Germany AAR

[mrchuck]

1937, December.

Cruiser action in the Denmark Strait. Opposition expected to be heavier than intelligence is able to determine, so we're sending a substantial BC force.

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27th December. Weather cloudy but calm.
1252: Contact! Engaging.
1323: Looks like only three CAs. They're massively outgunned, but several kts faster. Could well escape.

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One CA crippled, going after it. That will do nicely.

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1517: Cornwall class sinks. Retiring.
German Major, +1P

[mrchuck]

1938, January.
Fleet battle off the Shetlands. We're mustering everything we have; presumably so is the RN.
This is the test of strength!

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26 Jan, 1513.
Nothing sighted until 7 1/2 hours into the mission--dusk in 20 minutes. Rather than steam blindly into some screens, altering course to SE. The carriers will be no use--sending them N as this will all well and truly be over by sunrise.
1534. There they are--heavy units heaving into view out of the sunset. Looks like there will be a messy night action.
We train for this. Let's see if it pays off.

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Couple of their latest BCs there, 40k tons, 9x 16" all forward. Here are the dangerous ships at last!
Enemy torpedo attack. CA Hansa and a DD hit. Well, that's why they're between the capital ships and the enemy.

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Ordering flotilla attack. Two can play at that game.
1608: Nearly full dark. Reversing course to deal with the BBs and also cover two CAs which are now heavily damaged and retiring. No easy pickings for the British--and the BBs are a better target that won't find it so easy to get away.
1638: numerous torpedo hits on both sides--in fact two BBs each have been hit, along with several DDs. Germany is getting somewhat the worst of it so far. This is not the same RN we have thrashed twice in the past.

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[mrchuck]

1630: Tirpitz is hit by a third torp and is almost certainly lost.
1634: Spirited attack by CL divisions 3 and 4 pays off.

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1638: Beautiful things oxygen torpedoes. Some long-runners came home to roost.
I've had enough. Disengaging if the enemy will allow it.

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1645: The brief but brutal action is over. Looks like they've had enough too.
1728: Both sides have retired. Certainly no walkover.

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German major, +2P

I consider myself very, very lucky to have gotten off this lightly. Sinking just one of these new breed ships is a bonus. Engaging at night when my airpower is negated was a nice move, but it may have cost them a victory in the end.

Now this next is interesting. Not looked at this report before. German gunnery is about twice as good as the British, but they're both pretty awful in % terms.

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And may I stress again that damage control training is worth every pfennig.

[mrchuck]

1938, March.
Last month the two fleets licked their wounds and no actions occurred.

Now the RN is venturing out again and we've been apprised by Intel of a major sortie by many of their heavy units.
This is in our home waters, so we'll meet the challenge!

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4th March, 0514. Weather clear, sea calm. Patrolling near Texel. Daylight in 25 mins, and we're at the extreme range of their airbase at Grimsby.
The plan is to entice them further E, away from their bases and closer to ours. Let's see if they bite.

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0534: Enemy sighted!
0535: Gott in Himmel! The two fleets are practically on top of each other!

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Ordering flotilla attack and moving the heavy units further away.
0538: Sunrise. Recalling flotilla attack. Enemy BCs and supports driven off by first wave of torps, no hits.

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[mrchuck]

0559: Since I don't actually want to head NW, reversing course to the SE. Let's see what pops up next.
0623: The enemy scout force has come about for another pass. And what's this to the west?
Enemy main body I'll bet. Things are about to get hotter.

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0626: The captain of DD G10 earns an Iron Cross. Probably posthumous...
Heading the fleet to the NE to cover the carriers and await the enemy main body.

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Aha! The enemy BBs are behind the BC force. Altering to the SE again.
0630: Full daylight. The situation is clear now. The enemy BCs have split into two sections, one to the west and one covering their main force. This latter group have been very roughly handled and will most likely retire.

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Launching airstrikes in the general direction of their BB division.
Rather annoyingly, the UI asks if I want to co-ordinate the strike even though this tech is a long way off. Bug?

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(continues)

[mrchuck]

0635: BC Derfflinger torpedoed. Who knows where that came from...

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0644: BB Barfleur must have a jammed rudder. She is sailing straight for around 80 heavy calibre tubes.

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0650: Doubling back to NW to finish Barfleur-class.
0703: Derfflinger flooding controlled. Out of the battle, but should survive.
0724: The British are trying to cover the retreat of damaged ships. Pursuing. Barfleur-class has plainly sorted out the navigation problem and is making away, but speed has dropped to 15kts.

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0755: Breaking off the action since I don't want to follow the British so close to their bases. We have definitely sunk a Princess Royal-class, and damaged a few of the other capital units. That's enough for today.
Airstrikes still in the air, but as the enemy moves to extreme range they may or may not achieve anything.
0946: Airstrikes returning, enemy out of range.
Result: Major victory, +2P
I'm happy with this. Our blockade is maintained, and we've removed a potent unit from the enemy OB. Makes the next battle just that little bit easier--all without taking too much additional damage.

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[mrchuck]

1938, April
A light cruiser patrol has got wind of a convoy in the western English Channel. The division commander has signalled that he is engaging, but after that we lost communications. This report compiled from ship's log after the mission.

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18th April, 2254: contact
2300: both CLs hit by torps! Damage heavy but no flooding on either ship.
Aborting the attack and breaking off. The escort is way too strong.
Consolation prize: submarine torpedoed a TR later. That, combined with the sinking an enemy DD in the initial flurry of shooting, enables Germany to salvage a draw.

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No doubt about it though: an utter fiasco. Kapitan zur See Hermann (CO 1st CL div) has been hauled over the coals but not court-martialled at this time.

[mrchuck]

1938, May.
The blockade on Britain is broken. We are running a convoy to Iceland, and Intel suggests the British will try very hard to destroy it. Good weather, friendly land based air nearby, most of the fleet available.
We will defend the convoy.

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14th May, 0751. Enemy sighted.

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0817: This is starting to look like a very serious effort indeed by the RN.

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0826: Launching airstrikes on the BB division. My cruisers are some 55 mi. away--at least two hours.
0931: British still obstinately trying to get at the convoy. We are still holding them off.

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(continues)

[mrchuck]

1008: That's one definitely gone. Same old same old...

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Also my lighter forces have finally arrived. But...where are the British BCs?
There they are.

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1025: I'd say the British are retiring. Let's see what we can clean up as they retreat.

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1047: BB Formidable class sinks.
1052: Airstrikes starting to go in. Hits on something, don't know what.
1102: Now have low ammo reports from just about every major vessel. Time to call it a day.

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Not before putting another three fish into the stranded Formidable, though, courtesy of 3 CA division.
(continues)

[mrchuck]

1120: Another enemy BB down. Formidable class sinks after sustaining 5 torp hits.
And here is the final result. Germany has done much, much better than I expected. This is a crushing defeat for the RN--almost half their capital ships engaged have been lost.

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They are still not blockaded though. Looks like they've pulled in more forces from overseas stations.

[mrchuck]

1938, June.
My mistake, the blockade on Britain has been reinstated. A British task force is heading towards Iceland to contest our control of the North Atlantic. We are meeting this challenge--there is no choice.

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June 7th: clear skies, calm seas.
1842: enemy sighted. Looks like they're here in strength.

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1915: British scout force as usual seems to be a bit skittish. New forces spotted to their east.

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1942: Battle in full swing. No clear result yet, but the Germans seem to be hitting more for now.

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(continues)

[mrchuck]

2002: They seem to be retiring. Time to pursue!

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2015: enemy DDs attack, attempting to drive off the pursuers. Interposing a CL division to screen torps if possible.

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2025: Didn't work. Wettin torpedoed--light damage.

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2030: And Friedrich der Grosse
2041: They really need to do something about that.

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(continues)

[mrchuck]

2046: CLs Nymphe and Emden launch torps at BB Royal Oak class, as do two DDs.
2059: The BBs skipper skilfully avoids all of them...except one.
2117-19: Royal Oak class, now a sitting target, takes three more torps from German DDs.
2124: still 1:50 until dusk but we've definitely accounted for a BB and a BC. Breaking off the pursuit, I don't want to tangle with DDs in the gloom. We'll see what stragglers there are to pick off. My airstrikes from land and CVs are sill on the way.

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2132: The crippled Royal Oak class takes two more torps.
2140: Royal Oak class sinks.
2157: BB Ramillies class is only making 15 kts. Extra credit?

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2230: Dusk in 35 mins. Withdrawing BB Wettin due to slow flooding that isn't controlled yet. One last pass at the Ramillies-class and that's it.

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2303: The British BCs have reappeared to cover the BB--rather late in the piece I think. However, it's nearly dark, ammo is running low, and so far the British have hardly scratched the paint. We're done here.
June 8, 0009: This is a bit unexpected. Some British have turned up to interfere with my retirement.

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(continues)

[mrchuck]

8 June, 0029: Marauders identified as the enemy BC division.
0039: The BCs break off, leaving a couple of CAs to harass the Germans. Bad luck for them I suspect.
0050: Reversing course to cover Wettin.
0108: Probably just as well...

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0408: Unbelievable. Gotta admire their courage, but no good can come of this for the British. They have put some CAs between the German fleet and Reykyavik.

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0715: After a desultory exchange of fire, the British give up and retreat.
Battle results:

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The second BB went down as well, so a very good outcome. Major victory, +2P

[mrchuck]

1938, July.
The British fleet has again sortied to contest control of the North Sea.
We're confident we have their measure, so all available units have been detailed to respond.

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July 12, 0310. Air recon: unconfirmed sighting reports of enemy carriers about 80 mi SW of Stavanger.

Probably the enemy battlefleet is between us and them. Altering course NE.

0316: Be careful what you wish for. There they are, almost on top of us.

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Altering course E to cover the carriers. Moving them ESE.
0324: Three British BBs and many supports sighted. Engaging.

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0402: BB Elsass hit by torp. Detaching.

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(continues)

[mrchuck]

0406: BB Zahringen avoiding torps. The nearest British DD is more than 20000 yards away. Impressive.
0415: CA Blucher hit by torp. Detaching.
0425: CA force spotted to the N. I am going to get between the two British forces. I'd like to drive the CAs towards Stavanger airbase, and keep hammering their BBs.

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Splitting the fleet to pursue the CAs N. I have a suspicion that if I follow them, I might be able to bag a carrier. I've sent off 2 BBs and four CLs with screens for this.

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Keeping the pressure on the rest of the British fleet with the main force.
Blucher and Elsass are getting on top of the flooding.

0639: The chase to the N hasn't led to much. Breaking off and returning SW.
0653: Freya hit by torp. Detaching.
0706: BB Deutschland torpedoed. This is the price you pay for close pursuit. However: none of the torpedo strikes looks like it will be fatal. And we are steadily getting large calibre hits on the British. I will persevere for a while yet.

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0715: The payoff for close pursuit. BB Ramillies-class hit by two torps. CL Stuttgart damaged in the process, detaching.

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0730: CA Leipzig torpedoed. The yards are going to be busy this month...
(continues)

[mrchuck]

0735: BB Renown class hit by torp. Now we're getting somewhere.

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0736: and again.
0753: Renown-class hit by no less than 4 torps. A complete spread by Z17 finds the mark.

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0800: BB Barfleur-class hit by torp (and numerous large-calibre shells)
0803: Ramillies-class hit by two torps.
0807: Barfleur-class hit by two more torps.

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My work here is done. Breaking off.
Results: all three enemy BBs sunk, along with 2 CLs and 2 DDs. We lost two destroyers and sustained a fair bit of damage. But while the range of British torps is remarkable (or was it a sub? I don't know) they don't hurt that much.
The advantage in sucking up all the damage is to get in close where you can get multiple torp hits, and that opens the sardine cans just fine. The airstrikes on both sides were largely ineffective, but aircraft are not particularly capable just yet.

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Major victory, +2P

[mrchuck]

1938, August.
Japan has declared war on us, as they are allied to Britain. While this has cost a lot of VPs (about 2/3 of them), it doesn't change the strategic situation one iota. Furthermore, their relations with USA are bad, so this could end up being to our advantage. This is the same reason I am declining the requests of Spain and Austria for alliances. Spain is at loggerheads with Russia, and Austria with Italy. Beware scope creep!

Looking at the Japanese ships, the newest BCs look good (9x 16") but the rest are pretty old. If they reinforce the British, I think I can maul them. If they don't, I have no possessions within range of Japan and frankly, couldn't care less about barren Pacific atolls or pestilential jungle anyway.
Another Elsass-class (8x 18") commissioned this month, 7 DDs finished reconstruction.
Under repair I have these units:
4x BB
4x CA
4x CL
6x DD
all 1-3 months. The blockade on Britain is still working, as they are down to 4x BB and 4x BC vs 13x BB, and 18 cruisers vs 19. They have three more BCs building, still obviously enamoured of this type despite what's happened. I am finalising the design of an incremental improvement to the Tirpitzes, but this is more to keep the shipyards open by starting and then halting them. What I actually want built now is more flotilla craft to replace losses, and more cruisers.

I have in mind to convert my two oldest BBs into more CVs when either this war ends, or they get badly damaged. They only have 2.5" deck armour, which is dangerously thin for the line of battle these days, but pretty good for a CV.

The British have been doing a lot of commerce raiding but plainly the devs are disciples of Mahan. In no game I've ever played has this achieved much, whereas blockades can win wars. Despite losing 460 transports so far (since 1890), no grumbling on the home front and plenty of everything in the shops. Looks like the guerre du corse is a waste of resources, unless you have enough sea-power to make it redundant anyway.

WAR AIMS

I'm seriously considering a departure from my usual strategy of taking reparations rather than possessions. If the war continues to go well, why not snap up Gibraltar, Malta and Egypt? This will make Germany a Mediterranean Power, and no doubt entangle us with Italy and France. The total value of these bases is 220 and I note that my entire fleet has a load value of 310. Could thus deploy and maintain a serious force there in the event of trouble--which there almost certainly will be!

Jury's still out on that, and in any case we haven't won yet...

[mrchuck]

1938, August.
Was intending to decline all battles and just make repairs this month, but intel has notified Fleet that an enemy convoy is in the North Sea on the way to Britain. We can't have this! It is our pond, not theirs.

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Since we now have more heavy units than the RN, I am prepared to run more risks. This detachment of four BBs should be enough. Also we have carriers in support if things get sticky. I am expecting the British BCs to make an appearance but we'll see.
21 August, 0117. Dawn in two hours, Could be another chaotic night action.

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0428: Enemy spotted.

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0445: Two BBs and screens. They are badly outnumbered. Sending CL div 29 to the east, to try and get behind the convoy while the escorts are distracted by the hail of metal about to fall on them.

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(continues)

[mrchuck]

0450: Belay that. BC spotted providing close escort to the transports. A CL attack would be suicide.

We'll do this the old-fashioned way.

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0458: Barfleur-class hit by torp. Off to a good start.

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0503: CA Lutzow hit by several heavy shells. Survival is doubtful. Retiring.
0511: Barfleur-class magazine hit, blown up. 18" hit most likely, these will sure mess up your day.

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0514: Ramillies-class hit by two torps. Out of the battle and probably out of lives.

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(continues)