After Action Reporter

War! Huh! Wha is it good for?

Well, firstly, it’s great for CONQUERING PORTUGAL! Lets see if we can.

March 1943

On the 6th of March the weather continues to look good.

This is it then, war will be declared at midnight and our troops will cross the border at dawn!

First up – exploitation troops are ordered to cross the border. Those adjacent to the exploitation are ordered to attack and support attack at dawn to ensure our advances proceed unmolested.

By March 12 our plan is progressing well. The Portuguese haven’t been able to respond to our rapid advance and are soon going to face encirclement. Our airforce has met tough competition in the skies, but we outnumber the Portuguese air force and the numbers are starting to tell on the enemy’s performance.

The only downside to our great success is that we’ve run out of energy. Our industrial capacity has dropped due to this and, unfortunately, I can’t find anyone who is willing to trade me energy. Damn.

By the 15th we’ve captured the Azores without facing any resistance and Lisbon is almost surrounded, the bulk of Portuguese forces cut off.

Five days later and the Portuguese main body are trapped in a slim pocket.

On March 25, all but a small pocket of Portuguese troops remain, along with those stuck in Lisbon, which are fighting a desperate and doomed break-out battle.

The pocket is closed

The pocket finally collapses on April 4th after a long and deadly battle.

We’ve also picked up all of Portugal’s island territories, hurrah! Our troop ships are now on their way to West Africa to look for vulnerable targets.

April 1943

Our troops are slowly picking up Portugal’s African provinces. On April 27 we order our motorized infantry and armored car scout corps to ship to west Africa to help speed up the process.

Capturing Angola is easy enough, and pleasingly, it has a province which produces energy, which has resulted in a boost to my economic output. The problem I have now is that my fleets don’ t have the range to reach Easy Africa for an invasion there. The solution? Simple, we’ll send our units in Angola walking across Africa! Thankfully, with the English still providing military access I have a direct land route – I just hope the trip doesn’t exhaust my troops to the point of uselessness.

I have now been made aware of another, concerning problem. The Portuguese own East Timor (and a small piece of West Timor), an Island north of Australia. I am sure it wouldn’t be hard to take – I just have no idea how I’m going to reach there!

Meanwhile, I also have Lisbon to conquer. There is a good stack of troops there, matched by my equally large stack of troops, and at some point soon I really should bite the bullet and knock their capital out. Perhaps the loss of this victory point territory and the ones I am picking up in Africa will be enough to convince them to surrender.

Read on! HOI3 AAR: Viva el Socialismo! – #8