I went back and finished the second fascist game I had but didn't go as well. The biggest difference was that instead of invading Canada first, I went for Cuba to get their chromium. Then I decided to go into Venezuela, partially for their oil but also so I could take the British/French provinces that have a ton of aluminum right there. But those damn Venezuelans kept me at bay for nearly 3 years. At that point Germany was getting beat up so I had to give up my hopes for the America's and go take the UK, which was relatively easy once I conquered Ireland. Once I took them the war ended.
It's kind of interesting, because it's not like Civilization where you have "victory conditions". And for some countries, world domination isn't a viable strategy. So I try to come up with my own goals and then see if I can meet them.
Surprised the US had trouble with Venezuela. With me the Venezuelans were the toughest to beat as well in South America. I now conquered all of continent except for the European colonies. You're right about world domination not being feasible. Puny argentina can't do that for sure. It's now almost 1943 in my game and I'm barely half-way done conquering the Americas. I doubt I'll get to Europe before the game is over. I haven't even made my way to central America yet.
If you're looking to weaken the Germans, wouldn't it make sense to hold off on the US attack for a bit? Or are you assuming that once they're gone, Germany will throw it's forces to the east and you'll be able to walk in? As long as France is out that's probably a good thought. Is the UK still in the game? Their air-force and Navy always seem to do a really good job of keeping the German western front back. I haven't seen the AI invade the UK yet.
Yep, my idea was that the Axis would throw their forces against the Soviets with the US too occupied then I would come in while they are too occupied with the Soviets. But my plans got fucked up because in my game the diplomatic alliances are kind of a mess. I invaded Peru, which turned out to be fascist, which in turn joined the Axis and now the Axis powers (which also includes Nationalist Spain) are all at war against me. Since I am already at war with the axis, everytime I start a small war with another country, they end up joining the Axis regardless of political leanings. Democratic Brazil ended up being on the same side of Nazi Germany lol. Part of the reason why Venezuela was so hard was that I had to fight against a few German units that were killing my tanks. My tanks were rolling over other Latin American countries up to that point since they mostly had infantry with no anti-tank capabilities.
And for some weird reason, the Soviets are fighting the western Allies, so there's a weird free for all of Allies vs Axis vs Comintern. I don't want to have to deal with the Allies as well so I am staying out of the Comintern vs Allies war. The US is cool with me so far but I have Soviet units on my land helping me out, and US forces come to attack them. I end up having foreign forces fighting each other on my land in a war I'm not involved in.
What's frustrating is that all my little wars with individual countries become folded into the larger world war since they end up joining the axis, so even if I achieve my initial objective, the war still isn't over until I defeat the rest of the Axis. Conquered territories aren't "officially" mine since there has been no peace conference yet. So I can't utilize the full manpower pool of conquered territories, and I have to deal with those pesky resistance fighters sabotaging my infrastructure. Even if I take all their land, sometimes their Navy is still in the fight and giving me trouble at sea since the country isn't officially defeated. Manpower is the biggest issue for me right now even with extensive conscription.
I find managing battle plans to be a downright pain though after I have more than 2 armies in an area.
I just lay out battle plans just for the bonus and move them how I want. Micromanaging is a pain though. It's also frustrating that units atutomatically want to move to fill gaps in the line even when I don't want them to, which ends up in units moving back and forth for no reason. But I guess from my experience in the Army, that's a realistic reflection of how things are done in the military in real life.
