Hearts of Iron II German AAR - Written by the Victors

Hearts of Iron II German AAR - Written by the Victors

The Prologue (Writers Ramblings)

I am going to contribute to the sudden influx of AAR’s with one of my own. Though it will not be a Europa Universalis one, but the glorious Hearts of Iron II, another Paradox game based on the Second World War. It is my favourite of the Paradox games, though I have not played it in recent months.

To that effect, first I had to decide who to play as. I considered the USA, UK, Germany or USSR - the big ones. Germany was my ultimate choice. I prefer the land campaigns, and that’s pretty much all you get with Germany. I’m going to experiment with this game as well, maybe try out some new strategies, or at least work out the finer points of air combat and mass-encirclements.

So, the set-up:

Scenario: 1936-1948 Grand Campaign (No Time-Limit enabled)
Country: Germany
Difficulty: Normal
AI Aggressiveness: Normal

Europe at the ‘36 New Year:


I will rules this!

German forces:


I rules with this!

Infantry and some light armour. And an HQ…wooh! I hardly think France is gonna feel threatened by that, let alone the USSR. But it’s what I’ve got, and it’s what I need for my opening moves…

Updates for Part One: The Road to War:

Update One - January 1936
Update Two - February-August 1936
Update Three - August-December 1936
Update Four - January-December 1937
Update Five - January-March 1938
Update Six - April-October 1938
Update Seven - October-December 1938
Update Eight - January-March 1939
Update Nine - April-August 1939
Update Ten - August 1939

Updates for Part Two: European Conflict

Update Eleven - August-October 1939
Update Twelve - October 1939-January 1940
Update Thirteen - January-February 1940
Update Fourteen - February-March 1940
Update Fifteen - March-April 1940
Update Sixteen - April 1940
Update Seventeen - April-May 1940
Update Eighteen - May-July 1940
Update Nineteen - July 1940-January 1941
Update Twenty - January 1941
Update Twenty One - January-May 1941

Updates for Part Three: Operation Barbarossa: The War in the East

Update Twenty Two - May-June 1941
Update Twenty Three - June 1941
Update Twenty Four - July-August 1941
Update Twenty Five - August-October 1941
Update Twenty Six - November 1941
Update Twenty Seven - November 1941-January 1942
Update Twenty Eight - January-May 1942
Update Twenty Nine - May-June 1942
Update Thirty - June-August 1942
Update Thirty One - August-October 1942
Update Thirty Two - October 1942-January 1943
Update Thirty Three - January 1943
Update Thirty Four - January-July 1943, Part One
Update Thirty Five - January-July 1943, Part Two
Update Thirty Six - July-September 1943
Update Thirty Seven - September 1943

Updates for Part Four: Germany returns West

Update Thirty Eight - September 1943-January 1944
Update Thirty Nine - January 1944
Update Forty - January-April 1944
Update Forty One - April-October 1944
Update Forty Two - October-December 1944
Update Forty Three - January 1945
Update Forty Four - January-March 1945
Update Forty Five - March-June 1945

Updates for Part Five: Written by the Victors

Update Forty Six - June 1945-January 1946
Update Forty Seven - January 1946

i will be your destructive counsiler of west eurupe Cue the evil music

Hearts of Iron II German AAR - Written by the Victors

January 1936

The War Council of Doom was rather small at the beginning of 1936. In fact, it only consisted of Kan’ Sharuminar - Grand Leader of Germany, and IronMan, who was to be an advisor on all things Western-Europe related. This meant that the rather impressive-looking War Council Room, with a massive 50-seater round table at the centre, was a bit empty after the New Year.

Still, it turned out the appointment of IronMan was a good one, as his advice to pursue a more aggressive course of action against the western Allies - Treaty of Versailles be damned - turned out to be quite satisfying. During the first week of January German forces re-entered the Rhineland.


The opening move

France and Britain did little in response. With this in mind, Kan begin a programme of revitalising Germany and the military.

First up, all old projects were scrapped with the exception of the pocket battleship Graf Spee - due to be commissioned soon - and changed to suit Kan’s military needs. New infantry divisions were to be trained, new artillery and anti-aircraft equipment to be constructed. Companies were given instructions to research new technologies that would increase industrial efficiency with the exception of Messerschmitt, who were to look into a new interceptor aircraft design. The orders were carried out swiftly, and by 6th January all was set.

The rest of January passed with little incident. Great Britain mourned the death of King George V on the 20th (Kan sent a letter expressing his regret a few days later - it’s always good to be polite), and Germany grew stronger through new trade agreements - in particular with Romania and Sweden.

All and all a good start for Germany, and a good omen that she would have a prosperous year ahead…

in my opion hear fuher it would be a wise decision to seek a military allaince with italy and (that nation that's really small that germany allied with in real life luxembourge maybe can't remember) at this time and begin a build up of border troops for several succesive lightning wars were we will use a new tactic by the same name Blitscrieg quikly taking key points and greatly increasing the importance of tanks.

ooc of never played this game just so you know and if we ever exucute some traitors could they say Nein!, Nein! ********! german for swear version of solid waste

IronMan2055 said:

in my opion hear fuher it would be a wise decision to seek a military allaince with italy and (that nation that's really small that germany allied with in real life luxembourge maybe can't remember) at this time and begin a build up of border troops for several succesive lightning wars were we will use a new tactic by the same name Blitscrieg quikly taking key points and greatly increasing the importance of tanks.

Click to expand...

You may be thinking of Slovakia, which at the moment doesn't exist. I will get round to that. Italy is an interesting one in my HoI games, never quite sure if it's worth the money to ally with them. Blitzkrieg is a strategy that will be researched in an a couple of years time. May get Guderian on it.

Fuhrer? May have to officially change the government titles. I prefer Emperor myself

Hearts of Iron II German AAR - Written by the Victors

February - August 1936


The first half of 1936 passed with little incident for Germany. Now that the Rhineland had been retaken, Kan Sharuminar began a remilitarisation programme to fortify the region. New infantry divisions were posted in the region to oppose the neighbouring French troops, while Anti-Aircraft batteries were completed by the 11th of July.

The government was restyled to suit Kan’s needs. He declared himself Emperor in March, though this was done quietly so no-one got the impression he was showing off. In February he travelled south to Italy to meet with its ruler, Benito Mussolini. They discussed the future of Europe and their respective countries newfound boost, as well as the war Italy was pursuing in Ethiopia. Though no treaties or official announcements of German-Italian friendship was made, Emperor Kan left knowing that relations had most certainly improved.

While Germany stayed quiet, her neighbours certainly did not. Towards the end of February a crisis brewed between Hungary and Czechoslovakia. Kálmán Darány - Prime Minister of Hungary, demanded that Czechoslovakia return former Hungarian territories - namely the entire state of Slovakia. He took advantage of the growing dissatisfaction of the Slovaks towards the unified government, and promised that they would retain some sort of self-government, albeit under Hungarian control.


Czechoslovakia

Emperor Kan visited Hungary to take part in crisis talks, and publicly announced that Germany would support the Hungarian position. Overwhelmed and unsupported, the Czechoslovakian government relented, and the country was split. Slovakia was officially incorporated into Hungary a few days later. The event did little to damage Germany’s relations across the globe, and significantly improved their relations with Hungary.

Elsewhere in the world, wars raged in Africa and China. Italy annexed Ethiopia into her new empire in April, while the Chinese factions continued to engage in civil war, despite attempts at a cease-fire.

Finally during July, events in Europe heated up again. In Spain, various groups began protesting against the recently installed socialist governments, and refused to back down. The crisis intensified until the 18th July, when the situation exploded into full scale civil war between the Republic government and Nationalist rebels.

The international response was a general splitting of Europe, and a possible sign of things to come. Great Britain immediately announced it would not be sending troops to support the ‘anarchist rabble’, though France and the Soviet Union both sent aid to the Republicans. In response, and encouraged by a successful early Nationalist offensive into Catalonia, both Italy and Germany announced they would be sending volunteers and supplies to their ‘nationalist brothers.’

The Spanish Civil War begins

As August came around, Kan was content to simply sit back and enjoy the fireworks…

I've never played HOI so I'm not exactly sure how the events play out. Will be following the AAR though.

Hearts of Iron II German AAR - Written by the Victors

August - December 1936

The Spanish Civil War

The Nationalists were not content to fight a simple guerrilla war with the Republican government. They knew too well that all the enemy needed was the time to mobilise and reorganise their forces and they would be free to pick their battles. The Nationalist army was not willing to give them that chance.


The First Offensives

Following the early conquest of Barcelona, the Nationalists quickly saw that they needed to break out of southern Spain. Their forces were trapped their and, without supplies, would be picked off easily. As such, during August a fast attack northward - supported by forces from Salamanca and Madrid - shocked the Republican Army into retreat. Combined with an offensive into the northern province of Oviedo, it meant that the Republic Faction had been forced into south-east Spain completely. By the end of August, both sides fortified themselves to lick their wounds and prepare for the next campaign.

In Germany, Emperor Kan was delighted with the development of the new Messerschmitt Me109E interceptor. As soon as the resources were made available in early October construction was begun on the aircraft. Meanwhile, Germany’s industries were becoming more efficient as research companies began to produce results.

There was little else to interest people in international affairs, with the exception of the Spanish civil war. Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected to a second term of office in the United States, while a cease-fire was declared once again among the troubled Chinese factions. In December, the United Kingdom faced an abdication crisis as King Edward VIII announced his decision to marry the previously divorced Wallis Simpson. Parliament told him on no uncertain terms that he could either keep the throne, or marry the American. To do both would be impossible, and would almost certainly cause a constitutional crisis that would threaten to collapse the government. As such, Edward chose to surrender the crown, and pass it to his brother, who became King George VI.

By October, German and Italian forces had arrived in northern Spain, and were to take part in a great campaign to take the eastern coast. This was in response to fresh Republican attacks which threatened to cut off the southern armies once again. The campaign was a success, and by the end of November the Republicans were on the verge of defeat. All that was needed was a final push to take Huelva, and the campaign would be won.


The final push

The operation was a complete success, and the Nationalists declared the war over on Christmas Day. It was a glorious end to a great year for Germany, and it’s Condor Legion returned to great fanfare and parades, not only victorious in battle, but with many lessons learned…

congratulations hear Emporer(?) nationalist spain would be a great ally in the years to come.

(i think france will be taken easily with out spanish help but they could be helpful in africa oh when we go to africa i'm becoming the guy for there traveling with the Africka Corps.)

i checked and in wwII germany did ally with luxembourge it's the tiny one province country between you and france

Dell19: Thanks for reading
IronMan2055: Luxembourg was occupied by Germany in 1940 and I think formally annexed later. Should we be involved in Africa I'll consider your name

Hearts of Iron II German AAR - Written by the Victors

January - December 1937

The jubilation of the victory in Spain meant Germany was content to rest on her laurels for a while, and analyse what had been learnt. Prototype Messerschmitt BF-109E’s had been deployed in the civil war, as well as very early dive bombers. This resulted in a fresh interest in the German Luftwaffe during 1937 - physically displayed with the development of Stuka JU-87B bombers, early in the year, as well as with new tactics developed by Ernst Udet.


The Stuka Dive Bomber, which entered production midway through 1937

In addition, Emperor Kan began to make early decisions for which direction he wanted Germany to go. Above all, he did not want a war with the Western powers for, despite Germany’s expanding forces near the French border, he was worried about the vast resources France, Britain and her Commonwealth had to draw from. To this end, he ordered the construction of the Excalibar Line - an extensive line of fortifications to face off against the French Maginot Line and opposite the Belgian frontier.

However, he was not totally opposed to the idea of expansion, and indeed wished to see Germany restored to her pre-First World War greatness. Hungary’s absorption of Slovakia had given him interesting thoughts, particularly towards Austria and the parts of the Czech Republic with a strong German culture. As such, several German divisions were deployed along the border…just in case.

Elsewhere, the world was stunned when, as a result of an incident at Lugou Bridge on July 7th an engagement between Japanese and Chinese forces began. The situation escalated rapidly, as troops from both side fired upon the other. By the end of the month full-scale war had begun.

The Japanese initiated a massive invasion of northern China from their puppet ally - Manchukuo, which saw the capture of Beijing. The offensive was slow, and at times checked by Chinese counter-attacks, but through sheer perseverance the Japanese worked their way south.


September 1937 in the Far East

At the end of the year, a Japanese amphibious assault into the province of Nantong completely shocked the Chinese defenders. So much so, that in a few days Nanjing had been captured and the Japanese army were swinging north to join with the northern offensive. Quickly the Chinese government finally accepted the massive danger they faced, and began moving their industries into central China to better serve the war effort.


German forces at the end of 1937

Germany by now was fast becoming the dominant military state in Europe. In addition, a general by the name Heinz Guderian had finished his theory of a “blitzkrieg” doctrine, which interested the Emperor greatly. However, it called for a large amount of modern equipment - in particular mechanised troops and tanks. At present Germany had neither, except for three Panzerkampfwagen Mark II divisions. This would have to be improved upon if Germany had any hope of surviving in an increasingly hostile world…

i still think Fuher is what you would be called since it translates as leader
now i'll read something else mien fuher

IronMan2055 said:

i still think Fuher is what you would be called since it translates as leader
now i'll read something else mien fuher

Click to expand...

I find that 'Emperor' translates just as well. In fact, in my dictionary it says "Emperor: Kan' Sharuminar's title, and he's sticking with it."

I'm following this one, it might convince me to buy Heart of Irons 2.

You have failed me for ze last time! *shoots minion*

Alcosta: So I'm advertising now as well? I will do my best. In my opinion it's up there with EU2, though it might be helped by my interest in WW2

Cleric: You sound like my sorta guy. Hired.

While i've never played this game and i cannot multitask between beer and strategy very well, i herby make my presence known.
I can take care of all the baby eating business and also provide German swear words as needed.

No, I've never played Hearts of Iron, I should though with my love of World War 2.

shieza no i provide german swears even though i can't spell them and don't now that many. (note from this post it's obvious i cant spell them but anyway man the volksyaggers)

Till: Good....good. The Reich is strong in you. Henceforth you will be known as Darth...Till.
AlCosta: Hmm, then you don't have much excuse. HoI2: Doomsday came out, which extends the game into a hypothetical WW3, and comes with the original game IIRC.

Right, enough blathering. I suppose I better get to work on 1938.