Hearts of Iron III Catch-All

tboon wrote:

HOI3 is a much more complex game than EU3: not only do you have the whole "running a country" thing (at a much deeper level, I might add) but it also is a semi-complex chit-based-style wargame as well.

My recommendation for learning the systems in the game is to play as a South American country, like Brazil. It will not be the most exciting game ever but you can play with the mechanics and learn what all the buttons do without any pressure. Pick a side and try to move your country over to it. Try to build up your armed forces. Set up trading relationships. Etc. Etc.

Then I would play as the US for a bit to get a handle on what a huge economy can do and Germany 1939 for the military aspect. And then pick a country to start a proper game.

I have well over 1000 hours in Paradox games and HOI3 still intimidates the hell out of me. even though I have a couple of "real" games under my belt (as opposed to games I spent trying to learn the systems and how they all work together).

I hope this isn't off-putting: HOI3 is one of the grandest of grand strategy games. There is just a lot of stuff to learn before you can start to be successful. The view at the top of the mountain is superb but getting there is difficult.

I'm eager to learn, and thanks for the advice. Your tips pretty much match what Troy Goodfellow told me except for the South American start.

Over in the Wargamer's Corner, there's a note that the Cold War follow-on to HOI3 has been announced.

Robear wrote:

Over in the Wargamer's Corner, there's a note that the Cold War follow-on to HOI3 has been announced. :-)

Oh I saw it.

Did anyone pick up the last expansion for HoI3 that just came out? I was eyeballing it but after paying $20 for For the Motherland I figured I would wait until the winter Steam sale for this latest update. http://www.paradoxplaza.com/games/he...

Michael wrote:

Did anyone pick up the last expansion for HoI3 that just came out? I was eyeballing it but after paying $20 for For the Motherland I figured I would wait until the winter Steam sale for this latest update. http://www.paradoxplaza.com/games/he...

I'm in the same shoes. I don't play enough HOI3 to justify another expansion at this point. Maybe after my current Vicky 2 game is over. But I will probably head back to CK2 then, since that expansion is due out sometime real soon.

I did pick up Their Finest Hour out of some kind of weird Scandinavian stimulus response thing. It loaded up, but then the game refused to start. Apparently one of Infantry sprite packs conflicts. I had to reinstall the game. I left out the sprite packs...

Have not played it yet.

The sprites were usually a little glitchy for me, especially the Germans. I have most of them and still end up using the NATO counters!

TUTORIAL - Basic Concepts
Hearts of Iron 3. This is it. One of the biggest strategy games in the universe.

The first step will be to endure Paradox's version of a tutorial. And maybe turn off the music or at least turn it down as it's rather distracting. And the tutorial guy is a bonafide madman the game tells me. That sparks my interest. Lead on you crazy bastard.

The strange moustached man takes me through the first tutorial chapter. He is an odd duck. Under Manpower and Leadership, he explains officers are the leaders of my armies. "The ratio of officers to the number of units affects the efficiency of your units." Is that a hidden joke that too many officers will muddle the efforts of units?

TUTORIAL - Art of Diplomacy
Holy sh*t, I just realized I am being led through a Hearts of Iron 3 tutorial by Hitler. Adolf Hitler is my guide.

The diplomacy seems straight forward enough. The triangle has me a little confused though. I guess the three points of the triangle represent different moods and where a country is in the triangle will tell me what they feel about me.

Also this: "You gather that Austria has some special significance to the little man, maybe it was they who tampered with his moustache."

TUTORIAL - Production
As the tutorial goes on I realize the game is explaining what the buttons, enus, tabs and sliders do. I don't know if it will take me through a scenario where all I learned will be put to use. Fingers crossed.

TUTORIAL - Technology
Hitler is not big on diplomacy. This is what he tells me. (There's hints he might be mad at France for some reason). Building forces seems straight forward enough and there are buttons for ready-made groups to click on. Victory is almost within my grasp.

TUTORIAL - Politics
My 'expert' comes into his own when detailing this subject. He doesn't have a lot of respect for democracies or for his own people, calling them, easily led masses. (Easily misled masses is more like it.) If I was to play Germany the first thing I would do is fire some of history's idiots and see if I can replace Hitler for the top job.

TUTORIAL - Intelligence
I find the spy stuff kinda cool. I wish there was an assassination mission I could assign my intelligence bureau. The closest option would be, 'Disrupt National Unity'.

Also this happened at tutorial's end: "The strange little man looks a bit crest fallen. He disappears into another room in the bunker and you hear a single gunshot. All you are left with are some unsettling memories and a very very bad painting."

Each apex of the diplomacy triangle represents one of the Axis, the Allies, or the Comintern. How close your flag is to one shows how close you are to being able to join one of them. You can influence your people toward one or the other using spy units (you can also do the same with other countries if you are already in one of them, plus using more traditional diplomacy options).

To be honest, the "tutorials" were pretty rubbish.

tboon wrote:

Each apex of the diplomacy triangle represents one of the Axis, the Allies, or the Comintern. How close your flag is to one shows how close you are to being able to join one of them. You can influence your people toward one or the other using spy units (you can also do the same with other countries if you are already in one of them, plus using more traditional diplomacy options).

To be honest, the "tutorials" were pretty rubbish.

Oh yeah. I expected that. What they were good for was telling me what the buttons did.

A quick tip so that you don't get half-way through your game and then need to restart like I did: Learn the basics of the intelligence system now if you are wanting to play for the Axis.

This is needed for two reasons.
-Germany is unlikely to ask you to join the Axis no matter how politically aligned you are while your country remains neutral.
-You'll have to decrease your country's neutrality A LOT to get to the point where you can start declaring war on your own (Which is really the fun part of being in the Axis). Since you started with the early scenario, a modest investment in spies at home focused on driving down your neutrality will get you there over an extended period of time (as in, in time for 1939). Just watch for Allied countries' agencies trying to shift your politics back to them, or trying to hamstring your research. Just flip your domestic spies to counter-espionage until the attacks stop, then go back to what you were doing before.

DanyBoy wrote:

A quick tip so that you don't get half-way through your game and then need to restart like I did: Learn the basics of the intelligence system now if you are wanting to play for the Axis.

This is needed for two reasons.
-Germany is unlikely to ask you to join the Axis no matter how politically aligned you are while your country remains neutral.
-You'll have to decrease your country's neutrality A LOT to get to the point where you can start declaring war on your own (Which is really the fun part of being in the Axis). Since you started with the early scenario, a modest investment in spies at home focused on driving down your neutrality will get you there over an extended period of time (as in, in time for 1939). Just watch for Allied countries' agencies trying to shift your politics back to them, or trying to hamstring your research. Just flip your domestic spies to counter-espionage until the attacks stop, then go back to what you were doing before.

I was just about to post this, as it really messed up my first game as well.

One of the other effects that the system has is your readiness levels. The economy has three or four levels of shift between a normal economy (something like 2/3 of total production used in the civilian sector, only 1/3 available for you) and war readiness (you get all of the production). The main requirement for shifting a peace time country to higher levels of preparation is how dovish/hawkish the populace is.

I didn't realize that, and didn't spend any spies on using propaganda to raise my population's war readiness, so I wasn't able to get to the higher productions as soon as I could. I didn't get full production until I was actually pulled into a war, which really put a damper on the number of forces I had available at the start of the war.

Thanks for the tips. So, my spies double as my propaganda machine?

Nice AAR here (winner of the Paradox HOI3 Their Finest Hour AAR contest). I think reading HOI3 AARs is another really good tool to help in learning the game.

[size=18]How I Convinced Brazilians That Less Freedom Is More Freedom - A Hearts of Iron 3 Tale Part 2[/size]

START DATE: April 2, 1936

Things seemed stable at this point. I've dumped IC into researching two military techs to buff up my infantry. Why? Because I felt I had to click on something to see what the outcome will be. I've spent some money on spies to investigate Argentina but if I want to side with the Axis I need to have the people thinking fascism is cool. So, I am going to send my spies into my homeland to spread propganda and work the crowds into a nice frenzy.

IMAGE(http://i866.photobucket.com/albums/ab221/Strangeblades/2012-10-09_00002_zps4f0e76c8.jpg)
Keeping an eye on my people.. for their own good of course.

I've selected Raise National Unity as a mission for my intelligence bureau. Hopefully, this will give me more control. I've also reduced all my spies in neighbouring countries to Level 1 (out of Levels 1-3). I've also taken the advice of those little green flashes in the upper left screen and have enacted (improved?) two laws. I've turned the dial on War Economy and Two-Year Draft. I've also left my AI Commander in control of production but I have checked in on him and found him getting fresh with a manual typewriter (the AI likes older women). The AI is also pumping out three mixed infantry divisions and is building a coastal fort.

IMAGE(http://i866.photobucket.com/albums/ab221/Strangeblades/129916-4b0de-25057739-_zpsb3d2d8b1.jpg)

IMAGE(http://i866.photobucket.com/albums/ab221/Strangeblades/2012-10-09_00003_zpsdaf7863b.jpg)
Could this be the start of a beautiful relationship? I just started trading with zee Germans!

Huh. Well, a good trade agreement is a start towards something better. Right after Germany, the US and Canada offered to sell stuff as well.

IMAGE(http://i866.photobucket.com/albums/ab221/Strangeblades/2012-10-09_00004_zps48fd481d.jpg)
Canuckistan? Aren't they filthy Commies?

I decided to stick with buying goods from the Axis which might not have any appreciable effect in hooking up with them later.

IMAGE(http://i866.photobucket.com/albums/ab221/Strangeblades/2012-10-09_00005_zpsf09aa957.jpg)
Evil is cool! Read all about it!

This Propaganda Press option is where I want my printers and 'reporters' to be, pumping out those 'Brazil is Great' leaflets but the game won't let me select it. There is no IC cost to changing to Propaganda Press and I already have the requirement of the Partido Nacional Socialista Brasileiro as being my lead party. I wonder what has to happen to get what I want.

IMAGE(http://i866.photobucket.com/albums/ab221/Strangeblades/2012-10-09_00006_zps1a5dfd6d.jpg)
Did I get to first base?

I don't know if I had this option before but I've had my spies working internally protecting the the Brazilians from unlawful thinking and I've enacted harsher laws. I've selected Germany under the Diplomacy tab and have the option of Align to Faction which I'm going to click on. This is what the game tells me:

"Do you wish to attempt to align yourself to the Axis? This will induce a drift of 20.00 every day for Unlimited days."

My response is unbuttoning my top shirt button and sliding closer along the front car seat. However, Germany is playing hard to get.

NOTE: The thing I learned about Europa Universalis 3 is things take time. When I send over an envoy across Europe to talk to a distant king that takes a lot of time - months probably. Here, an envoy has been dispatched to Germany and will arrive in a week with my love letter.

IMAGE(http://i866.photobucket.com/albums/ab221/Strangeblades/2012-10-10_00002_zpsf08f8cd2.jpg)
Conquering hearts and minds as well as other parts of the homeland

Woo-hoo, Brazil's wise leaders have decided that 16 semi-private run companies have no business in running themselves. The Ministry of Public Relations have seized the organizations. My IC (Industrial Capacity) goes up by +8% but the Daily Dissent Change gets a bump of +5%. I fast-forwarded some time to see the results of my actions. So far, Brazil is fast-tracking to being Hitler's best buddy. My next move I will save for my third AAR but I'll hint at it here: it will be me taking out one of my neighbours. I figure whoever is leaning towards the left the most will face my wrath.

STOP: Jan. 3, 1937

PS: I guess that wasn't so much of a hint but a spelled-out declaration of what I'm doing. Hmm.

[size=18]How I Ran Brazil Into the Ground With Gusto - A Hearts of Iron 3 Tale Part 1[/size]

START: Jan. 1, 1936

This is a date that will live in the back pages of an unpublished essay.

The country of choice: Brazil, home to great parties, wide beaches and cartels.
IMAGE(http://i866.photobucket.com/albums/ab221/Strangeblades/Brazil_Flag_Patch_zpsfefddf11.jpg)

The current leader: Getulio Vargas, head of a right-wing republic.
IMAGE(http://i866.photobucket.com/albums/ab221/Strangeblades/getuliovargas2_zps7fc13a8d.jpg)

The mad power behind the throne: Strangeblades, who has little regard for public safety.
IMAGE(http://i866.photobucket.com/albums/ab221/Strangeblades/AVATAR_1_zps87e44af9.png)

1) When choosing what time period to start from I went with The Road to War, the earliest option. I noticed something odd and was wondering if others did as well.
Here is the political view of South America when the earliest start date is selected.
IMAGE(http://i866.photobucket.com/albums/ab221/Strangeblades/2012-10-08_00001_z2_zps53843b34.jpg)

Now here is the political view of South America when Götterdämmerung is selected. This would be the eighth and last time period (June 20, 1944).
IMAGE(http://i866.photobucket.com/albums/ab221/Strangeblades/2012-10-08_00002_44_zpscbfcb995.jpg)

I would guess the font change is representative of a political shift? Hmm. Or maybe it is the most popular font used on government documents at that time.

I found out my Brazilians are leaning towards Axis thanks to this handy triangle.
IMAGE(http://i866.photobucket.com/albums/ab221/Strangeblades/2012-10-08_00003_1_zps3ee24a2a.jpg)

I opt to be bold and declare my support for Axis-friendly nations by brokering trade agreements with them. So far, three countries, Argentina, Bolivia and Columbia are in no mood to buy my stuff. Jerks. They are happy to sell me their stuff at high prices of course.

I turn off pause and let the game play. Some minister bursts into my office and says I'm wasting stuff.
IMAGE(http://i866.photobucket.com/albums/ab221/Strangeblades/2012-10-08_00004_zps8bc9d39c.jpg)

I click on Production, Reinforcement and Upgrades. I click on their names, under the Production tab, and the game solves the problem. I later set Production to be handled by the AI as I had to keep fiddling with production problems constantly.

A minute later little green and red alarms in the upper left corner tell me of what I could be doing - enacting more efficient laws and motivating all those sweet scientists sitting around. I assign the lazy white-lab-coated squints to better my small arms tech for my cavalry and militia divisions. I try to enact another more efficient law but my IC (Industrial Capacity) is too low, so that little green Click-Me will have to wait.

NOTE: At this point I start listening to Daft Punk's 2007 Alive concert. That music goes with everything.

I speed up time. Woo hoo! Italy is offering me a trade agreement.
IMAGE(http://i866.photobucket.com/albums/ab221/Strangeblades/2012-10-08_00008_zps6da18b14.jpg)

The Italians, who are lovely Fascists by the way, want to buy 2.50 metal each day for 0.16 money and will be responsible for the convoy across the Atlantic.

NOTE: At this point my cat Lasher has jumped up and is banging her head against my netbook, which I am using to write this post. She is also sitting on my two mice.

Portugal is banging on my door next asking for rare materials. And I still have Honduras in my front office looking for the same thing - rare materials. I don't know if I can meet the demands of both nations but screw it. Money is money.

Ireland is the next nation to tap Brazil's sweetness. It wants supplies, possibly to blow up British parliament, at a rate of 0.99 supplies for 0.16 money each day. I'm really enjoying the fact nations are offering to convoy the stuff themselves.

I decided to replace Foreign Minister Jose de Macedo Soares with Raoul Fernandes who has +10% susceptibility to the Axis.
IMAGE(http://i866.photobucket.com/albums/ab221/Strangeblades/2012-10-09_00001_zps7fb3facd.jpg)

Hey, it's 1936 right? How bad can Germany get in three years? I also made Raoul Head of Intelligence. I figure one salary for two jobs is a great cost savings. My advisor tells me of the dangers of putting too much power in the hands of one of my subordinates but since we don't have elections I guess that means I can do whatever I want. That advisor is now a janitor at Rio's smelliest sewage plant.

STOP: April 2, 1936

[size=18]My Minister of Security is an Efficient Sociopath - A Hearts of Iron 3 Tale Part 3[/size]

START DATE: Jan. 3, 1937

PLACE: Brazil

IMAGE(http://i866.photobucket.com/albums/ab221/Strangeblades/brazill_zps649e0a25.jpg)

THE PLAN: Make a neighbouring country feel really bad.

This is it men. For too long we have endured the BS from [NAME OF INNOCENT COUNTRY]. Today is the today we stop taking their BS. Instead of saying OK we shout FU! On this day the supposed peace between our two peoples will end and war will be declared.

DEE DEE DEE DEET DEE DEE DEET. THIS JUST IN!

From the highest seat of Brazilian power, the wife of our glorious leader...

IMAGE(http://i866.photobucket.com/albums/ab221/Strangeblades/AVATAR_1_zps87e44af9.png)
glorious leader

...suggests attacking Columbia as they have really bad things going on in there. She was told this was 1937 and her idea of bad things might have come from 1980s re-runs of Miami Vice. Regardless, her suggestion was rammed through the country's executive branch and signed into law. Columbia will face our wrath.

Oops.

That little message box you can barely read because Steam has this really sucky screen capture comes from the grayed out Declare War box. The pop-up states, "The difference between their neutrality and the highest threat against them is too high. This value is 89.65 while it needs to be lower than 25."

IMAGE(http://i866.photobucket.com/albums/ab221/Strangeblades/ar126145062267704_zpsf5c0bb49.jpg)

OK. Whatever. We'll just be passive-aggressive and not talk to them. Eventually, they'll get so mad that this value will drop below 25.

*a bunch of times units are used up, during which this happened*

1) Canada cancelled our energy trade agreement
2) All Canuck tourists have been rounded up and gagged to stop them from saying, "Sorry"
3) The Brits apply diplomatic pressure against Brazil
IMAGE(http://i866.photobucket.com/albums/ab221/Strangeblades/ggggg_zps0db763aa.jpg)
4) The Brits gave up applying diplomatic pressure

Then something wonderful happened.
IMAGE(http://i866.photobucket.com/albums/ab221/Strangeblades/yippee_zpsbae6aec5.jpg)

Colleagues, the day has come. Germany has extended its hand and we will take it. We will join the Axis! And we will get a new font!

IMAGE(http://i866.photobucket.com/albums/ab221/Strangeblades/hhhh_zpsc637b147.jpg)
Oo. Stylish

Also remember that speech from the beginning of this post? Just repeat it to yourself only this time insert Uruguay instead of Columbia.
IMAGE(http://i866.photobucket.com/albums/ab221/Strangeblades/dfgdfgdf_zps97ac3992.jpg)

I'm sending 30,000 troops from Santa Maria, across Sao Gabriel, through Coxilha and across the border into Minas de Corrales (Uruguay). The green provinces are mine and the purple ones are the enemy's.
IMAGE(http://i866.photobucket.com/albums/ab221/Strangeblades/2012-10-11_00011_zpsf9966dfb.jpg)

While my forces mobilize I make several replacements at the ministerial level. Foreign Minister Raoul Fernandes while being susceptible to the Axis (+10%) has overstayed his welcome and will be replaced by Miguel Costas, who is an Iron-Fisted Brute. Iron-Fisted Brute. That sounds yummy.

My former minister of security found face-down in a ditch somewhere, was one Marcondes Filho, a Crime Fighter. He will be sadly missed and quickly replaced with Riccardo Cassiano, who is an Efficient Sociopath.

With a shuffled cabinet in place the Brazilian leadership concentrated on the war effort against evil Uruguay.

*more time passes, here's something that happened*
1) The US gets all bloodied up by Japan.

BREAKING NEWS, BREAKING NEWS
The massive army, henceforth known as 5 Land Units led by four-star general Sao Raimundo Nonato, have pushed into Minas de Corrales with minor casualties. 5 Land Units then headed to Uruguay's provinces of Ansina, Sarandi del Yi, Treinta y Tres and the very mountainous Maldonado before coming to a stop. It appears Montevideo is the capital province as it has a butt-load of military. As I have no bombers I will go for a land assault first. Dang. I really wanted to carpet-bomb some highly populated civilian areas.
IMAGE(http://i866.photobucket.com/albums/ab221/Strangeblades/2012-10-11_00013_zps5f0889b9.jpg)

STOP DATE: March 14, 1937

Haha, nice work. More updates!

[size=18]Look At How I Get My Tenses Mixed Up - A Hearts of Iron 3 Tale Part 4[/size]

START DATE: March 15, 1937

PLACE: New Brazil (yes, I renamed the country after we swore allegiance to the 1,000 year Reich)

IMAGE(http://i866.photobucket.com/albums/ab221/Strangeblades/2012-10-13_00007_zpsda940894.jpg)
This is gonna last forever, I'm sure of it.

SITUATION: F-ing up Uruguay with 30,000 troops being led by a four-star general, Sao Raimundo Nonato.

REASON FOR F-ING WITH URUGUAY: Many, with the most important being they were the closest to one of my Brazilian military bases. The second is, eh, why not. The third is they were a small country area wise, so I figured they would be a push-over. So far, they are. I mean were. Are. Were? God-dangit.

I plowed through Uruguay's provinces one by one until I stood outside the country's seat of power. That would be the purple province to the left of that stack of green Chiclets.

IMAGE(http://i866.photobucket.com/albums/ab221/Strangeblades/2012-10-13_00001_zps2cbebb69.jpg)
Biff

Hm, my brutal assault into Uruguay might have riled up all of South America. Argentina put several thousand troops near my southern border. Ho, what's this? Paraguay is also annoyed and the game's Theatres tab tells me the Brazilian provinces bordering Paraguay are in jeopardy. From Paraguay? AHAHAHAHAHAHAH! *cough* Ahem. Back to business.

The 5 Land Units army has moved from their position in mountainous Maldonado and into Montevideo where the might of two nations collided in the world's least bloodiest battle. If you can't read the screen capture it says Brazil lost 39 of the 41,000 trooops who assaulted and Uruguay lost 472 brave men out of the 8,355 troops who defended the province.

IMAGE(http://i866.photobucket.com/albums/ab221/Strangeblades/2012-10-13_00004_zps95f380f7.jpg)
Really? Wow. Advances in battlefield medicine I guess.

It wasn't said anywhere but I'm sure there were civilians killed. I'd say 2,000 civilians were needlessly slaughtered in the crossfire, 'cause that's what happens in war right? Is there a game that tracks civilian casualties?

Spoiler:

NOTE: I've been told by my wife not to pronounce Montevideo as Monty-Video.

Uruguay struggled during the invasion of its home province and managed to take back land we rightly claimed but in the end Brazilian might won the day.

In an amazing feat my four-star general conducted a second battle that resulted only in one death. Cpl. Ronnie Reeliao was the only casualty and will be remembered as a national hero. The truth of how he died (bloody flux) will be swapped out for some cockamamie BS with Ronnie scaling a wall, taking enemy fire and blowing up an enemy tank.

Now that Uruguay is no more, my Brazilian government focuses on shoring up our forces and giving our courageous soldiers a much needed break.

IMAGE(http://i866.photobucket.com/albums/ab221/Strangeblades/2012-10-13_00006_zps2e39c709.jpg)
Don't worry, I'm sure that blood came from dissidents.

To this end I've assigned the Two Battleships, Two Light Cruisers fleet to patrol the southern-eastern coast of Brazil. I keep this small battle group away from the northern coasts of South America out of fear of the US navy which has been sinking my transports that run north of our continent. Jerks.

IMAGE(http://i866.photobucket.com/albums/ab221/Strangeblades/2012-10-13_00008_zps9e1f1b52.jpg)
Please don't sink us. We're small and easily frightened.

Here is the patrol route.

IMAGE(http://i866.photobucket.com/albums/ab221/Strangeblades/2012-10-13_00009_zps7dedc199.jpg)
The captain was confused by the doodle drawn on the map by his executive officer.

*some time goes by, paper gets shuffled*

Dang. My resources people tell me I'm running out of Rare Materials. I invest in more efficient production technology hoping to stretch out what we got. Annnnd France cancelled our trade agreement - again. Why do countries sign agreements then break them weeks later then sign up again? Anyhoo, back to my Rare Materials. Investing in better industry won't take effect until November 1937 and it's only July 4 so I'm gearing up to take Paraguay as it's small and has rare materials. This is a plan I've quickly abandoned for a grander, more stupider idea.

*a bunch of time passes and some lovely recurring dissidents are rounded up. I swear they are like groundhogs - they're everywhere*

It's now Jan. 2, 1938 and I've flipped a few dials to AI Control. This might have solved my Rare Materials problem as we are now in the green. I accidentally let my military fall under AI and they were running all over Brazil. I got them under control and stacked them up against Argentina's border.

IMAGE(http://i866.photobucket.com/albums/ab221/Strangeblades/2012-10-13_00012_zps95c7a7cc.jpg)
It's just like Starcraft 2. More is better.

Spoiler:

It's not like Starcraft 2 at all! *cries*

I'm preparing an assault against Buenos Aires in Argentina which has eight groups of military, a coastal fort and a ship yard. I will declare war and move my forces to the border of some province I forgot the name of and sack the two military groups there (that'd be step 1), before heading south to Buenos Aires. (that'd be step 2)

That unnamed province is toast which makes 2-0 against Argentina. With more than 100K troops just north of the capital I prepare to unleash hell. Just need to tick off the Declare War button. Whoops. I meant to say Declare Limited War. The normal method would mean speaking for Germany and getting them involved. So Limited War it is.

IMAGE(http://i866.photobucket.com/albums/ab221/Strangeblades/2012-10-13_00014_zps5e135b4d.jpg)
Oh sh*t.

Well, we lost the provinces we took AND the battle for Buenos Aires despite throwing 100K troops at their defenses. My stack of troops in Campana (I remembered the name!) is now surrounded on all sides. The plan is too quietly back up and maintain eye contact with Buenos Aires. Oh double sh*t.

IMAGE(http://i866.photobucket.com/albums/ab221/Strangeblades/2012-10-13_00016_zpsbe89b594.jpg)
"Lost: 1 army. If found call Brazil. Answers to the name of 100,000 Soldiers"

Our glorious leader who is not some guy in a moustache with glasses...

IMAGE(http://i866.photobucket.com/albums/ab221/Strangeblades/AVATAR_1_zps08231c53.jpg)
Not our glorious leader

...and who is definitely not that dictator scumbag who invaded Argentina.. and Uruguay.. was not seen posting 'Have you seen my army' posters all over the formerly southern Brazilian provinces.

IMAGE(http://i866.photobucket.com/albums/ab221/Strangeblades/2012-10-13_00017_zps7329cd04.jpg)
Man, Argentina sure is mad.

As you can see via a 1938 spy satellite Argentina was kinda of annoyed at us. Uh, things weren't looking good. To save face before the eyes of the world, I've rallied several infantry divisions and launched an assault against the inglorious invaders. That also did not go as planned. Inside of TOTAL VICTORY and MISSION ACCOMPLISHED my forces were thrown back time and again. Their final act of desperation was to climb abroad the troop transports we had at harbour and sail out a mile and park. The ships ran out of gas and several thousand troops are adrift in the warm south Atlantic.

And then this happened:

IMAGE(http://i866.photobucket.com/albums/ab221/Strangeblades/2012-10-13_00021_zps104e059a.jpg)
I have no idea how it came to this.

STOP: Sometime in 1938.

Ahahahaha! Um er, I mean, that's a real shame. Welcome to HoI3!

How did your army stack end up going down that quickly? Did they rise up and revolt after they realized their leader was a madman?

That was a fun ARR. You've got me itching to give this one another spin. Maybe I'll try pushing some chits around for once. I've played 4 or 5 games, and I always leave the military to the AI, only adjusting stances (aggressive, defensive or passive) and re-painting theatre lines.
Doesn't always work of course, like in my Italy game where my entire Africa corps put itself onto the isle of Crete, because apparently it was super important (it wasn't).

Gunner wrote:

Ahahahaha! Um er, I mean, that's a real shame. Welcome to HoI3!

How did your army stack end up going down that quickly? Did they rise up and revolt after they realized their leader was a madman?

Sure, I had 100,000 troops or so attacking Buenos Aires but they were cavalry and infantry. No armor. Who knows how sophisticated Argentina's forces were.

And of course Argentina had a coastal fort but I don't know if they has any effect on attacking ground forces.

And then I didn't secure the land I took by leaving forces behind. There was probably negative modifiers in being surrounded by the enemy. And then they cut me off from my lands which (probably) meant no supplies coming in.

It's true, your fun reading made me fire up HOI so I could continue my long-dormant game in which Czechoslovakia handles the Munich agreement differently and instead joins up with Germany. This allows me to completely reorganize my troops and push my way up into Poland's soft, defenseless underbelly.

Wait, why did the game end, I'm quite confused. The screenshot makes it look like the US joining the war was all that the Allies needed to win.

The US seems to have just joined the Allies, which just added victory points to the Allies. Not enough time elapsed in the game for the other victory conditions to fire.

I think you lose when your capital falls.

Also, that army got "pocketed" - it lost a battle and had nowhere to retreat to and so surrendered. Really need to keep a line open for retreat as well as for supplies to come in. I recommend a quick tour through the HOI3 wiki.

Nice writeup though, really good job.

Thanks. It was fun to do. I'm trying to decide what country to play next.

Sovs are actually pretty fun. Not much naval stuff to worry about, and the army is so large that you'll definitely last a while and have some good choices, especially in the NW.

Robear wrote:

Sovs are actually pretty fun. Not much naval stuff to worry about, and the army is so large that you'll definitely last a while and have some good choices, especially in the NW.

And the results are in... Soviets it is.

So I was inspired to start a new game of this, my first HoI game as the Soviets. I chose a 1936 start, and I was wondering if combat operations gave experience to the unitary even if there was no fighting involved. If I do Naval and air force patrolling will I be doing anything other than wasting fuel?

Yonder wrote:

So I was inspired to start a new game of this, my first HoI game as the Soviets. I chose a 1936 start, and I was wondering if combat operations gave experience to the unitary even if there was no fighting involved. If I do Naval and air force patrolling will I be doing anything other than wasting fuel?

Not waste fuel? Try picking on small countries that can't fight back. Perfect justification for allocating 100,000 litres of naval juice!