(Ford, General Motors and Chrysler... wait.)
Oh, the leaders of the three factions... right.
So, basically, there are three main factions, each referring to the three main alliances forged during World War II. These are the allies, led by the UK and supported by France, the Axis, led by Germany and a man with eye-burning facial hair and painting skills, and the USSR, led by a man with even more eye-burning facial hair and probably even worse painting skills, and supported by Mongolia and Tannu Tuva, a tiny nation in the back of beyond.
Don't get too sorry for Germany being on its own folks, they get more buddies later on and... well, they're Nazis! Why would you feel sorry for them anyway?!
Anyway, here's the low-down on the British, Germans, and Russians. And I guess I'll include the French too here, even though they're only a member of the allies, not the leader of the alliance.
So thats the Big Four then... shut up.
The UK, leader of the allies, and Gods help them.
Its been a hundred years since Britain was the indisputable superpower and already the poor girl is beginning to feel the strain. India wants out, Pakistan wants a pointed word, the Middle East is wondering if they'll ever get their promised independence after kicking the Ottomans out, Ireland has finally got that nation they've been asking for for the last 400 years, and Germany is more than a little hacked off about that whole Versailles business.
So you'd think this'll be all a happy tale of reconciliation, compromise, reason and partnership, right?
Wrong, its time to summon up the remnants of Britains strength and break heads. Not that German heads are easy to break with those annoying helmets they wear (at least they don't put spikes on them any more.)
And Britain has the means to break heads aplenty. Britain has nigh infinite resources, including the ever precious supplies of oil secured from their "friends" in the middle east, and has the biggest fleet in the game at the start, not to mention a large airforce, and an even bigger industrial base than Germany thanks to 'el Fuhrers mad economix skillz. (Put everyone in the army, that'll solve the economic crisis!) Unfortunately they aren't using that industrial might very well thanks to people being a little sick of the last war and wanting cars and homes instead of bombs and violence... what madness, eh?
If all that doesn't suffice, they've got a moat and said navy to keep the Germans out when it all goes horribly wrong. If it all goes horribly wrong.
If.
Historically Britain had a rather lukewarm performance in the war overall. Finest hour and North Africa aside, Britains armies were promptly shoved aside and barely got away during the "miracle of Dunkirk" as the axis steamroller flattened France before stopping to scratch its head at the sight of the channel as it asked itself "Now how the heck to we get across "THIS"?!
Yeah, the French couldn't work that one out either chumps!
Britain did eventually get back onto the continent, but only with extensive help, and as the junior partner. Poland was never recovered, instead having to put up with a Soviet boss instead of a Nazi one (some improvement.) Britains near castastrophe in the east seriously jangled the nerves of Australia, who began to build firmer relations with the US instead, the nation that actually managed to deal with the Japanese, while, having fought two wars beside the British on the opposite side of the world, the Indians had finally had enough, and after the British still failed to give Indians respect within their own country (segregation was still alive and well during the end of the Raj) Ghandi finally managed to tell the morons where they could go. Britains woes were compounded by their failure, once again, to understand the regions they were supposedly governing; Nigeria, Zimbabwe and the Middle East all show signs of the chaos born from Britains inability to prevent crises from springing up after the British exit. I guess the British can be given some credit in that they at least didn't fight over the break up, and there wasn't a whole lot the Brits could do in some circumstances; in Nigeria, they tried to hold the area together into one country; the situation quickly degenerated into three tribes trying to kill one another. Yet, when the Brits tried the opposite approach by recommending to the security council that two nations be formed in Palestine, one for the Zionists, another for the Palestinians... well, we know how that turned out as well. The Brits, frankly, couldn't win, and after a second global catastrophe, didn't have much of an inclination to try. Troubles continued in Malaysia and Northern Ireland, though Britain ultimately brought those to relatively happy conclusions, and in the end, all that was left of the British empire was a few tiny islands in the Atlantic and Indian oceans.
But it doesn't have to end that way. Perhaps wiser heads can sooth the inevitable, and avoid some or even all of the bloodshed inherent in the empires passing.
Possible Goals.
Britain will, of course, want to save France and Poland from Germany, and to call it a hundred percent triumph, they will have to avoid either nation being occupied, and ideally save Czechoslovakia too.
That... won't be easy.
Barring that, they'll have to get back onto the continent somehow, and protect North Africa from a Nazi steamroller. Unlocking Britains industrial muscle is dependent on getting into the war as soon as possible; they cannot afford to let the Germans gear up. Everything depends on the Brits confronting the axis forces as soon as can physically be managed by the exhausted island nation. Britain must also consider the Japanese; if Indochina falls, Burma and ultimately the jewel in the empires crown, India, will come under direct threat... and if India goes, the path to total annihilation is wide open. But even with France lost, Britain need not capitulate, as long as the channel holds firm. However, a Soviet victory is also a British defeat, and at some point, Britain will have to brave a landing on fortress Europes darkened shores.
The US, and commonwealth, are likely to be instrumental on that ever happening.
...beyond the defeat of Nazism, the Brits will have to figure out what to do about Soviet Russia. A swift defeat of Nazi Germany and their Italian allies may mean that Britain stands unopposed as guardian of a Europe untainted by comintern hands. If the Brits have not been so successful, they may have to be dealt with too... or not. Britain may simply have to accept failure, and Poland will have to wait 45 long, dark years for freedom to finally flourish again.
The Brits will also have to work out what to do with the empire. Do they try to keep hold of the empire (especially if war with the Soviets seems likely) or do they accept that the time for calling paid to the British Empire is long past? How strong a union will the Commonwealth ultimately be? Will Britain have a significant role to play in finishing off the retreating Japanese?
And, of course, there is always the option of playing a bat-shit Britain which conquers Ireland and Germany unprovoked and proceeds to rampage across the world in a campaign of world conquest with its good ol buddy France. British Brazil, anyone?
Who said they had to be nice allies?
France, fourth in line for an axis steamroller... third if Czechoslovakia is fought over.
France is in a bit of a tight spot. For starters, they don't have any oil, and have to trade for it. Thankfully, they do have bucketloads of everything else, but their industrial strength sucks.
As does their research. Good army though.
France will have to specialise to make up the difference, but their forces will likely be lacklustre despite this. Careful use of doctrines is key; the Allies may have historically used the infantry-heavy Grand Battleplan doctrine, but France has one thing Britain doesn't; tanks. So a bit of Blitzkrieging may be in order. France also has the same problem they had historically; they can't get into Germany for the damn Siegfried line. Not that invasion will likely be on the cards initially; France will probably be fighting just to stay alive. Germany has better industry, a stronger airforce and a larger, more balanced army than France can hope to muster in the short amount of time it has, and that behemoth across the border is only getting larger. They will need to hold France if they are going to help the British in North and East Africa; the Italians are liable to cave rather easily to Frances North African forces, which will give the Brits a breathing space.
France, historically, got crushed in short order when the Germans came through the low countries and Belgium to promptly descend on Paris and crush the life out of the outmaneuvered French and British armies. Britain barely got its forces and a handful of French out of the mainland, while France was left to form a miserable pact with the Germans for the survival of its southern half. Italy did, however, get its nose bloodied, something that was to become fashionable in Italian units; the Italian performance was so abysmal that the Italians ended up settling for Corsica and a tiny little tip of France know as the Alpes-Maritimes... a humiliation for Benito Mussolini, who had originally hoped to take a massive bite out of Southern France and French North Africa, the areas that would ultimately come under the sway of the Vichy regime. The French lost Indochina as well, and it wasn't until the D-Day landings that France would become a free nation once again.
France also behaved less than nobly during the decolonisation period. It violently crushed risings in Malaga and Cameroon demanding independence, and attempted to do the same in Vietnam and Algeria. After France suffered defeat in both of these theatres, France finally gave up the ghost, and in the 1960's, the French Union, the method by which France attempted to hold its disparate holdings together in a manner similar to the British Commonwealth, was finally abolished in favour of the French Community, which ultimately led to the letting go of Frances colonial possessions. That said, to this day there are accusations of French neocolonialism.
Possible Objectives.
Frances goals are not complicated; KEEP THE GERMANS OUT. Other than that their objectives mostly come down to the same as the British; save Poland. The Brits get the choice about Czechoslovakia and, unless interfered with, always choose to give it to Germany. Depending on their neutrality, the French may not agree... regardless, if France wants to save Czechoslovakia, they must be prepared to do it alone, and fight both Italy and Germany at the same time, making this an unlikely battle to win.
Failing that, French options are limited. A Vichy rebellion, timed well, could throw the Germans out, but that would take a brave leader of Vichy France. Other than that, a government in exile and the tattered remnants of Frances African possessions are unlikely to pose much of a threat to Nazi Germany.
Should France triumph, they will face the same problems as Britain there too. Decisions will have to be taken about the Soviet Union, and finally, France will have to settle matters with its colonies. Whether it does that peacefully or not is up to the player.
Germany. Leader of the Axis, who else. Led by the worlds most evil painter.
Ah, this is a fun one! Germany gets the biggest head-start in the game; it starts off with the largest army, the largest IC (it starts off fully mobilised) and all of its immediate neighbours either get palmed off to it in the peace negotiations (Austria and Czechoslovakia) will probably join it (Italy, Romania, Hungary and probably Yugoslavia) or are much weaker than it (Denmark, Poland, France and Switzerland.)
The trouble starts after that.
Germany is big and powerful, and probably easier to play than Britain and France, but they aren't invulnerable, and the USSR is technologically advanced, has leadership up to the gills, and will have to be fought sometime. Germany will either have to ignore Britain or invest in a powerful navy to actually go about invading it, and the Italians cannot be trusted to hold the south on their lonesome. Unless the British can be defeated in the Mediterranean, they will probably block the road to North Africa. An Axis or subdued Turkey may solve this problem, but they then open up an additional front with the Soviets! Germany has to take on one enemy at a time; all attention must be on the Comintern. They cannot afford complacency, however mighty their starting position seems, enemies surround them. Perhaps the Japanese can take down their rivals flank...
Historically, Germany did superbly well until operation Barbarossa ground to a halt outside of Moscow, forcing the Germans to spend a miserable winter holed up in Russia during a particularly severe winter in 1942. By the time 1943 rolled around, the Soviets were ready for them, and, unable to secure the vital oilfields in the south or break the Soviets in the north and centre, the inevitable happened; Germany ran out of steam. Things went from bad to worse with Japans assault on Pearl Harbour; rather than cutting ties Germany declared war on the US... it is not known if doing otherwise would have saved them from American wrath.
The remainder of the war was a grim retreat back to Berlin, Hitler not allowing his overwhelmed forces to give a bit of ground. The inevitable last stands began; Stalingrad, Talinn, the Battle of the Bulge in the west and, of course, the final battle in Berlin, ring down through history. With the D-Day landings in the west, it would have been better if Germany had just capitulated; it would have spared Germany, at least, from the horrors of the Soviet occupation. But Hitler insisted in fighting on to the bitter end. In the end, Germany was crushed between the allies and Soviets, its atrocities put to an end only for Soviet ones to pick up where Nazi Germany had left off.
Possible Objectives:
Where does one begin? Germany will, naturally, be taking over the countries it took over historically, but there is no reason to suggest they follow the exact path they took in real life. Germany may want to hold off from engaging France and Britain for as long as possible; the longer the French and British remain complacent, the easier they will be to overwhelm. The Germans mustn't move too slowly however; the Soviets are building up in the east, and they will prove the greatest threat. The Germans can only claim victory when Britain is defeated and the Soviets crushed.
Beyond that, its a Nazi world out there. The US will eventually need to be confronted, but Germany can wait to achieve that; with no pesky Soviets to worry about, the USA is hardly likely to retake the continent. Germany can concentrate on consolidating the old world; it can then, when all opposition is stamped out, make war on the new; with nuclear weapons if necessary. Above all, the Germans cannot afford to get complacent; however incredible their initial success, Germany must keep its wits if it is to avoid getting crushed once more, and bring a new, ghastly world order upon the globe.
The USSR. Head of the Comintern and champion of the people... yeah right.
The USSR is probably the easiest faction to fight as, possessing a massive land army and with the strongest base industrial strength of all the faction leaders. Not to mention that, after the Americans, Germans and British, they have the best leadership pool also, which means they aren't going to want for technological marvels. The main problem they face is, frankly, their commanders.
The USSR gets screwed over by the Great Purge, which promptly slices a fair portion of its best leaders. On top of this, they've got Germany to fight. If the USSR is to take a historical route, they are essentially waiting to get stepped on.
...so why wait?
The USSR wants to get into a fight as fast as it possibly can. They get to fight Finland early on; Finland can be taken out of the war right there and then. Beating the Germans to Poland may be an option... the Japanese are not likely to wait around long enough for sharing the spoils of Nationalist China; and the last thing the USSR wants is a war between both Axis majors! Romania may be worth taking out, but bear in mind it will take a lot of leadership and espionage if the USSR is to get these countries into a position where there is enough support for an invasion of them. Nonetheless, the USSR is probably in the easiest position of all.
Historically, the story in the USSR is an inversion of the second half of the German one. The Soviets barely survived the initial push of Barbarossa, and in fact were sending tanks out into battle literally as they were completed on the production line! Despite that, the maxim "don't invade Russia in winter" held true, and after getting the hang of building decent tanks, the Russians proceeded to conduct an utterly brutal war of attrition against Germany that their opponents simply couldn't win. In the end, the vast majority of casualties in the war were Soviet or German, as the Soviet state practically rolled over and crushed the German one.
The Soviets emerged as the new empire after the war. Half of Europe fell under the Iron Curtain, and millions would perish under Stalins increasingly paranoid rule. If there was a victor in the Second World War, it was Stalin, who would go on to grow into an old man, atop one of the largest and most brutal empires ever constructed in history, an empire that wouldn't let go of its oppressed members or its own terrorised citizenry until the wall finally came down in 1990.
Possible Objectives.
The Soviets have one objective and one objective only; destroy Nazi Germany! Their first objective will be to go from basic mobilisation to full economic mobilisation in time to mobilise Russias vast industrial capacity towards a full war footing. The USSR is probably not going to want to wait around for the Germans to come to them; they want to deny Hitler any resources or manpower they can. That means going after or influencing Axis nations like Hungary or Romania, and above all, keeping Japan out of the war! Unfortunately this last one is pretty much up to the Germans.
If the Germans can't be annihilated in the initial fight, they will have to be worn down in bitter fighting where the person who runs out of young men to send into battle first loses. Once the Germans are down in those circumstances, the Soviet Union will likely be exhausted, and may find they have to share Europe with the Allies. The Soviets may, like an aggressive allied player, not feel too happy about this compromise... Russian India, anyone? The Soviets will also want to beat the allies to Japan and China.
Beyond that, the Allies will still be brooding over the water. Britain will probably not be in a position to put up too much resistance as soon as the Comintern can get hold of a decent fleet, but the USA is a different story... perhaps a few comintern allies can be won in the new world?
I'll be back in two days time with the other three Great Powers; the USA, Japan, and Italy.
