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  1. - Top - End - #1
    Bugbear in the Playground
     
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    Default cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass koala: Lets Play HOI 3, ICE mod Austraila

    that title box is only JUST long enough to fit that title......

    so, after some thoughs, and a quick check around, i decided to try Didays ICE mod for Hearts of Iron 3, and play as a old fave,

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    By xerxeskingofking at 2011-03-13



    Now, I've never played the ICE mod, nor done a LP before, so this should be Quite Intresting.

    assuming that at least some of my (hopfuly large) readership is not familliar with HOI terminology, a quick glossary:
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    IC: industrial Capacity. how much factory space you have to build everything form tanks to toy cars.

    neutraltiy: a mesure of the "Pacifism" of your nation. a high Neutrality means that you cannot do warlike things like introduce conscirption, move to a war economy, or declare war.

    Leadership: quite a complex one, but boils down to how many Bright young people you have, and how you want to spend them. leadership is spread between reshearch, espionage, diplomacy, and Officers.

    Unity: National morale, in a nutshell. how committed your people are to King and County. a low unity means your people will not support your war effort, and give in and surrender easily.

    Organisation: the "staying power" of your combat units. most battles are decided when one unit runs out of organisation and breaks. this basicly shows how long the unit can withstand the rigurs of combat before it come apart, and covers things like tactics, use of reserves, morale of the troops, etc. the number of Officers a unit has is very important for Org, and the Officer Ratio is the number of trained, competent officers you have relitive the number you "need" (you can a ratio of greater than 100%, which gives bonus org up to 140%)

    Morale: how quickly a unit regains Organisation. very important, as with a low morale score, your army will keep having to stop to re-gian org.

    Hard/Soft: how "mechanised" a unit is. the value for it in the stats is Softness expressed as a %, with lower being harder. Armoured units have a low Softness, and infantry have a high softness. softness affects what attacks affect a unit, with Hard units taking little or no damage form Soft attacks. a Division with a softness between 33 and 66% gets a combined arms bonus.

    Infarstructure: the amount of road and railways in a province, and their usefulness to a army on the move. this determines how fast you move and how easy it is to supply your armies over this terrian.


    Army structure: for those who don't know it:

    A brigade (Bde) is the smalled unit HOI deals with, and conists of about 3,000 men for a line infantry unit (support units have less). at the scale HOI deals with, a brigade is too small for indepenant action.

    up to 5 brigades can formed into a Division (Div), which is the smallest practical unit at HOI scales and the basic building block of your army. divs can get up to about 15,000 men in them, but most are smaller, about 9,000-10,000

    up to 5 divisions can be grouped together into a corps. while divs move as one unit, corps and higher levels don't, with the attached divs being ordered seperatly. this allows a corps to fight in several provinces, outflank, rotate divs on the line, etc. basically, a corps is a "sqaud" of divs, and the level i usually manage attacks at (eg "III corps will move south to outflank while V corps hold them in the center) most of my corps are between 30,000-50,000 men, but can be bigger.

    5 corps can combine into a Field Army, normally just called an Army (e.g. montys 8th army in north africa). this is as big as most minor nations need in terms of command, and an army will often have 100,000 men, with really large ones having nearer 200,000.

    above army is Army Group, again with room for 5 armies. only major powers have enough men fighting in a given area to need this level. the entire german forces invading russia amounted to just 3 army groups. i've had over a million men under an army group before.

    above all of these sit theatres, which are the highest level of command, can have unlimited subordinate units, and are used to co-ordinate the movements of units on a very large scale. most small nations only need one theatre level command. somewhere like the UK as a few, like "north africa", "india", "britian and northern europe".




    a quick rundown of starting position.

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    Army: maybe 15,000 men. mostly garrison birgades suitable for holding ground and not much else. I have a 2 Bde div of cavalry, and another 2 bde div of motorised infantry (thats regular troops with unarmoured lorries to transport them). thier are 3 theatre at the moment "sidney" (southern and eastern aussie, "Dawin"(a small area around siad town on norther aussie), and "Guadalcanal" (Papua New Guinea, the birtish solomans, and the titluar island. basically all the "overseas" part of my nation)

    Navy: 2 first world war era heavy cruisers (CA), 2 interwar Light cruisers (with 2 more building), and a old flotilla of Desroyesr (DD). all are behind the tech curve, but thiers not much i can do about that (once a ship is built, you can only upgrade minor compents like AA, anti sub systems, radar, etc. the guns, armour and engine are all fixed at the start of construction)

    Airforce: a single unit of Tactical bombers (a HOI aircraft unit is about 100 planes). Out of date as it stands, but unlike with the navy, i can upgrade these planes to a newer, up to date model.



    aand that enough typeing for one post.
    Last edited by Storm Bringer; 2011-03-13 at 03:05 PM.
    Then it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an` Tommy, 'ow's yer soul? "
    But it's " Thin red line of 'eroes " when the drums begin to roll
    The drums begin to roll, my boys, the drums begin to roll,
    O it's " Thin red line of 'eroes, " when the drums begin to roll.

    "Tommy", Rudyard Kipling

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    Default Re: cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass koala: Lets Play HOI 3, ICE mod Austr

    Could you explain the ice mod?
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    Default Re: cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass koala: Lets Play HOI 3, ICE mod Austr

    ok, first planning and decsion time:

    thoughts
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    Biggest threat to me: japan, without a shadow of a doubt. I'm too close to the UK for the allies to attack me, the Commies don't really field a fleet in the pacific, and the other axis powers don't have the reach to attack me.

    How they will attack me Amphibous landings, trying to take the VPs in the solomans, then maybe try and take mainland aussie itself.

    How much help I will get: really depends if the Japs push the US into the war. the rest of the allies are going to be too busy in europe to spare much for the pacific. New zealand will likey join the allies and the war, but i can't see them being any use (no navy, small army, pitiful IC to improve on that).

    in practical terms, i cannot Rely on any meaningful help form the US or any other ally in the defense of my lands, beyond the goods i can buy.


    What i am going to do.

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    I'm going to have to hold the solomans and papua, which means putting troops into the VP locations, keeping them supplied, and being able to reinforce them when they are attacked. form thier, i will try and take the offensive with my own landing attempts on the japanese pacfic islands, to deny them bases to attack me.



    to do this, i will need:


    garrisons for the VPs: going to try and put one div of 3 garrison+1Arty Bde on each VP.

    Enough convoys and escorts to keep them supplies. quite important. if i can't do this, then i may as well tell the troops out thier to shoot themselves, for all the good they can do. in the face of japanese convoy raiders, this is goona be hard.

    A QRF: Quick Reaction Force, this will ideally be Marines, backed up by the ICE mods fancy new Amphibious Armour. them being marines is partly so i can use them as the core of a later attack force to start driving the japs back.

    A Fleet to protect all the above: now, i don't have a cat in hells chance of stopping the Imperial Japanese Navy in a straight fight. they have, at this point, something like 12 Battleships, ~4 Carriers, ~12 Heavy crusiers, and at least as many CLs and DDs, not to mention sub flotillias, and thats before they start bulding any more with their much higher IC. the best i can hope for is a fleet that can protect my counterattacking troops long enough to get them ashore, and to chase away the worst of thier convoy raiders.



    Ok, now i have a grand total of....22 useable IC, most of which is currently tied up in the two new CLs i'm building
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    that first CL will finish very soon, so that's some IC freed up. I am not going to embark on any ambitous building programs just yet.

    in other areas, I have a touch over 10 leadership points. for the moment, they will be disributed as show here:
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    the very high espionage value is to quickly build up enough spies to both max out my internal network and build on in japan, with the aim being to drop my neutrality down and raise japans threat, thus pushing me into the allied camp. at that setting, i'm pumping out 0.45 spies every day, so i'll have enough to be getting on with within a month, two at most. then, i plan to drop espionage down to a trickle and concentrate on tech. this way, i get the Intel net i need quickly, and can then concentrate my leadership efforts on techs without haved to worry so much about having enough spies.

    techs to follow, next post, when i have thought about them
    Then it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an` Tommy, 'ow's yer soul? "
    But it's " Thin red line of 'eroes " when the drums begin to roll
    The drums begin to roll, my boys, the drums begin to roll,
    O it's " Thin red line of 'eroes, " when the drums begin to roll.

    "Tommy", Rudyard Kipling

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    Default Re: cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass koala: Lets Play HOI 3, ICE mod Austr

    Quote Originally Posted by psilontech View Post
    Could you explain the ice mod?
    to quote the mods FAQ

    DiDay's ICE is an extensive mod of HOI3 under development by DevilDread and many other members of this forum. ICE began as "DiDay's Unique Units" add-on mod. Over time more and more material was added into the mod and it became DiDay’s I.C.E. (Iron Cross Edition). ICE is perhaps the most widely used and respected mod for Hearts of Iron III. ICE has the main goal of adding three major things that many believed to be missing from Hearts of Iron III, realism, depth, and fun. DiDay's ICE strays away from the open ended "Sandbox" nature of HOI3 to provide a more realistic, and historically plausible game. To do this, DiDay’s ICE adds an incredible amount of content into HOI III, produced by members of the Paradox Community. This includes hundreds of events and decisions, new units, new techs, and much more! This content drastically changes the way the ICE is played compared to vanillia HOI3, and makes the player feel much more connected to his or her game.

    quoted form here
    Then it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an` Tommy, 'ow's yer soul? "
    But it's " Thin red line of 'eroes " when the drums begin to roll
    The drums begin to roll, my boys, the drums begin to roll,
    O it's " Thin red line of 'eroes, " when the drums begin to roll.

    "Tommy", Rudyard Kipling

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    Default Re: cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass koala: Lets Play HOI 3, ICE mod Austr

    starting techs

    first off, I'll start the three naval doctrine trees. I'm going to need them to upgrade the fleets effectivness.

    second, provincal AA guns, to defend the VPs agianst the superior japanse air force.

    third, radar and starting radio techs. as soon as i can get some radar coverage over teh VP's and the straights they command, the happier I'll be about not being suprised.

    after that, it's a toss off between basic infantry upgrades and naval upgrades. I'm not too sure what route to go for on the naval side, though, so for the moment, I'm loading the infantry techs into the queue (I havn't got the leadership to do all this at once, unlike japan or the US, which can pretty much resherach everything at once).

    industrial production and effciency techs: i need more IC, and this is a good way to get it, and get more out of my existing IC.

    plans for future advances:

    reshearch marines ASAP, along with motor infantry (so i can convert my cav to motor).

    decide on what sort of fleet i want, and start teching that up.

    get the airforce up to '36 levels (i.e. all "basic" aircraft techs reshearched. form thier, aquire Naval bombers and Multi role fighters, for deployment to the islands (Nav to hunt convoys Muli roles becuase i can't afford to have seperate interceptors and bombers at this point. multi roles are weaker at each thant the specailists, but can do both well enough for now.)


    ok, initail builds

    first, add a buttload of convoys, as i'm going to need to be able to absorb a LOT of sunk merchants when the IJN subs stary prowling.

    second, i going to need 5 divs of 3 garrison and 1 arty, to place one on each of the 5 VPs on the island chain, shown here:
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    however, doing that is going to cost me about half my initail Manpower, and i havn't got the ability to raise more quickly (at least unil i can improve my recruitment methods). I already have 4 divs of garrsions already, so i can ship them out to the VPs and just build the arty, plus one div form scratch.

    so build queue, at game start:
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    I need to keep at least 40 manpower in reserve, for when i mobilse, to fill out the understenght garrison forces. i;ve got about 40 manpower to play with for my QRF forces, when i get round to building. current gain rate is a measly 0.8 manpower a month. I am hoping to increase that by the time war comes, if only so i can absorb losses.
    Last edited by Storm Bringer; 2011-03-13 at 04:42 PM.
    Then it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an` Tommy, 'ow's yer soul? "
    But it's " Thin red line of 'eroes " when the drums begin to roll
    The drums begin to roll, my boys, the drums begin to roll,
    O it's " Thin red line of 'eroes, " when the drums begin to roll.

    "Tommy", Rudyard Kipling

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    Default Re: cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass koala: Lets Play HOI 3, ICE mod Austr

    Oh boy, no offense, but I'm predicting a Crash-and-Burn here. In all of my ICE games, Japan's steamrolled everyone. I mean, by 1940, all of China taken, serious advances into Burma, Singapore taken, ready to march into India, and also several successful landings in Australia and New Guinea.

    Then again, that game had mad Axis successes across the board.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Wyntonian View Post
    What. Is. This. Madness.

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    Default Re: cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass koala: Lets Play HOI 3, ICE mod Austr

    yhea, well, doomed i may be, but hopfully i can entertain a few people as i go down.

    anyway started the game rolling. status update, mid feb 1936:

    -I have enough spies to be getting on with. can now switch most of my IC to tech,, as shown here
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    -gonna experiment a little with the new techs ICE adds. I will try out the torp Boats and MTBs as a method of getting some sort of naval presence in each northern port, so i;ve added them to the queue.

    -of the naval options, I have decided to go with a cruiser based fleet, for two reasons: cruisers share practicals, so building lights helps me build heavys, and i already have a boost to it form those two CLs I'm building. Second, i already have a cruiser based fleet, and so teching up cruisers helps me thier.
    Then it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an` Tommy, 'ow's yer soul? "
    But it's " Thin red line of 'eroes " when the drums begin to roll
    The drums begin to roll, my boys, the drums begin to roll,
    O it's " Thin red line of 'eroes, " when the drums begin to roll.

    "Tommy", Rudyard Kipling

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    Default Re: cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass koala: Lets Play HOI 3, ICE mod Austr

    I'm going to preface this with the disclaimer that I've never played a HOI game, much less three with a mod.

    The Japanese, as far as I know, had the fewest and worst tanks in WWII.

    Build and research tanks. Buy tanks from America.
    TANK THEM TO DEATH!!!

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    Default Re: cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass koala: Lets Play HOI 3, ICE mod Austr

    Update, july 1936

    the repbulicans appear to be winning the spanish Civil war. Most times i have seen the nationalists win. all this means is that Spain will joint he allies and be promtly crushed by german panzers, rather than joining as an ally.
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    I now have two divs out in position, covering Port Mosely and Guadalcanal, the two 2 point VPs. I've also order the contruction of AA cover on all the island VPs. I'm going to need the flak when the zeros come knocking.



    The Japanese, as far as I know, had the fewest and worst tanks in WWII.
    true, but the only tanks i can built at the moment are 1918 level tanks.

    plus, armour fighting the jungles and mountains that dominate the planned battlefields will be at a serious handicap. the reason the japs had crap armour is they spent a lot of time fighting in crap tank country, so thier poor armour was not a problem.

    now, amphibious armour. that would be an amazingly usful assest i could really use, if only anybody had any.

    also, armour is very IC intensive. I just don't think i could afford to build a useable amount of armor AND anything else at teh same time.

    Update: august, 1956.

    I've decided to experiment with some of the lighter new units in ICE, by building MTB (motot torpeado boats. speedboats with torps attached) flotillais. thier super cheap, so i can afford to churn out a dozen of them and have place them thoughout my islands.



    update: New year, 1937:

    the nationalists have rallied and are slowly grinding the republicans into dust. it is only a matter of time before they crumble and spain is unified again. The republicans have done much better than i have previously seen, though. Not once has the war dragged on into the new year like this.

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    Closer to home, 4 of the 5 garrisons are now in situ, with a small amount of AA cover over most of the VPs.
    Last edited by Storm Bringer; 2011-03-14 at 02:15 PM.
    Then it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an` Tommy, 'ow's yer soul? "
    But it's " Thin red line of 'eroes " when the drums begin to roll
    The drums begin to roll, my boys, the drums begin to roll,
    O it's " Thin red line of 'eroes, " when the drums begin to roll.

    "Tommy", Rudyard Kipling

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    Default Re: cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass koala: Lets Play HOI 3, ICE mod Austr

    Nationalist Spain almost always wins handily, it is strange to see the war go on this long.

    MTB's die like flies. Massed MTB's should be able to take out some convoys and maybe some destroyers and transports too, but not much else.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Wyntonian View Post
    What. Is. This. Madness.

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    Default Re: cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass koala: Lets Play HOI 3, ICE mod Austr

    Update 1st May 1937

    the republicans are Still holding on, and even managed a limited counteroffense that;s retaken a few provinces near the north. a amphious landing took the ports of Santander and Bilbao on the north coast back, but that has since been crushed,
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    Uploaded with ImageShack.us. thier been a bit of a **** up with the image when i made the JPEG, but it stil works, so meh.


    edit: 15th may, 1937
    the A nationalist push along the east bank of the Erbo river got to within a single province of the sea, and to the forts around barcelona, before being pushed back slightly. the republicans have made a few single porvince advances all along the front. somethings taken the bite out of the nationlist advance.
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    japan has yet to start the china war, and i've got the final garrison into position. Am reshearching the Marines i need for a QRF, and some light infantry, cos i hope they can move over 10% infrastucture (agian, a new unit i'm eperimenting with.


    edit 2: 25th june, 1937

    the republican rally was short lived, and they have their backs right up agianst the wall now. heavy fighting is occuring near Valencia, the republican captial. whatever was holding back the nationalists is now over, and thier final, overdue victory is likey to be soon.

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    in other news, work has now begun on my QRF marine division, though it's a beast of a project that's sucked up my entire spare IC.


    27th july 1937: nationlists reach the coast just north of Valencia, cutting the thin remains of republican spain in two. a Rebuplican unit in the south is cut off and surrounded.

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    Last edited by Storm Bringer; 2011-03-14 at 03:39 PM.
    Then it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an` Tommy, 'ow's yer soul? "
    But it's " Thin red line of 'eroes " when the drums begin to roll
    The drums begin to roll, my boys, the drums begin to roll,
    O it's " Thin red line of 'eroes, " when the drums begin to roll.

    "Tommy", Rudyard Kipling

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    Default Re: cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass koala: Lets Play HOI 3, ICE mod Austr

    update: 11th august, 1937

    japan finally invades china

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    within hours of the start of teh war, the japanese make to landings, one near the old german naval colony of Qingdao, and one near Shanghai, opposite thier treaty port their.
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    within two weeks, they have Shangahi surrounded and cut off, while seizing a large swathe of undefended countryside form the clearly blindsided Chinese

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    By xerxeskingofking at 2011-03-14
    .


    lessons to draw form this: so far

    the japs landed at undefended ports and advanced overland to thier objectives. this means i'm going to have to build more garrsions to hold more ports two at least, maybe 4 if the japs can move over 10% infra land.
    Last edited by Storm Bringer; 2011-03-14 at 04:35 PM.
    Then it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an` Tommy, 'ow's yer soul? "
    But it's " Thin red line of 'eroes " when the drums begin to roll
    The drums begin to roll, my boys, the drums begin to roll,
    O it's " Thin red line of 'eroes, " when the drums begin to roll.

    "Tommy", Rudyard Kipling

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    Default Re: cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass koala: Lets Play HOI 3, ICE mod Austr

    Not much to say, except that I'll be following this LP closely. And that I never heard of this game, but love it already.

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    Default Re: cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass koala: Lets Play HOI 3, ICE mod Austr

    Ditto, following as well. May get the game because of this, because it sounds mighty interesting.

    Please, do excuse me for correcting an errata, but I feel the irk to point out that the spanish river mentioned that you typed as Erbo (obviously a matter of fast typing) is Ebro.

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    Default Re: cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass koala: Lets Play HOI 3, ICE mod Austr

    I haven't played the game, but I'm curious: have you considered, you know, allying with Japan? Seems to me like it would solve your main problem.
    "I had thought - I had been told - that a 'funny' thing is a thing of goodness. It isn't. Not ever is it funny to the person it happens to. Like that sheriff without his pants. The goodness is in the laughing. I grok it is a bravery... and a sharing... against pain and sorrow and defeat."

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    Default Re: cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass koala: Lets Play HOI 3, ICE mod Austr

    Quote Originally Posted by Premier View Post
    I haven't played the game, but I'm curious: have you considered, you know, allying with Japan? Seems to me like it would solve your main problem.
    Neutrality probably too low to make alliances.


    Never seen Japan fight the war that way. For me, they always fight a land war from Manchuria south, always with a landing around Hong Kong, sometimes working, sometimes not. Never those multiple landings like that.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Wyntonian View Post
    What. Is. This. Madness.

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    Default Re: cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass koala: Lets Play HOI 3, ICE mod Austr

    Quote Originally Posted by Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll View Post
    Neutrality probably too low to make alliances.


    Never seen Japan fight the war that way. For me, they always fight a land war from Manchuria south, always with a landing around Hong Kong, sometimes working, sometimes not. Never those multiple landings like that.
    they have recently (~8 weeks) patched the vanillia games AI, and it's got a lot more agressive and willing to make amphiboius landings than previously. maybe that's why the japs are suddely much more marine based.

    I haven't played the game, but I'm curious: have you considered, you know, allying with Japan? Seems to me like it would solve your main problem.
    could hace tried form the start, but it would be very, very hard to get into the axis before the japs decide to try and kill me. My Neutrality is to high, the germans don't like me (and in this game, you need the germans to like to to join the axis).

    I've never done it without cheating, to be frank.
    Then it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an` Tommy, 'ow's yer soul? "
    But it's " Thin red line of 'eroes " when the drums begin to roll
    The drums begin to roll, my boys, the drums begin to roll,
    O it's " Thin red line of 'eroes, " when the drums begin to roll.

    "Tommy", Rudyard Kipling

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    Firbolg in the Playground
     
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    Quote Originally Posted by Storm Bringer View Post
    they have recently (~8 weeks) patched the vanillia games AI, and it's got a lot more agressive and willing to make amphiboius landings than previously. maybe that's why the japs are suddely much more marine based.
    That woulda been it.


    As for alliances, you would also get an event when Britain declared war about the commonwealth. There's a vote, I think, on whether the Commonewealth would fight with Britain or not, and 99% of the time the answer is yes.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Wyntonian View Post
    What. Is. This. Madness.

  19. - Top - End - #19
    Ogre in the Playground
     
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    Default Re: cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass koala: Lets Play HOI 3, ICE mod Austr

    Just curious, what's the situation at the start in Spain like? Does it have the Spanish Civil War about to erupt or anything?

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    Bugbear in the Playground
     
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    Default Re: cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass koala: Lets Play HOI 3, ICE mod Austr

    the civil war starts a few months into the game, and previously, it normally over with a nationalist victory well before christmas 1936. I have never seen it take this long to resolve.

    anyway

    Update, september 1937:

    nationlist china has annexed Xibei San Ma, one of the 3 warlord states on its boarders. clearly the threat of the japs is forcing them unite or die (most likey both)

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    By xerxeskingofking at 2011-03-15

    the annxed lands run form the small, red communist china (yes, Chairman Maos communist china) westwards, north of Yunnan (which, together with the gray blue Guangxi Clique to the soutj and nationalist china, form the extent of the old Qing empire).
    Last edited by Storm Bringer; 2011-03-15 at 03:22 PM.
    Then it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an` Tommy, 'ow's yer soul? "
    But it's " Thin red line of 'eroes " when the drums begin to roll
    The drums begin to roll, my boys, the drums begin to roll,
    O it's " Thin red line of 'eroes, " when the drums begin to roll.

    "Tommy", Rudyard Kipling

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    Default Re: cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass koala: Lets Play HOI 3, ICE mod Austr

    Following this closely. I think you should try and make an alliance with someone, at least. Never been goood at strategy games, but they're still lots of fun.
    Last edited by Lord Loss; 2011-03-15 at 03:25 PM.
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    Also, if anyone has any sort of problem at all that they feel like talking about, my PM box is open.

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    Default Re: cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass koala: Lets Play HOI 3, ICE mod Austr

    that would indeed be a wise straegy, and one i have been persuing, mianly by courting Mother England and the Allies. however, my dammed Neutrality is stopping me form going ahead an actually joining, and will do so for some time.

    september 10th, 1937

    the japs have linked thier two landings into a single front. the Chinese capital of Nanjing is under siege, and the forts to the south of its have beien taken.
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    the little "XX" symbols are land forts, and the bulleye thing indicates a nations captial.

    for those not in the know, ther was no single "china" at this stage in history, the old Qing empire colllapsed in 1912, and the squabbles didn't end until 1949, when historically, the communists won and the nationlists feld to Taiwan, which for most of the 20th century insisted on being called the Republic of China.

    september 19th 1937:
    the forts around Nanjing have fallen, only a thin supply like along the west bank of the Yangtze is letting supplies in (or out, more to the point. the central supply dumps are always in the captial. loseing them cripples your army until the game can rebuild the network.)



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    Last edited by Storm Bringer; 2011-03-15 at 04:03 PM.
    Then it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an` Tommy, 'ow's yer soul? "
    But it's " Thin red line of 'eroes " when the drums begin to roll
    The drums begin to roll, my boys, the drums begin to roll,
    O it's " Thin red line of 'eroes, " when the drums begin to roll.

    "Tommy", Rudyard Kipling

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    Default Re: cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass koala: Lets Play HOI 3, ICE mod Austr

    October, 1937:
    the remaining chinese warlords unite behind Chiang Kai-shek, and allow themselves to be annexed. apart form The small pocket of communist china, All Under Heaven once agian answers to one man.

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    the japanese amphibious forces have almost linked up with the overland force coming in form manchuria, just north of the Yellow River. a thin line of chinese troops are holding them apart, but not for long.
    Last edited by Storm Bringer; 2011-03-15 at 04:19 PM.
    Then it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an` Tommy, 'ow's yer soul? "
    But it's " Thin red line of 'eroes " when the drums begin to roll
    The drums begin to roll, my boys, the drums begin to roll,
    O it's " Thin red line of 'eroes, " when the drums begin to roll.

    "Tommy", Rudyard Kipling

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    Default Re: cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass koala: Lets Play HOI 3, ICE mod Austr

    5th october, 1937:

    the overland push has linked up with the landing forces.
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    and, within 72 hours of the annexation, the japanese have made another wave of landings, this time time around Hong Kong.
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    it gets worse. that port a province east of Hong Kong? wasn't thier 3 days ago. they are using Mulberry harbours (Building a prefab, lvl 1 port before the invasion, then landing on a undefended shore province and plonking the ready made port down. a level 1 port as a low supply thoughput, but still, thats a very smart tactic. no way is the AI able to think of that on it's own. somebody coded the AI to do that.).

    edit: closer inspection reveals that the provinces in question were annexed by japan, not occupied as in a invasion. it must be part of the event that triggers the unification. checking my "wideshot" of the unifed china, i can see them thier too, so it must be part of that.

    phew/ thats Significantly less worrying than the AI being able to Mulberry, or having the skill to keep reserves sat about waiting for another landing.


    in other news, Generalíssimo Francisco Franco has still not beat the republicans!
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    [/spoiler]
    Last edited by Storm Bringer; 2011-03-15 at 04:40 PM.
    Then it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an` Tommy, 'ow's yer soul? "
    But it's " Thin red line of 'eroes " when the drums begin to roll
    The drums begin to roll, my boys, the drums begin to roll,
    O it's " Thin red line of 'eroes, " when the drums begin to roll.

    "Tommy", Rudyard Kipling

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    Ogre in the Playground
     
    Flumph

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    Default Re: cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass koala: Lets Play HOI 3, ICE mod Austr

    Is the red zone the Republican controlled land? Is it possible for the Republicans to actually win that one?

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    Eldritch Horror in the Playground Moderator
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    Default Re: cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass koala: Lets Play HOI 3, ICE mod Austr

    Can we get some pictures/info on your progress?

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    Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll's Avatar

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    Default Re: cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass koala: Lets Play HOI 3, ICE mod Austr

    I started a Japan game, am currently a few months past you. Republicans hold only Barcelona, but the borders have been pretty stable for almost 2 months.

    As for me, just took Nanjing, but have been having supply troubles. My landings at Hainan Dao almost reached the 3 big cities in the Guangxi Clique, but my supply lines failed, and I'm retreating back to that neck of land connecting to the island, Hainan Dao, to try and re-supply. I was actually just bombarding Guangzhao, the big port city near Macao and Hong Kong, when I ran out and had to retreat. My landing at Shanghai was sweet though, and my Manchurian forces are doing ok.

    I just need to get more supplies. I'm currently hovering at about 600 supplies, not nearly enough...

    This mod has a lot of historical events. For example, if you're Japan, you basically have no choice than to declare war. If you take this decision to press China over the Marco Polo Bridge incident, you're stuck declaring war later. Those landings are also scripted, though the success there varies.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Wyntonian View Post
    What. Is. This. Madness.

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    Default Re: cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass koala: Lets Play HOI 3, ICE mod Austr

    home front, octover 1937:

    i have 5 garrison divs out in the solomans, at (running bottom left to right in a arc) Port Moresby, Lae, Rabaul, lonahan, and Guadalcanal. these are each 3 Bdes of Garrison troops, plus a Brigade of heavy Arty to stiffen the defense. thier current strength is 21,000 men, but when mobilized that will climb to 50,000.

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    technically, I would only need a corps level command to control these 5 divs, but the distances invloved make a poor choice (corps can only control divs up to 200km away. the div can move more than 200 km form the corps HQ, but it loses the benefits of being in a proper chain of command). so, the divs are attached directly to the theatre HQ, as are my 2 flotillas of destroyers.


    these 5 points are defended becuase they are the VPs. however, i have in the queue to be built 2 more garrison divs, to hold two extra ports and prevent a overland attack on port moresby



    Also in the build queue (in front of the two garrison divs, in fact) is the Marine Div that will form the backbone of my reaction force. however, it;s such a beast it;s taking up all my IC to build, so i can't really make anything else until i have finished it. however, it is important enough that i think it's work the effort.
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    December, 1937

    the japanese now control all of the chinese coast east of Hong Kong, and are driving deep into the chinese lands al along the front.

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    Christmas Day, 1937:

    the spanish civil war drags on, with Francos nationalists unable to take the last thin sliver of republican lands, dispite over 18 months of bitter fighting. I have never, ever seen the fight last this long. I'm putting it down to the changes made by ICE.

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    Last edited by Storm Bringer; 2011-03-17 at 02:00 PM.
    Then it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an` Tommy, 'ow's yer soul? "
    But it's " Thin red line of 'eroes " when the drums begin to roll
    The drums begin to roll, my boys, the drums begin to roll,
    O it's " Thin red line of 'eroes, " when the drums begin to roll.

    "Tommy", Rudyard Kipling

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    Default Re: cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass koala: Lets Play HOI 3, ICE mod Austr

    update, march, 1938.

    the marines are due on the 22nd, which will free up My IC agian.

    the chinese are holding a long salient streching back form nanking down the Yangtze river, with the japs enroaching slowly. they have made some gains to the south, but lost ground in the north
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    Then it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an` Tommy, 'ow's yer soul? "
    But it's " Thin red line of 'eroes " when the drums begin to roll
    The drums begin to roll, my boys, the drums begin to roll,
    O it's " Thin red line of 'eroes, " when the drums begin to roll.

    "Tommy", Rudyard Kipling

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    Default Re: cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass koala: Lets Play HOI 3, ICE mod Austr

    My Republicans are literally holed up in 2 port towns. They literally hold ONLY the Barcelona and Almeria. That's all they own. only provinces. They had a third port town, near Almeria, but that fell recently. And due to the Japanese Supply Bug, I can't continue that game.

    If you play as Japan, then the convoy AI sends literally all your supplies to the small islands, without regard to how much supplies the dudes there actually NEED. It means I ran out of supplies multiple times in my invasion of China, and now I successfully conquered China, and I try to move half my army getting ready for fighting against the Allies in the Pacific, my supplies just die. My entire army halts because I have no more supplies. I have TONS of fuel, but no supplies. How a-historic, should be the other way around.

    Apparently this is a Semper Fi issue, and the modders have been trying to fix it but can't yet...

    But that Republic is surprisingly strong. They still hold that whole coast...
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    Quote Originally Posted by Wyntonian View Post
    What. Is. This. Madness.

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