What does the Pope think of all this, I wonder? If Germany is too strong maybe Musso can retreat into the Vatican or something. Not that I think it will be necessary.
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Yes, you can form it if you want to and it gains cores in the areas between Nanjing and Beijing but nowhere else. You don't have to form it, but it helps with partisans. The downside is that once you beat China it will take over, effectively replacing NatChi as a puppet with cores only along the coastal areas, which means Japan can't annex China if you wanted to. The AI will always form it though, so it doesn't have to keep troops behind at the cost of losing a port and the supplies that came through the lost port.
Yeah i haven't started it yet, RL is a biiit frantic at the moment, so haven't really had time to sit down and play HoI3 for awhileBut hope to get a game going in a week or so, as i have a loooong weekend coming
Let us know when you do!
Feel free to stalk all you want! Welcome, s1234567890m, to yet another AAR.It turns out to be more balanced than this. I think you'll get a kick out of how it goes. I haven't played forward too far, but enough to know it will be an interesting war.
I think this is true. The biggest risk I see is if the Germans decide to focus all attention on Italy first and overrun you before the British and French have time to react.
Yeah. I'm on watch for the bum rush!
I guess in a way you can see the Austrian Alps as like a trenchline -- up and over, and it's hard going, but once you get beyond there's clear running for either side.
I have such a tremendous weight of options for using my IC, and there's not enough IC to go around! I'd love to be building Forts, but I don't want to short-change my other building priorities, and besides I'm hoping I'll be moving beyond the Alps and will be on offense, rather than defense. Then again, no one can be sure, right?
If i where you, i would wait for Germany to Invade the USSR, and the stab them in the back while they are occupied by the Red Army
Well, for purposes of the AAR premise, I'm thinking I'll have to do something before then. The whole idea is to stop Germany before she really conquers anything -- that's the purpose of the Locarno treaties. So if I can gang up on Germany with France, and maybe some others, I'm in better shape to stop them before they grow too strong. This requires an early attack, though.
You know, I'm sure I am, but I don't remember if I've mentioned that yet. My Leadership budget is heavy on Research and short on Espionage, though -- I think the Germans will put themselves in hot water without my help!
Welcome, Narkaz! I look forward to showing you an entertaining time.
As TheBromgrev explained, yes you're correct. HPP has a number of interesting and innovative solutions for problems.
I wonder too! I haven't studied the whole Pope history behind WW II in detail. I just have bits and pieces of knowledge which often contradict. Was there some suggestion that Hitler may have had one knocked off so he could be replaced with one more sympathetic?
Thanks! Felicity, Welcome to another AAR!
Do you have any other things like this set up elsewhere? Or is it only really necessary/helpful in China?
I'll hope to update this in the coming week! Still kind of busy, so I can't be more specific than that. Also hope to update Kriegsgefahr this week.
Thanks for reading -- especially if you've commented!
Rensslaer
I have seen the Republic of China Nanjing control all the Chinese territory to the Burma and Xjaing border.
True, if you can keep a great deal of their troops on your border, France might actually be able to resist the German attack But it could end up being a huge stalemate if you're not careful
But it could end up being a huge stalemate if you're not careful
I haven't heard that, although I wouldn't be suprised to hear someone had suggested it. Not sure I believe it, but it is the sort of conspiracy that someone might think had happened, although I'm not sure how well it worked even if true. People complain about Pius not doing enough but he was definitely doing more than a stooge would have against the fascists.
It may have just been an idle suspicion of mine, after noticing the date of Pius XI's death. But upon looking at an account of his illness and gradual decline, I'm sure there was nothing unusual about it all. From what I've heard, neither Pope was particularly positive toward Hitler, but Pius XI was more of a thorn in his side than Pius XII.
Renss
AFAIK, the nazi's made a deal with Pius XII that said simply: "you stay out of worldly affairs, and we'll stay out of clerical affairs." my opinion? Pius XII was just afraid they would do to them what they did to "undesirables" and chose to keep his mouth shut to ensure the continuity of the catholic church.
On July 11, 1938, the leadership in the United Kingdom, including Prime Minister Chamberlain, forced the Czechoslovak leadership to bend to the forceful demands of Adolf Hitler to cede the German-populated Sudetenland.
Many in Britain sympathized with the national aspirations of those ethnic Germans in Czechoslovakia, and so Hitler's demands carried more weight in London. They had a similar impact with some in France, but since France was more directly threatened by a re-armed and revanchist Germany, the French leadership did not actively pressure the Czechs. Neither, however, did they greatly encourage them. The Czechs gave in.
Italy, meanwhile, also suffered from disagreements in the government, and among the people, as to whether it was time to go to war with an aggressive Germany -- our new neighbor. The Czechs mobilized their remaining military forces, though suffering from the disruption of losing their strongest fortifications and some of their factories to the Germans. Inevitably, the Germans also took possession of some of the masterfully designed tanks the Czechs had been producing.
Despite the unwillingness of some to admit the obvious, Italy's war machine continued to prepare for conflict, improving its armaments given to our Mountain divisions.
Innovative business methods were introduced to key industries (one of the advantages of fascist methods) in order to produce a higher output of armaments during this critical time.
We continue to expand the airbases at Storo (near Switzerland) and Trieste (near Yugoslavia). These will be our key backup airfields in case of war. Before long, we would even deploy radar stations in Storo and another mountain location, further east.
Much of our construction program, sadly, is still stuck in an infrastructure mode -- radars, airbases, industry. We are recruiting more Alpini divisions, and even slowly crafting Italy's first light tank division (previous deployments of tanks were in scattered support formations for units -- this is a real armored division, backed up by motorized infantry).
We're pushing necessary upgrades as fast as we can, including the improvements to Alpini weapons, and other infantry related equipment.
Yet more improvements to technology come before the summer is out. Infantry weapons (useful also for many other units in the HPP mod) are dramatically upgraded. Our airpower develops efficiencies, and we prepare armor refits for our still-contructing light tanks.
Then, in September, the whole mood of Europe changed! It was abruptly obvious to most that Germany and Adolf Hitler were not going to stop agitating for more territory, and that a serious application of the Locarno Treaties needed to be pursued. On 7 September, France offers us an alliance.
France, in fact, has finally demonstrated to its populace that war may be a necessary evil, depressing as it is for it to come so quickly on the heels of the Great War.
By the end of the month, Italy has successfully brought two key eastern partners into alliance against Germany. Hungary and Yugoslavia conclude that they may be "on the menu" for an expansionist Germany, and Italy's willingness to stand up to Hitler, along with France's new stance, convinces them to join up.
By October, another armaments factory opens in Ferrara, and we deploy the first of our Heavy Fighter designs -- an airwing meant to be able to tangle with enemy fighters, but also to attack ground targets. This airwing settles in at Trieste.
Soon enough, we bolster our mountain defenses with more Alpini divisions -- deployed to the east and west along the Alpine frontier, where it seemed we needed more weight of arms.
In mid-October, our Light Tank division deploys into the northern mountains. This is comprised of one brigade of miniature tanks and two brigades of Motorized Infantry. Some might consider it a fortified infantry division, but it's Italy's heaviest division at present, so we insist upon it being called an armored division!
The world mood shifts again, becoming more gloomy, as Nationalist China finally gives up its ghost and surrenders to Japan, in the East. World leaders wonder where Japan's hungry attentions might be directed next. The Dutch East Indies? British Singapore and Hong Kong? The UK remains even more distracted now, than before -- they have no interest in fulfilling their end of the Locarno Pact, nor will they consider any role in containing Germany. They are a useless power.
As part of our preparations for war, we organize Corpo Celere -- our "fast corps". This is comprised of motorized infantry and our new armored division. While the Mountain divisions hold the flanks against any German threat, our war plan is to cause these divisions to quickly rush into Austria and take up defensive positions as far forward as they can reach before meeting resistance. The Alpini divisions will move forward too, of course, but at their own pace.
Corpo Celere will be the "business end" of the Italian Army! Our most potent military force. Afterward, it will depend on localized entrenchments and the natural fortifications of the Alps to hold any German response.
We feel a little more ready for war, should conditions demand it. Truth be told, we’re itching to go to war already, but it seems to have been too long since the last provocation, and we don’t feel entirely prepared – not to the degree we really wish to be. Uncertainly, we choose to wait. The year 1938 comes to a close. Surely, 1939 will be the year of war.
Many in Britain sympathized with the national aspirations of those ethnic Germans in Czechoslovakia, and so Hitler's demands carried more weight in London. They had a similar impact with some in France, but since France was more directly threatened by a re-armed and revanchist Germany, the French leadership did not actively pressure the Czechs. Neither, however, did they greatly encourage them. The Czechs gave in.
Italy, meanwhile, also suffered from disagreements in the government, and among the people, as to whether it was time to go to war with an aggressive Germany -- our new neighbor. The Czechs mobilized their remaining military forces, though suffering from the disruption of losing their strongest fortifications and some of their factories to the Germans. Inevitably, the Germans also took possession of some of the masterfully designed tanks the Czechs had been producing.
Despite the unwillingness of some to admit the obvious, Italy's war machine continued to prepare for conflict, improving its armaments given to our Mountain divisions.
Innovative business methods were introduced to key industries (one of the advantages of fascist methods) in order to produce a higher output of armaments during this critical time.
We continue to expand the airbases at Storo (near Switzerland) and Trieste (near Yugoslavia). These will be our key backup airfields in case of war. Before long, we would even deploy radar stations in Storo and another mountain location, further east.
Much of our construction program, sadly, is still stuck in an infrastructure mode -- radars, airbases, industry. We are recruiting more Alpini divisions, and even slowly crafting Italy's first light tank division (previous deployments of tanks were in scattered support formations for units -- this is a real armored division, backed up by motorized infantry).
We're pushing necessary upgrades as fast as we can, including the improvements to Alpini weapons, and other infantry related equipment.
Yet more improvements to technology come before the summer is out. Infantry weapons (useful also for many other units in the HPP mod) are dramatically upgraded. Our airpower develops efficiencies, and we prepare armor refits for our still-contructing light tanks.
Then, in September, the whole mood of Europe changed! It was abruptly obvious to most that Germany and Adolf Hitler were not going to stop agitating for more territory, and that a serious application of the Locarno Treaties needed to be pursued. On 7 September, France offers us an alliance.
France, in fact, has finally demonstrated to its populace that war may be a necessary evil, depressing as it is for it to come so quickly on the heels of the Great War.
By the end of the month, Italy has successfully brought two key eastern partners into alliance against Germany. Hungary and Yugoslavia conclude that they may be "on the menu" for an expansionist Germany, and Italy's willingness to stand up to Hitler, along with France's new stance, convinces them to join up.
By October, another armaments factory opens in Ferrara, and we deploy the first of our Heavy Fighter designs -- an airwing meant to be able to tangle with enemy fighters, but also to attack ground targets. This airwing settles in at Trieste.
Soon enough, we bolster our mountain defenses with more Alpini divisions -- deployed to the east and west along the Alpine frontier, where it seemed we needed more weight of arms.
In mid-October, our Light Tank division deploys into the northern mountains. This is comprised of one brigade of miniature tanks and two brigades of Motorized Infantry. Some might consider it a fortified infantry division, but it's Italy's heaviest division at present, so we insist upon it being called an armored division!
The world mood shifts again, becoming more gloomy, as Nationalist China finally gives up its ghost and surrenders to Japan, in the East. World leaders wonder where Japan's hungry attentions might be directed next. The Dutch East Indies? British Singapore and Hong Kong? The UK remains even more distracted now, than before -- they have no interest in fulfilling their end of the Locarno Pact, nor will they consider any role in containing Germany. They are a useless power.
As part of our preparations for war, we organize Corpo Celere -- our "fast corps". This is comprised of motorized infantry and our new armored division. While the Mountain divisions hold the flanks against any German threat, our war plan is to cause these divisions to quickly rush into Austria and take up defensive positions as far forward as they can reach before meeting resistance. The Alpini divisions will move forward too, of course, but at their own pace.
Corpo Celere will be the "business end" of the Italian Army! Our most potent military force. Afterward, it will depend on localized entrenchments and the natural fortifications of the Alps to hold any German response.
We feel a little more ready for war, should conditions demand it. Truth be told, we’re itching to go to war already, but it seems to have been too long since the last provocation, and we don’t feel entirely prepared – not to the degree we really wish to be. Uncertainly, we choose to wait. The year 1938 comes to a close. Surely, 1939 will be the year of war.
I agree that you need to have an offensive "wing" in your army. It is likely that the Germans will be quite busy on the western front and may not be paying as much attention to the south as they should. As you have demonstrated in other AARs - one must take advantages where one finds [creates] them!
Awww, what a cute little armored division! <duck>
So far your plans are good -- can't wait to see how this plays out.
So far your plans are good -- can't wait to see how this plays out.
looks like you have a defense-in-depth plan going on there in the north. maybe you should consider moving some units into your new allies in the east, in order to help garentee their success on the defensive
Aw, I wonder if that will be The Little Armored Division That Could, or The Little Armored Division That Was Utterly Shredded By German 88s?
Nice job creating that ring of allies around Germany. Can you tell how much the German AI is spreading out its forces, in the face of that hostile alliance stretching from France all the way to Hungary? Seems like the strategic situation has shifted greatly against Germany.
Nice job creating that ring of allies around Germany. Can you tell how much the German AI is spreading out its forces, in the face of that hostile alliance stretching from France all the way to Hungary? Seems like the strategic situation has shifted greatly against Germany.
The Austrian border looks lightly defended, it looks like you will get the jump on them.
Another one of Rens AARs? How did I not know about this?
In regard to Hungary joining your anti-Hitler alliance, is there any chance that it could go axis? And if it did, what would happen?
Anyway, this is sure to be entertaining, both for the readers and yourself.
In regard to Hungary joining your anti-Hitler alliance, is there any chance that it could go axis? And if it did, what would happen?
Anyway, this is sure to be entertaining, both for the readers and yourself.
France joining forces with Italy? Napoleon turned around in his grave! Great work so far. If you go to war, at least you won't have to face a thousand burning desert days against the UK
Oh, yes, the French-Italian alliance sounds frightening. It's a well-known fact that those countries were the toughest nuts to crack during WWII