The U-Boat menace

[mcaryf]

As I have previously mentioned I have been looking at ways to make the Axis AI more of a real threat. My thoughts have turned to the one battle that had Churchill really worried - that in the Atlantic.

I know when I play against the Wally AI, I can do real damage with U-Boats but this is usually because the AI is pretty stupid in the way it leaves transports lying around waiting to be sunk. In real life the U-Boats were a genuine threat until late 1942 by which time ASW air and other measures had neutralised them. The electro-boats (effectively with much improved evasion) came on stream in late 1944 without enough time to have an impact.

In considering whether the Axis AI could be made a menace with U-Boats, I started to think how many units it might have. The 1940 starting force of 5 units would suggest that 1 x GGWAW U-Boat unit = about 20 actual subs. The Germans and Italians had about 100 operational subs at the time in question.

I then started to consider whether the production cost for U-Boats in GGWAW is fair - 1 x U-Boat unit equivalent to the production of 1 Armour (=2 PZ Divs?) or 40% of a Heavy Fleet (= 2 x BB?). Well data sources say a U-Boat typically cost $300k but anybody who knows anything about military procurement will know that reported production costs can be made to be anything the politicians need them to be! Thus I thought a fairer comparison might be to look at the quantity of steel involved. Well 20 x U-Boats is around 16,000 tons whilst 40% of 2 x BB = 32,000 (.4 x 80,000)tons and 2 x PZ Div = 23,000tons (1 PZ =180 tanks, 5,000 other vehicles plus artillery).

It seems therefore that a fairer production cost for a U-Boat might be 2 or 3 x FP's rather than 4. In practice the elapsed time is probably right at a year because they typically "worked up" in the Baltic for 6 months before becoming operational.

The actual German production of U-Boats from 1940 to war end was around 1,000 or 50 GGWAW units.

Unfortunately I cannot just implement this "fair change" in my mod by making U-Boats seriously cheaper in FP's because the actual production of 50 units would absorb 100 pop points or around a third of the total available to the Germans.

My current thought is that I should create another Axis production facility with lots of pop points but only able to make U-Boats. Since most U-Boats worked up in the Baltic what better venue than than those well known submariners the Finns! I shall report shortly on progress with Albert Speer's new secret underground production facilty in Lapland capable of producing 100 (5 units) prefrabricated U-Boats per quarter which will be moved on sleighs to be launched in the Baltic!

Mike

[JanSorensen]

Interesting idea - obviously only for your "vs the AI" - but interesting indeed.

I might suggest making E. Prussia part of Finland and placing the extra factories and resources there - that way losing Finland wont mean the end of subs but losing E. Prussia will.

Obviously you will need to give E. Prussia a port too or Subs cannot be build there. Further, you need to restrict the production to subs only (maybe repair of InF and FTR). My brief testing didnt let me block the production of research nor blockt the place from producing supply when using the "build supply with the rest" button. Maybe the AI file can force the AI to only build subs though. Did you find a way around that?

Anyway, the extra resources can obviously be used by the AI for other things - I dont really see a way around that unless the AI file can force the building of the SUBs ahead of all else.

I am looking forward to seeing what you end up with.

[mcaryf]

Hi Jan

You were quick off the mark in testing that idea!! I too discovered that the Fuhrer's imaginitive concept of a secret production facility in Lapland had a serious flaw. As far as I can tell the Finns concentrated on production of a blue liquid in glass jars - I am not saying that this was alcoholic as I do not wish to suggest that my colleagues from Finland are over partial to a drink. Whatever they were producing sadly it was not U-Boats!

I have found an alternative approach wrt U-Boats which I will not reveal at this stage, however, I will say that Gib fairs very well as an island so I think that is one of your routes closed off! In view of the substantial military experience of the Spanish people during their civil war I also felt it is only right to give them a strong militia capability - similarly with the Finns after the Winter War, so hopefully I will have closed off easy Wally access via Northern or Southern Europe!

Mike