WWIII 1946

[Hairog]

I've been developing a storyline for a giant campaign of WWIII that starts in 1946. It has been geared towards a flight simulator IL2 1946. Here is the readmme for the first pilot career.

"Storyline for 1946 WWIII

Introduction

January 23, 1946

Stalin's former allies have demobilized entire armies and have sent many of their armed forces home. The US and England have a fraction of their former forces stationed on the European mainland and have shown no backbone in resisting Soviet incursions. The only thing holding Stalin back from his vision of a communist Europe dominated by the USSR is the fear of the American nuclear bomb.

He has seen the devastation it has brought to the Empire of Japan. Although he has no doubt that his armed forces can storm through the blasted hulk of the former Germany and France he is held in check by the fear of nuclear destruction from the skies.


To intimidate Stalin further the US has based a squadron of B29 Super Fortresses in West Germany. The B29 is an offensive weapon not a defensive weapon. It is a first strike weapon. This only fuels Stalin's paranoia.

In addition his former allies are gathering far too many of the German scientists and their wonder weapons and stealing them away to work on even more destructive weapons and delivery systems.

Comrade Stalin needs to create a buffer so that the motherland is never subject to attack again. His vision is that all future wars will be fought in the no mans land that is the former Nazi homeland and he is convinced that there will be more wars despite the American atomic bomb. It's all a matter of where and when these wars will be fought because Capitalism and Communism cannot occupy the same space.

Some say the second atomic bomb that was dropped on Nagasaki was a demonstration for Stalin's benefit and to reinforce the power of the atom bomb in his mind. In addition it was to demonstrate that America has not only one but many bombs and is ready to use them. The plan has worked until today.

Today Stalin receives word through his spy master and massive network of agents that American has a total of only 6 nuclear bombs. Previously he believed that they had many more and this fear is the only thing that kept his paranoia and ambitions in check. With this news the plan for the domination of Western Europe begins.

No longer will the West be allowed to dictate it's will on the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and Stalin. He will once and for all remove the threat to Mother Russia. No longer will there be a gun pointed at his head from West Germany.

A massive and very well concealed mobilization begins.

As a Major in the USAAF you have flown over 100 combat missions in both Europe and the Mediterranean. Because of your special status your official victory score is top secret due to the nature of you assignments.

You have been assigned to a special unit that is working on former German Wonder Weapons that are in our possession. Your specific assignment is to assess the combat capabilities of the various weapons platforms. As such you will be helping to design and test in any future combat situations, America's newest weapons systems."

The almost complete storyline is here... http://www.mission4today.com/index.php? ... 15&start=0

Can this game be be used to fight out this alternative history? Can you extend the game past 1945 into 1948 even?

[Razz1]

Stalin would never go to war with 4 Nuclear bombs waiting.

[Hairog]

I disagree.

The 4 nukes available in 1946 were very clumsy and hard to use and in relative terms quite small. It took 90 days to assemble them and then they had to be used within 8 days. The Joint Chiefs of Staff estimated that it would take 70 of these early bombs to defeat the massive Soviet Army and bring down Stalin.

The four bombs could only take out 4 cities and you would have to fly over a thousand miles through, some say, the best air defense system in the world at the time, against the largest air force ever created.

Stalin could have run through the burnout hulk of Western Europe in a mater of months and by doing so put even more distance between himself and the 4 nukes that can only be delivered by the B29.

I think it's very probable that he would have taken the chance if he found out that we only had 4 and how hard they were to use.

Thanks for the input though.

[Hairog]

Can this game be be used to fight out this alternative history? Can you extend the game past 1945 into 1948 even?

[Uxbridge]

It's very easy to make a set-up as you suggest, with a later period, new countries and new order of battles. It won't play out as you describe, though; not with the present game system.

[Hairog]

Thanks Uxbridge. Good to know. You seem to be able to mod this game pretty easily. Keep up the great work.

[Hairog]

Need some help please.

I believe that I can't make hide nor hair of the information that I bring up in Excel for the different .cvn files is because of the difference between the European ; and the US , delineated problem.

Yet when I change all the ; to , it still is unreadable. What else do I have to do?

[Bleck]

Changing default system delimiter to ';' should be enough, check:
http://www.ozgrid.com/forum/showthread.php?t=134498

[Hairog]

Thanks Bleck. I'll give that a try. I didn't export it so maybe that was the problem.

[Hairog]

Uxbridge has given me a great start on this scenerio. I'm trying to slog through it now. Having trouble getting the Soviet forces to be placed in East Germany. Yes Uxbridge has made East and West Germany. Very Cool Uxbridge. [&o]

[doomtrader]

Having trouble getting the Soviet forces to be placed in East Germany

What kind of troubles?

[Hairog]

I figured it out. They were there but I was looking at the area as the US and therefore couldn't see them. Duh.

To save time I've taken the forces that are available in Gotterdam... scenario and copied them into Uxbridge's spread sheet that he created for me. Then I've just moved them around to where I want them using massive amounts of SMP and them took that save game and replaced the original setup with my saved game one. So far it's working pretty good. Is there a better way then what I'm doing or then figuring out each hex and typing them in?

Also I'm starting to mess around with the diplomacy options and it is Greek to me. Is there any tutorial or words of advice. I need it to look like the situation was in 1946 and reflect the options and choices the countries had at the time. Quite frankly the diplomacy aspect of this great game has always been a mystery. Why can't any country declare war on any other country at any time for example. I just don't get the logic behind the diplomacy points and especially how you gain them.

This is a fun project and it will be a fun filled "what if". Anyone care to join me?

[doomtrader]

Is there any tutorial or words of advice. I need it to look like the situation was in 1946 and reflect the options and choices the countries had at the time

This is pretty hard and probably should be scripted in events.

Why can't any country declare war on any other country at any time for example.

It has been made to reflect reality. Do you agree that every country can declare war any time in Real world?

I just don't get the logic behind the diplomacy points and especially how you gain them.

This is put in the countries.csv

[Hairog]

Especially in a "what if" type scenario you need to have the flexibility to make any choice even if it is suicidal. Most historians agree that it was suicidal for Germany to fight a two front war...yet they did because Hitler was a maniac. I agree there should be severe consequences if you do declare war and it is crazy to do so but in reality I do believe that at anytime a nation should be able to declare war on any other nation or at least attack them.

Recent events would point to that very situation. Reagan attacking Grenada, Bush Panama, The Spanish American War, The second Iraq War, USSR Afghanistan, US Afghanistan, Salvador vs Honduras Soccer wars, Falklands War, etc. A causa belli is very easy to make up(ie) Hitler - Poland, Japan - Manchuria, Japan - US was a pretty crazy move but you should be allowed to do it unless you goal is to recreate WWII just as it happened and that's not a "what if".

For now I'll just have all the countries I want to fight each other start out at war and we'll forget diplomacy until I can figure it out.

Thank you for your help so far this is a great game. I love it.

[Hairog]

Here are some more ideas on WWIII 1946.

I would like to use the stock map and counters so more people can play it without having to mess with too many mods.

Here is the premise and setup. This by the way is based on an actual US Joint Chiefs of Staff War Plan called the Pincher series. In particular Plan Griddle.

Look up a book called Fighting World War Three From the Middle East by Michael J. Cohen

1. For what ever reason Stalin decides to attack Western Europe in May, 1946. Maybe his former allies force his hand or he over reacts to some provocation or he's just mean.
2. He has kept his forces mostly intact from the end of the war with Germany.Soviets had 208 ground divisions, 93 of which were in Europe for a total of 4.5 million men under arms. In addition there were over 100 divisions of Eastern European satellites. Within 30 days they could have over 10 million men under arms. Within 150 days they could have 15 million. They had over 15000 combat aircraft including 11 bomber regiments and 3300 satellite combat planes.
3. The Allies (US, France, England) have demobilzed to the extent that they have only 20 under strength divisions and 2 full divisions in Europe. From a peak of 10 million the US is down to 3 million world wide 1.4 in the army, 1 million in the navy and marines and a half a million in the Army Air Corps. Again this is world wide.
4. The PPs in Germany are near zero.
5. The PPs in France are very low.
6. The PPs in the US are at an all time high and only going to get larger.
7. The PPs in the Soviet Union are stagnant with no chance of increase. Basically they can just maintain what they already have militarily.
8. After the Soviets attack the Germans join the Allies with a few divisions.
9. The Newly formed NATO Allies have a few tricks up their sleeves
Massive naval power. In 1946 the US Navy had 24 Battleships, 42 Carriers, and literally thousands of Destroyers and Cruisers. Most were still activated and not demobilized like the Army and Marines.
The British still had over 500 front-line ships with 23 fleet carriers and 7 battleships.
Everything they need logistically to land 3.5 million troops on hostile beaches anywhere in the world. Within months they could have those 3.5 million men back in uniform and ready to invade anywhere. These are troops and equipment that were gathered and trained for the invasion of Japan and never used.
A huge strategic bomber and fighter force with close to 2 million trained former pilots and crew that could be available within months of hostilities.
6 Atomic bombs.
10. The Soviets automatically get 50 divisions from Manchuria after about 3 months into the war.

The possibilities are endless. I think this could be an all time run away hit and really enhance the audience for this game. It could even lead to a new game. Who knows.

We can do it anyway you want. You could tutor me on how to modify the game or I could help you with certain tasks or you could take my ideas and run with them.

If you haven't run across some of my posts on other gaming sites I have been developing a massive campaign for a flight simulator IL2 1946. It started out just a way to try and use some of the weird German wonder weapons and early jets that were present in the game but never used by anyone. Then I ran across the book I mentioned and decided to expand the project. So far I have a USAAF Fighter pilot campaign and I am almost done with a Soviet Fighter pilot campaign. It's been a good time and I have gather a collaborator who is helping me.

I think this "what if" will be one of the greatest “what ifs” of all time. I mean it's got Nukes (and what gamer doesn't like nukes?) yet not too many as to make it silly... just interesting.

The storyline I put forth is just my idea of what the Allies could possibly do and I of course have no idea how the Soviets would respond. .

I think you could win this very easily as the Soviet player. I think the burden is on the Allies myself.

What I want to create is the forces that each side had along with the strategic options they might have had. What the players do with them and how they use them is up to them. This is like WWII on steroids. Each side can do from the outset of WWIII what was only imagined by the combatants at the beginning of WWII.

I really think that if the setup mirrors the reality of 1946 the strategic options are virtually endless. Much more then the real situation in WWII.

Take for example the Japanese. Their fate was sealed from the start as seen by most historians, yet people endlessly play and create simulations that try and play out their options.

Sit back and imagine this scenario...

The Soviets have an advantage in certain areas.
1. Manpower
2. Tactical airpower
3. Potential PPs once the Western European factories are repaired.
4. Land access to the Middle East and it's oil
5. The ability to deny that same oil to the Allies.

and have or can gain parity in others.

1. Research
2. PPs
3. Mobility

The Allies have immediate advantages in...
1. Mobility
2. Invasion forces
3. Strategic airpower
4. Naval forces
5. PPs
6. Research
7. 6 A Bombs

and can gain parity in
1. manpower
2. Tactical airpower

This is a classic Rock, Paper, Scissors and nukes situation of you ask me. Much more than even the real thing in WWII.

Imagine the initial stages. Soviets running rampant everywhere. The Allies having to pick and choose where to stand and fight. Then the Soviets have to consolidate their gains and increase PPs. Then the Allies have to decide where and how they are going to counter attack if at all. Then the Soviets have to try and anticipate where the counter attack will come. Both sides will have to decide where to spend their research dollars. The Allies will have to time their attack so it is before the Soviets start to reap huge rewards for their captured PPs yet if they attack too soon they might not be strong enough.

I see the possibilities as being endless myself.

Come to think of it this is what WWII was all about with a few extra wrinkles. Only this time the Soviets don't have to worry about a two front war.

I would like this not to be just a PBEM game but make it available with viable AI and as unmodded as possible. I want this to be as wild a ride as the players want and not have them be forced into limited choices

[doomtrader]

I wonder where it leads.

[Hairog]

Well we will never know until someone helps me with the diplomacy and special events.  [;)]

[doomtrader]

You can always start a thread:
Hairog's events questions to developers [;)]

[Hairog]

Oh alright.  [:D]