Introduction

Gentlemen, as of 1 September 1938, I have assumed control of the Empire.

Hearts of Iron 3 offers earlier start dates, like 1936, but I think starting so early makes it hard to avoid unrealistically ‘gaming’ an ahistorical approach given the gift of foreknowledge. September 1938 is a critical time for a number of reasons. The Munich Agreement was signed later that month, it’s a bit over a year into Chamberlain’s premiership, and it’s exactly one year before the beginning of the Second World War. Whether appeasement at Munich was for better or worse, I think it put the ‘writing on the wall’ in terms of Hitler’s expansionism, and offered the Brits a last-ditch chance to prepare for war – and so they shall.

Below is the world situation as it stands on 1 September. As noted, the Germans have not yet seized the Sudentenland, however the Anschluss of Austria has been complete for some time. Note also the on-going civil war in Spain, with two substantial pockets of Republican hold-outs in the east.



Strategic Review

Before issuing opening orders, I begin with a preliminary strategic review of Britain's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats at this moment.

Strengths

As an island nation, the home territory possesses a great deal of intrinsic defensibility. Any attempted invasion must come from sea or air; either approach posses many difficulties for an attacker. Further, the UK’s armed forces are fairly substantial in quantity. The upper left pie chart in the three images below show the breakdown of the army, air force, and navy, respectively. The other charts track reinforcement needs and supply and fuel consumption, and are not very important at the moment. Our naval quantitative strength is particularly impressive, with a dozen battleships and a very large cruiser fleet.







Weaknesses

Although the British services are quantitatively impressive, in truth I am saddled with a hodge-podge of some bleeding edge modern units but a great deal of antiquated units. This is particularly the case for the navy. Ten of my capital ships and nearly 30 of my screens (light cruisers and destroyers) are ‘level one’ ships (see the ‘I’ under ‘HMS’), which essentially means that they are outfitted with Great War-era kit. I immediately take the step of relegating these ships to a reserve fleet stationed in Scapa Flow. I’ll decide what to do with them later.



As well, a huge portion of my land forces are reserve units. They are almost all operating at half-strength, and, if war erupts, will need a great deal of time to mobilize and reach full strength before they are combat capable.

While the British homeland is an island, its empire is global. This means that geography is also a weakness in the context of Britain’s swath of overseas colonies. From Newfoundland to North Africa to Hong Kong, I have a lot of territory to worry about. Suddenly my twelve battleships don’t seem so mighty when viewed in this light. In simple terms, I don’t currently have enough units to adequately defend all of the territory I possess.

Opportunities

I don’t have the resources available to develop a land force that can directly challenge the Wehrmacht, but the big powers like the Americans and the Soviets do. Even if I did, the memory of the Great War is still fresh in the minds of many Britons, and my people have no appetite for all-out blood warfare.

I instead have an opportunity to use my inferior forces to harass the Germans and bite at their heels wherever possible, ideally causing them to redirect vital assets away from front-line fighting to deal with whatever threat I can muster. The analogue to this approach in naval warfare is a fleet-in-being: avoiding decisive action but instead generating capabilities which the foe cannot afford to ignore.

Threats

Needless to say, the rapidly rearming Germany and her expansionist policies are the greatest threat to Britain at the moment. Seen below from the Maginot Line, Wehrmacht divisions have reoccupied the Rhineland and are slowly but surely massing on France’s border.



I am also mindful of the evolving situation in the Far East, as Japanese forces fiercely battle their way across China. If the Japanese push the attack, my tenuous grip on Hong Kong, the East Indies, and the Indian subcontinent will be threatened.



Strategic Concept

Based on the analysis above, I choose three priorities moving forward. They are, in order of importance, 1) defence against invasion of the British Isles, 2) defence against invasion of British overseas territories, and 3) support to major allied powers wherever possible.

In the short time available before war with Germany, the British military must undergo several quick transformations to suit this strategic concept. The Royal Navy will be Britain’s asymmetric advantage over all threats; doctrine development and technological research will embrace carriers and cruiser-sized warships. The land force will need to raise highly mobile, nimble divisions specializing in amphibious assault and maneuver warfare – this means marines, armour, mechanized infantry and the like. Air forces will be force multipliers for other domains, specializing in tactical engagements like close air support and naval bombing.

Opening Orders

Gentlemen, with this guiding concept in hand, my first order of business is a small cabinet shuffle. Sir Frederick Bowhill replaces Sir Cyril Newall as Chief of the Air Force, and Sir Ernie Chatfield replaces Leslie Hore-Belisha as Armament Minister.





Next, I order a massive reorganization of all three services. At the start of September, most of the army is organized into several small corps comprised of one or two divisions at most. While perhaps a sufficient approach for territorial defence, it does not maximize the bonuses applied by having skilled leaders in command at the corps- or army-level. Here is one example where an entire corps, Highland Area, is comprised of just one division, the 51st.



I quickly do away with all corps level commands, and start from scratch. Building new corps out of approximately five divisions each, I construct an army of ten corps. This dramatically reduces command overhead: under the new organizational framework, I cut my number of HQ brigades from 30 down to 16. The image below shows one example of a newly-formed motorized corps.



Research priorities are set. HoI3 requires you to balance leadership points between research, espionage, diplomacy, and officer training. I have selected a range of new technologies/capabilities to research and assigned points accordingly.



As with research, the game requires you to balance your industrial capacity (IC) points between several areas: production, upgrades, reinforcement, supplies, and consumer goods. Several new carriers are already in the production queue. The red items mean that I am producing way beyond what my industrial capacity can accommodate. No problem; they’ll finish eventually, it just means they’ll move slowly until the other ships are done. There’s already been quite a bit of progress made on them by the time I take control, so there’s no sense in cancelling them. I do, however, scrap a string of battleships that had barely made it past the keel-laying to make way for future carrier construction.



Gentlemen, that should be sufficient to get us rolling for the next few months. More to follow….

Woooooooo! Will be following this!

This looks very promising. I'll also follow.

Sweeeeeet!!!!!!

Bring it on

Oh.....so looking forward to this. :-) Are you running the Semper Fi version of HOI3?

This one looks cool too.


Wheels

Great AAR. Will follow this.

How did HOI3 evolved over time? I played it after the first patch or so came out and it still had some balancing issues and bugs (supply routes broken, unrealistic naval engagements etc.), so i stayed at HOI2 AOD.
Did they managed to fix all this?

Love this game. I definitely agree with the stance that starting any earlier than 1938 creates a simplified game to say the least (taking Russia by the end of 1940 with Germany, as an example).

Wow! This is going to be interesting. Going to love this.

This is going to be a good one. I'll keep an eye on this one.

Semper Fi + For the Motherland with whatever the latest version is - 3.05 I think?



For the Motherland (FTM) went a long ways to fixing some of these really annoying and long-standing bugs, like the supply sink in Korean ports that could ruin Japan. Naval engagements are abstracted as usual, but the balancing seems a bit more appropriate now. Ships are hard to sink, but quite possible to 'mission kill:' that is to say, ships can often be knocked down to low strength and will then continuously flee, but they then pose no risk to your own forces. One annoyance that persists for me is lack of sensible control over ship positioning during engagements. You can't assign capital ships (CAs, BBs, etc) to a carrier fleet because, even though the carriers are maintaining distance and letting the CAGs slam the enemy, the capital ships will rush in and try to duke it out at close range. So, in previous games, my cruisers would wind up trying to go toe-to-toe with enemy battleships and invariably get sunk in huge numbers. Hence, I am organizing my carrier fleets into small task groups, usually comprised of two carriers plus about four light cruisers or destroyer flotillas for screening.

But, as it stands, the game is pretty enjoyable. I ran a campaign as Japan a couple of months ago and it was relatively bug-free. By not attacking Pearl and essentially staying out of war with America, I was able to conquer Australia and a large portion of mainland Asia. I played up to 1944 and didn't really notice any oddities at all.

I hope to fast forward up to the opening salvos of the war, and should have an update on or before the weekend.

Near the end of the month of September, delegates from major European powers gather in Munich to negotiate the German annexation of the Czechoslovakian Sudetenland. As a last hope for peace, we comply with Hitler and the Germans occupy the Sudetenland. Chamberlain returns to England declaring 'peace in our time.'





The next few months are relatively uneventful. I commission a few new carriers and a light cruiser, freeing up a good chunk of my industrial capacity to redistribute into badly-needed upgrades for my army. Once my divisions are relatively caught up in upgrades, I will shift back into production and focus on pumping out new units.
In March, there are several important developments:

• The Spanish Republican government crushes the Nationalist uprising. Spain is re-united under the leadership of the Republicans.
• Despite Hitler’s assurances that the concession of the Sudetenland would satiate Germany’s desire for lebensraum, Axis expansionism continues: Italy occupies Albania, and Germany seizes the remainder of Czechoslovakia. Hungary also enters into the Axis.
• The Allies draw a line in the sand and guarantee the independence of Poland.

The summer is fairly uneventful – conscription is introduced to help bolster British manpower, and I create a new carrier task group headed up by the newly-commissioned HM ships Formidable and Illustrious.

But in late in August, the storm clouds of war finally break. Secret negotiations between Germany and the Soviet Union solidify into the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. The pact paves the way for a German invasion of Poland through the demarcation of eastern Europe into spheres of influence divided between the Germans and the Soviets.



On 1 September, German troops cross into Polish territory, shattering the peace towards which we had conceded so much at Munich. Britain rises to its obligations to Poland and enters into a state of war with Germany.





I immediately raise Britain’s entire armed forces to high alert. France adheres to its commitments as well, and also declares war. Canada, Australia, and New Zealand are not far behind. Full military service by requirement is instituted in the United Kingdom, along with a total economic mobilization. These initiatives dramatically increase the industrial capacity and manpower available to devout to the war effort, and will soon allow me to start raising new divisions.

Immediate military tasking is for several naval task groups to sortie and attempt to deny the Germans the use of the sea for any means against Poland. 1 Carrier Group, Rear-Admiral Sommerville commanding, sails for the Baltic and encounters a cruiser group – including Scharnhorst and Gneisenau – in Øresund on 4 September. The Fleet Air Arm pounds the German ships, and my task group emerges victorious and unscathed. Unfortunately, no German ships are sunk, but I can rest assured that those cruisers will be heading for port with tails between legs, and will be in repair for the next few weeks.



Opening moves in Poland’s defence constitute victories by German armour in the northwest against the Polish 17th division. Polish infantry make a few slight gains in the north, advancing towards Konigsberg and face no real opposition there.



In the south, however, a large tract of land on Poland’s southwest border is completely undefended. German infantry advance effortlessly and unopposed. Lodz and Warsaw are both exposed, forcing the Poles to hurriedly shuffle a few infantry divisions down from the central area to defend.



I am withholding deploying expeditionary land forces until there is any indication of how the Poles can stand against the Germans; there won’t be any sense throwing away an expeditionary force if the front begins collapsing before they get there. For now, it’s not looking good.

A lot of fun to read. Screenshots are superb!

I'll be watching this, should become interesting.

Btw: Once WW2 is over, will you attack the Soviet Union?

Thanks to Kramer for the heads up...get HOI3 for cheap - only a few more hours left on the sale!

Hearts of Iron 3 Collection - $8.99: http://www.gamersgate.com/DD-HOI3C/hearts-of-iron-3-collection

Thanks man - hopefully they're clear enough to follow. HoI3 throws a lot of information at you, so I imagine they can be a bit hard to understand if you've not played the game before. Now that the land war is heating up, I want to start marking up the maps a bit more to illustrate axes of advance and that sort of thing.



I'll definitely be thinking about it

That would have definitely made for a different World order the following 50 years.


Wheels

fatty,

Can you give us some screenshots of a few of your divisions or brigades? I'd like to see the TO&E of the division if that is possible in the game. What are your forces made up of?

Excellent. :>

Sure, I will feature a few divisions in my next write-up, hopefully to be posted tonight.

Great stuff, fatty!

September, October, and November have been bleak for the war on land. After initial German penetrations of the Polish line in the northwest and southwest, the Polish defences crumble almost immediately. My hesitation about sending an expeditionary force was probably quite prudent, as it seems there is little hope. The blitzkrieg concept is put on full display as German armour punches gaping holes and races towards Warsaw followed closely by a steady stream of infantry. Polish defenders, shown here on 26 September, are in full retreat as the Germans advance across the entire front.



Poland surrenders on 6 October.

Meanwhile, in France, there is no such thing as the ‘Phony War’ – the Germans are simultaneously launching a large-scale assault on the Maginot Line. I have confidence in the French defences, which are bolstered by a line of very tough fortifications between Belgium/Luxembourg and Switzerland. I therefore decide to help out as I can, and raise the 1st Expeditionary Army consisting of 3rd and 4th Corps, and attach it to Home Command. Ten divisions belonging to 3rd and 4th Corps are ferried across the Channel to Caen by 1 and 2 Transport Group, and they take up station on the line on or around 11 October. Below, the full order of battle for the 1st Expeditionary Army is shown on the left. Most of the divisions consist of two or three motorized infantry brigades. The exception is the 1st Armoured, which is two light armoured brigades, one medium armoured brigade, and a motorized infantry brigade.



4th Corps, with its armoured division, is tasked to cover the northern half where the fighting is heaviest and the Germans have already made some advances. 3rd Corps covers the southern half, which is more defensible by virtue of the river running north-south along the border. I have also attached 1 and 2 Bomber Group for ground attack and logistics bombing, and 1 Fighter Group for escort duty.

Much to my satisfaction, the 50th 'Northumbrian' in Metz, the 1st Armoured in Nancy, and the 1st 'London' in Strasbourg hold their ground against the superior attacking force. But, as seen in Poland, the Germans have mastered combined arms warfare, and have opened a gap in the centre, reaching as far as St Dié in the southwest. The German units also receive massive bonuses from experience: some or all of these divisions no doubt saw action in Poland.

I began to pull back some units to regroup further west and attempt to close the gap. As you can see from this image as well, the fighting is particularly bloody: the Battle of Nancy that concluded 26 October cost each side nearly 2,000 men.



By 21 November, the situation has not improved significantly. We are succeeding in stemming the German attack; they’ve only managed to penetrate a hundred miles or so in the two months of solid fighting. But we are still yielding ground, and I am concerned that the increasingly disorganized French forces in the north congregated in the northwest are near total exhaustion. My bombers have been particularly useless over the last few weeks – German air cover is just too strong. 1 Fighter Group based at Metz loses its airfield to the Germans and is withdrawn closer to Paris.

By the end of November, the situation in France appears as below.



At the moment I have no confidence that this front can hold. For the moment, I am debating between deploying reinforcements or withdrawing 1st Expeditionary Army completely before any serious risk of encirclement and destruction at the hands of the Germans.

Despite these last few bitter weeks on land, the war at sea has been going exceedingly well for Britain.

After the engagement earlier in September, 1 Carrier Group tracked the battlecruiser Gneisenau to the port of Kolberg near the Polish front. On 21 September, flights of Fairey Swordfish from 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 5th Carrier Air Groups launch from HM carriers Furious and Courageous in the Southern Baltic, and successfully send both Gneisenau and a U-boat flotilla to the bottom of Kolberg harbour.



On 29 September, 1 Surface Group headed up by HM battleships Rodney and Nelson spots and engages a German surface group in the Heligoland Bight. Gneisenau’s sister ship Scharnhorst is put down.



Then, in early October, 1 Carrier Group spots yet another German surface group in the Kattegat. The group includes the vaunted German battleships Bismarck and Tirpitz. A running battle down the eastern Danish coast nets 1 Carrier Group yet more victories: Bismarck goes to an early grave in the Øresund on 4 October, and Blücher is sunk off the Pommeranian Coast on 5 October.



Tirpitz and Graf Spee are chased into the port of Lübeck, where my planes follow. We get our first taste of fortress Europe, however: enemy air cover over Lübeck is very thick, and after sustaining considerable losses, I cancel the port strike.

My fleet holds off Lübeck for the next few weeks, hoping to coax Tirpitz out for another go. Unfortunately, the Germans have launched a surprise invasion of Denmark, and their race to the Skagerrak risks trapping my fleet in the Baltic. I withdraw my fleet back into the North Sea on 3 November.



There is nothing I can do for the Danes. They surrender on 9 November.

On the production front, some good news: upgrades are moving along enough that I can shift some industrial capacity into building new units. I have ordered three new squadrons of dive bombers, two of interceptors, and five new armoured divisions. The divisions constitute a single brigade of medium tanks, two brigades of motorized infantry, and a supporting brigade of tank destroyers. My hope is they will give me some edge against the German combined arms onslaught. The first five divisions will be deployed in June 1940.

Another good read.


Wheels

Thanks Wheels. I really must give credit to Para_Bellum, whose 'rolling' War in the East AAR was really terrific and a great inspiration.

I've been doing a bit more reading on the British proposals to go after the Soviets at the end of the war. Right now, the Soviets appear anything but friendly. One thing I neglected to note in my last report was the Winter War: the Soviets launched an offensive against Finland in November, and managed to take Helsinki (!) before agreeing to a cease fire and receiving the historical territorial cessions from Finland. This, plus the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact and the partition of Poland makes it seem like the Soviets are pretty much in bed with the Nazis from the perspective of the Brits in 1939. So, I'll think about my very own 'Operation Unthinkable' very carefully, but it'll mostly depend upon where I sit at the end of the war; the last thing I want is to get involved in a British Barbarossa and end up losing the entire continent.

That's what the replay button is for.


Wheels

Wow, this turn of events was...unexpected.

If the Wehrmacht manages to break through behind your 1st and swing around northward, you'll basically lose France.

On the upside, there's no immediate possibility of "Seelöwe", as naval cover from the Kriegsmarine will be nonexistant.

Isn't it funny how quickly this got off the historical track? I assume the decimation of the German surface fleet has freed up resources and manpower to be put into the land war, hence a very early (and very direct) invasion of France. But yeah, my quandary now is whether to deploy an additional corps or two, or withdraw completely. Most of my divisions (including the 1st) are near complete disorganization and are retreating as soon as they enter combat, so I am leaning quite heavily towards withdrawal. So much for the regrouping plan.


Yes, I think an early and aggressive embrace of carrier aviation has proven particularly potent. True to history, though, I'm finding that submarines are getting past my naval blockade and I'm beginning to lose convoys in the Channel Approaches, the Bay of Biscay, and off Portugal. I've researched better ASW technology but my destroyers and light cruisers need to upgrade. Upgrades mean time in port, which cuts into operational capacity available for ASW patrols. So it is a balancing act to keep some escorts at sea to hunt for U-boats, and some in port to receive the upgrades.

I don't think this was the only cause. They came through the Luxemburg-Maginot gap, so the French must have had weak to no defenses there. Or they were unprepared. Or the Führer didn't want a Sitzkrieg...



Yeah, pull them back. Maybe to the Bretagne for a bridgehead for safe evacuation or a counter strike (if possible). The Wehrmacht is going to be all over southern France anyway.





But now you have more available resources for escort duty, as much of the german surface fleet is done for.



Anyway, go on, soldier!

Thanks a lot, fatty, it's a great read so far.

You seriously kicked butt concerning the heavy surface forces of the Kriegsmarine. Regarding the land campaign, I wonder if Germany will go after the Netherlands and Belgium now, as the current invasion of France is definitely not historic. Sitzkrieg? - Nein danke!

Great read so far.

If you can hold out till 41-42 in France you will have a very short war.

Retreat from France

With the situation on the French front rapidly deteriorating, 1st Expeditionary Army is ordered to pull out. Because German armour is making quick advances in the north and risks cutting off my access to ports on the English Channel, I opt to head west to evacuate through St Nazaire. HQs and motorized divisions recuperating near the rear of the line make a hasty retreat; for everyone else, it is a fighting withdrawal all the way across France.



As the army beats its retreat across France throughout December, it is a very sombre Christmas at home . The graveness of the situation on the mainland is reflected in the King’s Christmas address.



Because our retreating forces are under constant harassment from the Germans, the withdrawal is a very slow one. At the end of January, my forces finally reach the west coast of France, and the French government simultaneously capitulates. The Germans gain control of the northern half of France and all ports along the Atlantic coast, and the collaborationist Vichy regime is installed to preside over the southern zone and North African territories.



A transport fleet covered by 4 Surface Group (led by the newly commissioned battleship Duke of York) successfully plucks most of the expeditionary army out of France and brings them home. Unfortunately, the 50th Division lags behind and is not able to reach St Nazaire before the Germans capture the port. As the transports pull away, I send the 50th south towards the port at La Rochelle, but it is encircled by German armour at Challans and is destroyed.



Italy Enters the War

With French resistance crumbling, Italy (quite opportunistically) elects to solidify their Pact of Steel and enter the war alongside Germany. The map below shows the situation in Europe by the end of January 1940. Red territory belongs to the Axis, green is British, and blue is allied. Note that while northern France is marked blue, it is currently occupied by the Germans.



The Italians quickly begin to gobble up territory in Africa. My only units defending North Africa at the moment is 7th Corps attached to Southern Command, which is made up of the 7th Armoured Division, and 7th and 8th motorized infantry divisions. Despite their limited numbers, the infantry divisions set up a defence around Alexandria, while 7th Armoured conducts a limited counterattack at El Alamein, forcing what is perhaps the first Axis retreat so far in the war.



For now, 7th Corps will stay in a defensive posture around Alexandria. But I’m planning to form a new expeditionary army to conduct serious counter-offensives in North Africa over the next few weeks.

The War at Sea

No new major combat to report. U-boats are slowly beginning to take a toll on my shipping. Despite my blockade of the Heligoland Bight, U-boats are breaking through and are operating with relative impunity in the North Sea and eastern Atlantic. This situation will probably worsen now that Denmark and France’s ports on the Atlantic coast are now under German control.

In February, German subs observed operating around the major naval base at Scapa Flow.



Convoy losses are highest off the Iberian peninsula. In this map, each red icon represents an attach on a convoy in an ocean sector for the past week – so four attacks in this region for the last week alone.



In response, I have begun forming small escort groups from the reserve fleet, usually consisting of two light cruisers and two destroyer flotillas. These groups are tasked to patrol the areas with the most enemy activity, but haven’t had any luck stemming my losses so far.

With the spread of the war to the Mediterranean, I have diverted some naval forces there. 2 Surface Group (headed by the vaunted battlecruiser Hood) was previously based in Bombay, and now patrols off Alexandria. 2 Carrier Group and 3 Submarine Group move from Portsmouth and Gibraltar respectively. Both are now based at Malta, and are patrolling the Tyrrhenian Sea.

There is a small skirmish in the Bay of Naples on 26 February. No losses for either side, but my cruisers suffer considerable damage, forcing the fleet to withdraw back to Malta for repairs. 2 Carrier Group will be out of action for a few weeks.



Production

Some good news on the production front – a few new units are ready for deployment. Three new dive bomber units are deployed in Glasgow and 1 Dive Bomber Group stands up. Two new interceptor units arrive in Plymouth as well, becoming 3 Fighter Group. My new armoured divisions are coming along, and should still be ready by June of this year.



Other Developments

Things are grim as well in the far east. With the fall of France, Japan seized much of what was French Indochina. Japanese invasions in southern China have also resulted in the encirclement of my garrison in Hong Kong. The British government levies a total embargo against the Japanese to deter further acts of aggression; the Japanese respond in kind in early February.



One last interesting note – with the capitulation of Denmark, Iceland has somehow fallen under German administration. I sent one of my battleship squadrons to investigate; several reconnaissance runs around the island didn’t reveal any occupying units. Nevertheless, a German-controlled port and airfield on the mid-Atlantic Ridge is unacceptable. We must begin formulating invasion plans immediately.

Good luck recapturing Iceland.
Can you send airborne troops to capture it faster than a sea borne invasion. I know you are banking on your recon being correct but using those types of forces would seem to me to be a way to quickly recapture the island if it is truly uninhabited.


Wheels

Iceland should be a cake walk. How are things in Abyssinia?

That'd definitely make things quick and easy. Unfortunately, no airborne troops at the moment - historically, the first British airborne unit wasn't created until No. 2 Commando took on parachute duties in mid-1940, and the British 1st Airborne Division didn't stand up until 1941. As for my game, no idea at the moment how long it'll take me to raise a few parachute divisions, but it's on my list of things to do

In the meantime, I will have to take Iceland the old fashioned way.


Lots of militia-on-militia fighting at the moment. The Italians are gaining ground there, but their advance is quite slow as their foot soldiers try to negotiate the rough terrain.



I'm not really panicking about their gains at the moment - there's nothing really of any consequence there to lose. But I am concerned about keeping convoys moving safely through the Red Sea and off the horn. I will probably reposition what limited units I do have there to better defend the ports, so that they can't be captured and used as staging areas for convoy raiders.

Didn't the UK occupy Iceland along with their Norway operation?

Since you didn't intervene, it is natural that Germany got Iceland together with Denmark.


Anyway, good luck with keeping the Atlantic clear. And with fending off the Luftwaffe.

Invasion of Iceland: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasion_of_Iceland
It seems the real invasion force was thrown together at the last minute and was very short of troops so the game seems to be representing that fairly well.


Wheels

BTW, if anyone is interested, the entire HoI3 pack can be had on Steam right now for a mere $7.49. Easily worth many times that IMHO.

http://store.steampowered.com/sub/12375/

Operations Fork/Valentine

Gentlemen, as suggested in my previous update, German-controlled ports or airfields in the mid-Atlantic present unacceptable risks to allied shipping. The Faroe Islands have also fallen under German administration, giving the Germans access to a harbour in the North Sea. Invasions of Iceland and the Faroes must be carried out without delay.

The invasions also present an opportunity to experiment with amphibious landings conducted over a long distance and with large forces. The occupation of Iceland and the Faroes is therefore assigned to the five motorized infantry divisions of 5th Corps.

The invasion plan is as follows: 5th Corps will depart from Cardiff in early March, and land at Reykjavik. 3 Surface Group, which has been conducting reconnaissance off Iceland for the last week, will also escort the group and provide shore bombardment support in case of any opposition on land. 5th Corps will then capture the rest of the island while the surface group and transports refuel at Reykjavik. Once the island is secure, 5th Corps will reboard the transports, sail to the Faroe Islands, capture them as well, and then return home.



On 6 March, 5th Corps, under the command of Major General Bartholomew, boards 1 Transport Group in Cardiff and sails to Iceland.



The task force reaches Iceland on 11 March and lands unopposed. The wintery terrain makes capturing the rest of the island a very slow and arduous process, but all territory is secured and 5th Corps reboards their transports by the end of March. No German units were sighted on Iceland.



The Faroe Islands do not fall nearly as easily; they have been occupied by a German garrison division, which, despite not being a frontline combatant unit, has dug in and is well-prepared for our attack. This is troubling news, as I was certain German sealift had been paralyzed by my blockade. Somehow, the Germans are still managing to move troops around, at least in limited quantitites. Anyway, the islands are too small to mount anything except a direct assault, so off we go. After a few days of fairly intense fighting, the islands fall. I lose 819 men to the Germans’ 475. 5th Corps returns home by middle of April.



The Battle of Britain

With the conquest of France, German airpower is now brought to bear upon Britain. Between March and April, German bombers appear over Plymouth and Portsmouth, and also strike at my naval patrols in the Channel Approaches. They mostly seem to be going after my naval task groups as they sit in harbour, but between accurate AAA fire and Hurricanes on intercept duty, I do not sustain any casualties worth mentioning. Below, Nos. 15, 16, and 18 Group Squadrons successfully beat back a Stuka attack over Plymouth.



Despite these early successes, I suspect the Battle for Britain may just be getting underway. I have more interceptor groups about ready to deploy, and will keep a close eye on bomber activity over southern England.

Mediterranean Theatre

No major updates to provide. 7th Corps is still holding out just fine at Alexandria. My new armoured divisions will be ready in just over a month – I’m thinking North Africa will be a good proving ground for them. So, I expect to launch major counteroffensives there in June or July.

A few naval skirmishes: 2 Surface Group led by HMS Hood encountered an Italian battleship fleet east of Malta. Hood sinks the Conte di Cavour; no casualties sustained among my forces.



2 Carrier Group eventually returns to service after some quick repairs in Malta. The group sights a large Italian fleet based in the port of Cagliari on Sardinia. A series of port attacks are launched from the Gulf of Tunis without much success; a few of their destroyers will be out for repairs, but nothing sunk.



Gentlemen, that brings us to the end of April 1940.

Once you can spare the IC, you should put one (Faroer), respectively two (Iceland) garrison units on the islands. You may never know when Jerry gets bold again and sends a lone division there.

Otherwise, go on...



Also, many, many thanks for the HU on the sale!! 7.50€ for everything is awesome!

Another good AAR fatty. I suspect that the German Divisions were able to use the Faroe islands as a spawn point.


Wheels

Wheels, I thought about this. I don't fully understand how the game decides where units can and can't spawn. But I don't think this was the case - it's now June in my game and my armoured divisions are finally ready - I can't spawn them anywhere except the home isles (northern Ireland and Great Britain). Even the Egyptian and Indian territories which I've had since the game started aren't available for deploying units. I'm convinced Jerry somehow managed to sneak a transport under my nose and landed the garrison there.

Anyways, I have a battleship task group patrolling the GIUK gap now, with three garrison divisions on order.

BTW, and this is entirely pedantic, but after doing a bit of research I've renamed all of my RAF 'groups' to 'commands.' I understand a single air unit in the game represents an air group in RAF parlance (or a wing as it'd be in the USAF). I think the RAF hierarchy in real life is actually squadron -> wing -> group -> command. So, therefore I've renamed 1 Fighter Group to 1 Fighter Command (as an example). Nothing more than a little bit of idle nitpicking

I have found that most games give the AI opponents cheats like a spawn point behind your lines that you won't get but they could have got a transport by you. Either way by taking the islands it should negate their ability to spawn there, if they ever could, and require a transport to retake them from you.

I am enjoying your AARs quite a bit.


Wheels

Thanks! It's the comments that keep me posting

I have been enjoying this as well. I just started playing a game myself, but as it has been forever since I playing HOI2 and I am not really up to date on the workings of the game I don't think I am doing too well.

I never even got to grips with HOI2, as you ave to worry about too much management stuff there. The AI in 3 does its thing quite nicely and really helps you with managing your country. I generally let the AI handle everything except the military, but I usually intervene when I want to do something specific (e.g. building more motorized infantry units).
It also makes for some interesting game scenarios (e.g. playing as CIC or head of state only), but I guess most people want to wage their wars themselves and the new HQ system offers quite a bit of micro managing possibilities for units to keep you busy.

So far, in my game, I've encountered some historically odd things (France mobilizing in 1938(!), Germany mobilizing at the beginning of August 1939, Belgium about to join the Axis, Japan conquering all of China), but I at least managed to conquer Poland in a realistic timeframe (~4 weeks).
I'm now waiting for my gate to France to open and in the meantime, I'm preparing Fall Gelb (and Weserübung).

Really, really super AAR.

Steam/Paradox owe you a commission on a sale...

Yeah I am letting the AI handle a lot. I had a rather interesting moment the other night when Switzerland joined the Allies and was promptly invaded by Germany.

Activity is picking up in the Mediterranean. Sometime in early May, the Axis went to war against Yugoslavia and Greece. The Italians throw a significant amount of manpower into the fighting, and make considerable gains early on.



At first I am hesitant to become involved, but I realize that as soon as Yugoslavia and Greece fall, there is a good chance that these Italian units may be redeployed to North Africa for a new push into Egypt. Not having spare fighting units at the moment to send on another hopeless expeiditon, I opt instead to deploy a naval task group to the Adriatic. Most if not all supplies for the Italian divisions sandwiched between Yugoslavia and Greece are coming through Tirane, the main port on the Albanian coast, so it seems a sensible place to establish a blockade. 1 and 2 Carrier Groups and 2 Surface Group take up positions off Tirane in early June.

The action that follows will probably be remembered as the Great Adriatic Turkey Shoot. The Italians, likely frantic as supplies and fuel dwindle in Albania, send wave after wave of ships in a frantic attempt to break the blockade. One cannot help but salute the bravery of the Italian sailors, yet their lives are thrown away as their fleets are cut down by aerial bombing and accurate naval gunfire. Any ships that make it through to Tirane are relentelessly bombed in port by carrier-born aircraft or naval bombers of 1 Coastal Group, which has been transferred to airfields in Greece.



After almost a solid two weeks of action up and down the Adriatic, my forces are exhausted as well. The fighting has taken its toll on 2 Surface Group in particular: in one particularly vicious battle, we lose the light cruiser Gloucester and the entire 2nd Destroyer Flotilla. HMS Hood herself barely survived. All forces withdraw back to Alexandria to regroup and repair.



The blockade pays off in spades. Although Yugoslavia falls by 18 June, I estimate probably half of the Italian surface fleet is either destroyed or in need of extended repair. My fleets destroyed several transport flotillas trying to run the blockade, which will likely hamstring the Italians' capacity to redeploy divisions to North Africa. This fighting has bought the time needed to prepare to launch a counter-attack in North Africa. That time is now.

By early June, the first five of my new divisions are deployed, along with another three groups of dive bombers. These divisions are deployed in southwest England and are split between topping up the half-strength 6th Corps and replacing combat losses from France in the battle-hardened 4th Corps. With these new armoured divisions ready for action in mid-June, we are now prepared to go on the offensive in North Africa.



Operation Compass

Gentlemen, we have prepared an audacious plan – Operation Compass - to conduct likely the first truly joint operation in the history of this nation. Elements from the army, navy, and air force will work in close concert to envelop and destroy a significant portion of the Italian army in North Africa. This plan will involve 127,000 men from 7th Corps already at Alexandria and the newly-reinforced 6th and 4th Corps; three dive bomber groups, four tactical bomber groups and two interceptor groups of the RAF; two aircraft carriers, two battleships, and innumerable naval escorts and transport ships.

The overall plan is coordinated by General Bernard Montgomery, commanding the specially-formed 2nd Expeditionary Army. The full order of battle for Operation Compass is shown below.



Recon flights indicate that a large number of Italian infantry divisions are massing in the pocket between Alexandria and Tobruk, possibly preparing for another round of offensives into Egypt. Our counter-offensive will be conducted in two phases. Under the first phase, 6th Corps will deploy via transports from Alexandria and will conduct an amphibious assault against Tobruk. Reconnaissance has shown that the city is lighty defended by a few rear-guard militia units, so it should fall relatively easily. Capturing the airfield at Tobruk will also deprive the Italians of any air support over the pocket as we attack.

Once the city is captured, 6th Corps will dig-in in Tobruk and the nearby area with the aim of interrupting lines of communication to Italian units in the pocket and blocking their westward retreat. In effect, 6th Corps will become the ‘anvil’ of the operation.

In the second phase of the operation, 4th Corps will deploy directly from Alexandria once Tobruk is secured. They will attack directly westward over El Alamein, and strike at the Italians head-on with the aim of inflicting as many casualties as possible and ultimately driving retreating units towards 6th Corps at Tobruk. 4th Corps is therefore the ‘hammer’ of the operation.

Tactical bombers will support the attacks on both flanks. The battleships and heavy cruisers of 4 Surface Group will sail up and down the coast, providing fire support wherever needed. 2 Carrier Group will be running interference closer to Crete in case the Italians try anything funny. Lastly, 7th Corps will remain close to Alexandria on rear-guard duty in case of any surprise landings near there.



Once ‘hammer’ meets ‘anvil,’ we should exploit any momentum we have and push as far west as realistically possible.

4th and 6th Corps will immediately board transports in England and sail for Alexandria. The men can be briefed on the way; D-Day is tentatively scheduled for the second week of July.

This operation might allow you to end all resistance from the Italian Navy if they decide to engage you again.


Wheels

Looks good, but I hope Berlin hasn't gotten wind of your plan yet. Where's Rommel, by the way?

I was wondering if Rommel was already in Africa too.


Wheels

If you've got some units to spare, why not sweep the Mediterranean for more Axis ships and then blockade the Bosphorus and the SoG to plug it tightly?

It should buy you enough time to sweep northern Africa clean of any opposition.





Heh. I wish Switzerland does this in my game, too as I'm really worried about how to conduct Fall Gelb after foolishly having declared a guarantee for Belgium (in triyng to turn them to the Axis' cause). Using the momentum from an invasion of Switzerland, I could push straight into mid-France.
Maybe the Italians will let me use their territory for an invasion...?

Out of curiosity, I cheated a little bit and reloaded by saved game as Germany. I did not nose around too much as I did not want to spoil any surprised, but let me say that Rommel is most certainly not in Africa - at least, not yet. In fact, he's stuck commanding a garrison division in central Poland. Der Wüstenfuchs must have been on the Führer's naughty list this year

I have three or four carrier/battleship task groups patrolling all over the Med for now. Occasionally, they might find a lone cruiser or a few destroyers, but this is rare. For the moment, I think a very significant portion of enemy naval forces in the Med are either damaged beyond use, or are bottled up in port. Still getting hounded by submarines, however. Many of my resource convoys are in really dire shape; some coming from the Middle East have stopped completely. But no supply problems for my units so far, thank goodness. I've ordered a slew of convoys to be build to replace my losses, and still keeping task groups floating around to hunt for subs.

Operation Compass

4 Surface Group and the transport flotilla carrying 4th and 6th Corps depart England on 25 June, and arrive in Alexandria in the early morning hours of 1 July. The trip is relatively uneventful; I had opted to combine the fleets (temporarily called 1 Combined Group) to better defend against any attacks along the way, but no hostile naval or air units are spotted throughout the journey.

On the evening of 6 July, Operation Compass begins as flights of Handley Page Hampden bombers of 3 and 4 Tactical Commands hit Tobruk. Half of the bombers target the city garrison, and the other half is tasked with runway cratering to put the detachment of fighters stationed at Tobruk out of action. After a few brief air battles, the fighters are grounded for the duration of the operation.

The bombing persists day and night for the next four days, when the transports with 6th Corps embarked arrive off the coast of Tobruk. The big guns of 4 Surface Group, led by HM battleships Anson and Duke of York pound the defenders from offshore, and the amphibious attack against a defended urban area that follows makes the Faroe Islands look like a cakewalk. The first units hit the beaches on the early morning hours of 10 July. Surrounding territory is quickly taken, but the city is a tough nut to crack.



After continued bombardment from air and sea, defenders finally give up the city and retreat on the evening of 12 July. Of the sizeable numbers of troops involved, casualties are surprisingly quite light on both sides: We lost 64 men to their 147. Nevertheless, Tobruk is ours.

Once the city is captured, the transports dock in the harbour and offload the rest of 6th Corps’ units. 6th Corps wastes no time and begins spreading to nearby areas. The race is on to capture Ad Diffah and form a north-south wall to fence in the Italians. Any Italian units in the pocket will then be blocked to the south by impassable desert, to the north by the Mediterranean, and to the east and west by my forces.



Most resistance is defeated easily by the new Cruiser Mk I tanks I deployed back in June. Within a few days of fighting, the first phase of Operation Compass is complete, with the ‘anvil’ firmly in place.

Phase two commences at daybreak on 14 July. 1st Armoured Divison, out for redemption after their embarrassing retreat from France, leads the spearhead as 4th Corps crosses the line of departure from El Alamein into Abu Haggag. With the landings at Tobruk, many Italian divisions in this sector have abandoned their fortifications and are moving westward, presumably to try to re-take Tobruk. At this point, however, my tactical bombers are now shifting to hit targets in this area, and the retreating units are bogged down by air attacks. The fighting on the ground is brief.



By 21 July, 4th Corps’ advances towards the west have shrunk the Italian pocket dramatically. Retreating Italian units are encircled in set of four provinces sandwiched in between 6th and 4th Corps.



The noose tightens even further. By 31 July, the pocket is reduced to a small strip of land at Sidi Barrani. With the guns of the naval task group still pounding away, 3rd Infantry and 9th Armoured divisions press the attack.



That evening, the Italian forces collapse and nearly 45,000 prisoners are taken. Given our miniscule losses during the operation – around 500 men – this is an incredible victory. In just three weeks, we have recaptured all territory lost in North Africa and destroyed a significant chunk of Italian fighting power.

4th Corps takes full advantage of the momentum, passing through Tobruk and attacking the port of Bengasi. 1st Armoured rolls through the city sometime on 6 September. I learn a little bit of appreciation in commanding armoured units; like Rommel’s ‘Ghost Division’ in France, my armoured divisions in ‘blitzing’ stance roll hundreds of miles beyond the corps HQ and gain ground at an incredible rate. You can see this in the screenshot below - the AI is entirely handling the manoeuvres of individual divisions, I simply set the overall combat stance for the corps and assign territorial objectives. In the future, some restraint will be necessary to prevent spearhead units like these from being exposed to flanking or encirclement attacks.



My intent from here is to continue exploiting the momentum in North Africa. There is a real chance, I think, of flushing the Italians out of the region in one swipe. Based on the rate of our current advance, I estimate Tripoli could be ours by Christmas.

Other Developments

Greece fell on 2 August. Their government has gone into exile, and their forces continue to fight at sea. Once North Africa is secure, it could be used to springboard attacks into the Balkan peninsula. We’ll see what the Axis does next.

With support for his government eroding after the military disaster in France, Prime Minister Chamberlain steps down on 20 August. Winston Churchill is appointed as his successor.





Onwards and upwards!

Congratulations, fatty!

Compared to the real offensive performed by Britisch forces end of 1940 in to 1941 your victory is even more complete. I wonder when you will encounter grey counters on the map in Libya or even Tunisia, but given the state of the Axis navies I don't know if that currently is a feasible option for the Axis.



Blasphemy! You dare to question the wisdom of the Gröfaz? Zat is clearly verboten!

Congrats on the victory. Will you invade Italy once N.Af. is secure?



AI army handling is a very nice feature. With the whole theatre set to "attacking" and declaring war to the respective countries beforehand (I sadly had to), the AI took care of Fall Gelb...with less resources than the real Wehrmacht had. No skile cut though, but a Den Helder equivalent of Dunkirk!

Well played fatty.

Thanks guys. I played it safe with the huge number of divisions I brought in. The real guys had cojones I can't even comprehend - they did the same with much fewer men.

Italy will have to come sooner or later. Given the amount of infantry they threw at Yugoslavia and Greece, the home peninsula is probably open to attack. But I want to be sure that any gains I make can be kept; I would expect I could hold out for a few weeks before the might of the Wehrmacht came down on my head and booted me back to Africa. Once Axis resources are tied up elsewhere - perhaps in Barbarossa - the invasion of Italy will most likely be a go.

Looking good fatty.


Wheels

What news from the Home Front? Has the occasional Luftwaffe raids over Southern England developed into the Battle of Britain? I read only one report of attacks and that was over Plymouth.

Never done it myself, but an invasion of Sicily should avoid any issues with getting overrun by the Germans and might give you an opportunity to damage the Italian navy some more. The only negative would be a need to station ships between the boot and the bucket.

They were striking Portsmouth too. Still getting hit once or twice a week, but no appreciable damage to any ports, industry, or anything else in southern England. My Hurricanes on intercept duty have been doing a fantastic job of chewing up German bombers.

The Germans have been fairly smart, though - they're moving away from striking targets on land and have begun hitting my patrol task groups at sea, where my air cover can't yet reach. A light cruiser force patrolling the Bay of Biscay for subs had to retreat due to air attacks, and is now laid up for repairs. I really have to give the AI credit where it's due - they couldn't make any headway bombing England, while my navy was ripping their surface combatants to pieces at sea. So they did probably the best thing they could: built up naval bombers in significant quantities to go after my ships.

I've also observed a German marine division or two prowling around on the Channel coast. I don't expect Sea Lion to happen anytime soon (if at all), but I don't think the Germans have given up hope yet.

Hmm.... Yes, this could work. I don't recall if the Strait of Messina is passable for land units, but if so, they'd still face big penalties in combat for river crossing. Taking Sicily and perhaps Sardinia would deny the Italian Navy quite a few ports, and also put my strategic bombers in comfortable range of Rome. I'm almost guaranteed to see a lot of enemy divisions move down to the 'toe' of the 'boot' to either defend against any encroachment onto the main peninsula or try to oust me from Sicily, but they'd be banging their heads against a wall trying to get across the Strait.

Okay. Right now it's late November and I've swept the Italians out of North Africa. I've redeployed 6th Corps to Abyssinia to clean up things in East Africa. By the new year, we should be in a good position to hit Sicily and Sardinia.

They do a very good job. I like letting the AI take over at the corps level, as it still lets me handle a lot of the operational campaign planning as I did here, but saves me the work of micromanaging my divisions into tactical engagements. I find the AI still needs a bit of baby-sitting. It seems particularly reluctant to carry out amphibious invasions in both this game and my last game as Japan. And in this game, 7th Corps kept sending divisions to attack westward all the way to Tobruk despite its objective of Alexandria and being set to defensive stance. But it's so easy to switch the AI off and override with my own commands that I don't really mind the occasional odd behaviour at all.

Neither do I. As I've said, I was pleasantly surprised that the AI managed to divide and conquer.

I haven't tried low-level AI control yet Do the attached corps follow suit automatically if you e.g. redeploy an army or do you have to issue movement orders for every unit yourself?

Great reporting fatty. Thanks for referring me to your thread here, I'll check on your progress regularly.

The enemy attacker would face an amphibious assault penalty because it is a straight. Also if you have ships positioned in the ocean between the land masses the enemy will not be able to cross anyway. So as long as your navy is there Sicily is safe from a counter attack.

Great read fatty keep it up

Not entirely sure what you mean by redeploying the army. If you mean by assigning new orders to the army HQ, any orders at army HQ level cascade down to the corps level, cancelling and overriding any orders you gave to the corps HQ. You cannot have one set of orders assigned to the army HQ and a different set of orders assigned to the subordinate corps. As far as redeployments, as you probably know, you can tell an army HQ to capture Paris, and the attached corps will follow suit. Then you could reassign the army HQ to capture Bruxelles, and the attached corps will be automagically redeployed.

If, like me, you are assigning orders at the corps level, the army HQ doesn't do anything - the army HQ brigade itself remains under fully manual control while the AI moves the corps around. I usually just move the army HQ along manually to keep it within range of my corps HQ so they get the trickle-down bonuses.

Then to Sicily it is! Operation Husky in 1941, anyone?

Thanks my men, always appreciate the comments. If anyone has any questions about what they're seeing/reading, I'm happy to answer.

And this also works in peacetime, right (e.g. "Objective: Berlin" for an army HQ being in Paris -> whole army moves to Berlin)



Might be better. The AI tends to set up the higher HQs very close to their respective corps, cluttering the front.

I wish there was more to provide in this update, but the war has been overly quiet for the last couple of months. The Germans haven’t really made any moves to speak of, and I have been mostly busy mopping up resistance in Africa.

North Africa

My westward march from Tobruk continued without pause. I finally defeat the last Italian units in North Africa, seizing Tripoli and taking 12,000 Italian soldiers captive by 22 October.



East Africa

I want to completely secure my African base before thinking seriously about landings at Sicily, so I redeploy 6th Corps in transports to the Red Sea and send them through Italian East Africa. The few Italian garrison and militia divisions scattered around are easily defeated by the tanks and battle-seasoned infantry of 6th Corps. The real frustrations are the mountainous terrain, supply issues, and very poor infrastructure in the region. What should have taken a few weeks stretches on throughout the winter. By mid-March, we have finally taken the last piece of territory in East Africa, and 6th Corps boards transports to be redeployed back to Tripoli for possible action against Sicily.



Other Developments

Losses to submarines are still really heavy. I’m losing one transport a day on average, and starting to get a little nervous about some dwindling resource levels at home. I’m rebuilding the transports nearly as fast as the subs can sink them, but that’s industrial capacity that could be put towards building new divisions. Patrol groups still reporting no success tracking down the subs.

Some good news - the German battleship Tirpitz has been holed up in Wilhelmshaven for a couple of months. In mid-November 1940, she attempted to break our blockade, but was severely damaged and was forced to retreat back to port. The Fleet Air Arm squadrons of 3 Carrier Group pursued Tirpitz into port, and, after several days of persistent attacks, finally sink her on 29 November.



Bombings in southern England continue with negligible damage. A curious sight over Plymouth in early December, however: German aircraft of unusual design bearing naval markings. Hurricanes on air intercept duty pursue them back to Brest, where they make a huge discovery: the Germans have a fully-operational aircraft carrier. Graf Zeppelin is docked in Brest, and is apparently launching her aircraft in bombing runs against our southern cities. Someone in military intelligence is going to lose their job for this, but there she is. Naval bombers of 1 Coastal Command make a few runs against her, but between the heavy AAA in Brest and German air cover, they do no appreciable damage and withdraw. There is nothing we can do for now, but I have screens already patrolling in the Bay of Biscay and Channel Approaches; if she departs from Brest, we should know about it, and can sortie a fleet to intercept and sink her.



On 28 February, Germany declares war on Norway. The Norwegians join the Allies immediately. Their armed forces are quite limited, but any help is welcome. With the majority (entirety?) of the German surface fleet lying at the bottom of the ocean, I don’t expect any invasion of Norway to come soon. Nevertheless, I move task groups from the blockade off the Helgoland Bight into the Skagerrak. They’ll patrol for any transports attempting to drop off an invasion force.



Speaking of invasion forces - more surprises, this time in the Mediterranean. In late March, the Italians manage to sortie a transport out of Sicily and try to dislodge my garrison at Malta. Once again, it’s hard not to respect the courage shown by Italian troops as they pour out of their transports and attempt to scale the fortresses on the island. The attack reeks of desperation, and they’d have probably taken Malta, too, had a nearby battleship group on patrol not intervened. The transports and their troops retreat back to Sicily.



I think it’s about time to take a bite out of Italy on their home turf, and Sicily is a prime target. Reconaissance over the island in late February 1941 shows fairly weak defences; two corps landed near Siracusa, one headed west and the other north, would probably do the trick.



We now have 6th Corps back at our disposal, plus another five armoured divisions just deployed back home. All are deployed to the 1st Expeditionary Army, reinforcing 3rd Corps and the newly formed 11th Corps. With those divisions done, I issue production orders for two sets of four parachute divisions and accompanying transport aircraft.

Oh, and much of my research is proceeding well ahead of schedule. I now have A34 Comet tanks! And Hurribombers!

Interesting development that the Germans have been give an aircraft carrier.


Wheels

Not a smart move on the AI's part building that aircraft carrier. At least it means less subs sinking your convoys.
About the invasion, just be careful that you don't exceed the capacity of the port to handle your troop's supply needs. Supplying that many divisions before taking Palermo will be difficult. Especially so if any need fuel.

Started an interesting game, Germany 1936. My first HoI3 try.

Decided to try to conquer a smaller nation first, so I invaded Denmark in 1938. My problem is that I didn't reinforce my other borders... Whoopsie!

France and the UK declared war on me. After some initial french advances, I halted them, and then smashed through the Maginot line and rolled into Paris with 20 Panzer divisions. During which time Poland declared war as well, so I had to fend off them as well.

With Poland divided, and France occupied (with Vichy rule), I set my eyes on the UK, and launching my fleet of the Bismark, an carrier and three escort carriers + various heavy cruisers and others, I landed my forces in Scotland, and from there quickly conquered all of Great Britain.

At which point the Soviets attacked my sparse border. Forcing me to try to rush 30+ divisions from Calais to the east front.

But it is a loosing battle. I'm barely able to hold the line, I managed to push them back form Berlin, but I get no chance to rest my troops before they are hit again and slowly being forced back.

I'm gonna restart the game, and take what lessons I have learnt from research and such, and see if I can do better.

My initial plan was to invade Denmark, then swing into Sweden and Norway. But France decided otherwise

An aircraft carrier. Oh dear.






I had that happen to me in my very first HOI2 game. I wasn't even in Warsaw yet when half of southern Germany already spoke French.

How goes the war?

Been up to my elbows in a new batch of homebrew this weekend. I'll try to post an update tonight - my generals have good news from Sicily and Sardinia.

Can't wait to see it! Am greatly enjoying this AAR Fatty!

Operation Husky

With the Italians booted out of Africa, we’re now free to use the Libyan coast as a springboard into greater offensives. I’m still hesitant to conduct any significant operations into the Italian peninsula this early – namely because I’d expect swift response from the bulk of the Italian army and possible German reinforcements. But, Sicily and Sardinia are lightly held, and access to them is limited from the main peninsula. So, we can’t turn down the chance to safely gobble up a bit more Italian territory and deny the Italians a few more harbours in the Mediterranean. Operation Husky is a go.

In mid-spring, 1st Expeditionary Army comprised of 3rd and 11th Corps arrives in Bengasi. As you may recall, 3rd Corps was attached to the expeditionary force in France, and is comprised of five battle-hardened motorized infantry divisions. 11th Corps was recently formed from my last deployment of armoured divisions; all of its units are fresh and have yet to see any fighting. With 1st Army now deployed in-theatre alongside 2nd Expeditionary Army, both are attached to a new army groups headquarters – 1st Army Group – headed by Field Marshal Wilfred Ebbels. The up-to-date order of battle and overall disposition for forces in the Mediterranean theatre are shown below.




I decide to give the boys of Monty’s 2nd Army a break in Tripoli, and assign the task of capturing Sicily and Sardinia to General Price’s 1st Army. The plan discussed in the previous update is unchanged – we will make landing of two corps at Siracusa, followed by divergent pushes west and north. A launch window is set for late April. However, Italian naval bombers conduct a surprise raid on Bengasi Harbour on the afternoon of 26 April. Although my fighters beat them away, several transports are damaged, and the attack is postponed until repairs can be made in early May.



With repairs completed in the first week of May, 1st Army embarks in their transports, arriving off the southern coast of Sicily on 9 May. The assault begins in the early morning hours as my bombers pound supply caches near Palermo and Messina. But, as our reconnaissance suggested, the landing grounds are essentially undefended. The 1st, 46th, 48th, 52nd, and 61st infantry divisions land without firing a shot.



With the armoured divisions and HQ brigade still waiting on the transports, the infantry set to work to secure the port of Siracusa. Contrary now to what reconnaissance showed, the port is not undefended - the Italian units that attempted to take Malta have fallen back here. Nevertheless, the Italians can only muster a single division of garrison infantry, which is still in disarray from the Malta attack. They are quickly defeated. With a firm beachhead established, the rest of the army is brought in and the offensive truly gets underway.



Between heavy rain storms and supply issues due to poor infrastructure, the invasion doesn’t proceed as swiftly as I’d hoped. Nevertheless, by 20 May 1st Army had managed to capture most of the island except for the two holdouts at Palermo and Messina. My divisons in the north-east even manage to repulse a small counterattack out of Messina. So far, so good.



Slogging through muddy terrain in a short but bloody battle that costs us a thousand men (but costs the Italians almost 2,000), we take Messina by the end of 20 May.



On the western side, Palermo is encircled and falls before the end of May. To avoid being captured as my 52nd Division marches into Trapani harbour, the Italian ships stationed there head for open water – and into the waiting arms of 1 Carrier Group. Aircraft from the deck of Ark Royal sink the light cruiser Giuseppe Garibaldi; the rest of the Italian ships manage to escape, though not without taking heavy damage.



By the first week of June 1941, it is total victory for Operation Husky in Sicily. As I expected, the Italians are shuffling quite a few divisions down through the main peninsula, presumably to defend against any incursion across the Straits of Messina, or perhaps even to attempt to retake the island.



The Italians do attempt an attack across the Straits, but with dire consequences for their men. By the time they attack, my troops are well dug-in at Messina, and defending against an amphibious assault across the Straits is like shooting fish in a barrel. Ultimately, the large number of units coming down the 'boot' towards Messina will play to our advantage, as it will keep a large number of Italian divisions tied up defending the Straits while they could be of much better use just about anywhere else.



Invasion of Sardinia

Keeping up operational momentum, 11th Corps is left in a defensive posture at Messina, while 3rd Corps loads back into their transports and departs for Sardinia. They assault the southern shore of Sardinia at dawn on 25 June.



The defenders are even fewer on Sardinia than they were on Sicily, and are quickly swept aside. 3rd Corps advances northward with nothing in their way; the island is secured by 12 July.



1 Strategic Command deploys to the airfields on Sardinia, and is now comfortably within range of Rome. For the first time, we strike directly at the enemy’s war-making capacity as my bombers appear over their capital. Eventually, Italian interceptors do sortie and force my bombers to withdraw, but not before I inflict quite a bit of damage against the Italians’ industrial capacity in and around Rome.



New Deployments

My first deployment of paratrooper divisions is ready. These four divisions become the 1st Airborne Corps, with two groups of transport aircraft attached. Right now they’re working up in Glasgow, but will soon be ready to be deployed wherever they’re needed.



Other Developments

Submarines continue to eat away at my convoys, and I continue to have no luck finding or sinking them. I’ve begun breaking up my escort fleets down into single destroyer flotillas in an effort to maximize the area covered at any given time, but no successes yet. A new slew of convoys built mid-summer has helped ease the pain a bit, but my resources – metal in particular – are shrinking. With my supply of metal only a few weeks from exhaustion, I shift some convoys from troop supply duty to resource transport, which buys me some more time but unfortunately means a few of my overseas divisions are going to be a bit starved for supplies.

Another batch of convoys is due to be deployed in mid-September which should help the situation quite a bit. Hopefully the ports captured on Sicily and Sardinia will reduce the reach of raiders in the Mediterranean, as well.

Gentlemen, this brings us to mid-August. We have a firm grip on North Africa, Sicily, and Sardinia. No sign of America or the Soviets becoming involved yet. As long as the convoys can keep rolling, the army is prepared to keep up the offensive wherever we deem suitable.

Everything is looking pretty good at the moment. Best of luck holding your recent gains.


Wheels

With all of those Italian divisions at the tip of the boot, it makes for a perfect opportunity for a devastating encirclement at some point. There also appears to be some Germans heading down there too.

Hows your ASW tech and your maritime doctrine fairing?

Oh, the possibilities!


Ship an army to Sardinia, load it on transports and land and then steamroll over nothern Italy. If the Italians get nervous and take the bait by moving divisions north, land in the southern part of the peninsular and establish a beachhead. If it gets too hot in northern Italy (Germans moving in from France), retreat to Sardinia and while the Italians are moving back south, start gobbling up territory around your beachhead.
If the Germans don't intervene, go straight for Rome.

Enjoying popcorn reading this one. Again, well done Fatty. One question, when you highlight a division, can you in the game see what kind of tanks it has? Can you see what kind of weapons are in its TO&Es?

Yes, for sure - you can see everything down to the specific engine, cannon, armour protection, and other equipment. Most of my tanks are equipped with the QF 17 pounder, for instance. The game only has historic/realistic names up to a certain level, then they just become equipped with 'tank gun level 5' or whatever.

When I get home from work a little later, I'll profile a few armoured and infantry brigades to give you a better sense of what I have fielded at the moment.

Enigma
You can see what "tanks" are in the division that you own, however they are not faithful representations. So a Tiger 2 may be equivalent to a JS3. However when it comes to development of new weapons you can focus on specific things such as the engine, weapons or armor of the vehicle. The same is true of other aspects (infantry, cav, bombers, ships, etc). Essentially the vehicle names are just names to give the game a historical flavor. Lets take tanks for example. You could focus your research on the engines of light tanks and neglect other areas so as to have divisions of fast tanks that can be used to exploit breaches in enemy lines. Or you might want to focus on the armor and main gun of heavy tanks so as to have a group of (very slow) heavy tanks that can be used to punch holes into the enemy lines or to support your infantry. Or you can go for fast and long ranged aircraft with light armament. Or you can go for a balanced approach to a type, etc, etc. Either way a German "Tiger" tank may be a heavily armed and armored behemoth, or be a "fast" heavy tank dependent on how your research is done.

As regards TO&Es you can choose which brigades and how many are in your divisions. So you could go for a division of 2 infantry brigades, 2 brigades of artillery and one of engineers. Or go for a medium tank brigade and two motorized brigades, etc, etc. However you cannot pick what is in each brigade. So the brigades themselves are abstracted, but you can influence their performance based on what you have focused to research as regards equipment and doctrine along with how many officers you have decided to train. So lets say you have a division of the best heavy tanks out there, but lack the doctrine to support the proper operation of such a division and have only half the officers that you need for your army, the division itself may not take many losses, however it would not fight for long due to it becoming disorganized and being forced to withdraw. There is of course the problem with having a division of all tanks (it lacks a bonus for combined arms operations).

So while you may not be able to play with the TO&E too far, the divisions are still fairly complicated.

Thanks for that great explanation, TankHunter.

Here are a few examples showing the equipment and doctrine levels in an armoured and motorized infantry brigade. Nitpickers will notice that although the tanks are listed as A34 Comets, they're actually outfitted with a lot of equipment one step behind, particularly engines and cannons. So, as TankHunter noted, these aren't really to be taken as gospel, but they're close enough approximations that you know I'm not running around Italy with Vickers 6-Ton light tanks or something like that




The screen below shows the research options for armour research. In this case, I'm going for a fairly balanced approach with medium tanks, keeping all four techs around the same level. I'm not bothering with heavy tanks. You can see there are a few techs I'm lagging behind (anti-tank barrels and sights are at pre-1938 levels, for example), mostly because I've only got a limited number of points to allocate towards research and am spending them on other things.



These next two screenshots should give a sense of where I am in terms of ASW technology and doctrine, respectively. You can see that I'm keeping current with ASW technology and doctrine, but letting a few other things slide - namely light cruiser and destroyer technologies, chiefly because these ships cannot be upgraded extensively once built, and I'm not building any new ships for the time being. So research in those branches is really low priority for me at the moment. ASW equipment and doctrines CAN be upgraded, so I'm pushing forward with those, full steam.

Thank you very much gentlemen...that was most descriptive. Wow! Talk about a flexible game. So much depth to it. I'm going to have to look into this one more.

Enigma
Probably the best deal for the game (has all expansions plus extras)
http://www.gamersgate.com/DD-HOI3C/hearts-of-iron-3-collection

The official forums
http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?415-Hearts-of-Iron-3

Risky, but as wheels would say - that's what the replay button is for Think the initial landing via Sardinia should happen above or below Rome? I probably don't want to go much further north than Tuscany; as the 'boot' widens further north, that means increased frontage to defend against counter-attacking Germans from France/Austria.

If you intend to invade mainland Italy, then a line of defense of Monte Cassino - Isernia - Ortona should be sought after IMHO (it is the smallest and easiest to defend frontage). The invasion itself should seek to gain Napoli and Tarantino at the start so as to avoid supply issues. With those two you should be able to supply around 15 divisions without issue. What are your war aims like on Italy?

Gentlemen, the input is, as always, greatly appreciated. With your comments in mind, the War Office has prepared a briefing package outlining the present situation in Italy and detailing two proposals for invasion under a campaign titled Operation Pendulum. I urge you to examine the packages before you and consider the feasibility of the proposed operation.



The following images show, from north to south, the best intelligence available for the overall disposition of enemy fighting units within the main peninsula. As you can see, the Italians are mostly dispersed in small but dense pockets near urban centres. Large tracts of beach are virtually unprotected, while most ports are defended by dug-in infantry. For reference, the figures you see in each pane near the urban centre represent brigades in that province. For example, then, Genoa is defended by four infantry brigades, two garrison brigades, and so on. The map colours emphasize terrain features; dark grey is mountainous region, purple is urban, brown is hills, and green is wooded area.





Based on the suggestions so far, two courses of action are proposed which are built upon the same basic principle: landing a force from 2nd Expeditionary Army somewhere on the peninsula with the intention of forcing the Italians to redeploy some of their units at Messina northward. Such redeployments will weaken the Italian hold over their side of the strait and permit 1st Expeditionary Army to conduct a major offensive out of Sicily and into the southern tip of the Italian peninsula.

The chief quesiton is where exactly to land the force from 2nd Army. Course of action #1 proposes a landing north of Rome, perhaps in the vicinity of La Spezia. This approach will benefit 1st Army more 'buffer space' in the south to advance up through the peninsula without immediate fear of any major force counter-attacking from the north, but 2nd Army will likely come under intense attack from German units much sooner.



Course of action #2 proposes a landing south of Rome, around Anzio or Monte Cassino. These landings could threaten Rome directly, and would likely be free from counter-attacks from the north for some time while German units take time to redeploy down the peninsula. However, given the rough terrain in the region enemy strength in and around Rome, the early phases of this landing may be riskier than in course of action #1.



The question of timing remains as well. Tensions are very high between the Soviets and Germans, and a war may erupt within a matter of weeks that could draw a sizeable portion of the German army out of reach of the Mediterranean. Of course, any delay offers the Italians the opportunity to shore up their defences and possibly redeploy units from the Balkans back into the peninsula.

That's what we have for the moment.

The further north that you go past that Monte Cassino - Isernia - Ortona line the more and more land you have to defend width wise. It doesn't pay off from a supply point of view until you get to Genoa and Venezia. The ports between that line and the top of the boot are miniscule in size, which means that you wont get that many more supplies into Italy. So you end up having a situation in which you either need to defend/attack with troops who suffer from low supply or defend/attack with less troops than you would need, all while the Germans start pouring in. The best option that I see is to invade near Napoli and Tarantino, take the ports there quickly, deploy a covering force near a line of Paola - Acri to stop and attrit the enemy forces trapped at the toe of the boot, occupy the Monte Cassino - Isernia - Ortona line and fortify it against the Germans (you should be able to place a level 1 land fort per province if you have built them), then clear out the pockets that are formed with any extra divisions. Then use your navy to keep the pocket near Sicily cut off entirely and use your airforce to try to slow any redeployment from the north. As far as I can tell it is the lowest risk option. It also allows for a future operation akin to the first option that you have so as to cut off the German formations that deployed south (ideally after any war between the USSR and Germany).

I concur with TankHunter. The proven "hammer and anvil" principle should work best on the peninsula. Set up an anvil with one armyy and use the other one as the hammer, then once hammer meets anvil, determine which army is in better shape, load in onto transports and land it in the back of the defenders. Do the hammer -> anvil thing and then repeat until the peninsula is secured.
In the final phases, I would also consider landing in the north and setting up along the Po river to deter german reinforcements from reaching their brothers in arms further south.

Sorry for the delay, but this has turned out to be a huge update. What was only a few hours of game-time ended up taking me a couple of days to prepare to post!

Operation Pendulum

Given the invaluable feedback on the proposed courses of action, the final plan is a variation of option #2 with major landings conducted by 2nd Army at Naples and Taranto, with 1st Army focused on the bulk of enemy units at Messina.

4th Corps departs Sardinia in late September, arriving off Naples on 1 October. Unfortunately, pounding rainstorms over the last week have turned the landing grounds into a muddy mess. The transports, escorted by 4 Surface Group, hold position off Naples, hoping for a break in the storms for a chance to launch the invasion.



For the next two weeks, the heavy rain persists, giving us no ideal opportunity to attack. While the task force waits for a break in the weather, my tactical bombers hammer the enemy positions at Messina, targeting supply and infrastructure. If and when the defenders redeploy north, they’ll struggle to navigate cratered roads, and will be that much slower to reorient themselves against my landings.



But on 14 October, Italian naval bombers spot the task force and makes an attack run. 4 Surface Group puts up enough AAA to beat them bombers away, but the transports have taken damage.



As the ‘jig’ is up, it’s either attack now or abort. Agropoli looks like an ideal landing ground: weakly held with good access to Naples through Salerno. 4th Corps lands on 15 October without incident and immediately attacks Salerno with good success.



Meanwhile, 6th Corps takes up position off Taranto, and launches their assault near Brindisi. They land successfully, and, after a short battle with two garrison divisions holding the port, seize Taranto.





The timing of our attack could not be better: as our troops are hitting the beaches, the Germans finally launch their much-anticipated attack on the Soviet Union. I don’t particularly wish any great harm on the Soviets, but this move will certainly make things complicated for the Germans once my offense gets underway in Italy.



Back in Italy, our units are fully landed. 4th Corps seizes the port of Salerno, and is in a good posture to strike at Naples. Likewise, 6th Corps is lodged in Taranto and goes on the full offensive.





Oh, guten tag Fritz! Remember us? We’re back!



Good success in our first major engagements breaking out from Salerno and Taranto. Both 4th and 6th Corps are able to form lines from coast to coast, successfully enveloping a large number of Italian divisions between them.



As 4th and 6th Corps attack inwards to close the noose around the Italian divisions, the second part of the plan is put into effect: 3rd Corps of 1st Army lands at Lauria, just north of Messina, and begins a southward charge towards the defenders across the strait.



With the airfields secured at Taranto, I’m able to rebase my close air support groups closer to the action to make better use of them. The pocket between 4th and 6th Corps continues to narrow as it is hammered by planes from Nos. 1, 2, and 3 RAF Dive Bomber Groups.



Enemy units defending at Messina are attempting to redeploy as 3rd Corps makes quick advances down the peninsula. Due to the handiwork of my tactical bombers at the start of the campaign, the roads there are in pieces, so the Italians are quite slow to reorient themselves to face north.



Back near Naples, the Italians in the pocket are completely encircled at Agropoli. Cornered between armoured units of 4th and 6th Corps on land and the guns of 4 Surface Group at sea, the Italians put up a brief defence. 11 exhausted divisions surrender on 16 November, and approximately 75,000 Italians are taken prisoner.



With those units in the pocket obliterated, 4th and 6th Corps reform on the line facing northward, and throw their combined weight into an advance up the peninsula. With a solid frontline established, I am somewhat nervous that the Italians will now be able to put up a cohesive defence. However, the coastal plains make for fantastic terrain to let my armoured divisions prove their worth. We knock 40,000 Italians out of Naples on 24 November, and begin a steady advance northward.



Around the same time, a rather climactic battle is taking place at Messina, where 3rd Corps is attacking the last Italian stronghold south of Naples. The combined Italian-German defending force is starving, out of supply, and subjected to aerial attacks out of Sicily: they hold out for a few hours before another 50,000 prisoners are taken.



With all territory secured in the southern sector, 1st Army will be redeployed to the frontline at Naples. From there, the unified 1st Army Group will push as far north as they can. Beginning this operation, I had no clear idea of how much success to expect, and thought the most I could hope for was to make a few gains in the south and dig in for a long stalemate. We can’t afford to do anything but exploit the disorganization of the Axis defenders. We’ll push all the way to Rome and beyond, if we can. Here is an overview as of 27 November, about six weeks into the campaign.



The next few weeks are fairly uneventful; the Italians put up a running defence, but my armour is continuing to shine in the plains and foothills near the coasts. 1st Army Group has mastered the art of ‘bypass’ attacks, where tanks blitz along the coast, bypassing large clusters of defending divisions in the centre and encircling those clusters around the rear. Infantry advancing up the centre then attack and destroy those miniature pockets formed by armour encirclement. It’s not very long before Rome is within sight.



The unfortunate risks of letting armour move so far ahead: sometimes, quick-acting mobile Italian divisions can cut off my armour’s own lines of communication back to the main army. Situations like this might only last for a few hours, as friendly divisions close behind attack and re-open the supply routes.



By early January 1942, Rome is totally surrounded and under siege by the 1st Armoured, Guards Armoured, and 45th Wessex Infantry. Fierce fighting in the city streets lasts for a few days, but by 8 January the Italian capital falls, and another 40,000 enemy soldiers surrender.



The northward push continues into February. I guess by this time, the Italian army on the peninsula has been completely destroyed, because all my boys are facing now are third-rate expeditionary forces from Hungary and Romania. Still no sign whatsoever of the massive German counter-attack I was expecting; I guess much of the German army is engaged against the Soviets for the time being.

I had apprehensions about attacking so far into Italy that the front would become too wide to properly defend against counter-attacks. But, as we advance, I realize that the Germans do not yet have a full transit agreement with Vichy France, both Vichy France and Switzerland are officially unaligned. Therefore, any counter-attacking German units will have to come directly through Germany herself, giving us a much more narrow front (from Switzerland to the Adriatic) to defend if necessary Onward!



The march into northern Italy is somewhat slower than hoped; spearhead divisions have moved out of range of our own air cover and into the range of Axis dive bombers. The air raids force us to fight on the defensive for a bit, but there are no serious losses to report.

Finally, on 17 February, the 45th Wessex rolls into Venice. Italy is done. The remnants of the Italian army surrender, the Mussolini government goes into exile, a military occupation government is installed in Rome, and Operation Pendulum comes to a close – victory beyond our best predictions.





With Italy knocked out of the war, the options for our next step in southern Europe are wide open. Consolidate here and hold what we have? Into the Balkans perhaps? Or take our chances with a straight thrust to Berlin?

Other Developments

The biggest update to report on is the Japanese declaration of war against both the United Kingdom and the United States on 15 November. The Japanese have made a few small gains in southeast Asia so far, but nothing serious. Now that the Mediterannean campaign is winding down, it’ll be necessary to redeploy some of our naval task groups into the Pacific. The Germans have been applying pretty heavy diplomatic pressure to the US, and have so far stayed out of the war with Japan. As a result, US interest in becoming involved in the war in Europe is still minimal. We haven’t yet been able to establish a formal alliance with the US, but we’re working on it.



As far as the war between Germany and the Soviets, I have no reliable information about what is happening on the front lines. We do know that the Germans have made big gains so far. It’ll be interesting to see how well they do now, as we settle into the coldest months of 1942.

Excellent read so far Fatty and excellent supporting pictures . Well done in Italy and Africa as well. Sort of weird seeing the war play out like this..no Rommel , no Malta under siege, no Battle of Britain, Bismark and Tirpitz gone and Germnay just plugging along into Russia as if nothing is going on behind her. I would be inclined for a direct thrust to Berlin just to see how it plays out, see if i couldn't split Germany in half aiming for the Baltic Some big flanks to protect though.

Maybe send a feint across the channel and into Norway as well to try and keep the Germans from sending any help to the Fatherland although you probably wouldn't need too to in Norway as you have sea supremacy so they are basically bottled in there.

Whatever you do i would think old Adolf will be squirming about now.

It is really interesting to see how different the war has played out so far. Although the Italian campaign was big success, I wouldn't say that the Germans are down and out yet. Compare the graphic above of the German advances into the Soviet Union with their historical progress:



So, between October 1941 and January 1942 in my game, the Germans have almost achieved what historically was done between June and September 1941. As I've been preoccupied with the goings-on in Italy, I've not been following the German activity close enough to know if they've stalled as the cold has crept up. But, they've definitely made some big gains in the small amount of time before the winter. Without knowing very much about overall German army disposition in Europe, one possible scenario where I could see the Germans coming out on top would be something like a reverse Schlieffen Plan. That is, if the Germans can quickly knock the Soviets out in the spring and summer, divisions on the eastern front can be redeployed back west to counter-attack my foothold in Italy. And I'm not without problems on my end: I have no strategic reserve to support big thrusts or attacks on other fronts, and I guess I will now have to rob my navy of some groups to send to the Pacific.

So, I guess the big two options are to essentially take a gamble and drive north into Germany, or hunker down and start churning out more divisions for attacks elsewhere.

The next couple of months will definitely be interesting!

I'm shocked that the Italians lasted for so long. I sort of expected them to collapse soon after the invasion or at worst after the fall of Rome. I am also surprised that Germany didn't respond, however they will now.

The Germans are going to have a very hard time in Russia considering everything... So there is hope for a short war.

As regards Japan, prevent the KMT from falling. Once that happens you will be in very bad shape in India with a best case situation being a bloody fight in the jungles. Perhaps concentrate an offensive into Indochina while helping the Chinese defend against Japan?

When it comes to Italy, get into the mountains before the Germans react. You might also want to consider liberating Italy as a puppet state, you may need the extra divisions

Unfortunately, the KMT fell like a house of cards when the Japanese went to war with us. I'm not really sure why it didn't happen earlier, considering the Japanese have been fighting in China since the start of my game. But it seems as though they only really picked up their offensive at the end of 1941. At any rate, China is entirely Japanese now.


I was really hoping to liberate Italy, but with their government in exile, I'm stuck simply occupying their territory until German is beaten. This works 'as designed,' but is probably my biggest frustration with the HoI series. The Italians are beaten, so let me install a democracy in Rome, damn it!

BTW, I'll provide a bit more of a profile on the Pacific situation in my next update. This last update was big enough as it is - I didn't want to clutter it up too much

Well played Fatty. You certainly have made a great improvement over history.

Speaking of history, I think you have misapplied the Schlieffen Plan analogy.

Things will get interesting in Burma then.

Possibly - my understanding of the 'original' Schlieffen Plan was that the Germans intended to deliver a quick knockout blow to France, then rapidly redeploy eastward to engage the Russians before they could fully mobilize. By reverse Schlieffen Plan, I'm just idly speculating that the Germans might quickly defeat the Russians, then bring their divisions from the eastern front through Austria and boot me out of Italy before I am in a suitable position to exploit my gains.

It's a pain in the ass not having decent intel on what's happening farther inland, but as long as they're not led by Generalfeldmarschall Para_Bellum we might be okay

Uh, the italian campaign was unexpectedly easy.

You could still try to invade occupied France. It's likely to be only lightly defended and the Germans can't reinforce through Vichy France (yet). A diversionary landing in Bordeaux and then the main landing across the channel might yield some success. Or just steamroll in in force from Bordeaux and push 'em back to Holland.


On a related note, I've seen the Brits invade Sicily in my game. My first line of thought was "Hi, Fatty!". But they got their arse kicked back into the water before the Italians took a walk macross Egypt and a swim across the Suez channel.
To add insult to injury, I'm trying to take Gibraltar by land. But that's just a bonus, since my main targets were Portugal and Spain (the lazy basterds have to pay for not joining the Axis). I might even consider invading Turkey, should the Italians make it across the Near East - provided the Russians stay where they are. All for a safe, huge bathtub. :lol:

European Theatre

Below is the situation in Europe as of mid-February 1942. Finland has re-entered the war on the side of the Germans, but they’re getting their clocks thoroughly cleaned by the Soviets. Meanwhile, the Germans continue to make good gains into Soviet territory. Pulled into the war by the Japanese, the Dutch have allied with me, but they still have not entered the war in Europe.



Though I had hoped to continue my offensive into Austria, it’s not very long before several German divisions arrive from the north. A few bloody and fruitless battles in the mountains in late February and early March are enough to convince me that there won’t be any major offensive along this axis anytime soon. German airpower is very strong in this region – my interceptors (recently upgraded to Hawker Typhoons) are torn to pieces in air combat, and German dive bombers stop any of my advancing units dead in their tracks. As a result, I withdraw my units to a holdout line between Switzerland and Venice. The Germans make a few successful probing attacks at Lasa, but overall that front remains quiet for the next few weeks.



Unfortunately, some of my scout units attempting to withdraw back to the line are caught up by German attacks out of the mountains. 8th Armoured is encircled by fast-moving Axis divisions. Despite the best efforts of the nearby 10th Armoured to break through and mount a rescue attempt, the 8th is subjected to heavy air attack and is destroyed on 27 March. We lose nearly 9,000 men.



On a more upbeat note, the German shift of attention towards Austria has eased up their air cover over the Channel, and my naval bombers are able to reach out and touch a few Kriegsmarine destroyers and transports docked in and around the Norman coast. On 12 April, 3 Escort Group spots a big fish: Graf Zeppelin has left Brest and is trying to dash through the channel.

Though 3 Escort Group makes a very courageous charge at the German carrier, they sustain very heavy damage and peel off.



The delaying action gives enough time to vector in nearby surface assets and coastal bombers. Graf Zeppelin goes to the bottom of the channel by 14 April.



Up to the end of April, there is no other major action to report in the European theatre. The line in Italy continues to hold, and I intend to eventually reduce my forces there from four corps to two – essentially freeing up one army to use elsewhere. But for now, it’s a quiet stalemate on the Austrian front. My hope is that, at least with the Germans tied up in Austria, the Soviets might soon be able to change their fortunes.

Pacific Theatre

The Japanese entry into the war came with a bit of a whimper after they launched a major assault on Pearl Harbor in November 1941. The Americans have done a pretty impressive job of holding - and actually expanding – their hold over the smaller Pacific islands. Like the Soviet front, the UK is mostly detached from major fighting in the Pacific theatre, so there is little detail I can provide here. Nevertheless, with Siam at some point having become allied with Japan, the war has come to my little slice of territory in Indochina.



While I have been focused on Italy, Eastern Command has actually done a pretty good job of coordinating a successful offensive with the few infantry divisions it has available. The Indian Infantry of 8th, 9th, and 10th Corps are fighting toe-to-toe with the Japanese attempting to attack through Siam.



The early offensive provides a big pay off: 23rd Indian is able to cross the Chao Phraya river and seize Bangkok on 28 February 1942. Siam and the divisions they have been able to field alongside the Japanese surrender shortly after.





The next couple of weeks in Asia mostly consist of my divisions mopping up a few encircled Japanese units, and battling down the Malay Peninsula to relieve British-held Singapore.



Despite our early successes, the push to Hanoi is slowed by dense jungle, and, by the end of March, Japanese reinforcements are beginning to arrive from China in the north. I recall my divisions out of the Malay Peninsula to reinforce my hold in Indochina against impending Japanese counter-attacks.



British units around Bangkok are being attacked by Japanese carrier aircraft, indicating the presence of a Japanese task group somewhere in the Gulf of Thailand. With the Mediterranean firmly under Allied control for the moment, I detach the naval task forces under Mediterranean Command and redeploy them to South East Asia. 1 and 2 Carrier Groups and 3 Surface Group arrive off the Malay Peninsula in the first week of April, and set to work hunting for Japanese ships.



It’s only a few hours of searching before a Japanese carrier group is located off Singapore. Furious and Courageous of Rear Admiral Sommerville’s 1 Carrier Group maneuver to launch aircraft, and the Royal Navy gets its first taste of carrier-to-carrier fighting.



The Japanese are not nearly the pushovers at sea that the Germans were, and my neglect to keep up with anti-aircraft technology and upgrades has proven fatal. I have woefully underestimated Japanese prowess at carrier aviation. 1 Carrier Group is absolutely trounced, with HMS Sheffield sunk and all other ships sustaining major damage. I withdraw all task groups from the Gulf of Thailand until I can either deploy reinforcing groups or do something about my ships’ pathetic anti-aircraft protection.



Some good news about deployments: with the extra industrial capacity left after raising two corps’ worth of airborne units, I can deploy five divisions worth of Royal Marines. They’re formed up into 1st Royal Marine Corps commanded by Lt Gen McCreery, and will immediately be deployed to Indochina.



The line in Indochina is lively for the next few weeks, but without any major gains by either side. The Japanese attack and capture some territory, we counter-attack and capture something somewhere else. The relative quiet on the front does provide an opportunity to reorganize my divisions for better efficiency. 10th Corps is disbanded, and I consolidate all divisions into the 8th, 9th, and new 12th Corps. Together with the 1st Royal Marine Corps, they form 3rd Army. An air attachment is formed from units redeployed out of the Med.



April comes to a close with the Royal Marines arriving in Rangoon. They’ll probably be deployed on an offensive to oust the Japanese from the Malay Peninsula.

Other Developments

While the Americans are thoroughly engaged in their war with Japan, they still have no interest in either a formal alliance with Britain, or in war with Germany. In fact, America is subject to a bit of a diplomatic tug of war, with Germany, the Soviet Union, and the United Kingdom all applying heavy diplomatic influence and attempting to sway her to their side. They’re obviously tilting towards joining the Allies, but the heavy lobbying by the other sides is seriously slowing progress.



Between a combination of newly-launched merchant ships and a few successful patrols against German U-boats, my resources problems are mostly over for the time being. There are still quite a few convoys not running as they simply don’t have any ships, but I’m continuing to pump out new ships to replace my losses. Anti-submarine patrols continue - it seems like updated ASW technology is slowly starting to make a difference.

Thanks for the update! Interesting as always

Nice update fatty. Good luck upgrading your ships deployed to Asia so they can be more effective.


Wheels

Great update. It is going to be interesting to see how Indochina develops.

Good thing you went on the offesive in Asia. Don't want to know what would've happened if the Japs had caught you off-guard. (India lost, maybe.)

Are you going to reinforce the Netherlands against a possible german attack?

Hmm... I hadn't thought about it, but now I wonder if it might be possible to launch another attack of my own through Dutch territory? I could possibly disengage one of the two armies in Italy and redeploy them to the Netherlands for another small offensive. I'll check it out.

Having a two front war might keep the Axis navies from being able to concentrate all of their efforts on your convoys trying to re-supply Italy ??


Wheels

You need a clear objective though. The only ones I can think of is capturing the naval base at Wilhelmshaven or clearing the french channel coast of Wehrmacht units (and then holding out for reinforcements).

Getting involved in the Netherlands would mean that you are fighting on three separate fronts. You might end up overstretching yourself.

Good points all around, thank you. I will probably not be reinforcing Dutch defences. Realistically, the loss of the Netherlands might give the Germans a few more channel ports, but it is not going to impact my overall strategic position in Europe enough that it's worth trying down a corps or two of my own. I need all of the extra divisions I can spare for Indochina right now.

I was thinking you might use the Netherlands to link up with your Italian Forces and isolate France.


Wheels

I keep forgetting about this. Then I read 2-3 updates at a time and want to know what is happening next... then it feels like forever until I find out and in the meantime it slips my mind again. Been very entertaining so far though.

Wouldn't that be a bit much for just two armies?

I was thinking along the lines of being able to push his new forces through he Netherlands as opposed to having to take them all the way to Italy. Right now he has a friendly port. In a few moves the Axis might have taken that option away from him.


Wheels

I think he is putting all of his new forces into Indochina, I would.

Right, but a linkup between an army in the Netherlands and the one in Italy would mean covering a 1500km+ front with just two armies...it could work, but only if he practically gives up nothern Italy.

Reinforcements are pretty slow, but yes, most (all?) new divisions are being shipped to Indochina. I just sent five divisions of Marines over, with another five in the queue. I do have a corps worth of airborne troops sitting in the UK not doing anything. I'm beginning to think it may have been a mistake to order so many: they require a lot of micromanaging to work. Where do you think I should put them?

I hope to start a few major army builds towards the autumn. Right now a lot of industrial capacity is eaten up by building new convoys. Now that I'm finally getting a leg up on the u-boats, convoy builds should start to slow down over the next few months.

European Theatre

No news to report here, for better or worse. All’s quiet on the Austrian front. I made one probing attack up along the eastern border of Switzerland, which the Germans beat back. Actual quantitative balance of forces is definitely in my favour, but the Germans are pretty thoroughly entrenched now in the Alps. It may be necessary to recruit a few divisions of mountain troops if 1st Army Group is going to have any hope of a northward breakthrough; the mountaineous terrain is really brutal for fighting and heavily favours entrenched defenders.

Asian/Pacific Theatre

The back-and-forth continues in Indochina. Meanwhile, a major offensive in the Malay Peninsula gets underway at the beginning of May with the Royal Marines landing slightly north of Phuket. By 6 May, the defending Japanese 26th Division is defeated, and five Marine divisions are ashore and on the move.





A running battle begins down the peninsula, with the Marines pushing back a few divisions of Japanese cavalry and infantry. Japan even fields a few marines of their own – the ‘Yokohama’ division. 2nd Royal Marines corners them at Ban Khok Kloi, and takes 8,000 prisoners on 14 May.



Further north in Indochina, the rest of 3rd Army is trying to hold their ground on the western side of Bangkok. Japanese and other Axis divisions are mounting a good push across the entire front and have managed to reclaim a lot of the territory I seized from Siam.

My new air detachments in the region are slowing their advance, though, and near the end of May, the front stabilized into a north-south line centred upon Bangkok.



Back on the Malay Peninsula, 1st Royal Marine Corps is advancing steadily yet slowly through dense jungle. Backpedalling Japanese divisions continue to maintain a defensive posture across the peninsula, but by early June, the Marines manage to outmanoeuvre the bulk of the defenders and make a major encirclement at the port of Kota Bharu. As the Marines are far out of the range of allied airfields, I take a chance and send 2 Carrier Group through the Strait of Malacca and over to the west coast of the peninsula to provide close air support.

Once on station, the fleet blocks the port while aircraft bomb a few Siamese ships in the harbour and harass the defenders.







Perhaps unsurprisingly, on 13 June a Japanese carrier group with several transports in tow shows on scene to break the blockade. Rear Admiral Tanaka commands from the Zuiho.

My planes over Kota Bharu are redirected back to sea and engage. Weak fleet composition seriously hamstrings the Japanese: the bulk of their fleet is made up of destroyers, which are easy prey for carrier aircraft and the bigger guns of my light cruisers. It’s not a decisive victory by any means, but 2 Carrier Group comes out on top. However, Tanaka does manage to get past the blockade, and retires to Kota Bharu.



Back on land, the Marines have Kota Bharu surrounded. Tenacious Japanese defences and mountainous terrain mean that the attack that began on 7 June stretches on for a full three weeks. Finally, on 28 June, the defences fall. Casualties are surprisingly light on both sides, but 26,000 Japanese are taken prisoner, and the last sizeable chunk of Japanese power on the Malay Peninsula is defeated. Tanaka manages to slip Zuiho out of port and past the blockade: she escapes to fight another day.





The situation in south-east Asia as of the end of June. Notice the small uprising underway at Ninh Hoa: it probably won’t get anywhere, but nice to know the fifth column is alive and well