Strategic plan for 1936:
- Boost industry in order to get the third research slot at 40 base IC.
- Balance resources to support that level of production (if possible)
- Start building fortifications on the western front
The first year goes as planned, although I'm having trouble feeding my factories. The third research slot will certainly come in handy, though. I've split out my cavalry into it's own task force. I'm not upgrading any forces.
Research during '36 have been aiming to improving my industrial efficiency and I'm trying to get Advanced Construction to speed up land fortifications.
Initial setup:
In february '37, I've the resources pretty well balanced. I'm trading away supplies for what I need. I don't know why I can get such a good deal on supplies, but hey, if it works I'll use it.
In July '37, I get a nasty surprise. I finish my Advanced construction techniques, but aaAAargh!! They're not applicable to the forts already under construction! That means I've wasted... more IC than I care to count. If I start a new fort NOW, it'll be finished before the ones already under construction for five months will be done. That. Sucks. So. Bad.
November 37, and I'm admitted into the Allies. Hopefully, they'll throw some bones my way, but I'm not holding my breath. I've completed 10 of my 16 AA sites (2 runs of 8 AA each) and as soon as I've got '39 infantry researched, I'm going to start producing them for all I'm worth.
February 1938. My initial battle plan will be to have three strongpoints to the west to slow the Germans down, attack Elbing and then Königsberg to clear that threat quickly.
26 March 1938. Germany annexes Austria.
August 1938. I've started production of my main force, 12 divisions of 1939 infantry. Two runs of 6 divisions each, to be completed in August 1939.
15 March 1939. Slovakia allies with Germany. The AI obviously wants to flank my fortifications to the south, and this will give it the means to do so. Not good. Not good at all. I'm not sure if I'll be able to put some fortifications there in time. On the flip side, two of the three strongpoints are completed within the month.
21 August 1939. Except for two forts, all the preparations for war are complete. Or at least done as much as I have time to do. Less those months wasted building forts before I got Advanced Construction. That IC just might make the difference.
30 August 1939. Danzig or War. War it is:
Bydgoszcz falls immediately, with Cracow a day later. My counterattack into Bydgoszcz seem to be going well, however, with both the adjacent strongpoints supporting the attack. Retaking Cracow, which will shortly be home to 30 german and slovakian divisions, could prove troublesome.
3 September 1939. Disaster strikes. Manstein with 17 divisions force themselves into Bydgoszcz, and then north to the cut off Danzig, annihilating the five divisions there. This is looking grim. Southern front is breaking up as well. The central strongpoint (which turns out to be a misnomer, since the germans are running over them like minor speedbumps) will soon have to be abandoned.
5 September 1939. My beauuutiful defense failed to survive contact with reality, and I'm falling back on all fronts. Hopefully I'll be able to regroup behind the Vistula.
12 September 1939. A week later, Elbing has changed hands five times. von Manstein will attack across the Vistula with 15 divisions and win; then my counterattack will push him back again. Unfortunately, he is not the one being flanked. I'm abandoning the thought of holding on to Przemysl; I don't have enough troops to hold the entire line.
15 September. My troops are now too disorganized to retake Elbing, and instead I order them to fall back towards Warsaw. Nine divisions of fresh '39 infantry covers their retreat.
20 September. The Polish army is now all scrunched up around Warzaw. The end may be near, and the weather still favors the attackers with clear skies and dry ground.
3 October. Lublin falls. We will make our last stand in Warsaw.
17 October. We're all surrounded now. It's a toss up what will kill us first; starvation or the germans. Still, the weather is clear and the ground is dry.
24 December. Happy christmas from Free Radio Warsaw! We're still here, and although it might be because Hitler can't find his own arse with both hands, we're not complaining. All 54 divisions have dug in deeply, and two of them have been equipped with the new 75mm AT-guns. The storerooms are full of supplies, and we should be able to hold out for months, if the germans will let us.
3 March, 1940. The germans just declared war on the Danes. They're still just sitting in a ring around Warsaw, doing nothing. In a few weeks, the new production methods of the COP design team will allow us to produce as much supplies as we consume, effectively giving us enough supplies to last us the war out.
3 May 1940. And now the Belgians got the wehrmacht on them, too. If they keep this up, I might be able to break out in a few months.
25 June 1940. The supply line design is finally complete. Not only can I now produce all needed supplies without going to the stores, but I even have half an IC over. Woo! Also in the news, the french have advanced as far north as Hannover. It seems the wehrmacht has bitten off more than it can chew!
30 February 1941. The russkis just declared war on the germans! Who'd a believed it, that the Red Menace would voluonteer to be our liberators? Or perhaps they'll declare war on us right before they reach Warsaw...
February 1942. A year later, the polish army execute a daring winter offensive, and manage to drive south to the hungarian border. Unfortunately, the northern drive, meant to cut the german forces in half, fails. The russkis will have to fight a supplied enemy for a while yet.
June 1942. Come summer, it's time for another breakout try. After some skillful maneuvering by the polish cavalry (and russian help) we've managed to isolate two german divisions in Lwow. Time to kill some fascists!
The attack is successful, and now the entire southeast of poland is free again! But for how long? No time to ponder, time to use this advantage while it lasts! Mercilessly driving his horses, the polish general drives towards slovakia, and one month later, takes their capital! Sloviakia is ours!
Why stop at Slovakia? Gripped with megalomania, the Polish high command decides to try for a gamble. With the wehrmacht engaged on both west, east and middle fronts, have they left anyone to guard Berlin?
The world is stunned! As pictures of the polish cavalry looting the Reichstag reaches the world, the polish high command breaks out the champagne! Even if those brave troops should fail to make it back, taking all of Germanys resource stockpiles have struck a gigantic, perhaps fatal, blow to the fascist war machine. Without energy, steel and rare materials, their factories will now run idle!
August 24, 1942. Idle factories or not, it's time to get the hell outta dodge. While general Sosnkowski and his horses were sitting in Berlin, the rest of the polish army took opportunity to strike wherever the wehrmacht wasn't, and where it was weak. The germans east front is cut off... for now.
During the following two months, the germans and polish armies maneuver to cut each other off, but with no replacements forthcoming and the allies pressing hard from the west, the wehrmacht has a hard time even against the ill-equipped polish troops. Late october Field Marshal Himmler with seventeen divisions surrender themselves in Wilno, freeing the entire east Poland. Berlin is retaken, and one of the few remaining panzer divisions active in Poland is about to be cut off.
The wehrmacht is now broken. The war turns into a race between France and Poland to see which gets the biggest pieces of the fallen Reich.
Christmas Eve 1942. Poland formally annexes germany.
This ends this AAR. I'll let the game run to it's end, but I expect the action to be over now.
