Velkommen til Danmarks historiske Dev Diary! As you might have so astutely observed, today’s Dev Diary is all about Historical Denmark (and if you didn’t catch that, it’s ok; no one understands Danish anyways, so you’re not alone). Denmark has had the great misfortune to be designed by a Swede, namely me - and why would that be such a terrible thing you might ask yourself? Well, let me shed some light on that and give you a bit of context dear reader. Denmark and Sweden have fought the most wars between them than any other countries, so there’s some old blood and rivalry here. Which is thrilling to me; I now have the chance to make them as underpowered as I want - muahahahaha!
Before we go any further, do keep in mind that
everything is still a work in progress and might change before releasing in- oooopsie! Spoilers ;) But every bit of feedback and correction is welcome! Do you think I missed something? Do let me know! Did I misspell something in Danish? Don’t even bother - I’ll never get it right anyways ;)
Denmark is famous for surrendering after merely 2 hours when Germany invaded, so this Dev Diary will be similarly short and sweet. Let’s jump straight into it, shall we?
And there you have it folks, that’s all from-
….
….
So, this is awkward…. I’ve been told that this won’t do and that Denmark needs
at least 2 more focuses. I might be able to throw something together. But before we get there we have other things we gotta talk about.
[h3]Historical Context[/h3]
Let’s start with some historical context because it’s crucial to understand Denmark’s situation leading up to the war and why they surrendered so quickly. Denmark’s entire foreign policy was based around their perceived biggest threat, which prior to WW2 was Germany (and thereafter the Soviet). This way of viewing the world was shaped by their disastrous war with Prussia and subsequent defeat by them in 1864. From this date onward they pursued a policy of neutrality and did all it could not to anger Germany, lowering military spending and eventually focusing on what would become the welfare state.
One of the reasons why they kept this strict neutrality and disarmament was because they were unable to obtain security guarantees from the UK or from a Nordic Alliance once the war was looming on the horizon. The UK was in no position to offer any meaningful support to the Danes (and told them so in no uncertain terms) while the rest of the Nordic nations had widely different security concerns and couldn’t unify behind a common policy. The Danes realized that they had no hope to withstand a potential German invasion and didn’t, therefore, bother with military spending except to keep a symbolic force to emphasize their sovereignty.
[h3]Map changes[/h3]
Before we delve into what changes are coming to Denmark, let’s first look at some maps! My suggestion to simply bundle up all of Denmark into one state and rename it Southern Sweden was sadly downvoted (but just barely!). Instead, Denmark gets a whole bunch of new states (so that any Swedes - and Norwegians too! - can really savor the sweet, sweet sensation of conquering all of Denmark, bit by bit). As you can see, Germany is getting an additional state as well,
and the Kiel channel has moved to a more accurate position. In total, Denmark starts out with 7 states now.
Besides that, the Danish Belts have gotten a makeup too
[h3]At the Game's Start[/h3]
With that out of the way, let’s take a look at Denmark’s starting position in 1936.
The more observant of you might notice that Denmark now starts out as a Disarmed Nation to better reflect their unpreparedness and policy of disarmament. Secondly, you might also have noticed that there’s an upcoming election in April of 1936 - which isn’t at all the usual 4 years cycle other nations have. Denmark actually has this little quirk where an election has to be held within the next 4 years from the last one, meaning an election can be held after 2 years, or 3 years, or whatnot. In-game, this is represented by Denmark holding elections every 3 years (this will be a great opportunity for you to switch the ruling party - but more on that later), but I digress! Other things some of you might have picked up on is that the non-aligned party is now called Bondepartiet and not Venstre. I would say that this is a more accurate reflection of the political landscape in Denmark during the 1930s, but it also fits better with how elections and politics at large has been reworked for Denmark with
Arms Against Tyranny. What’s also noticeable is that the Danes are starting out with 3 new National Spirits, 2 of them are quite bad and the third one is in bad shape.
Neglected Military is a reflection of the poor state that the Danish military was in when WW2 broke out, but by completing certain focuses you can improve this spirit and remove it entirely.
The Great Depression hit Denmark slightly later than other places, but it did have a great effect on the country. It led to businesses going bankrupt, farmers foreclosing and skyhigh unemployment. All of this spurred the growth of extremist movements on the political fringes. This is all represented by
Economic Crisis, which the player can use to their advantage if they wanna boost
Bondepartiet, for example. But like with
Neglected Military, you can improve and even remove this spirit through focuses.
The last of the 3 starting spirits is
Danish Industrial Capabilities, which also can be improved through focuses, but as you can see is in a pretty rough spot at the start of the game. Oh, that
Consumer Goods Factories factor might look quite high, and I know that a few of you are wondering about that. We know this seems high but don't worry it's a new modifier which we will be explaining in a future dev diary.
[h3]Balance of Power[/h3]
Before we move on to advisors and the actual Focus Tree, we need to check out Denmark’s Balance of Power since it’s going to be affected by all of these things. This is where all of the political decisions will be happening, and all of them will affect the balance between
Welfare and
Warfare. Now, what exactly does
Welfare and
Warfare actually do? Good question, and I’m glad you asked! Let’s take a closer look.
The more you spend on
Welfare, the more you’re pouring into developing your country. This is reflected in population growth, faster research, and the construction of
Infrastructure, Civilian Factories, and
Railways. On the other hand, this means that you are pulling resources away from military build-up and construction.
If you go all out on
Military Spending civilian construction will suffer, but you’re going to produce military equipment much faster and deploy troops at a quicker pace.
[h3]Advisors[/h3]
As I mentioned, Advisors will affect the
Balance of Power - so you better think it through properly when hiring someone. What they will do is push the
Balance of Power in either direction - largely based on their historical leanings.
[h3]Politics[/h3]
Like I previously mentioned, Denmark has a 3-year election cycle now, and the perceptive among you might have noticed a
Balance of Power decision called “
Motion of No Confidence”. This all plays into how politics works in Denmark for
Arms Against Tyranny. You will be able to select between different democratic parties and leaders now, as well as the Non-aligned, Communist, and Fascist parties.
The “
Motion of No Confidence” decision allows you to choose a different country leader based on if their political party meets the right criteria.
Not only can you change your country's leader, but you can also call for a snap election if other political parties have high enough popularity.
If you called for a snap election you get the opportunity to boost the popularity of a political party and give them a higher chance of forming a new government. This is also what happens during the regular elections.
[h3]The Focus Tree[/h3]
Sadly, I wasn’t allowed to only make a 2 focuses long tree - even though I argued it was historically accurate! Anyways, without further ado, here it is
[h3]The Industrial Branch[/h3]
It’s through the Industrial Branch that you can improve and eventually remove the
Economic Crisis spirit, but even before starting out on the Industrial Branch, you have to make a decision that will affect the rest of your game. Will you go for
Sign the Kanslergadeforlig or
Fortify Our Borders?
Historically, Denmark signed an agreement called the Kanslergadeforlig which was the very beginning of the modern Welfare State they have to this day. This will also unlock Karl Kristian Steincke as an advisor.
Moving down this path will provide civilian factories and building slots, as well as a National Spirit called
“Danish Produce”.
If you on the other hand are more concerned with how flat Denmark is and how it’s just perfectly suited for, let’s say
tanks, then you might wanna fortify the borders and receive the Defense Minister Alsing Andersen as an advisor.
This path will yield forts and military factories all over Denmark, as well as the spirit
“Improved Logistics”
But no matter what your first choice is, there are plenty of focuses the 2 paths have in common! The first one is
Devalue the Krone, which leads to being able to trade with both the UK and Germany. This is actually something Denmark did during WW1 and leading up to WW2
And with Connect the Islands both paths meet up again and share the same focuses.
You can also get Niels Bohr as an advisor
With
Expand the Industries you unlock the decision to develop Greenland, the Faroe Islands, and Bornholm.
You can also improve an
Industrial Concern and/or unlock one.
But you can also extract more minerals from Greenland
The intention with the
Industrial Branch is to make it flexible so that you can really focus on your overarching strategy and have the branch complement that vision. And speaking of which, let’s move on to the military side of things!
[h3]Military Branch[/h3]
I gotta be honest with you all here. I could have put most of this part in the alt-history dev diary since Denmark didn’t do most of these things. As I’ve already mentioned, Denmark was fearful of angering their bigger, southern neighbor, so they spent as little money on the military as possible. But playing like that makes for a boring WW2 war game! Wanna play a little game? Guess how far Denmark got in the branch below ;)
You’ve made a guess? Ready for the answer? They completed
Expand Ubådsvåbnet. To be fair, they were also like 90% through the Foreign Designs in the Airforce path. But that’s it! The rest is me piecing together stuff they did after the war and just finding something to do that kinda makes sense for Denmark. Anyways, I’m digressing again…
Do you remember that
Neglected Military spirit I mentioned way back when we started this dev diary (feels like ages to me who’s been writing this dev diary for several days now, but for you, it’s been like… what? 5 minutes? 10?)? Yeah, this is where you work to improve it and completely remove it through various focuses, including
Stockpile Oil
But let’s take a closer look at the Army branch. This is where you receive the
Hæren spirit and improve it throughout the branch. You will also be able to improve your MIO’s here. It’s mainly defensive in nature, while the more aggressive stats can be found in the political branches.
The first Focus will see you take your first step in reorganizing the army after almost a century of peace and lack of actual combat experience.
Then you can choose between investing in your MIO’s, namely
Hærens Tekniske Korps, and
Dansk Industry Syndikat
With
Hjemmeværnet you get the decision to activate the Home Guard during wars, but also the
Hæren spirit.
I could go on about each individual focus here, but it’s mostly about improving
Hæren, research bonuses, and increasing funds for the various MIO’s. Let’s instead take a look at what
Hæren yields after completing these focuses instead!
These stats can be improved even further in the political branches - which will add entirely new modifiers as well.
Now, let’s turn our attention to the Naval Branch, where you’ll get the
Søværnet spirit. Here you have a few choices to make, depending on where you want to take your navy. You can refit old ships, or modernize the navy. You can try to dominate the Baltic Sea with smaller ships or try to rule the North Sea with carriers and capital ships.
Going with the
Refit Old Ships will improve the
Danish Industrial Capabilities spirit and unlock two decisions to get access to ships fast.
If you on the other hand
Modernize The Navy you will get the
Søværnet spirit. This will give you two ship variants in production; one for a Coastal Defense Ship and one for a Destroyer. These variants are actually based on designs the Danish navy had but were abandoned due to budget constraints. There are actually different variations of these variants depending on the tech level.
Towards the end of the branch, you face the second choice you will have to make; do you aim for
Baltic Sea Domination or do you have
North Sea Ambitions?
The Baltic Sea Domination is the more straightforward of the two;
Having completed this focus and the
Generalkommandoen in the army branch will open up the
Frømandskorpset, which might be helpful for naval invasions…
The
North Sea Ambitions is a bit more complicated though, since it’s affected by what choice you made between
Refit Old Ships or
Modernize the Navy (and I know the tooltip is egregious, but it’s necessary to show off the effects):
And finishing off this focus will also open up the
Torpedofly focus in the Airforce Branch;
Before we leave the Navy Branch and take our first look at how the
International Market can interact with the Focus Trees, let’s see what the
Søværnet can look like after completing the Naval branch. After completing the
Baltic Sea Domination:
And after completing
North Sea Ambitions;
Now, let’s fly over to the Airforce Branch - where you’ll have to decide between
Domestic Designs or
Foreign Designs for your aircraft straightaway.
What you’ll get by completing
Domestic Designs is two aircraft variants which are actually based on historical designs Denmark were working on when they got invaded.
But if you on the other hand opt to go for Foreign Designs you’ll receive something called a
Subsidy, which will make you as a
buyer pay off your purchase faster. As a
seller, you’re receiving the full payment with the only difference that the deliveries will go faster. So it’s kind of a win-win situation. You can read more about the
International Market in the this
dev diary.
This specific
Subsidy is for airplanes, but others can be for tanks, trucks, infantry equipment or what have you. If you look closely you’ll also realize that this
Subsidy is
only eligible for airplanes purchased from the Netherlands, The UK, Germany, or Sweden. That’s pretty cool, huh? I know you wanna know more about all of this, and we’ll talk more in-depth about it in an upcoming dev diary, so don’t you worry! Anyways, let’s move on with the Airforce Branch.
The next focus is
Unify Flyvevåbnet, where you’ll get the
Flyvevåbnet spirit. Denmark used to have two different airforces; the Army’s and the Navy’s, but they were eventually unified in the 50s. You don’t have to wait that long though!
After that, you improve the
Flyvevåbnet even further before choosing how you want to specify your Airforce; do you want to focus on fighters, close air support, or bombers? It’s really up to you and how you want to play the game. After completing the Airforce branch and having done the
Jagerfly focus, the
Flyvevåbnet spirit would look like this:
[h3]Political Path[/h3]
Now we’ve come to the Political branch, where we’ll only take a look at a small part of it, and leave the rest for the alt-history dev diary (because this is getting long). The left part of the branch is accessible after completing the
Policy of Disarmament, which will see you enhancing your industrial capabilities even more.
And in the end, you'll be able to complete
Full Employment
But before getting this far you have to first
Reaffirm Neutrality as your very first focus in the political branch. Yeah, yeah I’m doing this backward; finishing with the beginning - but there’s good response for that! You see, when you have taken
Reaffirm Neutrality you’ll get the
Declaration of Neutrality spirit which will give you the option to fight or fold when attacked.
Historically, Denmark surrendered after two hours of the German invasion (even though fighting took place up to four more hours). The Danes had a very different experience as an occupied country from everyone else that got invaded; they got to keep their government and even had elections during the occupation. And that’s what you’ll get too if becoming a puppet while having the
Declaration of Neutrality spirit.
And to be honest,
this is the true historical path. Let me introduce to you the resistance, or as they say in Denmark;
velkommen til modstanden!
[h3]Occupation[/h3]
This is what you have to work with as a subject; the Industrial Branch and the Occupation Branch. But don’t think for one moment that you’ll be a good little puppet that will do your master's bidding. No no, this branch is all about gathering foreign support and building up a Resistance so you can topple your overlord! There are also plenty of
International Market Subsidies throughout the branch, to build up your forces even more.
With
Align with Foreign Powers you’ll seek out support that can provide you with weapons and support during the occupation, but once you declare independence you’ll also be able to join their faction - gaining an ally in your war for freedom.
Historically, Denmark set up an exile force in Sweden. They were training to help in the liberation of Denmark under the guise as “military police”. This is of course something you’ll be able to do as well! Having gained a host for your Danish Brigades, you’ll also get a new division template that you can improve through focuses.
To help you resist your overlord you have the
Motstandsbevægelsen spirit which you have to improve to stand a chance against Germany.
[h3]Balance of Power Redux[/h3]
As a subject you’ll also get a different
Balance of Power which will be crucial to regaining your freedom. All of these decisions are unlocked through various focuses and will help you in your struggle against your overlord.
And that’s about it for me this time around. Who knew there was so much to say about such a small country? It’s barely more than a suburb of Sweden, but there are surprisingly many interesting things going on in Denmark during this time period. I hope you enjoyed the (looong) read! And if you don’t want to become a puppet of the Germans - don’t fret! There are ways to resist an invasion, but those will have to wait until another time.
Farvel!
Beep Beep
Whole Focus Tree Above