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Crusader Kings III Available Now!
The realm rejoices as Paradox Interactive announces the launch of Crusader Kings III, the latest entry in the publisher’s grand strategy role-playing game franchise. Advisors may now jockey for positions of influence and adversaries should save their schemes for another day, because on this day Crusader Kings III can be purchased on Steam, the Paradox Store, and other major online retailers.
I guess many people probably would classify LT vz.34 as an LT, I think I actually mixed up vz.34 and vz.35, as the latter had thicker armor. It was quite hard for me to rework the tank techs for HPP (I've actually looked on it today), but I hope I got it relatively right. With some luck, you'll see reworked Czechoslovakia in the next HPP version!Point taken
Warriors of the North said:
The year 1938 began with more Japanese gains in China. Nanjing had fallen, while the capital of the Communists was surrounded on all sides. The Ma were holding out, and the Republic had managed to form a semi-stable line south of their captured capital. However, this was not seen at the time as doing much good. The Japanese had only seemed to slow down due to supply and manpower issues, at least according to what the shrunken Swedish intelligence agency was able to gather.
This did little to improve the situation however. The Chinese were not lacking for manpower, but they were running critically short of advanced materials to run their war machine. Most of their stockpiles had likely been seized at Nanjing, due to the pace of the Japanese advance. Of course, the Japanese could have had their own problems running that much territory, but they were prudent.
Using the captured Nanjing, the Japanese set up a collaboration government. While Jingwei's regime was considered illegitimate at best, and only controlled part of China that had been taken by the Japanese, it still provided much needed relief to the Island Nation. Now, the Rising Sun could march south without worrying as much about the encircled Communists or partisans behind the lines.
Meanwhile, back in Sweden, efforts continued to be made to rebuild the military. The Czechoslovakians sent some of their tank crews to Stockholm to help train the Swedes in the use of the new LT 34's, in exchange for more Swedish metal. This partnership was in some ways closer than even the German one had been, as the Czech's and Swedes got along remarkably well. Though it would take more than a few Czechoslovak tanks to truly counter a larger nation.
Like the Greater German Reich.
Propaganda photo from the former German/Austrian Border
While the government in Stockholm had been willing to overlook German actions like the Rhineland, this was pushing things. Sweden, at the time, wanted to believe that Berlin was merely dragging itself out of the Great Depression and the ruin of the Weimar era with their previous actions. But, German speaking or not, there was no reason that they should have annexed Austria. A protest was placed in the German Embassy, but little was expected to come of it.
The Czechoslovaks helping with the tanks were understandably more worried than the Swedes, considering their nation was now surrounded on both sides by Germany, with a sizable German minority. This worry grew rather larger when the German military mobilized. Why the Nazi's would feel a need to mobilize their army was anyone's guess, though the Swedish intelligence network tried to find out. Unfortunately, the German cells were even more emaciated than the rest of the network, and nothing could be gained.
German soldiers marching on the Polish border.
The French soon mobilized their own army, likely worried the Germans would try to take back Alsace-Lorraine next. Sweden didn't follow these examples, choosing instead to cling to their neutrality and use it to continue improving the small military. Among other moves, specialized Garrison divisions were trained, to guard the various Swedish ports in an effort to release the more mobile infantry for other uses.
To help command the expanding Swedish Army, a dedicated Army was formed for the south of the nation. Germany was quickly being seen as a greater threat than any other nearby nation (up to, and including, the Soviets) and the south was too close for comfort. It would be some time before enough troops would be raised to fill out the Southern Army, but having the command network in place was seen as a prudent measure.
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Sorry for the long delay everyone. Paper took longer than I expected it to, but I'm back now! I'm also sorry for the lack of Swedish events this time around...literally nothing happened on the home-front, aside from a couple (very minor) tech advances and another militia event. That being said, I'm actually trying to code a custom event or two myself right now, though I have no experience with modding. Those will be in the next update, provided I get them to work. We'll see on that front.
Let me know what you think!
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I think this is great. I don't remember seeing a Swedish AAR in my brief time here (though I'm sure someone, somewhere must have), so this is quite a treat for me. I find it to be well-written and very easy to follow.
Keep up the good work, and best of luck with the custom modding events. Let us know how it goes, whether you decide to implement them in the next update or not.
So it appears as if you're taking Sweden the route of the Allies. I always envisioned this was the path they would take (although the historic iron trade has always been a point of debate). I can't quite remember what book I read, it was a fictional dealing with "WWIII" where there was a chapter on a Soviet invasion of Europe and the Swedes got involved, although decimated by the Soviets, they put up a heroic fight and crippled the Soviet Union's forces involved in the process. I might rummage through my library and dig it out for future reference. Nevertheless, very interested to see what happens next as the war has begun in Europe even if you're not involved yet.
I haven't been here long either, but I did look through old threads before I picked a nation...there have been only a handful of Swede AAR's for HOI. Glad you like mine!
As for the modding, no dice though I'm still simulating in-story what I was trying to do (though, as it turns out, that has to wait a bit longer than anticipated anyway).
Glad you liked it! And yep, things are getting hotter, especially in China.
Allies seems like the only option really. Comintern has nothing to work with (at all) and Germany gave up, letting Britain swoop in. I think I'm actually fully in the Ally camp now, I just can't quite join due to my neutrality meaning there isn't a high enough threat against me (yet). That sounds like an interesting book too, might have to try tracking it down myself.
@everyone: I'm hoping to update tonight, though we'll see. Thankfully, this is the last chapter before '39, so the war itself is only a little bit off now.
Warriors of the North said:
News from Germany once again caused waves of shock in Stockholm. The German government had forcibly taken part of the Czechoslovakia, claiming that it was ethnically German, and thus their right to take. The British and French, despite having an alliance with the Czech's, did absolutely nothing to stop Hitler. The Sudetenland went to Germany, along with all the defenses the Czechoslovakians had painstakingly built. Even worse, was the fact that the Sudetenland was some of the most prosperous territory of the new nation...taking that territory might as well have crippled any defenses the Czechoslovaks had, in addition to making it very difficult to defend the rump that was left.
The Czechoslovakians in Sweden were quiet when they received the news, though their Swedish counterparts reported that their eyes were hard with suppressed anger.
The Munich Conference...no Czechoslovakian diplomats were present at the 'Great Betrayal'.
To rub salt in the wound, from the Czech and Swedish perspective, Chamberlain paraded around Britain declaring 'Peace in Our Time' as Czech's and Slovaks were forced to live in the now German territory. Instead of helping their ally, the Entente had given them up as a bartering chip in a mad desire to avoid another war. Stockholm understood the desire for neutrality, but that didn't mean they didn't log a strongly worded protest with the German Embassy once more, in addition to the British and French compounds.
As much as Munich dominated European news and politics at the time, work continued in Sweden. In this case, the shipbuilders in Malmo had been hard at work to design a battlecruiser, to replace the Sverige-class as the flagship of the Swedish Navy. The ship was in its early design phases when the news from Munich hit, though there were preliminary models built to study.
The new battlecruiser's preliminary design, Project 921
The design, as it sat, would be able to stand up to older British ships, or the new German Panzerschiffe. More heavily armed than the Sverige, with three triple 14-inch main guns, and four dual six-inch weapons as its main armament. However, as promising as this design was, none in the Swedish command expected construction to begin for at least a couple more years. Time needed to be devoted to developing the new guns, Bofors being given the task as they had built the 11-inch weapons currently in use on the Sverige and her sisters. Not to mention building a drydock capable of servicing the hypothetical ship.
With that out of the way, we move back to events outside Europe. In China, the Sino-Japanese war continued into its second year. The Japanese continued to push further and further south. After holding out with all his territory taken, Mao Zedong was forced to surrender as Japanese and Jingwei troops stormed his last holdout.
Reports are divided on his eventual fate, though it was certain he was never seen in China again.
What remained of the Communist forces were folded into the Republic's forces, while their territory was given to Jingwei's regime in Nanjing. It is believed the fall of the Communist Chinese is what finally brought Xinjiang into the war, their leadership joining the United Front that had been proclaimed by Chiang Kai-shek early in the war. These fresh forces, if inexperienced, allowed for the Chinese troops that had been fighting the war to this point some valuable time to rest and recover. Once again the front stabilized somewhat, though it was dangerously close to the few remaining major cities in the Republic.
Most analysts at the time considered it a miracle that China had lasted this long. None expected them to last much longer.
Meanwhile, back in Europe, the woes of the Czech's continued.
A coup attempted to overthrow the government. None at the time were certain who was behind this coup, though the timing suggested the Germans might have been to blame. Either in supporting it to further destabilize the Czechoslovak nation, or in their taking of the Sudetenland leaving the government looking weak in the eyes of its people. Either way, the coup failed though it left the Czech's even weaker than before.
Worry abounded as the year ended...and the world looked darker with each passing day.
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While I can't seem to get modding working, at least I can still make models!
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Starting to build a BC with 1918 tech seems rather pointless as any new German ship will be at least 1936 tech, except of course the 2 old ones.
Yes, I am also worrying that the battlecruiser project is a luxury that Sweden can't really afford and perhaps doesn't need. The thing I think I would be most concerned about is having enough air cover to protect my naval bases - because there's probably nowhere that's beyond the reach of German naval bombers.
This I know. I pointed that out in the chapter actually 'none in the Swedish Command expected construction to begin for at least a couple years'
In other words, I was saying 'I need to research guns and such' in the section where it described giving the guns to Bofors and all.
Another reason why a hypothetical BC is several years off. I need to have enough air cover first. The main reason it's even being researched is a storypoint...the Swedes don't expect to be in a war until its done. Most likely, when the war kicks off, attention will go back to heavy cruisers (or pocket battleships really).
Technically speaking, I'm not even researching BC stuff right now. Mostly infantry techs and getting the Heavy Cruiser techs up to snuff (in that regard, I am leading Germany). A BC is indeed a luxury project, something I know, but I'm trying to roleplay a bit, since the Swedes have no idea a war is less than a year away. To them, they have plenty of time to develop the techs needed to build a capital ship.
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I certainly hope so.
Most likely true for the immediate future at any rate. No real way, other than sitting out the war until '41 or so (which I can technically do, since the Swedes are never attacked) for me to build new ships in time for the war. Thus, my production right now is mostly infantry with a couple ships being upgraded.
As said above, Army is getting the lions share of the production at the moment
YepDid you make the ship model yourself? Looks like a nice piece of work regardless.
Rather proud of that model actually.
@everyone: Update will be either tonight or tomorrow.
Warriors of the North said:
The increased work being put into modernizing every aspect of Sweden, was bound to have problems eventually. The railroads were being pushed to their limits in transporting materials to the docks, or troops to their new stations. Unsurprisingly, the railroad unions were tired of the work with the old wages and safety regulations. With all the money flowing in from the materials trade, they demanded better wages.
While the government could have ignored them or sent in the army, events abroad made even a large workers strike rather less of a problem than it should have been, so the government merely agreed to the demands. It would mean a bit less money and supplies while work was put into improving things to satisfy the unionists, but it was better than nothing.
After all, there was a rather more important issue that would soon come up.
The partitioning of Czechoslovakia
Germany had finished the job they had started the previous year. Czechoslovakia, a nation that had only existed for twenty years, was no more. The formal government had fled to Britain, while the rump that remained was ruled by an 'independent' Slovakia. The whole world was shocked by this turn of events. The Sudetenland had been German...but the rest of the nation wasn't. This was a blatant act of disregard for Germany's neighbors, even more so than the Anschluss had been.
It also left the volunteers in Sweden without a home to return to. The Czech tanker's were given the option to return home, with Swedish escorts to make sure they weren't accosted by any Germans. However, the trainers elected to stay in Sweden (with the caveat that the now-defunct embassy in Prague work with the new one in Bratislava to get their families out of Germany). These Czechoslovak volunteers became the crews of the first tank division in Sweden, by virtue of having more experience with the LT 34's than the Swedes did.
The First Volunteer Brigade. There was a second Czech Brigade, and a single Slovak Brigade in the Volunteer Division
These troops had a valid reason to fight, and a valid reason to want to stay in Sweden. If they had gone home, they would have (at best) been forced to disarm and turn their weaponry, tanks and all, over to the Germans who had occupied their homeland. Alternatively, the Slovaks amongst them would have to serve the German puppet Tiso, something they were leery of. So they elected to stay as an independent force, albeit under the overall command of the Swedish Army, until such time as the 'Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia' was removed and Czechoslovakia reinstated.
While the Swedes were communicating with the Czechoslovak Government in Exile about the volunteers, Britain and France finally showed they had not, in fact, lost their respective spines. The partitioning of the Czech's was the final straw, and both of these nations knew that Poland (specifically Danzig) would likely be the next target. To cut this off, the Entente powers guaranteed the borders of the Poles, and offered them admittance to the new alliance being tossed around in the western capitals.
The Polish government gladly accepted...despite taking a chunk of Czechoslovakia themselves, they didn't want to run the risk of Germany coming for Danzig next. Especially with the work being put into rearming the German war machine...something the Poles stood little real chance against, bolstered as it was by Skoda and Austrian materials.
Moving away from Europe for a time, we come to Japan. The Chinese had been forced back to a relatively small enclave around their capital, the Quanxi Clique, and a larger pocket north of Yunnan's territory. Most of the Japanese Army was tied up in trying to break these pockets, and the last of the Ma's resistance. Only a token force was left on the border with the Soviets and their puppets in Mongolia. Even this token force managed to ignite a border conflict however.
This quickly ignited into a full declaration of War between the Soviets and their puppets (Mongolia and tiny Tannu Tuva) and the Japanese with their puppets in Manchuko and China proper. After less than a month of fighting however, the war was called off. Japan didn't have the troops to commit to a full-scale war in the north, not with the Chinese Republic continuing to fight in the south. And Stalin had crippled his officer corps to the point that he wasn't willing to risk a war either.
However, one nation was willing to fight a war with a mighty opponent...
Evidently defeating the Ethiopians wasn't enough for Mussolini and the Italians. The next target was little Albania, a state that couldn't possibly stand up to a Great Power...even a relatively weak one like Italy. However, Zog and his people were made of sterner stuff than the Italians expected. Despite lacking a Navy, and maintaining an army of only a pair of Militia Divisions. Certainly not enough to stand up to a determined assault by the Italians.
Yet, Albania would remain independent, a couple months after the demands for annexation. The Italians did not launch any attacks, seemingly content with letting the Albanians run themselves dry. Nor did any nation actively help the Albanians. It was a stalemate, though the only option that was likely was the defeat of Zog.
The World was inching closer to War, and the only question was...would Sweden be ready?
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Interesting note, though I'm not including a screenshot...Italy was influenced by Britain to the point where it was halfway up the pyramid to the Allied side at one point. I've never seen an Allied Italy, and that would have been quite interesting (Germany would certainly overrun them, but it would open another front at least). However, Hitler decided he didn't like that and started influencing Italy back to the Axis camp. It's kinda stuck in the middle (though moving slowly towards the Axis) due to the competing influences now.
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The Third World War: The Untold Story is the book, found it after a small dig through my library and found the sections! It's an okay (slightly above average read from what I recall).
I do like how, being Sweden in the prewar (lead up to the war) phase, you are primarily focusing on what else is going on in the world and how it relates back to you! Of course, I can't wait to see where you take Sweden once the world descends into war, which should be very soon!
I do like how, being Sweden in the prewar (lead up to the war) phase, you are primarily focusing on what else is going on in the world and how it relates back to you! Of course, I can't wait to see where you take Sweden once the world descends into war, which should be very soon!
Japan joined a few months ago in-game if I remember right.
Glad you like it!
At this point, I'm not planning on going to war until the Germans invade Denmark (Plan 1) or Norway if Denmark falls even quicker than normal (Plan 2). Since I'm roleplaying to a certain extent, I don't think the Swedes would join until Germany started directly threatening them (by going for the other Scandinavians). Who knows in the long run though
@everyone: Working on the screenshots right now, so I might be able to post tonight if my wifi cooperates.
STOP! COOKIE TIME