1936: Road to War (easy/fast NES)

[Daftpanzer]

EDIT: an actual update can now be found further down this page!

Originally Posted by Lord_Iggy

OMFG! NESLife3 is turning into DNES2! Lower your quality, now!

Well in this case its drawning all the creatures, as opposed to writing lots of stuff. Seems like people like having 'detailed' graphics for all the critters, as opposed to just outlines or somethings.

[Daftpanzer]

OK, USA and German orders recieved in time for tommorrow, thanks. Good thing im still up at 4:00 am local time

[Lord_Iggy]

Yeah, I still think that you shouldn't make pictures so complex. Simplify them. I really enjoyed it when there were multiple simple, cheap updates every week, back in May.

[Daftpanzer]

Apologies but i wont be posting the update tonight, either

I left it a bit late, plus I am overdue some serious sleeping, so i dont want to be up to 4:00 AM as usual.

I have things worked out, but still have some writing to do, and the map, and stats.

BTW, this update will be the real beginning of WW2, thanks to Germany So i dont want to rush it too much either.

------------

Originally Posted by Lord_Iggy

Yeah, I still think that you shouldn't make pictures so complex. Simplify them. I really enjoyed it when there were multiple simple, cheap updates every week, back in May.

Yes i agree, though there was also much less diversity, and no life on land. Even simplified, and with mass extinctions, i think its bound to be more complex as time goes by.

[Luckymoose]

For this tremendous update the Spanish army will get surgery so they have angry faces all the time.

[Shadowbound]

The capitalists are getting what's coming to them, I feel it in my bones.

[Head Serf]

Norway will conquer the world!

[flyingchicken]

Italy will control the denizens of the deep.

[jeps]

CAPITALISTS? CRAP!!!!

I thought you were anti-commieing.

[~Darkening~]

China boos you all . No spam.

[The Loser]

Turkey throws Kebab at all his enemy's!!!

[Gelion]

Use my previous orders for contingency plans....

[das]

BTW, this update will be the real beginning of WW2, thanks to Germany

Music to my ears.

CAPITALISTS? CRAP!!!!

I thought you were anti-commieing.

One thing doesn't exclude the other. Besides, everybody knows that Bolsheviks are the running-dogs of the Jewish Plutocracy.

[andis-1]

Originally Posted by Daftpanzer

BTW, this update will be the real beginning of WW2, thanks to Germany

Hell, it was about time!

[Gelion]

Originally Posted by das

One thing doesn't exclude the other. Besides, everybody knows that Bolsheviks are the running-dogs of the Jewish Plutocracy.

I'm sorry, I misheard. What?

[das]

Either that or the Swiss, but that latter option is way unlikely.

My point is largely that the Nazi opposition to Communism by no means keeps them from being anti-capitalist (or, as they put it, anti-plutocratic) at the same time. Actually, I don't recall any political faction they didn't oppose, to some extent or another...

[Gelion]

Its in their nature as opposed to idealistic and peace-loving communists such as we are.

[Shadowbound]

Originally Posted by Gelion

Its in their nature as opposed to idealistic and peace-loving communists such as we are.

You'll have your turn, be quiet.

[Gelion]

A threat! I like threats

[Daftpanzer]

Couldn't make this as short or as smooth as I wanted, but here goes...

1st July 1939 to 1st October 1939



The Soviet-Japanese War

On the 11th of July, Japanese marines made a successful landing at Qinhuangdao, an important coastal city just north of Chinese Nationalist territory, with powerful warships and aircraft carriers in support. At the same time, the Japanese army launched a thrust westwards out of Korea, and Chinese Nationalist forces also entered the conflict by launcing a surprise attack from the south, with the result that several Soviet divisions were trapped against the Yellow Sea, and were forced to surrender.

The leadership of Nationalist China was now on relatively good terms with the Japanese. Nonetheless, the issue of Manchuria was not exactly resolved, and in any case the Chinese lacked sufficient supplies and heavy weapons for this kind of fight. So far, they have played little part in the fighting on this front.

The Japanese continued to make good progress into the heart of Manchuria until early August, at which point they became bogged down by stiffening soviet resistance - including the hasty arrival of many new conscript infantry battalions, artillery pieces and light tanks - and also by growing supply problems of their own. Manchurian, Korean and Chinese volunteers also joined the ranks of the Red Army, to face Japan's growing legion of White Russians, Manchurian loyalists, well-armed european 'International Brigades', and anti-soviet separatist groups from all across the local region. Saboteur and guerrilla attacks took place behind the lines of both sides.

Meanwhile, hundreds of Soviet bombers continued to attack Japanese cities. Luckily for the Japanese, the difficulties of intercepting the Pe-8 bombers were still matched by the problems of bombing a target from high altitude. But after months of trial-and-error attacks, the Red Air Force could now boast the most experienced and capable bombing force in the world. Although, having said that, the damage to Japan's industry and economy was still minimal at this point.

(Japan: -$1/turn)

The battle for the skies over Manchuria was as fierce as ever. The Japanese made a major effort to regain air superiority, but the Soviets continued to pour resources into the mass production of simple-but-effective fighter aircraft... Japanese tactical bombing still caused a lot of damage and disruption, and Japanese fighter aces were scoring dozens of kills, but nonetheless, the Soviets were gaining the upper hand in the air war during late August.

On the ground too, the Red Army was doggedly holding on to central Manchuria, denying the Japanese from achieving their ambitious goals. Soviet troops under the command of Marshal Zhukhov made good use of mountainous terrain to delay the attackers and inflict higher losses than Japan would have liked. Losses on both sides were high.

From late-August onwards, events in europe changed the whole focus of the Soviet high command. Despite the desperate situation in the east, Soviet reserves were pulled out of the fight, and were soon rolling westwards along the trans-Siberian railway to face a new threat. However, many units were too caught up in fighting to be moved - for those that stayed, the news from europe was not good, and served to further undermine their morale.

Japan's forces began to roll forward again. Japanese troops remain the most confident and the best equipped, and now seem to hold many advantages. It remains to be seen if the onset of winter will be enough to give the Soviets any kind of chance to dig-in and reorganise their forces in the east.

(USSR: -8 land, -5 air. Japan: -9 land, -3 air. Nationalist China: -1 land)



China

Once again, the Nationalist leadership made some gains in popularity, but at the same time also shot itself in the foot. First, there was news that an agreement had been reached with Germany regarding the island of Hainan, which would be handed to Nationalist Chinese control in five years time. Then, there was news of an attack against the Soviets in Manchuria - although relatively small in scale, it nonetheless sent a signal that China was not going to accept Soviet interference any longer.

Then, however, came announcements of more formal treaties with the Japanese. Chinese loyalties were being split in various directions, and many were glad to see the Japanese doing damage to the communist cause. But for the people of the north-east, it definitely didn't go down well to see the government making friends with those who had ruthlessly bombed and committed atrocities against them, just a few years ago...

Anger against the seemingly pro-Japanese government boiled over into riots in the big cities of the east. Combined with the effects of long-running communist propaganda, disputes over corruption, and concern over Chiang Kai-shek's power-grabbing, this eventually turned into full scale uprisings and mutinies by army units all across China.

(Nationalist China: -$2/turn, -3 land, -1 air)

Despite the growing chaos, loyal Nationalist troops continued to make progress against the Communists, pushing them further into the remote western regions, with considerable help from the Nationalist air force.

Local villagers were routinely brutalised by the Nationalist forces wherever they went. But while general support for the Communist cause was still on the rise, many of the new rebels in the east were not necessarily friends of the Communists either. Still, by the start of October, Nationalist ground forces were being fatally overstretched, as they found themselves fighting on several fronts, often against their former comrades.

(Nationalist China: -2 land. Communist China: -2 land)



Romania: the death of peace

On the 1st of July, the Hungarians, with their ally Germany as the centre of a new political order in europe, felt secure enough to declare war on Romania, in the name of 'unity and prosperity for the greater Magyar peoples'.

Europe once again woke to the news of war. Such an event was not unexpected, but still, as with the fall of Czechoslovakia, France and Britain were frozen by indecision as Hungary began a three-pronged invasion of its eastern neighbour.

Hungary's main goal was to secure the regions of Transylvania that had once belonged to the Austro-Hungarian empire, and medieval Hungary long before that. Many foreign nations supported this idea in theory, if not the exact means by which it was to be achieved.

Hungarian troops benefited from greater numbers, German-made vehicles and weapons, and also from their experience in the war against Slovakia. By contrast, the Romanians had outdated artillery, few aircraft, and fewer tanks, most of which were of World War One vintage. Hungary had also successfully stirred up ethnic-Magyar dissent within the western provinces of Romania, and was able to count on the support of pro-Hungarian guerrillas behind the lines.

However, Translyvania was famously mountainous country, which handed many advantages to the defenders...

The Hungarians made some swift progress in the first few days, but failed to trap and encircle the Romanian armies, and instead several of their own divisions soon found themselves in danger of encirclement as they advanced through mountain valleys. Thereafter, progress was minimal. The Romanians fought on stubbornly throughout July, even as Hungarian planes carried out low-level terror bombing of Bucharest and other Romanian cities.

To avoid embarrassment for its ally, Germany sent a handful of soldiers - several airborne brigades, and some former-Austrian mountain troops - as well as air support to help out. A number of Italian troops also found their way into the conflict, where they gained some valuable mountain-fighting experience.

By the start of August, Hungarian forces were pushing into central Transylvania. At this point, Bulgaria - Germany and Hungary's unofficial ally - finally decided to join the war against Romania. Bulgarian troops attempted to cross the Danube, but were bloodily repulsed in several places. Nonetheless Romania was too preoccupied to be able to guard the whole river, and by mid-August, Bulgarian troops held several bridgeheads, with Bucharest not very far away...

(Hungary: -3 land)

The final nail in the coffin for Romania was an opportunistic Soviet invasion of Bessarabia, the region bordering Romania and the Ukraine. This had been occupied by Romanian troops in the messy wake of World War One, but never officially ceded by Russia or the later USSR. Given the overall situation, few foreign nations took much notice of Bessarabia - most were too busy issuing condemnations of Hungary's actions, especially as news spread of Hungary's various atrocities and war crimes, including the execution of many Slovakian dissidents, and now a growing number of Romanians too. Romania was in crisis by this point, and the Red Army advanced almost without bloodshed.

However, the USSR's actions had been noticed by Germany, and they provided just the right pretext at just the right time...



Operation Barbarossa

Whatever the justifications that were finally used, it seems that Germany had been preparing to invade the USSR since early spring. But the timetable for invasion suffered many delays. The main stumbling block was relations with Poland - although pro-German in principle, it seems that the Polish leadership was never able to make any official agreement regarding the stationing of German troops in their country. Germany finally made the decision for them, when from the end of June, its troops and aircraft began moving into Poland anyway, leaving the Poles with the choice of either backing down or starting a war. They understandably chose the former.

Germany had beeen not-so-quietly building up the largest and strongest army in europe. And with the USSR's grave losses in the war against Japan, the German army was now in fact the strongest in the world. But preparing all these troops was a mammoth task, and setting up in Polish territory made things even more difficult. The Hungarian-Romanian war was yet another distraction. Nonetheless, the Germans achieved a miracle of organisation, and were just about ready to move east by mid-August.

The Soviets had been aware of the German build-up in Poland, but had not realised the full scale of things. Soviet garrisons in the west were put on alert, but remained critically under-strength. In any case, with the war in the east demanding so much attention, there was little that the Soviets could do. Soviet planners had believed, or had chosen to believe, that Germany would attack France and Britain first, before committing to a war in the east. Indeed, they felt confident enough to reclaim Bessarabia from Romania during mid-August.

Meanwhile, most of the German high command felt that it was already too late in the year to begin an invasion of Russia. Hitler believed otherwise, and in any case, made sure that the German troops had ample winter clothing, and rudimentary training for fighting in sub-zero conditions.

Operation Barbarossa began at dawn on August 19th, 1939. Citing the Soviet atrocities against their own people, and the occupation of Bessarabia as a prelude to a communist invasion of europe, Hitler announced that this was not a war against a single nation, but a war against 'evil' itself. It began with a massive air attack against Soviet border positions, airbases and supply depots. Well over a million German troops were soon crossing the border, naturally spearheaded by their Panzer and motorised divisions. This was roughly half of Germany's total strength, but still enough to outnumber the Soviet garrison forces on any part of the front.

The operation went smoothly for the first few days. Soviet forces were isolated, and taken out of action easy enough. German Panzer IIIs, along with a handful of new Panzer IVs, proved superior to the assortment of light and heavy tanks the Soviets had to offer. The Germans also enjoyed superior artillery and aircraft. And of course, German tactics exploited this even further.

However, the 'Blitzkrieg' had never been tested on such a scale, and things began to get messy, disappointingly so for Hitler. The lines of supply stretched back to Germany, with the Poles hardly being able to offer much in the way of war materials. The hasty preparations were also beginning to show. Some units that were supposed to be in the fight were actually still in Germany, having not even made it to Poland yet.

Hitler had an anxious time during September. With so much yet to be proven, both Hitler and his generals took a cautious approach. The advance slowed down, long before any sign of the infamous Russian winter was seen. Nonetheless, by the end of September, Kiev was surrounded, and German troops were well established on the other side of the Dnieper. Minsk, near the Polish border, had fallen within the first few days. Soviet armies had virtually melted away, with little in the way of serious fighting taking place.

(Germany: -3 land, -1 air. USSR: -8 land, -3 air)

The Soviet air force in the west had virtually ceased to exist under the onslaught of the Lufftwaffe, except for a few squadrons being hurriedly flown in from the far east. Speaking of which, a squadron of Pe-8 bombers, with crews experienced from months of bombing Japan, were able to successfully bomb Berlin on the 1st of September. Although actual damage was minimal, the Reich chancellery was damaged by a lucky bomb hit. It was a gesture of Soviet defiance. Hitler was furious, and ordered many fighter squadrons away from the front the protect the capitol, as further bombing raids took place at random intervals. Warsaw and other Polish cities were also targeted for their support of Germany.

Meanwhile, in many villages and towns throughout Belarus and the Ukraine, the Germans were greeted with flowers and enthusiastic crowds. Rumours had spread that an independent Ukraine would soon be created. Many were eager to escape the clutches Stalin's brutal regime. Yet, many more were still loyal to the Soviet ideal... Patriotism was being stirred up, especially as other rumours spread - this time of war crimes committed by elite German units against innocent civilians, especially in areas with high Jewish populations. Again, the brutal racial-supremacist views of the early Nazi party were proving hard to remove from the minds of the younger generation.

(USSR: +5 land)

German forces have so far been acting alone, except for a few 'International Brigades' under their command. The Poles have kept to the defensive. However, the forces of Finland and Turkey are hovering menacingly on the northern and southern borders, with reports of numerous border incidents taking place. Hungary seems likely to enter the fray, though the Romanians are still keeping them occupied by refusing to surrender.

October began with the Soviets having no obvious way of turning the tide. But countless thousands of new recruits were gathering behind the lines. And much of the industry of the Ukraine had already been dismantled and sent by railway into the heart of Russia, where new production lines were being hastily assembled. It seems that the Germans and its allies face a long, bitter advance through the winter, before the USSR can be brought to its knees.



France, Germany, Australia and Japan: the HMAS Hobart incident

As if things were not complicated enough, even before Operation Barbarossa got underway, France had a separate issue with Germany. Interrogation of Indochinese rebels had implicated Germany in the recent uprising. As a result, France declared a blockade of Hainan, beginning in late August. The German heavy cruiser KMS Admiral Hipper, along with a flotilla of smaller warships, were trapped by the arrival of a powerful French fleet.

Only a trickle of humanitarian aid was allowed to get through to the refugees on the island. Germany, of course, used this as propaganda against France. The suffering of the refugees was exaggerated to highlight the 'brutality of French imperialism'.

Meanwhile, under the express orders of the Australian Governor-General, the Australians joined the blockade with a small naval force of their own. At the same time, the Japanese arrived with a much larger fleet, and began threatening the French and Australians by patrolling close to Hainan. The bewildered Chinese were caught in the middle.

Tensions continued into September. On the night of the 15th, the Australian cruiser HMAS Hobart was sunk by Japanese cruisers and destroyers in a chaotic fire-fight, a few miles to the south of Hainan, with the loss of most of its crew.

(Australia: -1 navy)

Since then, the Australian government has been campaigning for a declaration of war against Japan, and has been seeking French, British and Canadian support - so far without success, as most people are focused on events in europe. Meanwhile the Japanese are claiming that the HMAS Hobart was acting erratically, and fired the first shots...



The Rest of the World

Confusion and uncertainty are everywhere...

Britain, although deeply concerned about the fall of Romania, and the growing un-balance of power in europe, seems unlikely to intervene unless the borders of France, Belgium, Holland, Denmark, or any of the Baltic states are violated. Although, the Prime Minister has yet to make his position clear, and he may be able to sway things one way or another. British forces are also still dealing with minor revolts across northern India, the middle east, and also in Cyprus, where the Turkish navy has been making its presence felt...

France seems to be heading to war with Germany and its allies. The French senate is already debating what action to take. Most of the military seems willing to fight, even if France fights alone. There is a feeling that something must be attempted to prevent fascist control of all Europe and western Russia. The Monaco incident no longer seems like such a bad idea, and many are now wishing that it had succeeded...

Germany seems to have the support of Norway, Poland, Spain, Italy, Hungary and Bulgaria - and perhaps Finland, Turkey, Sweden and even Holland too. Though, the populations of many of these countries are still opposed to fascism and/or dictatorship, most notably the Swedish and Dutch. The people of Norway are slowly being converted to a more nationalistic viewpoint.

Hungary now seems to be the closest of all Germany's allies, and remains the only one to have cooperated with German troops in battle, during the partition of Czechoslovakia. However, Hungary is also something of a problem, as it is gaining a reputation for war crimes and general brutality against all opponents of the pro-Magyar regime.

Of course, Germany itself is also accused of war crimes, and of aiding the unrest in Indochina and the USSR, but still has a surprisingly good reputation at this point. The people of the USA in particular have a high opinion of the Germans, and a much lower opinion of the Soviets and Japanese, after years of war reports from the far east describing the brutality of both those regimes. There seems little interest in the USA for getting involved in either europe or the far east. US corporations are continuing to make a healthy profit dealing with both Japan and Germany.

The alliance of Brazil and the US holds sway over South America. Brazil is becoming the most prosperous country in the region. Argentina remains unstable, but the Argentine people are still bitterly opposed to the US after the damage caused in the 1938 war.

Australia, New Zealand and Canada are being torn between dealing with the threat from Japan, aiding British policy in europe, and following their own ambitions. The populations of all three countries are still supportive of Britain at this point.

Miscellaneous:

July 15th - The first 'Mediterranean Games' are opened in Istanbul, Turkey. Turkish athletes take many of the medals.

August 17th - MGM's film classic The Wizard of Oz premieres at the Capitol Theater in New York City.

August 25th - An IRA bomb explodes in the centre of Coventry, England killing five people.

September 25th - On what is to become an annual event, a grand military parade is held in Rome, with Mussolini and the Italian Empire being glorified with symbols of the ancient Roman Empire.

Notes:

OK, a few things I really need to know for this game:

The official positions of UK and France regarding recent actions by Germany and co.

The position of the UK, whether it supports Australia in fighting Japan.

The position of Canada and New Zealand, whether they support the position of the UK, whatever that happens to be.

The position of the USA, if it has one.

Also, anything Germany's alleged allies have to say about events.

Thankyou

PS @IronMan, New Zealand is now at its max $$$ income, it will take a lot more $ than usual to increase it any further.

Map: