The Rising Tide: Japan Hoi 3 TFH B-ICE 6.2 AAR

muha · May 10, 2014

Hello everyone, I am relatively new to HOI 3, played HOI 2 for a little bit as well. The one thing that always bothered me about HOI3 is the lack of units, it was too simple for me. That is why I chose to play black ice, gives me the units and variety that I am looking for. So all in all, I am new to the game and am expecting to suffer a humiliating defeat. BUT! I do want to writer about it! I am also doing this so people could point out my stupid/noob mistakes.

Now, with ought further ado, here are the house rules I will set for myself.
This AAR will not have a lot, if any at all role playing, I'm not good at that, just good old reporting.
-I will not cheat under any circumstances,
-No loading old saves, whatever happens, happens.
-No AI help, everything including trade will be done by me.
-I must use all game mechanics available (At least the ones I am aware of). So spying will be a part of the game.
That’s it. I will not really try to have a historically accurate game, I will act according to what I believe is best for my nation’s survival and prosperity. That also means that if I am successful, don’t expect world domination, am not interested in conquering Britain or all of the soviet union.

If anyone could teach me to link posts, this is where the chapter links will be.

Table of Content:

Non combat updates are BLUE
Combat updates are RED
Unimportant updates (Year end reports) are GREEN

Prologue

Chapter 1:

Chapter 2:

End of year 1936 report:(This is optional, nothing happened, just showing the internal stuff of the nation all productions etc.)

Chapter 3:

Chapter 4:

Chapter 5:

Chapter 6:

Chapter 7 and Year End report for 1937:

Chapter 8:

Chapter 9:

muha · May 10, 2014

Prologue
Jan, 01, 1936
Since there is no roleplaying, I know exactly what will happen in a year and a half, so no kidding myself here I need to prepare for war with China!
This is the land holding of the mighty empire of Japan! Japan itself and the puppet state Manchukuo

Now that the game has loaded, before I hit that pause button, I will go through all aspects of the nation from the easiest to hardest, first up is Intelligence.
First priority is getting 10 internal spies, get some counter-intelligence going, as well as support ruling party and raise unity.

I do wish I could recall spies back home though.
Next up is Politics! Yay.. Here are the laws I have chosen and my current cabinet of ministers:

Technology is up next; for now I will mostly focus on national, industrial, construction, infantry, artillery and naval research.

Diplomacy! Before I do anything else, I start selling supplies to any and all that would buy it, and buy metal and rares from the nations that like me (wont bother to screenshot those). Then I fired all the decisions currently available. Most are self explanatory, but some I will add why I chose what I chose.

For national focuses, I chose to raise national unity and I do need a bigger army to hold a solid front once I get deeper into China, so I picked to focus on the army.

Ethiopia doesn't deserve my help, plus I wanna be friendly with Italy.

Easy difficulty for me (Don’t worry, I will make sure it is even and fair), normal recruitment, and absolutely NO to a free Korea.

Here are the AI difficulties, Mind you, under the Allies, what I saw was UK, Australia and Canada, so I assume all traditional Allied nations get that boost… all I really want are just massive armies that will make my PC cry..

That is it for decisions now.
Production! When building my army, I will account for the fact that for most of the war mobility will not matter to me. So pure tank divisions are a waste for me. I will use infantry support tanks and AC tough since they still add that toughness and soft attack that I need. I will also refrain from using mobile troops to conserve precious fuel for the navy and air force use. So here are my future brigades.

The pipeline also has convoys and escorts being built en mass, plus some AA, and some ships that are already being built. The ships that were just laid down were promptly cancelled in favour for ground units.. Sorry the production line screens shots were deleted, will add them next update.
Now comes the fun part of reorganization, and renaming everything to something I can pronounce..

EDIT: Changed colour of the title to something more friendly to the eye and increased font size, plus some grammar and spelling mistakes were corrected.

Ikarases · May 10, 2014

Cool. Show us what you've got!

Derahan · May 11, 2014

A nice intro to Japan, I also want to see what you got!

muha · May 11, 2014

It is an honour to have two distinguished AARtists follow my AAR, I will try not to disappoint. Next update will come some time this week. Unfortunately I don't have much time to play so I cant fire off updates frequently.

muha · May 14, 2014

Sorry for the long wait! I am ahead of myself by about half a year, but spent a long time reorganizing my OOB.. It just so happened that every time I would make progress in this most tedious task and try to save it would crash.. finally I found a way around it.. do one corps at a time, and save after each corps..... sigh...

Chapter 1: Generation
Jan 1, 1936-Dec 31, 1936
Part 1

First thing first, as promised, here is what I'm making right now:

Finally I get the chance to fire the B.i.S. (Bank of international Settlements) or w/e decision. I don’t really need the money but the IC and Leadership boosts are always useful.

Here are my naval and air forces, compositions will probably change as I learn more and more about the game and buils better/more ships and planes, but as of right now and probably until late 1938, this is what I will have.

Come first of Feb and I get bombarded will more choices to make!
Why not? Why not, why not?

Anything to improve Immersion!

What’s better than immersion you say? Well improving our nation of course!

But not everything is so nice and dandy.. It all failed a month later though, so no big deal. That’s right, all those caught were beheaded, how dishonorable for them not to be able to perform a Seppuku!

Some more decisions, they are relatively self-explanatory, and I pick things that most benefit me at the time.

Ah yes, the Kwantung Army needs more soldiers event! I HATE IT! Since I can only pick “ok” and cant pick “The Kwantung Army can get their damned soldiers elsewhere” I am stuck giving away 100 manpower. Mind you by Dec 31st of 1936, it fired enough to drop my manpower to around 900.. And I don’t even know why they need all that manpower.

At around April 4th, two things happen, yet another change hits my cabinet, this time it seems for the best though. And I get the opportunity to expand my synthetic industry. Now that means that some IC will be lost for ever dedicated to the cause, at least it will take me a step closer to not being dependant on other nations for resources.

Of course I still make changes that I believe would be better!

Current cabinet: Takasu Shiro was placed as Head of Intelligence.

By April I have a total of 24 spies, they better be useful. My first two targets were clearly obvious and chosen before even the first spy was trained..

Looks like china is trying to improve their infrastructure.. good, it will be useful to me, while Shanxi doesnt seem to be doing anything at all at the moment.. maybe allocated all its IC to upgrade?
And finally, on the 12th of May, 1936 I got the option to form Mengjiang, I said, sure why the hell not.

And to end it for today, everyone one loves volunteers.. they are like people that want to be slaves.. (Don't quote me on that, in my country its mandatory)

Next update will include the first step of my invasion of china plan, plus maybe a year end report..

P.S.- I tried increasing the size of the pictures a bit to make them move visible, but on my screen they appear to be more blurry, so what would you guys recommend? Maybe just post thumbnails instead of picks with spoilers..

EDIT: Fixed some grammar.

awesomesauce47 · May 14, 2014

Subbed, I always enjoy BICE AARs. And for the pictures the way they are is fine.

muha · May 17, 2014

Chapter 2: Generation
Jan 1, 1936-Dec 31, 1936
Part 2

As promised, here the first stage of a multi stage operation, the name of which will be revealed soon.
The IJA stationed at the Chinese border is comprised of three armies, all under the command of the Imperial Central Mainland HQ, and the first Imperial Japanese army group, the North China Front HQ. (The navy is under the command of the Central Imperial Navy Command, and the air-force is under the command of the Central Imperial Air-force Command, both of which are stationed in the capital of Japan, very close to the emperor)
Anyway! If anyone wants me to describe my OOB, let me know but I like making things complicated..
So each of the three armies has a specific role: 1st Imperial Army will do most of the fighting and is the only army that has armour and motorised elements to it. Its goal would be to push south, encircle some Chinese troops and head to the coast. Its plans are coloured red.
2nd Imperial army, consisting of mostly cavalry and light infantry. Its directive is a quick and decisive victory over Shanxi and to push west south-west, create an easily defended front and eventually push into Xibei San Ma. Its plans are coloured blue.
3rd Imperial Army will be tasked as the rear guard and reserves, their job is to plug any holes, squish any resistance and uprising and insure the integrity of the front and safety of the spearhead.

As the war plans were being drawn, on June 7th 1936, the first Imperial Japanese divisions of the year rolled out of the production lines.

Right around that time the Imperial staff decided to have a look at how Europe fared.. I must say, France sure is having a lot of trouble keeping its colonies in check. At this rate they will be gone to civil unrest before the germans even mobilize for war.

Black Ice mod allows the ruler of a nation to influence the people in other ways, not just 5 grand edicts. One of such tools of appeasement is News an Politics. Small News and Politics to be exact.

On July, 13th 1936 the Spaniards came to a disagreement over something irrelevant and insignificant to the Japanese people. But it is a great way for Japan to send its troops to a real battle and see how the Europeans of the day fight.

By the way, big or small, News & Politics sure is expensive!

In other news, Ethiopia (Abyssinia) is finally annexed by Italy, and USSR has its first Moscow Show trial.

At around that time the Government Secretary asks for what to do next. He will probably be doing the exact same thing year after year for a while!

Although the conflict does not seem to be over, the troops that were sent to Spain have returned, the Emperor hopes they did not dishonour themselves! However, looking at the current situation in Spain it seems that the troops were useful.

While looking at the international stage, it was noted that the entire network of spies in National China were capture or killed. It would be wise to increase the number of spies trained.

On November, 1 1936 an opportunity came that allowed Japan to build a nationally important building. Naturally, education of the people takes priority!

And the leadership benefited immensely and immediately!

By December 31st, 1936 another spy network has been established in Nationalist China. Lets hope its here to stay this time!

The Year end report will be coming soon.

EDIT: Spelling and grammar, plus misplaced pics.

muha · May 17, 2014

End of year report
1936
(This is optional, nothing happened, just showing the internal stuff of the nation, all productions etc.)
So the year 1936 ends. The most quiet year of the game is over, and the fun, frustration and rage are just about to begin! But first, b̶u̶t̶ ̶f̶i̶r̶s̶t̶ ̶l̶e̶m̶m̶e̶ ̶t̶a̶k̶e̶ ̶a̶ ̶s̶e̶l̶f̶i̶e̶ let me show you what the Empire of Japan is up to!
Intelligence: No change really, still targeting Nationalist China and Shanxi only.

Politics: Through the efforts of spies, events and undoubtedly the Kempeitai I managed to greatly improve the popularity and organization of the ruling political party. But of course our God-Emperor Hirohito is always eternally popular and loved. Also here are the current cabinet.

Diplomacy: Its self explanatory. The decisions that were not fired were left due to the fact that they all require some sort of IC deduction, and I am currently not yet ready to part with any IC.

Production: The troops that will participate in the upcoming operation were ordered and are waiting IC allocation. At least 2 carriers will be built at a time at any given time though.

Technology: Now that the important fields were advanced beyond 1936, everything else is in the process of being brought up to speed. At this point there is no "Absolutely, life or death super duper important research that must be at least level 1944 by the year 1940" So there is a lot of big smart minds working all over the place.

EDIT: Streamlined.

muha · May 17, 2014

Any and all feedback is always welcome, only way to improve is by hearing criticism and feedback.

Ikarases · May 18, 2014

muha said:
And the last few pictures.. turns out there is a limit...

It's more important how big the pictures are. My pictures cropped with GIMP have a very small size compared to the original, but it also depends whether you want the readers to see everything! Sometimes I exceed the limit a little (say 23 screenshots), but thanks to the cropping, nobody ever complained on having slow load times on my AARs.

Anyway, this update is very exhausting. I can't wait on how you'll fare against Chinese infrastructure!

muha · May 18, 2014

Soo, too many screenshots? I will do the year end reports as an optional thing. No events happen during the year end report. Just showing what I got going on internally.

EDIT: How do I make a proper table of content? I have no idea how to make the words as a link..

Ikarases · May 18, 2014

muha said:
Soo, too many screenshots? I will do the year end reports as an optional thing. No events happen during the year end report. Just showing what I got going on internally.

Frankly, it's mostly assumed you know what you're doing. Not everybody is familiar with BICE and even then, I doubt anybody's going to compare more than twenty technological screens between single years, unless you want to write a very detailed narration.

That said, I mostly post only the starting situation of the politics/technology/espionage, unless something really important happens. Don't get me wrong; it's your AAR and you can do whatever you want in it! I'm just merely trying to push you into what I think it's the right direction

muha · May 18, 2014

I can take criticism =).
I guess you are right. I am still trying to find the right balance between showing as much as information as possible while at the same time keeping it interesting. But I am taking your advice to heart. The Year end report pictures will be removed, and the update I am working on is not as detailed, but I still want to show all aspects of the nation. I am also playing around with writing styles. But this AAR will definitely be far more detailed than your current one. (Yours is still better)

Ikarases said:
Frankly, it's mostly assumed you know what you're doing.

I have no idea what I'm doing honestly..

Ikarases · May 18, 2014

muha said:
I can take criticism =).
I guess you are right. I am still trying to find the right balance between showing as much as information as possible while at the same time keeping it interesting. But I am taking your advice to heart. The Year end report pictures will be removed, and the update I am working on is not as detailed, but I still want to show all aspects of the nation. I am also playing around with writing styles. But this AAR will definitely be far more detailed than your current one. (Yours is still better)

All it takes is practice. My AARs are standard gameplay. All you have to do there is watch your spacing, grammar and play around a bit with screenshots. That's all, nothing else is needed

muha said:
I have no idea what I'm doing honestly..

Then maybe it would be better if you kept them there to gain advice from some BICE player. But oh well, it doesn't matter that much

muha · May 19, 2014

Are we allowed to show/provide war casualties? I kept count..

Chapter 3: Propagation
Jan 1, 1937-July 11, 1937

First thing first, new national focuses:

In other news, the UK annexed Egypt, those damned imperialistic warmongers! We are peaceful people, we simply strive to improve our lives by making more sophisticated and beneficial rail networks.

The USSR Had its second Moscow show trial, don't know what its about but they definitely made it very, very public. While our navy keeps trying to make ground breaking accomplishments!

But our navy is not the only place were true Japanese innovation never fails to amaze.

I don't really know what Autarky means, but sure, why not.

Well I googled what Autarky is, and the Japanese empire definitely needs it.

Considering the situation of Japan, this was a tough pick. But in the end, naval battles are the most devastating form of combat and we must come out at the top!

At appears that while we try to reinvent the wheel when it comes to technological superiority, others are content with simple thievery! Those damned yanks!

I keep telling the secretary that the job remains the same for the foreseeable future, but he just keeps coming back asking what to do!

And he not very good at his job either!

It appears that our brightest minds are not so bright after all, hopefully the sting of knowing the disappointed the admiralty and the Emperor, they better not dishonour themselves next time!

I sure do get a lot of news from the Soviet Union.. and this is by far the worst mistake they have ever made. A lot of people have died because of incompetent commanders who got their job because of their political position instead of actual combat skill.

At least the Japanese people had only trust and love towards their leaders.

Considering that for a major power, Japan is severely lacking in IC, all efforts must be made to obtain as much of it as possible, and I don't need the resources right now either.

I do believe battle cruisers do still have a place in naval combat. If they are well protected by AA cruisers, they theoretically can catch up to and destroy carriers with ease.. In theory at least, and I am willing to try that theory out!

It appears that some one is trying to undermine the government that is only looking out of the betterment of the Japanese people, this must be stopped!

While we are on the topic of undermining, although her feats were impressive, and her loss was probably upsetting, why would it penalize the Japanese people?

The commanders of the Imperial Japanese forces have finally finished planning the first stages of a possible invasion of Nationalist China. They call it Operation Tsunami. Using the newly trained marines, a five stage operation will be executed. The goal is to systematically and as quickly as possible invade, overrun and take control of every single port that is under the control of Nationalist China. But before that will happen, the Imperial North China Front forces will assault from the north, and attract all the attention of the Chinese troops. the annexation of Shanxi and occupation of Beiping must be successful before Operation Tsunami will commenced. Since by then Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek will probably send every peasant able to fire to the north.

Literally days after the plan was approved by the top brass and the Emperor, at exactly 1:00 AM, on the 11th of July 1937 the Chinese have provoked an attack by the Imperial troops. To respect their wishes to fight us, Emperor Hirohito has given the "go ahead" and the first stages of Operation Tsunami has commenced!
(Japan is now at war with Nationalist china and all the other warlords, stay tuned for chapter 4)

EDIT: Spelling and grammar.

muha · May 21, 2014

Chapter 4: Inundation
July 11, 1937-Sept 4th, 1937

The Japanese people rejoice in helping the empire reach its goals in liberating the Chinese from western imperial rule!

First victories of the war of liberation!

Finally, after the initial fighting broke out on the ground, on July 12, at 10:00 AM local time the 1st Imperial battle Fleet is met in honourable combat with a Chinese combat fleet! May they sink with the knowledge that they fought bravely!

Regardless of their efforts, their fleet was battered pretty badly, while not a single Imperial ship even have its paint chipped. However, any enemy warship is a possible threat to operation Tsunami, and therefore all efforts must me made to eradicate their warships.

After several easy victories, the commanders of the Second Imperial Army realised that the Shanxi warlords are not prepared for war at all! Almost feels like they are firing blanks!

9 days after the fighting broke out, Germany invited the Empire of Japan into an alliance, this should benefit us greatly!

During the battles of Shanix, the entire communist army was held at bay, and prevented to interfere for about a week. Our casualties were massive, but our brave warriors never gave up in the face of death and despair and fought up a mountain against dug in foes, outnumbered and out-gunned and were an instrumental part of Japanese success in Shanxi conquest. Each and every one of them a true samurai!

Specialized HQ for specialized troops! (Love that part about B-ICE)

Once freed up, the communists began their counter attack, ending in bloody and humiliating defeats such as this one.

While a probing attack revealed that there is an entire army defending Beiping. Buts its only a matter of time before they are surrounded and broken.

The Chinese navy are a primary target to destroy as quickly as possible, but they are making it very difficult to accomplish that mission! Sending out a ship at a time!

Tianjin is finally ours! After a full month of fighting, and over 15000 dead, the combined Chinese forces finally broke. Now its only a matter of time before Beiping is encircled and captured.

But the good news down stop coming! A total of 19953 men were pinned against mountains, and unable to escape beyond them, after a difficult struggle, most have surrendered! The Shanix military might is definitely hurting!

The assault on Taiyuan began on Sept 11th, when it falls, Shanxi will be no more.

So far the Emperor Hirohito is very pleased! Taiyuan will fall, soon, if reinforcements don't arrive. With it in Imperial hands, Shanxi will surrender and there will be one less enemy to fight.
The home front never stops working and improving either! If fact, we are doing so well, the Japanese people don't even feel the impact of war and rationing is not needed. Even the merchant fleet is pitching in and is helping out by destroying convoys in the far reaches of the pacific ocean. (Decisions)

But it will take a long time before the Chinese people realise this is for their own good!

I kept count out of curiosity, the numbers that it gives at the end of every battle, stating war casualties is not sited as against the rules on this forum, so I will assume it is allowed, however, if it is not allowed, please let me know and I will promptly remove it!

Current toll:These numbers are not exact due to some occasional crashes.

Japan:24,857
Combined Chinese forces:82,035

kelestra · May 21, 2014

Interesting! I will read this for sure!

Lexar_kg · May 21, 2014

There is no images in last posts. Photobucket says that it should be upgraded for additional bandwidth

Great AAR by the way. I'm so fond of BICE and of good gameplay AARs.
Good luck with fighting american doomstacks in future!

muha · May 21, 2014

well damn I didn't see that coming. My bandwidth limit is at 10gigs and resets on the 16th of every month.. so in 5 days it reached the limit.. how upsetting. I will see if I can somehow get around it.

EDIT: There its fixed! Lets hope this one doesn't have any stupid limits.

The Rising Tide: Japan Hoi 3 TFH B-ICE 6.2 AAR

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