Rank and File: A clerk's war Germany 1936 (Semper Fi)

Karaiskandar said:

Freak*** stupid IA, a good way to simulate Goering's skills.

Click to expand...

My intention in basing the aircraft in NW France was to intercept the RAF as it headed on STRAT bombing missions. This war of attrition just developed on its own. I don't know why the AI interprets "Defensive Stance" as crossing the Channel and attacking Plymouth. All I want to do (which seems "realistic" to me) is dispute ownership of the airspace above the Channel.

Baltasar said:

I fully acknowledge your love for ships as a good a reason as any other, but it'd really be more reasonable to invest in the long term things now, when you really are not dependent on your fleet. Once you start building your new fleet, todays ships will be relegated to second line duties anyway. Is there a chance to have a look at your building queue and your research? Did you think about removing your Jagdgeschwader from the army protecting the channel coast? That'd give your airmen time to recover and since there's not really important things going on in the north west, I must admit those losses taken are a bit pointless. Even more so since you are so adamant about saving manpower.

Click to expand...

My long term plans for the fleet aren't really finalised: depends on losses in capital ships. At the moment all my losses have in DD and CL - nothing else. My original thoughts were that I would lose a "spread" of different ships and replace them as I went. This didn't happen and now my fleet is very unbalanced. Too many big units. I fear that in the next big battle my lack of screens will hurt me.

I haven't intended replacing the BBs and BC - concentrate on carriers with cruisers and DD for screens (plus whatever survives from the existing big ships.)

As for the Luftwaffe, in the next update you will see that the war of attrition is slowing turning my way. Of course the real reason for continuing is that I am stubborn and refuse to admit defeat, but this is because I am channelling Goring

There is one other reason: I would like to hit the 250 air battles target for the "Veteran Air Force" bonus. I can't work out what the game considers an air battle as I have had far more engagements than that, but I can't be far off. 5% leadership and Air Org is good, as is quicker org regain.

If the new aircraft (Bf 109F) that will replace my existing interceptors within months don't reduce losses I probably will pull back, but it will cost me in lost IC and resources.

Sarayakat said:

They offset each other. Also, you may note that the Allies don't escort Strat bombing missions until late in the war as they have no fighters with sufficient range, so if that ends up as your primary challenge then neither focus will matter much as you will be fighting mostly homogeneous airgroups in the west. The east of course is a different story...

Click to expand...

The STRATs are easy if they are intercepted: it is just a matter of having enough INTs to cover all possible routes. As far as I can tell the USSR is building lots of aircraft, so I must as well. But the fault is mine: I underestimated the RAF. I won't do the same for the VVS

Forster said:

Man, I haven't been able to get on for about ten days. Took so long to read and catch up I had to sign back on to add something to the aar.
Great stuff as usual Uriah. I am really surprised at how long Spain is taking. Guess next time you'll build a lot more interceptors.
I don't understand how the enemy can get through the straits when you control them, but in DD it seems to be happening all the time. I thought if you controlled Gibraltar, they were impassable.

Click to expand...

I always thought Spain would be long, mainly because of the terrain and supply problems. I hadn't anticipated the rivers would be so hard, but they are all at right angles to my advance. The poor infra at the border means that I can't just overwhelm by force, and the lack of airfields is crippling the Luftwaffe (and costing me masses of MP). With hindsight, I should have built a few spare airbases to drop as I advanced.

Not sure what you mean about Gibraltar: I don't control it (yet). I hope that if I can hold both sides of the strait it will stop the RN and British convoys from using it.

loki100 said:

Just to agree with this - the naval build model is now very different to HOI2. There I'd never build say a carrier till I got to at least level III, here once you have the tech, get one started, the practical bonus when completed will really shift your research along, and the experience will make it quicker to churn them out when you get to an optimal level. Really you need to build at every significant block of tech gains so as to maximise both research and when you build for real.

Click to expand...

I have noticed that: when you complete a big ship the construction date of others dives by months, and research completion dates shrink. Unfortunately although I like ships they are a third priority and so get the leftovers. Instead of a logical timetable they get whatever is spare (or what I think I can afford at the time). And to some extent I react to events and changes in plans. Originally I wanted to take Norway (which would have used the ships for Shore Bombardment a fair bit) but things got away from me.

Brad1 said:

I too would like to see what you're building que is. For some reason I find production to be fascinating.

Click to expand...

I had intended to include production and research for the 30 June update but here are the basic details. EDIT Apologies for lack of formatting: it gets stripped. And theses details are from end of 8/6, so a few things may appear in the next updates.


Production with cost and completion dates. Remember that all costs and production time will reduce as research and production is completed.

5 x IC (Memel, Breslau, Konigsberg, Brno, Ostrava) 5 x 2.88 30/10
ACC Graf Zeppelin 10.65 15/3/41
BC Gneisenau 5.96 4/10
STRAT KG 27 "Boelcke" 14.80 20/6
Rocket Test Site 26.00 13/7
STRAT KG 28 15.13 16/11
TAC KG 51 "Edelweiss" 12.08 23/7
SUB 29 U-boot 3.46 15/9
3 x INFRA (French border) 3 x .57 4/8
MOT 28 Div (3 x MOT, SPA) 13.43 14/6
MOT 60 Div (3 x MOT, TD) 12.46 29/6
ARM 1 Pz (2 x ARM, 2 x MOT) 19.44 19/7
12 x INFRA (Poland) 12 x .57 17/8
10 x INFRA (Poland) 10 x .57 18/8
7 x INFRA (Poland) 7 x .57 19/8
2 x INFRA (Poland) 2 x .57 20/8
3 x INFRA (Austria) 3 x .57 24/8
1 x INFRA (Austria) .57 25/8
MOT 10 Div (3 x MOT, TD) 12.46 31/7
ARM 2 Pz (2 x ARM, 2 x MOT) 19.44 29/8
ARM 3 Pz (2 x ARM, 2 x MOT) 19.44 11/9
INF 81 Div (2 x INF, AA, R.Art) 6.54 14/6
2 x Mot 2 x Brigades 2 x 3.97 14/7
2 x Inf 2 x Brigades 2 x 1.89 15/6
FTR JG 28 9.45 16/7
3 x INFRA (Spain) 3 x .57 28/10
ATR KG zbV 2 17.62 14/9
23 x INFRA (Yugoslavia) 23 x .57 2/11
INT JG 21 8.16 23/8
GARR 281 Sicherung (2 x GARR, POL) 5.45 29/6
2 x Airbase Przemysl, Krakow 2 x 1.15 21/8
INT JG 78 8.16 16/9
DD 9 Zerstorer 4.85 4/2/41




Research to follow

Part 2: Research with completion dates: these should all reduce with production and research advances.


Electronic Computing Machine 1: 10/9
Tactical Command Structure 1: 10/6
Delay Doctrine 3: 20/6
Submarine Hull 4: 20/7
Medium Tank Engine 3: 17/6
Medium Tank Reliability 3: 20/6
Light Tank Engine 4: 16/6
Anti-air Barrel and Ammunition 4: 13/6
Anti-air Carriage and Sights 4: 12/6
Light Tank Reliability 4: 18/6
Mechanical Offensive 3: 18/9
Supply Organisation 4: 22/1/41
Fleet Auxiliary Carrier Doctrine: 4/9
Bridging Equipment 2: 17/7
Light Cruiser Main Armament 4: 20/8
Light Cruiser Engine 4: 20/8
Fighter Ground Crew Training 4: 15/8
Airborne Assault Tactics 2: 17/9
Interception Tactics 4: 17/8
Light Cruiser Armament 4: 20/9
Coil to Oil Conversion 3: 19/3/41
Cavalry Small Arms 4: 29/8
Agriculture 7: 14/2/41
Schwerpunkt 4: 17/10
Small Air Search Radar 1: 8/11
Encryption Machine 2: 10/9
Rare Materials Refining Techniques 3: 230/3/41
Medium Fuel Tank 2: 23/11
Twin Engine Air Frame 2: 24/11
Destroyer Engine 4: 6/10
Destroyer Armour 4: 7/10

As before, these are at end of 8/6.


Now I had better actually play the game: I have nearly finished the June 4-7 update which means I am only one day ahead. I prefer a little more than that, though I rarely get more than a week in front.

Please keep the laughter at my builds and research to a low roar - I am a sensitive soul.

Monday 4th to Thursday 7th June 1940

As I walked into the Reichskanzlei I couldn’t help noticing Minister von Blomberg’s official car parked out the front, his driver impassively standing by. What could bring the Chief of the Army here so early?

It didn’t take long to find out. I believe I have mentioned before that my office is just down the corridor from the Reichskanzler’s office, not close but definitely within earshot. As I approached my office I could hear a familiar voice coming from the Kanzler’s office. Although the heavy doors muffled the words, the tone was unmistakeable: the Führer was giving someone a real dressing down! I was just opening my door when a very chastened General von Blomberg appeared and hurried down the corridor, racing for his car. A final order followed him: “Do not fail me again!”


This was not a time to go hunting information. This was a time for staying quietly in my office until things settled down. Careless words at times like these have seen promising careers ruined. Luckily I had no need to find out what has prompted this outburst: the dependable secretaries’ network knows everything. When she delivered my morning coffee, Gisela told me of the turmoil in the Ministry of the Army. Apparently the trigger was the overnight news from Spain that the Spanish had recaptured Tarragona. Due to some administrative mix-up it was not on General Rommel’s list of objectives and General Petersen and his division had been diverted south towards Valencia. All the Spanish had to do was walk in – not a single German soldier opposed them. The air fields for which 2.Infanterie (mot) had fought so hard are now occupied by the FARE. Reichsmarschall Göring was livid that the Luftwaffe has been denied a forward airbase and had been to see the Führer at breakfast (and the Führer hates to be interrupted at his Frühstück!).

As if this were not enough, it has suddenly dawned on OKH that when General Guderian was instructed to bring forward the timing of Unternehmen Bohrturm, not all the necessary orders had been issued. His objectives (Bucaresti and Ploesti) had been correctly identified, but instead of ordering him to aggressively “blitzkrieg” his way to the Romanian capital, he retained his existing orders to keep his Army in a defensive stance. As a result, the Balkans Army has only advanced when it has overwhelming odds and has kept most of its troops guarding our borders. To compound the error, it has been discovered that this cannot be corrected until 9th June at the earliest! No wonder the Führer was furious! This could jeopardise the entire campaign!

While this was upsetting, it could not prevent my feeling of elation on hearing that 3rd leichte crossed the Tagus without losing a single man or vehicle. 1 Brigada Blindada maintained its reputation and fled after taking 14 casualties. Brother Heinz is safe again!


The other early reports from Spain were not so encouraging. Spanish strategic bombers have made at least three raids on Aguaviva. A total of 2000 tonnes of supplies and 300 tonnes of fuel were destroyed, but fortunately damage to infrastructure was not significant.


There was alarm among the army officers in the Kanzlei when General Curtze announced he was under attack in Guadalajara. The Spanish have shown a willingness to take heavy casualties to hold this province that has such importance as the scene of a great Republican victory during the Civil War. Could this be the start of another bitter fight with hundreds of casualties? As more information became available, relief set in. This was not a serious attempt to throw out 20.Infanterie (mot): it was a desperate attack by a few hundred men of the Spanish 3rd Corps headquarters, trapped behind the lines.


Having replaced some of its bomber losses, the Luftwaffe has resumed its support missions in Spain, but the FARE was waiting. As Dörstling led 6th Kampffliegerkorps to assist General Hell and 6th Gebirgsjäger Division in their attack on Bermillo de Sayago, swarms of I-15s and I-16s were waiting. Castaneau must have spent the past few days resting his pilots and repairing his aircraft, as his two fighter units were at nearly full strength. Casualties were high, but to their credit our Ju 88s carried out their mission successfully.


No-one will ever accuse General Nehring of being conservative: against all rules he has launched an attack across the Tagus into Peñalén at night and in pouring rain. He claims that his intention was to catch General Asensio Torrado off-guard, and it seems to have worked. His local commanders have already achieved a tactical breakthrough and the lead units are not only across the river but are rapidly expanding the bridgehead. With tanks already on the opposite shore, 1st Panzer should quickly put the 9,000 defenders to flight.

The good news from Peñalén, which indicated we will soon have large forces south of the Tagus, ready to swing back to surround Madrid, was countered by the latest intelligence from General Keppler of 1st leichte in Segovia and confirmed by General de Angelis of 16.Infanterie (mot) in Alcobendas. Although both units are recuperating in preparation for an assault on the city, small scouting parties have been infiltrating the suburbs of the Spanish capital, identifying defence strong-points and looking to take prisoners back for interrogation. The results of the interrogations match information from deserters and Nationalist sympathisers. It is now definite that British troops have joined the garrison of Madrid. They have beaten us in the race to the capital. We can now expect an even more bloody and hard fought battle for the city.


With General von Blomberg under a cloud due to the recent military errors, it was not hard for Großadmiral Raeder to win yet another research project: Göring is in no position to counter his arguments that the Kriegsmarine was sacrificed to save the Luftwaffe. So with advanced ammunition and muzzle velocity studies for our anti-tank guns now complete, another contract was handed to improve armour on our destroyers. (Seeing how quickly our previous ships were torn to pieces, heavier armour would seem a reasonable request). Of course, the extra demands on our factories to replace our existing anti-tank guns with the 7.5cm Pak 40 L/46 would have helped Raeder convince the Cabinet that our economy cannot afford more upgrades for while. It will be months before any new destroyers can be ordered.


The Luftwaffe dominated the early reports. First was a battle over the Western English Channel in the middle of the night. Four of our Jagdgeschwader met 4 Royal Navy carrier air groups supported by three land based RAF fighter groups. The dark probably saved us as losses were low, and could have been disastrous. “Udet” is now down to just 37 aircraft, however, and it cannot be long before it is withdrawn to recover (and obtain its new aircraft).


The RAF chased our planes back to Lille, where further fighting took place at about 4AM, but nearly all our fighters landed safely. At 10AM Plymouth was the scene of another massive attack by the RAF and Royal Navy, this time on Klepke’s 1st Jagdfliegerkorps. While our losses were high, the British suffered badly.


Air Marshall Portal tried to force another battle of attrition later in the day, but he chose the wrong target. Instead of the weakened 1st Jagdfliegerkorps at Cherbourg or Waber’s 6th Jagdfliegerkorps at Paris, he appeared over Lille, main base for Felmy’s 2nd Jagdfliegerkorps. At nearly full strength, “Richthofen” and “Schlageter” were keen to revenge the punishment that the RAF had been dealing out all day. By the time the RAF left, No.212 RAF Fighter Group had less than 50 aircraft remaining.


In the afternoon there was brief break in the continuous air action in Northern France, and attention swung to Spain where Eppich had chased 1a División into Fabero. Líster Forján may have hoped that the forests would have given his men some protection, but he did not count on the tenacity of 5th Gebirgjäger Division. Even though they have lost nearly 500 men in the past few days, mainly to bombing, the Gebirgers are keen to finish off the Spanish and Eppich thinks that a couple of days should be all it takes to clear the woods and continue west.


In not unexpected news, Curtze confirmed that he was rounding up the survivors of the suicidal attack in Guadalajara. He had no causalties, but 97 of the 150 men of 3rd Corp headquarters were killed or captured.

Finally, late in the afternoon, news of events in Romania. But it was not what we expected, and the source was equally unexpected: a telegram (coded of course) from our Moscow Embassy. Stalin has taken advantage of Romanian weakness to demand not only Bessarabia but also Northern Bukavina! With half its army already reeling from our attacks and the other half busy trying to deploy south and east, Romania was in no position to negotiate, let alone refuse. The Red Army has at least a dozen divisions on the northern borders, and King Carol II had no option but to acquiesce. Even as I write this, Soviet units are moving up to the new border.

The day ended with two more air battles, this time with the Luftwaffe on the offensive. Both battles were over Plymouth, where the British Air Marshall Steele took control of the combined RAF and carrier air groups. The first wave of fighters hit at dusk, and Felmy’s pilots gave the British a return lesson in airfield attacks. At 11PM Klepke led “Freki” and “Geri” over the Channel to give the British another dose. Two can play at attrition, and at the end of Tuesday we were quite sure that the seven British air units involved in the day’s fighting have been reduced to less than 500 aircraft. Our losses were considerable, but not on that scale, and Luftwaffe replenishment is fairly quick, while we suspect that our U-boat campaign is impacting Lord Beaverbrook’s desperate attempts to replace his missing aircraft.


Wednesday saw another geschwader added to the Luftwaffe. Unfortunately it was not an interceptor or fighter unit, but a new Stuka formation: SG 12 “Beil”, which has been despatched to Munchen to join SG 44 “Pfeil”. General Major Hoffman von Waldau has been given a few days to allow his new men to acclimatize and complete their familiarisation programs, then 4th Schlachtfliegerkorps will be deployed to either Spain or Yugoslavia.

There were a few more skirmishes in the air over Plymouth, but it seems the RAF has decided it must conserve its strength, as no return raids were made. In fact, when Klepke arrived over Plymouth at 8AM (already the second attack of the day) he reported that No.11 RAF Fighter Group had almost ceased to exist.


North of Madrid, General Heinemann is on the move again, probably prodded by General Rommel. (While a fine officer with a good record, Heinemann is much more a “set piece” general. Give him a fortified position and he will prepare a faultless assault: he is less assured in the fluid war of movement in Spain). From Valladolid he is driving 50.infanterie south-west, pushing Castro Delgado’s battered Circunscripcíon Division before him. Victory is just a matter of time, but time is what we do not have. We must speed up the advance before the British can send more reinforcements.


In the north-west, Generalleutnant Bayer is aware of the need for haste. He is pushing 2nd Gebirgsjägerkorps as hard as he can, racing to close the port of La Coruña. The last thing we need is British Ghurkas arriving to fight in the hills and forests of north-west Spain. SS Brigade-Führer Behlendorff has responded well to the encouragement, and reports that fighting in Navia has been ended. It took nearly a week and the loss of 230 men, but 6th SS “Freiwilligen” has finally convinced Ascaso Abadia that further resistance would be futile, and would needlessly add to his already 664 dead. 15/8a Division is heading deeper into the forest, leaving Navia and heading towards Lugo.

Maybe I was too harsh on General Heinemann: he has certainly risen to the challenge given him by General Rommel. After only a few hours he has won Medina del Campo. 5 men lost, and compared 25 Spanish casualties. It seems an old dog can learn new tricks. A few more results like that and we will be knocking on the door of Gibraltar!

We have detected some Romanian units moving east as fast as they can, and General Guderian has given orders that none are to be allowed to move in front of our advance on Bucaresti. When Bieß heard that his Aufklärungsabteilung had detected an infantry unit marching through the mountain passes of Cugir, he had no hesitation in ordering 10.Infanterie (mot), the famous “Bitburg” division, to engage the enemy. It could be hard to dislodge the Romanians, but Bieß and his men have a reputation to keep, and are reportedly keen to be back in action.


It would appear that there are large troop movements behind the front lines, as only an hour later General Haase in Arad, north-west of Bieß, came into contact with another Romanian infantry division as 26.Infanterie Division entered the province of Savârsin. Haase’s task is far easier, as the terrain favours our more mobile forces. In addition, Divizie 18 Infanterei has apparently taken some casualties, perhaps from our bombers as we have no record of an engagement with the unit.


After a month, the Russian Batov has reappeared, recovered from his defeat by von Manstein and 3rd leichte Panzer at both Almazan and Siguenza. The wily Russian has 6,000 men in his 6/3a División Organica, and is determined to block the path to Valencia. He may have met his match though, as Kreß von Kressenstein has fought Russians before and has the edge in numbers, with 30.Infanterie just 50 men short of its full complement of 10,000.


As is so often the case, three victories were announced one after the other, one in Romania and two in Spain. General Bieß and the Bitburg Division must have terrified the Romanians, because they abandoned Cugir and, instead of making for Bucaresti, are fleeing further into the Carpathians. Losses on both sides were relatively light (32 to 110) but General Mitranescu could not hold his men and Bieß is sure Divizie 8 Infanterie will give no further trouble. General Nehring is probably just as confident that Torrado will not be able to rally his men after the defeat they have suffered in Peñelén. 321 Spanish were killed for the loss of 24 Panzertruppen, and both Torrado’s units are choking the roads south as they try to escape our tanks and motorised infantry. The last commander to claim success was Kreß von Kressenstein, having brushed aside General Batov’s attempts to halt his advance into Albarracín. 24 men of 30.Infanterie were lost, and Batov lost 89 soldiers before 6/3a Division decided it had had enough.

The last battle of the day was from Romania, but far from the focus of our attacks. It was in the3 west of the country, where General Herzog and 36.Infanterie was pushing north along the Hungarian border, trying to engage as many units as possible to prevent their redeployment. He seems to be having success, as his single division is now fighting two Romanian infantry divisions and a headquarters unit. Although outnumbered nearly two to one, Herzog is not concerned and has indicated that Luftwaffe support should be directed to the east.



Bombing Summary

FARE

Piedras Blancas: Camacho Benítez with 1er and 2o Grupo Táctico (2 x TAC): 101
Benavente: Bayo Giraud with 1er Grupo de Bombarde and Grupo Táctico n.1 FARE (2 x TAC): 140
Guadalajara: Bayo Giraud with 1er Grupo de Bombarde and Grupo Táctico n.1 FARE (2 x TAC):117
La Bañeza: Camacho Benítez with 1er and 2o Grupo Táctico (2 x TAC): 72, 72, 81, 88, 153, 26, 82
La Bañeza: Bayo Giraud with 1er Grupo de Bombarde and Grupo Táctico n.1 FARE, 1er and 2o Grupo Táctico (4 x TAC): 147, 86
Embid: Bayo Giraud with 1er Grupo de Bombarde and Grupo Táctico n.1 FARE (2 x TAC): 104
Murias de Paredes: Bayo Giraud with 1er Grupo de Bombarde and Grupo Táctico n.1 FARE (2 x TAC): 118


Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm

Benavente: Gore-Sutherland-Mitchell with 16th and 17th CAG: 47
La Beñeza: Gore-Sutherland-Mitchell with 16th and 17th CAG: 25
Benavente: Harris with 11th and 13th CAG: 16, 39
Piedras Blancas: Gore-Sutherland-Mitchell with 16th and 17th CAG: 27, 47, 45
Piedras Blancas: Cunningham with 6th CAG: 8, 64
Murias de Paredes: Maltby with 5th CAG: 2, 9, 18
Benavente: Ludlow-Hewitt with 4th CAG: 31
Benavente: Ludlow-Hewitt with 4th and 7th CAG: 70, 29
Murias de Paredes: Cunningham with 8th CAG: 70
Murias de Paredes: Ludlow-Hewitt with 4th CAG: 26
Murias de Paredes: Ludlow-Hewitt with 4th and 6th CAG: 48, 30
La Deñeza: Denny with 7th CAG: 109


Combined Anglo-Spanish Bombing Missions

Benavente: Gore-Sutherland-Mitchell with 16th and 17th CAG, 1er Grupo de Bombarde and Grupo Táctico n.1 FARE: 86, 62
Piedras Blancas: Harris with 11th and 13th CAG, 1er and 2o Grupo Táctico: 180, 133, 125
La Bañeza: Ludlow-Hewitt with 4th and 7th CAG, 1er Grupo de Bombarde and Grupo Táctico n.1 FARE, 1er and 2o Grupo Táctico: 77
La Bañeza: Maltby with 5th and 7th CAG, 1er and 2o Grupo Táctico: 141

RAF

Guadalajara: Dowding with 5th and 1st RAF Tactical Groups (2 x TAC): 263
Guadalajara: Dowding with 5th and 1st RAF Tactical Groups and Middle East Group(3 x TAC): 238, 288

Luftwaffe

Bermillo de Sayago: Dörstling with 6th Kampffliegerkorps (1 x Bf 109E, 2 x Ju 88): 244
Cugir: Udet with 3rd Schlachtfliegerkorps (2 x Ju 87B): 127
Cugir: Schwartzkopff with 2nd Kampffliegerkorps (1 x Bf 109E, 2 x Ju 88): 273, 46
Savârsin: Grauert with 4th Kampffliegerkorps (1 x Bf 109E, 2 x Ju 88): 218
Savârsin: Müller-Michels with 5th Kampffliegerkorps (1 x Bf 109E, 2 x Ju 88): 182


FARR

Petrosani: Vasiliu with Grup 1 Tactic Bombardier (1 x TAC): 88, 93
Petrila: Vasiliu with Grup 1 Tactic Bombardier (1 x TAC): 66


Unterseebootsflotte Activity Report

Eastern Madeira Plain: 1 transport (Greek): Athina – Boston: Wolf woth 4th U-flotte
Western Biscay Plain: 2 transports (UK): Colombo – Dover: Fricke with 3rd U-flotte
Eastern Biscay Plain: 1 transport (UK): Plymouth – Ascension Island: Dönitz with 2nd U-flotte
Coast of Cádiz: 1 transport (Rumanian): Constanta – Boston: Wolf with 4th U-flotte
Cape Oregal: 2 transports (UK): Plymouth – Accra: Fricke with 3rd U-flotte
Gibraltar Approaches: 1 transport (Greek): Athina – San José: Wolf with 4th U-flotte
Coast of Porto: 1 transport (UK): Dover – Colombo: Aßmann with 1st U-flotte
Cape Finisterre: 1 transport (UK): Plymouth – Ascension Island: Fricke with 3rd U-flotte
Eastern Biscay Plain: 1 transport (UK): Plymouth – Falkland Islands: Dönitz with 2nd U-flotte
Cape St Vincent: 1 transport (UK): Dover – Diego Garcia: Wolf with 4th U-flotte
Coast of Carvoeiro: 2 transports (UK): Dover – Socotra: Aßmann with 1st U-flotte
Channel Approaches: 1 transport (UK): Plymouth – Grand Bahama: von Nordeck with II U-flotte
Coast of Cádiz: 1 transport (Australian): Geraldton – Dover: Wolf with 4th U-flotte

BoemsiBoemsie said:

No laughter here, seems a very decent list of builds and research. You are building the CAG for the Carrier as well? I once forget to build those and had my carrier waiting in port for a year before the CAG was ready. That was pretty stupid.

Click to expand...

Well, i think it could be improved a lot. As for the CAGS - they have been ready for 6 months. (Another case of poor planning). I haven't committed them to any fighting as I thoght the normal interceptors would kill the, but having seen the RN CAGs chew my fighters, I may move them closer tothe action and attach them to an Army. (Though they are being re-equipped now).

charchar5 said:

I think you just cinvinced me to gat the game,

Click to expand...

Well, I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. I am releuctnat to recommend games because everyone has different tastes. But I think this AAr (and the others in this forum) give a good flavour of what to expect.

If you are new to the Hearts of Iron games, though, don't be overwhelmed. Have a try, have a rest, think about it, read a bit on the boards and then have another try. You should soon develop your own likes and dislikes. Whetever you do though, play for enjoyment, not because you think that is the way it ought to be played. If you like nuclear bombs in 1942, try for it. (I shudder at the very thought ).

Good luck, and remember - if you have a problem, it is 100 to 1 someone else had the same problem and someone has an answer. Don't just give up!

Baltasar said:

(Tables sorted by date)

MOT 28 Div (3 x MOT, SPA) 13.43 14/6
INF 81 Div (2 x INF, AA, R.Art) 6.54 14/6
2 x Inf 2 x Brigades 2 x 1.89 15/6 <---- Those are two infantry divisions with two inf brigades each? Where do you plan to use those?
STRAT KG 27 "Boelcke" 14.80 20/6
MOT 60 Div (3 x MOT, TD) 12.46 29/6
GARR 281 Sicherung (2 x GARR, POL) 5.45 29/6
Rocket Test Site 26.00 13/7
2 x Mot 2 x Brigades 2 x 3.97 14/7 <---- Same question here.
FTR JG 28 9.45 16/7
ARM 1 Pz (2 x ARM, 2 x MOT) 19.44 19/7
TAC KG 51 "Edelweiss" 12.08 23/7
MOT 10 Div (3 x MOT, TD) 12.46 31/7
3 x INFRA (French border) 3 x .57 4/8
12 x INFRA (Poland) 12 x .57 17/8
10 x INFRA (Poland) 10 x .57 18/8
7 x INFRA (Poland) 7 x .57 19/8
2 x INFRA (Poland) 2 x .57 20/8
2 x Airbase Przemysl, Krakow 2 x 1.15 21/8
INT JG 21 8.16 23/8
3 x INFRA (Austria) 3 x .57 24/8
1 x INFRA (Austria) .57 25/8
ARM 2 Pz (2 x ARM, 2 x MOT) 19.44 29/8
ARM 3 Pz (2 x ARM, 2 x MOT) 19.44 11/9
ATR KG zbV 2 17.62 14/9
SUB 29 U-boot 3.46 15/9
INT JG 78 8.16 16/9
BC Gneisenau 5.96 4/10
3 x INFRA (Spain) 3 x .57 28/10
23 x INFRA (Yugoslavia) 23 x .57 2/11
STRAT KG 28 15.13 16/11
5 x IC (Memel, Breslau, Konigsberg, Brno, Ostrava) 5 x 2.88 30/10
DD 9 Zerstorer 4.85 4/2/41
ACC Graf Zeppelin 10.65 15/3/41 <---- Good thing the CV is down here, 10.65 IC is quite an awful lot. Once the improvements for the aircrafts are available, I'd cut production by those IC and put them in upgrades.

Good to see that two new divisions will be available within two weeks, but I still think there's a lack of troops within your ranks, especially bearing Barbarossa in mind.

Tactical Command Structure 1: 10/6
Anti-air Carriage and Sights 4: 12/6
Anti-air Barrel and Ammunition 4: 13/6
Light Tank Engine 4: 16/6
Medium Tank Engine 3: 17/6
Light Tank Reliability 4: 18/6
Delay Doctrine 3: 20/6
Medium Tank Reliability 3: 20/6
Bridging Equipment 2: 17/7
Submarine Hull 4: 20/7
Fighter Ground Crew Training 4: 15/8
Interception Tactics 4: 17/8
Mechanical Offensive 3: 18/9
Light Cruiser Main Armament 4: 20/8
Light Cruiser Engine 4: 20/8
Cavalry Small Arms 4: 29/8
Fleet Auxiliary Carrier Doctrine: 4/9
Electronic Computing Machine 1: 10/9
Encryption Machine 2: 10/9
Airborne Assault Tactics 2: 17/9
Light Cruiser Armament 4: 20/9
Destroyer Engine 4: 6/10
Destroyer Armour 4: 7/10
Schwerpunkt 4: 17/10
Small Air Search Radar 1: 8/11
Medium Fuel Tank 2: 23/11
Twin Engine Air Frame 2: 24/11
Supply Organisation 4: 22/1/41
Agriculture 7: 14/2/41
Coil to Oil Conversion 3: 19/3/41
Rare Materials Refining Techniques 3: 23/3/41

Click to expand...

There is a marked lack of troops, but I will have about 6 divs in a month, and when August comes I will have lots of IC (26 from the rocket site alone). I am still looking at a minimum of 20 more divs plus 4-6 panzers before Barbarossa.

The "2x brigades" lines are misleading - it was badly expressed by me. I meant to indicate that there were two single brigades of inf and two single brigades of mot. They are to be attacked to Gebriger and Panzer HQs respectiveley. During the brief French invasion of Germany I had a couple of HQs attacked and it was only their suport briegades that saved them uniotl reinforecments arrived. I plan to race the Gebirgers and/or the panzers forward and am concerned the HQs may be vulnerable so I want to give htem a bit of insurance.

BTW, you may have noticed all the IC I am building are in the east. If I understand the supply system properly, this should help my supply during Barbarossa by producing supply closeer to the front.

PS The "Graf Zeppelin" is on full production and will continue to be: in fact about December (if all alse is according to plan) I will start another CV. That way I will get a big boost when it finishes. I mean to challenge the control of the coast - not just wait for invasions. I know it is not the best use of Ic< but if I am going to have a navy, it will at least be respectable.

Enewald said:

Not really a proper preplanned operation in Spain...
The army has failed.
Fronts still exists, enemy is not beaten yet.

Click to expand...

Not sure if you are talking tongue in cheek, but it is not that bad. I always expected Spain to take 3-4 months, though I had not anticipated either the effectiveness of the FARe (and RN Air Arm) or the impact of poor infra on the recuperation of my fuel dependent units. So far it has taken about 9 weeks and we are about half way, so pretty much on time.

As I mentioned before, the Spanish leadership is now nil, so battles are now getting shorter: they cannot replace leader losses. And the front is now at its maximum length: when the nw and ne pockets are eliminated, the presence of Portugal means that we can concentrate more. What I really need is an airfield!

Having said all that, I agree that I didn't plan it properly: I had a plan but it didn't work. So we are looking at Plan B, or probalby Plan D.

Karaiskandar said:

I don't think that Von Blomberg's carreer as Chief of the Army will continue for long, too many mistakes.

Click to expand...

Unfortunately his magic supply conservation gift will continue to protect him: it is just too good to lose -10% supply consumption.

Baltasar said:

Not sure if this is how the supply system works it out. From what I understand, supplies are calculated from your capital.



Indeed, but I didn't notice CAGs in your building queue. And since aircrafts are in somewhat short supply anyway....

Since your are in favor of ships, how about subs? What type are you building?

Click to expand...

I think that with Semper Fi plus patches that each IC produces some supply. As I understand it, supply will "migrate" towards lower supply areas or, if none, to the capital. If there is a big draw in the opposite direction to the capital then the ICs "local" supply production does not move to the capital but to the area of "need". If that is wrong then can someone let me know: I believe that each province checks the supply in the surrounding provinces and supply flows towards the lower ones, infrastructure allowig.

I mentioned above that I have two CAG sitting (in Hannover I think). I can't remember exactly but I think I ticked the box when starting the Graf Zeppelin and the CAGS were built far too early. (Don't have HOI3 open at the moment)

Only one SUB in production: it is a Type VII. Will build more next year when I should have researched new model

Baltasar said:

Spain will be won, eventually. It's a country where you don't want to go into with too supply demanding forces, as the infrastructure isn't that good. The lack of troops to get rid of the eastern pocket is a bit disturbing, but the Spanish there do not seem to be in a position to retaliate anyway, apart from their single brigade action to reaquire the airfield. The sight of Biritsh troops is actually a welcome sight, as they will undoubtly be destroyed along with the Republican forces, thus forcing the UK to divert resources and manpower into rebuilding their field army. Every British soldier not on the home isles is one soldier less defending London once Seelöwe hit the shores.

That campaign has been going on for a few weeks, it'll be ended in success surely. But I think it'll end after Romania has been dealt with. If the need arises, an infantry corps can then be moved from Romania to Spain. Not that Rommel will actually need it, but it'd speed things up a bit, supplies permitting.

Click to expand...

On 9th June (next update) I move two more inf divs to Spain:I think that should be enough (withthe three I sent a week or so again).

I agree that killing British units in Spain is good for long term. Just annnoying short term.

Spain has been a learning experience. A bit like Dieppe was training for D-Day, Spain has been training for Barbarossa.

Lessons learnt:

Infra choke points are a nightmare. As soon as a province near the border is captured, infra improvement must start. Construction must be as fast and as cheap as possible (which is why I have so much infra work going on: trying to get my construction prac as high as possible as well as improving infra across the east). Narrow supply corridors could attract enemy STRAT bombers.

From above, can't rely on tanks/mots/mech to do everything. It is frustrating seeing good units doing nothing as they wait for fuel. To keep going there must be infantry in the mix.

Must have forward airbases! We crushed Poland (and to some extent France) by killing tens of thousands of troops with our bombers. We also wiped out their bombers whenever thay appeared. This was due to a large number of good airbases close to the front. In Spain we had only one (maybe two) in range and these are now very limited. this has cost me dearly, not just in my MP losses but also because the enemy has continually replaced his losses. In Poland after a few weeks we faced units that were low on troops: in Spain within days they are back to full strength.

For Barbarossa I need several air bases ready to place on-map as I move forward. Tehy can't hold much, but they can hodl a few interceptors or CAS. I can't rely on capturing air bases.

I need a reserve (at least a korps) in a position where it can reinforce either success or overcome stronger resistance. Strat movement in newly captured territory is v. expensive so they need to march. That means thay must be close to the front to have an impact.

More troops is an obvious answer, but it is totally dependent on supply. There is no point in flooding an area when the problem is not number of men but ability to fight. Note the Italians in NAfrica and the Japanese in China. The Italians seem tohave had at least 5:1 in numbers, and the IJA had at least par but far better equipped and better tech. Both suffered defeat due to supply problems.

Speed: the faster you can keep attacking, the easier it gets. Don't let the enemy recover str and org. Not just using arm and mot, also improve techs to decrease attack delay. But none of this counts if supply doesn't get through.

The final one is strategic. When using Army AI, there needs to be careful thought about objectives and lines of advance. And I need to constantly chack that things are progressing as planned: sometimes the AI interprets things in a way Ihad not considered. I'm not saying it is stupid: I'm saying that I have to design the orders so that the AIs concerns cannot derail my intentions. When I look at ares where things have not gone as planned, I can generally see why the AI acted as it did: usually because it is trying to guard against something that I don't see as a threat. I suppose this is quite realist: whatever a general orders, a colonel is not going to leave his left flank unsupported.

jju_57 said:

Uriah, not trying to be a Monday morning general (US term) but to get the AI to work correctly with air units you need to do the following. Give the theater in France only interceptors. For territory include all provinces that you want protected such as northern France, and German cities. Set it to air defensive stance for the theater. For theater objectives just set up a few port cities that you want guarded. This will now really cut back on their activity over UK. The interceptors will still get into air battles over the channel but will also intercept the strat bombers over Germany. I give my theater 12 fighter wings set up in 4 groups of 3 wings. They win every air battle, never get too low on strength or organization and I always intercept the bombers. They also tear up the CAG's since the AI uses intercept missions.

Another alternative is to have a theater just covering the German cities and give that theater 1 or at most 2 groups of 3 wings. Then place the rest in the theater where you want to do offensive bombings to kill enemy interceptors. Before the start of war I always try to have 15 interceptors build and try to get to 21 by late 1940 or early 1941. With doctrines they always rule the sky.

Click to expand...

I agree with all your points, but there is one problem. I decided long ago that the best way to co-ordinate attacks was at Army level. Below that was really not allowing the AI to work. At theatre level it was too "big picture". If I start to assign orders to theatres I can't order their subordinate armies. Even in France htis causes problems: I wnat different units guarding say Paris (GARR) and Brest (INF). To solve this I have two armies, both part of hte same Theatre. If I give orders the theatre, the divisions move.

I have already decided to increase all my INTs to three geschwader, but this will take time. On the good side, attrition is starting to hurt the RAF, and my upgrades are already at about 15%. So I see my problems as temporary, caused mainly by my neglect of the INT arm of the Luftwaffe and my failure to obtain airbases in Spain (either by capture or building).

shepherd352 said:

Uriah,

I read your updates almost every day. I enjoy all of them but only comment when I really have something to say.

I am a fan of using the AI at an Army level. The formation AI is a major reason I bought this game and it offers many realistic challenges, to encourage the AI to do what you want. I am no expert but I wonder if the AI is a little confused. Its main thrust should be south but it has operations to the east and west. This might be a situation where two Corps should be detached from the Army (allocated to AG or Theatre) and each given objectives and an axis of advance (one to the east, the other to the west). This may weaken your main thrust but the quick closure of threats in the east and west will allow these corps to be placed back under command of the Army and 100% of effort then placed on the thrust through Madrid and on to Gibralter.

As a side note, I have sometimes thought your progress was slow but then realised that the detailed accounts mean that time is progressing slowly. It can seem that your invasions have gone horribly wrong but you are still within your timetable. You also describe problems that a faster account would not cover. Your method is unique (I doubt there has ever been such a detailed AAR) and you have plenty of fans so keep up the good work.

Click to expand...

In hindsight I wish I had done that. I actaully though of doing something similar a week or so ago but units are so mizxed up now that to try to split tow korps off would be difficult. And the delays caused by rertouting attacks etc would probably mean little saving intime now. It need to be done as soon as I was across the Pyrenees. I also think a drive to the Portuguese border may have been good - cut off the troops in NW Spain.

Just goes to show I have never attacked Spain before in HOI3 and am learning as I go.

Thanks for the kind comments. One reason I give so much detail is to allow the reader to see why things happen (even if I don't!). Even if Spain takes until late October I won't be too concerned (as long as MP losses are not too bad). I just want everyone ready in the east by late Feb. The invasion has not gone wrong - we are still advancing and I think I have only lost two battles, both river crossings against large forces with no Luftwaffe support. So nothing surprising. The FARE have lifted casualty rates but not changed the outcome of a single battle, and the main impact of the supply problem has been the withdrawal of fast tanks and their replacement with above average speed Gebirgers. (Since that change there have been few delays due to supply, despite the infra bombing by the Estratigicos.)

Overall I am not displeased with Spain - it has given me some resources, MP and leadership and an awful lot of experience (both me and my units/leaders!). I don't know if I would do it again, but then it is not often the Republicans win. I wouldn't attack a Nationalist Spain - I would try to bring them aboard.

EDIT: Having read the above I really must start using spell check - or else either: 1) turn on the light while typing or 2) stop trying to type too fast