Teutonic Dreams - A Germany 1936 HPP AAR

Chapter 16: Weeks 2 & 3 - Surrender of Poland and a Narrow Escape

The following two weeks saw several more positive developments for the Reich. First, the Heer had made great progress into Poland by July 1, having taken Krakow, assaulting the city of Lodz, and reaching the outskirts of Warsaw. In addition to the developments in the east, Armee 6 managed to exploit French weakness and took control of the Maginot Line's southern-most region.


The situation in Poland on July 1, 1940 (Author's note: those encirclements were done by the AI. As a reminder, the AI is controlling the Heer at the AG-level. Only the Kriegsmarine, interceptors, and paratroopers are under my control.)


Armee 6 manages to cross the Rhine and occupies part of the Maginot Line.

On July 2, Anthony Eden was removed from his position as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and was replaced by Winston Churchill. The Reich's leaders knew that at this moment, the UK was going to fight until the end. To Hitler, this meant that his plan to first eliminate the UK was the correct action to take.


Winston Churchill is appointed PM of the UK

On July 4, Hitler gave a speech discussing the Reich's great naval victory near Jutland. The German people were ecstatic, and were convinced there was no way they could lose the war.


Raeder's early success made great propaganda material

On July 6, 2 divisions of Goering's Fallschirmjaeger conducted an air assault on Warsaw. The attack prompted the Heer to also assault the city, which fell four days later.


The Fallschirmjaeger assault Warsaw

On July 11, Poland surrenders after 18 days of warfare and was annexed by the German Reich. On July 12, as per the terms of the M-R Pact, Eastern Poland was ceded to the Soviet Union. The Fourth Partition of Poland was an extremely important experience for the Reich. First, it affirmed that the Blitzkrieg concept was the future of warfare. Second, due to the USSR's extremely poor performance, the Reich gained much confidence in its ability to succeed in the planned Operation Barbarossa against the Soviet Union. This deduction was based on the fact that the USSR lose more territory than it took during the fight against Poland, while the Reich tore through the Polish lines like a knife through butter.


Poland surrenders to, and is annexed by, the German Reich


The Soviets demand Eastern Poland, which is ceded in order to allow the Reich to focus on the West


The redrawn borders of Eastern Europe

During this time period, the Kriegsmarine's commerce raiders sunk a total of 30 Allied merchant ships. The Scharnhorst scored the most kills, with a total of 10 merchant ships sunk near the Azores. Other raiders, notably the Gneisenau near Newfoundland, Admiral Hipper near the Canary Islands, and Paul Behncke near Gambia, also sunk large numbers of Allied merchant ships.


The KMS Admiral Hipper hunts convoys near the Canary Islands


The KMS Paul Behncke hunts convoys near Gambia


The KMS Gneisenau hunts convoys near Newfoundland

However, the Scharnhorst's success brought it close to near disaster. UK Admiral Cunningham was sent to the Azores with the carriers HMS Glorious and HMS Eagle, the battleships HMS Barham and HMS Queen Elizabeth, and 5 flotillas of destroyers to hunt the Scharnhorst and sink it. Cunningham first encountered the Scharnhorst, under the command of Admiral Doenitz, in the Western Azores. Doenitz successfully evaded Cunningham by fleeing north, but took several hits from the UK's CAGs. The HMS Barham took some shrapnel damage from the Scharnhorst before the skirmish was over.


The KMS Scharnhorst is hunted down, but manages to escape

Despite Doenitz's attempt to flee, the Scharnhorst was again spotted by Cunningham in the Northern Azores. Doenitz knew he was outmatched, and fled east. However, before he could escape, the Scharnhorst took heavy damage from Cunningham's CAGs and the rear magazine exploded. Luckily, that wasn't enough to sink the ship, and the Scharnhorst managed to flee east. From there, it evaded several French and British Cruisers until it docked safely in Wilhelmshaven for repairs.



The Scharnhorst barely manages to escape again


The Scharnhorst manages to evade Admiral Cunningham's fleet and limps back to Wilhelmshaven. (Author's note: Oh &%^$, I thought I was going to lose. The Scharnhorst is lucky, and managed to limp back to Wilhelmshaven *through* the English Channel. I'm pretty sure if I didn't have Doenitze, a skill 5 leader, in charge, I would've lost the ship.)

The engagement was a wake-up call to Raeder and Hitler. The near-loss of a major vessel after 2 battles raised an alarm. Hitler decided that the Gneisenau, operating near Canada, was to link up with the KMS Prinz Eugen, operating in the Carribean. The pair would then move back north and raid any convoys leaving Boston. The prevailing opinion at the time was, since the Scharnhorst lacked an effective screen, it was easily ambushed. The Gneisenau and Prinz Eugen was to be a test for paired battlecruiser/heavy cruiser convoy raiding operations. If the test were to be a success, then the 3 KW50 class battlecruisers currently in production were to be paired with the remaining Admiral Hipper heavy cruisers. The Scharnhorst was, after repairs, to be paired with the KMS Admiral Hipper near the Canary Islands.

Chapter 17: Weeks 4, 5, & 6 - The Battles of Bridlington Bay, Broken Bank, & the Wash

The time period between July 15 and August 4, 1940 saw several more positive developments for the Reich. The first event was when Hungary demanded North Transylvania from Romania. This demand was complex in origin. After the Great War ended, Hungary was reduced to 1/3 of its former size, and 2/5 of its former population. As per the terms of Hungary joining the Axis, the Reich was obligated to assist Hungary in securing the return of its former land. However, in order to implement its plan to gain as much German land as possible, the Reich refused to support Hungary's claims against Czechoslovakia when the opportunity first presented itself. To fulfill its alliance obligations, the Reich forced Romania to cede North Transylvania.


Romania cedes North Transylvania to Hungary

However, the Reich was not prepared for the response of the Romanian citizens. Immediately after the treaty was signed, Romania's military, supported by fascist groups, staged a coup. Romania's new government immediately requested to join the Axis, partially to prevent more border changes but mostly to prevent any further Soviet aggression. The Reich accepted Romania's offer.


Romania's new government joined the Axis Powers on July 15, 1940

The next three weeks showed that the Reich still had the upper hand in the Atlantic War, despite the Scharnhorst's near disaster. However, the number of convoys sunk plummeted from 15 a week to 11 a week, with the vast majority of sunk ships following the trade routes from West Africa. The Reich's only long-range submarines finally reached the area west of Gibraltar, and were responsible for sinking 18 of the 33 convoys sunk by the Kriegsmarine during this time period. The subs also relayed important information regarding Allied patrols. Both the RN and French Marine nationale (MN) were spotted using battleships and carriers to patrol the Spanish Coast and the Azores, which was assumed to be a direct result of the Scharnhorst's presence. At this stage in the war, only submarines were to raid those areas, and the surface raiders would raid the less-patrolled Brazilian, African, and Canadian coasts.


The KMS Gneisenau and KMS Prinz Eugen hunt convoys near Canada

The highlight of the naval aspect of the war during this time period was the three consecutive battles of Bridlington Bay, Broken Bank, and the Wash. On July 18, submarines scouting the UK's eastern shore spotted Admiral Chatfield's crippled fleet repairing in Hull. Admiral Raeder set course for Bridlington Bay, with the intent to use his CAGs to perform a night raid in an attempt to finally sink the HMS Ramilles and HMS Renown. On July 19, Flotte 1 was in position and the raid began.


Planes from the KMS Seydlitz and KMS Jade bomb Hull's shipyard

Unfortunately, the RAF was alerted and intercepted the CAGs before any substantial damage could be dealt. Also, as the CAGs were returning, an RN patrol stumbled upon Flotte 1, which opened fire on the patrol ships, sinking the HMS Galatea and the 5 destroyers of the 32nd Destroyer Flotilla. Despite the heavy blow his CAGs took, Raeder felt the raid was a tactical success. His reasoning was that for every patrol the RN lost, the chances of Operation Sealoewe succeeding increase. Raeder then returned to Wilhelmshaven to replace the lost planes and repair the KMS Deutschland, which took minor hits during the battle.


Admiral Raeder returns to Wilhelmshaven after the unsuccessful bombing of Hull

On July 26, one of the Reich's submarine flotillas operating near the Mouth of the Thames reported that a French patrol consisting of the heavy cruiser Dupleix and 10 destroyers was heading toward the Broken Bank sea zone, and Raeder decided to engage. Flotte 1 encountered the French patrol at 8:00 on July 27, and sunk the Dupleix and 8 destroyers. The remaining two French destroyers fled west, toward the Wash and Raeder pursued.


Flotte 1, despite its CAGs at only half strength, continues to hunt Allied patrols

When Flotte 1 arrived at the Wash, the French destroyers were nowhere to be found, presumably having fled again before Raeder's fleet could arrive. Around 19:00 KMS Graf Spee spotted a pair of RN light cruisers, the HMS Achilles and HMS Ceres, and fired upon the patrol. However, the situation became much more complicated as night fell, as a large RN intercept fleet with the battleships HMS Malaya, HMS Warspite, and HMS Revenge along with the light carrier HMS Argus as its core arrived, having been sent to the area by the earlier French patrol. All three fleets engaged under the cover of darkness. As a result of the poor visibility, Raeder's CAGs were reduced to a mere 25% of the maximum strength and the KMS Tirpitz fire upon and sunk one of its own destroyer escorts. Having lost air superiority and witnessing his own ships fire on each other, Raeder fled east. From his previous experiences over the past few battles, Raeder fully understood the edge his CAGs gave him, and with them currently unable to sortie while the HMS Argus could still operate its planes, Raeder knew he would take unnecessary casualties if he continued the battle. After four hours of fighting in the dark, Raeder successfully disengaged, having almost lost a large percentage of his CAGs and the KMS Graf Spee suffering a hit. While technically the battle was a loss for the Kriegsmarine, Flotte 1 sunk the light cruiser patrol and 5 destroyer, and the battle was declared a victory by Hitler. Flotte 1 then headed back to Wilhelmshaven for repairs and replacement CAGs.


Raeder sinks several screens, but retreats after his CAGs lose their organization (Author's note: see how the Bismarck's experience is ridiculously high? That's a direct result of PI's implementation of the Pride's experience gain bonus, which causes the Pride to get 110% experience after a few hours of fighting.)


The Heer continues its current land doctrines and Hitler gives another speech about the Kriegsmarine's superiority

At this point, a debate occurred between Raeder, Hitler, Goering, and members of the Kriegsmarine and Luftwaffe leadership over whether or not Flotte 1 should continue hunting Allied patrols without the carriers, due to the heavy losses in aircraft. Raeder refused to sortie until either replacements were finished or the Luftwaffe helped him maintain air superiority, as he knew those planes were the main reason for his success so far. Goering refused to commit any fighter aircraft, as he claimed they were needed to act as a deterrent to the RAF's strategic bomber wing, which conducted raids against Dortmund once a week. In the end, Hitler ordered Raeder to continue without the carriers, and for Goering to loan V. Fliegerkorps to the Kriegsmarine until the CAGs were fully repaired.

Actually, Romania's alliance offer was exactly what happened back then, although the timing was different and Bulgaria historically participated in the land-grab as well. Even though Romania is in the Soviet's SoI, since the USSR didn't protest much after Romania signed the Anti-Comintern Pact historically, we decided to have the Soviets not respond. The coup event is pretty much the only way to get Romania to join the Axis, as it would naturally drift toward the Allies in the diplomacy triangle since it's a democracy at first, and it would fly away from the Axis corner later due to Hungary and Bulgaria having its cores.

As far as the Pride effect goes, it gives a flat initial bonus to the unit's experience, which I believe is 10% in vanilla. The HPP dropped the bonus to 1%, so a ship with 20% experience would have 21% after being designated the Pride of the Fleet. However, there's another, hidden bonus that increases the ship's experience gain to something like 1000% (10.0 instead of 1.10), which I'm pretty sure is a math-goof PI made.

Chapter 18: Weeks 7-9 - Surrender of the Netherlands and Preparation for Operation Seelöwe

At 18:00 on August 5, 1940, the German Reich declared war on the Netherlands. While Heeresgruppe A crushed the weak Dutch army deployed along the border, the Luftwaffe's 5 paratrooper divisions landed in Den Haag and Amsterdam. Within 3 days, every Dutch province had been occupied, and the Dutch government fled and reorganized in Batavia. Heeresgruppe A then began to take positions along the Belgian border.


The Reich declares war on the neutral nation of the Netherlands

The Allies immediately recognized the threat forming on the Belgian border and took steps to fortify the region by shifting troops away from the Maginot. However, the attack the Allies feared never came, and Admiral Raeder once again set out to Broken Bank to assault the Allies patrol ships. This time, Raeder had left his CAG-less carriers in Wilhelmshaven as well as cruisers damaged from the Battle of the Wash.


Raeder sorties with fresh screens and no carriers

Using Göring's V. Fliegerkorps for air support, Raeder attacked two Allied patrols and ambushed the KN's fleet fleeing from Amsterdam. In all engagements, Flotte 1 took no losses but sunk a small percentage of the Allied fleets. While Raeder was impressed by V. Fliegerkorps' ability to keep Allied aircraft away from his ships, the interceptors were not suited for engaging enemy ships, and as a result more Allied vessels escaped that would normally have been sunk by the CAGs.


The Second Battle of Broken Bank


The naval Battle of Amsterdam


The Third Battle of Broken Bank

Ever since the war began, the Reich's old coastal submarines had been scouting along the eastern coast of Britain and near the Mouth of the Thames. While the submarines had been ordered to sink any merchant shipping it found, their primary mission was to find and report any patrols they came across as well as determine the relative strengths of the UK's port garrisons. After 9 weeks of war, the Wehrmacht had enough intelligence to plan Operation Seelöwe in detail.

The first phase of the invasion was to land the four divisions of the Marinekorps in the unguarded and lightly patrolled northern port of Inverness. The marines would then proceed to Aberdeen, and then take a defensive position. The purpose of their mission was to draw Allied forces away from the large southern ports.


The path the transport fleet would take during the initial phase of the invasion

Once the submarines determined that the southern port defenders had relocated north, the Luftwaffe's fighter wings would conduct a series of operations over Southern England and attract the attention of the RAF. While the air battles were taking place, the paratroopers would land in and near Dover. Once the port was secured, both Armee 1 and Panzerarmee 1 would be transported across the English Channel from Den Haag.


Projected landing zones of the paratroopers stationed in Amsterdam

During weeks 7 through 9, the Kriegsmarine's convoy raiders sunk a total of 36 transports, bringing the total number of sunk commercial vessels to 101.

Finally, on August 28, a U-Boot group sighted a large Allied task force consisting of 1 BC, 6 BB, 3 CV, 12 DD, 1 CVL, 3 CA, 1 CL, and 7 TP. While the large surface force wasn't unusual, the large fleet combined with the presence of the transports and the interceptor group providing air coverage caused alarm. It appeared that the Allies were going to preempt Seelöwe with an invasion of their own.


A large battlefleet and transport fleet is spotted

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Wow... Now that's unbalancing...

Click to expand...

I seriously haven't seen much of a performance increase. Even without the CAGs, my fleet doesn't do to well and the cruisers collectively sunk more than the Bismarck has. The North Sea always seems to be raining, so the poor visibility drags out the battles and results in low casualties on both sides when you consider the overall amount of ships fighting. My best successes have been against France (no surprise there) in good weather.

Chapter 19: Weeks 10-12: Unternehmen Seelöwe Part 1

On August 26, Italy declared war on the small nation of Albania, in response to the Reich's success so far in the war. (Author's note: I forgot to change the trigger for this decision, which required me to annex Czechoslovakia. I removed that part so Italy could fire this decision).


Albania rejected Italy's demand for them to give up their independence, resulting in war.

A week passed after the sighting of the large Allied fleet, but the expected invasion never materialized and the Allied fleet sailed to Hull, then returned to the Atlantic. While puzzling, the fact the large fleet was out of the North Sea along with a complete lack of any surface patrols found by II. and III. Unterseebootsflotten, prompted the initial phase of Operation Sealion to commence. The transport fleet, taking a long route away from known Allied submarine-patrolled areas, arrive near Inverness without incident and the invasion began.


The marines land in order to provide a distraction for the main force

Within hours, the marines landed in Inverness and began their attack on Aberdeen. The port at Inverness was damaged during the attack and too small to support the entire corps, so it was vital that Aberdeen be taken. Aberdeen was taken on September 1, 1940. I. Armeekorps was then transported north to assist the marines.


The landings alerted all of the UK's ground troops, but the transport fleet managed to escape without incident. Aberdeen is taken 3 days later

4 hours after the fall of Aberdeen, II. Unterseebootsflotte patrolled near the large port of Hull and found it to be deserted. The planned paradrop on Dover was canceled, and two paratrooper divisions were dropped on the port. II. Armeekorps landed in Hull to provide support until the tanks arrived.


The aerial invasion of Hull

The remaining paratroopers were dropped in the deserted port of Lowestoft and on the adjacent airfield at Norwich. The rest of Armee 1 was landed in Lowestoft, as well as I. Panzerkorps. The infantry from II. Armeekorps managed to link up the two areas and take the port of Grimsby. The remaining two weeks saw fierce fighting in Scotland, as the UK decided to focus its efforts to repelling the initial landing instead of reinforcing London, which was about to be cut off and surrounded. Inverness fell on September 10, but the rest of the northern front stabilized.

On September 13, the French took the undefended port of Grimsby, which was abandoned in order to link up with the Reich's troops supplied out of Lowestoft. On September 15, the French attacked Lowestoft, shortly after elements of I. Panzergrenadieren landed.


Operation Sea Lion after 2 weeks. The northern front is stable, the middle front is static, and the southern front is experiencing rapid success

During this time period Allied 32 convoys and 8 German convoys were sunk. The majority of Allied losses occurred along the Saharan and Canadian coasts.

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@CptEasy: Rocket artillery starts off worse, but over time gets much better. I'm mainly going to use the self-propelled version, which has a speed of 16 and can keep up with my motorized divisions. SP-Art is slow, with a speed of about 13, so they are attached to my medium tank divisions which move at 14 km/h normally. I will also be attaching armored cars to some of my motorized divisions, as they can give a CA bonus when upgraded enough. Due to my current naval build up, I don't have the resources to allocate to support brigades, because I want to fill up frontage first.

Chapter 20: Weeks 13-16 - Unternehmen Seelöwe Part 2

With his CAGs fully operational again, Admiral Raeder set out with Flotte 1 and engaged the French fleet attacking Lowestoft. The battle was fierce, but resulted in a major victory for the Reich. The French fleet lost its modern heavy cruisers, Algerie, and four transport flotillas. Raeders only losses were in aircraft: the CAGs were reduced to 50% strength and were unable to sortie in the near future. Raeder then headed east, back to Amsterdam. This was an important victory for the Reich, because Raeder had sunk a large portion of, if not all, France's transport ships. From this point on, the French did not attempt another landing.


The second Battle of the Wash ended with the sinking of four French transports and the troops they carried

While heading east, Raeder encountered a French relief force under the command of Admiral Gensoul. Despite the CAGs' poor shape, the battle once again resulted in Raeder's victory, with the French losing 2 heavy cruisers and one light cruiser, while the UK lost a submarine flotilla.

Also, during these four weeks 12 German convoys were lost while the Kriegsmarine's surface raiders sunk 33 Allied convoys, which is sharply lower than earlier. Whether this was due to poor performance or that the Allies were running out of service-worthy vessels was unknown at this time. Based on the fact that 166 Allied convoys had been sunk in 10 weeks, the Reich felt it was more likely that the Allies could not keep up the pace of replacements.


The Fourth Battle of Broken Bank once again resulted in a German victory

On September 29, the Heer was forced to abandon its siege of London. The Luftwaffe had yet to establish air superiority, and as a result the bombing runs were ineffective. For now, the Heer redirected its efforts to surrounding London by taking Aldershot. The decision to abandon the footlhold Scotland was made, and the marines and I. Armeekorps were shipped to Hull under cover of night.


The First Battle of London ended in failure

On October 1, a motorized division took the city of Liverpool, effectively cutting off Scotland from the UK's ground-based supply network. This act forced the UK to use its already stressed convoy system to provide supplies to its home territories. I. and II. Unterseebootsflotten were rebased to Den Haag and assigned raiding areas along the UK's Irish and western coasts.


The status of the invasion at the end of the 5th week.

A week later, Aldershot had been taken and the second Battle of London commenced. At this point, the UK had lost all but three of its air bases, and only one was close enough for interceptors to reach London, which were easy prey for the Luftwaffe's seasoned pilots based out of Norwich.


The status of the invasion at the end of the 6th week. The pocket south of Newcastle contained 2 garrison and 3 infantry divisions.

Three days after the siege began, London's defenders surrendered. The Royal family, Parliament members, and the cabinet had fled to Glasgow previously before Aldershot was taken. Between the two battles, the Reich lost 11,344 men while the UK lost 12,867 men during the street fighting. Considering the terrain, the number of and composition of the city's defenders, and that tanks were used in the attack, the Heer deemed the battle to be a surprising success.


The Heer manages to take London, but takes many losses in the process. (Author's note: I forgot to take a screen showing what was in London, but there were 6 divisions of 3xgar+AA. Those garrisons had a really nasty 25% defense bonus in urban terrain, which is what hurt the most. Good for me that the defense bonus doesn't apply when being bombed )

On October 16, 7 weeks after the start of the invasion, the outlook of the operation was good. The UK was projected to last possibly another month at most, since the Scottish Highlands provided good defensive positions. Also of note, the RN's main fleet was seen to be docking at Belfast, and had managed to sink a submarine flotilla in both I. and II. Unterseebootsflotten by using aircraft to ambush the subs.


The status of the operation at the end of the 7th week

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@Slan: AC gives a CA bonus to mechanized divisions, not motorized, and that's only after 1941.

@Cybvep: Yep, losing your capital is pretty much the sign of death in this game, as your supply network will crumble and you need to rebuild your resource stockpile from scratch.

@Enewald & Middelkerke: Thanks. Even more interesting stuff is coming. After the UK is kicked out of the home islands, Armee 1 and Panzerarmee 1 will be dropped in northern France, after the rest of the army attacks through Belgium and grabs the AI's attention.