Eeyores Rise to Power

[MagicalPen]

Not sure if this is the correct place for this, but I used to post AARs on another forum I was on and thought I'd start one up (mid game) here.

If this is not the correct place for it, feel free to move it or send me a PM explaining where to put it. It falls under the Games Category.

Very much a WIP (Work In Progress)
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The AAR: The Rise of Rome

Game: Hearts of Iron 3: Semper Fi + Didays ICE Mod (mucho game improvements).

The Players: Eeyore - As Italia!   Eeyores friend - As Germany!

The Goals: World Domination, focusing on defeating the USSR followed by the USA.

The Game So Far:

As Italy, I start off at war with Ethiopia. This is a very simple war despite the Mountains in the region. However, I mass troops around the Capital and let the war drag on to benefit as much as possible from having a War Economy. Eventually, due to a bit of forgetfulness on my part, I forget to end my attack on the Capital and am forced to Puppet the country. I leave the troops in the area to deal (eventually) with the British and French in East Africa.

With a crap economy, I am forced to focus on trades (mainly with the USA and USSR) to keep my economy afloat, and have to build brigade attachments for my Army, along with the Ships already in the Production que. Technology, I focus on Infantry, Armor, Support Weapons, and Aircraft. With little Leadership Points, I can't really focus on the Navy, or Bombers too much.

Germany, meanwhile, is a powerhouse. Lots of IC, lots of troops. Anschluss of Austria happens, as does the annexation of Czechslovakia forming Slovakia. Invasion of Poland happens, as does the Tripartite Pact...I join the Axis. Japan defeats Nationalist China and creates it as a Puppet (while taking control of all the Coastal areas). I annex Albania after King Zog gives into my demands and finally Hungary and Romania join the Axis. This allows me to declare war against Yugoslavia (which I could not before, as Romania guaranteed its Independence. Romania has a large Army useful vs the USSR.

After annexing Yugoslavia - and enjoying a War Economy - I think DOW the Allies as I did not want to wait for Germany to take Paris (and thus allow me to enter their war historically). This allowed me to wage war in East Africa, though this ended up going badly. I was vastly outnumbered (by the French mostly) and suffered. Even after France capitulated, I was on the run, and my entire East African Army got wiped out by the British. Ethiopia was also annexed by the British.

However, back in Europe, things were going well. I let the Germans take Denmark and the Lowlands before they struggled into France. They kept asking for assistance, but I refused, based on a Status Quo along the French border. I did send troops from Libya in Tunisia, while I also steamrolled the scant British in Egypt. A great victory came as I took control of the Suez Canal region. I then marched on Jerusalem and the region before running into massive supply problems.

You see, fighting alone in the Med. Sea, my weak Navy faced British and French Carrier groups. This did not go well for me, and my Navy was shattered. This left my Supply Convoys open to attack and I soon ran out of them. This, ultimately, led to my demise in East Africa - troops without supplies lose Organization and the ability to attack, rendering my Units inoperable even as the British counter attacked.

Greece had meanwhile fallen to my forces and Vichy France was also formed, eliminating most of the French forces and Navy. This was a relief. I had even invaded Southern France after a while to capture some Victory Point Locations. I made the mistake of not doing anything to Greece - leaving it as occupied territory. I then DOW'd Bulgaria and rolled through their country, before doing the same to Turkey, opening a new front against Russia (in the Caucaus) for the coming war with them.

The British bombed a Vichy Port and forced Vichy France into war. This helped in the region around Syria, as my out of supply troops could do little against the equally hopeless British. The Vichy Forces recieved help from Romanian Cavalry Units who made a long trip down. In the end, I had to resort to bombing the British to death - with my Tactical Bombers and some German Stukas who flew across Europe to help. British forces retreated into Neutral Iraq. But that soon changed.

Iraq secretly entered an Alliance with me and revolted against the British. I sent my Bombers into Iraqi airspace to aid them and the Iraqis reclaimed Kuwait. They are very close to joining the Axis now.

At this point, Germany invaded England and eventually conquered it. Operation Sealion success! Then, moving through Vichy France, we attacked Republican Spain - who had won the Spanish Civil War despite Facist and Nazi help to the Nationalists. This allowed us to secure Gibraltar, giving me (and the Vichy France Navy) complete control of the Med. I also relaunched my invasion of East Africa to avenge my losses and have the few remaining British troops on the run.

The most shocking thing of all of this? Romania successfully landed troops in Malta AND Yemen (knocking the latter out of the war entirely). An aggressive Romania will be quite useful once we launch Barbarossa.

Republican Spain was a long walk from East to West, with myself claiming 2/3'rds of the country, allowing the Germans to take the Northern Ports. I am also able to build many more units now - Italian Armor and Motorized is my focus as I look to leave my Infantry behind in the expanse of Russia. We are now planning our invasion of Russia and are moving our Troops from Western Europe to Eastern Europe to face the Bolshevik threat head on. Finland has also joined our alliance in preparation for the oncoming attack.

[HairyHeretic]

You fool! You fell victim to one of the classic blunders - The most famous of which is "never get involved in a land war in Asia"

;D

It's been ages since I played HoI. What's 3 like? I've heard mixed reviews about it.

[MagicalPen]

Vastly different. I think there are something like 6-times more provinces compared to HOI 2. You can see the difference in some of the screenshots. Terrain plays more of a factor too - I play with a Total Conversion Mod (The best one out there) so there are units in the MOD that are not in the game (like Italian Black Shirts, Soviet NKVD and Guards, British Gurkhas, Airborne Engineers, Glider Tanks, Glider Artillery, Long Range Submarines, Pocket Battleships, to name a few). Also, Intelligence has changed a lot in the mod. Now possible to coup other nations etc.

The guy who designed the mod has also been paid by Paradox to design the Die-Abeteilung or something Add On (basically an enhanced Germany). For the Motherland (another expansion) comes out very soon and reportedly fixes some of the Supply Issues that modders are unable to fix. As Semper Fi enhanced the Pacific Experience, For the Motherland will do the same to the Eastern Front while adding tons of new gamely features - for instance, you can actually play as a Government in Exile, and send partisans to your former country etc.

Here are some screenshots I think you might like (taken from my game)

Strategic Effects take place when you meet the requirements. Some occur through events (like joining the Axis) or through battle (participate in 100 Air, Naval, Land battles) or Production (100 Regiments, 100 Air Units, 100 Naval Units) and occupation (The Suez Canal).


Here is a view of the new provinces. This is the Hungary/Romania/USSR border region (the Hung/Rom Armies are in Africa at the time of this image). Gives you a sense of how many more provinces there are in the game.



This is part of a user created mod. He has created new images for everything including all the new units in the ICE MOD.



The Production Screen, with a nice Mechanized Image. Note on the list the Camice Nere - the Black Shirts.



And some Italian Motorized Unit. Gotta love how great the pictures look.



The Mod also improves the Technology Tree. This image gives you an idea of the reorganization and additions. Clearly, only the Axis can research Axis techs etc. There are many new techs, and they deteriorate over time if you don't research them.



Events pop up too. When you Mouse over the '?' it tells you the requirements. In this case, I don't own every province needed to Puppet either country, and the year is not yet 1942 - the requirement for the Ethiopian Event (the Allies also have to control the area).

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[HairyHeretic]

It looks impressive. I might have to check it out.

I could use a good space 4X game though. I prefer conquering planets to countries  ;D

[MagicalPen]

Heh, I can play HOI for hours upon hours straight. It can be quite intense sometimes. Me and my friends game as the Allies (UK + USA) did not go well. Germany raped the USSR and formed the Reichkommiserats by 1942. It was quite impressive yet scary. My friend didn't want to continue after that even though I assured him my American Mechs and massive Airforce would win us the day.