Want to get into the Paradox games [Archive]

Rilder

08-27-12, 11:15 PM

It really depends on your playstyle, everybody has a Paradox game that "Clicks" with them while others they may not get on with, probably one of the better features of Paradox games, they all compliment each other and each has a different time period and playstyle to go with it.

CK2 is nice if you want to play a character more then a country and interested in Feudal Politics and dealing with family members and both internal and external politics.

Eu3 puts you in control of a country as the world starts to move away from Feudalism, the formation of Empires, colonization, centralization, etc. Not really my favorite as its quite hard to start from nothing, unlike Ck2.

Victoria 2 is about industrialization, economics, politics, new ideologies and new types of warfare, (Including trench warfare) Building factories and what not.

Hearts of Iron 3 is armed forces management, little politics, little economy, just very detailed management of armed forces on a grand scale, Where to send your tanks, what units to build, what brigades to form your divisions out of. Its kinda overwhelming for me since not only do you have to manage an entire army of units but you have to manage their headquarters, and try to keep units in a certain group together and it just gets annoying. (Although the situations that can develop can be entertaining as hell, like the biggest front in the war being a vicious back and forth over India which is eventually stopped by Germany invading America. :O:)

Narko

08-28-12, 01:00 AM

Darkest Hour: A Hearts of Iron Game
Less micromanagement, better optimization than HoI 3 (less demanding on system).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darkest_Hour:_A_Hearts_of_Iron_Game

CCIP

08-28-12, 01:18 AM

Darkest Hour: A Hearts of Iron Game
Less micromanagement, better optimization than HoI 3 (less demanding on system).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darkest_Hour:_A_Hearts_of_Iron_Game

That's a very good suggestion actually, especially given its price! It's sort of like "what HoI 2 should've been from the start". I think it is an excellent entry point into Paradox games.

HunterICX

08-28-12, 04:53 AM

I really should get Darkest Hour one of these days :hmmm:

---

But as far as Paradox goes you can't go wrong with titles like Victoria 2 (including the expansion A House Divided which adds a lot of features to the main game and balances things out)

CKII is just well I can just echo what's been said about it already here and in the CKII thread we have around that the game is just too much fun have it pass by. Great about it you can start as a greedy king who wants MOAR!! or as a meaningless Count on his way to greatness or when you think you have a chance to get the crown just to fail miserably and tossed into the dungeon by that brat of a king that you've hated from the day he was born.

HunterICX

Hottentot

08-28-12, 05:17 AM

CK 2 is not exactly a great strategy game though, traditionally speaking. If your main goal in the game is to conquer as much territory as possible, then there are better titles for that with deeper strategic possibilities, resources and so on. Despite of the recent additions to the combat system, the war side of the game still leaves a lot to be desired for. The most common and fool proof strategy still is the good old "get a huge mob, beat the enemy's huge mob with it and then go win the war."

Also, as far as strategy goes, Crusader Kings is highly random. There are frequently whole threads (http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?628516-Characters-dying-as-soon-as-a-battle-starts.....-srsly.....&) on the official forums about "the game screwing the player over" because someone's carefully planned strategy was ruined by a simple random event. And contrary to what people claim, the AI is actually pretty smart. If it sees it's going to lose its kingdom to you through bad inheritance, you can be sure it does everything it can to prevent it. And often succeeds too, if you are not careful enough.

I'd say the game is wonderful, but its charm comes from something completely different than what it looks like on the first glance. I take it more as an RPG and a political game than an old fashioned grand strategy. Whenever I start playing it like a latter, it becomes stupidly dull.

Safe-Keeper

08-28-12, 10:34 AM

Thanks for all the feedback, I'm 99% new to the Paradox games and this helped me tremendously :) .

I'm still most likely getting V2 first, and then probably HOI3 or Darkest Hour. Downloaded the HOI3 demo and was amazed at how easy it was to get into compared to V2 (where I was truly 100% lost in the beginning before I played through the tutorials :P ). I don't know how I'll do managing huge armies, but I suppose I could always play one of the smaller countries (Norway of course being high on the list ;) ).

soopaman2

08-28-12, 11:17 AM

Paradox games are awesome.

For a somewhat easy one, get Europa Universalis 3. If you want it harder, and I mean way harder, then download the Magna Mudi mod, made by a not so nice fella named Ubik. Nice guy, but he is mean to you with his game! (framed event)

Crusader Kings 2 if you want a step up. I did some greasy, wormy stuff to become Holy Roman emporer, As well as King of France, England, and Poland. (with an active claim on the Kingdom of Sicily) Its really epic. Dealing with your dukes, and counts becomes an issue, as many of them resent everything you do. Killing them is easy but makes everyone else hate you. So it forces diplomacy, and intrigue. It is about maintaining a dyansty, not so much a character or country.

HOI3 if your ready for the big boys. The game is lulzy when you manage to turn most of south America into Nazis, who promptly keep America occupied while you ravage Russia, and the British Isles. You can twist fate a bit. Oh and a bit of advice, go around the Maginot line.:D (I actually invaded through the French Riviera and Italy, as I was bringing a decent sized force of panzers, engineers and seasoned AT infantry back from the Suez, because Mussolini is an idiot)

Safe-Keeper

08-28-12, 06:59 PM

I fear I might be a bit too lazy for HOI3, I start a game determined to do a good job micro-managing everything, but then I open up Scapa Flow and go "gooood, that's a lot of ships" and my commitment just seems to evaporate:). Still definitely getting it, though, although when playing the demo I still feel as "lost" as I did when I was just getting into Civilization 4 and didn't understand the game's mechanics at all. So I'm still playing the game by instinct and role-playing, making decisions based on what feels right and what the different nations did in reality (although I also try to learn from their mistakes:O:).

I think I'll download a historical accuracy mod if I am to play HOI3, though, I love the WWII setting, but not how ahistorical it can get. I don't need everything to happen as it did in reality, but I want to avoid scenarios like Germany invading America, or Britain allying with the Axis:03:. In other words, I want everything to follow the same pattern as it did in real life, but I also want to be able to change history.

Not sure if I'll get CK2 after reading your posts, though, not sure if micromanaging character intrigues is really my thing. Still think it's a great idea, though, and it ties into why I'm rapidly growing to love the Paradox games -- they explore all kinds of aspects of politics and warfare that many other strategy games omit.

Stealhead

08-28-12, 08:00 PM

I like Victoria 2 a lot I have not tried "A House Divided" yet though.I cant say anything on CK2 either as I do not have it.

I do like Europa Universalis 3 though it is pretty good but much easier to manage than HOI3 make sure that you get the Buy Europa Universalis III Chronicles version that has everything the "complete" edition actually is not.

I have HOI3 as well and personally I do not really like it not to say that the game is bad I just do not like it that much HOI3 is like that you either like it or you don't.

If you want something with war strategy that is also historic but where it is possible to change the outcome I would recommend "The Operational Art of War III" it is not a Paradox game though but it is good.The game covers the 20th/21st century and people have made battles from the 19th and even ancient times.

http://matrixgames.com/products/317/details/Norm.Koger's.The.Operational.Art.of.War.III

seaniam81

08-28-12, 09:11 PM

Lets not forget Arsenal of Democracy. I enjoyed that one very much. I would rate it above (but not by much) Darkest Hour.

Captain_Rockwell_Torry

08-28-12, 11:05 PM

Since there are so many strategy gamers here -- I'm getting Victoria II and A House Divided first of all, but what other games can you guys recommend? I'm considering Europa Universalis III and Hearts of Iron III, are they any good?

I'm perfectly willing (and planning) to download mods for any of these games if that makes a difference.

Well, I just recently bought Vic2 and House divided, HOI3 complete, Supreme Ruler 2020 gold and Supreme Ruler Cold War. So far I have really enjoyed them all a great deal. I found a WW I mod for Vic2 AHD and after learning alittle modding of my own, have really enjoyed the mod. Unfortunatly it is a WIP mod and you start off with sailing ships in your fleets at the beginning of 1914. I figured out how to change the oob files, and put dreadnoughts and armoured cruisers into the starting fleets, so now its much better, but they do seem to have the land warfare working pretty good in it already. I like to use the sprites in the game rather than the counters, so would also recommend getting the sprite packs DLC as well. I also have learned how to do some modding to the Surpreme Ruler games as well as HOI3, and really enjoy them as well. I would highly recommend them to anyone, and don't know how I missed out on them for so long.

Regards:
Captain Rockwell Torry:up:

Penguin

08-29-12, 04:35 PM

The good thing is once you get the grip on the game mechanics behind one Paradox game, it doen't take too much effort to get into another one. This doesn't mean they play all the same. Though the concept of a historical sandbox is something they all have in common. And this is the nice thing: The starting point is historical, then the game develops its own alternative timeline.

A good and often very immersive start is to check out some of the AARs in the Paradox forums, or the ones you can find on here. Victoria 2's strategy guide, which you can download after you registered your game is also a good thing to get into it.

I am a huge fan of Victoria 2, I play it since it came out. To me it feels very lively due to the POP concept. Your population is not only a number, they change jobs, migrate, vote and sometimes those unthankful plebs even revolt. :arrgh!:
Besides that, this is also an historic era which interests me very much. A great way to satisfy your inner imperialist - though EU3 is also very good for this.
And it really helps to set your own goals when you play a country, not just hunt for points. Conquer North America as communistic CSA, become a world power as Venice, be an industrial superpower as Haiti, invade England as New England, etc, etc..
AHD addewd very much, the 1861 scenario is not too good, if you don't want to play the US civil war, as you usually have a better standing if you manage a country by yourself from 36-61, but it added so many improvements to the vanilla game. (@ Stealhead: buy it!!! - you won't regret it, though check out the regular deals on Gamersgate)
The only thing I am missing in this game is some espionage concept.

btw, Safe-Keeper, as it's not covered in the tutorial nor guides: if you want to play as Norway in Vic 2, you have to start as Sweden then release it in the decisions tab in politics and klick on "play as..." - it works this way for any releasable country.

CaptainHaplo

08-29-12, 06:23 PM

If your into the Fantasy TBS type games - Warlock is a good one.

Safe-Keeper

08-29-12, 09:25 PM

Okay, I am officially in love with Hearts of Iron 3!
Thought I'd just give it another shot, and spent hours organizing British fleets, science projects, diplomacy (trying to sway the Nordic countries and Ireland to join the war on the allied side, for instance), trade routes, DD and airplane patrols for subs in the convoy approaches off the English Channel, and my first mechanized infantry and armour brigade going into Europe to fight on the western front.

The thing is, I thought I would never get into all the detailed micromanaging of troops, but I've found that it's so much fun (although the UI could've been better in some respects) and truth be told, I need training in committing to large-scale projects like this one. So not only am I having fun, I'm building character at the same time :O: .

Can't wait until I've bought the full version, expansion pack and all, and can boot up a 1940 start as the Norwegians:woot:!

btw, Safe-Keeper, as it's not covered in the tutorial nor guides: if you want to play as Norway in Vic 2, you have to start as Sweden then release it in the decisions tab in politics and klick on "play as..." - it works this way for any releasable country. Yeah, I figured this out, think I googled "V2 play as Norway" or something. Had a minor heart attack when I saw Norway wasn't in the map and just had to know if it was out of the game altogether :P

One (edit: several) questions, though:
When I build units in HOI3, I have the option to increase "serial" and "paralell". What does this mean? Is it number of units in each build and how many builds, respectively? As in, "serial 3 paralell 4" means "build 12 fighters in batches of 3"?

And is there a way to decrease countries' neutrality? Influence Nation doesn't seem to do so, it just makes them drift faster towards your faction.

Oh, and is there a way to zoom that bottom-right map? When I'm focusing on for example Europe it'd be nice if I could just zoom the map to show Europe only, instead of having to try to position that tiny rectangle just right in the tiny, tiny landmasses with the world map zoomed all the way out :P .

If your into the Fantasy TBS type games - Warlock is a good one. I've got Dominions 3 (http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=180565) and it fills all my needs, but thank you for the suggestion ;) !

CaptainHaplo

08-30-12, 08:14 AM

Can't answer your HoI questions.

I have Dominion 3 and have played it once or twice - but never really got into it. I may have to give it another go sometime.

Dowly

08-30-12, 08:24 AM

When I build units in HOI3, I have the option to increase "serial" and "paralell". What does this mean? Is it number of units in each build and how many builds, respectively? As in, "serial 3 paralell 4" means "build 12 fighters in batches of 3"?

Parallel = Units are being all built at the same time
Serial = Units are being built one at a time

No idea if you can mix the two like you mentioned, never tested it.
But it would make sense. :yep:

Kremmen

08-30-12, 11:57 AM

iirc serials increase your practicals which in turn makes subsequent builds of that unit type faster.
as Dowley states parallels pump them out at the same time but you need the serial runs to keep your practicals up.
i'm just going from memory here so if i'm wrong please correct me (i'm at that age :har: )
more info here : http://www.paradoxian.org/hoi3wiki/Main_Page

oh and yeah you can mix them.

Safe-Keeper

08-30-12, 12:32 PM

Thank you, found this: Production

There are several things to keep in mind when building things:

Practical knowledge (http://www.paradoxian.org/hoi3wiki/Practical_knowledge): For every unit you produce, you will gain a particular kind of practical knowledge. That practical knowledge will, in turn, make the next unit of that type that you build cheaper in terms of IC days.
IC days (http://www.paradoxian.org/hoi3wiki/Production#IC_days): The best way to understand the actual cost of a particular item is to determine the cost in IC days. This is simply the IC cost multiplied by the number of days it takes to build the unit.
Serial & Parallel construction: Serial production is the ideal method for creating units: units are produced one at a time, which means the next in the series benefits from practical knowledge increases. Parallel construction is used to meet immediate needs: when you need a bunch of a certain unit type at once. As a result, parallel construction is much less efficient than serial builds.

Which did a wonderful job at clearing things up! Thanks a lot:up:!

Oh, and how do I turn a reserve unit into a fully mobilized unit?

Edit: damned Germans are breaking through the Maginot Line. Damned Norwegian peacenicks are refusing to grant our glorious British armies transit rights through their country.

Kloef

09-03-12, 05:09 AM

Drewcifer

09-03-12, 08:12 AM

The problem is that they contantly use the same game enigines and their games are so buggy it makes it all frustrating. Combined with ancient graphics it just isn't a finished quality product.

Crusader Kings 2. Best Paradox Game ever, for what it is the graphics are very nice. Honestly it was pretty much bug free I mean the thing runs smooth and there is very few bumps.. there are some don't get me wrong like threatening to throw yourself in the dungeon because you looked at your wife during a feast. haha. But that stuff is RARE.

Safe-Keeper

09-03-12, 10:48 AM

Have decided to order HOI3 now. There goes all my spare time.
Furthermore, I want to get into Let's Play-ing, so expect -- maybe -- a "Let's Learn HOI3 as the Norwegians" in the near or far future.

Raptor1

09-03-12, 10:50 AM

Make sure you get both expansions as well, they improve the game by quite a bit.

Safe-Keeper

09-03-12, 02:27 PM

Ya, I'll order HOI3 collection from Amazon, I think. It has both x-packs and some sprite upgrades and whatnot. Will be awesome:salute:!

Rilder

09-04-12, 02:29 AM

Paradox games are like raw diamonds, with several cut ones in the series. There are good titles as someone suggested EU3 is a pretty decend game.

I've tried Hearts of Iron 2 and 3, Victoria, King Arthur Fallen Champions, Commander:Conquest of the Americas, Achtung Pantzer Charkov 1943, East India Company and several other ones over a 2 year period and i kinda stuck with EU3 since its an awesome game, but the others...Pirates of the Black Cove made me uninstall all the others..

Note: There is a difference between Paradox Published games and Paradox Games, Paradox games are the in-studio ones, aka CK, EU, Vicky, HOI and the like.

Games like King Arthur, Commander conquest of the Americas, Achtung Panzer, East India company and various others are Paradox Published, they aren't really the topic of this thread.

The problem is that they contantly use the same game enigines and their games are so buggy it makes it all frustrating. Combined with ancient graphics it just isn't a finished quality product. Paradox has only had bug issues on release, and its something they've become very much better at. (In spite of the Steam Version of CK2 having DLC issues) Even in games that do have a lot of bugs Paradox does go out of their way to try to fix them and tend to keep fixing them for absolutely ages, hell they are still working on patches for EU3.

Graphics, Seriously? You bought up graphics? What? I mean C'mon? The graphics are fine, and actually quite beautiful considering your literally just staring at a map the entire time. Paradox games are about GAMEPLAY.

And the engine? Well Clauswitz seems to work! Its mod-friendly and seems adaptable to what Paradox wants, so why spend months making a new one when they can do what they want with this one? Would you rather they pull a total war and replace the engine with a cruddy unmoddable pos?

Crusader Kings 2. Best Paradox Game ever.

Best for you, you mean. :03:

Like I said earlier, Everyone has their preferred Paradox game.

I'll admit that right now CK2 is my preferred Paradox game simply because I love the character development and being capable of starting from nothing but each one of the games has their merits. I wish HOI3 was more my type actually because I always love the alternate history scenarios that pop up, like Germany and America duking it out over India. :har:

Safe-Keeper

09-04-12, 04:05 PM

So I started a practice run as the Norwegians in September 1st, 1939. I now realize why there are no Let's Plays -- not much at all happens :O: . I still want to do an LP, though, but trust me, I'll make it fun to watch!

I'll admit that right now CK2 is my preferred Paradox game simply because I love the character development and being capable of starting from nothing but each one of the games has their merits. I wish HOI3 was more my type actually because I always love the alternate history scenarios that pop up, like Germany and America duking it out over India. :har:Ya, I started in Sept 39, as I said, and thought I had until April 1940 or so before the Nazis would invade Scandinavia. Just about ****ed myself when they all of a sudden hit Denmark. I was sure they would go for us, too, but I suppose they didn't dare go up against our half a dozen infantry brigades:arrgh!:.

I had to laugh when I saw that I had to research a "basic aircraft machine gun" in order for my fighter squadron to even fire back at enemies, though:rotfl2: (even though it seems the fighters already have an attack value, so I suppose maybe they can fight back either way?).

Question again: is there no way to trade heavy water for money, or do you just give it away for free? I don't like those arrogant Englishmen just taking my "nuclear water" and not giving me anything in return.

"Bucketloads of heavy water? I would absolutely love that! Transit rights?! Go **** yourself".
:hmph:

Dowly

09-04-12, 04:07 PM

Looking forward to it! :up:

Safe-Keeper

09-04-12, 04:17 PM

soopaman2

09-04-12, 06:58 PM

I hope it gets anywhere and that it works out fine. I've never done an LP before (except from filming myself doing a single mission in Ground Control and then adding simple narrative subtitles), so talking into a mic will be... interesting:O:. Don't slay me if it sounds like crap in the beginning, I'll do my best.

I aspire to , but I realize this is going to be a lot of work, so... to be honest, I can't promise anything, although it'd be really, really cool if something came of it. Maybe it'll just be subtitles and no spoken words at all. We'll see :03:.

Oh, and it'll be in Norwegian, with subtitles. That's what I feel the most comfortable doing, it'll fit the Norwegian faction better, and my accent can be a bit tricky to understand anyhow.

Just a few words of advice. (mind you I am most experienced as Germany in this game)

Nukes stink, V-2s stink. don't waste IC on them.

Engineers in your units rule for river crossing.

Do not attack fortifications directly.

Planes suck at night, watch the time of day.

Put mech infantry with panzers for support while keeping speed.

Paratroopers are OP, ok severely OP. Exploit it or not.

Finally and most important.
Encircle. I cannot stress this enough. Pull a Stalingrad, encircle and destroy. Breakthroughs are king. Break the line, then funnel all you can into it.

If done right, they will pull units from other sections of the front, allowing you a chance at more breakthroughs. I folded up the Russian line like an accordion, with a breakthrough in the south, and a delayed attack in the north.

I have other advice for diplomacy, and spy usage, but do not want a tl;dr post.

soopaman2

09-04-12, 07:19 PM

Yay double post!

Diplomacy (as Norway), endear yourself to Germany. They will win in Europe. They slow up when they invade Russia. By then you should be cranking.

If not, they will eventually invade you, and you may not be aligned enough with the allies

Put your spies in country, rather than in others. Keeping 10 spies at home will reduce influence from Communist and Allied faction. As they can "influence" you whether you like it or not.

You can also endear to the Soviets if Germany is your primary target. But a fair warning, they (Germany) will invade you, if they are doing well in Russia. I do not advocate the allies, as America jumps in way too late, and can be repelled from Europe easily, especially if you yourself invade Britain before 1943.

That will not be easy as you will have little air cover available. But do-able with an overwelming force, they only seem to keep militia at home early on.

OK I am done! Not really. I could go on, but I won't.:D

Safe-Keeper

09-04-12, 08:05 PM

Diplomacy (as Norway), endear yourself to Germany.**** no. I'm roleplaying all the way here, so I'm going to go with the Allies. But thanks for the warning/advice ;) !

As of October 1940, I'm an Allies member, France has fallen, the English are advancing in north Africa, and my u-boats are making convoy shipping a nightmare for the Germans in and around the Kattegatt Strait:arrgh!:. Wish they could carry weight, then I could launch commando raids against occupied Denmark or the German mainland :D .

Germans still haven't invaded Norway. I suppose they're too scared of my u-boats:yep:.

Edit: OK, so my IC situation is as follows:

http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r292/safe-keeper/ICWTF.png

:-?.

Is it just me, or is my IC income being penaltized when it should be increased:06:? Is this a bug, or can someone tell me where all my IC's are going?

Edit2: reading the manual, I see factories need resources to work. Given that some of my resource stockpiles are pretty much dry (I have next to no Rare Metals, for example), could this be the reason for my IC drought?

Kremmen

09-05-12, 03:09 PM

In reply to your heavy water question,you can't trade strategic resources.
From the wiki :

Major nations receive the benefits of strategic resources from any other nation within their faction
Faction leaders receive the benefits of strategic resources from any nation that is closely aligned to their faction so long as:

The aligned nation has their capital on the same continent as the faction leader
The aligned nation shares a coastline on the same ocean as the faction leader

so no $$$$$ there I'm afraid but you do get that warm fuzzy feeling from helping the cause :rotfl2:

Those IC figures do seem to be a bit off,you should be getting a bonus (if I'm reading it right) could just be the lack of rares causing it.Try getting some trades going for rares and see if that fixes it.
Sry can't be more helpful than that.

Safe-Keeper

09-05-12, 03:46 PM

so no $$$$$ there I'm afraid but you do get that warm fuzzy feeling from helping the cause :rotfl2:Yay! We need all the warm and fuzzy feelings we can get, it's cold up here in Norway :3

Those IC figures do seem to be a bit off,you should be getting a bonus (if I'm reading it right) could just be the lack of rares causing it.Try getting some trades going for rares and see if that fixes it.
Sry can't be more helpful than that. Yeah, my rare metals are nearly fully depleted and no one seems to want to sell them to me (I suppose they wouldn't be rare otherwise:O:).

Question, though: I find it tiring to go through countries one by one to ask them if they want to sell a given resource, like RM. Is there a way to just ask everyone, "I want to buy rare metals! Are anyone selling?", for then to just await a response from some nation? I tried to automate trade, but I'm not 100% happy about how the AI handles it.

Thanks for all answers, they really help a lot.

It's late 1941 and I had the bright idea of deploying my fighter squadron to North Africa to help the British rout the Italians. Seeing they're armed with pea shooters with 1.00 soft attack and 0.00 hard attack, though, they're not doing much good (they average one or two kills each sortie -- infantry kills:rotfl2:). I suppose I'll have to research proper armament for them when Leadership points next time I complete a research project and Leadership is freed up.

The Axis powers have declared war on Yugoslavia and Greece. Good news is, the British are being fairly successful in general against the Italians. The Germans haven't yet invaded the USSR. The USA is still neutral, the ****ers.

Kremmen

09-05-12, 04:27 PM

Don't think there's a way to yell 'buying rares' and wait for offers unfortunately,come to think of it that would save sooo much time.
Usually the Soviet Union,USA or UK are good sources of rares.
If you have an excess of anything energy,metal,supplies etc it's always a good idea to try and set up a trade with a country before trying to buy from them,makes them think more favourably of you and I think if I recall it actually makes it cheaper to buy from them too.The Soviets always seem to want supplies.
In the diplomacy tab if you click on a resources icon it will sort by who has the most of that resource,that can help to speed things up a bit.
I can't remember who is responsible for the convoy for overseas trade,the buyer or the seller so always make sure you have enough convoys.

Safe-Keeper

09-05-12, 08:29 PM

Don't think there's a way to yell 'buying rares' and wait for offers unfortunately,come to think of it that would save sooo much time.Am I mistaken, or is there another x-pack for HOI3 coming up? If this isn't in, it's definitely should be something to consider to the devs, imo.

That, and the trade proposal window somehow letting you know in advance which deals the country will accept so that you don't have to try the sliders for each.

Safe-Keeper

09-06-12, 07:30 AM

In other news, I got my resource shortage sorted out (even though it involved trading with the Russkies, them bastards) and my IC is up to 24 now:up:.

I'm considering taking my Viking destroyers sub hunting in the Western Approaches. The Allies are losing convoys left and right, and either way, combat experience is only good for my boys. Norwegians belong on the high seas!

Kremmen

09-06-12, 08:29 AM

Yea there's a new expansion coming out on Sept 26 'Their finest Hour',I see it's up for pre-order on gamersgate.
It would be nice if in the diplomacy tab there was an option where you could select what you want to buy and a list of countries who would trade with you came up,it can get tedious going through the list one at a time trying to set up a deal.
Good to see you got your IC sorted though :up:

soopaman2

09-07-12, 04:29 PM

I of course neglected to say threat by neighbors increases alignment to other factions, so my advice on kissing Germany backside is flawed. My fear was allied alignment issues, but I forgot about threat modifiers. :oops:

May I ask how you are doing your research?

Are you going a naval route, or a land route, are you playing turtle, or do you plan on striking?

Germany can be defeated at sea, especially as an allied member. Battlecruiser research. BCs seem to be king in this game.

At the same time, America will eventually show up. (Whether you are still around for it or not, depends on Russia)

When they do land on Europe, which will happen, would be the best time to push into Belgium and France.

Being Norway, you almost have a natural bottleneck to keep the Bosch out.
Fortify it with bunkers, and you can keep them off your butt, until the true allied assault comes. Alone you will fall, Britain is of no help, as they are reeling on the defensive most the time, and too worried about Colonial possessions in Africa, and the Pacific. (Not sure if this is intentional, or a game flaw)

I even seen an AI Germany conquer GB in 1942, in an American game in which I joined the Commintern.

Safe-Keeper

09-07-12, 06:58 PM

May I ask how you are doing your research?Erm... I don't have much of a research plan, really, but I've upgraded the guns of my fighters, upgraded my infantry in various ways (including unlocking mountain infantry), and done an IC-boostnig tech or two. Dunno if they're any good given they give such a tiny bonus and my IC is so low, but it felt like a good idea at the time :P . I also have the tech that allows me to build new factories, though I haven't actually got any built.

soopaman2

09-09-12, 05:48 PM

Erm... I don't have much of a research plan, really, but I've upgraded the guns of my fighters, upgraded my infantry in various ways (including unlocking mountain infantry), and done an IC-boostnig tech or two. Dunno if they're any good given they give such a tiny bonus and my IC is so low, but it felt like a good idea at the time :P . I also have the tech that allows me to build new factories, though I haven't actually got any built.

One thing you could never be is an absolute powerhouse. The game tries to be accurate with IC points. Russia (just an example)despite its size sucks until you improve infrastructure if you play as them.

The best bet would be to choose a research specialization. Land or sea.

Assess what you choose to accomplish in your game. Running interference on naval blockading operations against Britain until America shows up. Or giving it to the hun!

Norway is a fun location to play, due to your ability to turtle, and strike when ready.

Once France has split into 2 (Vichy/Nazi) and the Germans begin playing with the Russian, you can then push into Belgium and the other low countries, you will get minimal militia defense if you wait for Russia to start pushing back.

In other words 1942-43 is the earliest to wage war, the rest of the time you will be playing diplomat, and using spies to avoid influence from the Commies. America is too pivotal, unless the Russians really start kicking butt, which is rare. They always hold thier own but never push back, until America comes in 43 or so.

If you strike at the right time, before America wakes the heck up, and as the Russians get thier act together, you could maybe "hypothetically" cause a pincer movement.

The key in all this is America. Germany as a consolidated force is unstoppable, but split on 2 fronts with you creating the third, regardless of your inferior IC, it can work. We all know Operation Market Garden failed, but you could make it happen!

My advice overall? Use the others as fodder, America has alot to spare, but they are so slow into the war that it can become dangerous for you. Games will tend to surprise you, I turned America to Commintern before as the SU. so strangeness happens.:)

Safe-Keeper

09-11-12, 01:56 PM

I'm strongly considering invading and annexing Sweden. They're not doing anything good for the war effort while neutral and the IC and resources from their lands would help fuel the Norwegian war effort. Plus, hey, it's Sweden:03:.

Then again, their neutrality is down to 27, and they are aligned fairly close to the Allies, so maybe I should just wait for them to join the war on their own accord? Also, as Germany has pretty much steamrolled Finland, taking Sweden would give me a direct land border to their armies, which I have a feeling I don't want (then again, if the US would only get their asses in gear and invade France, it would give me that third front you spoke of :p ).

soopaman2

09-11-12, 02:55 PM

Good luck, Safe-Keeper.

When I play this game, I like to pre-plan, but things always change, there is always the proverbial monkey wrench in the gears.:haha:
Just be ready to improvise and adapt.

Invading the Swedes would be good for a boost in trade goods and IC etc.
Like you said alignment issues will make that hard.
The threat produced by Germany, and Russia (Faction leaders in close proximity, with massive armies) tends to keep them firmly in allied hands, but I am sure spies can be used to reduce neutrality, but doing so costs IC, and leaves your own country open to be being subverted by other factions.

A friend of mine, pointed out to me that Americas arrival in Europe depends on how well Japan does in China in the early game.

Pearl Harbor and all. He has seen it come as late as 1944, and another thing to note is, America is really democratic, and pre war they have really oppressive laws that hamper troop recruiting. (they also have the most IC, so when they do piss them off...Oh boy..)

They are also far from any real countries that provide threat modifiers, it seems they are not scripted to jump in unless provoked, just as the Japanese are scripted to eventually provoke them. (Barring any drastic alignment things, like a crafty player converting them to axis or commintern)

Even playing as America, it is really difficult to jump in the war.
I really love this game. Can't you tell?:D

Safe-Keeper

09-11-12, 06:49 PM

The threat produced by Germany, and Russia (Faction leaders in close proximity, with massive armies) tends to keep them firmly in allied hands, but I am sure spies can be used to reduce neutrality, but doing so costs IC, and leaves your own country open to be being subverted by other factions.Do you mean Leadership, or is there something I haven't caught onto here:O:? Not being a smartass, I just want to make 100% sure.

soopaman2

09-11-12, 07:39 PM

Do you mean Leadership, or is there something I haven't caught onto here:O:? Not being a smartass, I just want to make 100% sure.

I nuked my computer a few months ago and do not have it installed, so I may mis-speak here. Been like 6 months, and I am running on memory.

I believe in the diplomacy tab, there is a threat modifier between countries.

It is based on threat from invasion. So proximity (Norway is much more influenced by Germany taking Austria than America would be)

Military size. Italy is cute with its baby army, and produces way less threat than Germany would (for norway at least [proximity]. The French and Brits feel way different, with thier lands in Africa under threat) But it keeps a minimal defense force on the French border at home, and that is pretty much it.

France is threatened by italy, but not as much as Poland would be threatened by Germany. Due to troop counts, front positions, numbers, alignment differences. etc,.

Russia likes to invade Sweden, more threat for you. This pushes you, like it or not into allied arms, not even counting spy actions, which done right, can make funny results. (The computer never does it right)
(I did play a Nazi Sweden game once, broke my butt for 3 years to turn myself Nazi, then got invaded by Norway and lost. Germany just shrugged, and went back to playing with Stalin :har:)

Behind alot of this is scripted events. As long as requirements are met, they can trigger. Usually with a MMTH (mean months to happen, pretty much how the game files defines the probability)

I suck at explaining things sometimes, I can understand if this post comes across as scatter-brained

soopaman2

09-11-12, 07:45 PM

Do you mean Leadership, or is there something I haven't caught onto here:O:? Not being a smartass, I just want to make 100% sure.

Leadership is different, that affects the effectiveness of your armies, and what you can do diplomatically,research etc
I nuked my computer a few months ago and do not have it installed, so I may mis-speak here. Been like 6 months, and I am running on memory.

I believe in the diplomacy tab, there is a threat modifier between countries.

It is based on threat from invasion. So proximity (Norway is much more influenced by Germany taking Austria than America would be)

Military size. Italy is cute with its baby army, and produces way less threat than Germany would (for norway at least [proximity]. The French and Brits feel way different, with thier lands in Africa under threat) But it keeps a minimal defense force on the French border at home, and that is pretty much it.

France is threatened by italy, but not as much as Poland would be threatened by Germany. Due to troop counts, front positions, numbers, alignment differences. etc,.

Russia likes to invade Sweden, more threat for you. This pushes you, like it or not into allied arms, not even counting spy actions, which done right, can make funny results. (The computer never does it right)
(I did play a Nazi Sweden game once, broke my butt for 3 years to turn myself Nazi, then got invaded by Norway and lost. Germany just shrugged, and went back to playing with Stalin :har:)

Behind alot of this is scripted events. (Anchluss, Pearl Harbor, Winter War, Sudetenland annexation)) As long as requirements are met, they can trigger. Usually with a MMTH (mean months to happen, pretty much how the game files defines the probability)

edit: Sorry I am not more sure. I honestly feel I suck at this game, considering I could never quite get all the way across Russia, as Germany, starting in '36. Even with an army of 7 million (on one front). I commend you for the challenge, but it will not be easy. Norway IMHO is not a good starter country.

It could be dull, and the deck is stacked against you if you want to play agressor.

Kremmen

09-13-12, 12:05 AM

You use your leadership points to produce spies and as soopaman says how you spread the points can also affect your armies effectiveness (through officers),how many diplomats you produce and research.
Can be a tricky balancing act with a small pool of leadership points.

Safe-Keeper

09-13-12, 04:15 PM

With Finland having fallen to the Nazis, northern Norway is under invasion from...http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r292/safe-keeper/2012-09-13_00001.jpg
...the Italians?!
:rotfl2:

Luckily their advance was halted completely by a lack of infrastructure. Morale: if you want to stop an invasion, simply don't build any roads:O:.

Raptor1

09-13-12, 04:19 PM

Pfft, you should've seen the first few versions of Hearts of Iron 3, where Finland would regularly invade Italy...

Safe-Keeper

09-14-12, 08:03 AM

It's payack time, apparently.

Hottentot

09-14-12, 12:11 PM

Pfft, you should've seen the first few versions of Hearts of Iron 3, where Finland would regularly invade Italy...

Yes, those Swedish developers somehow got leaked information of our secret plans and implemented them in that "game" of theirs. Then we paid them a visit and after a few of them had leaked enough, they agreed that they hadn't seen or heard anything. And neither have you, by the way. This post doesn't exist. Carry on. :cool:

A little more seriously speaking (and totally not trying to distract your mind, which should have just been wiped blank by that unexplained flash of blue light, citizen): I've been interested in the HoI series for a while, but their timeframe has always felt very short compared to other Paradox games. How is the in-game time handled in them and how many game hours would you estimate for an average grand campaign? A year in most other Paradox titles would be a short time and pass quickly, but I suppose in HoI games it's different, since the timeframe is shorter? Or are they shorter and more intensive games by definition?

Penguin

09-14-12, 01:34 PM

I've been interested in the HoI series for a while, but their timeframe has always felt very short compared to other Paradox games. How is the in-game time handled in them and how many game hours would you estimate for an average grand campaign? A year in most other Paradox titles would be a short time and pass quickly, but I suppose in HoI games it's different, since the timeframe is shorter? Or are they shorter and more intensive games by definition?

Quite easy to answer: the days are subdivided into hours, so this gives you 24x the "time units".
This makes battle times much more realistic than in EU3, where a battle in the open can last for weeks, can't think of any non-siege battles that lasted this long during that era.
Grand Campaign times are always difficult to calculate. If you would only focus on diplomacy and research, I'd say it would be significantly shorter, however who would do so in a WW2 game. Overall my estimation is that the length of an avarage game in HoI is comparible to the other grand strategy titles.
For HoI2 - which I still find a great game, to me it's much more accessible than its successor- there are also some expansions that extend the timeline into the cold war era. You might want to check out Darkest Hour for a timeline that covers 50 years - haven't played the latter, so I can't say anything about its quality.

soopaman2

09-14-12, 03:48 PM

There are also alot of mods!

Yeah, Safe-Keeper. Italy is a turd.

I remember a protracted 6 month campaign where I repeatedly nuked, and bombed Britain, followed by a mass paratrooper invasion, and landing Tiger tanks in Kent.

I lost alot of ships, men, tanks, and planes. My front with Russia suffered. But I did not want to give America a launching point into France.

What happened you ask?

After a real slobberknocker of a brawl I pacified the Brits.

So they surrendered to Italy, who ad no more than 2k troops in country. Compared to my 70-100k I broke my ass land there.

Meaning Italy got Britain from my blood sweat and tears. (Major flaw IMHO)

So I cancelled my Balkan invasion, Let the Greeks and Russians rape them.

My Wermacht was, for some reason, too busy to help that pig Mussolini.

Where did I end up in that game?

Feeding my dog Blondi a cyanide pill to test it.:D Poor doggy.

Hottentot

09-14-12, 11:51 PM

Quite easy to answer: the days are subdivided into hours, so this gives you 24x the "time units".

Hmm, fascinating. It seems my greatest concern is not as bad as I thought. :hmmm:

Time to start putting money aside from the next few wages.

Krauter

09-15-12, 01:35 AM

Hmm kind of late to the party but here's my two cents on what I've just read in the last page. I'll add more as I read through the threads.

Leadership affects Technology, Intelligence, Officers and Diplomacy options. Certain nations require different amounts of leadership in areas. For example. If you want to tech rush as Gerany, dump all your points into Tech. Now, you'll learn as you go, but as a rule of thumb, you want to have the max % of officers (140) however, don't dump points into it too early because depending on your laws and amount of units your building you're wasting points. Wait until right before you want to DOW to build up your officers. Mostly you want to have an idea of what you're doing (lots of diplomacy, lots of spying, etc) and then adjust your points accordingly.

As for mods, I would really recommend getting ICE, HPP or the expansion backs DI:G and DI:SS.

When I'm not busy and on a coffee buzz I'll read through the thread and try and answer more stuff in detail :)

Krauter

09-15-12, 03:01 AM

C-C-C-Combo Breaker!

One (edit: several) questions, though:
When I build units in HOI3, I have the option to increase "serial" and "paralell". What does this mean? Is it number of units in each build and how many builds, respectively? As in, "serial 3 paralell 4" means "build 12 fighters in batches of 3"?

And is there a way to decrease countries' neutrality? Influence Nation doesn't seem to do so, it just makes them drift faster towards your faction.

Oh, and is there a way to zoom that bottom-right map? When I'm focusing on for example Europe it'd be nice if I could just zoom the map to show Europe only, instead of having to try to position that tiny rectangle just right in the tiny, tiny landmasses with the world map zoomed all the way out :P .

1.Serial means that once one is done, another will be built immediately. Parallel means that they will run alongside ea. other. So. a batch of 5 parallel, 3 serial runs of fighters means that 5 fighters are being built at once, 3 times over ( you will end up with 15) Paralleling is more expensive, Serials are cheaper but take longer.

2. The only way to decrase a countries neutrality is through events and spies.

3. Sadly no :(

Also, abou practicals. The more research you do on say infantry, the faster and cheaper theyll be. The more you build them, the faster and cheaper theyll be. Works for basically every unit.

Oh, and how do I turn a reserve unit into a fully mobilized unit?

4. By Mobilizing your army in the politics tab. This is expensive and useless in peace-time. If you are at war its done automatically.

Question again: is there no way to trade heavy water for money, or do you just give it away for free? I don't like those arrogant Englishmen just taking my "nuclear water" and not giving me anything in return.

5. Nope, you cannot "trade" resources (heavy water, horses, etc) All nations in your faction gain access to them though.

Just a few words of advice. (mind you I am most experienced as Germany in this game)

Nukes stink, V-2s stink. don't waste IC on them.

Engineers in your units rule for river crossing.

Do not attack fortifications directly.

Planes suck at night, watch the time of day.

Put mech infantry with panzers for support while keeping speed.

Paratroopers are OP, ok severely OP. Exploit it or not.

Finally and most important.
Encircle. I cannot stress this enough. Pull a Stalingrad, encircle and destroy. Breakthroughs are king. Break the line, then funnel all you can into it.

If done right, they will pull units from other sections of the front, allowing you a chance at more breakthroughs. I folded up the Russian line like an accordion, with a breakthrough in the south, and a delayed attack in the north.

I have other advice for diplomacy, and spy usage, but do not want a tl;dr post.

6. Nukes/V2s are not worth it at this point. Nukes maybe if you can get them, but even still the AI will not change its tactics if you nuke it or not

7. Engineers for fortress busting, River crossing. Mostly I keep them attached to my Panzer Corps HQs and release them as necessary.

8. Agreed, Log bomb their rear, ground attack them and starve them out.

9. Planes are stupid. They will grind themselves out and leave you a fuel tab. Set them to intercept only. This way they aren't always flying.

10. That's a very fuel hungry division and expensive. Mot are usually better if in developped areas.

11. Depending on how you use them. If you para their capital its gamey, but to use them "right" i.e somewhat historically yet not stupidly, is difficult as they're very situational.

12. agreed.

Yay double post!

Diplomacy (as Norway), endear yourself to Germany. They will win in Europe. They slow up when they invade Russia. By then you should be cranking.

If not, they will eventually invade you, and you may not be aligned enough with the allies

Put your spies in country, rather than in others. Keeping 10 spies at home will reduce influence from Communist and Allied faction. As they can "influence" you whether you like it or not.

You can also endear to the Soviets if Germany is your primary target. But a fair warning, they (Germany) will invade you, if they are doing well in Russia. I do not advocate the allies, as America jumps in way too late, and can be repelled from Europe easily, especially if you yourself invade Britain before 1943.

That will not be easy as you will have little air cover available. But do-able with an overwelming force, they only seem to keep militia at home early on.

OK I am done! Not really. I could go on, but I won't.:D

13. I won't comment on diplomatic strategies, but always. ALWAYS. have 10 spies at home on counter-espionage

Is it just me, or is my IC income being penaltized when it should be increased:06:? Is this a bug, or can someone tell me where all my IC's are going?

Edit2: reading the manual, I see factories need resources to work. Given that some of my resource stockpiles are pretty much dry (I have next to no Rare Metals, for example), could this be the reason for my IC drought?

Factories do need resourcse to run. But also, depending on your laws they run at different levels. You can have a total of 200 IC (Cough USA...) but only have access to 50 unless your laws are set right.

Edit: If theres anything I missed, just let me know.

Safe-Keeper

09-15-12, 06:01 AM

Thank you for your feedback! Only one question:

he reason for my IC drought? Factories do need resourcse to run. But also, depending on your laws they run at different levels. You can have a total of 200 IC (Cough USA...) but only have access to 50 unless your laws are set right.
I'm sorry, but are you absolutely sure of that? My IC's keep bouncing back and forth between 10-ish and 24-ish, and I'm sure as heck not doing continouous switching of laws or policies ;) .

Hottentot

09-15-12, 11:14 AM

Saw that the Darkest Hour was cheap enough even for my cheapskate budget and got it. Boy, am I confused now. :o

In a good way, I might add.

Krauter

09-15-12, 12:26 PM

Thank you for your feedback! Only one question:

I'm sorry, but are you absolutely sure of that? My IC's keep bouncing back and forth between 10-ish and 24-ish, and I'm sure as heck not doing continouous switching of laws or policies ;) .

Hmm if it keeps bouncing (hour to hour or day to day) then it's most likely your resources. How many do you have of each?

Safe-Keeper

09-15-12, 12:30 PM

I'm very low (0-ish) on Metal ;) .

Krauter

09-15-12, 01:15 PM

That'll get ya. Playing as what sorry, I haven't been following most of the thread. If you are Germany look to Sweden for trades (setting the AI to handle trades usually helps keep your head above the water. If all else fails invade.

Safe-Keeper

09-16-12, 07:26 AM

Krauter

09-16-12, 09:18 AM

I'm playing as the Norwegians. Invading Sweden is actually on my possible to-do list, it'd give me some more territory and resources. I just worry it would be hard to defend from the Nazis, and their neutrality is down to 6% so for all I know they might join the Allied war effort soon anyhow (not really sure how neutrality and DOWs works).

I'm also building more Convoys, I have a hunch that might be the problems as I've lost quite a few latelly and seem to have next to none left.

Hmm.. never done a game as the Norwegiens. Regardless of if you have the Swedes or not, you've still got an extremely long coastline to defend as well as Oslo to which the Nazis can land a sea invasion force. Also, if you do some territory grabbing, especially as the Allies, they might not accept trades as much (not sure if you can be expelled from the Allies). You're also going to have to watch your Northern border when Finland joins the Axis for their invasions, and again when the Russians start pushing. Also depending on if you're using any mods the Axis script will cause different invasion routes.

Convoys tbh are a mixed bag for me. Normally when I'm down in the dumps and can't afford them I need them big time, but when I finally get enough IC to spare to get them I don't need their contents.

The way neutrality and DOWing works is that if Germany has a threat of 55 on me and my Neutrality is 60, I cannot preemptively declare war. Lowering neutrality (used to be by having spies in country do that, now its by events and other nations doing it to you) to where it is below the level of threat of the nation you want to DOW is how it works. Also, the lower your neutrality the "better" laws you can enact.

Please note, and I've read this throughout the Paradox forums a lot of times, that Minor and Micro power are really not balanced correctly (troops, IC, ect) compared to the Major powers. Regional powers are so-so depending on the Nation (Canada can almost be regarded as a major power). So your experience when you go from Norway to say UK or Germany will be very different.

Cheers!

Krauter

Safe-Keeper

09-17-12, 02:47 PM

Please note, and I've read this throughout the Paradox forums a lot of times, that Minor and Micro power are really not balanced correctly (troops, IC, ect) compared to the Major powers. Regional powers are so-so depending on the Nation (Canada can almost be regarded as a major power). So your experience when you go from Norway to say UK or Germany will be very different. Hmm, that makes sense I suppose. Maybe something for them to look into while making the upcoming x-pack?

I've found I like playing small nations about as much as the larger ones, maybe I'll go for Siam next, just for something different and exotic :3.

soopaman2

09-17-12, 06:36 PM

Hmm, that makes sense I suppose. Maybe something for them to look into while making the upcoming x-pack?

I've found I like playing small nations about as much as the larger ones, maybe I'll go for Siam next, just for something different and exotic :3.

Siam would guarantee you a good long time of stagnation. Perhaps, Hello Kitty online would have more war.:haha:

Norway you are somewhat close to the fun, Siam, you do not even have enough to fart. Much less defend or attack.

If you really are feeling masochistic, play as Japan, at war from the door (1936 earliest start) , somewhat weak with IC, and you are forced to balance navy, air and land in order to succeed.

They are not as easy as history dictates. And you get some combat fun in all 3 aspects (land,sea,air)

Krauter

09-18-12, 09:04 AM

Siam would guarantee you a good long time of stagnation. Perhaps, Hello Kitty online would have more war.:haha:

Norway you are somewhat close to the fun, Siam, you do not even have enough to fart. Much less defend or attack.

If you really are feeling masochistic, play as Japan, at war from the door (1936 earliest start) , somewhat weak with IC, and you are forced to balance navy, air and land in order to succeed.

They are not as easy as history dictates. And you get some combat fun in all 3 aspects (land,sea,air)

If you want a challenge, I'd recommend going as Poland or the Czechs. Either that or go as France and actually force Germany into a stagnant war.

Micro powers like Siam, Tannu Tuva, Luxembourge, Albania (to an extent.. I managed to capture all of the Balkans, Turkey and some of Ukraine as them), most Central and Southern American and Chinese (minus Nat. China) are all horrible to play because limited IC, distance from action and political alignment mean they're stagnant states to play.

Safe-Keeper

09-18-12, 07:11 PM

Krauter

09-18-12, 09:19 PM

Thanks for your feedback. Might not play Tannu Siam after all, then :O: .

I'm finally making some progress! I've got my convoys and escorts running again, and have a nice income of 26 IC. Furthermore, my Transports have been completed and loaded with three brigades of infantry. I'll assemble my navy in Narvik and deploy my soldiers at the Kola peninsula to help the Russians there. Might not be the best choice, but I think it's the safest at the moment. 9000 infantrymen arriving (with the possibility of more to come, depending on how my fleet fares and how many troops I figure I need to defend king and country) will hopefully force the Germans to deploy more forces up north, further hampering their efforts on the "main front" against the Soviets, helping the Red Bear to push them farther west. If things go really well, I aim to retake Murmansk, which is only a few territories from the front :yeah:.

A question, though: it just occured to me, is this possible in the first place? I have transit rights to Russia, but will they supply my people so that I can actually fight or go on offensives if I'm not actually allied with the USSR? If not, do you have any suggestions as to where I should send my troops instead?

In other news, the US has still not (as of 1944!) gotten their asses around to joining the war, they have just expanded the security zone to cover all of the Atlantic. Meanwhile we're seeing the Japanese take over pretty much all of East Asia, India, and about half of the Soviet Union. Sweden, Spain and Portugal are still neutral, the latter two I have embargoed for their Axis leanings.

Our successes have been few, mainly the Russians going on the offensive around Moscow and pushing the front several territories west, and the British forces standing only a stone throw away from Tripoli. Hopefully they will have the Italians thrown out of North Africa very soon:up:.

Once again, thanks for all the feedback. Between all the answers to my questions and the hints and strategy ideas you guys have been posting, this thread has been a great resource for me so far! Keep it up!

Awesome! I was just going to say I would not be too hasty to help the Russians out unless you can grab some territory. If Murmasnk has fallen, Push across the Finnish border and capture Murmansk. and then push south making sure to keep as small a front as possible.

On the question of transit rights and supply. I'm not sure. Just to be safe though I would make sure to push your first offensives in the direction of the nearest port or your lines. This will allow you to run supplies in closer. I'm not sure if you're running any mods, but if you have access to Jagers (Light Infantrymen), they make awesome tools for making advances in crappy infrastructured areas like Finland and the Karelian front. If not, send only infantry, nothing that will guzzle fuel until you can make a dash for areas with higher infrastructure like North Poland, Prussia, Denmark and North Germany.

If it is 1944 already, I would keep an eye out in the Russian front for a Communist break through. If they start gobbling up the East, start a land race and take as many provinces as you can. Set Allied war goals in the provinces you capture so they will land and consolidate your gains. If not, you will be looking at a communist Europe and might have to try and join the Communists to avoid being beaten into submission.

Safe-Keeper

09-20-12, 02:46 PM

Krauter

09-20-12, 05:12 PM

Not sure what I'll do, honestly. But that I'll do something is 100% certain:03:.

Yes, bit worried about the Soviets myself. Wondering if I should try to make an incursion into Denmark or the occupied North Norwegian territories (invading and taking over Kirkenes, for example), just to distract the German forces a little, or maybe even try to move my fleet into the Mediterranean and land troops in North Africa to help the Brits flush out the Italians?

Upgrading my troops to mountain fighting at the moment. I'll have three brigades of dedicated mountain infantry soon-ish as well. Should help the cause out some.

I would definitely say try and distract the Germans enough so that the Soviets stand a chance. However, at least in my view if I'm not playing as the Soviets then the saying "better dead then Red" is the name of the game. You're in the hairy position of having to help the Russians just enough so they don't get squashed, yet at the same time enough so that they're weak to roll right over the Reich and steamroll the rest of Europe.

If you are at war with the Axis and Finland is a part of it, why not try and unify Scandinavia? Take care of Finland from the North and West (with amphibious landings) as attacking from the Arctic towards the south is a lot easier then attacking over the Mannerheim like the Soviets do. That and you'll have a nice buffer between the Soviets when the war is over.

Safe-Keeper

09-20-12, 06:20 PM

Landed three infantry brigades (9000 troops) in Polmak near Kirkenes (a Norwegian frontier province a couple territories west of Murmanks), and they were beaten into submission by a German garrison brigade and ended up surrendering.

I've now organized a larger army comprised of a larger number of infantry as well as an artillery brigade. I'll try to land them on the coast so that my two heavy cruisers can provide shore bombardment support, and I'll aim to deploy them in a province with partisan activity. I'm also considering landing them adjacent to Soviet territory so that the Russians realize there's a battle going on and perhaps send troops of their own to help. Or maybe I'll deploy them in a province a distance from the last action, so that my troops get more time to dig in and organize before the German troops are upon them. Either way, I have high hopes for this incursion.

http://clccharter.org/andrea/vikingmyths/CoolPrintVikingShip.jpg

It'z payback dime, Hitlah:arrgh!:!

soopaman2

09-20-12, 06:28 PM

Garrison units have heavy defensive bonuses if I remember correctly.

Try the same thing with tanks, and infantry. (I use mech infantry when possible, though expensive, they are fast enough to stay with the tanks.)

Militia/garrison units are kinda strong in the defensive posture it seems. I used them alot as Germany in Czeck and Greek lands I invaded.

I might even call them OP , cost is nice, and as long as you are fighting defensive with them, they are awesome.

I can most likely be proven wrong on this statement, but militia in a defensive posture is one of the best units in the game. Which is why I suggested a more mobile tank/mech infantry force.

Keep at it! You are currently playing an epic game!

Air supremacy would be wise if possible, and in range.

Use as many aspects (land, sea, air) in harmony as much as your research/capibilities lets you. (not so much sea in this case)

Safe-Keeper

09-20-12, 07:37 PM

I was on the defensive, landing in an unoccupied province and waiting for them to come to me.
Didn't realize militas and garrisons were so strong defensively, I'll have to take that into consideration in the future.

As for tanks and airplanes, you seem to be forgetting I'm playing as the '40s Norwegians -- as a HOI3 newbie:O:! I have zero tanks, my only air brigade consists of 20's biplanes that required a whole series of upgrades to even be able to deal a bare minimum of light machine gun damage, and I'm not even a 100% sure if I can build armoured cars:haha:!

For my next run as Norway (very possibly the Let's Play attempt), I think I'll go the Production License way, buying the right to build tanks from some nation a bit more favoured by fortune than my own. Dunno if we will ever be able to develop and build too much stuff on our own; the way this is going, between our lackluster industry and our crippling oil shortages, Norway seems destined to remain a poor backwater country lest a miracle happens at some point:hmph:...
(:03:)

soopaman2

09-20-12, 08:33 PM

I cannot say one way or the other if it will work, but worth a try no less.

As for oil, and petrol. I am sure you have a resource someone wants. I would look to Britain, as convoys over such a short distance tend to make it through.

Even starting in 36, stockpiling/trading for resources you can't stockpile, then using licenses to knock out things. It may work, this game is quite open ended.

But at the same time, I feel like the game was tailored to playing as a major power. The Clauswitz engine it uses allows all nations to be played, but have a sneaking suspicion only certain nations are balanced.

Geez, I don't mean to shatter your confidence, I am glad you undertook such a challenging game, and wish to dominate it best you can.

Just saying that with the complexities involved, it is no wonder why this game has had so many expansions. Over a good amount of years. Far longer than the lifetime of most games.

Regardless of the outcome of your game, you chose a great Paradox game.

Paradox makes the only games you smile at when you lose.

Krauter

09-21-12, 08:58 AM

But at the same time, I feel like the game was tailored to playing as a major power. The Clauswitz engine it uses allows all nations to be played, but have a sneaking suspicion only certain nations are balanced.

Yeap, unless you're a major, or certain regional powers, prepare to have a hard time.

I was on the defensive, landing in an unoccupied province and waiting for them to come to me.
Didn't realize militas and garrisons were so strong defensively, I'll have to take that into consideration in the future.

As for tanks and airplanes, you seem to be forgetting I'm playing as the '40s Norwegians -- as a HOI3 newbie:O:! I have zero tanks, my only air brigade consists of 20's biplanes that required a whole series of upgrades to even be able to deal a bare minimum of light machine gun damage, and I'm not even a 100% sure if I can build armoured cars:haha:!

For my next run as Norway (very possibly the Let's Play attempt), I think I'll go the Production License way, buying the right to build tanks from some nation a bit more favoured by fortune than my own. Dunno if we will ever be able to develop and build too much stuff on our own; the way this is going, between our lackluster industry and our crippling oil shortages, Norway seems destined to remain a poor backwater country lest a miracle happens at some point:hmph:...
(:03:)

If you are facing only GAR divisions, remember that their mobility sucks, it might take them a week just to move across one province, especially up north. In my experiences, and from what everyone says in the paradox forums, GAR and MIL are garbage. Unless used as a stop gap measure they suck in a straight up fight. The only reason that these divisions are beating you is most likely because they are more advanced, and their doctrines are better. If GAR is slow, maneouvre around them. Even slow infantry can out move a GAR division. Pin them on the coast in a pocket (that doesn't have a port) and then bomb them. Even with crappy planes you'll still inflict morale and org. damage. Once it's low enough you'll roll them. I would also advice against amphib landings unless your doctrines are up to date or you have a good superiority.

Rilder

09-21-12, 10:52 AM

The Clauswitz engine it uses allows all nations to be played, but have a sneaking suspicion only certain nations are balanced.

I think this is just Hearts of Iron, not the Clauswitz engine, I think HOI2 had the same issue. The other games based on the Clauswitz engine like Eu3 aren't so bad on Minors. (Well considering people have done World conquers with Ryuku,) Hell in my opinion CK2 actually encourages starting as a one province count! :O:(To date I have never started a CK2 game as anything higher then a count)

Of course in the non-hoi3 games some small nations are harder then other small nation states. Trying to play as Corfu in Eu3 made me rage so bloody much. :shifty:

Safe-Keeper

09-21-12, 11:16 AM

Regardless of the outcome of your game, you chose a great Paradox game.

Paradox makes the only games you smile at when you lose. This has been my experience as well. "Losing is fun" actually holds true here:up:! I think a large part of it comes from the game throwing "balance" out the window. It's not like most mainstream games where "everyone has to be equally strong or the game isn't fuuuun!". In HOI3, you know from the get-go that Germany is a powerhouse, Norway is an outpost, and that the Russian bear and American eagle are ****storms waiting to happen. You know that if you play as the French, you're in for some very hard times, and that makes the challenges easier to bear.

Also, the atmosphere of the game is just incredible. Also love how it features the whole world, and how much that makes you think about how much globalization really matters today (what happens in Indo China can have a significant impact on what happens in Scandinavia, for example).

Yeap, unless you're a major, or certain regional powers, prepare to have a hard time.Are there mods that alleviate this, though?

Safe-Keeper

09-21-12, 03:41 PM

I've landed another invasion in northern Norway. A German garrison force marched up to an adjacent province, scouted us out, and promptly left. Haven't seen any German activity near us since then. I eventually decided to march into a neighbouring province and captured it, too, while taking care to stay on the coast, within range of our cruisers' cannons. Maybe I'll advance further east eventually, or have my fleet return to a friendly port to pick up reinforcements.

In other news, I seem to have managed to trap the Graf Zeppelin and her capital ship escort up here in the arctic with me. She's somewhere north of Murmansk and in order to escape into the Atlantic she will need to fight her way past the entire Royal Norwegian Navy (two heavy cruisers and two submarine squadrons), which up until now she's been unable to do.

One of my sub squadrons has had a minor engagement with the Tirpitz up there, too, but she hasn't ventured near my fleet as of yet. Either way, neither are capable of doing anything to allied shipping while we have them boxed in up here:up:!

Things are not going to progress fast, since I'm mostly playing the game in the background, at minimum time compression, while working with my studies :P .

Krauter

09-21-12, 08:07 PM

Are there mods that alleviate this, though?

Not sure, you've got DLCs like Dies Iraes: Gotterdammerung and DI: Stars and Stripes which optimize Germany and USA play respectively. But as for minors? Not to my knowledge. You may be able to fix that if you mod the province files where they have a full factories, but then you're minors would gobble up resources and then you pump up those which, when you're not playing as them, inflate prices or decrease prices rather, and then the whole "balance" (Like you say, you know Germany will be strong, Russia and USA stronger still and places like Hungary, Romania, Norway, Siam, etc are just outposts) goes out the window.

I've landed another invasion in northern Norway. A German garrison force marched up to an adjacent province, scouted us out, and promptly left. Haven't seen any German activity near us since then. I eventually decided to march into a neighbouring province and captured it, too, while taking care to stay on the coast, within range of our cruisers' cannons. Maybe I'll advance further east eventually, or have my fleet return to a friendly port to pick up reinforcements.

In other news, I seem to have managed to trap the Graf Zeppelin and her capital ship escort up here in the arctic with me. She's somewhere north of Murmansk and in order to escape into the Atlantic she will need to fight her way past the entire Royal Norwegian Navy (two heavy cruisers and two submarine squadrons), which up until now she's been unable to do.

One of my sub squadrons has had a minor engagement with the Tirpitz up there, too, but she hasn't ventured near my fleet as of yet. Either way, neither are capable of doing anything to allied shipping while we have them boxed in up here:up:!

Things are not going to progress fast, since I'm mostly playing the game in the background, at minimum time compression, while working with my studies :P .

Sounds promising. I hope you can move those troops further east and link up. Also, beware the Tirpitz and Graf Zepplin! The Tirpitz, even if its just her, has more then enough firepower to blast your CAs. And the GZ, if she can find your subs will send them to the bottom so beware. The naval mechanics are a bit wonky.

Safe-Keeper

09-23-12, 09:41 AM

Bad news. Three divisions of Italians and German armour showed up and pushed us back towards the coast. Tried to retreat back to the fleet but were overrun. 14 000 men are missing in action. Morale at an all-time low.
That's what you get for not fully understanding game mechanics yet. Had I ordered them to hold, or perhaps tried to make it over to Sweden, I could've killed more enemy troops and kep the Axis force tied up in the North Finland for longer. Only comfort is that the Axis might be prioritizing Finland more overall now that there's been two Norwegian incursions there.

Really wish this game allowed me to coordinate things with AI allies more. Both the Paradox games and the Civ series suffers greatly due to this flaw -- there's no way to know what your friends are up to, and no way to do any real teamwork other than helping them where you see them attack and hope that they'll reinforce you when you engage someone. At least in Age of Empires II you could give the allied AI towns simple commands like "Attack now!", "Give me a hand, I'm under attack" and "Build a navy". I wish I could, for example, tell the British that "I'm planning to go into Norway with this force here, can you help me out or do you have your hands full?".

In other news, I've deployed a mountaineer infantry brigade in the mountains and I'm fairly close to deploying two more. Have a feeling the war will be over before I get to raise another army of any significant strength, though.

Hottentot

09-23-12, 10:43 AM

Really wish this game allowed me to coordinate things with AI allies more. Both the Paradox games and the Civ series suffers greatly due to this flaw -- there's no way to know what your friends are up to, and no way to do any real teamwork other than helping them where you see them attack and hope that they'll reinforce you when you engage someone. At least in Age of Empires II you could give the allied AI towns simple commands like "Attack now!", "Give me a hand, I'm under attack" and "Build a navy". I wish I could, for example, tell the British that "I'm planning to go into Norway with this force here, can you help me out or do you have your hands full?".

I've had similar experiences in the Darkest Hour lately. I win and the Britons lose. The bad thing is, that the Brits happen to be my allies and they lose all the stuff they so boldly rushed to defend after I first kicked everyone else out of there.

The DH is otherwise good, but I dislike how strict it is with history. I make living from history, I don't want it making my spare time silly too. Like I was just recently playing as the Soviets and decided to bring socialism to Finland, this time avoiding the mistakes they fortunately made in real life. It worked like a charm. Then I got an event saying that the Finnish Winter War turned out to be a horrible mistake for the Red Army and a bloody stalemate. It offered me an option to back off. A horrible mistake and a bloody stalemate? My troops were occupying their capital and steaming towards the Western coast, the Finns didn't offer any sort of organized resistance anymore and no one was coming to help them. By what logic is that a "bloody stalemate"? Not to mention that I started the war in May and it ended in June...

Likewise the game at least so far has offered little alternatives to really try alternative history scenarios. Sure, you can by event create a communist Germany instead of a Nazi one, but otherwise the sliders can be moved so rarely that even if you start in 1933, it's not possible to create, say, a fascist England and join forces with Germany. Or a communist United States and become the best friend of the Soviets. Unless I'm missing something, in which case I would be very happy.

On the other hand: Germany guaranteeing the independence of Finland in 1930s? Huh?

Krauter

09-23-12, 03:10 PM

Safe-Keeper

09-23-12, 05:36 PM

Didn't know/remember that, will have to keep that in mind. Thanks!

Safe-Keeper

09-26-12, 11:22 AM

Now we're talking!

http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r292/safe-keeper/2012-09-26_00001.jpg

The UK landed an invasion in western Europe and have so far liberated Belgium the Netherlands and Luxemburg. They are encountering fierce resistance from multiple Axis nations, but they're holding the line, possibly because the Germans are busy in the east, where the Reds (worryingly) have almost reached Poland and the Baltic States.

I hope the invasion doesn't falter... the UK did a suicide invasion of Italy for reasons unknown at one point, but this one looks like it more going for it. I'm trying to contribute with what I have.

http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r292/safe-keeper/2012-09-26_00004.jpg

Screw you Roosevelt, we don't need you:hmph:.

Safe-Keeper

09-26-12, 05:24 PM

So we're advancing, we Norsemen lost another battle (whowouldathunkit), Soviet surrendered, and Italy is bragging about her eight million bayonets, which doesn't bode well for anyone. I would elaborate, but I sorta got demotivated when I saw this:

http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r292/safe-keeper/damnyousteam.png

**** you, Steam:/\\!!.

Safe-Keeper

09-26-12, 06:59 PM

The surrender of the Soviet Union has one fairly major benefit, however: The Japanese, who had been eating through Siberia for ages and had made it disturbingly close to Europa, have pulled their murderous brutes home and set their sights on other targets:[Pretend there is a screenshot of a "Japan declares Limited War against the United States of America" dialogue box here:3]
YESSSSS! FI-NAH-LLY!!

I envision a response akin to this:

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/12/123339/2559822-godzilla1.jpeg
"I was trying to sleep, you sunofa***** japs!"

Hottentot

09-27-12, 12:15 PM

[Snipped world map screenshot]

Off topic: please tell me you are using some kind of map mod and the name of Soviet Union isn't actually written like that in the vanilla game?

Raptor1

09-27-12, 12:19 PM

Off topic: please tell me you are using some kind of map mod and the name of Soviet Union isn't actually written like that in the vanilla game?

That's how it normally is; countries that are part of the Comintern have the faux cyrillic font in the stock game (only on the map though, all the other text uses normal English). It's pretty easy to mod it, though.

Hottentot

09-27-12, 12:27 PM

That's how it normally is; countries that are part of the Comintern have the faux cyrillic font in the stock game (only on the map though, all the other text uses normal English). It's pretty easy to mod it, though.

*Facepalm*

*Another facepalm for a good measure*

*What the heck, throw a third one in while I'm at it*

Bad Paradox! Bad! No treat for you! Now write on the chalkboard 100 times: "I will learn that the letter looking like backwards N has not, in fact, anything to do with letter N. The letter N is similar to letter H. I will also promise not to use the letter looking like backwards R as a substitute for the actual letter R. The letter R is the letter resembling letter P."

Sorry. An eternal pet peeve of mine. Carry on, please.

Safe-Keeper

09-27-12, 12:47 PM

Off topic: please tell me you are using some kind of map mod and the name of Soviet Union isn't actually written like that in the vanilla game? I wish I was using some kind of troll mod, but no, that's how it is by default.

Krauter

09-27-12, 08:02 PM

Wow Soviets surrendered? You're going to have some troubles.

Safe-Keeper

09-28-12, 12:49 PM

Ya... got Germans invading my country now, I have enough people to hold the capital (Oslo, in the southeast) for now, but I don't have troops elsewhere in the country because they were sent to fight in Europe in the Allied offensive (and never returned). I made a gamble based on the going of the war, and didn't count on Germany's Axis allies putting up such fierce resistance and the Russians suddenly surrendering.

The British force has been pushed back into the sea, and the Germans are now capturing Norway province by province. I don't know if I should leave my capital to try to intercept them or stay and defend my capital. Looks like I'll have to go for the former, even though it'll leave Oslo poorly defended, which might provoke a German invasion in that direction. Looks like it's up to the States to save our hides, the British seem to be busy licking their wounds.

We're in for some rough times, methinks:nope:.

Edit: either way, definitely playing this 'til the end. I ain't giving up.

Safe-Keeper

10-09-12, 09:00 PM

Okay, gave up on that game when most of Norway had been taken over and there was no sign of help coming from the US. They could have launched an invasion at some point, but to be honest, just sitting there as a government-in-exile waiting for someone to save us while doing nothing didn't sound too tempting, so I put that game on ice.

Started another game and joined the Allies in early 1940. Hungry for resources and IC, I declared war on Sweden, expecting to quickly steamroll their non-mobilized troops and conquer their country virtually overnight.
They insta-joined the Axis and screamed to the Germans for help, and my invasion force was met with a wall of German soldiers. They stopped my advance cold and proceeded to drive me back and take Oslo. Then my computer restarted to install system updates out of nowhere. Probably not going to get back into that game.

I think a mistake I made was trying to march across Sweden from Oslo for Stockholm. Building a transport flotilla and having it sail into the Bay under escort to deliver a division from the sea, would've let me take the capital in no time. The Swedes might have surrendered right away, then.

Question: does your faction allegiance make a difference when declaring war? Did the Swedes join the Axis automatically because I declared war as an Allied nation? Would it be safer to invade and conquering Sweden before joining the Allies?

Still haven't gotten a mic (I won't get money until the 15th), so I think I'll do one more "practice game" before I start the LP. The start date will still be Sept 1st and I'll still play as the Norwegians. Stay tuned:O:!

Kremmen

10-10-12, 02:25 PM

Bad luck with your campaigns,looking forward to your lp.Do you plan to get TFH before you start the lp ?

Safe-Keeper

10-10-12, 03:20 PM

Possibly. Don't know if getting into a new x-pack, possibly with bugs and whatnot, is a good idea, so probably not.

Tried invading Sweden without first joining the Allies, it's working like a charm so far :3. Have taken a coastal city by landing a division from the sea, and I've also captured that strategic resource (forgot what it was, supposed to be doing schoolwork right now :P ) in the north, and I've got a third division storming towards Stockholm as we speak:yeah:. We mobilized before declaring war, so we invaded with a full-strength army, whereas Sweden had reserves that have proven no match for us so far. The country will be ours before long:arrgh!:.

Safe-Keeper

10-10-12, 05:40 PM

Or not. We failed to hold Göteborg and also met an overwhelming army at Stockholm. We sued for peace and were immediately invaded by Germany.

I'm starting to get why there aren't more minor power LPs/AARs. This is tough:rotfl2:.

Krauter

10-10-12, 07:06 PM

Safe-Keeper

10-10-12, 08:28 PM

I pretty much have the divisions I started with (about 9 brigades), and they're pretty much at the starting (1918) tech level, so... I think I'm going down. Will probably have to restart the game again:O:, and invade with a bigger and faster army next time.

Krauter

10-11-12, 08:49 AM

Just keep using infantry, maybe some mountain divisions. If they're 1918 you won't stand up to anyone though. Get them up to 1938 or 1940 techs and you're good.

Safe-Keeper

10-13-12, 01:22 PM

Mhm, in my last game I got (among other things) the four infantry techs up to 2, 3 and 4 if I recall correctly. That is, AT, light support, small arms, etc. Since I've got such a long coastline and typically see a lot of shoreline combat, I should probably upgrade my cruisers' guns to make the shore bombardment bonus more powerful than the meager 6% I'm currently getting (and that's when I combine both my cruisers :O:). Will probably help a lot.

Safe-Keeper

10-15-12, 10:27 PM

Got a bit tired of playing as the Norsemen, so decided to have a go as the Russians instead. It's a hog, just one big everlasting ground battle, but I'm having fun so far. Though I think I would have gotten my butt kicked if I had been playing on normal:O:. It's fun to have an IC of 270+ all of a sudden after spending so much time as the leader of a nation where I'm ecstatic if I can push my capacity up to 30:haha:.

Have stopped the German advance somewhat and gone on the offensive at several places along the fronts, and have even achieved a breakthrough or two. Trying the classic "punch a hole in their lines and storm their hinterland with fast units" trick. Again, having a proper military at your disposal is sooo much fun. Think I'll do Japan in the near future, as I know I'll get to really play with all kinds of units with them, from infantry to planes to carriers.

In other news, I just got this month's student loan payout, so there might be an LP coming soon. Maybe, maybe:03:!

Safe-Keeper

10-18-12, 01:13 PM

Spread Communism to Romania:yeah:! Though I don't know for how long they will remain neutral, they're one tiny country and will probably soon be invaded or rejoin the war. Or perhaps not. Don't know enough about how this system works, to be honest. Either way, I hope they Romanian troops will be out of the fight long enough for me to reorganize and reinforce my badly hammered front line (especially in the south, where the majority of the offensive was done by Romanians), or maybe even do a little offensive fighting?

Oh, and another thing I'm wondering about? Is there an easier way to get an overview of, and give orders to your army in a given territory than selecting divisions with your mouse (be it through clicking or click-dragging)?
I'm asking because I'm tired of not being able to see how many divisions are in an area other than by hovering my mouse over that territory, and I'm tired of selecting a Stack of Doom and seeing a looooong list that disappears off the bottom of the screen, making it really hard for me to get an overview and direct troops :( .

Krauter

10-18-12, 05:19 PM

Hmm, I know for me, when I want to move large troops around I just select the Corps HQ, under that it says how many divisions it has. Click on that and you select the entire Corps (Same for armies, AG and theatres). Aside from that, put your HQs on Ai and give them an objective.

Safe-Keeper

10-18-12, 09:15 PM

I just found out that when you've selected a stack of doom, you can click the little crosses in the top-right corner of each division banner to remove it from the selection screen.

I always just assumed they disbanded the unit or something 'til I clicked one accidentally today:haha:.

I'm trying to play with as little AI interference as possible, the only exception at the moment is trade, which I'm letting the computer handle for me as it's just too much micromanagement to do it by myself.

andritsos

10-24-12, 05:01 AM

Krauter

10-24-12, 09:29 AM

Just bought HOI 3 Collection after reading all the AAR over there and that i started some time before practising a little bit with such games liek pride of nations.

Do you know if there are any nice manuals up there or perhaps mods that add even more accuracy to units and historical events? ( countries like japan/asian nations, or for countries like Italy and so on?)

Now have to confront myself on starting to learn the game thing that it takes quite some time :know: compared to the average game that i just need to press some buttons :rock:

http://www.paradoxian.org/hoi3wiki/Main_Page

http://www.paradoxian.org/hoi3wiki/Mods

http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?415-Hearts-of-Iron-3&

http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?467-DiDay-s-I.C.E.-Iron-Cross-Edition

http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?547777-MOD-Realistic-Unit-Progression-Mod-(inspired-by-filefool-s-MNIP)&highlight=Realistic+Unit+Progression

andritsos

10-24-12, 10:57 AM

Thank you :)

Krauter

10-26-12, 10:03 AM

Thank you :)

Anytime

Safe-Keeper

11-16-12, 08:26 PM

Just caved in and bought Their Finest Hour. Seeing that it messed up my Russian play-through (seems it was not entirely save-compatible:O:)

Just had a short run as Germany, starting in Sept. 39. Quit when the game crashed after I accidentally declared war on the USSR (by guaranteeing Finland's independence -- I thought that when the Soviets invaded I would get an EU3 "do you want to honour your promise and declare war" dialogue box, but no, Germany declared war automatically, with all my panzers on the western front ready to invade France and only a token German defense force along the Soviet lines:shifty:).

I responded by lend-leasing the Finns 60 ICs, and they proceeded to run down the Russians stationed at the Mannerheim line for then to start marching into the Rodina:D. I think I'll grow to like the LL system (and the new spy system), they truly open up a whole new level of indirect support, even though I worry that the LL system might be seriously overpowered in that any minor outpost can become a major powerhouse practically overnight. I like the ability to see historical battle plans outlaid on the map, too, helps me plan my invasions and will probably also be of huge help in any multiplayer matches I might engage in, too.

I swear, though, the mind****s this game lays down are just mindblowing. Such as British subs hunting German convoys ferrying supplies from Boston:rotfl2:.