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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.
If I may make a suggestion: Slovakia. Perhaps you should try to push through western Slovakia to the Hungarian border, to try and pocket all of those Soviet units that are in eastern Austria? The terrain might be easier there, since I think eastern Slovakia is mostly mountains?
I have been following your campaign for quite a while now, and have been finding it very interesting, especially given your current predicament against the mighty Red Army! Have you considered trying to convince some more countries to join your side as allies? Perhaps Finland, Italy, Hungary, and Yugoslavia could be convinced to join your side? Not exactly the Avengers when it comes to allies, but at this point, anything would be better than nothing. And, as others have already said, you need to get some big encirclements going, or else you will never be able to regain momentum...
Good luck! And No Pasaran!!!
I have been following your campaign for quite a while now, and have been finding it very interesting, especially given your current predicament against the mighty Red Army! Have you considered trying to convince some more countries to join your side as allies? Perhaps Finland, Italy, Hungary, and Yugoslavia could be convinced to join your side? Not exactly the Avengers when it comes to allies, but at this point, anything would be better than nothing. And, as others have already said, you need to get some big encirclements going, or else you will never be able to regain momentum...
Good luck! And No Pasaran!!!
Nice to hear, I also need a little break from war updates!
Slovakia is one of the options. As for the allies I have been trying it without any success, being democratic closes any chance of allying with those countries you mentioned and some others I tried as Bulgaria or Persia...the result is always the same, 0% chance.
You could always coup one of the baltic states or sweden or finland to get their interventionism up and influence them wit trade deals of 0.1 at a time(you have plenty of those asgermany) to join you. that would be somewhat of a help.
Nope, it does not matter how high are my relations with them,, the chance is still 0%. Believe me, I´ve tried with all the countries in Europe!
Intermission: Quo vadis, Germania?
While the war continued both in the east and in the west, and as thousands of young Germans died in defense of their homeland so dreadfully threatened by the specter of communism, another conflict was taking place in Germany, less bloody and undeclared, but also full of intrigue, fights and irreconcilable hatreds. Despite Chancellor Vogel´s calls for the need to remain united and to form a great national covenant that prevented a new fragmentation of German society, truth was that the deep fracture within the German society that seemed to disappear during the economic resurgence of the country started to resurge as the war became unfavorable to the Reich. SPD’s decision to disregard requests for early elections was not warmly received by the opposition, who generally stated that the Social Democrats had come to the government in times of peace, and therefore the people should be consulted again now that a war was on. However, the Chancellor did not change his opinion and opted for continuing in office until 1945, when the new elections were to be held.
Current German Government, led by Hans Vogel
However, the recent conflict with both the Western Allies and the Soviet Union had completely changed the German political spectrum. Apparently, the SPD was still the strongest party, and promoted a continuation of the war to avoid a new economic and social disaster like the one caused by the Treaty of Versailles, and while many of the voters were tired of wars and struggles, the fact is that the allies doctrine of "total victory” was not kindly contemplated by the majority of the Germans as a valid alternative to war.
Part of the DNVP was opposed to this policy of continuing the war, considering that the consequences of not negotiating with the Western Allies could be worse than any new treaty imposed by the victors. According to Hugenberg, it was necessary to submit to the Western powers in order to prevent the country being engulfed by the Soviet Union, and he even claimed that the Allies would understand the German view and also end up fighting with Germany to defeat communism. This position was also supported by the most conservative politicians from the Zentrum, who were also concerned about the possible consequences of a Soviet annexation, much more terrible in appearance to any peace treaty the Allies could impose.
However, the leaking of a report known as the "Suggested Post- Surrender Program for Germany" or "Morgenthau’s memorandum" was a major blow to the supporters of this appeasement doctrine, as the American plan did not contemplate any peace agreement, but a total annihilation of the German state. According to the report, Germany would be demilitarized and should pay large war reparations. Such clauses could have been considered as more or less logical in any peace treaty, but the problem existed with the other provisions of the protocol, which established the need to divide Germany into several independent states and to annex or internationalize the Ruhr area and other German industrial zones, turning the country into a nation mostly agrarian and backward. This doctrine was more or less confirmed in the Casablanca Conference, where Roosevelt and Churchill would affirm that the Allies would accept only “an unconditional surrender “of the Axis powers.
Roosevelt and Churchill stated that "We do mean to impose punishment and retribution upon the guilty and barbaric German leaders"
This statement resulted in the end of any hope of a negotiated peace with the Allies, and also a serious blow to the aspirations of the DNVP. While the party quickly condemned such statements and said that they now supported the continuation of the war to “prevent the end of the German identity," much of the electorate started to contemplate the liberal FDP as an alternative to the DNVP. Together with the increasing influence of the right-wing of the Zentrum, the situation turned into both parties occupying the same political ground, while the liberals quickly gained support among the German population. After months of negotiations, the DNVP and the Zentrum, wanting to prevent a political disaster, accepted to merge into a sole organization and formed the Christian Democratic Union, the new conservative alternative to the SPD that aimed at attracting voters from both former parties. To distance themselves from the DNVP policies of a negotiated peace Konrad Adenauer, former right-wing politician of the Zentrum , was elected as party leader in mid- 1943 by a large majority. This merger also entailed that the moderate sector of the Zentrum switched their support to the liberal FDP, who was clearly becoming the third German party with clear potential to act as a balance of power in the German politics. For its part, the BVP did not accept the conditions of the CDU to form a coalition, and continued as a conservative and autonomist alternative in in Bavaria.
The four main democratic forces, respectively led by Vogel, Adenauer, Heuss and Held
More complicated was the situation of the KPD, who dramatically lost support among German society. The mysterious disappearance of Thalmann and Ulbricht sowed important doubts among his former voters, a feeling that was increased by a statement announcing that "the KPD would not contest in any future elections in Germany to discourage the social fascism promoted both by the SPD and the CDU". For many Germans, the KPD had become only a nest of traitors secretly seeking the country to submit to Stalin´s guidelines and Thalmann´s hunger for power.
Interestingly, this view was not entirely false. Months ago, Soviet troops had managed to penetrate into German territory in what apparently looked like a race to Berlin, but inexplicably they turned back and avoided any combat. The reason for this action was "Operation Robin”, organized by Lavrenti Beria to take control of the KPD and ensure the ability to control post-war Germany in case of a Soviet victory. Once in Germany, NKVD units secretly came to meet with prominent leaders of the KPD, affirming them they were in danger of being imprisoned in Germany and offering them asylum in the Soviet Union. While many leaders accepted such offer, Thlamann initially declined for “responsibility towards the nation”, but eventually agreed to travel to Moscow when he was promised to keep the party leadership. However, both Beria and Stalin took notice of the initial refusal by Thalmann, whom they considered as too ambitious and independent.
Lavrenti Beria was behind "Operation Robin"
Once in Moscow, the Kremlin informed the German communists about their intention to unite all leftist forces of the country in the Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands in order to unite all anti-capitalist forces in one political group. Thalmann clearly understood that Moscow's intention was simply to puppetize the KPD, and the whole of Germany, to the dictates of Stalin, and expressed a vehement refuse to such proposal. Very different was the attitude of Walter Ulbricht, who accepted without regard the Soviet proposal and offered himself to indoctrinate German prisoners and to turn them into "future communists loyal to the Soviet ideals". Such unreserved attitude greatly surprised the Russian leaders, and despite Beria depicted Ulbricht as "the greatest idiot that I have ever seen", Stalin saw Ulbricht as an alternative to Thalmann, easy to handle and submissive as long as he was handed with some power. A few days later, most of the KPD leaders were "convinced” to form the SED under the new leadership of Walter Ulbricht, while Thalmann was charged for Trotskyism and executed after a quick trial. The Soviet Union already controlled most of German Communists, and few doubted that if the war ended with a Russian victory there would be no hope of a true independent German communist state.
Opening act of the first SED Assembly
But all these facts were only a brief sample of the many changes and challenges that Germany was facing; war was still going on, and while the conflict seemed to favor the Soviets no one doubted that it was a struggle to life or death for the country's survival. As always, the victors would write the story ... and yet there was none.
OOC: My image editing skills are unmatched :laugh:
Thanks man, this is greatly appreciated since it´s one of the updates that involved more research in order to invent events that seemed more or less realistic. I liked a lot how it looked after I wrote this (grammar mistakes apart), so the compliments are a huge morale boost.
I am not sure if I totally understood you, I think you mean that Germany is industrially supperior to the SU and so a puppet state could only be established if Germany is destroyed by the war. Well, if it is what you meant, the SU have much more IC than Germany right now, and I guess that my industry would get pretty much destroyed if I lose the war.
However, keep in mind that I am working on the assumption that defeat could happen, and if such a thing occurs I am pretty sure that after the annexation the GDR will be released as a puppet by the Soviet Union. So in this case, I needed to accomodate both the alternative history events that have happened so far with what will happen in-game.
Of course I may be wrong, but I don´t remember any game where the GDR was not a puppet of the Soviet Union.
The Soviets have more industry?! Well, it wasn't the case historically. Either way, the problem is you are so strong that unless they (after the war) destroy the industry (because it can, at least in game, be recovered quite quickly) being a puppet doesn't make much sense as you'd still have the strenght to create your own block, as you did in these years.
And about that expression... In Google I found it only in what appear to be websites from Spain, so it might simply not be used in LatAm.
And about that expression... In Google I found it only in what appear to be websites from Spain, so it might simply not be used in LatAm.
Yes, I understand your point and I pretty much agree with you, but I don´t think there is any way to do that in-game without weird consequences. I mean, if Germany gets annexed by the SU, they will get released as a puppet and I don´t recall any events to liberate it. It could be done manually, but then we would face a pretty boring scenario, since none of the Soviet puppets would agree to enter the new GDR block.
And yes, that expression is common in Castillian Spanish, but not in the Latin American one.
Why does everybody kill Thalmann?
[video=youtube;AzBCiyDkXPw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzBCiyDkXPw[/video]
I hate Stalin even more now!
[video=youtube;AzBCiyDkXPw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzBCiyDkXPw[/video]
I hate Stalin even more now!
What expression? :huh:And yes, that expression is common in Castillian Spanish, but not in the Latin American one.
Where are the Nazis now?
"Signo de la guerra". And about the nazis, they were gradually assimilated into more tolerant parties, specially the DNVP.
I do not see it. :wacko:
BTW, I found a similar expresión in an Argentinian newspaper, "Signo de una guerra". For the sake of knownledge. :happy:
What I do not understand is: why the DNVP was against the war?
It is not against the war, is is against being forced to surrender to the Soviet Union instead of the allies; they propose to continue war in the East, but after negotiating a peace deal with the Western Allies. As for the nazis, they do not appear anymore in-game (to the point they are no longer an option in the next elections), which connects with the constant loss of votes they have been experiencing. In the last elections they only had 45 seats, and have gadually lost their influence with time.
That does not mean they have diappeared, but mind that the last update did not cover all the parties, only the most representative and the KPD situation.
Chapter XXVI: Morgenröte (II)
After the disaster that the Battle of Tarnopol meant for the Wehrmacht and for the whole Reich, OKH knew that the only chance for survival would consist in a sudden and decisive strike before the Soviets could consolidate their territorial gains and form a stabilized front. Once the divisions deployed for “Operation Citadel” regained their organization and refilled their strength with reinforcements from all over the country, High Command trusted Marshal Model with the task of planning “Operation Wunderhorn”, which intended to cut off several Soviet Divisions near Warsaw, thus debilitating the northern sector of the Soviet defense lines and allowing the so desired use of the Blitzkrieg tactics.
Generalfeldmarschall Walter Model was responsible for "Operation Wunderhorn"
According to Model, such an ambitious goal could only be achieved through a combined effort with the Luftwaffe, and so he requested the assistance of any available aircraft even if it meant the re-enactment of the Allied Bombing Campaigns in France and the Netherlands. Despite some protests within the Government, Chancellor Vogel understood that there was no point in saving the industries located in the western territories if Berlin was captured, and so he agreed to Model´s request and granted him many squadrons of Dive bombers, Tactical Bombers and Fighters, which would be all put under the Command of Albert Kesselring. As an alternative to defending the Atlantic shores with the aircrafts redeployed to the East, Admiral Mootz proposed an uninterrupted convoy raiding campaign in the English Channel, which would force the Allied Air Force to use their aircrafts for the naval campaign, thus reducing the amount of American and British aircrafts used to bomb the continent. Surprisingly, Moot´s idea worked quite well, and the Allies tied in vain to protect the British convoys from the submarine menace while the U-Boats sank hundreds of transport ships and even the English Battleship HMS Queen Elizabeth.
HMS Elizabeth was sunk by a German U-Boat
By mid-August, “Operation Wunderhorn” started with a devastating air strike from the Luftwaffe, that eliminated any aerial opposition from the Red Army Airforce and greatly reduced the capacity of the Russian troops to mount an organized defend. Led by Model and Rommel, German troops started to advance into Bialystok and Lomza, and the total secrecy with which Wunderhorn was planned played a significant role into surprising the Soviet defenders. All along the frontline, the German armored spearhead shattered any opposition in pieces, advancing into Lomza in just 3 days and cutting the Soviet troops deployed in Poland from any supplies; just a few days later, Rommel´s forces would capture Bialystok, encircling more than 30 Soviet divisions in the vicinities of Warsaw.
Bialystok and Lomza were quickly captured and more than 30 Soviet Divisions became encircled
In order to free these divisions from the upcoming pincer attack, the Red Army led by Marshal Budyonny tried to recapture Bialystok, while Marshal Dolgov launched a diversive attack into Chelm with more than 500.000 men under his command. However, this time the Wehrmacht was able to move enough divisions to defend the recently captured provinces, and after some weeks of intense fight both Soviet counterattacks failed, thus sealing the fate of the encircled divisions. Once this news reached Adam´s headquarters located in Warsaw, the remaining German divisions in the zone started to close the pocket, and after some weeks in which the Russian troops retreated day after day in front of the German advance, more than 300.000 Russian soldiers surrendered to Lt. General von Pogrell. It was without any doubt the most important encirclement in all the war, but OKH despaired when the Abwehr reported that the Soviet Union still had more than 670 divisions available for battle. It seemed that, no matter how many divisions the Germans captured or destroyed, the Soviets were always able to raise more and more, and no one cared too much about the Japanese offer for peace accepted that same day by the Government.
Even though the Soviets suffered almost 5 million casualties, the Red Army increased its numbers day by day
However, the joy for this important victory did not last long, since a new offensive through Austria and Czechoslovakia was being started by the fastest Soviet divisions. Even though OKH redeployed more than 50 divisions into that area, the front was simply too extense to be effectively defended against such an overwhelming Soviet force, and so High Command asked Hausser to relieve some pressure by attacking the Soviets in the center of their lines, hopefully encircling the forward units into another pocket in Eastern Austria. Even though the recent success of “Operation Wunderhorn” allowed a continued series of air raids against the Soviet tanks and lorries and Hausser managed to capture Brno, any further attempt to advance south was halted by the Russian Reserves in the zone, and another counterattack led by Zhukov allowed the Red Army to recapture the city and to advance as far as Innsbruck and Salzburg.
Marshall Zhukov led his troops to victory once more
In just a week, the Soviets managed to retake the initiative and threatened the nuclear reactor of Munich, forcing the OKH to redeploy dozens of units to defend the city and its surrounding towns and highways. Luckily, this time the German Transportation network worked very effectively, and the Red Army was stopped almost at the gates of Nuremberg, ensuring an adequate and unpenetrable defense of the Bavarian capital and its nuclear installation. However, such units were taken from the Eastern front, and after some days of tremendous battles in which the Wehrmacht lost nearly 200.00 soldiers Chelm and Lomza were recaptured by the Red Army.
Troops, guns and aircrafts were being redeployed for the defense of Munich
The victories in Bialystok and Lomza managed to capture lots of Soviet divisions, but such victory that would have been decisive in any other war turned out to be nothing but the Swan´s song of Germany. Summer was arriving to its end, and the Red Army was now just 300 miles away from the German Capital. In France, the German garrisons were forced to patrol day and night to prevent uprisings by French and Belgian partisans, while a massive exodus of German citizens from the Eastern provinces started. The Reich was collapsing, and Europe seemed to walk directly into a Red Dawn.
German citizens massing at a Berlin train station
Counter attack Landshut with all the surrounding divisions (support attack). You must drive the bolsheviks out of Austria!
Damn, 700 divisions!? Completely insase...
Seems like you need a very Führer-esque plan to escape from this, I propose pinning attacks with your forces in Poland and Bavaria against the Reds, while you head to Bratislava after you reinforce your stack in Prague. Seems like you can't ask for a huge pocket or you'd be overwhelmed... But you have to do something!
EDIT: Don't you have any dicisions regarding Vichy France? Since nobody will enter your alliance, that appears to be the only candidate, and any reinforcements help.
Seems like you need a very Führer-esque plan to escape from this, I propose pinning attacks with your forces in Poland and Bavaria against the Reds, while you head to Bratislava after you reinforce your stack in Prague. Seems like you can't ask for a huge pocket or you'd be overwhelmed... But you have to do something!
EDIT: Don't you have any dicisions regarding Vichy France? Since nobody will enter your alliance, that appears to be the only candidate, and any reinforcements help.
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STOP! COOKIE TIME