A Creek without a Paddle - Gotterdammerung, Germany 1944.

[Remble]

Update (February 1st 1946)
1

0000 February 1st 1946.
Reichstag Building. Berlin, Germany.

"Good morning Gentlemen. Firstly I would like you to note the abscence of Ernst Kaltenbrunner from todays meeting. I will get to the reason for that after I hear your reports. Joachim, diplomacy please." Bormann begins the meeting.

"Thank you Martin. Morning all. Things remain quiet diplomatically. The Spanish, Persian and Iraqi ambassadors have abandoned their respective embassies. Albert had taken over these buildings as he has seen an increase in his role, with the extra industrial capacity and manpower we are currently generating. Our Japanese Allies continue to frustrate the Allies."

"More or less a stalemate in Manchukuo, but the Allies are slowly making progress southwards in China. They are hoping we can relieve the British of their territory in India and Indochine as quickly as possible. Elsewhere nothing has changed on the islands. That is all from me." concludes von Ribbentrop.

"Thank you Joachim. Over to you Julius."

"Thanks. Morning Gentlemen." Ringel begins. "Our advance continues into Afrika and towards India. All of our forces are now ready in Norway and Finland and await the weather before beginning to occupy Sweden. Field Marshall von Kluge will be in charge of this operation."

"As you can see his forces are spread out with the highest concentration in Oslo."

"I think we can say with a certain amount of confidence, the Allies were not expecting any visitors in Morocco. Heeresgruppe West, under the command of von Rundstedt, have met with little resistance so far and are beginning to spread their wings. The Kriegsmarine has met no Allied fleets up until now while conducting its operations. More troops are still being ferried to Morocco to assist von Rundstedt further."

"The other end of North Afrika looks like this. Heeresgruppe Ost, commanded by von Manstein, is making progress towards India, where there is a British force blocking them in Karachi. They have completed the annexation of Persia. He will need to gather his striking force before proceeding and is being hampered by bad terrain. India is much more hospitable territory to traverse once he breaks through.

Heeresgruppe Afrika, under the command of Rommel, have captured Iraq and will shortly take the Syrian capital of Damascus. This will remove them from the war. They are still proceeding towards the Suez Canal and are beginning to muster forces to attack Saudi Arabia. This whole region has plentiful oil production which should be extremely useful to us. Nothing further." Ringel finishes.

"Excellent Julius. Karl you have something I think?" asks Bormann.

"Indeed I do Martin, thank you. Morning everyone. As already mentioned the Kriegsmarine is meeting no resistance, yet. It is just a matter of time before the Allies intervene in this area. Our total lack of naval activity for months seems to have led them to believe we have no Kriegsmarine. The same cannot be said of the Far East."

"Please note the highlighted selection. An American carrier, the USS Essex, has been sunk. Most of the damage occured during a naval battle with the IJN carriers but it was finally sunk by Japanese naval bombers. You can clearly see that these bombers are increasingly sinking Allied shipping in the area. The Battleships Ise and Hyuga are also doing well as is the carrier Amagi. Things are not going the Allies way around the Japanese home islands. Nothing further." concludes Donitz.

"Very good news. One less carrier for us to deal with when the time comes Karl." says Bormann. "Albert please."

"Morning all. Production continues to increase as we gain more territory." Speer starts.

"We have some upgrading to do and replacements for our new fighter squadrons that Joachim purchased. The upgrades are actually for forces lent to us by our Allies and not for our own troops, which are already fully upgraded. Supplies continue to be produced for further trading. Oil is slowly decreasing with three Heeresgruppe currently operational. This is also causing a drain on our transport capacity. Fortunately we have enough transport ships to supply Heeresgruppe West in Morocco as I started building them some time ago. Manpower is fairly steady and increasing slowly."

"With our current expansion I believe it necessary to start producing transport vessels. Karl will need them in order to move troops over vast distances rather than have them walk across Afrika. They will need some escorts though and I do not have the needed technological research complete to start producing these vessels."

"Not to worry Albert. I will split the Kriegsmarines current fleet down to accomodate this. They are not meant to directly attack enemy shipping anyway." says Donitz.

"I guess that answers that then. I shall continue to build the ships Karl has asked for, as and when the research catches up to those we wish to construct. I will need more production capacity to ensure building them all though as I mentioned last month." concludes Speer.

"Thank you Albert. I thought about your needs during the last month. Ernst Kaltenbrunner was an expert in Army Intelligence. This was most definately needed last year with our encryption and decryption technologies so far behind the Allies. This is no longer the case and Ernst will no longer be joining us. I would like you all to meet his replacement. Some of you undoubtedly know him. Gentlemen meet Hans Oster, our new Head of Intelligence."

Hans Oster enters the room and is warmly greeted by Albert Speer who seems to know him rather well. The rest of the cabinet also shake hands and introduce themselves. "Thank you all and I will do what I can to further our cause. I can update you with our current research right now." says Oster.

"Hans specialises in industrial espionage and will boost our production a little to help Albert's programme of construction. I might need to make further changes at a later date, although I would rather not if it can be avoided. I think that covers everything Gentlemen. Hans you have a month to settle in before I expect a report." Bormann concludes the meeting.

[Remble]

Update (February 1st 1946)
2

0000 February 1st 1946.
Intelligence Offices. Reichstag, Berlin.

Hans Oster quickly scanned through the multitude of files and folders around his offices. He was looking for something in particular and it took him a few minutes to find the correct files. There were ten files in all, each containing specific information about various areas of research that had already been completed by German scientists.

Industrial



Infantry Research



Armour and Artillery



Land Doctrine



Naval



Naval Doctrine



Aircraft



Air Doctrine



Secret Weapons



Overview

Hans Oster took in all the information quickly and started to work out what needed to be researched next and how soon.

[Baneslave]

I see that you are researching superheavy tanks, any particular reason for this or is it only RPG reason?

[ColossusCrusher]

You forgot Industrial...sorry.

[Remble]

Baneslave - I just like to end a research route.

ColossusCrusher - Fixed, thank you

[Col]

Very nice work! I just finished reading this AAR from the start (took me a week on and off).

I must say, Gotterdamerung is my favourite scenario (due to its challenge I guess), and you have done well to get this far.

Looking forward to seeing how you progress from here.

[Remble]

Col - Thank you and welcome

Update to follow ...

[Remble]

Into The Desert

5

1900 February 1st 1946.
18. Armee Headquarters. Mellila, Morocco.

Model continued to move south, forcing Auckinleck back once more, as he advanced towards Agadir.

The gap between Model and Straube was closing fast.

1400 February 2nd 1946.
18. Armee Headquarters. Mellila, Morocco.

French troops were trying to push north towards Villa Cisneros in Afrika.

1. Zestorergeschwader dropped Field Marshall von Bock and 1. Panzerarmee off in the province to prevent any French advance. They then headed north west to take a look at the Azores.

0000 February 3rd 1946.
Diplomatic Headquarters. Reichstag, Berlin.

Apparently the Soviets did not hold a grudge against their German conquerers.

Von Ribbentrop accepted the trade for oil, a commodity Germany never had enough of.

1000 February 3rd 1946.
18. Armee Headquarters. Oran, Algeria.

Model sent word to von Rundstedt of his arrival in Agadir. He continued south towards Ifni.

The defenders were quickly removed and forced to retreat into the desert.

0000 February 4th 1946.
Intelligence Offices. Reichstag, Berlin.

Hans Oster was still familiarising himself with the workings of his office when he received a message from Porsche.

They had completed testing of the new Heavy tank, the Maus. Oster contacted Erich Raeder and told him to begin work on improving German sea doctrines.

0800 February 4th 1946.
18. Armee Headquarters. Oran, Algeria.

Von Bock had recovered his land legs after his short trip to Villa Cisneros. Von Rundstedt gave him new orders.

He was to push the French south, starting with Port-Etienne. The militia division guarding the province stood no chance.

1800 February 4th 1946.
Sea of Azores South.

Donitz had made sure Saalwachter knew that he was not to openly engage hostile surface fleets. He could not avoid them all indefinately.

He ran into a joint U.S. and U.K. fleet on his way to the Azores. Battleships were present in both forces. Saalwachter retreated as soon as he could, towards the Azores, he could not avoid losing a transport ship. The Allies lost more ships, but the transport ship was a vital asset of which Germany had very few. Saalwachter was fortunate he had only met outdated Allied ships.

note: I missed the battle, but there were 3 American class II battleships involved. Thought I had pop up and pause on for ships, I do now.





0000 February 5th 1946.
Intelligence Offices. Reichstag, Berlin.

Oster had caught up on his work when he received a missive from Werner Heisenberg.

He had completed research into Nuclear Fuel Analysis and was tasked with continuing his work on an Experimental Reactor.

Oster contacted Albert Speer, who immediately diverted funding for the building of an updated nuclear facility in Breslau.

1400 February 5th 1946.
The Azores.

Saalwachter had arrived off the islands of the Azores. He was surprised to find it undefended.

A possibility existed to take this vital strategic island if he could avoid Allied ships.

1900 February 5th 1946.
18. Armee Headquarters. Oran, Algeria.

Von Mackensen continued his march across Algeria more or less un-opposed.

Having arrived in Algiers he continued east towards Bougie.

[Remble]

0000 February 6th 1946.
XV. Panzerkorps Headquarters. Karbala, Iraq.

Rommel was heading west towards the Suez Canal when a British division redeployed directly in his path.

The British division had not had time to reorganise fully and was easily defeated as Rommel marched onwards.

2100 February 6th 1946.
18. Armee Headquarters. Oran, Algeria.

News reached von Rundstedt of Model's arrival in Ifni and the linking up of his forces with those of Straube.

Model would rest until the Allied divisions had left Ifni before proceeding south towards von Bock's forces.

0000 February 7th 1946.
18. Armee Headquarters. Oran, Algeria.

The new day saw the arrival of more Allied forces in Heeresgruppe West's area of operations.

A U.S. garrison division had deployed directly in the path of von Brauchitsch in Ouezzane. It was captured without much of a fight.

A French militia division, similarly deloyed in the path of von Bock in Port-Etienne. Less than two hours were needed to force it to retreat.

1800 February 7th 1946.
Gulf of Cadiz.

Saalwachter was on his was back to Malaga from the Azores when he encountered a small British fleet.

Both destroyers were sunk before they could escape the guns of 1. Zestorergeschwader. KMS Lutzow sunk the 12th Destroyer Flotilla and 2.Zestorergeschwader accounted for the 23rd Destroyer Flotilla.

0000 February 8th 1946.
18. Armee Headquarters. Oran, Algeria.

More French militia divisions had deployed in front of von Bock as he headed south.

Two more divisions would be sent backwards as he continued his advance on Port-Etienne.

1700 February 8th 1946.
Malaga, Spain.

Saalwachter had safely arrived back in Malaga. He dropped off his damaged ships in the port and embarked forces to attempt an invasion of the Azores.

Now all he had to do was make it there in one piece and offload these forces.

1700 February 9th 1946.
18. Armee Headquarters. Mostagamen, Algeria.

Von Rundstedt was following von Mackensen as fast as he could and arrived in Mostagamen.

Von Mackensen had arrived in Bougie and continued east towards Phillippeville.

The damaged destroyers of Saalwachter's fleet headed for the port of Mostagamen to effect repairs.

1700 February 9th 1946.
The Skies Above Iraq.

American Strategic bombers had been bombing Iraqi industry for several days. Air General Milch was trying to catch them.

He finally succeeded in intercepting them over Hilla. Only one American bomber squadron would survive the meeting with Milch.

2200 February 9th 1946.
XV. Panzerkorps Headquarters. Ar-Ruwayshid, Middle East.

Rommel had finally entered the Middle East from Iraq when he received news from von Kuchler in Syria.

Syrian troops had returned to Damascus to try and prevent him occupying the province.

They would not survive the following mornings battle and von Kuchler would continue towards the Syrian capital.

[Remble]

Into The Desert
6

0800 February 13th 1946.
18. Armee Headquarters. Oran, Algeria.

Von Bock sent word to von Rundstedt of his arrival in Port-Etienne. He was attacked immediately by British troops.

The British should have stopped their attack as soon as he had entered Port-Etienne, they chose not to and tried to push his forces. They were unsuccessful.

They were forced to pay the price of their over ambition. Von Bock attacked as soon as the British halted their attack and forced them from Dakar.

0500 February 14th 1946.
XV. Panzerkorps Headquarters. Ar-Ruwayshid, Middle East.

Rommel received word from von Kuchler of his arrival in Damascus after successfully overcoming the Syrian defences.

He ordered a quick message be sent back to Germany to appraise von Ribbentrop of the situation.

To: Foreign Minister von Ribbentrop.
From. XV. Panzerkorps Headquarters.

At 0500 hours on February 14th 1946 German forces led by Field Marshall von Kuchler entered Damascus, the capital city of Syria. German forces now hold all meaningful provinces this Country.

Field Marshall Erwin Rommel
Commander Heeresgruppe Afrika
Commander XV. Panzerkorps.

Von Ribbentrop was beginning to see a need to have several Middle Eastern diplomats just wait outside his office. The Syrian ambassador expected the news he was given as Syria became part of the Fatherland.

2300 February 14th 1946.
18. Armee Headquarters. Oran, Algeria.

Von Rundstedt had just received a message marked urgent from Donitz in Berlin.

To: 18. Armee Headquarters attention Field Marshall von Rundstedt.
From: Kriegsmarine Headquarters.

Forces embarked on 1. Zestorergeschwader, under the command of Grand Admiral Saalwachter, were successfully landed on the Portugeuse island of The Azores at 2300 hours on February 14th 1946.

Chief of the Navy Karl Donitz.

Donitz had also contacted Albert Speer. This island was of a critical nature and would require some defences built.

Speer allocated the necessary production to start these builds. Improvement to infrastructure, coastal defences, a large airbase and naval base were ordered to be constructed.

General Behlendorff, commanding LXXVII. Armeekorps, was given the task of defending the island.

1700 February 15th 1946.
18. Armee Headquarters. Oran, Algeria.

The Allied forces retreating from Model were going to be hard to eliminate by chasing them through the deserts of Afrika.

Von Rundstedt ordered the Stuka squadrons, based at Ceuta, to remove the problem for him.

0000 February 16th 1946.
XV. Panzerkorps Headquarters. Amman, Middle East.

The mobile forces of Heeresgruppe Afrika had arrived in Amman and were ordered to advance across the area towards the Suez Canal.

They were to capture the remaining territory of Transjordan, Palestine and advance on the Suez Canal. Once they had arrived and occupied the western bank of the Suez Canal they were to advance across into Port Said if the defences were weak enough.

[Remble]

0400 February 17th 1946.
IV. Panzerkorps Headquarters. Chah Bahar, Persia.

Von Manstein had his forces were he needed them and they were deemed sufficiently rested to test the British defences of Karachi.

Almost the entire firepower of Heeresgruppe Ost were present for the attack. The only forces not included were the mountaineers and headquarters Korps still resting or enroute to Chah Bahar.

Field Marshall Gort was outnumbered more than two to one by German forces led by Field Marshall von Kleist.

The ambush von Kleist managed to execute on some of the defensive forces sealed their fate. German forces were advancing un-opposed by 1400 hours.

VIII. Armeekorps, commanded by General Blaskowirz would remain in Birjand for a future operation.

1300 February 17th 1946.
18. Armee Headquarters. Oran, Algeria.

Von Mackensen had arrived in Bone and was further tasked with advancing along the Algerian coast towards Bizerte.

He arrived in Tabarka at 0400 hours on the 19th and attacked the American garrison in Bizerte without pausing.

The battle would last for a few hours with the garrison well entrenched.

0600 February 19th 1946.
XV. Panzerkorps Headquarters. Amman, Middle East.

Von Kuchler had been given orders to attack Lebanon as soon as his forces were rested. They were now rested.

Tripoli was the first target of his attack, with forces commanded by General Rosenor to his north tasked with occupying the province.

By 0900 hours von Kuchler had almost defeated the defences of Tripoli as other battles began.

Von Mackensen was overcoming the American garrison in Bizerte

Retreating British troops had arrived in Dakar which von Bock was overcoming.

Guderian had arrived in Jerusalem and encountered a British garrison in Tel Aviv.

All of the battles were over before noon with German victories in each.

1200 February 20th 1946.
Diplomatic Offices. Reichstag, Berlin.

The Japanese envoy was here to see von Ribbentrop again. More blueprints he hoped.

Unfortunately it was not blueprints it was a situation report from the Far East. Japanese forces were being pushed back in China at an increasing rate. Von Ribbentrop was content that at least the Japanese main islands were still secure for now.

0500 February 21st 1946.
XV. Panzerkorps Headquarters. Jerusalem, Middle East.

Guderian had arrived in Tel Aviv and was now proceeding along the coast towards the Suez Canal.

Syrain forces had occupied the Golan Heights. These would be ignored for now unless they tried to threaten Rommel's supplies.

Von Kuchler started a further attack into Lebanon. Beirut was his target.

As von Kuchler laid siege to Beirut, von Bock encountered more resistance in Dakar. He defeated the British in short order.

1400 February 21st 1946.
XV. Panzerkorps Headquarters. Tel Aviv, Middle East.

News was arriving from various parts of Rommel's front as he advanced into tel Aviv behind Guderian.

Hausser had arrived in Akaba and been attacked by the British division in Eilat. He returned the favour by also attacking it.

Von Kuchler was close to victory in Beirut and would shortly overcome the defenders.

The Saudi Arabian capital of Riyahd had come under attack by von Manteuffel as soon as he arrived in Jawf.

All of these small scale battles would be won by German forces as they continued their advance across the Middle East.

[Remble]

I have a small moral dilemma

Having examined the map and a few things it is apparent that I could probably remove the French from the game fairly easily. They only have 2 objectives left and both are reachable.

One is almost certainly undefended and the other may well be too, because most of the French army is playing with von Bock around Dakar.

Should I try and kill the French off now or fight them face to face across Africa using a more traditional frontal/amphibious approach?

[Brad1]

I think that the VP province system in the game is fairly realistic, and if you can capture those provinces, that you should go ahead and finish off all french forces. They have to realize by this point that they cannot win and that they should give up.

[Baneslave]

Well, it is up to you in the end, but I would say annex!

[Akaki]

Are you going to release some puppets?

[Kurt_Steiner]

When looking at the beginning, I must say that I never thought of being at this point right now... Amazing...

[Tribolute]

The French don't have pacific/south american vps?
I would say take Cayenne before annexation. The French presence there is strong enough to support the last government in exile thing.

[Paxdax]

Switzerland cannot be allowed to remain! An ugly, rusty spot in the steel armo(u?)r.

[Remble]

Brad1, Baneslave - Looks like they get to die the easy when then

Akaki - No puppets. Its the German way

Kurt_Steiner - Thank you. Things have come a long way fairly quickly.

Tribolute - They only have Cayenne and Libreville left. The U.S. have the pacific islands.

Paxdax - SWitzerland and Turkey both have non-agression pacts until 1948. They can live until then


Working on the next update but it will be a little while ..

[Remble]

Into The Desert
7

0800 February 23rd 1946.
18. Armee Headquarters. Philippeville, Algeria.

Von Bock was getting close to entering Dakar when he encountered more retreating divisions in the province.

The French militia did not hold him up for long.

Von Mackensen had arrived in Bizerte and turned south towards Tunis.

The American division was well entrenched but could not hold his armoured formation for long.

Von Bock and 1. Panzerarmee finally arrived in Dakar to be met with attacking Allied divisions. They were quickly persuaded to stop their advance.

0500 February 25th 1946.
Cap Verde Islands.

The Kriegsmarine had been conducting another invasion while everything was quiet.

General Demelhuber had waded ashore onto the Cap Verde Islands without any defenders in sight. He would leave one division to garrison the island and join von Bock in Dakar.

0700 February 25th 1946.
18. Armee Headquarters. Philippeville, Algeria.

Von Rundstedt was advancing as fast as he could but von Mackensen was still way ahead of his own forces.

He had already arrived in Tunis and was now heading towards the garrison in Sousse. More American troops would be captured.

1800 February 26th 1946.
South Cap Verde Approach.

Saalwachter was heading towards the port of Cap Verde Islands when a combined British and American ASW fleet arrived to investigate the islands.

The guns of 1. Zestorergeschwader open up on the Allied vessels. Three were sunk before they realised their mistake and could make an escape. HMS Columbo fell to the guns of KMS Tirpitz, KMS Admiral Hipper sank the 36th Destroyer Flotilla and KMS Lutzow disposed of the 20th Destroyer Flotilla.