Teutonic Dreams - A Germany 1936 HPP AAR

[HecNev]

I really liked the "analysis" of Barbarossa. I think you should do it again with Japan and any other major invasions (USA maybe?)

I second that.
It's always nice to see a summary, especially in regards of how your ideas have worked out.

And nice update! I'm really surprised that the Japanaese have only so few men stationed in their homeland. But, on the other hand, you have intercepted all their reinforcements

Regarding paratroopers: How did you manage to get their planes into action so far from the Reich? Could you station them in a Chinese Airport or did you mereley use the "rebase"-command to relocate them to Taiwan after it was secured?

[Slan]

I'm really surprised that the Japanaese have only so few men stationed in their homeland.

This might be a stupid question, but if you play Japan, how many divisions you keep in the Home Islands yourself? Because I wouldn't really plan against an invasion if I'm only fighting China and someone on the other end of the globe... Anyway, the only thing I could do to help Japan prevent something like this is to tell them to build even more Garrisons, but they will most likely send them to the Pacific islands, and you can land next to them anyway.

[Enewald]

How do the supplies come?

[TheBromgrev]

Regarding paratroopers: How did you manage to get their planes into action so far from the Reich? Could you station them in a Chinese Airport or did you mereley use the "rebase"-command to relocate them to Taiwan after it was secured?

I based them in Fuzhou, just like I based the ships out of Hong Kong.

How do the supplies come?

Why, they come from Sevastopol, through the Suez, round Singapore, and to my captured ports

Japan didn't start sinking my convoys until the time frame of my next update, and they did so with a vengeance once they found the convoy routes.

[misterbean]

Japan didn't start sinking my convoys until the time frame of my next update, and they did so with a vengeance once they found the convoy routes.

o my...

[SSmith]

Do you guys like my "analysis" and overview chapters before and after each major conflict?

Yes, very much. They add a lot to the history book style of this AAR.

[Mikeb545]

Dang Japan is, might i say, royally screwed! They are losing quite alot of their IJN forces and not to mention land forces as well. Your Kriegsmarine is beyond awesomness for its efficency in taking down two of the world's most powerful naval forces of that time...once japan is done you can take on the other powerful naval force *points eastward* make a german pearl harbor! b most WICKED! Continue on Komrade!

[TheBromgrev]

@misterbean: Yeah, the convoy losses prompted me to make about 150 more convoys in preparation for later...

@SSmith: Thanks, I'll keep the same format then.

@Mikeb545: Welcome! In Japan's defense, the last thing they would've expected was for a nation halfway around the world which had no navy to speak of 7 years prior to be able to actually reach Japan itself. Of course, the fact that the world's rares are controlled either by the US, which has embargoed Japan, and the Axis, which China belongs to, doesn't help them either. The supply/fuel bug that's been fixed for the FtM expansion doesn't exist in the HPP, since Slan found a workaround before SF came out. PI even says in one of the dev diaries that they were going to use Slan's fix in a patch, but decided to fix the code instead and forgot about it until recently. The reason Japan ran out of fuel in this game is because it's fleet goes all out and patrols for Chinese convoys with everything it has, which eats up its fuel. Since it only has 2 oil, that's not enough to compensate for fuel usage, and since it couldn't grab Indonesia, Japan's fuel stockpile dwindled to nothing. It can only supply a few fleets with fuel at this point.

As far as my low losses go, I've definitely had quite a few close calls, and had to rotate screens out when fighting the UK. The only time I reloaded after a battle was the one I mentioned earlier with Japan's overstacked CAGs, because losing an entire fleet to a bug is BS. Not to mention that the fleet I kept losing was the same one that killed the RN. Overall, I'm pretty surprised that my only losses in the entire game so far have been two sub flotillas that were caught by a RN carrier. Of course, I think the fact that toughness and defense were/are broken might've helped a bit in keeping casualties down on my end, since my ships are much more modern. Also, since Japan can't fuel its entire navy, a lot of ships move at 1kph, which kills their combat effectiveness.

[Rensslaer]

Swarming over the home islands - nice. Battle of Tsushima Straits huh? Touch of irony.

Great work!

Renss

[Slan]

I wanted to comment on the Hamhung-bug here. The thing is, only one of the two problems was fixed in HPP: the huge starting stockpile. But that was still rebuilt later on, because of another bug which I could do nothing about (the AI sending too much stuff out during the game). The first bug (the huge starting stockpile) is already fixed in vanilla 2.04d by an artificial limit on how much supplies a province can have at the start of a scenario, and IIRC 1.8.1 of HPP already removed the workaround we built in with those ports.

[lunchmeat1234]

Well done! Cant wait to see the rest!

[misterbean]

just voted for the AARland awards. I am so very lucky. my favorite 3 AARs are all in a different class (narrative, gameplay and history-book), so you, Rensslaer and Slan all got a vote from me.

[TheBromgrev]

Thanks. I should probably vote too...

[OpAphid]

Well done, good chap. Been creeping this and Banner of the White sun for awhile now.

Ooops :P I'm just simply too lazy to log in every time I open my browser :P

But I really do love this AAR. Too bad my HPP Doesn't work until I de-frag my computer.

[TheBromgrev]

Chapter 44: Stage 3 - September 30, 1943 to November 15, 1943

The third and final stage of Unternehmen Abendsonne began on October 5, 1943. Unable to secure a beachhead by crossing the narrow straits from Shikoku to Honshu, the marines boarded their transports and landed near the undefended city of Kyoto directly. By October 6, the city was secured, and the 25 Japanese destroyers hiding in Kyoto's naval base attempted to escape past Flotte 3's blockade. None of the destroyers succeeded. Absent from the battle was the KMS Graf Zeppelin, which was forced to pull back from combat operations due to heavy CAG losses from Japan's remaining fighter screen.


Flotte 3's battleships make short work of the Japanese destroyers

The Reich's invasion of Japan went smoothly after the capture of Kyoto, as Japanese defenders fell back toward Tokyo to prepare a new line of defense. By October 15, the southern portion of the country was occupied, and Japan had assembled a defensive line in the city of Nagoya, consisting of an infantry division and 2 paratrooper divisions. Attacking from 3 directions, two German mountain and two marine divisions attacked the city, securing it 5 days after the initial attack began. The Battle of Nagoya was the bloodiest battle of the invasion, with 2,744 German KIA and 5,716 Japanese KIA. Intelligence obtained after the battle showed that the men defending Nagoya were the only combat-ready troops in Japan, and were preparing to be sent to China when the Reich attacked. As a result, they fought savagely with outdated equipment to repel the German invaders, but were ultimately unable to defeat battle-hardened soldiers who had fought against France, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union.


The Battle of Nagoya was the bloodiest battle of the invasion

During the entire operation, the Kriegsmarine had 5 surface raider groups assaulting Japanese merchant shipping, in order to further starve the island nation as well as to prevent the flow of supplies to China. Unlike the War in the West, the surface raiders were mostly ineffective, as shown by the mere 20 ships the raiders managed to sink in two months. There were several reasons for the raiders poor performance. First, the Kriegsmarine was operating far from its home waters, and had to be much more cautious, because damaged ships would be unable to quickly retreat to a friendly port. Second, the routes Japanese convoys would take were unknown to the Kriegsmarine and the convoy raiders spent most of their time attempting to find the established routes. During the War in the West, the convoy routes were well known before the war, and the Kriegsmarine took advantage of geographical bottlenecks. Third, the IJN, despite its losses, was still a formidable opponent and, unlike the UK, had quickly developed an effective plan to thwart German commerce raiding.

After its initial losses in Stage 1 and Stage 2, the IJN had quickly recovered and created a large "net" of patrol ships along the major convoy routes, and actively patrolled these routes with cruisers and the remnants of its capital ships. While the Reich's raider groups were more than capable of dealing with destroyer escorts, they were not equipped to handle larger patrols for an extended period of time. A perfect example was the October 31 battle of Seohan-man, near the Chilhi Gulf. Admiral von Nordeck's group, consisting of the O-class battlecruiser KMS Oberdonau and the heavy cruiser KMS Blücher, came into contact with a cruiser patrol led by Admiral Kato. Both Japanese cruisers struck the Blücher, damaging its forward turret. The Blücher took several more hits before the Oberdonau struck and sunk the IJN Jintsu, prompting Admiral Kato to retreat. Von Nordeck then headed to Shanghai in order to repair the Blücher.


Von Nordeck's raider group is spotted by Japanese cruisers

Overall, the situation for Japan was dire. With its army stuck in China and its last defenders retreating to Tokyo, it was only a matter of time until Armee 1 and the Reich's special forces took full control of the island nation. Indeed, on November 3, the Battle of Tokyo began, and was concluded a day later on November 4. Japan was on the verge of collapse, which was symbolized by the Emperor Hirohito's flight to Seoul. After the Battle of Tokyo, only a single paratrooper division existed and was in a position to affect the Reich's advance.


The Battle of Tokyo prompted the beginning of surrender negotiations

After the Emperor's flight to Korea, some remaining elements of the Japanese government attempted to negotiate a surrender. Negotiations were difficult, as the Japanese felt that, despite the loss of the majority or their homeland, that the IJN would eventually regain its strength and defeat the Kriegsmarine. With this belief in mind, the Japanese negotiators were demanding a return to the status quo. Admiral Raeder, who was authorized by Hitler to head the Reich's delegation, flatly refused the terms. It wasn't until every major Japanese city in the home islands were occupied that Japan accepted Raeder's peace terms. His terms were:

1) Japan and Manchukuo were to immediately cease hostile activities against the Republic of China and the German Reich
2) Japan was to cede to Germany all of its Pacific possessions, with the exception of Okinawa
3) Japan's armed forces were to immediately return to Japan from overseas
4) The Japanese Emperor must renounce his divinity
5) Japan would release Manchukuo from its control
6) Japan would cede Korea to the German Reich, who would oversea a switch to Korean self-governance
7) Japan would cede Taiwan, East Hebei, and Dalian to the Republic of China
8) In the event of a German war with the USSR or United Nations, Japan would assist the Reich with its full capacity

On November 15, 1943, Japanese Emperor Hirohito renounced his divinity and surrendered to the German Reich, thus ending the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.


Japan surrenders to Germany

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@OpAphid: Welcome to the forum and the AAR! I'm glad you like it so far. As a present, I wrote this chapter

Also, I'd like to make a plug for the AARland Choice AwAARds. To anyone reading this, please go vote for your favorite AARs, even if it isn't mine! There are a lot of good ones out there in the other forums and you have until May 1 to vote.

[PaxImperator]

Good show! I'm curious what the world map looks like now.

[HecNev]

Great update and nice progress!
That should bring you into a perfect position to destroy the last remnants of the USSR. After this, you should have your back free to proceed over the ocean to the US.

[Enewald]

United Nations being what?

[SSmith]

Definitely a disappointment to see Japan only having 3 divisions in the home islands! I know there is a serious issue with the AI here, but this was probably just exceptionally unlucky. Most of the times that I have looked at Japan in testing there have been more divisions than that - although obviously nowhere near enough.

[Slan]

Definitely a disappointment to see Japan only having 3 divisions in the home islands! I know there is a serious issue with the AI here, but this was probably just exceptionally unlucky. Most of the times that I have looked at Japan in testing there have been more divisions than that - although obviously nowhere near enough.

I must ask again, enough for what? To defend against China, who has no capability to cross the ocean anyway? Defend against Germany, who should be half-way across the world? I'm not really sure I would have had more Divisions at home, to be honest.

Then again, the point still stands: they would have too few even if the USA was involved, who have bases close enough and a navy to get there...