible into a battle and overwhelming the enemy in a massed assault. This had led to much bloodshed and a traumatized generation in the Great War, but modern theorists, particularly in the Soviet Union, felt that modern tanks and artillery would allow this to be successful through the use of deep battle.

As a small note, in HPP the Soviet doctrine is by default Superior Firepower, and they share this with the USA. This is in fact historically correct (albeit Soviet and American doctrines differed substantially below the high-level similarities), and the perception of Soviet doctrine as a "human wave" is largely incorrect and I believe a product of German propaganda both during and after the war. The Soviets suffered incredibly high losses due to at first ineptitude, and later due to the savage intensity of combat.

Note: A bit of a shorter update, but I imagine the doctrines will spark some conversation. I'm sure there are some inaccuracies in my descriptions, such as blitzkrieg not being a coherent/real doctrine, but hopefully there's nothing too glaring. I think this is the most realistic result for Iran, although selecting an infantry doctrine will be much more interesting of a debate. Superior firepower was tempting, and I'd be curious what people think is the best doctrine from a gameplay perspective.

Usually I stick with the doctrine that a country starts with as there is a research bonus if you do so, and for flavor reasons.

Mechanically, I think any of Grand Battle Plan, Superior Firepower, and Blitzkrieg are good as long as you are willing to leverage them. Blitzkrieg is ironically the weakest tactically as you get few direct bonuses, but the reduction of attack delay is operationally very powerful (a bit ironic given OTL German strengths and weaknesses). The difference between GBP and SF comes down to whether or not you intend to invest in mechanized artillery, and since Iran does not GBP is the better choice.

Human Wave is not very good mainly because it does not help with the stacking penalty so it is more of a sidegrade than anything. Ironically it would be most useful for Japan which starts with a lot of 4xINF divisions, but Japan doesn't need to concentrate but rather disperse its units to hold the line in China so it would be of minimal use anyways.

Thoughts on the land doctrines I will hold for the relevant postings.

That at least is my view, though BICE I think takes the view that more choices = more immersion.

BICE takes the view that more choices means more potential for minor mistakes that completely collapse your country until you memorize all 1.482 correct choices.

If you choose the option for +4% IC, all is well and good, but if you choose +6% IC apparently this is too much if Goering is your armaments minister, you have less than 37 armored brigades, and it is a full moon in April, so Germany collapses into an economic crisis. I admit I am making up an exaggerated example for comic effect but this is certainly how it feels.

I also agree that BICE does overwhelm with decisions that are in no way necessarily relevant. For instance, what's the difference between the various headquarters? Aside from being fancy and having an appropriate division logo, almost nothing...

The headquarters are fine, at least the various logos are neat for some people. What's awful is that nearly every capital ship has a unique unit type and in many cases build event (another perpetual plague in general) which serves only to clutter up the statistical displays so you can't work out if you have enough screens for your capitals or not.

Basically BICE is written and played by the kind of people who argue about whether the 2nd Guards Tank Division should have +0.1 more hard attack than the 4th Guards Tank Division based on some historical anecdote or another about their respective battlefield exploits. Which is to say, it is for a certain kind of person and not for anyone who actually wants to play a damn game other sorts of persons.

Huh, I didn't realize BICE went that far in the immersion direction, although it really doesn't surprise me. It's a bit disappointing they add all these choices to a grand strategy game that really don't matter. I'll continue to trumpet HPP's support brigades as a huge improvement over vanilla or BICE, taking away some choices (do I use ART or AT) in favor of a more meaningful/bigger change.

Ironically, by removing one meaningless choice HPP creates other meaningful choices in the process which is great. As Japan for example you have the option to neglect AT research which is not important in China, at a possible cost later against the Americans. In vanilla the answer is to laugh at the very idea of AT research and build more 3xINF+ART as always.

I decided to go with infiltration doctrine for a few reasons. First, I think it fits well with Iran's position as I explained earlier. Second, I've never used it before and would like to see how good it is. I'll be curious what those that have played HPP think.

I would have recommended the same choice. The only downside with infiltration is that it does not help in desert terrain (annoyingly, Iran does not seem to get the secret "tribal militia" tech for desert fighting even though they probably should), otherwise it will be the most help in fighting an elastic defense against invading armies.

Firepower is the standard in most cases, particularly when manpower is not too limiting. You will have slightly fewer, more powerful divisions and in most cases for the major countries this is ideal I think, especially since the support units tend to dominate the cost of new divisions anyways. The Shock focus however is quite strong in the right cases, mainly for the very significant reduction of officer requirements which is critical for leadership-limited countries, and the build time reduction can be very useful to rapidly put a lot of infantry on the ground for someone like China or India (though I like Infiltration better for India personally). The Soviets should probably take Shock for the better utilization of leadership due to the limits enforced from the purges.

I will note that in general, pay close attention to which units the techs affect. The later years (usually 1943, 1946) often only affect MOT and/or MEC which may not be worth researching for a leg-infantry-based minor power.

As I have yet to read about any tank doctrines, my only advice for now will be that if it ever comes up, Infantry Support Role is terrible and you should never pick it. This is not the fault of the doctrine itself, rather that ISTs in vanilla HPP are god-awful wastes of IC. A private tweak to at least halve their cost is my minimum recommendation to make them at least vaguely close to usable.

That is undoubtedly the big problem in this AAR. The Soviet Union has unlimited resources (relatively speaking) to throw against Iran and British India is plenty strong enough to pose a real threat as well. The Shah has to hope the Germans and the Japanese provide sufficient distraction, and that might work out with a healthy dose of luck.

On the flip side, it may be possible for Iran to survive if the AIs cock things up. The Soviets will have their hands full with the Germans. My observation has usually been that the invasion of Iran proceeds from Iraq and India, which suggests that a well-modernized Iranian army may be able to block these forces. Perhaps the best approach is to fend off the Indian front (which will probably include British divisions but hopefully not a large number of them) and knock Iraq senseless to reduce the war to effectively a single front.

I figure I won't have a big enough army, so they'll at least have to be well trained. I think I can get two out of four relatively up to date. Small arms seems like an obvious priority, but I'm not sure what a good second one would be. Leaning towards defensive support weapons or AT weapons. What would you think?

I would make AT be the lowest priority, and hope that the British/Indian/Iraqi divisions are very light on tanks, and if they do bring any hope your German-built AT guns will be enough.

Does the HOI3 AI prioritize using its tanks against a bigger threat when fighting on two fronts (focusing on Germany when fighting Iran+Germany at the same time)? Or is the AI pretty random in where it assigns troops?

If no Soviet tanks show up in Iran (its also mountainous so maybe that helps) then my vote is for the general defensive weapons rather than AT.

In effect the AI is random. In addition to what El Pip has said, the AI does not have a concept of concentrating its forces by type - for example, you will not see the AI group its MTN divisions under a single corps or army and task them with attacking into mountainous terrain. Similarly, you will not see the AI concentrate a Panzerarmee and strike through the line to attempt an encirclement - the AI will scatter its armor evenly across the line and prefer a uniform capability (ostensibly "flexible" I am sure) rather than specializing in space.

That would be the safest option, if it could be pulled off, but it would probably leave Iran with very little to do.

Tokyo or bust baby

E: @Rusty, I've recently started a new(ish) Aurora AAR, I recall you read the last one so if you're interested you can PM me for the link.

 

[Bullfilter]

Hi @RustyHunter I hope all is ok with you and that you will be able to pick up the story again at some point.

 

[jak7139]

I hope you're doing well @RustyHunter and can continue the AAR when you feel like it!

 

[Midnite Duke]

I wish to add my thoughts and prayers to @Bullfilter and @jak7139. While an update would be awesome, I would be very happy with a simple note that you are well.

 

[SSmith]

I would just like to add my voice to the sentiments expressed above. I hope everything is well.