My Civ 4 attempt to conquer the world

[Tsar Alexander]

*From my play through of Civilization 4, Beyond the Sword, Road to War mod. Hope you find it mildly entertaining. Also, a lot of this is from memory, so it may not be totally accurate, enjoy

 

Prologue

 

Germany, 1939:

 

-Invasion of Poland. Poland falls by the end of the year as German forces slice through like a hot knife through butter. Eastern portions of Poland given to the USSR, as I simply have trouble

 

maintaining enough influence to maintain control of those areas.

 

1940:

 

-The western allies did not react to the Polish invasion. However, in order to secure general German security, France (and thusly, the Netherlands and Belgium, along with all the other non fascist

 

continental European nations) were invaded, and either taken over wholesale, or in the case of France, a puppet fascist government installed. Britain remains neutral, and Germany gladly lends the

 

British Empire money and resources to placate her. America is mad, but is in no position to intervene. Norway is also invaded and taken over, though Sweden "steps in" and obstructs German forces,

 

delaying the total take over of Norway by at least a few months. This does not lead to any armed conflict however.

 

1941:

 

-Much the same as 1940, though Italy and Spain invade France, and I cannot seem to really stop them. Preparations are made for the big pinnacle of Nazi ideology, the acquiring of Lebensraum in

 

the east. Three army groups are formed. Each Army group consists of at least one tank "unit", numerous infantry units, and an air HQ consisting of both fighters and bombers. I do not bother

 

building towed artillery for two reasons, one, it takes production resources away from tanks and planes, and two, towed artillery slows down army group thrusts quite a bit. Use of airpower allows

 

Blitzkrieg to continue. German plans call for the elimination of most of the Red Air Force, which is stationed on the borders, and what is left well be dealt with by experienced German pilots.

 

Each army group is assigned a final objective:

 

Army Group North (HQ Konigsberg): Capture of Leningrad, destruction of Soviet access to the Baltic sea.

 

Army Group Center (HQ Warsaw) : Capture of Moscow. General seizure of central Russian cities to advance a general front line. Secondary objective after Moscow is to continue pushing through

 

central Russia to cut the USSR in half.

 

Army Group South (HQ Bucharest) : Capture of Caucuses oil to starve Soviet industry.

 

The front opens

 

1942:

 

In March of 1942, with winter past, around 2 million German soldiers invade the USSR (and the Baltic states). Army group north captures the Baltic states,and makes it to just outside Leningrad.

 

Army group center is able to capture a few hundred miles of land in the center, but is unable to advance too far partially because of fierce Soviet resistance, but also because army group center

 

was able to capture Moscow using a pathway established by army group north, as opposed to having to fight another path to Moscow . The most success was achieved with army group south. Army group

 

south captured the Ukraine, and was poised to push into the caucuses until winter hit. However, not everything was going well. The Wehrmacht was sustaining horrific losses to the tune of hundreds

 

of thousands while invading the USSR. On top of that, around September 1942, Soviet forces landed in lightly defended Norway, and easily overpowered the light garrison stationed there. As OKH (me)

 

was concerned more with the war in the east, few if any units were sent to Norway, which was seen as a nation that could be retaken once Russia herself was subdued. Meanwhile, France erupted into

 

revolt, and the government attempted to reconvert to Democratic ideals. This necessitated a second invasion of France to reinstall a fascist government. While the French could not really stop the

 

German war machine, they resisted bitterly, keeping troops occupied in France that could have otherwise have been used in Russia. Moscow is captured by the end of the year, and OKH believes

 

(falsley) that Russia has been basically cut in half.

 

Branch Reports:

 

Heer: Land forces caught and maintained momentum against inferior Soviet forces, though at the expense of major manpower losses in the infantry.

 

Luftwaffe: Strong air force that dominates the skies. Able to severely weaken any resistance via bombing before a Heer thrust.

 

Kriegsmarine: Small naval force, used to support some operations in Norway. Not able to expand as most German port cities are unproductive compared to their heartland counterparts, making

 

procurement of new ships difficult.

 

Towards the end of 1942, with severe losses being sustained, the gigantic one million man force in the west, with the dual duties of policing France and being prepared to repel any possible

 

Anglo-American invasion, is largely withdrawn to the east to help replace losses.

 

1943:

 

The year starts off as a strong one for the Wehrmacht. The Heer completes it's drive into the caucuses, capturing the oil, and basically shutting off the spigot to Russia. Successes are racked up.

 

the OKH is confident of victory being near. But three things were underestimated:

 

-Just how large Russia exactly was. Owing to poor military intelligence (an area the OKH had not bothered to invest in in the prewar years), and lack of real reconnaissance flights, the assumption

 

was the capture of Moscow would cut Russia in half, thus allowing each army group to simply pick off remaining forces. However, the Russians had built many cities beyond Moscow, thus keeping lines

 

of communications open.

 

-Slavic resiliency: Germany had captured the oil. But the Russians fought on. Where tanks could not be built, anti tank guns and towed artillery were built. Where planes to defend airspace could

 

not be built, thousands of anti air guns were.

 

-The western allies: Britain and America had had enough. The false friendship between the British Empire and the Reich was shattered when the two nations issued back to back declarations of war.

 

By mid year, the situation is far less hopeful. In the east, the Wehrmacht has captured all that was set out for it. OKH was confused as to the next move. A half hearted attempt to have a corps

 

sized German unit push even further beyond Moscow is defeated as Russian forces slowly chip away at the force. In the west, England lands forces in the Netherlands. While the invasion is poorly

 

planned, and the Luftwaffe owns the skies, this new reality is not helpful. The force is quickly expelled, but not before Amsterdam, and the possible future production center for a new

 

Kriegsmarine, is damaged. Furthermore, the Anglo-American alliance has total naval supremacy, going so far as to intrude into the Baltic sea. In this year, the terror raids begin, Anglo-American

 

forces landing in German costal cities. While these raids are usually poorly planned, and German forces are able to expel the landing forces quickly, these raids help demoralize the German nation,

 

and put additional strain on the Heer to defend Germany itself now.

 

Branch Reports:

 

Heer: By late 1943, the Heer is having difficulty maintaining sufficient manpower to fulfill all its duties. On the Eastern front, the Heer starts to encounter more trouble as Russia has now began

 

raising gigantic armies of millions of men. Few forces are able to be spared for the western war, meaning terror raids are usually repelled by a hodgepodge of personnel from several city

 

garrisons. Only one or two tank units are at the disposal of the newly formed army "group" west. In Norway, the Soviets continue their slow but steady march southward, inching ever closed to

 

mainland Europe, now joined by Americans and Englishmen.

 

Luftwaffe: The Luftwaffe still maintains air supremacy, however a threat is still at threat, and it is not unheard of for a single Anglo-American bomber to be able to squeeze off a bomb on a

 

German city once in a while.

 

Kriegsmarine: Largely destroyed while conducting a support operation in Norway. What few ships remain retreat to the Baltic sea, but are unable to do much to stop the massive USN and Royal Navy

 

from owning every body of water.

 

German forces had lost some morale, as no clear objective existed in the USSR anymore, however, Adolf Hitler wanted a major operation that would restore decisive German thrusts, and restore

 

purpose to the forces in the east. A Finnish declaration of war briefly routed army group north, Finland was quickly beaten back, and a temporary peace signed. Still, a communist Finland was a new

 

threat to contend with.

 

1944:

 

Kursk. This single city ruined the chance of German domination of Europe. The winter of 1943-1944 came and went. German forces hunkered down for most of the winter. As the thaw began, a decision

 

was made. A large bulge existed in the center of the German lines. One of the main cities behind this bulge was Kursk. While the battle of Moscow was actually quite small... no more than 200,000

 

soldiers on both sides combined, it did show that Germany was losing some of the initiative, as its forces were too spread out and depleted now. However Hitler and the OKH simply viewed this as a

 

loss of vision, the planned offensive at Kursk was meant to bring back the vigor of 1942. Only a few expected failure, and no one expected how severe the coming failure would be. It was assumed

 

that the Heer, along with the Luftwaffe, which still owned the skies, would simply cut through the Russians like butter, and that all that was needed was a concentrated thrust on two sides. It was

 

assumed Russian troops were inherently inferior to their German counterparts, and would be defeated easily. In March of 1944, two years after the invasion began, the remains of a depleted army

 

group center, along with a still massively strong (stronger than ever in fact) army group south proceeded to the town of Kursk to close the bulge.

 

What ensued was a massacre of epic proportions, which shall be broken down here:

 

-Stage one, the traditional bombing of a target before the land forces moved in, failed. The Russians lacked planes, but they made up for this with a gigantic collection of anti air guns. The

 

bombers were only able to inflict mild damage, and most returned to base damaged.

 

-Stage two, the land thrust, led by tons of armor, failed. While the Russians had almost no tanks at Kursk, they did have thousands upon thousands of anti tank guns. The Russians vastly

 

outnumbered the German force. While German forces were able to take out many Russians and their equipment, the scale of the fighting left German forces totally exhausted after round one, and

 

taking severe casualties themselves. However, it looked like as though it might have been a ssalvageable situation, until the Russians sent reinforcements fresh from behind the lines, and began

 

counterattacking. The fresh (and now with better training and equipment) soldiers and gunners were able to slaughter a totally exhausted Heer. Army group south, and the armored remains of Army

 

group center were destroyed. Up to 700,000 German soldiers may have perished in this decisive battle. Russia might have lost just as much, but they could afford those losses. Germany could not.

 

The battle was a total disaster for the Wehrmacht, after Kursk, a long but sure retreat ensued for the Wehrmacht. Hitler and all of the military top brass were severely depressed. However, Hitler

 

did not want peace, even though he still could have obtained it with Stalin. He felt that Army group north still had a chance to regroup, and do battle, and that this was just a temporary setback,

 

and that German industry would catch up and replace the losses incurred at Kursk.

 

In the North, units were withdrawn from garrison duties, and were gathered around the city of Vilinus, forming a force of half a million to a million men. There was to be a final battle that would

 

decide the fate of Germany here... but not yet.

 

Branch Reports

 

Heer: March 1944 was the high water mark of the Heer. With gigantic losses incurred at Kursk, the Heer never really recovered. What future "groups" and armies that would be formed, would consist

 

of regrouped forces drawn from garrison duty from captured cities, leaving these areas exposed, though Russia was often not very bright, and did not attack these cities until later. German

 

industry was simply not able to produce enough infantryman to keep up. The situation with tanks was slightly better however.

 

Luftwaffe: Eastern front air supremacy was maintained, however in the west, British and American pilots, chiseled by a year of war, were getting better. Attacks on the Fatherland became more

 

frequent and severe.

 

Kriegsmarine: In shambles. Unable to effectively do anything at this point.

 

Furthermore, Anglo-American-Soviet forces in Norway were gaining ground. By December, they had captured most of southern Norway. Once the last German troops were destroyed, it was assumed the

 

Americans and Russians would begin landing. Finland also rejoined the war, and began playing a decisive role now. Finnish forces and Russian forces fought side by side, as the USSR had financed a

 

communist revolution in Finland a few years prior.

 

1945:

 

In January 1945, American forces landed in Denmark, quickly taking over. This was not a terror raid. This was an actual, large scale amphibious operation meant to break into Germany. The landings

 

in Denmark terrified Hitler and the OKH/OKW, as the small and flat terrain, as well as small size, left German forces in the west, now also quite weak, little to work with. Hitler frantically

 

tried to get peace with the western allies, but Anglo-American peace terms were considered unacceptable, and just a ruse anyway. After this, Hitler furiously attempted to drag Mussolini and Franco

 

into war, however both of them abstained. Germany was now alone against three great nations. German forces in the west engaged the Americans at Copenhagen, holding them back, but not being able to

 

win a victory as before. Later in the year, British forces landed in the Netherlands, and by this point, the western forces was totally overwhelmed. However, OKH and Hitler insisted the focus

 

needed to remain in the east, as the Russians would do far worse things to Germany than the English or the Americans would. By April 1945, the western allies were poised to break into Germany

 

herself.

 

The western allies finally broke through with this two prong approach, and quickly took over the Rhineland. By the end of 1945, the western allies controlled almost all of western Germany. In the

 

east, the battle of Vilinius was raging, as the Heer waged a defensive campaign, which tied up Finno-Soviet forces for about six months. However, finally, army group north was defeated, and with

 

it, the last large scale force that was able to defend Germany, as well as Germany's last hope. The Russians had neglected the south though, and strangely enough, while Americans were in the

 

Rhineland, Germany still controlled Ukraine, the Caucuses, and the Balkans. The Soviet juggernaut was headed straight for Berlin. It did not have time for these other regions.

 

Branch Reports:

 

Heer: Severley damaged. By the end of 1945, only about one million soldiers remained, opposing 6 million Soviet troops, and millions more Anglo-American troops. Heer troops were scattered and

 

poorly coordinated and weak, compared to a high water mark of 2 to 3 million soldiers in early 1944. The Heer was overwhelmed, and with failure at Vilinus, there were no doubts left about who

 

would win. After Vilinus, peace was also not an option. Stalin was then determined to destroy not just Nazism, but Germany herself.

 

Luftwaffe: Damaged. Retained some capability to protect German airspace. But the both increasing number and quality of allied pilots meant that Germany was being severely bombed. The relative

 

peace of air of 1943 or even 1944 was long gone. The introduction of jet fighters helped little.

 

Kriegsmarine: Destroyed.

 

1946:

 

The year was bleak. The Soviet-Finnic-Anglo-American machine was destroying Germany. No peace was possible with Stalin, and the American's and British were demanding enormous amounts of money that

 

could not be paid to both Britain and America. The USN was also using its edge. American forces had liberated Greece in 1945. In 1946, American forces landed to liberate the rest of the Balkans.

 

Turkey joined the war. Two major battles stand out in this year:

 

Berlin: Close to one million troops were stationed in Berlin. Tired of being purely defensive, and waiting for a sure death, the OKH decided to attempt an attack to destroy a Soviet army, and to

 

try and regain something resembling momentum. This was partially successful in terms of destroying the army, but in the end, the Heer was weakened, and Soviets stormed into Berlin. Hitler fled to

 

the mountains of Bavaria and Austria.

 

Kiev: After the battle of Kursk, the OKH decided the production of towed artillery was to finally commence in large numbers. German forces in the Balkans regrouped in Romania, and with large

 

artillery support, and limited air support, attacked the city of Kiev. The attack was successful initially, destroying a major Soviet airbase, and retaking the city. However a few weeks later the

 

city fell. There were simply not enough soldiers to continue an offensive, nor to defend the city. After this failure, Soviet forces surged into the Balkans. Kiev had shown even when the Wehrmacht

 

could win, it was still losing. A testament to a hopeless situation.

 

By the end of 1946, only a few south German cities and Slovenia remained in German hands.

 

Branch Report:

 

Heer: Virtually destroyed. Down to 300,000 troops by Christmas.

 

Luftwaffe: Destroyed. No fighters and few bombers left by December.

 

Kriegsmarine: Destroyed. Germany did not even control any coastal territories at this point.

 

1947-The end:

 

By January 1st, 1947, Munich was the only major German city left that was still in German hands. 300,000 fanatical Nazis pledged to make a final stand, and to make the allies bleed. In typical

 

Heer fashion, pure defense was not an option. A final, (THE final offensive of any kind of the war) offensive was launched to retake the city of Rhine. The operation succeeded initially in

 

defeating a light American garrison, however, the US Army quickly counterattacked, retook Rhine, and then took over Munich. Germany was now totally destroyed. American forces were simply too

 

large. By February, the last of these fanatics were dead.

 

Nazism was dead. Americans were in Germany, and Russia had turned into a gigantic industrial superpower, while supporting new communist governments in Finland, Norway, and Sweden. America and

 

Russia liked each other in early 1947, but who knew how long that friendship would last? Perhaps the stage was being set for a new war, this time capitalism vs communism, and now with atomic

 

weapons.

 

This world war, however, was essentially over.

 

Branch Report:

 

Heer: Non existent

 

Luftwaffe: Non existent

 

Kriegsmarine: Non existent

 

Luftwaffe: Non existent

 

Germany: Non existent

 

Hope you enjoyed this little strategic tale.

[BTGBullseye]

Now I want to find my Civ4 disk, and reinstall...

[Lord Sinister]

I don't remember history turning out quite like that...

 

An interesting read though.

 

Now I want to find my Civ4 disk, and reinstall...

 

Indeed!

[BTGBullseye]

And probly get that mod too... Sounds interesting.

[ThePest179]

And probly get that mod too... Sounds interesting.

 

I think it comes with the game. I tried something similar, but in the Pacific, with Japan. I had conquered China, took all the French colonies, then attempted to fight the rest of Asia minus Russia (they hadn't entered the war yet). By the time I was losing, my save files got corrupted and I had to delete them.

[BTGBullseye]

Hmmm... Well, I still can't find my Civ4 disk in my stuff, and I'm bored of looking, so I'll just torrent it.

 

[EDIT] I found my disk while I was torrenting... Ceasing torrent in favor of disk.

[BTGBullseye]

Ok, so I installed Civ 4 Complete from the disk, and now I have Civ 3, Civ 4 Complete, Sid Meier's Ace Patrol, (and Pacific Skies) and Sid Meier's Railroads! showing on my Steam account... In addition, there are two each of the games/expansions that make up Civ 4 Complete...

 

 

[EDIT] Ok, so I know where at least one set comes from, the Sid Meier's Humble Bundle, but did Steam just add the ones from my CD install too?

[ThePest179]

DAMN. Can you put it in spoiler tags though?

[BTGBullseye]

It's not even close to stretching the page, especially when you take into account the original post...

[ThePest179]

Well, it's kind of annoying to scroll sideways, but alright.

[BTGBullseye]

Scroll sideways? I specifically made sure it wouldn't stretch the page when I posted it... (stretching the page is horizontal)