The House of Cards – A Soviet Union Hearts of Iron 2 AAR

[Kan' Sharuminar]

The House of Cards – A Soviet Union Hearts of Iron 2 AAR​

Comrades of the motherland, our nation is under attack! The treacherous fuhrer of Germany has betrayed all promises of friendship and turned his fascist dogs against us! The hour is upon you to fight off these hounds and turn them back to Berlin. The Red Army shall prevail against the enemy, guided by the wisdom of glorious comrade Stalin!
An excerpt of the speech given by Kan’ Sharuminar, Minister of Information, 22nd June 1941

​

The files for ‘Sound of Drums’ remain trapped on the hard drive of my old computer, so it’s not going to be continued for the time being. I’ve wanted to get to work on a Soviet AAR for some time now, so figure I can get it started. Whereas ‘Drums’ was supposed to focus on the pre-war build-up of HoI2, House of Cards is dropping us straight into it. It is the 22nd June 1941, Germany has invaded and it is up to the ingenuity and determination of the Red Army to see them off. An army must be led, however...

The Council of Doom in this AAR is the Red Army of Doom. Unlike before there are no government positions up for grabs, just command positions. Just like before, however, advice and role-playing given by posters shall be interpreted into the AAR and utilised as I play the game. Take a look at the second post of this thread to get an understanding as to what the four ranks of command are.

It should be noted, of course, that just because there is no Council of Doom running things it doesn’t mean there is no government! Joseph Stalin remains in charge of the Soviet Union, and he does not tolerate failure lightly.

Onwards then, comrades, for comrade Stalin has ordered a full counter-offensive to repulse the enemy back into Germany!

Game: Hearts of Iron 2 Armageddon
Scenario: 1941
Nation: Soviet Union
Difficulty: Normal/Normal

 

[Kan' Sharuminar]

Commanders of the Red Army

Spoiler How it works :

Any person who posts is automatically conscripted into the Red Army as a Major General. They shall be in command of a single division and sent wherever needed. They are under the command of just about everyone else.

A poster may volunteer for the following ranks though. Which is nice.

A Lieutenant General has command of up to 3 divisions, and has a specialised role. They choose (or be assigned) to be commander of anything other than a standard infantry division. As an example, a poster wanting to be a tank commander would find themselves a Lt General in charge of at least one tank division. Other suggestions would be taking charge of motorised/mechanised infantry, paratroopers or being an artillery commander. They would fall under the command of a General.

The General commands up to 9 divisions, and will most likely have command over a single province at any one time. This is the ‘standard’ rank for most volunteers, unless they ask otherwise. Although under the command of a field marshal, a general has more sway over their area of the front and their posts interpreted into game-actions will be more common. An accomplished general may see promotion to...

...Field Marshal. There are limited numbers of these, and a poster cannot volunteer for the rank (after the first lot), they are simply assigned to it by Stalin. These are the only posters in the game with the ability to sway Stalin’s opinion, and as such may be able to sway war policies and overall command of the war effort (such as changing war production or, if feeling particularly brave, convincing Stalin to transfer units from some other front in advance of a major operation). Failure, however, is not particularly appreciated by the Kremlin, and repeated failures will result in removal of the officer, to be replaced by a general.

Do not be too disheartened if you are ‘removed’ from your position, for you shall only be gone a short while for re-education. Upon your return you shall find yourself in a new command position and once again fighting for the motherland!

Of course, all of the above could translate to ‘just play along to keep Kan happy, he makes it up as he goes along anyway...

List of Commanders

Premier Joseph Stalin - Supreme Commander​

Rank-Name-Assigned Unit-Location

Baltic Front
Field Marshal – Captain2 – Baltic Front HQ - Riga
General - Darth Pugwash – 11. Rifle Corps - Mazirbe
General – nodikus – 10. Rifle Corps - Siauliau
General - ArneHD - 24. Latvian Rifle Corps - Riga
General - Zack - 22. Estonian Rifle Corps - Tallinn

Belorussian Front
Field Marshal – SuperBeaverInc – Belorussian Front HQ - Minsk
General – Cardgame -21. Rifle Corps - Suwalki
General - e350tb – 3. Rifle Corps - Bielsk
General - Serutan - 47. Rifle Corps - Slonim
General - Omega - 16. Rifle Corps - Alytus

Ukrainian Front
Field Marshal – PrinceScamp – Ukrainian Front HQ - Kiev
General – taillesskangaru – 6. Rifle Corp – Lvov
General - Stewie0416 - 27. Rifle Corp - Kowel
Lt General - IronMan2055 - 4. Mechanised Corp - Kowel

Odessa Front
Field Marshal - Nuclear Kid – Odessa Front HQ - Odessa
General – CivGeneral – 14. Rifle Corps - Iasi
General – ZeletDude – 35. Rifle Corps - Ismail
Lt General – Luckymoose – 2. Mechanised Corps - Chisinev

Leningrad Front
Field Marshal - Jos Ballenbak - Leningrad Front HQ - Leningrad
General - Volum - 19. Rifle Corps - Viipuri

Spoiler timeline and updates :

Timeline of Events
June 22nd 1941: Update One

Spoiler map :

 

[Darth_Pugwash]

In like tin, for glorious Motherland!

I volunteer for General!

 

[cardgame]

This sounds great, I volunteer to be in charge of the Persian Border Patrol! (There's ~3 divisions down there, right?)

 

[Maniacal]

Field Marshall PrinceScamp ready for his duty to the glorious Motherland!

First things first, I need an overview of the situation! Where are the damn maps?

 

[Kan' Sharuminar]

This sounds great, I volunteer to be in charge of the Persian Border Patrol! (There's ~3 divisions down there, right?)

It'll only be active fronts you can sign up for, so it's off to face the Germans for you.

First things first, I need an overview of the situation! Where are the damn maps?

The game has only progressed 4 hours so far...load up the scenario yourself

@all: You can sign up for any of the fronts listed on the second post. Otherwise it'll just be randomised.

 

[GenMarshall]

In Soviet Russia, thread posts YOU!!!!!
I guess I'd be in the last remaining slot.

 

[Captain2]

Captain reporting in, as well as taking steps to be always be photographed with a copy of the Communist manifesto in hand

 

[e350tb]

Comrade Premier, I would like to volunteer for a position as a General on the Belorussian Front.

For the glory of Mother Russia!

 

[ZeletDude]

Can I be a general for the Odessa front Thanks

 

[nodikus]

I shall happily volunteer to serve the motherland comrade Kan, in any capacity.

 

[Maniacal]

Can anyone pour a good vodka? I need a Vodka server on my staff.

 

[Darth_Pugwash]

Why drink vodka when you can have a nice single malt sco- oh wait, vodka is what we like. Glorious, intoxicating Soviet potatoes. Pour me some more, laddie! Er, comrade.

 

[Tee Kay]

Taillesskangaru reporting! Please assign me to a position, comrade.

 

[Kan' Sharuminar]

The House of Cards – A Soviet Union Hearts of Iron 2 AAR
Update One​

June 22nd 1941

It was 3:30am, and PrinceScamp was very grumpy.

Dawn may have been breaking in Kiev, but the field marshal had been roused from sleep after just a few hours rest. He had gone to bed in a foul mood as well –most of the previous evening had been spent arguing with Moscow about the need to go on high alert. His counterpart in the north, Captain2, had reported several German recon plane incursions in the past 24 hours, and had suggested the possibility this was the precursor for an invasion. PrinceScamp had responded by suggesting Captain2 was a “jittery coward who would ready his troops at the sight of a weather balloon.”

His aide could only smile politely as the field marshal entered a tirade of expletives regarding comrade Captain2 and his “attention seeking ways”, before escorting him downstairs to a waiting car. As he was driven to his headquarters he was given the weakest of information – apparently there was some activity along the German border.


Kiev

He was given hardly a better analysis when he arrived at HQ. Communications with the front lines had been cut, but what little reports there were came to an obvious conclusion – Germany was invading. Siauliau and Suwalki in the north were already under attack (PrinceScamp allowed himself a thin smile at this – Captain2’s night would have been far more stressful) and it seemed Finns were getting uppity again.

At the very least there had been no reports of German incursions along his sectors of command, but that would not last long. Dawn was breaking, and it had been long assumed any German invasion plan would focus on the Ukrainian front. PrinceScamp was hardly worried though – he had under his command the largest number of men and equipment than any other area along the German border. The enemy would be broken along his front lines.

At last! Over an hour after being woken Kiev HQ finally received communication from Moscow, albeit an indirect one. Kan’ Sharuminar was speaking on behalf of the Ministry of Information – the branch that acted as a liaison between the government and the people, or the military. In this case it was towards the latter, specifically the Field Marshals. PrinceScamp demanded silence to hear what was being said.

“Any rumours being circulated that Germany has begun offensive operations against the motherland are to be treated as suspicious. It is strongly believed that such fabrications are the actions of capitalist spies – under the payroll of the British Empire – and are being spread in an attempt to undermine the non-aggression pact that exists between the Soviet Union and Germany.

Front-line troops are not to engage any enemy unless fired-upon – provocation of the Germans by any commander will result in harsh measures. Investigations should begin into the cause of the communications blackout. All aircraft are free to be utilised in full force by their area commanders, though only for reconnaissance and only within Soviet airspace.

Specific orders to field marshals shall be sent within the next hour.”

The broadcast ended with a short playing of The International.

PrinceScamp blinked in quiet personal shock. In fact, he was so numbed by the response from Moscow he blinked again. He didn’t feel there was much else he could do. After blinking a third time he got to work with what little information he had available. He launched all fighter-planes to patrol the front lines and got to work on re-establishing communications with the front. He did not blink in surprise an hour later, when Moscow failed to send further orders.


The German-Russian front, June 22nd 1941

 

[SuperBeaverInc.]

Field Marshal Belorussian Front!

 

[Nuka-sama]

Field Marshall Romanian Front!

 

[Luckymoose]

Lieutenant General Romanian Front.

 

[Kan' Sharuminar]

Report from the Ministry of Information
Moscow is pleased with the initial influx of volunteer officers, and has released the following documents regarding their postings.

Rank-Name-Assigned Unit-Location

List of Commanders

Baltic Front
Field Marshal – Captain2 – Baltic Front HQ - Riga
General - Darth Pugwash – 11. Rifle Corps - Mazirbe
General – nodikus – 10. Rifle Corps - Siauliau

Belorussian Front
Field Marshal – SuperBeaverInc – Belorussian Front HQ - Minsk
General – Cardgame -21. Rifle Corps - Suwalki
General - e350tb – 3. Rifle Corps - Bielsk

Ukrainian Front
Field Marshal – PrinceScamp – Ukrainian Front HQ - Kiev
General – taillesskangaru – 6. Rifle Corp – Lvov

Odessa Front
Field Marshal - Nuclear Kid – Odessa Front HQ - Odessa
General – CivGeneral – 14. Rifle Corps - Iasi
General – ZeletDude – 35. Rifle Corps - Ismail
Lt General – Luckymoose – 2. Mechanised Corps - Chisinev

The following map shows the general juristiction of Field Marshals and their 'fronts'. It should be noted front provinces will change over time as the war progresses

Yellow - Captain2 'Baltic Front'
Blue- SuperBeaverInc. 'Belorussian Front'
Orange- PrinceScamp 'Ukrainian Front'
Purple- Nuclear Kid 'Odessa Front'

Spoiler :

 

[Luckymoose]