HOI III (Their Finest Hour) AAR - Going it alone

[BanzaiCat]

No doubt it affects resources, uprisings, etc. - the more brutal the more uprisings?

I guess there's no "ethnic cleansing" option in HOI III, but who knows, there might be a DLC in the future...or God only knows, a fan-made mod somewhere.  ::)

[undercovergeek]

I found this:-

Acquiring territory (annexation) gives you fixed penalties on leadership/IC/resources, whereas just conquering, (not annexing) gives you the choice to exploit IC/resources, with total exploitation exploiting manpower and leadership (collaboration govt.).

Im not quite clear - regardless i go conquer - i bled for it, i want it! The only time this didnt happen was for Ethiopia but the war was declared before the game started and i couldnt change the war goal

[undercovergeek]

A group of Spanish veterans huddled in the cover of a wide crater that had once been a machine gun nest defending the approach to this sector, firing over the crater's lip of rubble and broken brickwork. To their rear a burning T26 sat at an odd angle, its track and wheels on the right blown away, black smoke pouring from the damage there. Machine gun and rifle fire rattled off the twisted mass of rusty girders that Sergeant Lombardi and his squad sheltered behind, and he ducked down as sparks flared from the girders. Lombardi slammed a fresh magazine into his Beretta, rose to a crouch, and ducked his head around his cover to get a sight of the battle in front of him as the Spanish attempted to counter attack and force a path through his lines.

Gunfire roared across the lines between the two forces, the killing ground between the outer defences and the city itself ablaze with broken armoured vehicles and corpses of the defenders. The Spanish were well supplied and dug in, using their local knowledge to launch surprise flank attacks and ambushes but they were no match for the disciplined volleys of fire from the Italian mountaineer troops. Behind Lombardi the armour of Messe's divisions poured fire into the battle, their main cannons throwing up great gouts of earth and stonework as they obliterated the city walls, whilst their constant machine gun fire kept down the heads of even the most determined defenders. Spread across the crest of the ridge Lombardi was on were groups of men with tripod mounted Breda machine guns firing into the city defences and further surpressing the Spanish troops. Lombardi's squad readied themsleves to dash for a breach in the walls. On his flanks were two more veteran squads and they provided much needed volleys of fire into the rubble strewn ground ahead of him. Sporadic fire still managed to reach out from within the defences and a few of his squad fell.

The Spanish defenders had held well so far. Two of their heavier tanks sheltered behind earlier wrecks were providing cover for their own infantry as the Spanish probed weaknesses in the Italian lines. Explosions shook the ground around Lombardi, and piles of debris rained down from the sagging structures where he and his squad took shelter but the majority of the strikes were ineffective and undirected, their view of the battle distorted by smoke supplied by the mortar troops of the 12th company. Lombardi winced as a huge explosion from behind him threw him forward, one of Messe's L5/21 tanks taking a direct hit from a foe inside the city, its turret blew off with a thunderclap of fire and smoke - there would be no survivors. Mortar shells began to fall across the crest and around Lombardi, 'They have us dialled in' shouted someone down the line and a second later a pounding series of impacts slammed into the crest of the ridge and near the wall. 'With me!!' shouted Lombardi and vaulted the crest they were huddled behind, his squad surged to their feet and followed him over. Lombardi was hurled from his feet as the shock wave of the detonations obliterated the girders and cover on the crest behind them, the Breda squads wiped out, a smoking crater remained where he and his squad had just been.....................

The battle for Madrid had started in earnest

[JasonPratt]

^^ Hm, the assault on Madrid isn't going so well, I see...

Are there any VPs northward that you'll need to take to set up a capitulation? And on a territory this large, how does the game engine regard governance? Do you get the whole Spanish enchilada, or a portion defined by your advances; and if the former, will you have to strengthen against partisan counter-assaults or does the game assume capitulation means everyone in the conquered territory will play ball?

Also, what's the status of Portugal? Joined the Allies yet? -- or is it a target for sequel mopup of the Iberian penninsula for the classical Roman western range?

Also, how does it feel to be a psychosis in Mussi's head?  ;D (Or maybe a taint-inspired alternate personality based on one of his past lives?)

[undercovergeek]

as i opted for conquest i would imagine once the  surrender value reaches 100% ill get the whole country - thats whats happened with all the others. After Madrid there is Coruna in the very north west, that should push it to 100%.

Partisans have tried their best in Yugoslavia, Hungary and Greece so far but have been crushed by the garrison troops left. Because of the proximity of England in the South and France in the North im going to leave a sizeable force in Spain and spend hopefully all of '40 building some decent infantry

[undercovergeek]

Lombardi felt the heat of the blast wash over him, keeping his Beretta pulled in tight to his chest. Smoke and dust obscured his vision and the ringing echoes of the detonations pounded inside his helmet. He rolled to his feet, instantly regaining some sense of his immediate surroundings and the battle at hand. Figures moved in the billowing clouds of dust and falling debris and he pulled the trigger, firing off rapid volleys into the emerging shapes. 'Incoming' came the shout from behind him and others added to Lombardi's fire. He heard screams and three of the figures dropped, there was loud whining sound and a ping as return fire ricocheted around him, one round catching his helmet. He fired another burst and ducked into cover as a spray of gunfire was returned and the spanish advanced under the shadow of their bombardment.

Lombardi checked to his right and left, his squad were ready for whatever came out of the smoke. The Spanish were expecting the mountaineers to be battered and disorientated, the elite troops would make them pay for that mistake. He saw an enemy ahead of him and cut him down, firing from the hip where he stood, the Spaniard fell without a sound, and Lombardi dropped to his knee as more supressing fire from enemy machine guns raked his cover. Mountaineers fanned out around him, firing as they charged, rounds blasting into the Spanish with satisfying results, all around him his men were gaining the upper hand. There was a roar of engines as three close support tanks rolled over the top of the recently blasted crest, laying down withering fire and blasting the Spanish back to there defences. Caught between the crossfire of the mountaineers and the armour, the Spanish in this sector broke and fled further into the city - the engagement for Lombardi ceased to be a battle and became a massacre - with the support of Messe's armoured vehicles and their own armour reduced to smoking ruins the Spanish had no reply. Now Gambelli was free to form up his artillery brigades - he would pound Madrid to dust before marching into the urban chaos of its twisting alleyways and close, lean to structures.

[undercovergeek]

The two wings of the Catalan sector spread

With the realisation there were no defenders to the North, Calvi di Bergolo was ordered to rush to the North West to capture Spain's last working port leaving the country's resources, food and supplies in Italy's hands and destroying the morale of the country. Roatta was ordered to break off his northern advance and to hook west through Burgos and south to come at Madrid from the north. It was all a formality now, Spains major cities were falling one by one and the Italians were hard pressed to actually find a fight beyond the walls of Madrid



The Spanish front by the second week of December

[Staggerwing]

Impressive! The Stahlelm Boys must have taken notice by now...

[Martok]

Wow!  Yeah, it looks like the Spanish don't have much left.  Looks good 'geek! 


Out of curiosity, how much game-time has your conquest of Spain taken so far?  And how long have most of your other operations taken?  Just wondering. 

[undercovergeek]

Wow!  Yeah, it looks like the Spanish don't have much left.  Looks good 'geek! 


Out of curiosity, how much game-time has your conquest of Spain taken so far?  And how long have most of your other operations taken?  Just wondering.

Spain has taken six months, almost two of those lost to the supply problem and not been able to move. Greece took about two months the rest of eastern Europe no longer than three weeks to just under two months. Yugoslavia was maybe three months but I was too cautious and Albania was about a week

[undercovergeek]

Madrid falls on Christmas Eve 1939

As the flags of surrender break out in Madrid, three Italian infantry corps head west to catch the retreating Spanish forces who alarmingly race towards the Portugese border. But at midnight Ciano receives confirmation from the Spanish ambassador - the fight is done, Spain agrees to join the Roman empire.

On Christmas Day 1939 after the Spanish surrender, an uneasy peace descended upon the vast territories of the New Roman Empire. Mussolini maintained his Empire's neutrality in the war raging to the north, and proclaimed any breach of that strict neutrality by any of the Empire's citizens would not be tolerated. Throughout the war's early progression the frightful efficiency of Germany's Wehrmacht became readily apparent. Poland and Denmark had already surrendered and only four months later on April 17 1940, the flames of war break out in Holland and Luxembourg.



Holland's front line is crushed in days



At the same time, the battle for France starts in Metz after Luxembourg falls

After the Spanish surrender Mussolini surveyed his maps in his war room and realized that what he had accomplished was more than enough. All that he had to do now was to hold on to all, or at least most of what he had gained over the past two years and he would go down in history as the greatest servant to Italia since Augustus. There were plans, but none of them were ready in his mind. The general staff had, at Mussolini's direction, been furiously working on operations and contingency operations, but none of them made strategic sense at that time.

There were plans to attack Persia from Turkey, but the Persians had joined the Axis and were already being attacked by the British from India. There were plans for seizing Gibraltar and Suez and shutting the Mediterranean to the British, but what then? The British controlled the rest of the seas and most international commerce. A war with the British would cut off the Empire from trade and practically wed the Empire's fate to the madman in Berlin. This, and Mussolini had given Chamberlain his word - such as it was

There were plans to attack Germany from the south. Mussolini was confident that his impressive army of mountaineers could seize Innsbruck and all the Alpine passes and hold them indefinitely. However, Italy was no longer just a defensive peninsula -- it was now a vast Empire with a border it could not hope to defend against Germany's larger ground forces.

There were plans to attack the neutral Swiss, but the Swiss shared borders with both France and Germany. Although possible, it seemed improbable that attacking Switzerland in the midst of a war between Germany and France would not somehow end up embroiling the Empire in the larger war. No, the Swiss were clinging to their neutrality, and as long as they did, they were only useful in narrowing the potential front with Germany.

As part of Mussolini's review of what his next step should be, he asked his agents in all of the major nations of the world to question their local sources to determine their host country's reaction to the recent expansion of Italy and the founding of the New Roman Empire. Mussolini was under the impression that the other major nations had tolerated Italy's expansion reasonably well. However, the findings of these reports told a different story. In short, all the other major nations of the world were terrified by Italy's recent expansions, and they all saw Italy as the greatest threat to world peace. This was in spite of all of Mussolini's efforts to portray his nation's activities as that of a benevolent major power. At a time of war against Germany, and after Germany had actually breached the Maginot line, France still perceived Italy as its greatest threat. At least the non-European powers of the United States and Japan were not hostile to Italy and did not see her as their greatest threat.

Still, Mussolini was disappointed by these reports, he always knew it would not be easy, but he resolved to persevere. However, these reports had made it clear that the New Empire must be very careful. None of the majors had declared war on the Empire yet, but there was no room for error. Two majors had already declared war on a third. The dogs of war had already been unleashed. However, Italy would play no part. She would welcome home her heroic conquering soldiers and pin medals on their chests, but the Empire needed to stop its expansive and warlike behavior and hope the conflict raging to the north would take the spotlight off of Italia and its newly gained Empire.

[undercovergeek]

On May 6 1940, Mussolini received a diplomatic communique from Hitler. The subtext of the message was basically a summons - a meeting was to be arranged at the border of Germany and Italy.

Mussolini didnt need Ciano to tell him that this might look like Italy was conspiring to join the Axis, and that might appear threatening to the Allies. However, Mussolini determined that it was the prudent thing to attend - he would rather know what Hitler's intentions were than not. He was relying on Hilter's presumption that Italy was a natural ally and would eventually enter the war on the side of the Axis. Ignoring Hitler's insistent invitations to join the Axis would do more damage than a single, discreet appearance of a single meeting between the two European leaders. Travelling by night and without pomp or ceremony Mussolini hoped that the meeting would be as low key as possible.

When the two leaders met at the designated location, Hitler insisted upon a review of the Italian border guards. Mussolini barely contained a sigh and a head shake - how he despised this man.



Although this was their first meeting since June of 1937, Hitler made no mention of Italy's territorial gains or the founding of a vast new Empire. He merely expressed his admiration for Italy's new aircraft carrier whilst steering Mussolini towards the motorcade waiting outside. As they approached the city hall for the meeting it was clear that Hitler and his agents had had the population turned out with all the ceremony of a meeting of state, press and photographers were in abundance, Mussolini once again barely contained himself.



At last they arrived at the city hall and retreated into the gloom and privacy of a conference room filled with Hitler's general staff with maps spread out across many tables. The maps were of France, of course, and appeared to show, according to current German intelligence, the status of Italian forces on the French border in both Spain and Northern Italy. Hitler finally explained to Mussolini the purpose of the meeting. He expected Italy to invade France. The maps spread out on the tables also showed the progress of the German invasion. The Maginot line had been breached barely and the French line had stiffened, thus progress had already slowed.

Hitler indicated to the map and called for Italian troops to attack southern France from both directions. His intelligence indicated that the German attack had resulted in a reduction of the defenses along Italian borders. He further anticipated that four corps of sixteen divisions on each of the two fronts, thirty two in total would suffice, more obviously, would be preferable.

[Staggerwing]

What about a secret deal with France instead? Mussie's generals could waste time 'preparing and replenishing' from the Spanish campaign while he gets some idea of what the Allies will do for him if he eventually rebuffs Der Fuhrer and the latter gets pissed off enough to try an incursion into Magna Roma's new frontiers. 'Dolphie can't be eager to be in a 2-front war at this stage, especially if one of those fronts isn't east of Poland with all it's juicy Lebensraum just beckoning...

Helping France out now may also go a ways toward getting 10 Downing St to accepting the Roman Status Quo.

[undercovergeek]

What about a secret deal with France instead? Mussie's generals could waste time 'preparing and replenishing' from the Spanish campaign while he gets some idea of what the Allies will do for him if he eventually rebuffs Der Fuhrer and the latter gets pissed off enough to try an incursion into Magna Roma's new frontiers. 'Dolphie can't be eager to be in a 2-front war at this stage, especially if one of those fronts isn't east of Poland with all it's juicy Lebensraum just beckoning...

Helping France out now may also go a ways toward getting 10 Downing St to accepting the Roman Status Quo.

id love to but stepping a foot on Axis soil now is going to lead to the big grey machine turning east and south and coming for me - i will be ready for that one day but not right now, it may be at the cost of France but i cant do it yet this and i need a nice looking French land bridge from spain to italy to help with supplies there

[bob48]

Defend what you have and get plenty of research going - better armour / AT weapons and aircraft. Is that the way to go for now?

If we assume that at some point Herr H will turn east, and if you don't get dragged in, then eventually, will you will be able to nip in and 'liberate' France.