Chapter 1: Set-up
A few months ago, I created a thread called the “Complete Guide to the Commune of France.” A few things have happened since then, including both incessant hardware problems and a few months spent avoiding video games. The unfortunate results of both instances are the loss of save games and a growing muddle as I tried to find ways to re-create my progress. I am afraid that multiple attempts to get to roughly the same point produced unsatisfactory results.
In view of these problems, I’ve decided to write a shorter “Simplified” guide covering what I consider to be an effective build I’ve used in multiple games in a half a dozen posts. In sum, this build will focus on industrial efficiency, the production of MOT & ARM divisions, airpower, some CVLs, and one that will generally select optimal event choices when applicable. It won't be as open to experimentation as the prior guide which got a little out of hand on that score.
This specific guide will cover the following:
1) This chapter: the set-up phase.
2) The next chapter: the build-up phase.
3) The war against Germany & its European allies/vassals.
4) The liberation of neutral Europe and the Middle East.
5) The African anti-colonial war against National France and Mittelafrika.
6) The invasion of Russia, the ending of which will conclude this guide.
In the interest of getting to these goals, I will reload to earlier saves if it proves necessary. For example, if the Dutch or the Russians turn to Syndicalism, I will reload to a point before they did that because it will produce a far easier game. That said, once save data has been used for this guide it will not be reloaded and the saves will be backed up on an external hard drive. There won't be a repeated loss of data for this guide as far as I can help it this time around.
The long-term plan is to make AAR writing the focus of the time I spend on the forum going forwards as I find doing so to result in more enjoyable gameplay, a fun way to conduct historical research, and a good venue for writing improvement. Most of these will be for Darkest Hour, a few for Stellaris, and some may involve none-paradox games. The first one I'll post after this will be a Commune of France narrative dedicated to showcasing the Syndicalist political system as I imagine it.
It is very likely that my engagement with the OT thread will be discontinued because of this new focus since there is a limit to the time I can give to this forum. I’ve taken the liberty of re-using the introductory material from my Complete Guide to the Commune of France to save time. I may re-use other sections such as the one on tech trading when I can’t see how I can provide anything better. That said, I’ll edit it when applicable and generally favour original content over re-used.
Without further ado, I present:
The Commune of France is a Syndicalist nation in Western Europe, unique in KR-DH as one of the more industrially powerful states in the game. Starting with 168 starting IC, CoF industry can be quickly expanded beyond 220 via the proper selection of events. Due to the events of Black Monday in Germany, France can expect to be the industrially most powerful nation in the game between 1936-1938, though Germany will overtake it sooner or later (probably around late 1938)
Resource-wise, the CoF possesses particularly plentiful reserves of metal for export and is almost self-sufficient in energy and rare materials at least for its existing industry. That said, it often requires importing both to make up for shortfalls created by the rapid expansion of IC and trading commitments. These resource limitations present a consistent dilemma for the CoF in that its only exportable commodities are metal, supplies, and money. Everything else must be imported.
The more the latter two are traded away, the more it needs to produce consumer goods and supplies domestically, the less IC it has for other production. I prefer not to trade money and maximize supply output by letting the AI automatically select logistic wizards and avoiding reinforcing my armies for as long as possible. Eventually, we’ll have to select better generals and reinforce our armies, but by then, most of our production should be complete and we'll be able to afford it.
Another concern for the Commune is its small starting manpower pool and poor generation, which at best, can be increased to 0.54-60 via ministers & events, perhaps a little more with the anarchists. It is thus fair to say that the Commune does favour quality over quantity in production priority. You could build an infantry army, but it would be harder to maintain as it took losses. IC intensive units thus naturally reduce the overall number of divisions to a more manageable roster.
That said, if we wish to build an oil-guzzling mechanized army, we’ll have to be especially vigilant with our oil supply. This makes a CoF game of KR feel quite a lot like a German game in vanilla since there aren’t many friendly oil producers to choose from. I’ve run out of oil several times when I wasn’t paying attention and the results can be especially devastating if it happens during offensives. Don’t hesitate to trade for some oil directly when necessary. I'd suggest even when it isn't.
France can also convert some of its energy for oil production to compensate for its lack of a domestic source of oil since depending on imports can be risky. That said, it can prove rather inefficient when energy is a product we aren't particularly rich in relative to our own domestic and trading needs. For the purposes of this playthrough, however, oil is king, and I will opt for conversion until such a time I become confident our reserves can operate without energy conversion.
Part 1: Overview
The Commune borders Spain to its Southwest, the Italian Federation to its Southeast, and the Mediterranean with National French-controlled North Africa to the South. North of Paris and past the la Manche lies the friendly Union of Britain. Flanders-Wallonia, Germany, and Switzerland all lie along its Eastern border. The Eastern border represents our chief concern both in terms of its territorial claims and the threat posed by Germany during the early game when it is stronger.
While Switzerland is neutral, it still possesses a sizable French-speaking population, as does Flanders-Wallonia, Germany's replacement client Kingdom to pre-war Belgium. For added industry, we'll want to seize all potential future cores. While the Belgian-German border will require the mainstay of land forces to defend against the possibility of an early war, the Commune also shares claims on the Italian Federation with its southern-based ally, the Socialist Republic of Italy.
The military threat posed by the Papal State isn’t great, but it can escalate to war should the Anzio event chain proceed in a certain way. It thus pays to garrison this border to some extent, at least until that event passes. Spain, while neutral and pretty weak, does provide a potential second front against the Commune should the civil war produce a hostile regime. It will never have large armies, but it can still weaken our commitment to the Eastern front should it become hostile.
In addition to the land borders, there are also the sea borders to worry about, totalling 11 beaches vulnerable to amphibious landings: Marseille, Montpellier, Bordeaux, La Rochelle, Lorient, Brest, Bayeux, Caen, Dieppe, Calais, and Dunkirk. Once taken, even the Belgian beachheads of Bruges and Antwerp can become targets. Garrisoning all of them is costly but some defences are necessary. The Mediterranean presents a moderate amphibious threat from the National French.
Politically, France is a Syndicalist Republic based on pre-Communist thought. In ideological terms, it is closer to the radical left-wing ideology of the late 19th, and early 20th-century labour movements and more modern conceptions of Democratic Socialism. In gameplay terms, the CoF is defined as a dictatorship. While this is true in the sense that only radical socialist factions may contest elections, Syndicalism is in theory more democratic and less centralized than Communism.
For those who are less familiar with the details, the Bolshevik revolution was defeated in the KR timeline, leaving the ideology a lot less appealing than it became in OTL. While there are still some Communist factions left, such as the French Jacobians, its influence is limited and contrasted by other left-wing ideological alternatives. Georgia is run by a Communist remnant from the revolution, while the present Russian Bolsheviks are led by the more moderate Bukharin-led faction.
This makes left-wing thought a lot more diverse in the 20s and 30s KR timeline and reduced the pressure to create alternatives to the Moscow line, which in some cases, culminated in fascism. That is why figures such as Mussolini and Moseley remain in the broader left-wing camp as opposed to becoming the leaders of far-right movements as they did in OTL. The dominant ideologies are Anarchism, Syndicalism, Communism, and Totalism (the latter is most similar to IRL Fascism)
Between the 22nd of January and the 10th of February of 1936, elections will trigger for the Commune, pitting these four main political factions against each other. Unlike other elections that tend not to affect gameplay too much, the choice of leadership does have gameplay consequences. Some paths, such as the Jacobian will produce unique civil war events as you try to reform the Commune into a Communist state. The rest are more open-ended but still matter in various ways.
Until we get to this event chain, I recommend leaving the ideological sliders alone, since events will move them a lot anyway. The international slider is particularly easy to change via events, as is the Hawk slider more occasionally. For the most part, we’ll only be moving the mobilization slider towards standing army.
Technology-wise, we start largely with the non-brainers. A big early focus on industry with three slots to maximize those bonuses will be followed by a more restrained 1-2 teams continuing, with one alternating between air and sea doctrines while the last will focus on land doctrine. My main interest is in research, manpower, and industrial efficiency improving techs.The next slot is researching 1932 multi-role fighters because it is a prerequisite for advanced carrier groups. Edit: after playtesting, I decided to rush through the 1937 interceptor tech even with the penalty of doing so. It's more urgent to produce those early.
I do not intend to research much beyond interceptors and tactical bombers for my air force, though I might consider researching floatplanes if I decide to research 1933 subs and start a serial run of heavy subs. That would depend on IC availability. In that context, light carriers represent the easiest immediate investment, though I will probably opt to produce them without any attachments to attain better tech levels for those first rather than upgrade inferior models later.
I want to have the technology quickly so I can serially produce two lines of three that will be ready in 1941 when I’ll get the next model or move to CVs. Since this will be an IC-intensive build, I don’t want to waste too much IC on naval production. Serial-producing things in single or dual runs is a good way of spreading the cost over time. The alternative is not to invest in a navy at all. That was my prior choice, but I’ve since concluded it's better to invest a little early than catch up late.
You would think I’d have an interest in researching 1936 armoured as quickly as possible so I can start producing armoured divisions immediately. Once you pick the mobility tree, it doesn’t take too much time to research all you need to unlock armoured divisions. Until then, I can exploit the already researched motorized and armoured car techs to produce both. But there is a case to be made against armour-rushing it in the sense that by the time I expect to invade Germany, I will research my way through 3-4 tank techs leaving what I start with quite obsolete. Large armour orders tend to take most of my IC leaving little for upgrades.
That said, if I delay until I get more advanced tank techs, I won’t be able to produce that many of them, if any, before the German IC advantage starts working against me. The main question is how do you want to use your armour? Until recently, I’d built corps of 2 armoured and one motorized. That seems inefficient now, in view of the motorized division’s speed advantage. Some have even argued that armoured divisions can be entirely dispensed with in favour of motorized divisions to save tech and IC costs. What is certain is that using motorized in the same corps as armour greatly limits its utility and that they should be separate.
I’d say I am mostly in agreement that motorized divisions are more effective in terms of cost, tech, and speed. They are great for encirclements, and when equipped with ACs, possess enough firepower to stand up to most challenges. That said, there are times when they won’t be able to push through and ARM might be useful. For that reason, I recommend an early focus on motorized until several armies of them can be assembled, followed by a more limited production of armoured divisions that can benefit from the tech advantage of later research, preferably the 1939 medium model + SPAs which is the best we can get by 1940.
It comes down to when do you want to invade, around September 1939 which is the earliest date? Or closer to May 1940? Any later and you will face a fully recovered German AI able to outproduce you. If you’re aiming for 1939, then an early production run of 1936 armoured might be a better option. That said, you won’t be able to produce much more than armoured. I prefer to aim for a 1940 date for more production and tech development time, though I will admit it might be sub-optimal against German recovery. The aim will be to have 36-42 motorized divisions in 6-7 armies and 6-12 armoured divisions in one or two armies.
Edit: I've also concluded from playtesting that rushing armour isn't necessary from the get-go. Researching the 38 models in 36 is far too suboptimal, so it's better to wait until 37 for these. Artillery researches quickly and is a requirement of more advanced tank models anyway, so I've decided to research the 30 and 36 models of art first ahead of the 36 and 38 tank models. Finally, since I am more likely to serial produce more infantry divisions than cavalry, I've decided to research those first. It is also more helpful in terms of extending the window for upgrades. I don't really want too much cavalry anyway and I only want another 3 mountain.
Since we already have tank brigades equipped by our motorized divisions bringing down their speed, I will replace them with ACs. The tanks will then be assigned to 6 or so new cavalry divisions for a total of 16-18 divisions. Cavalry is not worth much investment, but since I already have 10, I might as well use them (perhaps as anti-partisan later on) I also ordered three forts in Belfort to satisfy my paranoid inclinations towards this treacherous province I’ve seen overrun a dozen times too many. This is especially relevant in view of my plan to depend largely on my starting infantry for defence along the German border.
The air base at Verdun is mostly intended for my interceptors to maximize their range. I want to be able to station a minimum of two air armies of 6 (preferably of 8) in Lille and Verdun. The Tacs will be stationed behind them at Paris and Auxerre. I am not sure how many I’ll be able to build, but again, I would prefer 2 armies of 6-8 or more if I can squeeze the IC for it. Other investments such as artillery, heavies, and the like I pursued in the Complete Guide will not be readily considered.
Heavy artillery isn’t worth the huge cost to produce. Sure, it does help blast through fortifications, but it's practically unmovable afterwards. Even the smaller speed reduction of regular artillery makes them too slow for a primarily mobile army. If I do produce limited runs of infantry, I do want them to be able to move. Perhaps an artillery army mixed with heavies and regular artillery could be useful against Serbia and during the Istanbul crossing later on, but I don't need much of it.
As my army redeploys. the Communal Elections begin in earnest. Apparently, the narrative reason is a non-confidence motion in the ruling Syndicalist-Anarchist coalition after their failure to defend the German trade union movement. Not that this will affect my choices. In the previous iteration of the Guide, my interest was mostly maximizing French manpower production to allow for a greater variation of unit type and some leeway for experimentation. This time, my interest is primarily the mobility doctrine, IC, and useful slider changes. My first vote thus goes to the Syndicalist candidate for army chief despite the dissent hit.
The alternatives would be the Sorelian firepower focus, which isn’t bad for a more diverse army build, or the Anarchist manpower focus, which gives out a useful manpower bonus but might be more costly in its use in turn. The Jacobian defence focus is, in my opinion, just a poor choice considering its limits and how France will have to take the offensive to win. I'd say mobility makes the most sense as France though firepower has some decent bonuses for motorized divisions as well.
That said, there is another consideration to be made here. The choice between a draft or standing army as slider options. Standing army is superior in almost every way to drafted army in terms of organisational and upgrade bonuses. That said, drafted army does give a significant gearing bonus when maxed. The latter can be useful for serial production. The Sorelian and Anarchist decisions push the slider to max drafted army, whereas the mobility choice pushes to near max standing.
The next office up for vote isn’t entirely clear, but it seems to refer to the police or at least its intelligence section. In-game terms, it refers to the minister for intelligence post, though it appears to have special powers beyond that in narrative terms. I like to think of it as the ministry for internal security/intelligence. The anarchists offer a dissent reduction that’s bigger than the hit I’d get for changing the minister manually and there are no real benefits for choosing anyone else. I also prefer open society to closed society as a means of lessening occupied province dissent. It’s also valuable in that I can’t manually increase this slider.
Likewise, I think the Syndicalist candidate (Travailleur) is the best option for what, while called internal security, I prefer to think of as simply the ministry of the interior for ease of reference. Dissent can be overcome easily via International Congress events, but manpower is harder to come by, certainly not to the extent I’d trade manpower for dissent reductions. The anarchist choice offers half as much for no dissent. EDIT: after playtesting, I've come to the conclusion that manpower isn't as vital as I thought for mobility. As such, I think the anarchist interior choice (50 manpower, +1 dissent, +2 open society) is better for this build.
For industry, I opted for the Jacobians. They represent the largest IC bonus and increase out of all four options. The Syndicalists offer a slightly bigger IC increase without a bonus and a free-market slider move I could do without. The Anarchists a less appealing IC package with two free market moves but a higher manpower bonus. The Sorelians are basically useless since all they are offering are four infantry divisions. That might be useful for an early war game, but not for much else.
On foreign policy, the Jacobians offer a wholescale shift to the ends of Hawk and international sliders, which are very beneficial for production and diplomacy. Besides, our goal IS world revolution! (more or less) The Sorelians aren’t too far off from them, though they don't give you as much in terms of slider movement, and both give Germany a slight gearing bonus event as a penalty. The Syndicalists and Anarchists don’t annoy the Germans but don’t help me much either.
While I’ve chosen what I’d consider the optimal choices, they aren’t optimal in terms of deciding the elections for any faction, since three choices are required for a winner at a minimum. Of the three compromises, I think the first (the two Leons) offers the best prime minister and president (whom I can’t change) since both lower consumer goods demand. That's particularly useful in maximizing IC use in what is an IC-focused game aimed at expensive IC-heavy projects.
The 2nd compromise option produces a -30% hit to money production I really dislike along with other penalties and no particularly good bonuses. The 3rd compromise brings back the decent bonuses of Pivert (50% bonus to money production) but tempers it with the anarchist president who delivers a 5% hit to organisation regain and consumer goods demand. The latter isn't too bad but still annoying especially if you're using a drafted army.
You can get better options if you let one of the factions win. The Anarchists give you Makhno who has some of the best unique traits of any minister in the game. Letting the Syndicalists (Travailleur) win and recall Pivert without the anarchist president (who you can replace with the anarchists as well) is also viable. Sorelians and Jacobians purge too many useful ministers and generals, especially the Sorelians who eliminate your best admiral, to the point I generally avoid letting them win.
That said, the first compromise option you get without an outright winner really isn’t too shabby. Taken together, they reduce consumer goods demand by 15%, which you can enhance to 25% if you replace the interior minister (though a 10% boost to manpower might be equally useful) The minuses you get to belligerence to DoW aren’t a big deal since most wars will start via event decisions and by the time you actually need to manually declare war you will be pretty beligerent.
The other positive of the first option is that I got an armaments minister with a 10% bonus to IC. Once I can do it without increasing dissent during the international congress, I will change my chief of staff for one with a manpower bonus, my interior minister for a bonus in consumer goods, and possibly my army chief. Unfortunately, the Commune doesn't get great choices for naval commander so I don't bother with it. A move to standing army is enough for now.
In conclusion, I'd rank election choices as follows:
Army Doctrine:
1 - Travailleur (+5 dissent, mobility, +5 standing army)
2 - Sorelian (- 1 dissent, firepower, +2 drafted army)
3 - Anarchist (+1 dissent, manpower, + 5 drafted army)
4 - Jacobian (-1 dissent, defensive, +2 standing army)
Intelligence:
1 - Anarchist (-5 dissent, +2 open society)
2 - Travailleur (- 1 dissent, +1 open society)
3 - Sorelian (+1 dissent, +1 closed society)
4 - Jacobian (+5 dissent, +2 closed society)
Interior:
1 - Anarchist (+1 dissent, +50 manpower, +2 open society)
2 - Travailleur (+5 dissent, +100 manpower, +1 open society)
3 - Sorelian (-1 dissent, -50 manpower, +4 closed society)
4 - Jacobian (-5 dissent, -100 manpower, +3 closed society)
Industry:
1 - Jacobian (+10 IC, +3 planned economy, +10% pop growth, +5% industrial efficiency)
2 - Travailleur (+12 IC, +2 free market, +10% pop growth)
3 - Anarchist (+8 IC, + 3 free market, + 25% pop growth)
4 - Sorelian (+4 infantry divisions, +2 planned economy, +10% pop growth)
Foreign:
1 - Jacobian (+5 hawk lobby, +7 internationalism, socialists love you, imperialists hate you, Germany gets a buff)
2 - Sorelian (+ 3 hawk lobby, +2 internationalism, imperialists really hate you, Germany gets a buff)
3 - Travailleur (+1 dove lobby, +5 internationalism, socialists love you)
4 - Anarchists (+1 dove lobby, +1 internationalism, socialists like you, imperialists don't like you)
Overall Results:
1 - Travailleur (A - Souvarine & Johaux B - Pivert & Johaux)
2 - No Winner (A - Blum & Johaux B - Recall Pivert)
3 - Anarchist (Makhno, 3rd place because Guerin sucks)
4 - Sorelian or Jacobian (either one can trash things a bit)
EDIT: These represent my personal preferences and the preferences of this build. For different builds, other options may work better, though as a rule, the 4th option is whatever I think really isn't worth it under any circumstances (apart from the overall results, which are more RP-centric) Mobility isn't a manpower-intensive doctrine and, as such, doesn't really need to buff manpower. You are, therefore, free to focus on industry-improving choices it will consume a lot of. Other doctrines are more likely to be manpower-consuming both in the build-up phase and in reinforcement but they won't cost as much IC making it less important.
In other words, say you want to play a specific government faction necessitating three picks from that faction's proposals, you should make the other two choices according to what plays off the faction picks. If you really want to play Jacobian, for example, then I'd suggest still picking Travailleur for mobility doctrine to fully benefit from Jacobian industrialization and the anarchist intelligence chief for the dissent reduction. The Jacobian path entails a potentially large dissent hit making dissent reduction a more pressing issue than in other builds. The otherwise poor -100 manpower Jacobian option thus becomes a viable cost alternative.
An anarchist playthrough would most benefit from a Jacobian foreign policy and either Jacobian industry or travailleur interior depending on how manpower/IC intensive your production is. The travailleurs benefit the most from jacobian foreign policy and an anarchist intelligence chief. The Sorelians benefit the most from Jacobian industry and either travailleur or anarchist interior depending on how much you want manpower vs open society to control none-core regions. The overall best choices, IMO, are travailleur for doctrine, anarchist for intelligence, anarchist for interior, Jacobian for industry, and Jacobian for foreign policy.
Part 4: Deployments
The Commune of France arguably has the strongest starting land forces disposition in the game after Germany. The Russian army is understrength and pathetically obsolete at least in the beginning of the game. Austria and Italy have medium-sized infantry armies. While The Union of Britain, National France, and Canada barely have anything worthy of the title. Ukraine is arguably one of the most dangerous early-game armies though Germany tends not to use it that much.
While Germany does outnumber us by about a third and probably two times over if you count its vassals, it needs some of its divisions to cover its Eastern European and imperial interests. France has less immediate ground to cover and is thus better able to concentrate its forces. With 43 (49 +Mar & Mnt) infantry divisions, the Commune is not far off Germany's 69, That said, of these 43 infantry divisions, only 13 are modern 1931 models whereas the rest are up to 1926/21 standards.
The German infantry is more universally modern 1931 models by comparison. For that reason, I like to use the extra IC I gained via the election events towards immediate upgrades rather than production (while also avoiding using it for consumer goods) The extensive mobile core you start the game with is quite up-to-date, consisting of six motorized divisions and ten cavalry divisions; double the starting German mobile force in comparison. Both motorized and cavalry divisions have light and medium tank brigades attached to them starting at the best possible tech available making them a solid basis for your army.
Most of the mobile forces minus 3 cavalry divisions are stationed on the Belgian border where they’ll be able to facilitate a rapid capture of the country in the event of war. The Northern army group stretching from Dunkirk to Verdun thus has 6 motorized, 7 cavalry, 24 infantry, and one field HQ totalling 38 divisions. 6 interceptors are also stationed at Lille. The Southern group of armies completes my defensive line against Germany at Chaumont and Belfort.
The former, while consisting of only 6 INF since it only has one provincial border with Germany does benefit from having fully reinforced divisions. The army of 12 INF at Belfort consists of all my heavy and regular artillery brigades so that they’re able to assist to maximum effect against both Nancy and Colmar when I attack and provide the most vulnerable point on my line with superior firepower. I don’t expect to produce many if any, more artillery-equipped divisions so I figured it would be better to concentrate them in one place. My bomber force of 6 TACs is stationed at Auxerre along with one interceptor at Marseilles.
My forces on the Italian border consist of 1 infantry division covering the Swiss Border area. 3 cavalry divisions below it able to both cover that region of the border and quickly assist the other armies. 3 mountaineer divisions defending Grenoble which is most exposed to Italian attack. And finally, 3 marine divisions covering the coast and the Toulon Italian land border. I might want to eventually put some garrisons there to free up the marines for amphibious operations.
All my battleships and their escorts are stationed in a 30-ship-sized fleet at Marseilles where they will stay under the protective umbrella of airpower and anti-air. My 5 transports and a seaplane carrier form a temporary ad hoc transport fleet stationed near the battleships. A smaller detachment of faster battlecruisers & escorts is stationed at Bordeaux to see off any landing attempts in the west. All 5 submarines are stationed at Brest for easy access to German shipping.
This concludes my set-up phase. The next chapter will cover production and international events leading up to the war with Germany. In the interests of keeping an otherwise extensive corpus of material brief, I will mostly note my intentions versus the force I ended up with and the lessons we can learn from any shortcomings that might arise. Overall, I intend to build motorized, CVLs, destroyers, a little infantry, mountain/marines, interceptors, tacs, and armoured divisions.
I will briefly cover how far I was able to take tech trading in terms of income and how much I was able to increase my research and infrastructure bonuses. Finally, I will note how international events unfolded and where I had to intervene to produce a result consistent with this guide's 5 points. It may take a while to put all of it together with limited gaming time but I hope to post at the end of the month. That said, it will depend on how busy I am with my studies IRL.
In view of these problems, I’ve decided to write a shorter “Simplified” guide covering what I consider to be an effective build I’ve used in multiple games in a half a dozen posts. In sum, this build will focus on industrial efficiency, the production of MOT & ARM divisions, airpower, some CVLs, and one that will generally select optimal event choices when applicable. It won't be as open to experimentation as the prior guide which got a little out of hand on that score.
This specific guide will cover the following:
1) This chapter: the set-up phase.
2) The next chapter: the build-up phase.
3) The war against Germany & its European allies/vassals.
4) The liberation of neutral Europe and the Middle East.
5) The African anti-colonial war against National France and Mittelafrika.
6) The invasion of Russia, the ending of which will conclude this guide.
In the interest of getting to these goals, I will reload to earlier saves if it proves necessary. For example, if the Dutch or the Russians turn to Syndicalism, I will reload to a point before they did that because it will produce a far easier game. That said, once save data has been used for this guide it will not be reloaded and the saves will be backed up on an external hard drive. There won't be a repeated loss of data for this guide as far as I can help it this time around.
The long-term plan is to make AAR writing the focus of the time I spend on the forum going forwards as I find doing so to result in more enjoyable gameplay, a fun way to conduct historical research, and a good venue for writing improvement. Most of these will be for Darkest Hour, a few for Stellaris, and some may involve none-paradox games. The first one I'll post after this will be a Commune of France narrative dedicated to showcasing the Syndicalist political system as I imagine it.
It is very likely that my engagement with the OT thread will be discontinued because of this new focus since there is a limit to the time I can give to this forum. I’ve taken the liberty of re-using the introductory material from my Complete Guide to the Commune of France to save time. I may re-use other sections such as the one on tech trading when I can’t see how I can provide anything better. That said, I’ll edit it when applicable and generally favour original content over re-used.
Without further ado, I present:
The Simplified Guide to the Commune of France
Chapter 1: Set-Up
Chapter 1: Set-Up
The Commune of France is a Syndicalist nation in Western Europe, unique in KR-DH as one of the more industrially powerful states in the game. Starting with 168 starting IC, CoF industry can be quickly expanded beyond 220 via the proper selection of events. Due to the events of Black Monday in Germany, France can expect to be the industrially most powerful nation in the game between 1936-1938, though Germany will overtake it sooner or later (probably around late 1938)
Resource-wise, the CoF possesses particularly plentiful reserves of metal for export and is almost self-sufficient in energy and rare materials at least for its existing industry. That said, it often requires importing both to make up for shortfalls created by the rapid expansion of IC and trading commitments. These resource limitations present a consistent dilemma for the CoF in that its only exportable commodities are metal, supplies, and money. Everything else must be imported.
The more the latter two are traded away, the more it needs to produce consumer goods and supplies domestically, the less IC it has for other production. I prefer not to trade money and maximize supply output by letting the AI automatically select logistic wizards and avoiding reinforcing my armies for as long as possible. Eventually, we’ll have to select better generals and reinforce our armies, but by then, most of our production should be complete and we'll be able to afford it.
Another concern for the Commune is its small starting manpower pool and poor generation, which at best, can be increased to 0.54-60 via ministers & events, perhaps a little more with the anarchists. It is thus fair to say that the Commune does favour quality over quantity in production priority. You could build an infantry army, but it would be harder to maintain as it took losses. IC intensive units thus naturally reduce the overall number of divisions to a more manageable roster.
That said, if we wish to build an oil-guzzling mechanized army, we’ll have to be especially vigilant with our oil supply. This makes a CoF game of KR feel quite a lot like a German game in vanilla since there aren’t many friendly oil producers to choose from. I’ve run out of oil several times when I wasn’t paying attention and the results can be especially devastating if it happens during offensives. Don’t hesitate to trade for some oil directly when necessary. I'd suggest even when it isn't.
France can also convert some of its energy for oil production to compensate for its lack of a domestic source of oil since depending on imports can be risky. That said, it can prove rather inefficient when energy is a product we aren't particularly rich in relative to our own domestic and trading needs. For the purposes of this playthrough, however, oil is king, and I will opt for conversion until such a time I become confident our reserves can operate without energy conversion.
Part 1: Overview
The Commune borders Spain to its Southwest, the Italian Federation to its Southeast, and the Mediterranean with National French-controlled North Africa to the South. North of Paris and past the la Manche lies the friendly Union of Britain. Flanders-Wallonia, Germany, and Switzerland all lie along its Eastern border. The Eastern border represents our chief concern both in terms of its territorial claims and the threat posed by Germany during the early game when it is stronger.
While Switzerland is neutral, it still possesses a sizable French-speaking population, as does Flanders-Wallonia, Germany's replacement client Kingdom to pre-war Belgium. For added industry, we'll want to seize all potential future cores. While the Belgian-German border will require the mainstay of land forces to defend against the possibility of an early war, the Commune also shares claims on the Italian Federation with its southern-based ally, the Socialist Republic of Italy.
The military threat posed by the Papal State isn’t great, but it can escalate to war should the Anzio event chain proceed in a certain way. It thus pays to garrison this border to some extent, at least until that event passes. Spain, while neutral and pretty weak, does provide a potential second front against the Commune should the civil war produce a hostile regime. It will never have large armies, but it can still weaken our commitment to the Eastern front should it become hostile.
In addition to the land borders, there are also the sea borders to worry about, totalling 11 beaches vulnerable to amphibious landings: Marseille, Montpellier, Bordeaux, La Rochelle, Lorient, Brest, Bayeux, Caen, Dieppe, Calais, and Dunkirk. Once taken, even the Belgian beachheads of Bruges and Antwerp can become targets. Garrisoning all of them is costly but some defences are necessary. The Mediterranean presents a moderate amphibious threat from the National French.
Politically, France is a Syndicalist Republic based on pre-Communist thought. In ideological terms, it is closer to the radical left-wing ideology of the late 19th, and early 20th-century labour movements and more modern conceptions of Democratic Socialism. In gameplay terms, the CoF is defined as a dictatorship. While this is true in the sense that only radical socialist factions may contest elections, Syndicalism is in theory more democratic and less centralized than Communism.
For those who are less familiar with the details, the Bolshevik revolution was defeated in the KR timeline, leaving the ideology a lot less appealing than it became in OTL. While there are still some Communist factions left, such as the French Jacobians, its influence is limited and contrasted by other left-wing ideological alternatives. Georgia is run by a Communist remnant from the revolution, while the present Russian Bolsheviks are led by the more moderate Bukharin-led faction.
This makes left-wing thought a lot more diverse in the 20s and 30s KR timeline and reduced the pressure to create alternatives to the Moscow line, which in some cases, culminated in fascism. That is why figures such as Mussolini and Moseley remain in the broader left-wing camp as opposed to becoming the leaders of far-right movements as they did in OTL. The dominant ideologies are Anarchism, Syndicalism, Communism, and Totalism (the latter is most similar to IRL Fascism)
Between the 22nd of January and the 10th of February of 1936, elections will trigger for the Commune, pitting these four main political factions against each other. Unlike other elections that tend not to affect gameplay too much, the choice of leadership does have gameplay consequences. Some paths, such as the Jacobian will produce unique civil war events as you try to reform the Commune into a Communist state. The rest are more open-ended but still matter in various ways.
Until we get to this event chain, I recommend leaving the ideological sliders alone, since events will move them a lot anyway. The international slider is particularly easy to change via events, as is the Hawk slider more occasionally. For the most part, we’ll only be moving the mobilization slider towards standing army.
Part 2: Tech & Production
Technology-wise, we start largely with the non-brainers. A big early focus on industry with three slots to maximize those bonuses will be followed by a more restrained 1-2 teams continuing, with one alternating between air and sea doctrines while the last will focus on land doctrine. My main interest is in research, manpower, and industrial efficiency improving techs.
I do not intend to research much beyond interceptors and tactical bombers for my air force, though I might consider researching floatplanes if I decide to research 1933 subs and start a serial run of heavy subs. That would depend on IC availability. In that context, light carriers represent the easiest immediate investment, though I will probably opt to produce them without any attachments to attain better tech levels for those first rather than upgrade inferior models later.
I want to have the technology quickly so I can serially produce two lines of three that will be ready in 1941 when I’ll get the next model or move to CVs. Since this will be an IC-intensive build, I don’t want to waste too much IC on naval production. Serial-producing things in single or dual runs is a good way of spreading the cost over time. The alternative is not to invest in a navy at all. That was my prior choice, but I’ve since concluded it's better to invest a little early than catch up late.
You would think I’d have an interest in researching 1936 armoured as quickly as possible so I can start producing armoured divisions immediately. Once you pick the mobility tree, it doesn’t take too much time to research all you need to unlock armoured divisions. Until then, I can exploit the already researched motorized and armoured car techs to produce both. But there is a case to be made against armour-rushing it in the sense that by the time I expect to invade Germany, I will research my way through 3-4 tank techs leaving what I start with quite obsolete. Large armour orders tend to take most of my IC leaving little for upgrades.
That said, if I delay until I get more advanced tank techs, I won’t be able to produce that many of them, if any, before the German IC advantage starts working against me. The main question is how do you want to use your armour? Until recently, I’d built corps of 2 armoured and one motorized. That seems inefficient now, in view of the motorized division’s speed advantage. Some have even argued that armoured divisions can be entirely dispensed with in favour of motorized divisions to save tech and IC costs. What is certain is that using motorized in the same corps as armour greatly limits its utility and that they should be separate.
I’d say I am mostly in agreement that motorized divisions are more effective in terms of cost, tech, and speed. They are great for encirclements, and when equipped with ACs, possess enough firepower to stand up to most challenges. That said, there are times when they won’t be able to push through and ARM might be useful. For that reason, I recommend an early focus on motorized until several armies of them can be assembled, followed by a more limited production of armoured divisions that can benefit from the tech advantage of later research, preferably the 1939 medium model + SPAs which is the best we can get by 1940.
It comes down to when do you want to invade, around September 1939 which is the earliest date? Or closer to May 1940? Any later and you will face a fully recovered German AI able to outproduce you. If you’re aiming for 1939, then an early production run of 1936 armoured might be a better option. That said, you won’t be able to produce much more than armoured. I prefer to aim for a 1940 date for more production and tech development time, though I will admit it might be sub-optimal against German recovery. The aim will be to have 36-42 motorized divisions in 6-7 armies and 6-12 armoured divisions in one or two armies.
Edit: I've also concluded from playtesting that rushing armour isn't necessary from the get-go. Researching the 38 models in 36 is far too suboptimal, so it's better to wait until 37 for these. Artillery researches quickly and is a requirement of more advanced tank models anyway, so I've decided to research the 30 and 36 models of art first ahead of the 36 and 38 tank models. Finally, since I am more likely to serial produce more infantry divisions than cavalry, I've decided to research those first. It is also more helpful in terms of extending the window for upgrades. I don't really want too much cavalry anyway and I only want another 3 mountain.
Since we already have tank brigades equipped by our motorized divisions bringing down their speed, I will replace them with ACs. The tanks will then be assigned to 6 or so new cavalry divisions for a total of 16-18 divisions. Cavalry is not worth much investment, but since I already have 10, I might as well use them (perhaps as anti-partisan later on) I also ordered three forts in Belfort to satisfy my paranoid inclinations towards this treacherous province I’ve seen overrun a dozen times too many. This is especially relevant in view of my plan to depend largely on my starting infantry for defence along the German border.
The air base at Verdun is mostly intended for my interceptors to maximize their range. I want to be able to station a minimum of two air armies of 6 (preferably of 8) in Lille and Verdun. The Tacs will be stationed behind them at Paris and Auxerre. I am not sure how many I’ll be able to build, but again, I would prefer 2 armies of 6-8 or more if I can squeeze the IC for it. Other investments such as artillery, heavies, and the like I pursued in the Complete Guide will not be readily considered.
Heavy artillery isn’t worth the huge cost to produce. Sure, it does help blast through fortifications, but it's practically unmovable afterwards. Even the smaller speed reduction of regular artillery makes them too slow for a primarily mobile army. If I do produce limited runs of infantry, I do want them to be able to move. Perhaps an artillery army mixed with heavies and regular artillery could be useful against Serbia and during the Istanbul crossing later on, but I don't need much of it.
Part 3: Communal Elections
As my army redeploys. the Communal Elections begin in earnest. Apparently, the narrative reason is a non-confidence motion in the ruling Syndicalist-Anarchist coalition after their failure to defend the German trade union movement. Not that this will affect my choices. In the previous iteration of the Guide, my interest was mostly maximizing French manpower production to allow for a greater variation of unit type and some leeway for experimentation. This time, my interest is primarily the mobility doctrine, IC, and useful slider changes. My first vote thus goes to the Syndicalist candidate for army chief despite the dissent hit.
The alternatives would be the Sorelian firepower focus, which isn’t bad for a more diverse army build, or the Anarchist manpower focus, which gives out a useful manpower bonus but might be more costly in its use in turn. The Jacobian defence focus is, in my opinion, just a poor choice considering its limits and how France will have to take the offensive to win. I'd say mobility makes the most sense as France though firepower has some decent bonuses for motorized divisions as well.
That said, there is another consideration to be made here. The choice between a draft or standing army as slider options. Standing army is superior in almost every way to drafted army in terms of organisational and upgrade bonuses. That said, drafted army does give a significant gearing bonus when maxed. The latter can be useful for serial production. The Sorelian and Anarchist decisions push the slider to max drafted army, whereas the mobility choice pushes to near max standing.
The next office up for vote isn’t entirely clear, but it seems to refer to the police or at least its intelligence section. In-game terms, it refers to the minister for intelligence post, though it appears to have special powers beyond that in narrative terms. I like to think of it as the ministry for internal security/intelligence. The anarchists offer a dissent reduction that’s bigger than the hit I’d get for changing the minister manually and there are no real benefits for choosing anyone else. I also prefer open society to closed society as a means of lessening occupied province dissent. It’s also valuable in that I can’t manually increase this slider.
For industry, I opted for the Jacobians. They represent the largest IC bonus and increase out of all four options. The Syndicalists offer a slightly bigger IC increase without a bonus and a free-market slider move I could do without. The Anarchists a less appealing IC package with two free market moves but a higher manpower bonus. The Sorelians are basically useless since all they are offering are four infantry divisions. That might be useful for an early war game, but not for much else.
On foreign policy, the Jacobians offer a wholescale shift to the ends of Hawk and international sliders, which are very beneficial for production and diplomacy. Besides, our goal IS world revolution! (more or less) The Sorelians aren’t too far off from them, though they don't give you as much in terms of slider movement, and both give Germany a slight gearing bonus event as a penalty. The Syndicalists and Anarchists don’t annoy the Germans but don’t help me much either.
While I’ve chosen what I’d consider the optimal choices, they aren’t optimal in terms of deciding the elections for any faction, since three choices are required for a winner at a minimum. Of the three compromises, I think the first (the two Leons) offers the best prime minister and president (whom I can’t change) since both lower consumer goods demand. That's particularly useful in maximizing IC use in what is an IC-focused game aimed at expensive IC-heavy projects.
The 2nd compromise option produces a -30% hit to money production I really dislike along with other penalties and no particularly good bonuses. The 3rd compromise brings back the decent bonuses of Pivert (50% bonus to money production) but tempers it with the anarchist president who delivers a 5% hit to organisation regain and consumer goods demand. The latter isn't too bad but still annoying especially if you're using a drafted army.
You can get better options if you let one of the factions win. The Anarchists give you Makhno who has some of the best unique traits of any minister in the game. Letting the Syndicalists (Travailleur) win and recall Pivert without the anarchist president (who you can replace with the anarchists as well) is also viable. Sorelians and Jacobians purge too many useful ministers and generals, especially the Sorelians who eliminate your best admiral, to the point I generally avoid letting them win.
That said, the first compromise option you get without an outright winner really isn’t too shabby. Taken together, they reduce consumer goods demand by 15%, which you can enhance to 25% if you replace the interior minister (though a 10% boost to manpower might be equally useful) The minuses you get to belligerence to DoW aren’t a big deal since most wars will start via event decisions and by the time you actually need to manually declare war you will be pretty beligerent.
The other positive of the first option is that I got an armaments minister with a 10% bonus to IC. Once I can do it without increasing dissent during the international congress, I will change my chief of staff for one with a manpower bonus, my interior minister for a bonus in consumer goods, and possibly my army chief. Unfortunately, the Commune doesn't get great choices for naval commander so I don't bother with it. A move to standing army is enough for now.
In conclusion, I'd rank election choices as follows:
Army Doctrine:
1 - Travailleur (+5 dissent, mobility, +5 standing army)
2 - Sorelian (- 1 dissent, firepower, +2 drafted army)
3 - Anarchist (+1 dissent, manpower, + 5 drafted army)
4 - Jacobian (-1 dissent, defensive, +2 standing army)
Intelligence:
1 - Anarchist (-5 dissent, +2 open society)
2 - Travailleur (- 1 dissent, +1 open society)
3 - Sorelian (+1 dissent, +1 closed society)
4 - Jacobian (+5 dissent, +2 closed society)
Interior:
1 - Anarchist (+1 dissent, +50 manpower, +2 open society)
2 - Travailleur (+5 dissent, +100 manpower, +1 open society)
3 - Sorelian (-1 dissent, -50 manpower, +4 closed society)
4 - Jacobian (-5 dissent, -100 manpower, +3 closed society)
Industry:
1 - Jacobian (+10 IC, +3 planned economy, +10% pop growth, +5% industrial efficiency)
2 - Travailleur (+12 IC, +2 free market, +10% pop growth)
3 - Anarchist (+8 IC, + 3 free market, + 25% pop growth)
4 - Sorelian (+4 infantry divisions, +2 planned economy, +10% pop growth)
Foreign:
1 - Jacobian (+5 hawk lobby, +7 internationalism, socialists love you, imperialists hate you, Germany gets a buff)
2 - Sorelian (+ 3 hawk lobby, +2 internationalism, imperialists really hate you, Germany gets a buff)
3 - Travailleur (+1 dove lobby, +5 internationalism, socialists love you)
4 - Anarchists (+1 dove lobby, +1 internationalism, socialists like you, imperialists don't like you)
Overall Results:
1 - Travailleur (A - Souvarine & Johaux B - Pivert & Johaux)
2 - No Winner (A - Blum & Johaux B - Recall Pivert)
3 - Anarchist (Makhno, 3rd place because Guerin sucks)
4 - Sorelian or Jacobian (either one can trash things a bit)
EDIT: These represent my personal preferences and the preferences of this build. For different builds, other options may work better, though as a rule, the 4th option is whatever I think really isn't worth it under any circumstances (apart from the overall results, which are more RP-centric) Mobility isn't a manpower-intensive doctrine and, as such, doesn't really need to buff manpower. You are, therefore, free to focus on industry-improving choices it will consume a lot of. Other doctrines are more likely to be manpower-consuming both in the build-up phase and in reinforcement but they won't cost as much IC making it less important.
In other words, say you want to play a specific government faction necessitating three picks from that faction's proposals, you should make the other two choices according to what plays off the faction picks. If you really want to play Jacobian, for example, then I'd suggest still picking Travailleur for mobility doctrine to fully benefit from Jacobian industrialization and the anarchist intelligence chief for the dissent reduction. The Jacobian path entails a potentially large dissent hit making dissent reduction a more pressing issue than in other builds. The otherwise poor -100 manpower Jacobian option thus becomes a viable cost alternative.
An anarchist playthrough would most benefit from a Jacobian foreign policy and either Jacobian industry or travailleur interior depending on how manpower/IC intensive your production is. The travailleurs benefit the most from jacobian foreign policy and an anarchist intelligence chief. The Sorelians benefit the most from Jacobian industry and either travailleur or anarchist interior depending on how much you want manpower vs open society to control none-core regions. The overall best choices, IMO, are travailleur for doctrine, anarchist for intelligence, anarchist for interior, Jacobian for industry, and Jacobian for foreign policy.
Part 4: Deployments
The Commune of France arguably has the strongest starting land forces disposition in the game after Germany. The Russian army is understrength and pathetically obsolete at least in the beginning of the game. Austria and Italy have medium-sized infantry armies. While The Union of Britain, National France, and Canada barely have anything worthy of the title. Ukraine is arguably one of the most dangerous early-game armies though Germany tends not to use it that much.
While Germany does outnumber us by about a third and probably two times over if you count its vassals, it needs some of its divisions to cover its Eastern European and imperial interests. France has less immediate ground to cover and is thus better able to concentrate its forces. With 43 (49 +Mar & Mnt) infantry divisions, the Commune is not far off Germany's 69, That said, of these 43 infantry divisions, only 13 are modern 1931 models whereas the rest are up to 1926/21 standards.
The German infantry is more universally modern 1931 models by comparison. For that reason, I like to use the extra IC I gained via the election events towards immediate upgrades rather than production (while also avoiding using it for consumer goods) The extensive mobile core you start the game with is quite up-to-date, consisting of six motorized divisions and ten cavalry divisions; double the starting German mobile force in comparison. Both motorized and cavalry divisions have light and medium tank brigades attached to them starting at the best possible tech available making them a solid basis for your army.
Most of the mobile forces minus 3 cavalry divisions are stationed on the Belgian border where they’ll be able to facilitate a rapid capture of the country in the event of war. The Northern army group stretching from Dunkirk to Verdun thus has 6 motorized, 7 cavalry, 24 infantry, and one field HQ totalling 38 divisions. 6 interceptors are also stationed at Lille. The Southern group of armies completes my defensive line against Germany at Chaumont and Belfort.
The former, while consisting of only 6 INF since it only has one provincial border with Germany does benefit from having fully reinforced divisions. The army of 12 INF at Belfort consists of all my heavy and regular artillery brigades so that they’re able to assist to maximum effect against both Nancy and Colmar when I attack and provide the most vulnerable point on my line with superior firepower. I don’t expect to produce many if any, more artillery-equipped divisions so I figured it would be better to concentrate them in one place. My bomber force of 6 TACs is stationed at Auxerre along with one interceptor at Marseilles.
My forces on the Italian border consist of 1 infantry division covering the Swiss Border area. 3 cavalry divisions below it able to both cover that region of the border and quickly assist the other armies. 3 mountaineer divisions defending Grenoble which is most exposed to Italian attack. And finally, 3 marine divisions covering the coast and the Toulon Italian land border. I might want to eventually put some garrisons there to free up the marines for amphibious operations.
All my battleships and their escorts are stationed in a 30-ship-sized fleet at Marseilles where they will stay under the protective umbrella of airpower and anti-air. My 5 transports and a seaplane carrier form a temporary ad hoc transport fleet stationed near the battleships. A smaller detachment of faster battlecruisers & escorts is stationed at Bordeaux to see off any landing attempts in the west. All 5 submarines are stationed at Brest for easy access to German shipping.
Part 5: Conclusions & Song
This concludes my set-up phase. The next chapter will cover production and international events leading up to the war with Germany. In the interests of keeping an otherwise extensive corpus of material brief, I will mostly note my intentions versus the force I ended up with and the lessons we can learn from any shortcomings that might arise. Overall, I intend to build motorized, CVLs, destroyers, a little infantry, mountain/marines, interceptors, tacs, and armoured divisions.
I will briefly cover how far I was able to take tech trading in terms of income and how much I was able to increase my research and infrastructure bonuses. Finally, I will note how international events unfolded and where I had to intervene to produce a result consistent with this guide's 5 points. It may take a while to put all of it together with limited gaming time but I hope to post at the end of the month. That said, it will depend on how busy I am with my studies IRL.
Until then, allow me to conclude with my newly found (but relevant!) anime obsession:
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