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Good stuff, I'll be following.

DragonRealms? Heh, I was a trailblazer there. Played Smahsh (wrote the togball book and co-created it with my wife) back in the day. Still in Gemstone, though.
 
We take a moment from our regularly scheduled AAR to bring you a special announcement....

It's been a while since the "Guess the Author Challenge" has been active, but it is a very long-standing tradition here in AARLand. I wanted to let you all know it is running, the new authors' contributions have been posted (here), and are awaiting readers to provide feedback if you don't mind.

The GTA Challenge is a great place for authors (experienced and novice) to challenge themselves to write short pieces of fiction on a topic chosen for them, and then they receive feedback from readers who don't know who the authors are. The Paradox Forums are already a great place for this sort of "writers' workshop", but GTA takes it to a new level by allowing anonymous submissions (until I post the names later) which promote more honest feedback. This is very helpful for the development of authors' skills.

The Rules:
1) Everybody will have 2 weeks to read and leave comments. What did you think about the piece? What did it make you think about (which is different than the first)? How did it affect you? Were you surprised? Emotional? Did something in the story distract from your enjoyment? Something stick out to you or impress you? Etc...
2) Please be polite, but feel free to be frank -- constructive criticism is okay, as is praise, of course. This is a more valuable writers' forum than almost any other out there, and real writers can learn/earn real skills here, but only if they get credible, heartfelt feedback.
3) Feel free to offer a guess as to who the writer is. This was easier back when there were fewer writers, but if you wish you can try. It's okay to identify a favorite piece, but no ranking of the 4 entries is necessary (or probably desired).
4) On May 15 (or so) I will post who wrote each piece (Surprise!) and list some of their AAR works so you can go check them out.
5) Have fun! :) This can be as educational for the readers and commenters as for the writers, so go for it!

Please come by to see what's there, and to have your say!

Rensslaer
 
if anyone's interested, this strategy was used by Julius Caesar in the Gallic wars: his (largely infantry) legions were able to move faster and further than anyone else's, allowing him to use Blitzkrieg tactics using infantry. so, I would say Rensslaer is in very good company indeed.

Excellent! I'd love to read up on those wars one of these days. That was early in his career, yes, before he crossed the Rubicon?

You annexed Ethiopia? I would have created a puppet, but I guess if you are going to go against Germany instead of the UK, it does not matter much. Though I doubt it is reflected in the game, I would think that if Italy had set up a puppet instead of annexing Ethiopia, it would have improved relations with the West somewhat. Of course not attacking in the first place would have kept relations even better. I once tried to offer peace to Ethiopia right at the start of the game, but Selassie rejected my offer! IRL, Ethiopia was a diplomatic, strategic and economic blunder, and was just an ego thing for Mussolini. It makes no sense to the rational mind.

Also, to get more mountain troops, instead of raising the Alpini from scratch, you could retrain those masses of militia from East Africa to be mountaineers. It would be quicker and cheaper and the black feathers would be just as black. Anyway, teach that SOB Hitler a lesson!

Yeah, Ethiopia wasn't a great idea for Italy -- they darned near got beat! They had to resort to poison gas, in real life, to advance against the mountain tribesmen. You know, I'd forgotten that HPP allows you to re-train Infantry into other types! Thanks for reminding me. I'm currently fighting a different game/war, but when I come back to Locarno I'll try to remember that. Though it's a little late. Don't worry! I'm continuing the AAR, just taking a break from playing the game.

Welcome, Tommylotto!

Your army had wings in Ethiopia :D

Thanks! Yeah, I kind of outpaced even my own expectations. I was busy coordinating the war, making sure I didn't miss anything, and was shocked when I won and looked at the date!

One of my old professors once attended a boxing match in Rome and saw Francisco Franco also in attendence.

You seem to be doing well but HoI is the major Paradox game I am least familiar with so I am forced to cheer utterly from the sidelines.

Franco, huh? Fascinating. My history professor's father attended a Nuremburg Rally, and was astonished at the power of Hitler's words, even though he hated them. Well, I hope I'm doing HOI 3 credit! :) Honestly, I'm not sure I'm doing all that well with Italy -- this scenario is stacked against Italy, to be sure, and there's only so much I can do to correct that.

I once tried this approach in HOI2, but unfortunately all my cozying up to Austria came to naught as soon as the 'Anschluss' event fired and Germany gobbled up Austria. I hope you'll do better this time, or, if Hitler's brownshirts do end up marching into Vienna, I hope you'll be able to bleed the Nazis dry in the Alps. If nothing else, if you can provoke Germany into war along its southern border and tie down forces there, it should make the job of the British and the French infinitely easier to invade from the west.

Welcome, Stuyvesant! Great to have you here! Yeah, the whole Austria situation gets screwy in this one too, but that's not the fault of the HPP modders. You will see me deal with it, one way or another! :)

I read a book called The White War about the Italian front in WWI. There certainly seems to be plenty of potential for bloody stalemate on the Italo-Austrian frontier. I suppose technology has moved on from 1918 to the 1930s, but mountains are always go to slow people down.

Welcome, Alfredian! Fascinating! I have to admit I have almost no knowledge of what happened along the Italian Front -- I'll have to look that book up. I did read Atkinson's Day of Battle, about the invasion of Sicily and Italy in WW II, and it seemed to paint the same picture (I highly recommend the book, but read An Army at Dawn first, as that's the first of the trilogy -- I don't think his 3rd book is out yet).

tommylotto has an excellent idea there. Retrain your Militia to regular infantry or Mountaineers, as it's both fast and fairly cheap compaired to building them from scratch. I generally do the same with both China and every other nation that has Militia :)

But another excellent update!

Thanks! Wow -- taking Tommylotto's strategy into China would be great fun! :D I can just imagine the Chinese giving hell to the Japanese.

the main thing that bothers me with Italy is their awful generals. apart from about three of them, in any other major they'd be commanding garrisons. I can't wait to find out how you plan to deal with that.

You know, I haven't gotten far enough in to recognize major deficiencies with generals. Maybe I'm just used to low-level generals from Imperio Novo's Portugal, and haven't gotten spoiled yet by playing Germany! :D I AM playing Germany in a game right now, btw.

I am interested to see how, why and when you will get into the war with Germany.

More importantly how you will approach the Apline front, a refused centre with strong wings perhaps?

Indeed! It should be a fun scenario. I'll not spoil anything. ;)

Good stuff, I'll be following.

DragonRealms? Heh, I was a trailblazer there. Played Smahsh (wrote the togball book and co-created it with my wife) back in the day. Still in Gemstone, though.

Thanks, KyrionMyrthar! And Welcome! Smahsh.... Wow, that rings a bell, but I don't remember that name as one of the folks running around when I was playing (maybe you'd recognize my friend Shirer -- one of the early rangers). Were you a clan leader, or guild leader? That's more what I'm remembering. Neat stuff! :) I do miss that game, terribly -- if I had time and money I'd still be playing.

Okay... Should be just another few days before I have an update. Siam is next, then Imperio Novo, which has gone the longest without an update. Then I'll come back to my two HPP games.

Rensslaer
 
I would suggest making a fortified line in a string of mountains somewhere to make yourself a 'line in the sand'. Level 10 forts in mountains with mountaineer defenders using infiltration doctrine would be practically impossible to beat. Even if you don't win it makes sure you can't be beat and would let you sit in safety and build until the time was right.

Also, remember the Art will reduce your mountain bonuses which you may need every bit of.
 
Thanks! Wow -- taking Tommylotto's strategy into China would be great fun! :D I can just imagine the Chinese giving hell to the Japanese.

Rensslaer

The Chinese are downright dangerous when you have all your militia upgradede to Inf, Mountaineers or Marines :) It's an excellent strategy!
 
At the end of the year, a local incident along the border with France causes sudden concern. Revanchists are insisting that Italy should retake the land Italy gave up in its formative years to France, which had helped with… and then welched… on some deals with Sardinia-Piedmont. It’s a complicated story. But Mussolini decides it’s a minor distraction with great potential to cause trouble with the people he most wants to please, right now. So he buries it, and sends troops to underline his order.

ITIncident.jpg


We’ve been building a couple of advance airfields. One in Storo, near the Swiss-Austrian border, and another in Trieste. Venetia has a large, full-service airport which we can use for our bombers and long-distance fighters. But our shorter-range fighters and light bombers will need bases close to the front, especially if we advance into, and out of, the Austrian Alps.

ITStoroAB.jpg


More Industrial improvements come as welcome relief to our military planners, who are trying desperately to bolster Italian defenses in light of growing tensions around Europe. You’ll also notice a hidden history note at the bottom of the screenshot which I didn’t otherwise highlight – CAS pilot training increases the organization of our light bombers.

Here’s our technology priority list at the beginning of 1937. It might seem odd that Combat Radios is such a priority, but at game start Italy has very short radio range, which means that we can’t advance very far at all without leaving the range (and the bonuses from higher-command leaders) of our HQs. Must change that – it became obvious in the war in Abyssinia, though that was such a simple war it didn’t matter much.

ITJan37Tech.jpg


You’ll notice we’re emphasizing light tank techs, and even armored cars. But some of our aerospace techs have been shoved down in the list – they’ll be moved back up soon enough, after we’ve gotten some progress done on infantry and other priorities.

We’ve been keeping tabs on the Spanish Civil War. Italy has chosen to back the Nationalists, and they seem to be doing okay, but it’s slow going. Near the end of 1936, the Republicans surged north from their southern bases, threatening central Spain. And yet the Nationalists were able to use that shift in emphasis to make more trouble in the south, with fewer Republicans defending.

ITSCWProgress.jpg


The north, near the Pyrenees, remained confused until the Republicans consolidated their gains there in January. This was dismaying to us, but meanwhile the Nationalists were regaining their territory in the center and south. It made us hopeful that they might consolidate the south and be able to shorten their front against the Republicans, which could be all that was necessary for victory. We shall see.

Our first new Alpini divisions, fortified with artillery (ColtSyme, tell me more about why artillery gives mountain divisions a disadvantage – is it a matter of speed, or does it erode the specialist bonus? – I should know this, but it’s been a long time since I closely studied HOI 3), finally finished training in April, 1937, and we deployed them to the Austrian border. If Hitler’s machinations over Austria were really a sign that he intended to annex his former homeland, more strength along this border might be the only way to show him we mean business and would not tolerate such interference.

ITAlpiniDeploy.jpg


Our sources on the ground in Austria indicate there’s little support for Hitler among the Fascist Party, and the Nationalists are not gaining strength fast enough to indicate any desire among the people to unite with Germany. If Hitler means to have Austria, he will have to do it by force. We hope we will be ready to turn him back, if he does.

Here’s our Production Queue and Industrial outlook in April:

ITApr37Prod.jpg


Remember we started at 79 IC, and had expanded that to 83 by October of last year. Now we’re at 85 because of IC builds and increases to Industrial Tech (plus there was that Nationalization event). By May, as you can see, we’ll increase yet again, with 3-4 more increases to come. That will be all the IC we probably have the ability to build, as I expect we shall be “in the thick of it” once the middle of 1938 comes around, and will need to devote all our IC to military purposes.

In April, we also changed our Education Policy to provide higher rates of accumulation for Leadership Points. This helps both our Research and our Officer ratio.

I mentioned I was keeping a close eye on the Spanish Civil War, and I mean close, because I noticed when the border didn’t really shift between April and June. I found this odd, of course. When I investigated, I realized that I must have missed the end of the war – I’m obsessive with taking screenshots, and I can tell you with certainty I didn’t get a popup when the war ended. I must have had the settings wrong. I do remember seeing a “moving the capital back to Lisbon” event, but that didn’t exactly mean to me that the war was over.

ITSCWProgress2.jpg


This is probably the first time I’ve ever seen the Spanish Civil War end with a negotiated peace! The first time since release, anyway. That’s a screwy map! If the war ever starts up again, I could see ways that either side could get the jump on the other and really end things decisively.

Through the summer of 1937, you can see the list of tech advances we made – each one critical to Italy’s survival in a hostile Europe, should it come to that. We finished the aircraft techs, our light tanks are becoming more advanced (we can research medium tanks now, but what’s the point – we wouldn’t be able to find IC or Research Points to make that line of tech/production fruitful). Infantry (thanks to the HPP mod this advances Mountain troops too) techs have advanced, especially defensive ones.

ITChinaAug37.jpg


In late August, 1937, Japan declares war upon Nationalist China. This turns out to be the major world event of the next year or so. By the end of October, the Japanese had pushed quickly south from Manchuria, declared war upon Shanxi as well, and were also making progress in advancing from their invasion sites along the east coast.

Still lots of China to go, but the Japanese seem to be getting everything they want.

ITChinaNov37.jpg


At some point in playing this game, I realized that my Message Settings had some serious problems. This is why I’d missed the end of the Spanish Civil War. I also must have missed the Reoccupation of the Rhineland, because by the end of 1937 Germany’s Threat was obviously higher, and the UK and France were really starting to pay attention! The Rhineland also couldn't account for such a rise in tension, so I expect the Germans were massively expanding their military.

Mussolini had always considered Hitler as a dangerous man, though he had his doubts about Hitler’s ability to accomplish the crazy things he talked about. By the beginning of 1938, Mussolini and the Italian leadership cadre were all coming to realize that Germany posed a serious threat to Austria, and through her, Italy. What had been a casual buildup of military strength as a means of geopolitical showmanship turned into an expectation of war, and the attending headlong commitment to do something about it.
 
tell me more about why artillery gives mountain divisions a disadvantage – is it a matter of speed, or does it erode the specialist bonus?

Both of these. Depending on the brigade stats your alpini division will move slower with attached art brigade (as divisions always move at the speed of the slowest brigade, modified by movement modifiers of the brigades of course). The fighting power of your division might take a minor hit as well, afaik the terrain modifiers of brigades are added together and get divided by the number of brigades in the division. So lets say every mountainerr brigade gets +20%mountain attack while art gets none your combined division would get an attack bonus of 3x20%/4 equaling only 15% attack bonus while fighting in the alps. (This should apply to any movement modifiers as well, don´t know about the brigade stats / modifiers in HPP mod.)

On a slightly related note, enjoying the nice read. Keep up the good work :)
 
I was wondering why the Spanish borders were 'odd' and why they didn't seem consistent with your description - it looks to me as though somebody took over eveything south of France which is odd but not the oddity mentioned - but after much squinting it looks like my colour blindness makes the colours of Portugul, Nat. Spain, and Rep. Spain almost indistinguishable. I think I see what happened, one of the Spains is a hair lighter than everything else and is hugging the Mediterranean?
 
Real madrid-Fc Barcelona 1-1.
that's a first...in more games than I care to admit!
 
A stalemate in the Spanish Civil War, followed by a negotiated peace? I didn't know that was even possible! Is that an HPP addition, or is it just so unlikely that I've never seen it happen before?

If Germany has indeed started a military buildup (hence explaining its increasing threat) and has military designs on Austria, it should make for a very tense war. Yes, you'd be fighting in the mountains, but Italy's progress as a military power must be painfully slow, compared to Germany's. In a sense, it would be another war in which you'll have very little to work with to achieve your goals (a la Imperio Novo), but with the crucial difference that you'll be facing a major power head-on, with a direct land connection to your homeland.

Looking forward to the showdown. :)
 
A stalemate in the Spanish Civil War, followed by a negotiated peace? I didn't know that was even possible! Is that an HPP addition, or is it just so unlikely that I've never seen it happen before?

It's an HPP addition, albeit a very, very, rare one. In general, the AI has been taught to offer a truce when it feels it can't win the war it's fighting. On the receiving end, the AI will only accept the truce only when it thinks it also can't win. In Rens' case, both Spanish factions must've felt they couldn't overpower the other within a decent time-frame, hence why both sides agreed to stop fighting. That's pretty rare for the SCW, but not impossible, and the AI has been told to regain its cores when it feels it's confident enough. After enough time, one side will attempt to attack the other, although how long that will take is up to the AI to decide, and WW2 will definitely factor into the Spanish AI's decisions. Looking at the map, it seems like the Nationalists came out slightly ahead since they control Madrid and likely have most of the navy and original army intact.
 
Interesting turn of events in Spain but I dont think it will have any direct effect on the coming war with Germany.

The Rhineland also couldn't account for such a rise in tension, so I expect the Germans were massively expanding their military.

A scarey thought. The lowered IC in HPP Mod makes your task even more difficult. Maybe you should seek allies on the eastern flank of Austria to absorb some of the attack.

Storo is a good place for the advance airbase. Its protected by Lake Como on the south and southeast. The other you have placed at Trieste. Are these to be your "wings" if the Huns flood into the Po basin?
 
The lowered IC in HPP Mod makes your task even more difficult. Maybe you should seek allies on the eastern flank of Austria to absorb some of the attack.

Storo is a good place for the advance airbase. Its protected by Lake Como on the south and southeast. The other you have placed at Trieste. Are these to be your "wings" if the Huns flood into the Po basin?

I just downloaded HPP and figured how to install it on my Mac. Wow, it makes Italy considerably more challenging. Right now, if I were Rensslaer, I would research mountain warfare equipment, and flood the mountain ranges with Alpini. That should be a tough nut to crack, but after that, the Po is your next natural line of defense. Hopefully, he will have allies and he will not have to go there.
 
and now you have an added element of uncertainty none of us are used to. how will the two Spains (weird to even write it down) react to the inevitable overtures of the Allies and Axis? could you use it to your advantage? Like mister Holmes would say: "gentlemen, the game is afoot!"

on second thought, given the timeframe, the proper quote would be: "Time to use the little grey cells."
 
Well Renss, it may be that the outcome of the Spanish Civil War will be a metaphor for this game: A fascist Italy that has republican aspirations.
 
Another excellent update!!! Very much looking forward to seeing what's going to happen!! If the Nazi's are just going to steam across the alps without you having a chance of stopping them, or if you'll reach a stalemate, or even counter attack!!

On another note, is there a thread somewhere on the forum where you can get some guidens to writing AAR's? I have this idea for a Germany game i might want to write an AAR about.