Where to turn? [Germany, GD1938]

[ernieschwitz]

First of all thanks for reading this post.

I would like to begin a thread on the topic of which way Germany, in GD 1938, should turn its attention and when. Should it do a Hitler like gamble, take on Poland... Should they go for Czechoslovakia... or focus on just going westwards taking the Low Countries... or is the best strategy going northwards, towards Denmark, Sweden and Norway?

What is your take? What is your strategy? Speaking in General terms of course.

[Twotribes]

Fix it so that Germany is not swamped if she waits.

[ernieschwitz]

I am going to ignore that remark, since I disagree with the assumptions behind the question. I believe Germany can still win if she waits. UNLESS she waits a very long time. Besides if Germany didn´t have to compete with time, early on, what would be the challenge of trying to win? Wouldn´t it just be Germany that won no matter what?

[ironduke1955]

All decisions tend to be based on Who? (Who you are up against) Why? (What are your victory conditions) The who relates to if you invade Poland you cannot rely on the French and British conducting a Phoney war,
as they did historically. With the use of some imagination the French and British could make quite a mess of Western Germany while the German army were away on their jolly in Poland and Czechoslovakia.
So who are you up against will the Germans return from Poland to find they don't have a country anymore.
Why, is does the option you are taking push forward your victory conditions,
this my least important reason for action since its a abstraction and does not often have any bearing to what is happening in the actual game.

Lifted this info, though the Knotted Rope (Wellington) and the superb harness (Napoleon) analogy has always stayed in my mind.

"Wellingtons plans were to be best thought of as tatty old bits of harness which could be knotted and pieced back together whenever anything snapped or fell off.
For Napoleon, perhaps the single most important factor in a campaign’s success was to be found in one of his favourite maxims: “activité, activité, vitesse, vitesse.
” This is best translated by recalling Stonewall’s words about surprising and mystifying your enemy – or in other words, acting quicker than they did and generally getting a move on."

Combined these two military mode's of acting. Give you a reasonably good basis for action.

By the way this year being the 200 anniversary of the battle of waterloo what PC game covering the battle of Waterloo will you be playing on June the 18th. I will go back to winding up my fellow Brits, by reminding them that for every one British soldier in Belgium there were seven Germans, including the Prussians, so tell me again who won the battle of Waterloo the Germans or the British.[;)]

[ernieschwitz]

I would have to agree with that sentiment, on a general basis.

I think alot in resources, I think. The reason for me pushing eastwards, would be to ensure resources for the upcoming war(s), that I was sure to run into. Of course there might be other reasons, like choosing a victory condition, but like you, i find that a victory conditon is a long term goal, not a short term one.