HoI2:DD:A is a real time World War 2 grand strategy game. While initially the game's timeframe went from 0:00 January 1, 1936 to 23:00 December 31, 1945, the Doomsday and Armageddon expansion packs have enabled you to play all the way to sometime in the 60s.
We're not playing this into the sixties, because that's boring.
Anyway, the game's focus is on a large scale, with the smallest unit you are able to directly command being a division or squadron. Capital ships are the exception as they are represented individually. You place leaders in command of these various forces. They all have different effects that vary from reducing the amount of supplies the units under their command require or providing a combat bonus in mountainous terrain.
Research is pretty simple. Your tech teams have a number that ranges from 1 to 9 that is essentially how good (and expensive) they are. 9 is the best. All tech teams have specialties that give them bonuses on research projects featuring that particular field.
Also, all technologies have a "historic date," which means that if you try to research it in a year before it was discovered in reality then you will receive a penalty.
I'll deal with the economy stuff later. It's not nearly as complicated as other Paradox games since the focus in Hearts of Iron is warfare.
Now that most of that crap is out of the way...
We also need to pick a country. My personal favorite is Brazil, chardok suggested Poland, and Havokeff picked Japan. So, I'll put up a poll for a few days to choose which country I burn down around me. If you have another country you'd prefer, go ahead and post it in the thread.
Brazil Historical Info
After slavery was abolished in 1888, the republicans gained much support from all parts of the Brazilian empire. In 1889 the revolt began with a revolt of a military garrison and ended with the declaration of the Republic of Brazil. The 1891 constitution was patterned after the U.S. constitution, granting considerable autonomies to the respective provinces. Under the first elected presidents the domestic situation stablized, but Brazil got into the cycle of economic crisis - Sugar Crisis 1890, Coffee Crisis 1896, end of the rubber boom 1913. Meanwhile, Brazil's foreign minister, Baron Do Rio branco extended the Brazilian territory through a series of treaties with British-Guyuna, Colombia, Bolivia, Peru, and Uruguay. The country's territory grew by over 250,000 square miles.
Growing industries and a high influx of immigrants led to a strong industrial porletariat, changing the society of Brazil. The flourishing exports after World War One came to an end with the Great Depression of 1929/30, especially when the prices for coffee and rubber plummeted. A movement of social reformist officers caled "Tenentismo" took advantage of the situation, supporting the revolution of Getulio Dorneles Vargas who established an authoritarian rule with strong presidential powers and highly reduced autonomies of the federal states, turning Brazil into a dictatorship by and by.
Poland Historical Info
Until the end of the Great War, there was no Poland. What had been Polish territory had been carved up between Austria, Russia, and Prussia at the end of the 18th century, and in the face of scattered uprising throughout the 19th those three nations continued to hold on to their Polish territory.
By 1918, however, the Poles found themselves in the uniquely fortuitous position of having all of their former subjugators collapse around them as Russia fell into revolution while Germany and Austria were defeated by the Allies. Not wasting any time, the Polish leader Jozef Pilsudski declared an independent Poland on November 11th, 1916, and after a bitter war to hold off the newly formed Soviet state, Poland was officially a free nation.
Though it had lost its Democratic regime to a coup in 1926, Poland was prospering by 1936, with the standard of living improving, unemployment falling, and the economy recovering nicely. Yet, Poland's fate seems increasingly uncertain as it finds itself sandwiched between Soviet Russia and a resurgent Germany, both of which would enjoy seeing Poland disappear from the map.
Lastly, I will be playing the 1936 scenario, so history will get raped up the ass (unless I'm Poland, which will likely end in disaster). During the LP I'll mostly be doing screenshots and captions though I might do a couple videos. Though those will likely just be to show gameplay or illustrate a point, since this is hardly the Crysis of strategy games.Japan Historical Info
The only non-western country to successfully negotiate the transition from a traditional economy and society to an advanced industrial nation-state, Japan did well out of the First World War, occupying the former German Pacific island chains and clearly advancing its claim to be the preeminent power in Asia. But financial misfortunes during the 1920s destabilized Japan's civilian parliamentary government, and led the way for a series of bloody coups and assassinations by extreme nationalist military leaders.
An increasing concern at the country's poor raw materials base, essential for the subjugation of further colonial territory, led the military to attack Manchuria in 1931 - part of Japan's long standing aim of achieving hegemony over China. This brought material rewards but also loud complaints from the western democracies, which now seemed increasingly hostile towards Japan's strategic goals.
Japan in 1936 stands at a crossroads with many options but no straightforward path. Should it press ahead with a full-scale assault on China, regardless of how vast a task that might be? Is an offensive against Soviet Siberia a better long-term plan? Or how about the oil and rubber-rich provinces of South East Asia? The Americans may prove dangerous foes, they too must be taken into account.
I'll also be importing people in as generals, so ahead and tell me if you'd rather be a ground, naval, or air leader and I'll get you in there. A picture would be good too since otherwise it just has a blank silhouette for your portrait. If not, I'll just use your avatar or something, I don't know.
Edit: Hell, I'll make tech teams out of people too, if you like. You can be both, though if you're a leader and tech team your research specialties will deal with doctrine. Otherwise you can request your team's proficiency (aeronautics, nuclear physics, etc). Whatever team you are will be congruent with that nation's other teams, so if you guys pick a country with idiots then your team will be too.
