I *do* hearts of iron 3 by Paradox.
Been havin a bit of fun runnin Germany, focusing on just a few tech choices and just rippin the guts out of the allies.
It is tuff to maintain a steady march fairly quickly.. if you get stalled the allies will hammer you.
Pre-War Goals:
the Bismark and 2 fleet carriers in service,
6 interceptor wings, 3 squadrons ea,
all the reserve army units re-organized into 4 brigade divisions,
75 motorised infantry divisions, 3 brigades each
(50 or so are on the ground when I go after Poland)
..when I go into Poland in May of '39
Tech focuses on motorized infantry, interceptors, and CV developement initially.
3 Armies of 4 Korps each, 5 divisions per Korps take on Poland and then sweep north
(no thanks Stalin, you can keep yer 'pact' dood)
.. a few small amphibious ops take Finland, Sweden, and then Norway out of the war
while Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia fall.
meanwhile, on the Western Front, Denmark falls followed by the Netherlands.
Manstein's First Army is sent across the channel, he is only 3 Korps deep but they are some of my best generals commanding.
An epic battle off Lowestoft usually results in the Bismarck getting chewed badly or sunk,
..but 15 divisions are ashore and London falls by November 1939, the same time period that Brussels succumbs.
A month later Paris falls to start the new year.
1940 Vichy France falls, followed by Switzerland then it's off into Spain and to Gibraltar and Portugal.
Meanwhile in the East Hungary falls (Italy and Japan are my only allies, no others need apply -evil grin)
..followed by Romania, Yugoslavia, and Bulgaria
..then an army sweeps thru Turkey setting up for the Great African Adventure.
1940 I am adding another 100 divisions of motorized infantry,
they are fast and lethal as I have built supply production, transport, and reduced losses along with building oil refining techs.
1941 is the year I tackle the Bear.
Jumpoff is in May, I own the Archangel-Leningrad-Moscow-Stalingrad-Astrakhan line by the onset of winter.
Now I switch production priorities ..I have enough boots on the ground to grind the Bear hard.
I need Navy goodness for 1943-44 fun in South America.
Goal is to have 8 fleet CV's with 8 fast Battleships in 3 operating fleets..
..one a transport focus, the other two Jaegerflotte ..just plain evil.
Raeder and Donitz have a field day in the Med and Atlantic, there is usually an epic battle off the Canal ..
.. the Panama Canal (!!) ..I usually sink a big chunk of the allied atlantic force and chew up a bunch more.
Landings in South American follow along the coast up into Mexico almost undefended.
It is 1944 when I link up with Japan across the Urals in Russia, and the Bear is gone.
Ya .. it's a fun game altho when I play the allies, almost any of them ..it's fairly easy to stop Germany early on.
I react a bit faster than history and stop the Werhmacht at the French-Belgium border and hold them until I can hammer them.
I have yet to try Japan.
-GE aka Frank
