An Oncoming Train Wreck - Beginners HoI2 AAR

[Hitti-Litti]

Ministry of Propaganda reports:

"Our Führer, Adolf Superbeaver Hitler, has informed the ministry of our glorious victories against nations, that only mighty Germany can beat! We are happy to announce that we and Austria are one! Austria asked for the event we now call Anschluss, as it saw our extremely organized nation much more worthy than theirs. Celebrate!

We have also won Czechoslovakia in a war! Yes, that Czechoslovakia that won Russia singlehandedly two years ago, as we have told you. They are now part of German realm! Our überefficient military marched into Prague and the Czech people begged to join the land of bratwurst and beer!

Now our brave soldiers are liberating Danzig from the evil Poland. Stories tell that Polish people have invented a new sport: German children throwing. They are throwing our Aryan brothers! We must revenge that! And our soldiers shall do that to express their lojalty to Führer!

Our military is überefficient! Our Führer is überhandsome! We can't lose!

 

[Maniacal]

Poland is getting pwned.

 

[SuperBeaverInc.]

The war in Poland began on August 30, 1939. The Germans immediately advanced into the Poland with two main thrusts. The first was an armoured column in the north which rolled through Danzig before turning south in Elbing and advancing towards Warsaw. The second thrust was an infantry advance from the south, which would meet with the armoured divisions outside Warsaw. The Germans quickly had the Polish defenders on the retreat as they headed towards the capital. A large pocket had developed around Poznan, with 14 Polish divisions encircled by the German army.

By September 10, Warsaw had fallen and the Poles quickly surrendered. Germany annexed the western portion of Poland, while the Soviets moved in and occupied the east.

As part of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, the Soviets would receive the east of Poland. The nation was split in two and now the Germans faced their opponents on only one front.

For a month since the start of the war, German and French soldiers had occupied defensive positions along the border. The French were gradually building up forces along the Maginot Line, while the Germans continued to build up for an invasion. By early October, 6 Panzer divisons had arrived from Poland, and 15 new Infantry divisions had been recruited for the Western front. Now with 74 divisions dedicated solely to the invasion, and another 30 defending the border, the Germans began their attack. In order to achieve their objectives, a declaration of war was sent to Belgium.

On October 6, German forces crossed the border. The German Panzers quickly rolled through the Belgian countryside. 5 divisions became encircled in Bastogne while more German soldiers marched towards Ghent. The German forces quickly moved through Belgium and advanced into France. German Panzers quickly rolled towards the French capital while the Infantry moved to encircle the Maginot Line and the Channel coast. By October 18, German forces had taken Paris. Meanwhile, 18 French divisions had begun to move westwards in an attempt to beat back the Germans.

With war raging on in Europe, other non-aligned countries began to take advantage of the situation to further their goals. The Italians sent a declaration of war against the Greeks. Before the Italians could begin their advance however, the Yugoslavians declared war on the Italians. Yugoslavia had guaranteed Greece's independence, and sought to prevent the Italians from expanding their power in the Balkans.

With the Germans deep into French territory, the French hopes lay solely on the 25 divisions that were now facing the Germans in the east. With the Maginot Line now breached, the 30 divisions sent to guard the border were now free to assist in the conquest of France. The German forces stationed along the Dutch and Luxembourgian borders now moved in on those countries. To everyone's surpise however, France surrendered and was replaced by the German backed Vichy regime. Taking advantage of the fall of the French government, the colonies of Lebanon and Syria proclaimed their independence. Vichy now controlled southern France, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, West Africa, French Guiana, and the French possessions in teh Caribbean and South Pacific. However, a small group of French resistors still remained in Equatorial Africa.

German-dominated Europe

Japanese progress in Asia

Now, time for some noobish advice.

How many divisions to I keep in France?
What kind of divisions?
Do I now just sit back and prepare for Barbarossa?
Any other advice is welcome.

 

[Kan' Sharuminar]

I normally keep at least one infantry division on beach provinces, and build up their coastal fortifications to 10. I sometimes have a couple of motorised/mechanised infantry divisions scattered that can respond quickly to an Allied invasion of Europe. As for the rest of France, just garrison units to pacify the region, send the rest of the army to the Russian front.

Best options now are to conquer the rest of Europe (join Italy against Yugoslavia/Greece) in order to push into Africa, and invade Britain. Alternatively, prepare your forces for an invasion of Russia in early 1940

Very nice destruction of the French though, good to see them fall before Christmas.

 

[SuperBeaverInc.]

I really lucked out against France though. That 25 division stack was a real pain, especially since I wasn't having any luck in trying to encircle them. Lucky for me the Vichy event was triggered, and took care of that.

 

[nodikus]

Whats going on at sea?

 

[Maniacal]

More planes and more u-boats.

 

[SuperBeaverInc.]

Whats going on at sea?

Basically, the German navy is hiding in the Baltic Sea so that it doesn't get blown out of the water by the British.

 

[Berrie]

I would recommand that you build some CAS forces and Naval Bombers. The first are great against the Russian hordes (bomb them in oblivion while they are retreating, especially in places where it takes up to a month to go to the next province). The latter are great to reduce the British navy. Some consider naval bombers to be gamey, but if that doesn't bother you, then they are great to make the British navy an artificial reef.

EDIT: another tactic to consider is building massive amounts of u-boats and sink the entire supply navy of the british. That makes the British empire like a crippled, old man...

 

[Maniacal]

Basically, the German navy is hiding in the Baltic Sea so that it doesn't get blown out of the water by the British.

Then you should send the Royal navy in to finish off the Nazi's navy!

Oh wait, we're the Germans.


Um, yeah, I'll just get back to my plane now.

Nav bombers sound good.

 

[Hitti-Litti]

I demand that you defend Finland if they are attacked!

 

[sirtommygunn]

thats actually a good idea - keep the russians from getting those factories and resources. makes them less of a pain later.

when fighting the russians use surrounding tactics early on sense the provinces are small, then later when they get bigger use bombers.

 

[Winner]

thats actually a good idea - keep the russians from getting those factories and resources. makes them less of a pain later.

when fighting the russians use surrounding tactics early on sense the provinces are small, then later when they get bigger use bombers.

BTW, what causes the Soviet AI to surrender (the Bitter peace event). In my last game as Germany, I totally smashed their border armies. I didn't play it as usual, you know, play it safe tactics with only minor encirclements. I took the risk and encircled at least 15-20 divisions in Latvia, 10-15 divisions near Odessa and nearly 20 divisions in Pripjat. Then, the AI was stupid enough to amass its troops near Kiev which I left only lightly defended. When they had almost 20 divisions near the province, I launched an attack from the south and encircled most of them. Another blow was delivered in Smolensk (I think, I am not sure what the name was) - 10 divisions.

Soviets were totally paralyzed. In desperation, they garrisoned Moscow with huge number of divisions, I think about 30 divisions. I encircled them in October, at the same time I cut off Leningrad and trapped another 10 divisions.

I planned to let them starve during the winter and destroy them the next year, knowing you have to capture Leningrad, Stalingrad, Moscow, Baku and one other victory point east of Ural to force the Soviets to sue for peace. But they surrendered few week after I encircled Moscow. I was totally surprised by this. The fact is they lost almost 2/3 of their army - could it force the AI to give up?

 

[Kan' Sharuminar]

There is a possibility of them surrendering quickly if you are not at war with the Allies. I think it depends on the amount of Soviet national provinces conquered, rather than having to capture specific provinces.

 

[Say_my_name]

Bitter Peace happens if:

Germany or Vichy France owns Paris
The Soviet Union has lost control of the following: Moscow, Leningrad, Stalingrad, Baku and Sverdlovsk. If Japan is also at war with the Soviet Union, it is either Sverdlovsk or Vladivostok.
Germany must not be at war with Italy.

There is also an alternative BP event which will indeed trigger if Germany is not at war with the Allies. The only condition is that the Soviet Union looses 25% of it's national provinces. It's highly unlikely to trigger though, as you would need to annex all of the Allies, which is kind of hard to do without being stomped by the Soviets at the same time.

 

[SuperBeaverInc.]

With the Germans rolling through Western Europe, the Soviets turned their attention to their neighbours, Finland. In November 1939, the Winter War was started. Germany sent supplies to Finland to give them some support against the Soviets.

With northern France now under German control, the French airbases were made the new home of the Luftwaffe. Reichsmarschall von Scamp was given the task of subduing the British with an unrestrained air war. German fighters and interceptors immediately began patrolling the English Channel and skies of England and Wales, while German bombers began to target British airfields.

Looking to improve relations with their Fascist brethren in Italy, German forces began to prepare for an assault on Yugoslavia. As German forces arrived, the Italians had retaken Venice and were beginning to move in on Rijeka. German infantry crossed over into Slovenia and began their assault.

Before long, the Italians approached the Germans with hopes of forming an alliance with them. Their proposal was accepted and Italy joined the Second World War on the side of the Axis. Italians forces in Libya began to move against the British in Egypt.

With German forces moving in from Austria and Italian forces coming from Albania in the south, the Yugoslavians were quickly pushed into the hills surrounding Belgrade and Uzice. Surprisingly, the Yugoslavians managed to hold off an attack made by the Germans, despite being outnumbered significantly.

In order to help with pacify the area, the Germans created a puppet state in Croatia. Three Croatian infantry divisions were formed to help the Germans.

By the Spring of 1940, the Luftwaffe had succeeded in grounding the RAF. Very few bombing raids were being launched against Germany, and most that did would usually be intercepted on their return. The airstrips in Dover, Portsmouth, and Norwich had been completely bombed out, and plans were being made to begin to target British ports.

In Spring 1940, Fall Weserübung began. War was declared on Denmark and Norway, with land units marching into Denmark immediately.

The Danes quickly surrendered, giving the Germans the ability to completely block off the Baltic Sea from the Royal Navy. The Norwegian campaign started soon afterwards, with an amphibious assault on the Norwegian coast at Stavanger. It was here that the Kriegsmarine got its first victims, the Norwegian cruisers Eidsvold and Norge.

Feeling over-confident, the Kriegsmarine departed on patrols out into the North Sea. However, they soon encountered a British aircraft carrier and its escorts. Things quickly turned against the Germans as 5 ships were sunk, which included the heavy cruisers Graf Spee and Admiral Scheer. The Kriegsmarine's lost two of it's three cruisers. The only solace that could be gained from this loss is that the Graf Spee took the British battleship Resolution down with it.

Germany, April 1, 1940

 

[Nuka-sama]

Get Romania as an ally

 

[Maniacal]

Yeah, get Hungary, Romania on our side. More troops to the Eastern Front too.

I'll have pics of the Battle of Britain tomorrow.

 

[Winner]

...

There is also an alternative BP event which will indeed trigger if Germany is not at war with the Allies. The only condition is that the Soviet Union looses 25% of it's national provinces. It's highly unlikely to trigger though, as you would need to annex all of the Allies, which is kind of hard to do without being stomped by the Soviets at the same time.

Yeah, that could be it. I conquered Britain, triggered the "Negotiated peace" event and they accepted it (I think there is 50% chance for the AI to accept). I wanted Britain out before I invade the USSR and I wanted to prove that that it's possible to successfuly invade Britain with a weak navy and no air superiority.

 

[Winner]

With northern France now under German control, the French airbases were made the new home of the Luftwaffe. Reichsmarschall von Scamp was given the task of subduing the British with an unrestrained air war. German fighters and interceptors immediately began patrolling the English Channel and skies of England and Wales, while German bombers began to target British airfields.

Invade Britain. It's easier than it seems and it will make your life a lot easier when you invade Russia.