Successful u-boot war.

[arras]

This post is reaction to complains in this thread: U-boats ...

Few points about successful SUB warfare (1.4 patch) afther playing game:

To be successful you need to attack with force and concentrate. Do not deploy them piecemeal. Two subs you start with is not enough.

Do not restrict yourself on attacking convoys, two/three subs can damage convoy for 15-30 points but can sunk destroyer for 60 or carrier for 100 points. Go for escorts every time you have good chance of sinking it. This will also mean there will be one less enemy ship to hunt your subs next round. In fact, convoys should be considered secondary target until you have complete superiority over seas.

Use ambush tactics against escorts, attack convoy with one sub as a bait, place rest on likely approaches of escorts so when they rush after your sub, they run to your hidden subs and gets surprise attacked. Surprise attack gets odds favorable to your sub even against destroyer. Once damaged finish them next round with remaining subs.

Do not forget combined arms tactics, invest in strategic bombers, place one or two on western most tip of France to spot and attack Allied naval units moving around (preferably out of fighter cover else support them with fighter). With some tech, you will be able to attack naval units as far as northern England. Cooperate your air and sub units in attack, defence and spotting.

This sad, your underwater offensive can be very effective if combined with air offensive against England. Main objective of air should be to destroy/reduce Allied air units in southern England.

If you decide to wage naval war on Allies, your main goal is to weaken and reduce his naval units and gain superiority. If you are successful Atlantic may be open to your subs later in war. Allies will also have harder time invading France without navy. Russia gets huge convoys in later stages of war (more than 100 pps each). If you managed to reduce Allied navy you can use pack of 6 subs to surround such convoy (will not be able to move) and annihilate it during few turns. This will hurt Russia a lot and help you there.

Overall you will need 8-9 subs (in mid-late game) to win against AI, 2-3 beeing repairing/upgrading with 6 on sea at any one time.

Even if you are not successful in gaining complete superiority take in mind that Allied ships patrolling Atlantic will be missing elsewhere: Norway and Mediterranean.

Of course such campaign is costly and especially with oil shortage can limit your actions in Russia. Therefore you have to be careful and go for oil fields in Caucasus before doing anything else in the East. Caucasus must have priority for you even higher than Moscow. Of course that is valid only if you play with oil rules on. You may consider to stay passive in Atlantic to help save oil in early stages of war while building up your u-boot fleet (and supporting air). Once you secured some oil in Caucasus go on offensive in force.

Against human player (not sure if AI reacts in this way) you can consider distract approach: your goal is not to win naval war, just shove your presence and force your opponent to commit his resources and units to ASW warfare. Destroying his units is not only way hove to damage him. If you lure him in spending more resources in to ASW than you spend in submarines, you might reached your goal.
Build few subs, and keep them pop up here and there from time to time without risking too much. Your goal is to be of nuance to him and fore him to spend lot against your seeming thread and letting you free hands elsewhere (Africa, Norway).

Play few turns with fog of war off or as Allies to get idea where convoys starts and howe they travel. Map of atlantic in Commander is slightly different in scale and shape from real one so this might be usseful. Look for example where Murmansk is and howe convoys travel there.

Subs can be usseful also for Italy if Allies decide to showe in Mediteraean in force. You can add 1-2 to one you already have and use them to monitor Allied naval movement, screen your transports for Africa (remember that supprise attack?) and attack Allied ships when possible.
Of course, Allies can find similar use of their own subs in this sea.

Good hunting

[Shawkhan]

I agree with every word you have written, arras. I might add(and I will) that in the early game before USSR and USA entry, Germany has a golden opportunity to successfully launch Sealion(Seelowe) the invasion of England. In the early going, the UK doesn't receive many production points. If the German plans for invasion by building a few extra U-boats and tactical/fighter units, England can be successfully taken. Interdict the British convoys within tactical air range and annihilate the British fleet with U-boat/air combination. By the October or November 1940 turn the invasion of England can be launched. It is vital to secure a city for supply. I have been successful at taking either London or one of the northern cities. This gambit works if you can keep the UK from receiving enough points to replace units lost in what is basically a war of attrition. Don't forget to transfer the Italian airforce to France(and build additional Italian air ASAP).
With England axis territory, it is possible to intercept the Murmansk convoys and take out the USSR. I think it almost impossible to conquer the USSR w/o doing so, as I have seen 200 point Murmansk convoys sail in the game. A competent Russian player will win almost every time if he/she? has uninterrupted use of these points.

[arras]

Yes Sea Lion is possible, in my second game I managed in process of taking France and few following turns to destroy whole english air force. I had build two additional fighters and one tactical bomber getting total of 4-2. Their navy would may be inflict some looses on my transports but probably not be able to stop me from landing. Once on shore, there is not much he can use to oppose my tanks. I finished France still in July-August while Denmark-Norway short before. But I then moved on to Yugoslavia. This was on normal difficulty settings against AI of course.
You can finish Poland in 3 turns, then move your air and one corps on Denmark immediately while loading two corps on transport for Norway. Norway can be taken in two turns after unloading units there with help of air and navy. Then move air and start Holland/Belgium/France campaign event without units from Norway (it takes several turns to return them to Germany since you need to move them overland to port). France can be finished in 3-4 turns so early enough to start Sea Lion well before winter.

Against human opponent this would not be so easy as he would prevent destruction of his air by reinforcements or by pulling it out of my fighters range but would for sure force him to keep his navy in home waters letting Atlantic unguarded and Africa at Italians mercy.

[Vypuero]

It is possible to take russia using a total ground strategy - have been fighting against this plan myself as allies - tough one to stop (vs humans) and can work on ai too - maybe better.

[miral]

Interesting post in that a number of naval historians now think that Donitz totally mismanaged the U-boat war and some of them have suggested that he would have done better had he tried what you suggest; making the escorts rather than the convoys the prime targets. His obession with pure tonnage of ships, regardless of whether or not they were carrying anything at the time. Also, his neglect, until it was too late, to develope a more advanced type of U-boat and the remarkable lack of technological progress (both things that the player can correct in the game) showed that he completely misunderstood the nature of the war he was fighting. All this, compounded with his refusal to consider that his naval codes may have been compromised meant that he actually had very little chance of winning the Battle of the Atlantic.

There have been a lot of complaints about U-boats being weak in this game but actually it is possible for the German player to do better in the game that the Nazis did in the real war. Your advice is sound.

That Sea Lion can be successfully carried out CEAW is something else that shows that the game is slanted towards the Germans in the first two years or so. In WWII there was never a chance in hell of the Nazis getting across the Channel and conquering Britian. And the British weren't the French. See Prof. Weinberg's A World at Arms, perhaps the best single vol. history of WWII. We now know that the Brits had developed extensive plans for partisan warfare, the arming of anybody who could carry a weapon with any weapon that could be provided, they were prepared for a scortched earth policy of destroying anything of value to the Nazis. But, of course, all depended on getting across the Channel, which the Germans can do in the game but had little to no chance of doing in reality.

[arras]

Here is short record from my last game as Axis (AI on normal difficulty):

At the beginning I moved my two subs to the north west of England to intercept northern most convoy. But I did manage only one hit then found out AI is guarding this sector heavily with around six escorts. For a short while I did loiter around in hope to catch unguarded convoy but found that fruitless and moved south.
First months were thus poor.

In course of French campaign I did manage to build two new submarines as situation allowed since at that time priority was on air and tank units.

When fourth sub was on its course to join rest three on patrol line in the south west it encountered heavy fleet which headed strait to convoy appearing at the same time from south. Without much hesitation I placed three patrolling subs strait in to the way of heavy fleet just few hexes south in ambush.
Next turn English fleet run directly to one of my sub which surprise attacked. Result was quit disappointing with both sustained one point of damage. Next turn I attacked with rest of the subs with result of another sub damaged for one point and heavy fleet sunk. That was much better plus I did score few hits on convoy steaming around.

For few moments I thought of returning two damaged subs to port but then decided to remain on station.
I was rewarded by finding British aircraft carrier siting in Canadian port as I tried to extend my subs in to patrol line to cower approaches from south and west. What a lucky find! For sure carrier is not going to sit there for ever and I placed my subs in ambush just two hexes in front of port.
Next turn carrier rushed out of the port strait in to one of the subs with quit favorable exchange of loosing 4 points against 1 inflicted on my sub. Next turn she was resting on the bottom of the sea for good.
I did repair my subs and on way back managed to ambush and sink destroyer in similar way.

Thus before end of 1941 my subs managed to sink one heavy fleet, one carrier, one destroyer and score couple of hits on convoys without loosing single sub. Not that bad.