6d ago

If real life were Hearts of Iron, we should place all army stacks in Panama

Minimize combat width on the frontline, build up infrastructure leading up to it, upgrade to level 10 fortifications, and improve healthcare tech to increase trickleback.

8 comments

Depends on the Hearts of Iron. If it were 2 there'd have to be some phoney war going on to bypass the limitations of peacetime industrial capacity... So, uh...
For 3 we'd have to be deeply engaged in smear campaigns with foreign powers to manufacture consent for war. Hm.
And I didn't really get into 4 but from what I understand it'd just be a matter of slamming down a tech tree that makes the USA right wing fascist... like...
So alright, HoI strats it is.
And if real life was The Man in the High Castle
Oh wait....
The state has only coal. You are gonna spend so much on goods transport costs if you place all your military buildings in Panama
(This is a Victoria 3 response)
Wouldn't you just get endlessly naval invaded if you did so? That only works for a land invasion, you would want garrisons on every port to prevent someone from landing and fighting their way to a port to start getting supply.
- Naval invasions are a lot more difficult, armored units aren't easily transportable, and you still need good beaches as well. Lacking the hard power of an armored push makes assaults difficult in general, soft power can only get you so far.
  Controlling the Panama Canal is a crucial lynchpin though as it allows you to easily reinforce a navy on one side with the other without going all the way down past Tierra Del Fuego.
If only the administration actually cared about things like economics and national security, integrating all those countries and their peoples instead of trying to deport them would make a lot of sense, but your solution doesn't hurt enough brown people.
More to the point of your post, Coastlines count as borders, so this would actually dramatically expand the "frontline".
- This is a pretty non-serious post, I'm not actually advocating an invasion all the way down to Panama. This is video game logic.
  Increased coastlines do increase the "front" but holding territory grants victory points, but not the sea. Coastal fortifications can prevent Marine landings though, but you'd need substantially less manpower to defend compared to a land border.
  
  I didn't figure you were advocating anything of the sort. We wouldn't have to invade, unless the goal were more to kill a bunch of people. These countries may not be happy to just become states or territories, but EU style open borders with a mutual defense pact? They would jump at it.
  The main reason these countries have closed borders and what-not is because the US pressures them to. Creates captive populations, poverty, and more crime than otherwise need occur. Nevermind the drugs and human trafficking that arrises from treating victims as "illegals"/criminals.

8 comments