Chapter 18: Is a success a success, if nobody ever gets to hear about it?
September 22, 1932: Well, this war won't be the big success (ha ha!) the Russo-Japanese War was for me. Those sneaky Dutch have Gas Defense!
October 2, 1932: Dai Nam is in revolution.
Now you tell me.
October 19, 1932: I sign an alliance with Cambodia.
November 5, 1932: The Dutch have all but one of the army techs, gas defense, and my army in this instance had too many tanks and airplanes. Result:
There is a silver lining here -- I've got other armies snapping up Dutch provinces (or at least occupying them), and it's much easier for me to funnel more troops to the theater than it is for the Dutch.
November 26, 1932: 50 Dreadnoughts vs. 2 Transports. I think you know how that one goes.
December 23, 1932: Honestly, I don't know how this army got built this way, but I really deserve to lose the second battle of Medan. I've got 16k infantry, with 10k artillery, 20k airplanes, and 4k tanks. In other words, the airplanes and artillery are completely exposed in the front rank.
January 30, 1933: I get what I deserve.
Again, I can replace the casualties, the Dutch can't, but this is still a pretty disappointing loss, caused entirely by my lack of paying attention.
February 16, 1933: I call in the Chinese. This kind of war they can't really screw up, since the AI will likely just end up occupying territory for me.
April 4, 1933: The Koreans also get the call. Again, I'm expecting they'll either a) pull occupation duty or b) just throw themselves against the Dutch with my support. Give my armies the infantry they need, in other words.
April 28, 1933: That is, of course, if my economy holds out.
AHD does a much better job of modeling the effects of a war on your economy; I can't tell you how many times in vanilla I could run a war on a profit without even trying. I'm doing it now, but with 100% tariffs, it won't last long. I'm literally buying time here.
May 11, 1933: I'm back in the red again (told you!), but I finally have a battle I'll almost certainly win. My odds of victory would improve immeasurably if the RNG would give me Gas Defense.
June 2, 1933: I research Synthetic Polymers to help with my attrition issues in this war.
August 28, 1933: That's it, Netherlands. You're in for it now! I just called in Bali!
September 27, 1933: A quick review of the war shows I'm at -9% war score. Ouch. I really can't blame this one on anyone but me. That's what I get for building giant tank and airplane armies with no infantry to show you how tanks and airplanes work.
Still, very salvageable, since I can occupy their provinces pretty quickly (thanks to those same airplanes). If those fool Dutch don't think I'll invade Holland, they've got another thing coming!
November 12, 1933: I take out another loan. I'm already over £1 million in debt.
January 2, 1934: Our athletes win at the Olympics, leaving me to wonder why these brilliant athletes aren't in the army. Shot put + cannonball = certain victory!
January 13, 1934: My first real win!
January 31, 1934: A follow up battle, with fewer casualties, gets me more war score (+.6). Who knew?
February 26, 1934: Ping-ponging the Dutch continues.
March 11, 1934: I'm reaching the bottom of the barrel, cash wise. I can only rustle up another 116k in loans. Something drastic has to be done.
March 16, 1934: I trap the remaining Dutch troops in Atjeh. They are doomed.
April 4, 1934: I stop funding Steamer Convoys. This would cripple my fleet, but I know I've only got about eighteen months left in the game, and the Dutch have been pretty thoroughly wiped out.
April 5, 1934: I'm actually making money now. Slowly but surely.
April 13, 1934: The Dutch stack is wiped out -- as that was the entirety of their army in SE Asia, I'm pretty confident of victory, provided I can occupy provinces fast enough.
June 16, 1934: As I research Electric Furnace, a thought occurs:
After Cheap Steel, the metallurgy technology path really becomes almost useless.
I haven't checked the numbers, but I'm pretty sure steel isn't terribly profitable after about the 1920s.
October 9, 1934: How to win a naval battle despite minimal supply:
Step 1: Use 96 Dreadnoughts and 48 Cruisers.
Step 2: Sink 19 of 20 Dutch cruisers hiding in port.
I'm pretty sure they were just throwing rocks at the end of that battle.
January 18, 1935: I take out another 20 cruisers for two of my own. I'm pretty sure these are the only modern warships I'll ever lose.
February 3, 1935: I get sassy -- I can pick up the rest of Brunei (provided the Dutch surrender) for 1 war score. I can handle that, right?
February 22, 1935: I honestly have no idea how the Liberals won this election.
MIL is a bit higher than usual (over 1), which is the most likely cause, but I just don't have the screenshots to thoroughly explain it. Sorry.
March 18, 1935: A reactionary rebellion breaks out. One of the positives of this game, in a really big way, is that I've almost completely avoided serious rebels.
April 29, 1935: I'm really just researching techs for fun at this point.
September 1, 1935: Dear RNG,
I hate you.
Avindian.
December 15, 1935: A successful Fascist seizure of power in the NGF. I didn't expect this one bit.
January 1, 1936: I think it's fitting that, while I could have won this war, I didn't, because I ran out of time. Most of SE Asia is captured, but I'm pretty sure I'd have to invade Holland to actually win this one. I'd do it, with another three or four years. I'm still calling it a moral victory.
If I have time, I'll update with lessons learned, maps, and pretty screenshots tomorrow evening, Monday at the latest. If you have special requests for screenshots, let me know!
