The U-Boat menace
Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2005 11:00 am
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
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