Teutonic Dreams - A Germany 1936 HPP AAR

[Cybvep]

Dropbox is excellent. You can easily transfer files between various computers, share folders etc. It has 2 GB of storage and it can be further increased by inviting friends. BTW if anyone of you is interested, just PM me and I will invite you to Dropbox :P

[TheBromgrev]

@SSMith: Yes, the UK AI should've used its carriers to patrol the North Sea and English Channel, instead of wasting it hunting my subs near Gibraltar or the Scharnhorst+Admiral Hipper near the Azores. The Allied AI also should've replaced the North Sea patrols Raeder sunk, which their absence was the sole reason my transport fleet was able to operate on its own. For the time being, I'll consider this tactic an exploit, although beating France first still would've been the best course of action, as you'll see in my next two chapters.

@Slan, Cybvep: I'll definitely look into starting an account with those two sites, so I have more flexibility in my image-hosting servers. Unlike you two, I prefer to make more than one chapter a week

@All: I have the pictures for the next two chapters ready, I'm just sorting out which ones I actually want to use. My spoiler is: somehow, after the UK losing most of its homeland, and France focusing on me, Italy still manages to lose East Africa and Libya....

[Slan]

@Slan, Cybvep: I'll definitely look into starting an account with those two sites, so I have more flexibility in my image-hosting servers. Unlike you two, I prefer to make more than one chapter a week

You know, I could write many chapters a week, but then it would be done way too soon I want to write something epic

[TheBromgrev]

Chapter 22: Weeks 28-30 - Fall of Belfast & the Final Stage of Fall Gelb

On December 14, while returning to Amsterdam, Admiral Raeder came into contact with a French fleet led by the MN Bearn. The battle mostly was in Flotte 1's favor, with the French losing a destroyer flotilla and the surviving ships receiving heavy damage before retreating. With the KMS Admiral Scheer in critical condition, Raeder continued to Amsterdam for repairs.


Flotte 1 defeats the French CTF, but is forced to return for repairs

Four days later, on December 18, the Luftwaffe's light fighters spot the Bearn and her escorts docked at Dunkerque for repairs. Göring immediately ordered Luftflotte II to sink the fleet. The first bombing run managed to sink the destroyers, but the second run resulted in no material success. Luftflotte II was then redirected to bomb French defensive positions near the Belgian border, and Raeder's CAGs managed to sink the Bearn on December 26, the same day as the invasion of Belfast.


France's only carrier is sunk by Kriegsmarine aircraft

Due to the cold weather, the advance into Scotland was slow, and the attempts to enter Northern Ireland were aborted due to the RN's naval presence. On December 26, all five paratrooper divisions were fully recovered and ready for deployment. Hitler ordered these divisions to be dropped in Belfast and the surrounding provinces. Three divisions landed in Belfast, led by the paratrooper leader Schörner (Author's note: yes, he was a Heer commander, but the algorithm used to give out the new paratrooper leader trait [-25% paradrop penalty] gave him the trait as well; this will be corrected in a later HPP version). Belfast fell 5 days later, on New Year's Eve.


Belfast quickly falls. The Danish militia held out longer than the Irish infantry.

With the fall of Belfast, the only remaining major city held by the UK was Aberdeen, which was abandoned earlier by the Kriegsmarine's marines.


The status of the invasion's 19th week

On January 2, 1941, the Reich declared its long-anticipated war against Belgium. Despite the Allies realizing this would happen eventually, Belgium had demobilized its armed forces, believing that the main thrust against France would come from England. This was a fatal miscalculation on the Belgian's part. However, Italy, knowing the part it had to play, had already mobilized its troops and began to prepare its population for war. However, the conditions for them to join the war had not been met yet. It would be one week later that the Italians would join the war.


The German Reich declares war on Belgium.

Five days later, the French defenders at Dunkerque retreated, and the Heer began to occupy the city, starting the final phase of the War in the West.


The armored assault on Dunkerque, assisted by Flotte 1, ended in a sound German success


The status of the war after the 30th week of hostilities

Finally, 31 Allied convoys were sunk during this time period, or 10 convoys per week on average. Many more South African and French convoys were sunk than the previous time period, implying that both nations had begun to replace their losses.

[Enewald]

And there goes France. 2 or 3 weeks?

[Cybvep]

Your push in Scotland is slow as hell... Still, France should be no problem. You most likely have an advantage in every military aspect now

[TheBromgrev]

Chapter 23: Weeks 31-35 - Italy Joins the War, the Heer reaches Paris, and the South Africans Counterattack!

On January 10, 1941, Italy joined the war and opened up the Southern and African fronts. Despite its armed forces being mobilized and in position, the Italians made little to no progress on all fronts for the next month. Privately, Hitler and his cabinet debated the worth of their Italian allies. However, the fact remained that the Italians were the only ones in a position to force the UK's surrender until the Reich pacifies France, and they could also provided a distraction in the Alps, by forcing France to guard the border. In fact, throughout the war, the Italians proved to be nothing more than a good distraction.


Italy joins the war

In Belgium, despite the quick early gains, the fighting was slow and intense in Brussels and Liege, as the French and remaining British managed to reach the cities before the Reich could take them. A similar situation developed near Lille and Calais. To create another front, Luxembourg was attacked on January 28, 1941. Liege fell on February 5, while Brussels fell on February 10. Both battles were costly, resulting in over 8,000 German deaths.


The Battle of Brussels

On February 2, another corps of motorized infantry was deployed, and the freed resources were used to construct the first 10 Spähkreuzer-class (scout cruiser-class) heavy destroyers.


The first ten of the 25 planned scout cruisers

Also on February 2, German troops won the Battle of Luxembourg, with a total of 3,225 German and 3,758 Allied deaths. The high casualties were due to poor terrain and the surprising quality of the French troops. Three days later the Heer occupied the small country, which then surrendered to the Reich.


The Heer wins the Battle of Luxembourg, but at great cost


Luxembourg surrenders and is annexed by the Reich on February 5, 1941

At this point, due to the slow advance, I. Marinekorps was relocated from Scotland to Den Haag. Their role was to assault Paris once the armored elements cleared a path for them. Later, on February 7, while patrolling for French submarines and UK convoys, 5. Zerstörergeschwader managed to spot what appeared to be the entire RN resting in Scapa Flow and Inverness. The locations and possible compositions of these fleet were noted, and Admiral Raeder began to plan for the event that the ports were taken and he could finally engage the core of the RN. Despite the large number of vessels, Raeder knew that the UK was unable to provide supplies for the ships, as the Scottish defenders were given priority due to Armee 1's progress.


The RN is hiding from Flotte 1

On February 8, due to Hitler's claims that Ireland was providing support and refuge for members of the UK's government, the Luftwaffe's paratroopers based in Belfast attacked, quickly taking Dublin and the surrounding provinces. Ireland steadfastly denied the claims, but was unable to provide proof to the contrary.

Later, on February 9, 5. Zerstörergeschwader spotted four South African transport flotillas and engaged. While the destroyers were unable to sink any of the ships, they damaged enough to cause the transports to flee to Aberdeen. The Reich's leadership dismissed the transports and their cargo, thinking that the South Africans were attempting to push Armee 1 out of Scotland. This turned out to be a huge judgment error. With Flotte 1 resting in Den Haag, the South Africans landed four infantry divisions in Amsterdam, which was left completely undefended by Heeresgruppe A. While Flotte 1 was able to sink all four transport ships, the damage was done, and forces fighting the French had to be diverted to defeat the South Africans.


The transports that took Amsterdam

On February 14, with the South Africans expanding their beachhead near Amsterdam, Raeder continued to hunt Allied patrols in the English Channel, this time managing to sink the HMS Dragon.


The Second Battle of the Easter English Channel. Behind the OOB interface in the top-right you can see the South African Expeditionary Force.

During this time period, 66 Allied convoys were sunk, averaging 16 convoys sunk per week. The KMS Lutzöw abandoned its hunting grounds near the Carribean and joined the Scharnhorst and Admiral Hipper near the Azores, resulting in a large increase of sunk Allied shipping.

Overall, the situation looked promising for the Axis, but slow. On February 14, Italy had attacked Malta and had progressedl into Tunisia. The Heer had managed to reach Paris, and the marines were in the process of surrounding the city and crossing the Seine. However, Italy had made no progress into Southern France, was losing Libya to the Egyptians and East Africa to the French and UK colonial troops. Progress in Scotland was painfully slow, due to the UK's terrain advantage and the frozen ground conditions. Simply moving into a province took at least a week, even after the defenders had fled. The South Africans had yet to be removed from Amsterdam. At this point, while Fall Rot looked like it would succeed, the cost was projected to be high.


The status of the war in Europe at the end of week 35


The status of the war in North Africa at the end of week 35


The status of the war in East Africa at the end of week 35

[SSmith]

An audacious move by the South Africans (for which they will no doubt pay dearly) but desperate times call for desperate measures...

[GhostWriter]

TheBromgrev: ...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 .. After 9 weeks of war, the Wehrmacht had enough intelligence to plan Operation Seelöwe in detail.

awesome ! !

TheBromgrev: ...The first phase of the invasion was to land the four divisions of the Marinekorps in the .. port of Inverness. .. Once the submarines determined that the southern port defenders had relocated north .. By November 2, Wales and England, with the exception of some holdouts in Newport, were under full German occupation.

more awesome ! !

TheBromgrev: ...Due to the cold weather, the advance into Scotland was slow

normal ! !

TheBromgrev: ...On January 2, 1941, the Reich declared . war against Belgium. .. Belgium had demobilized its armed forces

unreal ! !

TheBromgrev: ...In Belgium . the fighting was slow and intense in Brussels and Liege .. Liege fell on February 5, while Brussels fell on February 10. Both battles were costly .. Luxembourg surrenders and is annexed by the Reich on February 5, 1941

winter fighting is both slow and costly in manpower ! !

magnificent updates ! !

[Enewald]

No blitzkrieg?
Panzers in Scotland?

[Cybvep]

(...) costly in manpower ! !

Nope. Supplies are affected, but weather penalties to combat efficiency are insignificant.

[tedescooo]

Nice AAR! Looking forward to the british surrender and the final showdown with the ruskies.

[TheBromgrev]

@SSmith: Oh, they paid alright, but I had to divert forces to drive them off, so the suicide diversion succeeded. The UK will try the exact same thing in the next chapter, which is quite possibly the dumbest thing I've seen the AI do. Rather than retake, I don't know, London and the rest of their country I'm not defending, the UK sends troops to Amsterdam...

@GhostWriter: I'm not sure why Belgium demobilized either. I guess the AI decided that after a few months of not being attacked, despite 75% of the German army sitting on its borders, that I wouldn't declare war. The battles in Belgium and in France are taking a toll due to the poor terrain I'm fighting in (cities, forests, rivers), plus the French being prepared for the attack.

@Enewald: Panzers aren't really good in the mountains and hills of Scotland, hence why they were recalled to France. As per the title post, I'm also using AI control for everything except the navy and special forces, so no blitzkrieg either, unless the AI somehow manages to pull off something on its own.

@Cybvep: Correct, although during the winter the ground can freeze, which results in *really* slow movement speeds in places like Scotland

@tedescooo: Thanks! The UK will most likely surrender after France, due to Italy losing Tobruk and giving the UK more VPs. I started lowering the UK's national unity, but have no idea when they'll actually cave in. I'll likely have to take Gibraltar and Malta myself, since Italy lost all but 2 transports trying to grab Malta. Gee, Italy seems to be acting quite historical this game

[Slan]

Nope. Supplies are affected, but weather penalties to combat efficiency are insignificant.

What about attrition? It only kicks in at -5°C though. But cold does effect combat, although I will need to check the exact effect...

[Cybvep]

It has an effect, but it's a small one.

[SSmith]

The UK will try the exact same thing in the next chapter, which is quite possibly the dumbest thing I've seen the AI do. Rather than retake, I don't know, London and the rest of their country I'm not defending, the UK sends troops to Amsterdam..

Yes, you would think an AI that has lost its capital and key IC and VP provinces would focus its efforts on recovering them... maybe after few more patches and another expansion?

[TekcoR]

Thank you for taking part in the Writing with the StAARs Competition! I had been following this for awhile and wondering when you were going to submit for the competition. Anyways, welcome!

[TheBromgrev]

@Slan/Cybvep: cold weather does matter, but not by much. It should get worse in Russia. The biggest factor so far has been slow movement speed.

@SSmith: I certainly hope so

@TekcoR: Glad to see you've been following. I'll be posting the next chapter soon, complete with the AI stupidity I mentioned earlier.

[Elastic Fish]

Have to say, this is a fantastic AAR. Great writing, and great gameplay. I can't wait for Barbarossa!

[Morrell8]

Whats with Czechoslovakia? How is it still alive.