ORIGINAL: dave74
Sweden -
Hi. Interesting additions everywhere on the map. I would like to comment upon the placement of Stavanger
(not Stavenger). It's located further to the north and west. You can place it 1xN+1xNW of the current
location.
Bergen is also located too far south. The current location is on the peninsula the town Haugesund is located.
So Bergen could place 1xN. That gives you space to move Stavanger.
Trondheim should be placed a bit to the east. This town has a port as well. During the war the Germans built
an important submarine naval base. They built 2 huge concrete submarine bunkers called Dora 1 and Dora 2.
They were so impenetrable that the Norwegians were unable to destroy them after the war. So Dora 1 and Dora
2 still exist today. I think they're used as warehouses on the harbor now. Move the city 1xNE and add a port there.
Oslo also has a big port. I live here so I should know.
You can help adding the port (because the port will block
access to Oslo for bombardment by moving the Norwegian / Swedish border one hex south. That gives the
German a chance to invade both south east and south west of Oslo when he wants to conquer Norway. It's not
wrong that Oslo can't be bombarded by warships prior to an invasion. The coastal fortress Oscarsborg a little
south of Oslo located in the Oslo fjord was a major obstacle for the Germans. The heavy cruiser Blücher was
sunk trying to sail past Oscarsborg and other warships were destroyed. This delayed the invasion of Oslo for
at least a day giving the Norwegian King and Government enough time to escape to Britain.
The Germans could only sail past Oscarsborg until after it had been bombed by the Luftwaffe for quite some time.
The strange thing is that the fortress were not very damaged after this bombardment. I've been there and looked
at the damage myself. Today Oscarsborg is a military museum. But since the German paratroopers had landed at
Fornebu (airfield just outside of Oslo) and marched into Oslo unopposed the Germans captured Oslo only some
hours after they first intended. Why the Norwegians didn't park e. g. a lorry on the airfield strip to block landings
beats me. But the Norwegian resistance the first days after 9th April 1940 was not the best.
The Government was on the run and couldn't coordinate anything. One strange thing about the Oscarsborg bombings
was when the German commander entered Oscarsborgto to talk with the Norwegian fortress commander and asked
where he could find the Norwegian killed and wounded so they could be taken care of (treated and buried) the
answer was that the heavy German bombing didn't produce any casualties. Why Oscarsborg stopped working as a
fortress I don't know. It was fully operable when the Germans captured it. Maybe it has something to do with lack
of orders from the Norwegian military high command. They were taken by surprise and didn't perform well at all.
The only reason Oscarsborg sunk Blücher was that the fortress commander took matter in his own hands and didn't
wait for permission to fire. He ordered the fire of several torpedoes when he saw several dark naval warships
sailing towards Oslo.
Gothenburg has a big port as well. I've been there and know it's one of the bigger ports of Scandinavia. If you
move the city 1xSW you have space to add a port there.
If you're keen to add many ports then you should consider adding Turku (coastal city with a port) and Tampere
(inland city) in Finland as well. They were the second and third biggest cities in Finland at the time of WW2.
