Hearts of Iron: The Soviets
 

HOI(1.05c): The Soviets

I’ve been playing a lot since the 1.05 patch and decided to do another dynasty. Some might remember my Japanese HOI dynasty that got stopped in its tracks by a very poor AI. I think it’s safe to say that the game has been considerably improved since then.

Game settings:
Difficulty: Hard
AI Aggressiveness: Normal
Fog of War: On

As always feel free to post comments, questions and criticisms.

Prelude

Soviet Union History

No other nation suffered such domestic political turmoil as Russia during the Great War which saw the ancient throne of the Romanov Tsars toppled and the vast empire of Peter the Great and Alexander II fall into the hands of a mass revolutionary movement, the Bolshevik Marxists of Vladimir Illych Lenin. Renamed the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) the country was rededicated to the spread of revolutionary communist ideology across the world making it a pariah amongst the decadent capitalist economies of Europe. After Lenin’s death and a series of behind-the-scenes intrigues his lieutenant, Josef Stalin, emerged as the heir to the Bolshevik legacy. By a ferocious policy of industrialization and an equally uncompromising attitude towards political foes Stalin has by 1936 consolidated his position as supreme ruler of the USSR and returned the once-battered and ignored Russian state to the diplomatic table as a major power. But many strategic dilemmas haunt him. Should Russia seek to expand into the lost territories of Eastern Europe or strike southwards to the blue waters of the Indian Ocean? Can a deal be brokered with the British and French - or even Hitler and Mussolini? What of the Japanese and their designs?

Soviet Government @ January 1st 1936

Head of State: Mikhail Kalinin

Head of Government: Joseph Stalin

Foreign Minister: Maksim Litvinov (Ideological Crusader)
Influence Nation 2(3) DI, Share Research 0(1) DI if country shares same government type.

Armaments Minister: Lazer Kaganovich (Resource Industrialist)
+5% IC, Industrial Research +10 %

Minister of Security: Genrikh Yagoda (Back Stabber)
+1% Dissent

Minister of Intelligence: Yan Berzin (Technical Specialist)
+5% Research

Chief of Staff: Michail Tuchatjevskij (School of Maneuverability)
Land unit speed +10%

Chief of Army: Klimant Voroshilou (Guns and Butter Doctrine)
Supply Consumption -15%

Chief of Navy: Vladimir Orlov (Indirect Approach Doctrine)
Destroyers Construction -10%, Transport Construction -10%, Submarine Construction +15%

Chief of Air: Yakov Alksnis (Air Superiority Doctrine)
Fighters construction +10%, Anti-air Brigade Construction +10%, Strategic Bombers Construction – 10%

Armed Forces @ January 1st, 1936

National Army Comparison
Soviets (rank 1st): 75 Infantry Div, 4 Cavalry Div, 3 Motorized Div, 5 Armor Div, 4 Mountain Div = 91 Total divisions.
Top 5(total Divisions): Soviets (91), Italy (66), Japan (57), Nationalist China (54), France (46)

National Navy Comparison
Soviets (rank 6th): 3 Battleships, 4 Cruisers, 8 Destroyer Groups, 17 submarines flotillas, 1 transport flotilla.
Top 5(total Ships): UK (114), USA(111), Japan(90), Italy(65), France (65)

National Air Force Comparison
Soviets (rank 3rd): 8 fighter squadrons, 4 tact bomber squadrons
Top 5(total Planes): UK(14), Germany(13), Soviets(12), Italy(12), France (8)

Economic Information
Total IC: 363.0

Daily Production for:
Coal: 1322.0 units
Steel: 720.0 units
Rubber: 0.0 units
Oil: 238.0 units

Chapter One: The Road to War (1936)

As 1935 came to a close, Stalin was beginning to realize the dreams of a great Soviet State. As mass industrialization projects had pushed the Soviets from the brink of ruins to a leading industrial power, the Soviets were keen on not only expanding the communist sphere of influence but also reclaiming previously lost Russian territory. The rise of fascism and anti-communist ideologies in Europe and the Far East, stressed that now was the time for the Soviets to build and consolidate their power base before seemingly the entire world was against them.

Hitler, however, had other plans as he pushed Europe closer and closer to war. Under the threat of an eventual war with Germany, the Soviets looked to the west for assurances of assistance as a German deterrent, but none was forth coming; Churchill was decidedly anti-communist, the French had no desire to be drawn into another costly war against Germany, and the Americans were committed to non-intervention in European affairs. Add the constant border clashes with Japanese forces in the Far East, and the Soviet Union was in a difficult position.

If war was inevitable, which certainly seemed to be the case to the Soviet high command, now was the time to prepare.

The long term goal of the Soviets remained the spread of the communist ideology throughout the globe, a task made difficult by the anti-communist leanings of both democractic and fascists alike. Only 4 countries leaned towards a communist ideology; Mongolia, Tannu Tuva, Ethiopia, and Communist China. The first two were puppet states of the Soviet Union, while the later two were currently at war with opposing factions; Communist China against Nationalist China, and Ethiopia against the Fascist Italians, and neither war was turning out favorably to the communists.

Foreign Minister Maksim Litvinov was in favor of allowing all four countries access to Soviet technology; the Chinese and Ethiopians to help in their struggle, and the Puppet states to hopefully serve as a buffer against Japanese incursion. In January the Soviets started sending research advisors to all for countries to upgrade their technology, and found that although the Soviets were hardly a technologically advanced nation in their own right; these four countries were considerably behind even the Soviets in research. The USSR would help where they could, but it was likely that neither Ethiopia nor Communist China would survive the year.

The Soviets would also try to influence more nations towards communism. Turkey, Persia, and Afghanistan were the selected targets for fear that any type of serious influence into Eastern Europe would only aggravate the Germans into a war. Still, the short term goals of the Soviet command in the event of any hostilities would be to retake Eastern Poland and reclaim Finland back into their empire.

While it was true that the Soviets controlled the largest army in the world, they were inadequately equipped compared to other nations, and a large portion of the Industrial Capacity was geared toward improve the ground forces throughout the year. The Air force also received considerable attention, while no plans were made to address any improvements within the Navy. Stalin also continued modernizing the Soviet landscape by improving the industrialization of several provinces.

Early in the year, the Soviets started reorganizing their armed forces to better suit their needs. While a vast number of divisions were sent to the Western Border, several were also strategically placed in the Far East to deter the Japanese from any aggression. Armor units, which were mingled along with regular infantry units (as was the norm for most nations), were separated out and formed their own Panzer groups, allowing tanks to become a force of their own rather than a tool employed by the infantry.

The Chinese Excursion
It was obvious that Japan had their eye squarely on the conquest of China, and a Japanese controlled China was not in the interest of the Soviet Union. A Nationalist Chinese victory was only somewhat more comforting to the heads of state however. A much better solution would be a friendly Communist China that could help repel any Japanese aggression, but the war was going very badly for the Communists, and Soviet intervention was needed if there was any hope of seeing that goal. Instead of actively declaring war against the Nationalist or bringing the Communists into the Comintern for fear of being drawn into another war at a later date, the Soviets put an Expeditionary Force together under Communist Chinese colors that would hopefully turn the tide of the war.

On January 20th, under the command of General Romaneko, a Chinese Expeditionary Force, consisting of 4 Calvary Divisions and 1 Armor division, was loaned to the Communist Chinese and engaged in border skirmishes along the Mongolian-Chinese border. On February 4th, claiming Chinese aggression, they crossed the border and faced 2 Nationalist Chinese Militia divisions in Hohhot. Four days later, after inflicting over 50% casualty rate upon the N. Chinese, the border excursion turned into a full blown offensive as they pushed south into Datong.

this is some cool ass shit i gotta say. onward! Slaugter the nationalist swine!

Hell yah...ive missed your writing, and am glad to see you didnt go the traditional way of U.S.A or europe. Kick some democratic ass!

I'm reading! Great start!

Have you found the game a worthy challenge now? I've been thinking about reinstalling and trying it again, as each patch seems to get better reviews.

Down with Hope, Up with Communism.

I am still working on a slogan, hopefully it will improve.

Mr. President, you can't just let the Russian Ambassador in the war room! He-he might see the Big Board!

is Hearts of iron alot like EU2???

Cause i was extremely unimpressed him EU2. Boring as hell, Medievil Total War was 20 times better. Im hoping HOI is better cause im kind of a WW2 buff.

It is WW2 on the EU2 engine.

Thanks for the replies guys. :)

GB, I'd say the game is not too bad on the difficulty. There is still ways around things, and of course a superpower is a lot easier than a small country, but it's all fun.

Afoci: How about: Communism! There's nothing wrong with it that a little capitalism can't solve. er...maybe not :)

One note, I made a mistake in the opening chapter when I claimed one of the reasons the Soviets couldn't get any help from the west was Churchill's anti-communism stance. Historically, of course he was, but Baldwin is still PM of England in 1936, so I can't rest all the blame on Churchill's shoulders. More or less the refusal of the English to help the Soviets was based more on apathy, suspicion of communism, and the desire to not get drawn back into a conflict.

Now back to your regularly schedule programming...

Chinese Civil-War
The quick offensive never materialized as Nationalist forces overran the Communist Garrison in Xianyang, forcing Romaneko back into Hohhot to try to hold on to the Communists tiny gains. Unable to reach the Communist forces in the Qin Ling Mountains for supplies and due to the poor infrastructure around the Mongolian border preventing Soviet supplies from reaching them, the CEF slowly ran out of oil and supplies and ground to a halt.

While the KMT had the upper hand however, a group of generals conspired against Chiang Kai-shek, kidnapping him and forcing him into reconciliation with the Communists in order to deal with the impeding Japanese threat towards the end of March. (N. China goes with ally with Commies in the Sian incident). Territorial gains were returned to their respectful owners, and with the civil war put on hold, the Soviets recalled their Expeditionary Force (who lost more men to lack of supplies than to Chinese gunfire) and set about building up the defense of both Chinese Factions against the Japanese.

Italia-Ethiopian war
When Mussolini opened his Ethiopian Campaign in an attempt to avenge the defeats suffered by the Italians in 1896, he did not expect Soviet intervention. However, thanks to Soviet advisors and technology, the Ethiopians were able to make a successful stand against the fascists, and the 6 month conflict looked to be deadlocked. The Italians needing a victory to restore national pride would have to reinforce their army. The pleas by the Ethiopians for Soviet troops to beat back the invaders did not fall on deaf ears; however the logistics of sending an expeditionary force made it virtually impossible for the Soviets to comply. Towards the beginning of March, they commissioned 4 submarine flotillas toward the Red Sea, under the command of Admiral Marinesko, and were put under the direct control of the Ethiopians to combat the Italians.

By mid March, Marinesko was successful in disrupting Italian shipping in the area, but quickly found himself understaffed against the full force of the Italian Navy. As the Italians had captured all of Ethiopia’s ports, Marinesko had to supply from the closest Soviet port in the Black Sea, some 2000km removed from the battle. After heavy bombardment from Italian bombers stationed in Ethiopia, and a damaging run-in with the Navy in the Southern Red Sea, Marinesko was forced to remove the Ethopian colors and limp back home to Stevespool at the end of the month.

Reinforced from the motherland, the Italians quickly broke the deadlock and overran the Ethiopians in Harar and Magalo, putting them within striking distance of the Ethiopian capital by the end of March. It was certain that no amount of casual interference from the Soviets could save the Ethiopian nation now.

Events in Europe
As Hitler continued to stand defiant in the face of the Versailles treaty, the rest of Europe did nothing. He had already defied the treaty by reconstructing his submarine force, advancing both his army and navy aviation programs, and breaking the limits imposed on Germany’s military and naval strength. On March 8th, 1936 Germany boldly remilitarized the Rhine and Europe continued to sit on their collective hands to do nothing about it.

By the end of the month, Soviets scientists made their first war-time breakthrough, developing the application of Binary Coded Machine Language. Added with the development of Basic Electromagnetic Computers four and half month later, they greatly reduced their research and development costs and times.

I'd think you'd like if you are a WW2 buff like myself. It's only 10 years playing time (in the longest campaign) so there is always something going on. In the 36 campaign, it might take awhile to get into the action, but if you know what you are doing you can zip through those years fairly quickly. It's WW2 in EU2, but the research and combat are fairly different. Like you I didn't enjoy EU2 all the much either.

You can check out my first dynasty in which I tried to explain the layout of the game to Bucc (he didn't like EU2 either). Ignore the horrible AI found in that thread, that's been vastly improved.

Klayman...I'm watching with keen interest. I was thinking of starting a dynasty myself, but I don't seem to have the time these days. I can still read, though, and I'll be here to support you. BTW, have you read "Where the Iron Crosses Grow" on the official HOI AAR board? Excellent stuff. Good luck, and remember...keep writing!!! :D


EDIT: Here is the link to the story I mentioned. Anyone interested in alternate history should check this story out. Good stuff.

http://www.europa-universalis.com/fo...s=&forumid=126


Also...Klayman, I didn't realize that the Ruskies started with so many sub flotillas. Did you build them, or are they in the starting OOB?

Wow. That is one hell of a good dynasty. Raises the bar. And 87,000 views? Man. Very impressive stuff. Thanks for the link. Lots of good ideas in there.

I second sach's recommendation of Where the Iron Crosses Grow. A very excellent AAR.

As for the sub's, no I didn't build any, they're all in the starting OOB. Maybe they changed the starting OOB in one of the 1.05 patches?

What really got my attention in "Where the Iron Crosses Grow" was toward the end when Yogi had some guest writers add some flavor to the story. If you need anything like that, Klayman, just let me know. I'd be happy to help out! :D

By all means, feel free to contribute at anytime. Let me know if you need anything (maps, info, etc)

Italia-Ethiopian War
On the 19th of April, Jimma fell to the Italians leaving the Ethiopians in dire straits. Support continued to arrive from the USSR, but it would provide no effect on the outcome. 3 Days later, the Italians overran the capital Addis Abeba and on the 25th overcame Ethiopian resistance and Ethiopia was annexed into Italy.

By June, the Soviets had replaced their aging pre-war Renault Ft-17 tanks with improved T-26 models which included a 30mm cannon, providing them with now the world’s largest and most advanced armor divisions. That was quickly followed by the theory of Mass Production being adapted to Military construction by mid June, and by late October Vehicle Assembly Mass Production applications had been worked into the industry providing cheaper and more quickly built Armor and Motorized Infantry divisions.

Spanish Civil War
In early 1936 after the electoral victory of the Socialists popular demands for social equality evolved into a virtual revolution against clerics, landowners, and monarchists. Mobs attacked churches and tried to collectivize farms. Unions started strikes and anarchists assassinated ‘enemies of the people’. The newly installed government was unable to restore order. The Spanish army joined the Conservatives and Catholics to put down the social revolution and they thus styled themselves the Nationalists. The government facing an army rebellion styled themselves Republicans and decided to fight joining in with the forces of revolution. The Spanish Civil War had begun! Many countries like Germany Italy and the Soviet Union intervened with forces in the conflict.

The Spanish Civil War threatened to break the balance of power currently held in Europe. Another fascist country boxing in France could provide Hitler and Mussolini with all the backbone they need to start a European war, and both countries sent men and supplies to Franco’s Nationalist troops. A democratized Spain would give the Allies an upper hand in any such hostilities, but France and England were unresponsive in recognizing such an advantage, and refused to pledge support to either side in the conflict. The Soviets, having badly faltered in supporting the Ethiopians, rushed to the aid of the Republicans supporting the socialist revolution, under the pretense that they would be able to install a communist regime when the conflict subsided. That might prove difficult, but anything that helps stop the spread of fascism was good in the long run (Soviets choose Spanish Civil War Intervention -30 Manpower, -2500 Supplies)

Spanish Civil War
The Republicans made the early gains capturing Pamplonia, Zaragoza and Granada in the opening week of the conflict, before the Nationalists were able to organize and mount counter-attacks. By the end of July the counter-attacks had destabilized the Republican front, and by mid August, Franco had pushed through most of Republican territory. On August 18th, Nationalist forces entered Madrid in hopes of capturing the capital, but were defeated by the Republican forces, thanks in large part to serious Soviet support only days before the attack, who not only advised and consulted the Republican troops, but supplied with more modernized weaponry that turn the course of the battle. From there the Republican’s went back on the offensive and by the end of August had reclaimed the territory lost in the Nationalist offensive.

Excellent start. I love the maps! I'm going to have to reinstall this game...

Research
Weapons development became the key for the Soviets in the last part of 1936. In September they developed Modern Flamethrowers to help their infantry in fort attacks, and rolled up new Basic Halftrack Troop Carriers which allowed their armor divisions to carry a supporting infantry, improving their attack against soft targets. By December, the infantry was refitted with modern Effective Land Mines, improving their attack and defense.

Spanish Civil War
While it looked like the Republicans were in control by the end of August that was certainly not the case. The better equipped Nationalist forces regrouped after their setbacks in August and launched another offensive at the Republican strongholds. By the 20th of September they were back at the gates of Madrid, and by the 24th had liberated the city. They continued to march forward scoring victory after victory against the Republican troops. The Soviets, fearing complete Republican destruction, began planning on joining the war with the Republicans, and the Navy was dispatched to the Mediterranean, although strictly on an observer basis.

By the 6th of October, the Nationalists had captured Zaragoza and Badajoz as well and nearly pushed the Republicans into the Balearic Sea, before a victory at Albacete in late October broke the Nationalists offensive and opened the south of Spain to the Republicans. Despite breaking the offensive, however, the Republicans needed more than just advisors and technology from the Soviet Union. On November 15, the Spanish Expeditionary Force, commanded by Lt. General Malinovskij, left Sevastapool and headed for Spain. Under the authority of the Spanish Republic they invaded Palma on the 22nd and secured the island with little resistance from the Nationalist. The Soviets reinforced the SEF with 2 more divisions in Palma, including a division of T-26 tanks fresh off the assembly lines, an before the new year launched an offensive into Nationalist held Mahon.

World News
On November 2, 1936, the Americans returned from the polls to elect their 33rd President of the United States, Alf Landon (Rep) (US goes with elect Landon in US Presidential election 1936 – Alternative Outcome). The Soviets were confident that they would receive no support from Landon’s government, as they were clearly more anti-communist then their predecessors; however that was offset by the fact that it was more likely that US would now enter a war in Europe against German aggression.

Chapter Two: The Road to War (1937)

The Soviets left 1936 on the verge of becoming a superpower nation of the world. Their industrialization policies increased their Industrial Capacity nearly 10%, and the Red Army proved victorious in the two planned operations it embarked on during the year. Stalin had increased production to the armed forces, allowing their amour and infantry divisions to both swell in numbers as the Soviets found themselves the lone policemen against Fascist expansion.

1937 Almanac

In January, Stalin replaced his Chief of Staff Michail Tuchatjevskij, with Boris Shaposhnikov (School of Mass Combat) Manpower x2, Infantry Construction +5%

National Army Comparison
Soviets rank 1st, 78 Infantry divisions, 4 Cavalry Div, 3 Motorized Div, 6 Armor divisions, 5 Mountain Div, 96 Total divisions.
Top 5: Soviets (91), Italy (66), Nationalist China (65), Japan (57), Germany (57)

National Navy Comparison
Soviets rank 6th, 3 Battleships, 4 Cruisers, 8 Destroyer Groups, 17 submarines flotillas, 1 transport flotilla.
Top 5: UK (115), USA(112), Japan(90), Italy(66), France (43)

National Air Force Comparison
Soviets rank 12th, 8 fighter squadrons, 4 tact bomber squadrons
Top 5: Italy (19), Germany (18), UK (17), Japan (16), USA (15)

Economic Information
Total IC: 409.0
Daily Production for:
Coal: 1322.0 units
Steel: 720.0 units
Rubber: 0.0 units
Oil: 238.0 units

Manpower: 341.0 units

Spanish Civil War
By the New Year the Republican forces were in serious trouble. Down to just 13 scattered divisions and outnumbered 2-1, they ceased all offensives and dug-in for the Nationalist attack. The Soviets pledged more support and on January 1, 1937 commissioned 4 armor divisions, 1 mountain division, and 3 infantry divisions for support. In late December the Soviets had started transporting raw materials and supplies to the Spanish Mainland and by mid January the 2nd SEF was assembled and ready to arrive in Spain.

Meanwhile the Soviets continued to support the other communist countries with technology throughout the year.

Spanish Civil War OOB (Soviets) @ Jan 1, 1937
Spanish Expeditonary Force under General Rokossovsky based at Sevastapool, including
- 1st Armor Group with 4 divisions (4 Armor) under direct command of Rokossovksy
- 1st ArmyCorps with 3 divisions (2 Infantry and 1 Armor)under Lt. General Malinovskij in Palma
- 2nd ArmyCorps with 3 divisions (3 Infantry) under Lt. General Primakov
- 1st Mountain Corps with 1 division (1 Mountain Infantry) under Mj General Osade

On January 7th, the 1st Mountain Corps of the SEF under Mj. General Osade landed in Tortosa and broke a Nationalist offensive against the province, which allowed the other divisions of the SEF to land safely in Valencia and begin operations there. On January 20th, the Republican government and the USSR signed the Treaty of Valencia, in which the USSR guaranteed the sovereign right of the Republic over Spain and vowed to protect in by any means necessary against any threats to that sovereignty. The Republic of Spain vowed friendship and trade with the USSR, and allowed the Soviets to set up permanent Army and Navy bases in the country.

On January 27, after a over a month of fighting, Malinovskij’s 1st Army Corps finally seized control of Mahon forcing Lt. General Bautista’s surrender and removing the Nationalists from the Mediterranean. The Nationalist offensives that had come so close to eliminating the Republican forces only a month before now stalled and were forced back into a defensive posture due to the Soviet intervention.

Sweet dynasty you have going here. I'll definately be reading this one. (And, like all good dynasties do, will probabl ylead me to buying HOI myself...) :)

Must. Resist. Urge. To. Buy.

Alf Landon president of the USA. Too bad he is a bloody Republican... ;)

Don't fight it. It's a great game.

There was a post on Gone Gold where someone mentioned that Walmart (store, not online) is selling the game for $19.99.

I think the info is a couple of weeks old now, but it might be worth a check.

Spanish Civil War
In February, the advantage had swung to the Republican side. Fresh with troops from the Soviet Union and supplies being shipped daily from Sevastapool, they held back the Nationalist onslaught that looked to crush them in December. Much to the chagrin of the Soviets, however, the Republicans refused to push the advantage. Rokossvksy was still in Sevastapool waiting for deployment to Spain (cuts in the Navy funding left the Soviets with a very small transport fleet), and the Republicans did not wish to go on the offensive until Rokossvksy’s tanks divisions were on the Iberian Peninsula. Realistically, that wouldn’t happen until late March, and the Soviets wanted the Republicans to push west from Valencia into the heart of Spain to secure their landing beaches. The Republicans were more concerned however about moving north into the Pyrenees Mountains where the Soviets tanks would be ineffective. The impasse between the two nations lead to a rebuild-up of the Nationalist forces, and by mid February any tactical advantage gain in the previous month by the Republicans was lost.

By late February the Nationalists were ready to resume their offensive by moving into Tortosa, threatening the Soviets landing beach at Valencia. Once again the 1st Mountain Corps of the SEF moved into Tortosa and was able to break the offensive by the first week in March, despite being outnumbered two to one. To try to remove the Soviet threat, the Nationalist Navy moved past the Straits of Gibraltar and into the Mediterranean. They were soundly defeated by a combined Soviet and Republican Spanish Navy however and limped back to the port in Vigo on February 30th, broken and disenchanted. The 2nd ArmyCorps of the SEF counter-attacked the Nationalist offensive pushing north into Huesca on Feb 28th. They were met there by 6 Militia units under the direct command of Franco himself. The ill advised counter-attack proved costly to the Soviets, and by March 5th they pulled back to Barcelona to reorganize.

The Republicans finally caved to Soviet pressure, and on March 6th they launched a two prong attack on Nationalist forces west into Cuenca and south west into Albacete. The 1st Mountain Corps of the SEF moved into Cuenca where they met the remnants of the Tortosa offensive. Boosted by Rokossvksy arrival on March 13th, they quickly overran the disorganized Nationalist force and secured the province on the 15th. Rokossvksy then turned south into Albacete and joined the Republican forces to secure the province by the 17th.

Research
In late January, the Soviets adapted a motorized HQ principle to their armed forces, removing the static command post headquarters. This improved the organization of all their land forces but the biggest gains were felt by the speedy armor divisions who now had mobile HQ following them and directing them into combat. By late March they had fully adapted the Mass assembly process to their Aircraft industry as well, providing cheaper and quicker air force construction.

Soviet Events
As Stalin grew older he became more paranoid about his power base. Fearing the same tactics he himself used to achieve power might be used against him, he became increasing suspicious of those around him. On March 2, 1937 he ordered a great purge of ‘communist traitors’ which included several high ranking officers in the Red Army and thousands of civilians. (Soviets go with ‘Purge the traitors’)

To anyone who's reading and is graphically talented...could someone draw me up a little explosion icon to use in the maps to indicate battles. I tried tonight and just made a mess of things. I'm not an artist at all. Thanks in advance.

Question: When sending an Expeditionary force to attack a country that it is at war with, do you get drawn into their war?

No. I am slightly taking advantage of the interface in doing this, in that I could send my entire armed forces into Spain without a formal declaration of war. They are under Republican control, although I still maintain some control over the forces. The attack into the Pyrenees was not my doing, it was the Republican AI, but after I saw the damage they were taking I was the one that pulled them out. Since we both have control over my forces there is often a tug of war going on with the AI to put my forces where I want them to be.

I could declare war on the Nationalists, and with military access through Spain have no problem liberating Nationalist territory for the Republicans. However that would cause a 10% dissent modifier which would affect my production, since I have no claims on any Spanish territory. I think I'd also get a bad boy point even though the Nationalists are fascists. Historically, Germany sent forces into Spain to fight for the Nationalists (which is only represented in the game by a manpower loss I think) so I'm not completely out of context, I just don't think the developers had what I'm doing in mind when they designed the feature.

Spanish Civil War
The arrival of Rokossvky had turned the tide of the war in the Republican’s favor for good. Although they were supported by German and Italian forces, they were not equipped to deal with the onslaught the new T-26 tanks brought with them. By April, Rokossvky’s Armor Group had captured Zargoza and was knocking on the gates of Madrid itself. On April 23rd the Soviet T-26 tanks would roll through a liberated Madrid amongst the jubilation and cheers of onlookers.

Rokossvky wasn’t the only commander having success, as Malinovskij’s 1st Army Corps successfully invaded the Nationalist capital of Burgos on the 13th of April. Primakov once again engaged Franco in the Pyrenees with the 2nd Army Corps and engaged in fierce fighting on the 24th, finally securing the province of Huesca on May 3rd and capturing Franco.

With the capture of their commander the Nationalist forces quickly fell apart and Rokossvksy’s tanks rolled through the Spanish country side making it secure for the Republican forces behind him. While pockets of resistance remained, there was no more threat to the Republican government, and on June 4th, 1937 the Republicans declared the Civil War over.

Effects of the war
Although long term effects of the Spanish Civil war would not be felt for years to come, the Soviets gained a remarkable advantage. The Valencia Treaty allowed Soviet troops free movement throughout Spain and the use of Spanish ports for the Soviet Navy. The Spanish country side proved a worthy testing ground for their Soviets separate tank groups, and the T-26’s excelled beyond their expectations against Nationalist forces. The military access also provided an easy route to Portugal, and with the balance of power saved in Europe, the Soviets looked to upset the fascist government in place there as well.

While the treaty provided the Republicans from outside threats against their government, it failed to mention any protection from the Soviets themselves, and in late June Soviet advisors were already drawing up plans for a communist coup. The Republicans would, no doubt, come to have serious misgivings about their deal with the ‘devil’.

Soviet Events
On June 2nd, the officer purges continued as Stalin ordered more ‘traitors’ executed. This seriously left the Soviet leadership undermanned, demoralized and desperately short of experience.

The Soviets began active trading with the Nationalist Chinese forces as well. Intelligence out of the east pointed to a Japanese Invasion of mainland China in the coming months, and the Soviets wanted the Nationalists to hold off the Japanese as long as they were able to. They also had no intention of entering a war against Japan until they were well prepared, despite what assurances they gave to their communist counterparts in China.

Research
In June, the Soviets developed a new long-range reconnaissance doctrine for the army, which improved organization of the infantry and cavalry. With lessons learned in the Spanish Civil War, by early July they had refined their Combat Unit Transport Procedure, allowing more organization of merchant ships converted into military transports. In August the Red Army developed Basic Wading Equipment allowing armor and motorized units to cross rivers and minor water obstacles while attacking, and in September added the 70mm Infantry Gun to their arsenal. By early October the Red army and air force had developed improved theory levels; the army with Early War Experience Analysis, and the air force with Pre-War Field Testing. Both theory levels opened new theories and applications available for the armed forces.

Soviet Events
On August 2nd Stalin initiated another officer purge further diminishing the ranks of the Red Army. Included in Stalin’s latest executions was Lt. General Primakov, hero of the Spanish Civil War, whose brave exploits into the Pyrenees captured Franco and helped bring about a quick end to the war with minimal Soviet losses.

After the bloody Spanish Civil War, events in Europe remained at least civilized, if not tense, for the rest of the year. By mid September, Rokossvksy had been recalled home, and his 1st Armor Group swelled to 6 divisions of T-26 tanks taking residence along the Polish border. Lt. General Malinovskij and Mj General Osade (promoted to Lt. General) remained in Spain.

The Far East was a different story however. On October 20th, the army led a coup of the Japanese government and with little effort or resistance, they quickly seized control and set their plans in motion. 2 days later, they declared war on Communist China. The Chinese called for Soviet intervention, but it was an obvious rouse by the Japanese to get the Soviets to react. Communist China was separated from Japan by a large Nationalist Chinese force, so the Soviets offered assistance, but no allegiance in the conflict. Failing to arouse the Soviets to act irrationally, Japan fell back on its original purpose, the invasion of China, and 5 days later declared war on Nationalist China to no-one's surprise.

Stalin continued to try to consolidate his power, and on November 2, the 4th such office purge occurred. Stalin had now become confident in his leaders loyalty, and although he had stripped them of much of their experience, he was left with loyal determined generals that he had handpicked himself. No longer fearful of an outright army coup, the major officer purges subsided, although some minor purges continued throughout Stalin’s reign.

The efforts to overthrow the Spanish government were not met with much success, mainly in part to the interference from the United Kingdom. The Soviets decided to bide their time until they could assert more influence on the Republic. Instead they looked back to the Western powers in hopes of developing a German understanding treaty, but none was forthcoming. With war now a fact in the east, the Soviets didn’t want to be drawn into a conflict in China and still defend their borders alone against possible German aggression. But in fact the west hardly seemed interested in the surprising rate of German military build up. Disappointed with their attitudes, the Soviets nonetheless continued to press their concerns, but secretly opened a path of communication with the Germans themselves.

The Sino-Japanese War
The influx of Soviet technology to both the communists and Nationalist forces caught the Japanese by surprise. An early invasion of Shanghai was repulsed by the Nationalist forces, and several other attempts to land in the port city continued to fail through to the end of the year. The Japanese only major victory came in the north with the invasion of Hohhot. The Nationalist forces quickly counter-attacked Hohhot, and although they proved ineffective at reclaiming the province, they managed to stop the offensive from moving forward. The Japanese were also forced to recognize a large Soviet build up in the north and east, and needed to divert several divisions away from their main offensive to cover their borders. Although the Soviets pledge non-allegiance in the war, their actions were definitely helping the Chinese.

Research
The Soviets continued with several breakthroughs before the end of the year. In November the air force developed Basic Short Range Fighter Engines, and by late November the Red Army had concluded tests on an Improved Light Tank Prototype. In December, the Soviets added a Rangefinder Radar to their arsenal, and scientists had discovered new uses for Improved Plastics theories. By the end of the year the discoveries had turned into an Anti-Tank rifle and a Basic Amphibious Tank for use in the armed forces.

Chapter Three: The Road to War (1938)

The Soviets made no industrial or infrastructure improvements during 1937. Therefore their economy stagnated and remained level. This was due largely in part to their involvement in the Spanish Civil War, since they wanted to keep their economy both suppling the army and material, while still developing and improving their technology. 1938 marked the same situation for the Soviets due to the Sino-Japanese War, but it was likely that their involvement would be on a lesser scale and therefore they could plan on making some small improvements throughout the year.

1938 Almanac

Despite Stalin's growing paranoia during the year, his staff remained the same for 1938 with no executions of traitors high in the government.

National Army Comparison
Soviets rank 1st, 89 Infantry divisions, 4 Cavalry Div, 3 Motorized Div, 9 Armor divisions, 7 Mountain Div, 112 Total divisions.
Top 5: Soviets (112), UK (83), Germany (80), Nationalist China (78), Italy (72)

National Navy Comparison
Soviets rank 6th, 3 Battleships, 4 Cruisers, 8 Destroyer Groups, 17 submarines flotillas, 2 transport flotilla.
Top 5: UK (115), USA(114), Japan(87), Italy(66), France (43)

National Air Force Comparison
Soviets rank 7th, 8 fighter squadrons, 4 tact bomber squadrons
Top 5: USA (26), UK (26), Japan (26), Germany (25), Italy (23)

Economic Information
Total IC: 409.0
Daily Production for:
Coal: 1322.0 units
Steel: 720.0 units
Rubber: 0.0 units
Oil: 238.0 units

Manpower: 341.0 units

Sino-Japanese War
The Japanese invasion continued to falter through January. Once again the Nationalist were able to repel an invasion at Shanghai, and the northern offensive had stalled to a standstill. Meanwhile, border clashed continued between Japanese and Soviet troops, and the threat of invasion from either side was all too real. The Chinese Expeditionary Force stood ready to help the Nationalists, but with the war so far in the Nationalist favor, the Soviets erred on the side of non-intervention.

Research
The air force continued its research into small fighter craft developing Basic Airframes in January. February saw a large number of breakthroughs, with the Army developing a Basic Signal Command System, a Long Range Recon Battalion, 90mm+ Howitzer, and an Improved Light Tank (30mm Canon). The Basic Signal Command System improved the defense efficiency of all divisions, while the Long Range Recon Battalion improved the Soviets intelligence on other countries divisions. The 90mm+ Howitzer was a mobile gun that added to the attack value of divisions, while the Improved Light Tank was the T-60 model. It was a slightly improved version of the T-26 which provided a better attack against hard targets and in April the last T-26 rolled off the assembly lines, although they would remain the backbone of the Soviet Armor Corps for several years.

Here's my favorite Russian tank


http://www.onwar.com/tanks/ussr/profiles/fpt35_38.htm


It didn't stand a chance on the battlefield, but it sure had some teeth!

Here's a sweet little encyclopedia of warfare weapons, with brief descriptions and pictures, if you are interested.

http://www.probertencyclopaedia.com/war.htm

Sino-Japanese War
The war continued to go poorly for the Japanese as the modest Nationalist forces were able to once again hold off an invasion of Shanghai in February. The Japanese turned farther south in an attempt to penetrate the Chinese mainland and successful established a beach head in Kowloon on March 5th. A fierce resistance and counter-attack however, drove them back and by the start of April the province was back in Chinese control. The Japanese finally took the city of Shanghai on March 11th, gaining a foothold on the China mainland. That was quickly followed by a successful invasion of Baotou on the 17th. Protective of its Soviet compromised supply lines, the invasion slowed as the Japanese reinforced their positions, but by early May had launched a surprising offensive that caught the Chinese off guard, and Beijing and Tianjin fell to Japanese control within days of each other.

Events in Europe
On March 25, after a relatively peaceful couple of months in Europe, Hitler raised the tension level. He pressed Austria for Anschluss and the Austrian government ceded to his demands and joined the German empire. The next day he started making demands on Czechoslovakian territory. While the Czechs held off his advances, the European governments scrabbled in attempt to avoid war. The Soviets offered protection to the Czechs and once again requested a treaty of German understanding, but were flatly denied by the democratic powers.

Well I went out and got the game. (Damn you people, gonna put me in a cardboard box soon) ;) After reading the manual, I feel like I'm gonna get my assed kicked a few times. ;)

Sorry :)


I think a lot has changed from what little I remember of the manual. (I've lost mine in 3 moves since I bought the game *shrugs*)

Update: Saw a flyer for the Canadian Youth Socialism and Communist party (or something like that) outside my comp arc and low-level programming course today. Spent the rest of the class thinking about this game :)

Avoid the manual. It's more than useless...it's misleading.

I haven't played in a while, but I remember that last time I became frustrated with the resource system. I couldn't figure out how to procure rubber without depleting every resource that I had on the open market. I created some vicious cycle where I (or the AI) sold oil to get rubber, then had to sell coal to get oil, etc.

Does anyone have any tips on how to manage this better? Open market sucks and the USSR had no colonies.

Great dynasty by the way, looking forward to reading more.

Managing resources:

-Don't trade oil for rubber in any circumstance. You start out (at least the big 5 countries do, I think) with a 3-1 oil to rubber conversion process anyway. In order to successfully make a trade on the market you would have to make a 3-1 or 4-1 trade. It's just better to convert it yourself.

-Starting as the USSR, you have a large oil resource, so you shouldn't worry too much about getting rubber. Trade some of your excess coal to fill your rubber needs, and by the time the war starts you should have enough rubber to last you for awhile.

-research heavily in industrial research to get the conversion techs. By the end of the research tree you can have a 1-1 oil to rubber and 1.5-1 coal to oil conversion techs (I might be wrong about that numbers, don't have the game in front of me).

-When a war starts, cancel your trades. They become useless since you still give up 4 times your resource but only get about 10%-15% back

-exception to the rule for war. Trades work like this. The higher the ratio and the longer they have been active gets the priority. Therefore a 3:1 rubber trade might be worth hanging onto, since after the war is over, your 3:1 rubber trade will bounce to the top of the priority list (assuming everybody else at 3:1 canceled their's)

-The numbers in the world trade screen indicate how much a resource is selling. If there is 9999 steal on the market, you should be able to get it a 1-1 trade. If there is only 1 of any resource, there is still a daily trade allowance.

600 Rubber
5 Steel
5 Coal
200 oil

That means that you will always be able to buy at least 600 rubber per day even if the world resource is at 1. Of course, everybody else will be competing for that rubber, so you'd likely have to trade 2400 resources away to get it all.

-Your resources are related to your industrial capacity. If you are having resource shortages, it's not a good idea to increase your IC, thus increasing your need for more resources. There are two ways around this:
1)Be in a state of perpetual IC increase. With each IC increase you lose 1/2 of the provinces IC or 5 IC, whichever is less. Constantly increasing most of your provinces could keep your IC down. In 5 years, however, it will hit a stagnate decline, and your IC will continue to increase (plus it will already be inflated from 5 years of increase). Unless you have researched the industry techs and conquered some territory, this will likely blow up in your face.
2)Not having resources prevents you from using that IC. If you find yourself with a dwindling resource pile and want to stockpile for the future, you can move more IC's in the unit construction, but not build anything. This will prevent those IC's from using the resources, and might allow you to build up a stockpile so you can run to your full IC.

-If you find you have a stockpile full (99999 units), you can ship your resources to some land not connected to your home province. USSR has two provinces you can do this in (Commodore and I forget the other one, it's close to the Japanese Mainland). At these places you can build up a 9999 resource stockpile. If you don't the extra resources would just go to waste. Some countries can't do this. A unified Germany cannot for instance, since all their provinces will be connected.

-Remember that having a full resource stockpile is not a requirement of the game. It just means that you can't run your economy at full force. Historically speaking, this is pretty accurate. If you desperately need to build certain units or research certain items, take the dissent hit in lowering your consumer goods and supplies. But you don't have to run 100%, 100% of the time. In fact for countries like Germany, I think it's impossible to do it (I haven't played Germany that much, however).

More help can be found on the Paradox fourms @ HOI- FAQ and The Resource FAQ

Hope that helps.

thanks, that's good stuff.

Sino-Japanese War
The Japanese failed to capitalize on the quick offensive in May and made no ground through the rest of the month. By late May they moved their invasion force even further south, invading Haikou. The Chinese however were able to hold off three invasion waves, and by early June the Japanese were forced to regroup. On June 4th Japanese ground forces successfully captured Datong, which now left the Communist Chinese forces exposed to Japanese attack.

The Japanese had extended themselves too far however, and the Soviets were quick to jump on the advantage. In early June, Rokossovsky’s 1st Armor Group was shuttled across Siberia by train, and on June 28th invaded Hailar behind the Japanese Supply lines. Around the same time, General Romanenko’s Chinese Expeditionary Force 1st Cavalry Group invaded Hohhot, just as they had 2 years ago and annihilated a small Japanese force there, capturing the province in the first week of June.

As news of the Russian tanks rolling behind them spread through the Japanese forces, their offensive on China quickly fell apart. Rokossovsky (whose name I’ve been spelling horribly wrong throughout this dynasty) easily marched through Hailar and Oroqen Zizhiqi by July 12th. By the 20th he had pushed as far south as Qiqihar eliminating the Japanese threat to the north and looked unstoppable against small Japanese forces. Rokossovsky was ordered from Qiqihar to push into Dantong to relieve the Chinese forces fighting there. Although the terrain proved difficult at times, the 1st Armor Group was successful in engaging a large Japanese garrison there, and captured the city on August 6th.

As Romanenko and the 1st Cavalry Group held Hohhot against a Japanese counter-attack, the Nationalist Chinese forces quickly mobilized to attack the now diminished Japanese front. Japan had diverted most of their troops into either an attack on Haikou, which they finally took by July 26, or further east to prevent the Soviets from gaining ground. By early August, the front was shattered and the Nationalist Forces liberated Beijing towards the end of the month.

On August 15th, despite the relatively easy successes the 1st Armor Group was having in Northern China, Stalin recalled them from the CEF and ordered them back into Soviet controlled territory. This left the surprised Chinese forces open to a counter attack in which Japan took full advantage of, reclaiming Datong on the 17th. After several bloody battles against Chinese forces, the 1st Cavalry Group of the CEF arrived in Datong and ejected the invaders from the city once again. Historians have debated as to why Stalin pulled the 1st Armor Group out of China. Some believe that Stalin thought he had fulfilled his obligation to the Communist Chinese forces, had avenged the Russians defeat in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904, and therefore wanted their presence back on the Polish border, where they would be better served intimidating the Europeans. But others feel that Stalin knew that although the 1st Armor group enjoyed an early advantage in the northern plains, they would have a much more difficult time in the hilly and mountains terrain farther south, and he didn’t want the ‘Pride of the Red Army’ to suffer an embarrassing defeat. Either way, the CEF had accomplished their job and had brought a serious halt to the Japanese invasion.

Research
In early May the air force developed basic aerodynamics which would lead to more advanced small aircraft. Scientific research then focused on Industrial Research, developing New Synthetic Materials and Hydroforming theories in June. The New Synthetic Materials opened the door to new materials being developed for military use, while Hydroforming developed theories on better oil production and conversion from coal. These advancements were followed by more breakthroughs in electronics as a Basic Decimetric Radar was developed followed by a Cavity Magnetron which would lead to better and longer range radar. By July the armed forces had completed Early War Combat Testing opening up new doctrines for the armed forces to research, and towards the end of July had supplied all units with Basic Vehicle Radio Sets which established better communications.

On August 20th, the first T-60 tank division was formed, the 10th Tankovaya Diviziya, and placed in the 2nd Armor Group under the command of a young General named Georgi Zhukov.

(Historical note for those who care: Rokossovsky and Zhurkov have almost reversed roles in this game. By 1937 Rokossovsky was one of the officers purged out by Stalin (although he was reinstated by 1940, hence his non-removal in the game), and it was Zhurkov who made great gains as a Lt. General in the undeclared border wars against Japan in 1938-39.)

Is there a way to change your countries government to make an alternative history. For example, take over Canada. Make them a Facist govt. Ally with the Axis and have to have the US fight a war on almost three fronts?

There isn't a way set in stone (unless you can mod government types), but if your dissent is greater than 60% you have a chance at a revolution. From there you can pick on of the other two types. And during war, you are likely to ally with the leader of the government type. Just be aware that it doesn't always happen.

I've never attempted it, so I can't say for sure, but you might start a civil war inside your country, which each side gaining an amount of provinces. Like I said, not sure if that is the case (it happens in the Spanish Civil war, but that event is scripted).

Edit: Easiest way to raise your dissent is to have no consumer goods.

Sino-Japanese War
With the removal of the 1st Armor Group from China, momentum swung back into the Japanese’s favor. The Communists simply lacked the manpower to hold on to the territory gained by the Soviets, and the Japanese offensive rekindled without fear of reprisal from the Russian armor. On September 1st, Japan re-occupied Hohhot, cutting the communist supply lines in the occupied territories of Hailar and Oroqen Zizhiqi. Mao Tse-tung pleaded to Stalin for the return of the 1st Armor Group to crush the invaders, but Stalin refused. Instead he commissioned the 1st Army (Armiya) out of Vladivostok under the command of General Gudymenko to cross the northern border into Hailar and support the Chinese Troops.

Romanenko, dug in around Dantong, resisted a Japanese counter-attack into the city in early September. The Japanese had now moved most of the Royal Air Force up north to support the invasion, and Romanenko found his command under heavy air attack. He also needed to reopen the supply lines to Hailar, and on September 2nd left Dantong to Communist defense and invaded Hohhot for the third time in 2 years.

As the Kwantung Army pushed north to reclaim lost territory, the Nationalists continued to push their offensive and on September 11th, liberated Tianjin. Except for Haikuo and Shanghai, the Japanese had made no ground against the Chinese in the now 11 month war, a far different scenario then originally envisioned.

The Kwantung pushed north and reclaimed Oroqen Zizhiqi from a small communist force on September 11th. The Communist forces without supplies for weeks were ill equipped to deal with the onslaught. The 1st Armiya also feeling the effects of the lack of supplies started to pull out of Hailar and move into the comforts and protection of Mongolia. Until the supply lines were reopened, there could be no help from the Soviets. Thankfully for the Communist troops in Hailar, the Romaneko’s 1st Cavalry Group was able to retake Hohhot on the 13th of September, and the Soviet and Communist troops were supplied in time to prevent the Kwantung’s invasion of Hailar.

Fresh supplies empowered Gudymenko’s courage, and he led the 1st Armiya back into Oroqen Zizhiqi on the 20th, easily overpowering the small Japanese force that was able to take the province from the Chinese. The Japanese Northern front was once again in shambles, and combined Soviet and Chinese forces pushed east at the start of the October.

In the south, the Japanese were having considerably more success. They successfully defended their landing beaches at Nantong from Nationalist Chinese counter-attack, and by early October, after weeks of air bombing, finally marched towards the Chinese capital of Nanjing.

Nanking Massacre
Japanese war planes began bombing Nanking concentrating their efforts on the downtown areas which were most densely populated by civilians. As Nanking came under attack the capital was again moved this time to Chungking. Knowing that Japanese troops were en route toward the city the people panicked and tried to flee. On 6th Oct 1938 Japanese ground forces reached Nanking where they were met with minimal resistance from overwhelmed and fatigued Chinese military units. With Japanese troops attacking the city from all angles the Chinese forces were routed. Fearing the consequences of surrender to the Japanese Chinese military men donned civilian clothing and retreated into the city. It was on this day that the six-week stretch of atrocities against the civilian population of Nanking began. The news of the massacre soon hit the world and significantly deteriorated Japan’s relations with the Democratic countries.

Events in Europe
The focus of the world clearly remained on Eastern Asia during the summer of 1938. By the fall however, attention started to drift back to Europe. Hitler’s Germany combined with Austrian lands continued to expand their influence. Although their initial request for Czechoslovakia to cede lands owed to them failed, they continued to press the issue. In early September, French and British representatives began to mediate the dispute. The Soviets offered the Czechoslovakians military support, but were rebuked. Instead, Prime Minister Chamberlain and France Premier Daladier accepted Hitler's demands for the Sudetenland in return for his promise not to claim any other European territory. With tensions appeased, Chamberlain returned home to the UK to claim the Munich Pact was “peace for our time”.

edit: removed some incorrect dates from the Nanking Massacre game text

Sino-Japanese War
The combined Soviet and Chinese offensive pushed into Qiqihar with the 1ya Armiya taking the province on October 15th. Romaneko’s 1st Cavalry Group pushed east from Hohhot into the mountains surrounding Linxi, and found themselves quickly outmatched by the fortified Kwantung army. After several days of fighting, a battered Romaneko limped back to Hohhot to reorganize. In late November, Gudeymenko’s 1ya Armiya tried to liberate Linxi, but despite outnumber the Japanese over 2 to 1, they met much the same fate, and the October offensive quickly turned into a stalemate.

In the South, the Japanese were having much more success against the Nationalist Chinese then they were against the combined Soviet and Communist Chinese forces. By October 20th, they had established beachheads on Kowloon and took control of the province, launching another front against the Chinese. By Late December they pushed north towards Nanjing and had captured Shaoguan and Shantou. They were also able to expand the front around Nanjing, capturing Huainar on October 18th, and Lianyungang on December 29th. All in all however, they unable to make very many gains throughout the year.

Research
With the Sino-Japanese war slowly drawing into a war of attrition, the Soviets turned more attention towards research. In the final three months of 1938, Soviet scientists developed a Anti-Tank Gun 40mm+ (which provided better attack against light tanks for the armed forces), Basic Fighter Development (leading to more advanced fighter planes), Catalytic Polymerization (which would allow Synthetic Rubber plants), Basic Artillery Pieces (allowing bigger and better artillery), and Basic Long Range Radio Sets (which would improve communications throughout the armed forces).

As well, the Soviets had also brought Communist China, Mongolia, and Tannu Tuva up to date in terms of technology by mid-December, and hopefully those three countries would soon be in the position to share technology back with the Soviets.

Chapter Four: The Road to War (1939)

Another round of Industrial improvements gained considerable benefits for the Soviets as their IC rose to 465.0 in 1939, a 12.7% increase. The success of the Northern Chinese forces had bolstered Soviet moral although reports of Germany's unchecked Armed Forces growth remained a concern. The Soviets no longer held the largest number of Armor divisions in the world, that was now in the Americans hands. The USSR had in fact slipped to third behind Germany as well, and they looked to 1939 to strengthen their numbers in that department.

1939 Almanac

Frustrated with the lack of success in organizing a communist coup in Spain, Stalin removed Foreign Minister Maksim Litvinov and replaced him with Andrey Vyshinsky (Cloak and dagger schemer).
Coup Nation:25 (30) DI +10% chance, Influence Nation: +10% chance, Puppet Regime: +6 (+3)DI, Assume Military Control: 2(3) DI

National Army Comparison
Soviets rank 1st, 92 Infantry divisions, 4 Cavalry Div, 3 Motorized Div, 10 Armor divisions, 9 Mountain Div, 114 Total divisions.
Top 5: Soviets (114), Germany (113), UK (102), Nationalist China (93), France (81)

National Navy Comparison
Soviets rank 6th, 3 Battleships, 4 Cruisers, 8 Destroyer Groups, 17 submarines flotillas, 6 transport flotilla.
Top 5: UK (115), USA(114), Japan(90), Italy(68), France (43)

National Air Force Comparison
Soviets rank 7th, 8 fighter squadrons, 4 tact bomber squadrons
Top 5: USA (43), Germany (36), UK (33), Japan (28), Italy (26)

Economic Information
Total IC: 465.0
Daily Production for:
Coal: 1322.0 units
Steel: 720.0 units
Rubber: 0.0 units
Oil: 238.0 units

Manpower: 341.0 units

How much flexibility do you have in changing world events here? For example, could you blitzkrieg Hitler instead of waiting for him to start the war?

There is quite a bit of flexibility. Yeah, I could blitz Hitler, but 1)I don't have direct access to Germany, so I'd have to do an invasion landing and 2) that would be suicide at this point :)

What I could do is ally with the Czechs and move through there, keeping Poland as a buffer against Germany. I could declare war on the Czechs and take their territory and then declare war on Germany from there, etc. The possibilities are numerous.

The Communist and Fascist countries have the ability to declare war on anybody at anytime, where the democracies have to have a 100% war entry support. The more you declare war though, the more the Allies will turn their aggression toward you.

The Calm of 39

Research
The first half of 1939 proved very fruitful for the Communist research machine. They opened the year with scientific advancement in 'Polyurethane', which increased IC efficiency throughout the USSR, and by the end of March they had developed a 'Tank Gun 40mm+' (obviously allowing bigger tank guns), completed 'Basic Heavy Bomber Prototype Tests' (allowing advancement with Strategic bombers and Air transports), and a 'Moving Target Indicator' (improving radar).

In April, Scientist unlocked the possibilities of 'Improved Synthetic Oil Plants' (reducing the coal to oil conversion), 'Nylon' (synthetic fiber leading to advanced equipment), 'Basic SR Fighter Prototype Tests' (leading to advanced interceptors), and 'Frequency Modulation' (a theory that would advance radar and computers). The Air force also completed 'Early War Experience Analysis' broadening the doctrines available to the air force.

Through the Spring and Summer advancements continued to pour through the Soviet Scientific community with 'Divisional Defensive Organization' and 'Deep Area Defence’ doctrines. Both improved the organization and defence value of the armed forces. By mid May the 'Basic Corps Signal Command System' was developed providing more intelligence on the front lines for our troops, and the 'Field Artillery Gun 100mm+' added more punch to artillery brigades. In June, the Air force developed the 'Sheltered Airfields Organization' providing better organization and air defence for the Air force, while also finishing a new 'Basic Strategic Bomber', the Pe-8. By mid August the air force added a new 'Basic Interceptors' as well, the MiG-3.

The first ‘Submersible Tank’ rolled off the production lines in early July providing the Army with Armor support in a shore attack and the ‘Anti-Air Gun 30mm+’ added better air defence for ground units as well. Soviet scientists developed the 'Magnetic Drum Data Storage', paving the way for improved computers, and the 'Basic Electromechanical Encryption Devices' which allowed covert communications away from prying enemy eyes and ears.

On August 18, 1939 after various articles in newspapers and scientific journals, Soviet scientist stumbled upon the ‘Blitz Bombing Doctrine’ improving accuracy and organizing of tactical and dive bombers alike. Fresh from the accidental breakthrough, the Air force completed work on a new 'Basic Medium-Range Bomber Engine' to take advantage of the doctrine.

As summer came to a close and war immediately upon them, the Soviets developed 'Improved Synthetic Rubber Plants' reducing the amount of oil needed to convert to rubber, which would become an important factor in the coming months.

Sino-Japanese War
As a fierce 1939 winter rolled into China, both Japanese and Chinese offensive ground to a standstill. The Soviet forces of the CEF, still licking their wounds from the beating by the Kwangtung Army in Linxi, were dug in their respective positions and made no plans for any type of offensive in the coming months.

Japan managed a successful invasion of Bobai in South China in early January, but tsunamis and bad weather prevented any consolidation on the beachhead, and a Nationalist Chinese counter-attack drove them back into the Bobai Sea on January 23. A half hearted offensive into Guangzhou was also thrown back by Chinese defenses, and the Sino-Japanese War crawled to a halt until the spring.

On April 22, the Japanese reopened their offensives pushing north from Haikou into Zhanjiang, but were once again rebuffed by strong Nationalist Chinese forces. The Japanese would continue with 5 more offensives into Zhanjiang, but were constantly thrown back by Chinese forces throughout the summer of 1939. In May, bolstered by new Soviet doctrines shared with both Communist and Nationalist Chinese, the Nationalists launched a quick offensive to recapture Huainan, to which they were successful on May 14th, and Lianyungang. However, they suffered a horrible casualty rate in the Huainan attack, and a Japanese counter-offensive recaptured the city on the 26th. The Lianyungang offensive was eventually forced to retreat by May 28th, suffering great casualties against a fortified Japanese force.

After the May Chinese offensives, the Japanese quickly went on the counter-attack, and by early June had secured Xuzhou, pushing north from Nanjing. By mid July, the counter-attack had turned into a counter-offensive, and the Japanese claimed Qingdao (on June 12th), Hangzhou (June 22nd), Shaoguan (on July 14th), and Jinan (on July 24th). A counter attack by the Chinese had recaptured Nanjing in late June, but the momentum of battle was clearly in the Japanese favor. By early August they had recaptured Bobai and re-launched an invasion, this time successfully, into Guangzhou.

As summer grew to a close, the Japanese reinforced their gains, and their offensives slowed taking a back seat to the unfolding events in Europe.

Klayman, on the decription of the Mig-3...could it really cruise at 40,000 feet? That is awfully high for a piston engine. May 14,000? BTW, did you make that document yourself? Very nice work!

The info was gathered from various sources off the internet, so I can't vouch for it's accuracy, but that's some of the information that I found. I'll try to double check today to make sure.

And thanks, it was more work than I thought it would be :)

Thanks for this dynasty. Using the US as my first real game, I've definatly gone for the military. I like the events and now have military access through Canada, Ireland, Phillipines, and Nationalist Spain. Made my first attack on german-occupied french soil and won it. However, the Japanese didn't do a Pearl Harbor and they haven't really entered the war yet in 1942. They took over China, but that's about it.

Klayman, maybe this tool will help you with the AAR.

http://www.europa-universalis.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&postid=2068786#post2068786

It will extract the history log from your savegame, allowing you to pinpoint dates better without having to write things down as much. It's basically just a convert from an EUII history editor, but I've been toying with it a bit and it can really help filter down some of the info. Hopefully, Ederon will get some more of the filters working and get the program really humming with HOI, but as of now it works at least!

illinifan: Glad you are enjoying the game. I usually enjoy playing the US as well. They are the only country that can realistically complete the research tree.

sachmo: Thanks. I tried that tool when I first tried HoI but it didn't work for it then. What I usually do is have Word open and have 3 headers (Research, Europe Events, Far Events) and write down notes as they happen and then rewrite it for posting. Usually it works well, just this time I got so engrossed in playing, it was Sept 1939 and 10 months had gone by without a single note being taken by me. So I already parsed the history log on my own, just took awhile to do.

Btw, Europe Events should be up by tonight or tomorrow, and then I can back to playing.

Just wanted to let you know I'm still here and still reading daily. Enjoying it very much, and am looking forward to firing up this game if I ever finish current dynasties.

Great job!

Since we're all doing it, I'll also give this dynasty a shout out! Loving it so far. I'm sold on the game, I just have to find the money and time to go buy it. :)

Thanks for the replies :)

Events in Europe
Chamberlain’s “peace in our time” lasted until March of 1939, when the Munich Treaty fell apart. On March 15, under the guise of protecting the minority Slovakians in Czechoslovakia, German troops occupied Bohemia and Moravia, and made them a “protectorate” of the German Reich, all as Germany was prodding the Slovaks to declare their own independent republic, a clerico-fascist state headed by a Roman Catholic priest, Father Jozef Tiso, that became a puppet and military ally of the Reich. Ruthenia was returned to Hungary, and the end of Czechoslovakia was complete.

Days later, all hell broke lose as German troops looked poised to march into Lithuania. After days of intense negotiations, Lithuania ceded the former German territory Memel back to Germany on March 24th. Seizing on this opportunity of bullish tactics, Italy delivered Tiranë an ultimatum on March 25 demanding that it accede to Italy's occupation of Albania. Zog refused to accept money in exchange for countenancing a full Italian takeover and colonization of Albania and on April 14 Mussolini's troops invaded Albania. Despite some stubborn resistance the Italians made short work of the Albanians. Unwilling to become an Italian puppet King Zog his wife Queen Geraldine Apponyi and their infant son Skander fled to Greece and eventually to London. On April 15 the Albanian parliament voted to unite the country with Italy. Victor Emmanuel III took the Albanian crown and the Italians set up a fascist government under Shefqet Verlaci and soon absorbed Albania's military and diplomatic service into Italy's.

By now it was obvious to the Western leaders what the Soviets had been preaching for years; that Hitler would not be stopped by appeasement. Chamberlain sorrowfully announced his failure and openly offered protection of Polish independence. On March 30th, Poland officially became a member of the Allied States which included the UK, Iraq, France, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa, Nepal, Bhutan, Yemen and Oman. Any attack on Poland by Germany would now mean war, but Hitler still had one more card up his sleeve.

While tensions grew over the preceding months, secret behind closed door meetings were concluded, and on August 24, the world stood in shock as the Soviets and Germany announced a non-aggression pact. The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact (read the text) provided 10 years of peaceful coexistence between Germany and the Soviet Union. Unbeknownst to the rest of the world, however, was that the pact secretly established both German and Soviet spheres of influence in Eastern Europe.

Now was the time for Hitler to make another bold move. Without the possibility of Soviet retaliation, Hitler was confident that the Western Powers would not interfere with his claims on Poland. He began amassing troops along the border and on August 30th demanded Danzig from Polish control. With the backing of the Western Allies, Poland refused, and with that refusal, Germany declared war on Poland. Twenty four hours later, the Allies declared war on Germany and its ally Slovakia, and 21 years after the Great War, Europe was at war again.

Klayman, just so you know, the tool which I mentioned above didn't work with HOI, but the author has converted so that it does. I have to use it, because if I ALT+TAB out of HOI, my screen get's screwed up when I tab back to it.

Also...have you thought about using counters instead of unit pictures?

I got to admit I like the sprites for the unit graphics. It's not very 'hard-core wargamer-like' of me, but oh well. I can switch to the counters if you would rather see them in the maps.

For awhile I played with counters on, but I missed seeing my battleships fire a salvo, tanks moving across the dessert, etc. Little things, I know, but they added more to my enjoyment of the game. :)

That's weird your screen messes up on alt+tab. I've never had a problem with it.

klay, could you (or anyone else) post a screen shot with the counters. I'm just curious as to what it looks like.

sure. Here's the eastern front with counters.

The Blitzkrieg of Poland
Although the Poles had a strong force, over 45 divisions strong, they faltered in tactical preparation for the war. Hamstrung by continuing European pressure into delaying any meaningful army mobilization that might have been considered provocative to the Germans, they relied on a rigid defense of the whole frontier. The lightning quick movement of the German Panzerkorps and Luftwaffe combined to prevent any mobilization along the Polish front, to which the Poles could never realistically have defended anyway. By September 8, 1939, the Luftwaffe had crippled the Polish air force, cumulating in a large air battle above Cieszyn. The Germans deployed two armies against Poland, the first taking the Northern front, while the 2nd pushed eastwards toward Krakow. By September 3, the Northern front had collapsed back to the Wisla River, with Poznan and Bydgoszcz securely in German hands, and cutting off a sizeable Polish force defending Danzig, who could only hold out for 5 more days before falling to the German onslaught. By the 11th, the entire Polish Navy had been defeated just outside the port of Danzig.

The 2nd German Army met considerably more opposition than the Northern front had experienced, but with the destruction of the Polish air force on September 8th, the Germans and Slovakians, with air superiority behind them, pushed into Cieszyn, securing the province on the 11th. By the 19th, they had plowed through Czestochowa and captured the old Polish capital of Krakow.

The Polish now in disarray, had seen their country demolished in a matter of 19 days, and began to fall back into a defensive position and wait for help from the West which would never materialize. The French promised Poland to open up an offensive on the western front that never came, and although the British were enjoying limited success at sea against the Germans, two failed landings at Hamburg (one by Canadian troops, this alternate history’s version of Dieppe?) proved too costly to pursue. On September 17th, German foreign minister Ribbentrop offered the Soviets to engage the Polish from the east. The declaration of Hungary joining the Nazi alliance on the 19th, prompted concern from Stalin, and he declined to engage the Polish forces unless France mounted an offensive in the West. Why he chose not to invade Poland is debated, with many thinking that Stalin, knowing his forces were not yet ready for a full invasion, did not want to show any kind of military weakness to the Germans. But recently released documents show that Stalin was concerned about the Germans not honoring the non-aggression pact and turning on the Soviets in Poland. Stalin didn’t want his forces, weakened by invasion to be caught between Germany and Hungary were those weakness could be exploited. Instead he “let the Germans do the dirty work” for him. Instead Stalin mobilized the 9th and 4th armies south and pressured Romania into ceding all territory to the Siret River, including the cities of Beltsy and Chisinau.

The Northern Front split into 3 spearheads into Torun, Lodz, and Radom, each securing the cities by the 20th and by the 23rd had laid siege to Warszawa, the Polish capital. By October 4th, Germans had advanced as far east as Ostroleka and Lublin and in the south into Przemysi. The southern advance pushed into Sandomierz on the 8th and the Poles made their last stand, throwing a massive counter-attack into Sandomierz on the 10th. The Germans withstood the Polish counter-attack, however, and although the Southern offensive had slowed, Polish resistance was broken. On October 12th the Northern Offensive marched into Brzescnad Bugiem, and the next day, the Poles surrendered.

Despite Stalin’s fears, Hitler was good to his word, and the left the eastern Polish provinces to the Soviets, after expelling most of the non-German population to the eastern provinces from the occupied territories. The Soviets quickly mobilized their forces to secure their new expanded borders.

The Air War
Although the Allies failed to mobilize an offensive into Germany during the invasion, they were able to mount a successful air campaign against Germany cities early in the war. The French and British suffered heavy losses in the opening days of the war, but as German attention shifted eastward, the British were able to secure some success at strategic bombing raids on German industry. The first such raid occurred over Essen on September 20th, and the raids continued into the following months.

The War at Sea
The German u-boats and kriegsmarine scored early victories against allied shipping at the start of the war, but as the Allies slowly mobilized, they were able to limit the effectiveness of the Kriegsmarine. After several battles in the English Channel, a combined French and British fleet scored a major naval victory, and forced the German navy back into the Baltic Sea by November.

Soviet Research
By September the Army had developed a ‘Basic Army Signal Command System, which improved the Army’s ability to track the enemy. In October, Soviet scientists developed the ‘Maneuver Artillery Doctrine’, increasing the organization, attack, and defense of all ground units, the ‘Cavity Magnetron Device’ which lead to further advancement in radar, ‘Special Warfare Equipment’ allowing specialized units like paratroopers and marines, and the ‘Home Chain Doctrine’ which increased fighter organization as well as flak power.

The Sino-Japanese War
As September rolled around, the Japanese offensive resumed and they scored quick victories over the Nationalist Chinese forces in the south retaking Nanjing on the 2nd. An offensive in the south pushed north into Nanchang on the 27th; joining the Japanese two separate beachheads, and surrounding a large chunk of the Nationalist Chinese Army. As the Northern forces continued to pound the surrounded forces taking Ningbo on the 27th, the Southern forces continued westward deep into Chinese territory capturing Liuzhou on Oct 8th, Zhanjiang on the 10th, and Jiangmen on the 12th with relative ease.

The surrounded Nationalist forces continued to hold on against a ferocious Japanese attack, but finally lost Xiamen on the 20th to Japanese forces, almost completely securing the entire east coast of China for the Japanese. In the far North, the Communist and Soviet forces continued to stare down well fortified Japanese positions in Linxi.

On November 1th, the Chinese launched a joint counter attack, with Nationalist forces moving against Tianjin and Ningbo, while Communist Chinese and Soviet forces (both the 1st Army and 1st Cavalry Group) invaded Linxi. The Japanese were caught off guard, and the Communist forces were able to push through Linxi, while the Nationalist reclaimed Tianjin threatening the Korea peninsula. The counter-attack into Ningbo was thrown back however, and the Nationalist forces remained surrounded and besieged by Japanese invaders.

Stupid computer. This is how you blitz Poland...

0:00 August 30, 1939 : Poland went with Then it is War in Danzig or War.
0:00 August 30, 1939 : Germany, Austria, Hungary and Slovakia declared war upon Poland, United Kingdom, Iraq, France, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa, Nepal, Bhutan, Yemen and Oman.
7:00 August 30, 1939 : We won a battle against Poland in the skies above Poznan.
13:00 September 1, 1939 : We won a battle against Poland in Poznan.
18:00 September 1, 1939 : We are attacked by hostile airplanes of Poland above Czestochowa.
20:00 September 1, 1939 : We won a battle against Poland in the skies above Czestochowa.
14:00 September 2, 1939 : We won a battle against Poland in Czestochowa.
14:00 September 2, 1939 : We won a battle against Poland in Czestochowa.
8:00 September 3, 1939 : We are attacked by hostile armies of Poland in Poznan.
6:00 September 4, 1939 : We won a battle against Poland in Krakow.
11:00 September 4, 1939 : We are attacked by hostile armies of Poland in Radom.
12:00 September 4, 1939 : We won a battle against Poland in Radom.
0:00 September 5, 1939 : We are attacked by hostile armies of Poland in Czestochowa.
1:00 September 5, 1939 : We won a battle against Poland in Czestochowa.
6:00 September 5, 1939 : We have lost control over Poznan to Poland.
6:00 September 5, 1939 : We lost a battle against Poland in Poznan.
9:00 September 5, 1939 : We are attacked by hostile armies of Poland in Warszawa.
12:00 September 5, 1939 : We won a battle against Poland in Warszawa.
22:00 September 5, 1939 : We won a battle against Poland in Danzig.
2:00 September 6, 1939 : We are attacked by hostile armies of Poland in Krakow.
6:00 September 6, 1939 : We won a battle against Poland in Krakow.
11:00 September 6, 1939 : We won a battle against Poland in Poznan.
11:00 September 6, 1939 : We won a battle against Poland in Poznan.
4:00 September 7, 1939 : We are attacked by hostile armies of Poland in Warszawa.
4:00 September 7, 1939 : We won a battle against Poland in Warszawa.
13:00 September 7, 1939 : We won a battle against Poland in Poznan.
17:00 September 7, 1939 : We are attacked by hostile armies of Poland in Lublin.
6:00 September 8, 1939 : We won a battle against Poland in Lublin.
18:00 September 8, 1939 : We won a battle against Poland in Sandomierz.
0:00 September 10, 1939 : We have lost control over Troppau to Poland.
4:00 September 12, 1939 : We won a battle against Poland in Bydgoszcz.
4:00 September 12, 1939 : We won a battle against Poland in Bydgoszcz.
12:00 September 12, 1939 : We won a battle against Poland in Lwow.
12:00 September 12, 1939 : Poland are now part of our nation!


:D

Nice. Version 1.01 I assume? :D

As anybody ever played the Big Campaign as Poland, i know it looks hopeless...aas i dont have HOi but it seems a skilled player could last longer than the real polish forces did....if not, i throw the challenge out there!

I haven't. Played as France once and held back the Germans, but that was back in the days of the poor AI. I would say that it's certainly not out of the realm of possibility, though, and a skilled player could certainly hold out longer than the Polish actually did. Luxemburg...now there's a challenge :)

I just picked up HOI for $20 at BestBuy. I'm going to give it a try in a few minutes. If it's not as good as I want it to be, I'm blaming you klayman! :D

:D

BestBuy eh? This game and Midevil Total War have been on my "I want" list since they came out. . .

And of course, using the editor, you can radically change things. I made Yugoslavia a superpower (in industry and resources), and added them to the Alliance. I had to build a tech base and army from scratch, but by December 1940, Yugoslavia owned Romania, Albania, Bulgaria and Czechoslvakia, and had helped the allies set up puppet regimes in Italy and Germany. Japan foolishly declared war on the US at this point, and we were gearing up our navy to go to invade China (which was owned by Japan) when I decided to go to bed last night...

David

"This game and Midevil Total War have been on my "I want" list since they came out. . ."

Both are excellent games. (Total War is anyway, for me the jury is still out on HOI, but I've been having a lot of fun so far)

So I don't owe you $20 then? :)

Btw, I'll be getting back to this tonight or tomorrow. Just polishing off some homework.

:D

The Short Phony War
Bulgaria joined the Nazi Alliance on September 25th, followed by Italy in October to form a Berlin-Rome Axis. The UK continued to provide a naval blockade upon German shipping, while the French stared down Germany opposition from the safety of the Maginot line. Hitler wanted another blitzkrieg of France to follow Poland’s defeat, but his generals persuaded him out of launching an immediate attack. For the first month after the end of Polish resistance, the only nation that made any offensive moves was in fact Italy, who successfully invaded Grenoble on November 6th, 10 days after joining the Axis powers. A week later Germany began plans to invade France by flanking the Maginot Line and invading Belgium and pushing through the Ardennes. On November 12, Germany declared war on Belgium and Luxemburg.

The Winter War
Stalin was impressed with the Germans relatively easy annexation of Poland, and wished for a blitzkrieg of his own to impress other nations of the Red Army’s might. That didn’t come when Romania happily ceded territory to the advancing Red Army. The next target was Finland. Stalin demanded territory from the Finns to prevent a possible Nazi attack through the same territory. Finland was less then cooperative with the Soviet Government, and on November 14, Soviet troops began their invasion of Finland.

Russo-Finnish War OOB (Soviets) @ Nov 14, 1939
1st Northern Army under Field Marshal Blucher at Leningrad, including
- 1st Armor Group with 8 divisions (8 Armor (T-26)) under General Rokossovksy
- 10ya Armiya with 9 divisions (2 Infantry-A, 6 Infantry, and 1 Motorized Infantry-AT) under direct command of Blucher
- 5ya Armiya with 9 divisions (1 Infantry-A, 7 Infantry, and 1 Motorized Infantry) under General Eremenko
- Leningrad Air Command with 2 Squadrons (2 I-26 Fighters) under Air General Khudyakov

2nd Northern Army under Field Marshal Tukachevsky at Petrozavodsk, including
- 3ya Armiya with 9 divisions (1 Infantry-A, 7 Infantry, 1 Motorized Infantry-AT) under direct command of Tukachevsky
- 2nd Armor Group with 8 divisions (8 Armor (T-60)) under General Zhukov
- 7ya Armiya with 6 divisions (1 Infantry-A, 5 Infantry) under General Apanasenko) stationed in Murmansk
- Moscova Defense Corps with 3 divisions (1 Infantry-AA, 1 Infantry-A, 1 Infantry) under Lt. General Artemenko stationed in Moscow
- Western Air Command with 4 Squadrons (2 I-26 Fighters, 2 SB-2 Tactical Bombers) under Air Marshal Golovanov stationed in Murmansk

Germany’s Western Front
Luxemburg had little choice but to capitulate to the German war machine on November 13th. Belgium on the other withstood a strong German offensive into Bruxelles, slowing down the German army as they were forced to reorganize. Several days of intensive bombing by the Luftwaffe followed, and a bloody battle in Arlon proved disastrous for the Belgium Army, as the city fell on the 18th. Despite that set back, the Belgians held on, once again repulsing an initial German invasion into Bruxells on the 24th, although the city would fall 4 days later to another wave of German invasions.

The Winter War
Although Stalin wanted a quick blitzkrieg to call his own, his Generals knew that was unlikely. First, the Soviets had not yet upgraded their pre-war aircraft, and the Fins had a solid line of Anti-air guns across the border. Second, the weather and terrain would prove difficult for their armor divisions to penetrate against even dug-in moderate Finnish defensive units. They had to pick their battles carefully. FM Blucher made a daring move in the opening days of the campaign. While he waited for the full mobilization of his armed forces to arrive in Leningrad, he marched the 10ya Armiya in a feint maneuver towards the heavily fortified province of Viipuri, whilst moving Rokossovksy’s 1st Armor Group north into Petrozavodsk. This forced the Finns to divert forces from Sortavala and Joensuu to protect Viipuri, which the 2nd Northern Army took full advantage off, invading Sortavala on the 26th. Poor weather prevented the Soviets from launching an attack in the Northern part of Finland, and the pre-war bombers proved very faulty in the freezing conditions.

Blucher’s brilliant feint proved successful, as the Finns reshuffled their front against the supposed threat. As Blucher re-mobilized back to Leningrad preventing the Finns from seeing the full extent of his army, the Finns launched a counter attack that proved disastrous. One division of Finnish regulars under Lt. General Talvela where systematically wiped out by the full force of 10ya Armiya on the 18th, and Blucher launched a counter offensive back into Viipuri the next day. The Finns, not recognizing the full threat from the mobilizing forces in Leningrad, had moved to strengthen the capital of Helsinki fearing a Soviet Naval Invasion, and the strategically important province of Viipuri fell to Soviet control on the 20th.

Tukhachevsky’s invasion into Sortavala did not meet the same success. Due to some clerical errors, Tukhachevsky’s 3ya Armiya arrived in Sortavala hours ahead of their Armor support, and against a must bigger force than the Soviet intelligence had foreseen. He suffered heavy casualties in the opening hours of the battle, until Zhukov’s 2nd Armor Group caught up and engaged the enemy. Still outnumbering the Finns over 3 to 1, the Finns were able to inflict high casualties on the Soviets, and Rokovssovsky’s 1st Armor group needed to be diverted to Sortavala to help out. But Rokovssovsky would not arrive in time, and suffering almost a 80% causality rate, Tukhachevsky was forced to retreat on the 29th of November.

Research
The ‘Basic Medium Bomber Airframe’ was developed in November, which opened the door for improved tactical bombers, that the Winter war was showing the Soviets badly needed.

African War
The Italians for all their accomplishments in defeating the British in the Mediterranean at sea and at air were beaten back by the British forces in Libya, losing Bardiyah, Al Jaghbub, and Bir El Hakim in late November. The British also began threatening other Italian African possessions, taking Obbia on the November 25th, and launching raids into Ethiopia, capturing Asmara on the 27th. Italy’s empire was quickly crumbling, much to the chagrin of Hitler.

Sino-Japanese War
The isolated Nationalist force along the eastern shore was slowly being starved out of existence. Cut off they lost Hangzhou on November 20th, and the rest of the force in Wenzhou surrendered 2 days later, leaving the entire Eastern Chinese Coast in Japanese hands.

Despite poor weather with the coming winter in China, the Japanese pushed west from the south into Nanning on November 27th, threatening the new Chinese capital of Kunming. Unless the Soviets or Communist Chinese put together a much more aggressive offensive, it was feared that the Nationalist would not be able to hold out past the comming Summer.

Just a format question for anybody still reading. There is obviously a ton of stuff going on at the same time right now. Would you prefer that I a) give it in short blurbs like the last post that addresses all the theaters of war at about a month a time, or would you prefer that I b) made longer posts for each theater covering more time. The differences are that with a) I can make quicker posts, but the information is all disjointed and jumping around the place, and with b) the information on specific theaters is more compact and easier to follow (plus it's easier to determine what pictures are important for the information conveyed), but I'd have to play (and write) more, so the posts would not be as regular.

It's really up to you guys, as I've got a pretty good system down right now between separating notes. Either way I still use the same system, it's just a matter of how often I would post that info.

Hey Klayman, do you want me to send you that utility that extracts history logs? It might help organize the information and save you some time...

Thanks sach, I got it already. I still like taking notes cause they convey my ideas at the time, like sometimes why I might of been researching a particular item at that particular time, or the feel of how a battle is going, etc.

Well, I can follow the writeups either way, but I think if you group things together it feel "neater", or something.

I like the "a" format, with detailed writeups for things relating directly to Russia, much like the last post on 10/8.

Agreed.

Yup, ditto.

Sorry for the lack of updates. Real life and hockey got in the way.