We Come In Peace - A 1939 Germany AAR

[mork29]

We Come In Peace
1939 Germany
v1.2 w/ AI Production and Research Improvement Mods​

While trying to think of a name for my AAR, I suddenly remembered the scene from Mars Attacks where they begin attacking earth, and shouting "We come in peace" over the loudspeakers. It made me laugh. Seeing as I couldn't come up with a good name, I decided on a funny and completely inappropriate name for the AAR, as it will be all about conquest!

Why Germany 1939? Well, I'm not a big fan of naval combat, so Italy, UK, Japan, and others are simply not options, and Germany is always a safe bet for a fun time. I'm also not very confident in the AI's ability to build up from '36-'39, so I'm going with a '39 start. I'm also using the AI Research and Production improvements to try and help the AI along a bit.

This is a bit of a learning game. I've played a few partial games (USA, Brazil, Italy) and learned a bit from them, but I'm curious to try out some new things, even if they don't seem like a "good idea". I'll avoid gamey tactics, and will not be cheating or editing save games (unless it corrects a bug that ruins enjoyment, to include things that make life to easy). If you catch me doing something gamey, feel free to chime in.

This will be a gameplay AAR, as I'm not very talented when it comes to "creative writing", but I may make some posts from a slightly "in character" perspective.

This will also be my first attempt at writing an AAR, but I've read countless ones. I'm fully open to constructive criticism in both gameplay and AAR posting style/format. Thanks for reading!

 

[mork29]

Eastern OOB​

Heeresgruppe Nord consists of the 3rd and 4th Armies
Heeresgruppe Sud consists of the 8th, 10th, and 14th

I didn't modify the initial OOB much, with the exception of brining corps and divisions that were previously attached directly to the Army Group and Theatre level, and bring them into a proper order. I'm not going to go for any type of historical accuracy here, and will also not focus to much on OOB Micromanagement. With the flaws demonstrated with using the AI at a level lower than the theatre AI, I'll be controlling units myself.

My primary push will be trying to link up the 8th, 10th, and 3rd Armies around Warsaw. The 4th Army in the north will make an eastern push primarily in the North, while the 14th simply keeps the pressure up by making steady progress to the north.

There is obviously nothing fancy here. I'll hopefully be able to ignore a large portion of the Polish units in the northwest, and create an oversized pocket there to deal with at my leisure.

 

[mork29]

Technology

I don't see a need to waste your bandwidth with a million screenshots for the tech I'm researching. I'll be focusing on Infantry, Armor, Industrial Production, Land doctrines, and Air doctrines.

Heavy and Light aircraft don't have much to research, although I'm doing some bomber/transport techs.

Anything that increases IC or leadership is of course being researched, and my Oil Refining and Energy to Oil conversion techs still aren't 1944 (like most of the others), so I'm working on those as well.

Medium tanks are my current focus there, but light tanks may get some love once I finish researching for Mechanized infantry.

I'll give more detailed updates here as techs finish and I make additional decisions here.

As far as my slider choices, I'll likely be playing with the officer slider to find a good balance and keep my officers at 100%. I'd love to hear if anybody has some insight there. My Espionage is fairly low, and I'm likely to lower it further, as at this point in the game, I don't see much use for spies. I am considering raising the threat of the key allied nations to hopefully keep the US out of the war a bit longer, but I'm not sure how successful that will be, as we're already pretty late in the game for any big changes. I'll likely be using my spies almost exclusively to disrupt production, research, or something similar for my enemies. Again, any thoughts here on what Germany should be doing with its spies at this point is welcome.

 

[mork29]

Politics

I've got those nice strict laws in place.

A couple of Minister changes also. Goebbels is in as the Security Minister. I have no need to lower neutrality and the NSDAP's organization and support levels are plenty high already, so that extra leadership should be nice.

I've also placed Albrecht in the navy spot, as I'm not likely to be building any capital ships, although some destroyers are a distinct possibility later on.

 

[mork29]

Production

I cancelled the Heavy Cruiser and one of the Battleships, as neither was very far along, and I don't plan on having much need for either. I have to face the reality that I won't be a naval power. That being said, the other BB and the CV were 8 months and 1 year along in production respectively, and I simply can't bring myself to give up that many free IC days. This probably isn't a very practical choice, but having a BB and CV is just cool anyways

The subs will actually come in handy, and I also added some transports. The subs will be useful for disrupting allied shipping (and possibly helping the Italians in the Med), and I'm not sure if I may want to attempt a Sea Lion, in which case i'll need some transports. I'll also be needing them if I want to send troops into N. Africa. I currently have no plans on attacking the US mainland, as it just doesn't seem right....

My Land focus is in Armor. My divisions are currently Armor x 2 + Mot x 1. I like my Mobile units to still pack a punch, hence the decision to go with 2 Armor.

I've also start building a transport plane and an Airborne unit. If I decide to Sea Lion, they'll be very useful, and I'm sure I'll find work for them even if I leave the UK alone. I already have 1 Trans Plane so I'll likely start production on another AB Unit soon. I've also started work on a Strat. I plan on building up that force even more later, along with additional CAS and INTs.

Some Infantry and MPs round out my initial production queue. I did have one screenshot bug, so you can't see some additional Armor I queued up (1 or 2 more divisions). I'm going to try to maintain 75-80% on my upgrades and re-enforcements. I'll be trying to maintain my current stockpile of supplies, and consumer goods will stay matching need.

You'll notice a trade deal selling energy to Italy has been established already. I was greeted with that good news as soon as I entered the game. I have a surplus of over 600 energy right now, so the chance to turn that into some cash is more than welcome. I'll likely try and turn around and start buying some oil or possibly rares/metals if possible, as I believe those will be my largest shortfalls, am I correct in that?

I've also attached my initial military unit numbers. Germany starts with a nice balance of everything it needs. The additional Armor will likely be the most useful item that I'm currently producing, and additional air power will become more of a priority later on once the naval units finish.

 

[mork29]

Diplomacy & Intelligence​

I'm currently "Supporting Our Party" in Turkey, Nationalist Spain, and Hungary. These are likely the only countries I'll make any type of effort to bring into the Axis fold. SU and GBR are the only hostile countries I'll make any real effort to use my spies. I'll try and raise the threat in GBR to keep the US away, and I'm not sure what to do with my large red neighbors to the east. I'll probably be disrupting production or tech.

Not many options for me diplomatically. I've thought about influencing the US to keep them away from the allies even more, but I feel this is almost a bit to gamey. My only real goal would be to keep them from entering to much before mid-41, but I don't think I'm going to actually bother. I may regret this later if they involve themselves very early. At least their neutrality starts at 100, which the highest threat against them being 4 (Hungary). I have a feeling a new nation may take that spot though.....

Initial Goals, Plans, Objectives, etc...​

I've already outlined my plans for my the conquest of Poland. I'll likely swing almost my entire eastern force, with the exception of probably a single army (or even less) over to the west to attack those pretty little countries north of the Maginot line. I'll show you my Western OOB and initial deployment when we reach that point. After the conquest of Western Europe, I don't really have any solid plans. I'd like to go for a Sea Lion. I might consider this a bit gamey, except the UK's attempts at an attack will probably be very weak anyways. Given the current game mechanics, I'd also be dealing with some pretty heavy damage from STRATs unless I leave a ridiculously sized airforce in the west. I'll likely devote units to North Africa right away, to ensure Italy doesn't screw things up to badly there. I'm not sure how much time I'll have after I'm done with France to take care of Northern Europe and Scandinavia, in addition to the southeastern European nations before I have to deal with the Rooskies. Hopefully I can have those loose ends tied up nice and quickly. I know those Romanian oil fields will certainly be critical to secure. I'm leaving most of that up in the air, and I'll deal with those decisions as they happen. I'd love to hear anybodies thoughts on these grand strategy decisions and timelines, but I also look forward to being surprised and making mistakes

 

[Myth]

Looking good so far, let's see how you do from here on!