They can be pretty epic.

The USA campaign i'm running now on HoI4 is intense. It's 1941 and i'm playing the historical mode. In mid 1940, Nazi Germany invaded the Nordic countries and overran them everywhere. I was in the war but had not had any enemy contact up to this point. I watched the once proud Viking nations turn black and made a snap decision of **** that. I was not prepared. But I went in anyways.

My navy was ancient and slow but it was large so I sent what I had anyways to clear the English Channel and northern fjords. I had six combat ready divisions. Just six. I could see that the Nazi's had 40+ rampaging through Norway. The other two countries had already fallen. It was a race against time. So I loaded my men into convoys and sailed at flank speed at the only open dock left in Norway. As they sailed the Nazi's continued to eat away at Norway until only four little provinces were left. The Norwegians had three divisions holding a pocket around that port but they were beaten to hell and gone.

My dudes sailed into the fjords when disaster struck. UBoats!! A running convoy battle broke out. Alas, the Nazi's sank several of my convoy ships, killing all aboard. Two whole divisions gone. As this was happening Norway lost another province and was down to three now. My surviving men finally made it into the port and unloaded. I immediately sent them to the front line. Their mission? HOLD AT ALL COSTS! I gave them this mission fully expecting that I was signing their death warrants.

But hold they did. They fought like heroes of old! My four frozen divisions dug in and dared the Nazi's to come at them. Which the Nazi's obliged gleefully. 42 Nazi divisions attacked all along the Pocket. These troops had never known defeat. They were powerful and sure in victory. NUTS!

For six long months the siege of the Pocket continued. Outnumbered 10 to 1, the Americans would not give. The Nazis pounded away with everything they had. They had complete air superiority. Overwhelming numbers. Armor. The Americans had rifles and grenades. Low supplies. Just not enough. Not enough of anything. Except willpower.

I started to trickle in more rifle divisions. The UBoat menace was ever present however and only around 80% of the relief I was sending was making it through. A lot of brave Americans lay under the frozen ice of the fjords. But I had to do it. I had to. Norway could not fall. I gathered my entire navy and sent them into the North looking for trouble. It is a back and forth against the UBoats. Wily bastarhds are incredibly hard to find.

Then it happened. The artillery and rifle fire along the Pocket faded into nothing. The Nazis had stopped! I had killed nearly 200K of them by this point. Losing around 30K myself in the process. They had been stopped. At this time I had amassed around 25 divisions in the Pocket and the time to strike was at hand. I launched a lightning attack and retook several provinces, cutting the nation in half. I now had a northern and southern front. I decided to retake the North as expeditiously as possible. I had 18 hardened divisions and I struck hard and fast. The first few provinces fell quickly. They I reached the mountain ranges. My men attacked along the line but they now faced the Ski-Jaegers. The Nazis had prepared and the tables were turned. They stopped me cold in the mountains. I attacked and attacked and attacked. I could not dislodge the Jeagers though. I was losing men at a 6 to 1 ratio trying. My men were exhausted and were losing efficiency with every battle. Reluctantly, I ordered cessation of offensive operations.

I am now faced with a conundrum. I was stopped at one point. But other avenues were open of course. I had complete control of the Channel at this point. This whole time I was building an invasion force. 80+ divisions. Where to send them though? Do I reinforce Norway and try again there? Do I open another front entirely? Africa looks tempting. As does France. But this time, Germany has attacked Russia and I can see fierce battles all along that line. The Nazis are fighting everywhere... A weakness must exist somewhere! I then notice that Russia is falling. Fast. Far faster than what happened in history. A northern port is still open where I can slip in a task force into Russia. Do I send my men to help hold the line with the pinko commie bastahds?

Decisions, decisions....

Oh, and just when my entire invasion force has landed in England eager to start killing some Nazis, my spies manage to slip a message through to me...Japan has started to justify war goals against me...