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The Germans are badly stalled and now being pushed back a little in net terms. They are doomed!
As there have been no clear signs of her actually betraying the Soviet Union, let alone the Committee, I'm willing to give her the benefit of the doubt.
She is privileged: a luxury few were afforded in Stalin’s Russia!
1 Pesi Divize in the province proved only a minor inconvenience
It is their destiny to be a minor inconvenience that is inevitably defeated :D
Valkov is a veteran of the great war who was Minister of War, then Bulgarian Ambassador to Italy until 1934. He was called back out of retirement to fight in the war. (This interesting figure is represented in the game as General 'Vulkov', though the picture is clearly Ivan Valkov.)
Some dedicated research there for the sake of an obscure Bulgarian general! :cool:
Comando Superiore Forze Armata Africa Settentrionale
The name rolls trippingly off the tongue!
OOC: I've given all the sectors OTL Front names, and for those where there was no Front OTL, I've followed the same nomenclature.
This works very well, along with the summaries and tables. I’m now doing something broadly similar for my Soviet Far East campaign - this one is of course far larger in scale, intensity and losses. And the graphics are looking very nice.
With the first real action at sea by I Avianosets Flote, it's finally time to post it:
Bravo! You’ve been saving it up all that time - now to be used at just the right juncture.

Even with AI army commanders, the campaign is going very well. The Hitlerites will be crushed.
 
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Well then. IN a time when authAARs are slimming down their updates for radio-friendly mass consumption (;)), here we have a monster of an update long enough to graduate with a MA in 20th-century Soviet history, and detailed enough that @El Pip is suddenly feverishly revising Butterfly Effect to triple the length of every update to compensate, thus delaying the next update for that AAR for three decades!

30th of August 1942,
Five cadets of Capt. Goleniewsky's class have gone missing (they weren't being watched). TK-37 also left this morning, with orders to rejoin it's squadron which will soon be relocating to Copenhagen for the coming operations off the Norwegian coast. 'Odinatsat' was at the Naval Academy all day, she taught in the morning, and did some gunnery practice in the afternoon, nothing out of the ordinary. She went back to the shipyard with Sergei, where they spent a few hours in the workshop.

31st of August 1942,
The cadets still haven't returned. What's particularly suspicious about their disappearance is that they aren't slackers in any way, they're all close to the top of their class. Capt. Goleniewsky, who's teaching them again today, is also acting as if nothing is amiss. Maybe I'm just paranoid, but I can't help but feel something is up. I'm sure she knows she's being watched, but I don't know what her lack of action means, if she's really not worried about the disappeared cadets, she either knows where they are, trusts that they will return soon, or she simply doesn't care, or doesn't want to be seen to care, whether by the Americans or the NKVD. It could all be unrelated, or she could be planning to disappear on us too and the cadets are somehow involved in this. Of course, she will remain under close watch, while a small navy task force, assisted by some NKVD personnel, searches for the missing naval infantry cadets. You know, she was unpredictable back in Paris, and now she's playing with my nerves again. I don't like it.
Intriguing. I wonder where we might see those cadets pop up. Odinatsat has easy access to the airplane hangers if she decided to take a joyride out to a combat zone and meet up with her, shall we say, embedded ops team, should she feel the need arise...

"What do you mean 'they lost their bow but they're okay'?" ... "So now I've got half a Destroyer floating around out there. Well get it back to base, and arrange a fighter escort. We must save that ship, and if we can't, we must not loose that crew."
- RADM Golovko when a member of his staff attempts to explain what happened to that one Destroyer that ate a 450mm torpedo and lost it's bow.
This is a funny one! The most unrealistic part, of course, is the idea that any Soviet officer would show more concern for the crew than for the ship. Men are replacable, but plates and bolts arranged in the shape of a functioning war machine? That there has real value! :p

OOC: I've given all the sectors OTL Front names, and for those where there was no Front OTL, I've followed the same nomenclature. (Danish Front & Norwegian Front). As the Axis hasn't managed to break through into Russia proper, fronts named after Russian cities remain off the table. Once we push into Axis territory, I will be renaming the fronts, and merging/splitting them as I go. I won't follow the historical example of having so-called 'Ukrainian' Fronts fighting in Austria, and having 2 Byelorussian fronts and a Ukrainian front fighting in the Berlin area...
Excellent, much-appreciated flavor. I find the plan to change the Front names as you advance intriguing as a departure from OTL as well.

With the first real action at sea by I Avianosets Flote, it's finally time to post it:
View attachment 618567
Soviet Carrier Minsk and escorting Destroyer, seen from the top deck of Kyiv's Island. Kyiv has just launched an La-7VM fighter plane. Somewhere in the Western Aegean, August 1942.

I drew and painted this over three days during the summer of 2018. The impetus was the then relatively recent ATL invention of the new Soviet Carrier Class (Kyiv-Class). According to the alternate history, the Kyiv-Class's general shape was heavily inspired by Béarn, but with a Gangut-Class hull shape at the bottom. She also incorporated many technologies and solutions borrowed from pre-1936 British CVL's: HMS Unicorn and HMS Hermes.

The imaginary Sevastopol class is an evolution of the OTL Kiev-Class design. It's elongated a little to make space for larger engines, and to make the hull form better for higher speeds. The result was a Destroyer class which, while faster than older Soviet Designs, was about in the middle of the pack speed-wise when the first ship was launched. And speed was supposed to be her party trick, as her hull shape and armaments would have been decent in 1934.

View attachment 618614
A picture of my table in the summer of 2018.

The ships are drawn in geometric perspective, with the foreground (Kyiv & the plane) in one point perspective, and the ships further away in 2 point perspective (with one added point). This was done to make it look like the ships in background weren't sailing on the same course as the one on the foreground. It's as much an exercise in perspective drawing as anything. The dimensions are based on blueprints and pictures of Béarn and Gangut-class Battleships. Earlier in the year I had already created this side profile: #651
I could probably have improved it by adding crew members in period correct uniforms to really bring it alive, but I didn't do it back then, and adding things to watercolours years after the fact is a risky proposition. Looking back, I'm also not entirely sure about some colour choices.
Lovely. With watercolors of course one can never achieve photorealism, and so a sense of imagination and imagery is key for a good painting. This one certainly captures the feeling of open sea and sky with a horizon yet to conquer, perhaps too idealistic for Soviet propaganda but I imagine it has a special place in Odin's private collection.

The Germans are badly stalled and now being pushed back a little in net terms. They are doomed!
An apt summary of the situation and one to which I have little to add of value.
 
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Well then. IN a time when authAARs are slimming down their updates for radio-friendly mass consumption (;)), here we have a monster of an update long enough to graduate with a MA in 20th-century Soviet history, and detailed enough that @El Pip is suddenly feverishly revising Butterfly Effect to triple the length of every update to compensate, thus delaying the next update for that AAR for three decades!
Radio-friendly certainly isn't a term I would use to describe this work. As for @El Pip revising TBE again, I agree that I'd rather see new updates from him than Redux 2.0.

She is privileged: a luxury few were afforded in Stalin’s Russia!
Indeed, some might say a bit too privileged.

Intriguing. I wonder where we might see those cadets pop up. Odinatsat has easy access to the airplane hangers if she decided to take a joyride out to a combat zone and meet up with her, shall we say, embedded ops team, should she feel the need arise...
There's always a risk she could do that, but bear in mind that her leg is still in a cast, so any acrobatic action is unlikely to say the least. At least for now.

It is their destiny to be a minor inconvenience that is inevitably defeated :D
Reaching for my golden hipflask

Some dedicated research there for the sake of an obscure Bulgarian general! :cool:
He looked really important in his picture, and he was the highest ranked Bulgarian officer the Red Army has yet encountered in battle... So I had to look him up.

This is a funny one! The most unrealistic part, of course, is the idea that any Soviet officer would show more concern for the crew than for the ship. Men are replacable, but plates and bolts arranged in the shape of a functioning war machine? That there has real value! :p
Golovko may be an exception here, and I say may because I haven't read enough about him to ascertain this with a large degree of confidence. It's mostly conjecture at this point.
OTL He spent a lot of time on small boats. Before becoming a RADM, his first posting was as watch commander on a Destroyer in the Black Sea, then navigator on a gun boat, then Navigator for the Caspian Flotilla of torpedo boats, later on he was deputy commander of the Northern Fleet, which was the smaller of the ocean going fleets back then. After that he was in charge of the river boats on the Amur river & tributaries, before ending up in charge of the Northern Fleet for the whole war. Admittedly his early career is not that dissimilar to the early career of Gorshkov (they even served on the same Destroyer in the Black Sea), but admirals who started out of Cruisers or Battleships are likely to put more value in the ship as compared to individual crew members.
Golovko oversaw the birth of Soviet Naval special forces within his Northern Fleet, supporting Captain Viktor Leonov and his gang of torpedo boat riding, scuba diving, Commando's which wreaked havoc behind German lines during the Arctic campaigns.
To me the combination of these two elements: Him being in command of small easily replaceable ships for most of his career, and his support for the creation of small groups of special forces to do risky missions behind enemy lines, and his faith in that concept, suggest a bit more consideration for the value of his best sailors than other Admirals might have displayed. In this ATL he spent the early war commanding a flotilla of submarines, I haven't figured out how that would factor into it yet.

Excellent, much-appreciated flavor. I find the plan to change the Front names as you advance intriguing as a departure from OTL as well.
This works very well, along with the summaries and tables. I’m now doing something broadly similar for my Soviet Far East campaign - this one is of course far larger in scale, intensity and losses. And the graphics are looking very nice.
It definitely has a more Soviet feel to use 'fronts' rather than more generic-feeling 'sectors'. The graphics remain broadly the same. The main difference is that I added some pictures in vignettes where appropriate.

The name rolls trippingly off the tongue!
Note: That's the only triangular Division Italy starts with. Also @Farsky 's Wheraboo alter ego renamed it to "Discount Fallschirmjaeger" in 'A Wheraboo and a Hat'

The Germans are badly stalled and now being pushed back a little in net terms. They are doomed!
Hopefully you will close off that pocket in the Baltic - 'twould be a great victory.
Yes, we'll be in Berlin by Christmas. (I doubt it, but you never know) Closing that pocket is definitely the hoped-for outcome, but counter-attacks on the spearheads have started, and It's not yet clear whether the reinforcements will get there in time.

Even with AI army commanders, the campaign is going very well. The Hitlerites will be crushed.
2ya Tankovaya Armiya is set on Blitzing stance, it's getting properly backed up by part of 2nd AG and part of 11ya Mot. Armiya, both on Attacking stance. I really wasn't sure that would work, but it seems to be.

Bravo! You’ve been saving it up all that time - now to be used at just the right juncture.
Lovely. With watercolors of course one can never achieve photorealism, and so a sense of imagination and imagery is key for a good painting. This one certainly captures the feeling of open sea and sky with a horizon yet to conquer, perhaps too idealistic for Soviet propaganda but I imagine it has a special place in Odin's private collection.
I was starting to wonder if I would ever get to post it... I'm glad you gentlemen appreciate it. Indeed, photorealism is quite impossible with water colours, and I'm far from an expert. Part of 'Odin's private collection, that's quite an honour.
I'm not sure if I'll make something like that again in the future, as my life has changed a lot in the meantime, the AAR itself has become a lot more work as well. Taking three whole days to concentrate on making one watercolour is definitely something of a luxury I can't always afford time-wise, lest I reduce the rate of updates even further to 2-3 a year so I can find time to make watercolours to complement the writing.

The next update being the regular 10-day report, it shouldn't take too long for me to write. As soon as I've played the next ten days that is. I also do need to prepare for the start of the academic year... my final year in Uni, if it all goes to plan...
 
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To me the combination of these two elements: Him being in command of small easily replaceable ships for most of his career, and his support for the creation of small groups of special forces to do risky missions behind enemy lines, and his faith in that concept, suggest a bit more consideration for the value of his best sailors than other Admirals might have displayed. In this ATL he spent the early war commanding a flotilla of submarines, I haven't figured out how that would factor into it yet.
Do you know how long it takes to properly train submariners?! - him, probably.

The next update being the regular 10-day report, it shouldn't take too long for me to write. As soon as I've played the next ten days that is. I also do need to prepare for the start of the academic year... my final year in Uni, if it all goes to plan...
I know the feeling for this, very well...
 
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Do you know how long it takes to properly train submariners?! - him, probably.
Yes, I'm sure RADM Golovko, soon to be promoted to VADM, knows how long that takes. Thanks for putting his a-historical stint with the submariners into context. That only adds to my theory.

That was a very nice picture. Will we be treated to anymore?
I'm not sure if I'll make something like that again in the future, as my life has changed a lot in the meantime, the AAR itself has become a lot more work as well. Taking three whole days to concentrate on making one watercolour is definitely something of a luxury I can't always afford time-wise, lest I reduce the rate of updates even further to 2-3 a year so I can find time to make watercolours to complement the writing.
But, to your point specifically. I would love to do another one, but producing watercolours is not a big priority in my life. I have other hobbies at which I am more consistent (and better, even if I do say so myself). Watercolours, at least for me to do them to a level I'm ok with, takes a lot of time, and you can't just break it up into little chunks of half an hour here, half an hour there, ...
That picture you see took about 4 hours to paint iirc, but before that I did colour testing, I painted a few 'quick' drafts to test a few techniques, and before that I had to draw and design the outward appearance of two non-existing ships and an existing aeroplane in a composition that worked. So from it's inception to near-finished product took about 3 days, during which most of my attention and time were directed towards it's creation, whether I'd be working on it or thinking it over. I'm sure that could be cut down with practice, but there are only so many hours in a day, and my attention is more often needed elsewhere than it was 2 years ago.
So... maybe... but I don't think it could become a (semi-)regular thing, for now.
 
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Good progress on some fronts, encouraging! Perhaps the German war machine is finally running out of steam? In particular the Baltic spearhead seems promising, but of course we all know how promising starts turn out...

The German spearhead between 2nd Byelorussian and 1st Ukrainian has me concerned, I admit. Seeing as 2nd Byelorussian is advancing quite well, however, it may prove to be an opportunity rather than a threat if it can be cut off from the German lines.

The VVS continues to do great work on all fronts, making the casualty numbers look a lot better for us. The Hungarians, in particular, could do with a good bombing, since advancing there seems an arduous affair what with all the Hungarians milling about. Kind of shocking to see our troops outnumbered on some fronts, actually!

Lovely watercolour. Odin's private collection may well be the greatest treasure of the Soviet Union one day.
 
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Good progress on some fronts, encouraging! Perhaps the German war machine is finally running out of steam? In particular the Baltic spearhead seems promising, but of course we all know how promising starts turn out...
Considering how much of our army's hitting power is concentrated on the Baltics, I would hope we achieve something more than a disappointment there.

The German spearhead between 2nd Byelorussian and 1st Ukrainian has me concerned, I admit. Seeing as 2nd Byelorussian is advancing quite well, however, it may prove to be an opportunity rather than a threat if it can be cut off from the German lines.
The weakness in the 2nd Byelorussian and 1st Ukrainian sectors are part of the trade off for the progress in the Baltic. 1st & 2nd Byelorussian are held by just 11ya Mot. Armiya (3 corps of Motorised Rifle, and 1 corps of Armoured Cavalry), with a little bit of support from 2nd Army Group and 2ya Tankovaya Armiya. Both of the latter focusing most of their forces on the push in the Baltics.
As for the Ukrainian sectors, the line is a bit thinly spread, but if push comes to shove, the 1st Ukrainian has a lot of space to retreat into before it reaches anything really vital, unlike the high density of cities behind the front in the Baltic Sectors, with Kaunas, Minsk, and Wilno pretty close to the front.
An additional element that is somewhat reassuring is the Pripyat Marshes, which are to be found 100-150km to the East of the Southern half of 2nd Byelorussian and the Northern half of 1st Ukrainian. This area has low infrastructure, and the Marshy terrain is hell for any attacking force.

The VVS continues to do great work on all fronts, making the casualty numbers look a lot better for us. The Hungarians, in particular, could do with a good bombing, since advancing there seems an arduous affair what with all the Hungarians milling about. Kind of shocking to see our troops outnumbered on some fronts, actually!
The Air Force is definitely a major factor, often able to support 6-7 battles at a time, all the while doing some Logistical bombing on the side, and keeping the skies clear. And don't worry, the Hungarians get their fair share of the bombs, unless they keep calm. (but they rarely do) The VVS prioritises supporting active battles, and considering the scale of the conflict, there are never any aviation units left for the leisurely bombing whichever area could do with a thinning of enemy numbers. Rare lulls in the number of battles are used for the more damaged and disorganised air units to replace losses and regain their organisation.
And to think we could increase our bombing further still if we develop a new tactical bomber model, and deploy a few more of those.

Lovely watercolour. Odin's private collection may well be the greatest treasure of the Soviet Union one day.
What a shame it will remain hidden, deep in a concealed bunker which doesn't officially exist, to be found sometime long into the (very far) future, in a time where the Soviet Union has ceased to exist, for it to be dug up by 25th century archaeologists, or a curious passer-by which managed to avoid the, likely still active, mines. At least the secret committee knows about it.;) Or maybe in a 100 years, when Stalin has long passed, the doings of the Secret committee will be revealed to the public, and the bunker complex will be turned into a museum. Who knows what will happen in the future.

I've played through the 1st 10 days of September 1942. The regular 10-day update (6th of September) should be out in a few days. As for the GPW update... it's going to be even longer than the last one. Every time I think this war isn't going to get more intense, it does. No spoilers here.
 
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6th of September 1942, 'Odin', 10-day report #207
The 6th of September 1942, Vologda, 1,1°C, 10 am Moscow Time,

Report on the state of the Soviet Union for the ten-day period between the 28th of August and the 6th of September 1942,

by 'Odin'

Army:
3, 37, and 52 Diviziya Opolcheniya (Garx3) have been deployed to Rezekne, Izborsk, and Pskov in the Baltic SSR's. They are now waiting for the delivery of their support Brigades (Art, AT). They will later be retrained into regular rifle units, and eventually plug the gaps left by the loss of 3, 37, and 52 SD.
2 new Garrison Divisions (Garx3) have been delivered in Leningrad. 18. and 19. Garnizon Diviziya will likely be used to guard larger Naval Bases in Scandinavia.
Upon delivery of a Motx2, TD unit, it was placed directly under a new Corps HQ, XXXV MSK, placed under 11ya Motorizovannaya Armiya, Arm AG, STAVKA. The TD Regiment (43 SAUP) will be swapped for the SP Art Regiment of 135 MSD (102 SAP) to give the latter more punch against armoured vehicles.
44. SAUP, a new regiment of SU-100 Tank Destroyers, was delivered to XXXV MSK. It is slated to reinforce 129 MSD, as soon as that Division is not in combat.
Army numbers (Brigades/Personnel) Reserves included (these numbers don't include regiments being upgraded):
Front line troops: 713 / 2.139.000
Support troops: 371 / 371.000
Total fighting troops: 1.084 / 2.510.000
Headquarters: 65 / 65.000
Total Army Personnel: 1.149 / 2.575.000
Officers: 107.241 + / 113.050 needed / 193 KIA / 94,862 % -
Active Leaders: 289 / 2 POW / 207 more available
With a growing need for Garrisons, the go-ahead was given for the training of a new Garrison Brigade (Garx2). It will be deployed, either to one of the smaller Black Sea Ports, or possibly to Norway, if all goes well with Op. Tundra Wolf.
A new Motorised Rifle formation has started training. 145. MSD (Motx2, AC, Eng) will be swapping the Armoured Cars with one of the HQ brigades, for SU-100's and an existing Motor Rifle Regiment.
An assessment of the wartime usefulness of brigades attached directly to Corps level HQ's has shown that they don't often see combat. Maybe our Lt. Generals prefer not to place their HQ in harm's way? In the case of Motorised Corps HQ Brigades ( currently Motx2, SP-Art / Motx2, TD). The 'retired' Generals have proposed reducing the size of these HQ-attached brigades to one Motorised Rifle Regiment, and one Armoured Car Regiment. This will free up one Motorised Regiment and a Regiment of either Tank Destroyers or SP Artillery. As there is a war going on, this will be a gradual process, each of the next 4 new regular Motorised Division will be trained as "Motx2, AC, Eng" instead of "Motx3, Eng, TD/SP Art", and will then be brought up to strength with elements of the HQ-attached brigades. This will save time and cost, allowing us to deploy them sooner and to spend more in other areas.
Army Leadership:
After some consideration, the commander for the new XXXV MSK, 11ya Mot. Armiya, Arm. AG, STAVKA was selected. Newly promoted LtGen. Petrov M.P. (SK3, LW, BM) has proven himself, leading 74 SD, his former unit, through many battles since the war started off. Always looking for ways to learn and improve, he has become highly capable and is respected amongst his peers. What makes this even sweeter is that he only just avoided being relegated to second line duty before the war. He was SK1, but with 2 good traits, and thus should have been replaced as soon as a suitable SK2 commander with a good trait was available. However, in the 1941 review I somehow missed him, and thus left him in place despite the availability of suitable SK2 commanders. As he was involved in heavy combat on the Hungarian border from the start of the conflict, he had gained too much experience to be replaced by the time I noticed. Now that he's SK3 (not maxed out), with 2 valuable traits, he's the best we've got for a step up to Lt.General, outside of the elite Guards units. Who knows how far the man will rise through the ranks if he keeps improving?
Of course this transfer left a gap. Former Sr. Major of State Security Skvortsov (SK2, LW, BM) was transferred from the 1. NKGBKB, back to the Red Army, where he was promoted to MajGen. and put in charge of 74 SD. Having been at the forefront of counter-insurgency operations in Finland for both major insurgencies (the one in late 1940, and the current one.), he picked up a few tricks which could come in handy, especially in forested terrain and/or cold weather.
A newly commissioned General officer, SMajSec. Pavlov A.V. was sent to Finland to replace Skvortsov (SK1, LW, BM). As is always the case with these appointments, the man has potentially valuable skills and interests, but his overall test scores were too low for him to get a command in the regular forces. Maybe he will be able to emulate his predecessor, if the Fins rise up again.
To command the three new Opolcheniye Divisions (Garx3), three unremarkable Major Generals were called back from retirement. MajGens Apanasenko, Juravlev, and Stepanov (all SK2, no traits) were put in charge of 3 DOp, 37 DOp, and 52 DOp respectively. There's no point in wasting exceptional or particularly promising Generals on second line units when there are still many more powerful units in the pipeline. Of course, when the Opolcheniye Divisions get retrained and reshaped into regular Rifle Divisions, their commanders may well be replaced.
For the 2 new Garrison Divisions, two more Generals were called back. This pair was selected for being sub-par commanders (the reason why they were retired in the first place), with a special knack for defensive operations as their one redeeming quality. (SK1, DD) Perfect for second-line, purely defensive formations. MajGens Karmanov, and Zverev were placed in command of 18 GarD, and 19 GarD respectively.

Air Force:
No change in VVS numbers, nor Navy Air Fleet numbers for the last 10 days.​
No changes to Navy Air Fleet leadership.​
VVS Leadership:
Newly Commissioned MajGenAv. Reshetnikov has been put in charge of 2 DBAD after I. DBAK (Strx2) was broken up as 2 DBAD suffered heavy casualties and it's remaining TB-3's were needed in Norway. MajGenAv. Kalinin (formerly in command of I. DBAK) retains command of 1 DBAD. As Heavy Bomber support is now needed in several places at once, this arrangement has been made permanent, with the long term aim of eventually transforming both formations into Heavy Bombardment Corps by doubling, or even tripling, their number. But that process will only start in November as the production lines for large planes are currently churning out La-2's for the yet to be deployed 4. TrAD. Other considerations make it unlikely we will convert more factories for the production of large aeroplanes anytime soon.
Navy:
No changes to the Navy for the last 10 days.​

Politics / International:
Battle of Britain:​
The RAF's air war calmed down a lot. 2 air battles over Dover, and a single battle over Korbach (SW of Kassel). This is likely connected to a flare-up in Luftwaffe activity over our own forces.
Battle of the Atlantic:​
Things calmed down dramatically, with 3 Axis convoys sunk to the North-West of Scotland and no allied convoys lost. Maybe our Norway operations have distracted the Kriegsmarine from their convoy raiding?
Yugoslavia​
YSF42-09-06-min.jpeg
Tito's indigenous Yugoslav partisans were rooted out as Germany took control of Dubrovnik, Ljubinje, and Cevo. As these areas were under Italian control before the uprising, I can't imagine the Italians are too pleased with that, nor are the cartographers who now have to deal with an even longer, more wavy border. A bit further to the north, US-sponsored partisans have risen up in Zvornik, SW of the confluence of the Drina and Sava rivers. This means that whatever units the Germans deployed to the area will have to stay there to deal with them as well, which is good news for us.
Athens - Greece:​
United Kingdom (Surrender Progress / NU): 4,9 / 87,1 +​
Italy (Surrender Progress / NU): 5,9 / 79,2 =​
GRF42-07-18-min.jpeg
The Italians seem to have given up trying to take back the Greek Capital. Of course, STAVKA keeps hoping they will get it together and evict the Britons, both so the Italians pull some troops from their Eastern front, and so the Red Army has the possibility to liberate it later.
North Africa Front:​
BNAF42-08-27-min.jpeg
Here too things have stalled.
7 Italian merchant vessels were sunk, by the Royal Navy. No Allied convoys were hit by the Italians.
A few bombing missions by No.16 RN 'Coastal Naval Command' over Reggio di Calabria finished off the last ship of 11. Squadrone Transporti, but after that there was no action in the air around the Med.
South East Asia:​
United States of America (Surrender Progress / NU): 8,5 / 85,1​
United Kingdom (Surrender Progress / NU): 4,9 / 87,1 + (Loss of Kota Bharu)​
Japan (Surrender Progress / NU): 0,00 / 70,1​
Netherlands, France (Government in Exile)​
Indonesian Front:​
SEAF42-09-6_1-min.jpeg
The slow single-Division trek to take over Java continues, with the IJA asserting control over the Mountainous province of Bandung. The small town at the core of the province has one of the highest concentrations of Art Deco Architecture in the world. All built by the Dutch during the inter-war years.
Here too, the convoy war calmed down a lot, with 9 Axis and 4 Allied freighters sunk. All of the Allied losses were around the Eastern end of Java. The new ultra-modern Suffren-Class Destroyers, based in Haiphong, have gone out to investigate on their own. We'll have to see if that works out well for them. This gives them the dubious honour of being the only French Navy vessels actually doing something.
Malay Front:​
SEAF42-09-6_2-min.jpeg
More Japanese units seem to have arrived on the Malay peninsula, with the IJA continuing to move in a North-Easterly direction, unopposed, save for the officers of Far East Theatre Command, which fired a few shots as they were ousted from Kota Bahru. The latter Naval base, on the Eastern side of the Peninsula, allows for a shorter naval connection for the Japanese to bring in supplies, and maybe even more forces. It's only a matter of time before the Japanese turn South towards Singapore. An attempt by the Singapore Garrison to take back Teluk Anson ended in failure as the Japanese regulars made short work of the lightly armed conscripts, forcing them to flee back towards Singapore. Luckily for the UK, Siam grants the British Military access, but not the Japanese. Of course, the Indian Army doesn't have the forces to do anything with that, but at least it's better than the reverse.
In the Straits of Malacca, another small British Fleet seems to have been caught by Japanese Carrier planes with both HMS Curacoa (C-class), and HMS Dehli (Danae-class) being sent to the bottom by torpedo bombers from Kaga and Akagi, respectively.
CuracoaSP1940-min.jpg
Commissioned in February 1918, HMS Curacoa was initially a 4.200 ton C-Class Light Cruiser of the Ceres sub-Class. It's original main armament consisted of 5 BL 6" (152mm) Mk. XII Naval guns on single mountings, 2 QF 3" (76,2mm) Mk. I AA Guns and 4 twin 21" torpedo launchers. In this shape, she was the flagship of the 5th Light Cruiser Squadron, part of Harwich Force, for the final 9 months of the war. She was refitted in late 1939, into an AA Cruiser. Her 6" Naval guns were removed to make place for 4 twin QF 4" Mk.XVI dual purpose guns. The 3" weapons were swapped for 6 QF 2-pounders (40mm), two singles, and one quadruple mount. 2 quadruple Vickers .50" AA MG's were also added, and the torpedo tubes were removed. Additionally, a modern High-Angle fire control System (Mk.III) and a Type 279 radar were fitted. After refit, she weighed in at over 5.400 tons. Propulsion is provided through 2 shafts, powered by 6 boilers and Parsons geared steam turbines, providing 40.000 shp. Armour is scarce, 3" on the sides of the machinery spaces, 2,25" around the magazines and 1"deck plating amidships over the most vital areas. Her original top speed of 29, already slow by today's standards, was cut down to about 25 knots by the alterations, which left the power-plant untouched. OTL she sank due to a collision with the Ocean Liner RMS Queen Mary, while the latter was sailing in zig-zag at top speed (28.5 knots) to evade a submarine attack, HMS Curacoa continued sailing straight ahead and ended up sliced in two. ATL, she sunk due to a collision with a pair of Japanese Air-launched torpedoes.
Pacific Front:​
9 Axis merchant vessels and 4 Allied ones were sunk in the Pacific. 1 Axis Merchant ship was caught off the coast of Hispaniola. Another record low.
Industry:
A group of high ranking Apparatchiks have proposed a comprehensive plan to relocate factories Eastward. The idea in itself wasn't necessarily a bad one. However, their proposal was clearly overly defeatist, as the westernmost factories to be moved following their proposal were over 250km from the front, and there was no suggestion to evacuate industry from Kaunas or Lwow, for example. When this was pointed out to them, they muttered something about railway gauges and the plans being made up before the recent Westward expansion. Needless to say, the proposal was rejected as the factories in question are clearly not in imminent danger and the cost and production time loss from moving any number of them would slow down vital production. (By declining to move Industry to Siberia you get +200 manpower, not that the Soviet Union is running out of able-bodied men anytime soon.)
235 + / 428 + / 566 + Factories in Bergen (1 IC) have started producing supplies (mostly canned fish, and fish oil products, including Glycerine) for the Red Army forces in Norway.
Lend-Lease aid was increased a little to 138 IC/day, that was also the average over the last 10 days. Aid was delivered every day with no interruptions for a total of 1.378 ICdays.
The recent scuffle with the Regia Aeronautica shows that the Red Navy could really use a forward Air Base in the Aegean. Construction of a basic Airfield (Level 1 Air Base) has started on Mythiléné.
IC Usage: ( Allocated IC / Need )​
Upgrades: 95,8 / 122,27 +
Reinforcement: 37,9 / 37,91 + The need for reinforcements varies wildly but remains over 20 IC.
Supplies: 70,00 / 58,32 = The supply stockpile has remained stable and there were no major supply issues, so the production and purchase of supplies has remained constant.
Production: 328,35 / 334.64 - With 350 units still waiting for the latest equipment and no increase in Lend-Lease aid to match, production spending was cut down. The construction of our Rocket Test Site also had to be slowed down a little to avoid impacting more pressing wartime production.
Consumer Goods: 33,96 / 33,96 +
Stockpiles:​
Energy: Maximum tonnes +​
Metal: 98.031 tonnes -​
Rares: 49.074 tonnes +​
Crude: 93.128 cubic metres +​
Supplies: 33.758 tonnes +​
Fuel: 99.951 barrels +​
Money: 1.372 +​

Intelligence:
Spy numbers, spies in (active / added / lost / caught by us)​
France (Supporting our Party / Counterespionage): 5 / 0 / 0 / 0​
{ Germany (/): 0 / 0 / 0 / 1 }​
{ Japan (/): 0 / 0 / 0 / 1 }​
{ UK (/) : 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 }​
Other: 0 / 0 / 0 / 0
Total: 5 / 0 / 0 / 1
Reserves: 7​
Spy training leadership expenditure: 1,03 + (a new spy every 7 days)
A spy from Germany was caught in the Soviet Union.​
A temporary increase in espionage expenditure has been allowed as plans are being made for a new operation in Sweden, to increase the population's Support for Communism, and make an alliance more palatable to it's politicians. Where our diplomats have failed, maybe our spies will succeed? Or possibly a combination of both.

Research:
A new Armoured Car Gun (Level 5) is ready for mass production, as part of a new Armoured Car Design.
Our car-based Armoured Cars have been a major focus of development in recent years: The BA-20 was soon followed by the BA-30 (Half-track prototype, too maintenance-heavy), and eventually the excellent BA-64 currently in service. The same can be said of our specialist amphibious armoured cars, with the BDRM-1 & BDRM-2. (These are actually 1950s and 1960s vehicles, but Paradox put the BDRM-2 in the game as a 1940 Armoured Car and I mentioned it before, so let's just roll with it.) These latter vehicles proved impractical to build in large numbers, only a couple 100 were produced, they are mostly deployed to Engineer Regiments.
But as useful as these have proven to be, the heavy armoured cars had fallen by the wayside. So naturally, even before the war, there was a call for a modern armoured car with a big gun instead of the omnipresent 7.62 Machine-Guns, with the production of a prototype starting in May. This assessment was only confirmed by the recent fighting on the front.

The 1937 BA-6 heavy Armoured cars, based on a three-axle Ford lorry chassis (similar to that of the GAZ-AAA), with a T-26 turret on top, have proven surprisingly useful in recent months. However, they are getting a bit long in the tooth, and there aren't enough of them to go around.
Initially, the designers at the Izhora Plant (Leningrad area) went with what they knew, evolving the BA-6 concept. They started with a revised GAZ-AAA chassis as a base, upgrading the suspension, and fitting a modernised K-20 45mm gun into the T-26 turret. The first prototype, the BA-10, was rushed out by late June. It proved disappointing in testing. It would have been fine as a direct follow-up to the BA-6 in 1938, or maybe even before the war started. But, as the review board included Armoured Cavalry and Guards Rifle officers with experience in the field, it was sent back to the drawing board. It needed a new turret design with sloped armour instead of the steep, almost cylindrical, design of the T-26 original. The 4-cylinder engine was a bit sluggish and barely an improvement on that in the BA-6. They wouldn't be able to keep up with the Armoured Cavalry columns in their shiny Half-tracks.

So, back to the drawing board they went. Meanwhile, at the Moscow Automobile Plant No.1 (ZiS cars and lorries), engineers have been tinkering with the ZiS-5 (4x2) and ZiS-6 (6x4) chassis and accompanying drive-train for years, all in an attempt to fit the capable platform to an ever more varied number of roles. The ZiS-6K, a shortened three-axle variant, fitted with a powerful low-mounted 6-cylinder engine, was selected as a basis for the new vehicle, and with a few tweaks, the ZiS-34 chassis was born. Integrating lessons learned from the BA-10 prototype, the Izhora Plant engineers designed an armoured body and a new turret fit to the platform. The BA-11 is now ready for mass production. At over 8 tonnes fully loaded it is quite a beast, sporting up to 10mm of sloped armour, a modern turret with a 1938 45mm 20K gun (114 shells), and 2 7.62 DT LMG's (one co-axial, and one in front of the commander, with over 3,000 rounds) for good measure. It carries it's bulk rather well thanks to sturdy leaf spring suspension, and that powerful ZiS inline-6, tuned up slightly to produce 93hp. A top speed of 64 km/h can be reached on paved surfaces, the vehicle can also ford 60 cm of water, and climb slopes up to 22°(depending on the surface). To navigate tricky terrain, tracks can be fitted around the driven wheels, linking them up and creating a makeshift half-track.
BA-10_BA-11-min.jpg
LEFT: Testing of the wheel-mounted tracks on the BA-10 prototype, somewhere in Karelia. RIGHT: Side profile of the BA-11 prototype. Note the shallower slope angle of the turret on the BA-11.​
OTL The BA-10 was produced in the thousands starting in 1938, and it's successor, the BA-11 didn't make it into mass production as the production of light and medium tanks took priority to replace the losses incurred in the early days of the GPW. ATL, I expect the BA-11 to make it into service in large numbers because the war started a year later, and thus the kinks with the design would have been ironed out. We also didn't loose anything close to the number of tanks the OTL Red Army lost in the early months of the war. This means there is space for the production of these beauties. If the focus in the late 30's was on lighter Armoured Cars, and revolutionary river-crossing amphibious vehicles, the BA-10 would likely have remained a design on paper until 1940, when here was a re-surging interest for the creation of heavy armoured cars. It should aso be noted that the armour on the ATL BA-11 is slightly thinner than on the historical one as Ive been purposefully skipping AC Armour upgrades to make them faster.
As a follow-up, our Artillery researchers have been given the green light to team up with rocket scientists (some of whom were pulled off the construction of the Rocket Test Site) in order to create a workable Rocket Artillery design. It is expected that a motorised variant would be able to keep up with our Armoured Cavalry, as opposed to the regular SP-Art, which would only slow them down.
Our Naval designers have delivered a new 66.000 hp turbine for our Carriers. With the new Engines, and a redesigned hull with more fuel tanks, the next Carrier classes will be slightly quicker, and have a longer operating range.
They have now started work on the development of specialised Landing Craft for the Naval Infantry, and faster military transport ships that can keep up with the Battleships, to carry them to their destination.

Leadership distribution:
Research: 20,67 (+0,07)
Espionage: 1,03 (+0,82)
Diplomacy: 0,21 (-0,81)
Officers: 12,00 = (72 Officers/day)
Total: 33,92 (+0,1) A few Norwegian scientists and diplomats based in Bergen have agreed to work for us.

Statistics:
National Unity: 83,229 =​
Neutrality: 0,00 =​
Dissent: 0,00 =​
Manpower:​
Available: 2.228.000 (+169.000) Not having to move factories means more men are available for military service.
Men To reinforce(need): 12.300​
Men To mobilise(need): See above​
Monthly gain: 70.900 Men + (1 fully mobilised Infx3, Art, AT Division every 5,35 days)​
Party Popularity:​
- Communist Party: 61 =​
- Trotskyite: 6(-5)
- Bukharinite: 0 (-5)
- Social-Revolutionary: 4 =​
- Trudoviks: 6 (+3)
- Kadets: 6 (+2)
- Octobrists: 3 (+3)
- Tsarists: 8 (+1)
- NTS: 1 =​
- POA: 5 =​
There has been a slight resurgence of Capitalist tendencies amongst the population, possibly due to the influence of US spies which have trickled in alongside the legitimate diplomats and military liaison officers. As support for these capitalist ideas is coming from an all time low, it's nothing to worry about, yet, as none of the Capitalist factions are close to the 10% popularity that would allow them to really cause trouble. While support for the Communist Party's Stalinist doctrine remains overwhelming, especially within it, sympathies for alternative (wrong) versions of Socialism have hit a new low. Trotskyism has been reduced to a small fringe of the Communist party, while no one is even thinking about Bukharin's ideas anymore. On the right, there has been little movement, with a slight increase in support for a return to Tsarist rule. German spies were unable to enact a rise in fortunes for the National-Socialist POA movement, as they got caught by the NKVD's counterespionage efforts.
No changes in Party Organisation​

This Information is accurate on the morning of the 6th of September 1942, I hope it serves you well in fine-tuning your possible suggestions.

'Odin'
 
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It's really a shame that there isn't a way to force an HQ to become a "motorized" unit (with the speed to match). I noticed that adding anything of the fast mechanized side of combat arms (IN(mot), IN(mech), ARM(L/M), FA(mot), ADA(mot)) was a waste because the HQ didn't move fast enough for that to really matter... which is why I now have just regular INF, ADA and such attached at the Corps level, and GAR, MP, ADA at the Army/Army Group level, even for the Panzerkorps.
 
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It's really a shame that there isn't a way to force an HQ to become a "motorized" unit (with the speed to match). I noticed that adding anything of the fast mechanized side of combat arms (IN(mot), IN(mech), ARM(L/M), FA(mot), ADA(mot)) was a waste because the HQ didn't move fast enough for that to really matter... which is why I now have just regular INF, ADA and such attached at the Corps level, and GAR, MP, ADA at the Army/Army Group level, even for the Panzerkorps.
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, HPP has a tech to do exactly this, although it is admittedly one of 4 mutually-exclusive options so pretty rarely used outside of Germany. I assume BICE has 137 different HQ units to do the same thing as well.

Nice update, not a lot of action here but it's good to see the upgrades to our arsenal coming into play. The BA-10/11 is truly a thing of classic Soviet beauty, though I'll admit that I'm not entirely sure these belong in dedicated AC battalions instead of as supporting vehicles in our MEC brigades. One for the generals to sort out I suppose.
 
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Another interesting look into the ‘sinews of war’. I enjoyed the armoured car section - the BDRM-2 is familiar from my days studying (notional) enemy orbats back in the day as a tank troop leader! We had Musorians and Kamarians, which all had slightly older Soviet gear than was current in first line Europe-based Soviet formations. Talking early 80s here.

I know we do (legitimately) have a go at the researchers who anachronistically assigned all those weapon and ship classes, but I suspect they never thought (or cared) the average user would delve into it as deeply as we dedicated AAR writers like to.

It’s the kind of thing I’d like to delve into in my mod redevelopment, but suspect I’ll never have the time!
 
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The HQs being outfitted for combat is honestly more of a defensive insurance policy than anything else. AI is unwilling to use them, for the most part, but it does make sure they can survive if they are caught up in a battle. Perhaps loading them up with AA might prove more useful than TD? Admittedly, it does limit their armour, but gives them the ability to somewhat mitigate air attacks while also giving them some AT capability. AA is not an issue at this current time, but the capitalists have acquired many planes (probably) and will not hesitate to use them to cowardly strike at our leaders.

I am overall slightly concerned about axing the majority of their combat power, but the data does overwhelmingly say I'm wrong here.
 
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The HQs being outfitted for combat is honestly more of a defensive insurance policy than anything else. AI is unwilling to use them, for the most part, but it does make sure they can survive if they are caught up in a battle. Perhaps loading them up with AA might prove more useful than TD? Admittedly, it does limit their armour, but gives them the ability to somewhat mitigate air attacks while also giving them some AT capability. AA is not an issue at this current time, but the capitalists have acquired many planes (probably) and will not hesitate to use them to cowardly strike at our leaders.

I am overall slightly concerned about axing the majority of their combat power, but the data does overwhelmingly say I'm wrong here.
As long as the HQs are under AI control, it really only makes sense to attach AA and maybe a specialist brigade solely for logistical reasons (keeping an extra brigade or two close to the front so you can swap it out with a division to re-spec, e.g. extra AT/TDs if a Panzerkorps shows up in the vicinity) The AI just won't use HQs as an attacking unit, and it doesn't matter if they can hold up on the defensive since they'd just retreat otherwise, not shatter. With the HQ brigade taking up a slot you're just building crappy divisions with one fewer combat brigade.

Under human control it can make sense to consolidate the CoC if you don't have enough good generals, but under AI control? Not much to gain.
 
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It's really a shame that there isn't a way to force an HQ to become a "motorized" unit (with the speed to match). I noticed that adding anything of the fast mechanized side of combat arms (IN(mot), IN(mech), ARM(L/M), FA(mot), ADA(mot)) was a waste because the HQ didn't move fast enough for that to really matter... which is why I now have just regular INF, ADA and such attached at the Corps level, and GAR, MP, ADA at the Army/Army Group level, even for the Panzerkorps.
Well, you can increase their speed with mobile warfare, but that still only gives you 0,5 kph/upgrade, so 6 kph by 1944. So a 1944 HQ moves faster than cavalry, but that's about it. Adding Inf will thus slow down a HQ brigade, but Cav could be a decent alternative. They could really have implemented a HQ (mot) option through the upgrade system they introduced in TFH, which would then add an item to the production queue.
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, HPP has a tech to do exactly this, although it is admittedly one of 4 mutually-exclusive options so pretty rarely used outside of Germany. I assume BICE has 137 different HQ units to do the same thing as well.
From what I've seen the above statement is a pretty at summary of HPP vs BICE.
The HQs being outfitted for combat is honestly more of a defensive insurance policy than anything else. AI is unwilling to use them, for the most part, but it does make sure they can survive if they are caught up in a battle. Perhaps loading them up with AA might prove more useful than TD? Admittedly, it does limit their armour, but gives them the ability to somewhat mitigate air attacks while also giving them some AT capability. AA is not an issue at this current time, but the capitalists have acquired many planes (probably) and will not hesitate to use them to cowardly strike at our leaders.

I am overall slightly concerned about axing the majority of their combat power, but the data does overwhelmingly say I'm wrong here.
As we haven't done any research to improve AA since 1936, our AA is seriously outdated., and without upgrades AA isn't great against armour. Moreover, the VVS has proven more than capable in keeping the Axis Air Forces at bay, so investment of valuable leadership in this area seems a bit of a waste. As for guaranteeing the survival of my HQ's, they will still keep one motorised regiment and an Armoured Car Regiment, which should be enough to ensure they can hold on a little before they are relieved by front line units, or forced to flee. Of course, as soon as I took this decision, a Motorised Rifle Corps HQ came under attack... But that's the first time that's happened, and I don't expect it becoming a frequent enough occurrence for it to justify the cost.
As long as the HQs are under AI control, it really only makes sense to attach AA and maybe a specialist brigade solely for logistical reasons (keeping an extra brigade or two close to the front so you can swap it out with a division to re-spec, e.g. extra AT/TDs if a Panzerkorps shows up in the vicinity) The AI just won't use HQs as an attacking unit, and it doesn't matter if they can hold up on the defensive since they'd just retreat otherwise, not shatter. With the HQ brigade taking up a slot you're just building crappy divisions with one fewer combat brigade.
Under human control it can make sense to consolidate the CoC if you don't have enough good generals, but under AI control? Not much to gain.
Where the Infantry is concerned, I added Infx2, AT to the HQ's to save on officers. (not generals) With an extra binary Division per corps, you need fewer Army HQs for the same amount of troops. Also, on the defensive they do help. Having some fighting power to the Corps HQ's, which the AI usually places one or two provinces behind the front, can slow down enemy breakthroughs for some time, allowing reinforcements (proper Divisions) to get to the area, and reducing the risk of encirclements. Yes, having an extra Division instead is better in theory (save for the number of officers you need), but when using the AI over a large, mostly defensive, front, those extra Divisions likely won't be where they are needed when a breakthrough happens, while Corps HQ's will be spread out, and with enough unit density, there will often be one in the way of the enemy spearhead. That's the theory I wanted to test. That said, it has occurred just 2 times in the first 70 days of the GPW, and a 3rd time is underway. I expected to see more HQ's get caught behind the lines, but there have been few enemy breakthroughs, as of yet, that were fast enough not to allow the AI to move reinforcements to contain them in a timely manner. Also the AI is better than I thought at pulling HQ's out of harms way when a breakthrough happens, somewhat working against the above-stated theory. So you might be correct. I'll probably have a more in depth look at how much combat the HQ brigades have had, and how they fared, when the GPW is over, or at least, the defensive battle on the main front is mostly over. Of course I'm not running a parallel GPW with no HQ divisions and exactly the same circumstances, so I won't have a control sample.
I didn't add any forces to the HQ's of my Tank Corps or Armoured Cavalry Corps as I expected the armoured forces to be taking the initiative while the Infantry and Motorised forces hold the line and/or flanks. And none of those Corps HQ's have been caught on their own, not yet anyway.
I agree that under human control it only makes sense to consolidate to save on leaders and/or officers.


Nice update, not a lot of action here but it's good to see the upgrades to our arsenal coming into play. The BA-10/11 is truly a thing of classic Soviet beauty, though I'll admit that I'm not entirely sure these belong in dedicated AC battalions instead of as supporting vehicles in our MEC brigades. One for the generals to sort out I suppose.
I believe they were used both for (heavy-handed) recon and as part of mechanised formations, so I'd say they'd likely be used for both roles.

Another interesting look into the ‘sinews of war’. I enjoyed the armoured car section - the BDRM-2 is familiar from my days studying (notional) enemy orbats back in the day as a tank troop leader! We had Musorians and Kamarians, which all had slightly older Soviet gear than was current in first line Europe-based Soviet formations. Talking early 80s here.
Considering the Russian army still has about 2.000 BDRM-2's in service, heavily modernised versions of course, I'm not surprised the Musorians and Kamarians fielded them in the 1980's.

I know we do (legitimately) have a go at the researchers who anachronistically assigned all those weapon and ship classes, but I suspect they never thought (or cared) the average user would delve into it as deeply as we dedicated AAR writers like to.

It’s the kind of thing I’d like to delve into in my mod redevelopment, but suspect I’ll never have the time!
If you need help to determine which vehicle or class fits where, I'd be glad to lend a hand and do some basic research.

I am sure the party members who made the defeatist plan to move industry to the east are feeling a little nervous right now.
I certainly would expect as much. There's a good chance they'll get a posting overseeing the expansion of the Trans-Siberian railway.
 
From what I've seen the above statement is a pretty at summary of HPP vs BICE.
Pretty apt, really. HPP gives a lot of options and alternatives compared to vanilla, but also has systems in place to make many things mutually exclusive which helps keep distinct flavor for different armies instead of just letting you research the best everythings and ignoring the rest. Meanwhile, BICE is extremely complicated. :p But with the level of detail you can really do almost anything you want as long as Paradox's coding doesn't catch on and muss it up for you.

I'd say that HPP is like, say, Civ 4 ("A game is a series of interesting decisions") and BICE is like Dwarf Fortress with better graphics ("F**k you in extreme detail"). :p Both excellent mods/games but clearly catering to different tastes.

I agree that under human control it only makes sense to consolidate to save on leaders and/or officers.
My point was actually the opposite, with human control of HQs you can actually make them fight whereas with AI control it's largely a waste of the officers/MP/IC you spent on the attached brigades. Granted, the hardening against enemy breakthroughs helps but the day I see an HoI3 AI effect a breakthrough against another AI, let alone a human, is the day El Pip updates Butterfly Effect twice in one day - it may have happened once upon a time, but it's not happening again.

If you need help to determine which vehicle or class fits where, I'd be glad to lend a hand and do some basic research.
From my experience with submodding HPP, adjusting models and reconstructing OOBs and the like, it's rarely that one needs help so much as one needs time. The actual task is easy enough - look up all the hardware in the category of interest (e.g. armored cars), figure out which ones were the most-built and introduced in which years, and then pick those to fill each tech level. The problem tends to be, as just this description should imply, that this takes a tremendous amount of time even if all you're doing is copying information from various Wiki and WW2-nerd webpages into a spreadsheet. :eek:

Which goes to say of course, I'd bet that our esteemable Aussie authAAR would appreciate the assistance (though I can't speak for him, of course), but be prepared to spend precious little of that assistance time being a sagacious expert on USSR hardware and entirely too much of that time Googling for production numbers of each sub-variant of a particular AC model... do I speak from experience? whistles innocently...
 
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Slightly behind, so please accept these delayed accolades for the carrier drawing. Most impressive. :)

I have very little to add on the main subject, so will instead continue my role as Special Slovak Correspondent
107 Slovakian A-304 Assault Bombers
Those poor, poor Slovaks. The A-304 was a fairly nasty bodge to try and turn an airliner into a bomber. It didn't work. The airframe was basically fine (weird upper turret not withstanding) but it was catastrophically slow. The Walter radials were to blame as they offensively low on power, hence the terrible speed and awful bomb load. And of course the Walter engines used BiBoLi, the instant fire risk liquid that the Czech's used instead of proper aviation fuel, I imagine a number of those A-304 casualties were nothing to do with the Soviets but were in fact cases of spontaneous combustion. In any event they only built less than two dozen in OTL, so the Soviets have managed to destroy 150% of total production of the aircraft, a fine achievement in anyone's book surely?

It was replaced by the A-300, because Aero and the Czechoslovakian Air Ministry sneer at conventional counting practices. Walter were told their engines were awful and the Czech treasury agreed to stump up the cash for some imports, the improved design stuck some proper Bristol Mercury IX engines on it and suddenly it was 100mph faster with triple the bomb load, which just goes to show the amazing difference a modern engine can make. Alas too much time had been wasted on the A-304 and sadly time had run out for Aero and indeed Czechoslovakia.
 
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It's these little dollops of @El Pip efficiency that keep me on my toes...
 
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