WIELKOPOLSKA - Rise of the White Eagle - A Polish AAR

[robw963]

This is my first AAR and I will be playing Poland using version 1.3a of HOI 2 Doomsday in the 1936 campaign with Normal/Aggressive difficulty settings. The intention of my AAR is to describe a method to not only avoid the historical disaster that befell Poland in 1939 but to turn Poland into a major power. I'll describe this as a gameplay AAR and to add a bit of interest, I will use the character Józef Piłsudski to describe strategic gameplay details.

I have modified the game to suit my tastes, although the majority of these modifications are graphical including custom model icons and interface backgrounds. I have also added several events the most significant being an event titled 'Wielkopolska' which rewards Poland with cores in Lithuania, Czechoslovakia, and portions of eastern Germany after certain hard-to-achieve objectives are met. Other than that, the game is basically vanilla.

Commentary is welcome, but be aware, my AAR is reporting action that has already taken place so I won't be able to incorporate many (if any) specific gameplay suggestions offered by anyone. My goal is to inform and entertain. Hopefully I can accomplish both. Enjoy.

AAR INDEX

PHASE 1: Prepare the Economy and Armed Forces for War
Preparation
Trade
Research Summer 1936
Diplomacy
Progress Fall/Winter 1936
Early 1937
Summer/Fall/Winter 1937
Assembling Forces
Assembling Forces cont'd
Prelude to War
Prelude to War cont'd
Final Preparations
Round Up

PHASE 2: Defeat the Nazi Menace
Quiet Before the Storm
War Over Danzig
Dawn of the First Day
First Victories
Day 2
Battle for Memel
Resources Status Report
Battle for Poznan
Conquest of Slovakia
Maneuver
Recapture Of Poznan
The First Battle for Küstrin
The Second Battle for Küstrin
The Second Battle for Küstrin cont'd
Shifting South
Industrial Status
30 Day Operational Plan
The Battle for Breslau
The Battle for Stralsund
Occupation of Breslau
Battle for Stralsund cont'd
Battle for Cottbus
Battle for Cottbus cont'd
The Race for Cottbus
Industrial Status - 10/01/39
Closing in on Berlin
The Developing Situation Around Berlin
The Capture of Berlin
Industrial Status - 10/13/39
The Drive West
The Beginning of the End
Industrial Status - 10/19/39
No Mercy
Cutting Off Essen
Germany Broken into Pieces
The End of Nazi Germany
Round Up

PHASE 3: Expand the Polish Empire
Diplomatic Situation
A New World Power
The Bear Stirs
Reaching Out to the World
A New Decade: 1940
Changes, Firsts and the Plight of Friends
Beginnings of a Plan
Cracks in the Alliance
Something is Rotten
Strategic Options
Looking South
​

 

[robw963]

WIELKOPOLSKA - Phase 1 - Preparation

GAME GOALS:

1. Prepare Economy and Armed Forces for War
2. Defeat the Nazi Menace
3. Expand the Polish Empire
4. Crush the Bolshevik Menace
5. Consolidate Eastern European Hegemony
6. Break from the Western Alliance and avenge their historical false promises

PHASE 1: Preparation (leading up to the inevitable conflict with Germany in September 1939)

• Join the Western Allies to gain blueprints and trade advantages
• Increase Industrial Capacity by at least 60% to maximize TC and gain 3rd tech slot as rapidly as possible
• Build an infantry based army with a minimum of 100 infantry divisions
• Maintain Poland's proud cavalry tradition
• Maximize technological advances and focus on industry, manpower and infantry improvement

January 1, 1936 First Steps:
I want to build as many factories as possible in the early stages of the game. To maximize available IC, I'll need to save supplies by reducing the armed forces.

Step 1: I'll begin by disbanding a significant portion of the army. Poland begins with the following:

I'll immediately disband all 10 brigades to retrieve 20 manpower. I'll then disband 19 of the full strength infantry divisions to retrieve another 190 manpower. The 4 cavalry divisions are disbanded retrieving 36 manpower. There are 12 understrength Reserve divisions (at 30% strength) which I'll intentionally preserve to keep my supply expenditure as low as possible for as long as possible. I'll assign Logisitic Wizards to all formations to further increase my supply savings.

Step 2: I'll disband the navy (an understrength Lvl 1 destroyer and a Lvl 1 sub) gaining another .7 manpower and save more supplies

Step 3: Disband the airforce (2 Lvl 1 fighters and 1 Lvl 1 Tac Bomber) to gain 4 manpower and further supply savings.

Total manpower regained = 250.7
Disbanded unit supply savings = 27 (6.75 IC)
Further Supply saving by assigning LW commanders:
12 understrength (30%) inf divisions: .9 x 12 x .3 x .75 = 2.43 supplies
9 full strength inf divisions: .9 x 9 x .75 = 6.075 supplies
2 mtn divisions: .8 x 2 x .75 = 1.2 supplies
1 HQ division: .5 x 1 x .75 = .375 supplies
Total supply expenditure: 10.08 (2.52 IC)
The Polish army now looks like:

Step 4: Assign the following tech teams:

Step 5: Build 5 factories

Step 6: Replace 2 ministers:
Armaments Minster Eugeniuz Kwiatowski: +10% IC
Minister of Security Janusz Radziwill: Foreign Manpower Use: +10%; Manpower Growth +10%
This causes a 2.00% dissent hit.

Step 7: Make a slider move +1 towards Hawk lobby.
Production Time and Cost: -15%
Manpower Growth +8%

 

[Kurt_Steiner]

Interesting... Don't forget uncle Joe, either

 

[trekaddict]

I will follow. And IIRC the "Eastern Poland to the Soviets" only triggers if Warzaw falls.

 

[Kurt_Steiner]

I will follow. And IIRC the "Eastern Poland to the Soviets" only triggers if Warzaw falls.

I know, but I was keeping the polish-rusos war of the 1920s in mind

 

[robw963]

WIELKOPOLSKA - Phase 1 - Trade

January 2, 1936 Trade:

One of my first goals is to stabilize my resource situation. Polands has lots of Energy and a fair amount of Oil, but has a shortage of Rares and this shortage will only get worse as I expand industrial capacity. I also want to gain some money so I can begin to make some diplomatic moves to join the western allies. It's important to seize trade opportunities as soon as possible (January 2, 1936)
I immediately propose the following trade agreements:

Finland: give 10.0 Energy and receive 1.0 Money
Estonia: give 4.0 Energy and receive 0.4 Money
Latvia: give 5.0 Energy and receive 0.5 Money
UK: give 5.0 Energy and receive 1.0 Rares
France: give 5.0 Energy and receive 1.1 Rares

By the end of February 1936, I have stabilized my rares situation and am slowly whittling down my dissent. I continue to make trades focusing on Rares from France and the UK while at the same time influencing the UK at every opportunity. It's worth noting that trades with the UK further improve relations.

 

[robw963]

WIELKOPOLSKA - Phase 1 - Research Summer 1936

Summer 1936 Research:

On June 10, I complete Census Tabulating Machine (+5% research speed) and immediately follow by assigning PZInz to research Mechanized Agriculture.

On July 1, I complete Basic Machine Tools (+5% Industrial Efficiency) and immediately follow by assigning COP to research Improved Machine Tools.

 

[robw963]

WIELKOPOLSKA - Phase 1 - Diplomacy

Summer 1936 Diplomacy:

By continually influencing the UK (at 100 Money a pop), by the summer of 1936 my relations with the UK exceed 100. They will influence me as well and if they happen to "Completely Influence' me, it will effect my slider settings. The same will occur with France as long as their IC total is at least twice my own. This is a another good reason to increase my Industrial Capacity as quickly as possible. Generally, I can expect them to effect the following slider areas:

Open Society <---> Closed Society
(they will push me towards Open Society which makes research more expensive and increases dissent growth)

Free Market <---> Central Planning
(they will push me towards Free Market, which is great since it decreases production time and speed)

Standing Army <---> Drafted Army
(the UK will push me towards a standing army which increases my org but the French tend to push me towards a drafted army decreasing my org)

Hawk Lobby <---> Dove Lobby
(the French have a nasty habit of pushing me towards Dove which increases my production time and cost)

Interventionism <---> Isolationism
(the French again have a nasty habit of pushing towards Isolationism which increases my Consumer Goods demand and makes dissent cost for warlike behavior more expensive)

Clearly I want to minimize French influence while encouraging influence from the UK.

I get lucky on July 2:

By late July 1936, my relations with the UK are 120. I make an attempt to join the alliance but fail on my first try.

I try again on August 6th and succeed:

I get lucky again on August 27:

And then not so lucky on Oct 9:

 

[unmerged(58104)]

I had completely forgotten how much you get influenced by other countries when playing as Poland. It's really extremely annoying most of the time IMHO.

Was it really advantageous to disband the infantrydivisions?

Wouldn't it have been cheaper to keep those divisions and pay the supplies for them for 4 years?

If not, you could still have traded away resources to get supplies to pay for upkeeping those divisions. Those resources you trade away will be replenished (for free) by the Allies anyways...

 

[robw963]

I had completely forgotten how much you get influenced by other countries when playing as Poland. It's really extremely annoying most of the time IMHO.

Was it really advantageous to disband the infantrydivisions?

Wouldn't it have been cheaper to keep those divisions and pay the supplies for them for 4 years?

If not, you could still have traded away resources to get supplies to pay for upkeeping those divisions. Those resources you trade away will be replenished (for free) by the Allies anyways...

I've attempted a whole variety of different options from complete disbanding of the army to retaining all of it. Generally, it's cheaper to retain as much of the army as possible since upgrading is generally a more efficient way to achieve my goal if 1939 Infantry divisions. The key is to reduce supply expenditure to as low a level as possible in the first several years to allow for the maximum number of factory builds. The other advantage is that once I switch my IC allocation from factory builds to unit production, I'm maximizing the number of units I can build. It's a tricky balance between saving supply cost, upgrade cost, reinforcement cost, and retaining as much IC as possible for unit production.

I'm skeptical about trading resources for supplies. I never seem to get reasonable profitability for supplies if I initiate the trade (although I certainly grab any trade offered to me that offers supplies if it's a reasonable exchange rate)

 

[Okalahan]

it's cheaper to retain as much of the army as possible since upgrading is generally a more efficient way to achieve my goal if 1939 Infantry divisions. The key is to reduce supply expenditure to as low a level as possible in the first several years to allow for the maximum number of factory builds. The other advantage is that once I switch my IC allocation from factory builds to unit production, I'm maximizing the number of units I can build. It's a tricky balance between saving supply cost, upgrade cost, reinforcement cost, and retaining as much IC as possible for unit production.

in the spanish phorum... we had an argument about the polish possibilities to survive the german blitz.... I think that it's perfectly possible... looks like you have very clear the way to do it, so you'll do it without any problem... (I hope )

 

[robw963]

in the spanish phorum... we had an argument about the polish possibilities to survive the german blitz.... I think that it's perfectly possible... looks like you have very clear the way to do it, so you'll do it without any problem... (I hope )

I'll resist the temptation to spoil the outcome, but thanks for the encouragement!

 

[robw963]

WIELKOPOLSKA - Phase 1 - Progress Fall/Winter 1936

Fall/Winter 1936 Progress:

By October 12, I have completely reduced my dissent to 0 allowing me to allocate IC toward creating a supply surplus.

On November 8, the first round of factory builds is complete. I'll add a 6th factory build as well. Initially this will create a supply deficit, but as the newly constructed constructed IC begins to kick-in, that supply deficit will become a modest surplus again.

On November 23, the factory builds come online and open the 3rd tech slot. It's time to begin reaping the benefits of the alliance membership. I begin by trading the UK some supplies and cash for a blueprint for Basic Computing Machine. I immediately assign Marian Rejewski to research it.

On December 8, PZInz completes Mechanized Agriculture (+5% manpower growth). I immediately assign Agrichemistry to Stanislaw Ulam. I attempted with both France and the UK to secure the Agrichemistry blueprint, but failed both times. I'll keep trying for other blueprints later.

And then to add a little frustration:

 

[unmerged(80988)]

There aren't much of a polish after action reports and this seems to be good one! I like specially Pilsudski commenting and reporting about things.

 

[Okalahan]

Józef looks so funny :rofl:

your factories'll be ready on 1938; (...) only a year to create more than 70 infantry div??? or are you going to star before that date??

 

[robw963]

WIELKOPOLSKA - Phase 1 - Early 1937

Early 1937 Progress:

My slider move on January 1, 1937 is again +1 towards Hawk lobby. This has the immediate benefit of speeding my factory builds and will later speed unit production builds as well.

On February 4, COP completes Improved Machine Tools (+5 Industrial Efficiency). I initiate a trade with the UK (3700 Energy, 400 supplies and 150 Money) for Mass Assault and Trench Warfare Doctrines. Both of these are important techs because they improve my land units and make infantry builds cheaper. I immediately assign Kutrzeba to research Trench Warfare Doctrine.

On March 28, Rejewski completes Basic Computing Machine (+5% research speed). Again leveraging my alliance membership, I trade 1450 Oil to the UK for a blueprint for Basic Cavalry Division. I assign Fab. Broni Radom to research Basic Cavalry Division.

On April 23, Ulam completes Agrichemistry (+5% manpower growth). I try to trade with UK for Agricultural Production but they reject me. I turn instead to France and succeed. I assign COP to research Agricultural Production.

 

[Akaki]

Keep it up! I managed to annex Germany on Jan '40, hopefuly you'll do it faster . If only they influence you towards free market soon, while leavind your hawk sliders the way they are...

 

[Fernando Torres]

Interesting AAR, i'll be around.

 

[robw963]

WIELKOPOLSKA - Phase 1 - Summer/Fall/Winter 1937

Summer/Fall/Winter 1937 Progress:

On May 18, Kutrzeba completes Trench Warfare (+10 Land Unit Morale and cheaper Infantry builds) and immediately follows by researching Mass Assault Doctrine. Completion of Mass Assault Doctrine will allow me to upgrade the HQ.

On May 24, Fab Broni Radom completes Basic Cavalry Division and immediately follows by researching Basic Inf Division. The goal is to complete this research by approximately March 1938 to allow enough time to build as many Inf '39 divisions as possible. I'll need to wait until the next round of factory builds completes before building cavalry.

On August 14, COP completes Agricultural Production (+5% manpower growth). I make a trade with the UK (500 Oil, 90 Supplies and 150 Money) for a blueprint for Advanced Construction Engineering. COP begins to research Advanced Construction Engineering. This will be useful when I build some forts in Cracow.

On August 30, The 2nd round of factory builds is completed. Since I anticipate that I'll complete researching Basic Infantry Division before a 3rd round of factory builds is completed, I do not continue for a 3rd round of factory builds. Instead, I begin 2 parallel builds of Lvl III Cavalry (3 each). These are timed for completion around the time I expect to have completed research for Basic Inf Division.

On September 2, the 6th factory slot is completed. I now shift over to stocking as many supplies as possible, resisting as much as possible the temptation to trade supplies away.

On September 24, Kutrzeba finishes Mass Assault Doctrine. I know I want to research Pre-Planned Defense Doctrine, but since it's a 1940 tech, the research penalties are steep to begin researching now. Pre-Planned Defense Doctrine is probably one of the most important research priorities I have in preparation for September 1939 since it gives me both a morale and org increase plus cheaper infantry build cost. For now, I'll instead I'll take the opportunity to improve my research infrastructure by trading the UK (353 Supplies) for a blueprint for Improved Computing Machine. I assign Marian Rejewski to research Improved Computing Machine.

Completion of Mass Assault Doctrine now allows me to upgrade my HQ division. Since I've made the commitment to building land forts in Cracow, I won't be building a 2nd HQ division. It's a tough decision because HQ's are extremely useful BUT unfortunately very expensive. Cracow is a key hinge in my battle strategy against the Germans so I'll have to live with only 1 HQ for now. In the meantime, I'm madly socking away supplies.

Great news on November 15 when I get influenced by the UK gving me a slider move +1 towards Free Market. The closer I get to full Free Market the faster and cheaper my production gets. As a Paternal Autocrat, I don't have the option to move towards Free Market myself, so I consider myself lucky with these slider moves. My IC is now at a level where I'm protected by the generally unfavorable influence from France.

On November 26, COP completes Advanced Construction Engineering (+50% construction speed for forts). I've been waiting for the UK and France to complete Advanced Machine Tools so I can buy the blueprint. I first try the UK and am rejected. I then try France and succeed by offering 370 Supplies. I then assign COP to research Advanced Machine Tools.

 

[unmerged(102667)]

Nice AAR you have here.

Make the germans and russians pay for the division of Poland!
Since austria will be german you will strike 2 flys in one bang.