Midnight Sun - Denmark 1936 AAR

[Danmark Rising]

On the 17th of August the last pockets of Republican Spain laid down their weapons and surrendered.

The victorious Nationalists immediately began the process of taking over the government in Madrid; declaring Spain united once again. People celebrated and marched in the streets.

Meanwhile in London and Paris fears of an escalating fascist menace overrunning the whole of Europe seemed one step closer to reality. For now, there was little they could do, but watch and wait. The drum beats of war were slowly getting louder across the entire continent.

Index
Chapter 4 - Making Waves - July 4th 1936
Chapter 6 - The End of '36 - September - December 1936

[Danmark Rising]

On September 5th the streets of Copenhagen filled with people as they marched, sang songs, and listened to the King and other government officials tell speeches of glory and days long past when Denmark was a European power to be reckoned with. The marches had been organized by supporters of legislation that was currently being debated in the Rigsdagen for the instatement of a One Year Draft.

On the 9th of September the Rigsdagen listened to the people and the measure was passed. Hundreds of Thousands of young men from all corners of the country began enlisting. Among them would be Jacob Møller, the steel worker from Aalborg, and Nicholas Jorgenson, Stefan’s brother and yard worker at the Aalborg shipyard.

Later in September the nation’s industries started to slow down as a nationwide shortage of coal and energy began to take their toll. In later years it would become obvious to the ruling ministers that they hadn’t paid enough attention in building up the merchant convoy fleet. Breakthroughs in construction engineering and industrial efficiency in October would do little to improve the energy shortage problems.

In November it was discovered that members of an opposition party in the government were getting support from a foreign outside source but more investigation would be required before anything could be done.

As the year came to a close the army deployed its first artillery brigade, the first group of solders to graduate training since the implementation of the draft.

On the night of December 31st, Stefan walked along a path on the grounds of the Kastellet in Copenhagen, a light snow coming down. His head felt a little dizzy from the copious amounts of wine he had consumed at a New Year’s party that now lay behind him. He came to a park bench and sat down, looking up into the night sky. A smile stretched across his face as he slipped into unconsciousness.

Index
Chapter 5 - Spain United - August 17th 1936
Chapter 7 - Situation Report - Jan 1st, 1937

[KyrionMyrthar]

The fun of a small nation...resources go poof way to fast.

[loki100]

aye, HOI really is unforgiving when resources are so tight ...

[Aguerra]

No, my beautiful Republican Spain! I hate it when Rebs always lose the war. Great to fight for democracy, but how are you going to survive the Germans? I think I might know what tactic you are planning.

[Danmark Rising]

The fun of a small nation...resources go poof way to fast.

aye, HOI really is unforgiving when resources are so tight ...

I really felt stupid on this one... As soon as I managed to build a couple of convoys my resource problem went away. I simply hadn't thought about it at all until it was too late.

No, my beautiful Republican Spain! I hate it when Rebs always lose the war. Great to fight for democracy, but how are you going to survive the Germans? I think I might know what tactic you are planning.

I've got some ideas about fortifying the coastal bottlenecks (I just need to get the Light Cruiser tech researched). There is no way I will be able to defend Jutland though. But if I can keep them at bay on the islands then I can use my gains in Scandinavia to keep my war machine going.

[Megaherz]

If you coudl fortify Zealand and Funen with Coastal Forts you might be able to hold the german land troops but the Luftwaffe will tear your allies wont help you in the air

[mnplastic]

The best way to defend Denmark is to block straits with ships (submarines are the best).

A nice castle btw. I have been several time in Copenhagen and never saw it Next time I will definitely visit it

[Megaherz]

The best way to defend Denmark is to block straits with ships (submarines are the best).

Isnt controlling Copenhagen is enough to close Kattergat strait,because when I was playing with Sweden I defended Malmo from Germans who were controlling Copenhagen and some of my navy was trapped in the Baltic sea,while the Germans had 0 ships in Copenhagen(my bombers spotted the KMS in Amsterdam).

[Korsgaard]

Always nice to see a Danish AAR!

[IrationalFear]

Isnt controlling Copenhagen is enough to close Kattergat strait,because when I was playing with Sweden I defended Malmo from Germans who were controlling Copenhagen and some of my navy was trapped in the Baltic sea,while the Germans had 0 ships in Copenhagen(my bombers spotted the KMS in Amsterdam).

Control of the province prevents ships from passing through. Presence of ships prevents attempts to attack amphibiously (including across straits). I know of two bottlenecks that Denmark can use here, one is Malmo-Copenhagen, the other is between The main peninsula and adjacent islands. Please forgive my geographical mistakes, whatever they may be.

[Aguerra]

Forget about the mainland peninsula and pour all troops into the Faaborg province, which is across the strait. You'll hold them off until the cows come home and cause them serious pain. Almost any Allies country can save Denmark this way, just by shipping about 5 divisions there when war starts.

[Danmark Rising]

A nice castle btw. I have been several time in Copenhagen and never saw it Next time I will definitely visit it

I've never actually been to Denmark myself, the closest I've gotten is probably London (and I was there only long enough to get off the plane and onto a bus for Cardiff). My Great-Mother was from Denmark and came to the US via Elise Island before the war. I'm fascinated by it's history and culture. Going there some day is at the top of my bucket list. I'm actually learning a lot about the country through writing this AAR as I look for photos and stuff.

Isnt controlling Copenhagen is enough to close Kattergat strait,because when I was playing with Sweden I defended Malmo from Germans who were controlling Copenhagen and some of my navy was trapped in the Baltic sea,while the Germans had 0 ships in Copenhagen(my bombers spotted the KMS in Amsterdam).

Copenhagen isn't really a defensible province, save against being attacked from Malamo. Faaborg is where I plan to make my stand as the Germans will have to cross the straight there and they will have to take Faaborg to take anything else; unless of course they launch an amphibious invasion in Norway or Sweden and come at me from that direction.

If you coudl fortify Zealand and Funen with Coastal Forts you might be able to hold the german land troops but the Luftwaffe will tear your allies wont help you in the air

The best way to defend Denmark is to block straits with ships (submarines are the best).

Control of the province prevents ships from passing through. Presence of ships prevents attempts to attack amphibiously (including across straits). I know of two bottlenecks that Denmark can use here, one is Malmo-Copenhagen, the other is between The main peninsula and adjacent islands. Please forgive my geographical mistakes, whatever they may be.

Forget about the mainland peninsula and pour all troops into the Faaborg province, which is across the strait. You'll hold them off until the cows come home and cause them serious pain. Almost any Allies country can save Denmark this way, just by shipping about 5 divisions there when war starts.

Ships are far too expensive in my opinion, at least for Denmark's meager IC, plus I really need to have infantry if I'm also going to annex Norway, Sweden, and Finland. I'll be detailing the defensive plan soon. Needless to say it will involve Coastal Forts in Faaborg.

Always nice to see a Danish AAR!

Thanks for reading.

[Tallfellow]

Danmark is a fairly nice place to live Not alot of problems with... Well anything But do come in the summer, because it's almost as wet as England :P

[Danmark Rising]

Danmark is a fairly nice place to live Not alot of problems with... Well anything But do come in the summer, because it's almost as wet as England :P

Thanks for the tip. I tend to take my vacations in August.

[Danmark Rising]

Just a note. At the moment I'm trying to decide if I want to convert to For the Motherland or not when it comes out next week. I'm still not far enough in that it would be a major disruption. But it would mean replaying the first year (hoping there aren't a lot of differences) and then continuing on from there. Of course the alternative is to just keep playing in as is and then writing a new AAR under For the Motherland with a different country and different objectives.

Decisions... Decisions....

[loki100]

interesting dilemna, in a way equally relevant is the question of how long you envisage this being, if your end point is finding out if you can/not survive a German attack then you may as well finish using SF. The other thing is remembering that SF needed a couple of patches to become stable so I wouldn't be utterly shocked if FTM goes through a couple of quick early patches which may muck up attempts to start a long running AAR?

[eqqman]

Decisions... Decisions....

I would also advise just finishing and starting fresh with a new country when FtM is out.

[kleine_snoepert]

For me, it doesn't matter what your decision is, as long as you go further with this AAR,

it was very interesting

[TheCheeseMaster]

good luck.